By Ashley C. KennethWe’re all looking forward to a time when the pandemic has been subdued and we can safely return to our normal lives and even look toward a better future.Unfortunately, after such a prolonged period of disruption and pain, many people will struggle just to get back...
Legislation aiming to remove roadblocks that have prevented schools and local governments in Southwest Virginia from accessing solar energy through contracts with renewables companies has sailed through the House with no opposition and will come before a Senate panel this week.House Bill 2034 from Del. Chris Hurst, D-Montgomery, would...
The Virginia Automobile Dealers Association will support proposed legislation in the General Assembly that would adopt vehicle emissions standards set by California no earlier than 2023 and no later than 2025. “After numerous discussions with legislators and various impacted parties, it is clear this legislation can proceed as we are...
WASHINGTON — Seven U.S. Senate Democrats, including Virginia's Tim Kaine, urged the chamber's ethics panel to investigate Sen. Josh Hawley’s role in the pro-Trump assault on the Capitol, and the Missouri Republican is now asking the committee to do the same.In a Monday letter, Hawley argued that the seven...
A Virginia House of Delegates panel on Monday expanded a felon voting rights proposal to allow former inmates to vote when they're released from incarceration, a change potentially allowing their rights to be restored years earlier than envisioned under the plan's prior rules.As originally drafted, the proposed constitutional amendment...
Recycling, once seen as a key environmental priority, has seen its star fall in recent years, with many localities eliminating or scaling back programs after the foreign countries that once accepted much of their plastic, paper and aluminum waste began to refuse or curtail new shipments. The biggest turning point was...
Before we Americans undertake gymnastic contortions patting ourselves on the back for heading off an autocratic insurrection that would have nullified the presidential election, perhaps we should take a sobering look at just how lucky we were.Yes, democracy, the rule of law and the Constitution of the United States...
Virginia Republicans appear to be sticking with their plans to hold a convention to select their nominees for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.The decision has not come easily. The party’s central committee has been divided for weeks, leading to procedural deadlock, convoluted parliamentary maneuvers and increasingly heated debate...
For the last decade, Virginia has banned private plans on the state’s health insurance exchange from covering abortions in all but narrow circumstances.But in an almost entirely party-line vote on Friday, the state Senate passed a bill from Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, that would remove that prohibition in state...
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s first policy focus after being sworn in? Overhauling the disjointed federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which claimed another 4,400 American lives on his first day in office alone.“The brutal truth is, it’s going to take months before we can get the majority of...
