GOVERNMENT + POLITICS
Youngkin appoints opponent of admissions changes at TJ to Va. Board of Education
One of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s newest appointees to the Virginia Board of Education formed a group to fight admissions changes at one of the state’s most prestigious high schools. Suparna Dutta, co-founder of the Coalition for TJ, was named to the board Thursday along with four other picks, including the executive director of the Virginia […]
Kitten rescue lawsuit fails to save Virginia’s charity poker industry
VIRGINIA BEACH — Billy the Kidden fought the law. And the law won. A cat-focused animal rescue in Virginia Beach went to court Thursday to try to block a General Assembly-ordered crackdown on charitable poker games from taking effect Friday, when a new law will kick in threatening unlicensed poker rooms with fines of $25,000 […]
New data show gun-related injuries on the rise in Virginia emergency rooms
Emergency room visits for gun-related injuries in Virginia increased by 72 percent between 2018 and 2021, and Black patients — particularly young Black men — are disproportionately impacted by gun violence, according to new data released Thursday by the Virginia Department of Health. The statistics were included on the agency’s firearm injury surveillance dashboard, launched […]
Trump’s fake electors: Here’s the full list
The 84 people who signed bogus documents claiming that Donald Trump won the 2020 election include dozens of local Republican Party leaders, four current candidates for public office, six current officeholders and at least five previous state and federal officeholders. Groups from Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin all allegedly met in December 2020 and sent lists of so-called alternate electors […]
Virginia lawmakers punt on bills aimed at limiting partisan election oversight
Despite getting several extra months to negotiate, Virginia lawmakers went home for the summer without a deal on proposals to limit partisan influence in the state’s election bureaucracy. Legislation that would have removed the governor’s power to appoint the state elections commissioner and given the two major parties equal representation on the State Board of […]
Virginia declines to join federal-state offshore wind partnership
A partnership announced last week between the federal government and 11 East Coast states that aims to speed up offshore wind development has one noticeable absence: Virginia. A press release from President Joe Biden’s administration describes the Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership as a joint effort between the White House national climate adviser, four cabinet […]
Virginia is spending millions to boost security at state-run mental hospitals
Over the next two years, Virginia will spend more than $8 million to boost security at its state-run psychiatric hospitals, adding a total of 65 positions across eight facilities. The additional funding, approved in the state’s latest two-year spending plan, comes as the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services continues to grapple with […]
Trump had to be physically restrained from joining Jan. 6 mob, House panel told
Donald Trump had to be held back from joining his enraged, rioting supporters — even after the president was told they were armed — in their assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to astonishing testimony to the Jan. 6 committee Tuesday from a former top White House aide. Trump, spewing expletives, was so angry at […]
U.S. HHS chief vows to protect abortion access, but says much depends on states
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra pledged Tuesday to work to preserve abortion access in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s “despicable” decision overturning Roe v. Wade — though the department’s specific actions will depend on how states seeking to limit abortion access proceed. Becerra said HHS would enforce federal laws to […]
Federal lawmakers aim to crack down on ‘dark patterns’ that trick users online
WASHINGTON — Tech companies sometimes lure users to sign up for a service or share information they might not have agreed to otherwise by using subtle tactics and marketing on their websites and apps, like surveys that mine for personal information or designs that hide privacy settings. But these practices — commonly called “dark patterns” […]
U.S. Senate Democrats urge ‘bold action’ by Biden on abortion rights
Most of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate have signed on to a letter to President Joe Biden pressing him to “take immediate action” to protect abortion rights, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Friday ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. The one-page letter, led by Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray of Washington and […]
The Richmond Department of Veterans Affairs is scaling down its research on laboratory dogs
The Department of Veterans Affairs is about halfway through its congressionally mandated five-year plan to eliminate or reduce the use of canines, felines and non-human primates in biomedical research. Two approved experiments, or protocols, on canines were still active in March at the Hunter Holmes McGuire Medical Center in Richmond, according to Freedom of Information […]