News
A settlement in the Irvo Otieno case and more Va. headlines
• “The family of a man who died while handcuffed and pinned to the floor for about 11 minutes as he was being admitted to a Virginia psychiatric hospital has reached an $8.5 million settlement with the state, county and the sheriff whose deputies were involved in restraining the man.”—Associated Press • A congressional committee advanced a […]
House District 97: Democrat Feggans vs. incumbent Republican Greenhalgh
In the Virginia Beach-centered 97th House District, a close race is shaping up between Republican incumbent and entrepreneur Del. Karen Greenhalgh and Democratic Air Force veteran Michael Feggans. Greenhalgh, who is finishing out her first term in office, has founded several cabinet manufacturing and cybersecurity businesses, as well as managing a pregnancy crisis center. While […]
A ‘disaster’ nears: Millions of federal workers’ paychecks would be on hold in a shutdown
WASHINGTON — More than 3.5 million federal employees and military personnel — many in the Washington, D.C., area but also scattered across the states and around the globe — are bracing for another partial government shutdown, as U.S. House Republicans struggle to produce a short-term plan to fund the government past the end of the […]
After ERIC withdrawal, Virginia strikes deals with 6 states to share voter data
The Virginia Department of Elections recently signed agreements to exchange voter registration data with six other states
Virginia sees big tax bump from sports betting and casinos
Virginia is collecting more tax revenue from sports betting and casinos than fiscal analysts predicted four years ago when the state was considering legalizing more types of gambling. Taxes from sports betting more than doubled in fiscal year 2023, according to Virginia Lottery figures presented Tuesday, jumping to $67 million from $27 million the prior […]
Migrant child labor at an Eastern Shore poultry plant and more Va. headlines
• A 14-year-old Guatemalan boy’s arm was mangled by a machine while working the night cleaning shift at a poultry plant on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, drawing attention to the open secret of migrant child labor in American slaughterhouses.—New York Times • Virginia’s new budget allows breweries to distribute some of their own beer, a step back from […]
After Hurley and Whitewood floods, Virginia considers state relief fund
Over the past two years, two major deluges in the towns of Hurley and Whitewood in Southwest Virginia have caused catastrophic flooding that left dozens of homes destroyed and one woman dead. But as the communities have struggled to rebuild, federal relief has been limited. In response, state legislators have dipped into state funds earmarked […]
Virginia officials say school mental health pilot ‘successfully launched’ new services
Virginia’s behavioral health agency is recommending policymakers continue developing a plan for mental health care for youth after a pilot program ended last spring. Under the school-based mental health pilot program, six Virginia school divisions — Bristol, Hanover, Hopewell, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg and Richmond city — increased mental health services for students using a combined $2.5 […]
Health care workers in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. authorize strike against Kaiser Permanente
Some 3,800 union health care workers in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., are threatening to go on strike at the end of this month if the leadership at Kaiser Permanente and the union cannot agree to a new contract addressing staffing shortages and low pay for workers. According to a Monday statement from the Office […]
Wexton won’t seek reelection after diagnosis and more Va. headlines
• U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Loudoun, announced that she won’t seek reelection in her competitive Northern Virginia district next year after being diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, an incurable neurological condition. “People I know know I’ve struggled for a long time,” Wexton said. “I’ll be able to relax and enjoy the time I have left and […]
Senate District 24 race: Republican Diggs vs. incumbent Democrat Mason
Redistricting has put a major spotlight on Senate District 24, which runs from Williamsburg to Poquoson in Virginia’s Tidewater area and reaches south to a portion of Newport News. As national money floods into the race, both candidates are acknowledging the importance to their party of the seat, but remain determined to run locally focused […]
Despite success, Va. public-private program for early childhood care still far from meeting need
Although almost 157,000 infants and toddlers in Virginia were eligible for publicly funded early childhood care and education services last year, data from the Virginia Department of Education shows over 90% lacked access to them. The same goes for more than half of the state’s approximately 128,000 eligible preschool-age children. In an effort to fill […]