GOVERNMENT + POLITICS
Virginia’s Bureau of Insurance recovers more than $3.4 million for consumers so far this year
The State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Insurance has recovered more than $3.4 million worth of benefits and savings so far this year through complaint investigations, managed care appeals and market conduct examinations, according to a news release. Two of the bureau’s divisions — Life and Health and Property and Casualty — recovered the money for […]
White supremacy, Bigfoot erotica attack lines take center stage as newcomers vie for vacant 5th District seat
Editor’s note: Whether Democrats can retake the House of Representatives is the big storyline of this fall’s midterm election cycle. Four competitive Virginia House races for seats currently held by Republicans, profiled this week in a series in the Mercury, could play a key role come Election Day. In the aftermath of last year’s deadly […]
Could changes be coming to Virginia’s alcohol-ratio law for restaurants?
Sen. Bill DeSteph used to visit a restaurant in Arlington for a $50 glass of tequila. The Republican senator from Virginia Beach likes high-end tequila, he said, but his go-to spot in Northern Virginia closed. Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, once visited a restaurant in Washington D.C. that served expensive craft spirits hand-picked from North Carolina. […]
House Republicans release redistricting plan that would maintain political status quo
As promised last week, Republicans in the House of Delegates put forward a redistricting plan Tuesday that protects incumbents by slightly tilting competitive districts in favor of the party that currently holds the seat. Republicans said in a release that the new districts were drawn without racial data and described them as a politically neutral […]
Race for 2nd District could indicate how far ‘blue wave’ can carry Democrats
Editor’s note: Whether Democrats can retake the House of Representatives is the big storyline of this fall’s midterm election cycle. Four competitive Virginia House races for seats currently held by Republicans, profiled this week in a series in the Mercury, could play a key role come Election Day. As a small business owner in Norfolk, […]
Virginia Department of Health sends nurses to North Carolina
The state’s Department of Health, along with local departments in Fairfax and Arlington counties, are sending 35 public health nurses to North Carolina to provide emergency shelters with medical support in the wake of Hurricane Florence, which has so far killed 23 people. The first 22 nurses left Virginia on Sunday, while the state’s remaining […]
Mandatory evacuation order drove state storm prep costs to $60 million; Virginia sheriffs sued for not heeding it
The state estimates that the cost of preparing for Hurricane Florence will total nearly $60 million, Virginia Secretary of Finance Aubrey Lane said Monday. He said that’s more than the most the state has ever spent up front on a storm response, a result of the decision to issue a mandatory evacuation order for about 240,000 […]
Thousands of Virginia inmates are believed to have hepatitis C and can’t access the cure
The state treated Elmo Augustus Reid’s hepatitis C once before. It didn’t work. An inmate at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Reid was treated in 2013 once he had fibrosis, or scarring, on his liver. He was given drugs that had been used to treat hepatitis C for years, but with little likelihood of […]
ABC and Va. Lottery, which delivered more than $1 billion in revenue last year, have never gotten a full review by legislative audit commission
Two state agencies that have grown to be major revenue sources have never been comprehensively reviewed by the 45-year-old legislative commission created to oversee Virginia government. And staff at the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission think it’s time for the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority and Virginia Lottery to be the subjects of audits […]
NYT poll gives Brat slight edge over Spanberger, illustrates difficulty of polling
A New York Times-Siena College poll of the state’s 7th Congressional District says Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Brat has a slight edge over his Democratic challenger, former CIA operative Abigail Spanberger. The poll of 501 people puts Brat’s likely share of the vote at 47 percent and Spanberger’s at 43 percent. Of the respondents, 9 […]
After Virginia Supreme Court dismisses appeal, Brown says she will run a write-in campaign
Shaun Brown, an independent candidate running for Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District seat, won’t be on the ballot after the state Supreme Court dismissed her appeal. Richmond Circuit Court Judge Gregory Rupe decided Sept. 5 that Brown’s name couldn’t be printed on ballots alongside U.S. Rep. Scott Taylor, a Republican, and Democrat Elaine Luria for the election […]
Northam administration says it will move to regulate methane leaks, unveils other new climate initiatives
Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration announced Wednesday that it would seek to regulate methane emissions from natural gas infrastructure and join a regional group of northeastern and mid-Atlantic states to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles as well as an alliance to fight ocean acidification. “More than one third of all carbon pollution comes from transportation,” Northam’s […]