Briefs
Herring goes after Purdue for pushing opioids into Virginia
Between 2008 and 2017, Purdue Pharma pumped opioids into Virginia, lying about the highly addictive quality of the prescription painkillers that have resulted in a seemingly unstoppable opioid epidemic, Attorney General Mark Herring claims. Herring filed a complaint against Purdue in the Circuit Court of Tazewell County early this morning, updating a lawsuit initially filed […]
Solitary confinement challenged; A ‘desperate smear’ in Spanberger-Brat race; Va. AG takes on opioid pill pushers
NEWS TO KNOW Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. Mentally ill man held in solitary for 12 years The ACLU of Virginia and the Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center are suing the Virginia Department of Corrections, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. The suit says convicted murderer Nicolas Reyes’ “mental health has deteriorated greatly over the […]
Virginia may be great for businesses, but a new report says it’s terrible for workers
Virginia leaders have long trumpeted the state’s high rankings in lists of states that are good for businesses. Over Labor Day weekend, the state landed on the wrong end of a different kind of list: The best states for workers. Virginia ranked dead last in the report by Oxfam, a left-leaning charity focused on fighting […]
Amid another potential sale, Virginia newspaper journalists push to unionize
As of Tuesday morning, 75 percent of the journalists at The Virginian-Pilot and the Daily Press, both owned by Tronc Inc., had signed cards authorizing representation by The NewsGuild, part of the Communication Workers of America. Tronc purchased the Pilot, Virginia’s largest paper, in May, and recent reports indicate the company may now be looking […]
Kaine, Stewart campaign through weekend; back to school through metal detectors; after Red Hen, Rockbridge frees up money for positive messaging
NEWS TO KNOW Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. Va. Senate: Opioids, Trump and Labor Day The long weekend brings us lots of news from the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Tim Kaine and GOP challenger Corey Stewart. Stewart blamed Medicaid and cheap prescription prices for the opioid crisis and says […]
Court says Republicans have to meet Oct. 30 map-redrawing deadline
A three-judge panel rejected Virginia House Republicans’ request to stay the Oct. 31 deadline to redraw 11 racially gerrymandered voting districts until the U.S. Supreme Court gets to the case. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia denied the requested in a Thursday order after the General Assembly convened for a Special […]
USPS: Spanberger release a mistake; New utility bill has a big price tag; Arrests at Albemarle meeting about Confederate symbols
NEWS TO KNOW Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. Postal Service says release of Spanberger security form was a mistake The U.S. Postal Service acknowledged it released Democratic congressional hopeful Abigail Spanberger’s security clearance application to a GOP group collecting opposition research. The USPS said the release was due to “human error,” Patrick Wilson at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. […]
Dominion keeps raking in excess profit
Former journalist and veteran lobbyist Steve Haner, writing at Bacon’s Rebellion, has a good look at the yearly report the State Corporation Commission has done documenting the hundreds of millions of dollars in utility “overearning” since the Virginia General Assembly prevented it from lowering utility base rates in 2015 (the so-called rate freeze). The unsurprising […]
Encyclopedia Va. won’t remove white supremacy references from United Daughters of the Confederacy entry
The editor of Encyclopedia Virginia says the reference website is standing by its entry on the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which includes references to the group’s role promoting white supremacy. The statements came in response to a letter-writing campaign initiated by the Confederate heritage group’s leader, who complained in a letter to members that […]
Inquiry into release of Spanberger’s security form; Newport News dreams big; Albemarle disavows Trump ‘chicken’ and other headlines
NEWS TO KNOW Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. Post Office ‘looking into’ whether it released Spanberger’s personnel file Former CIA officer Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat running for Congress against Rep. Dave Brat, a Richmond-area Republican, accused a Republican PAC of obtaining her unredacted security clearance illegally. But it looks like the […]
Signature fiasco gets worse for Taylor
You might have heard that U.S. Rep. Scott Taylor, a Virginia Beach Republican, has been ensnared in something of a controversy over some signatures. His staff helped circulate petitions to get Hampton Democrat Shaun Brown on the ballot as an independent to siphon votes from the party’s nominee, Elaine Luria. However, it turns out a […]
House Democrats’ proposed redistricting plan targets five vulnerable Republicans
A redistricting plan floated by Democrats in the House of Delegates this afternoon would move 55,000 black voters out of majority-minority districts that a court has ruled are unconstitutional. Most of them would instead be placed in the districts of five vulnerable Republicans. The plan cuts another two Republicans out of the districts they currently […]