News
An asexual, swarming tick has invaded Virginia
The scene could be plucked from science fiction. Or maybe a horror movie. Picture hundreds of ticks swarming over a horse’s head in Virginia’s Warren County and thousands crawling up a New Jersey woman’s arm as she shears her sheep. The longhorned tick has been known to spread deadly disease in its native eastern Asia, […]
Scenes from Charlottesville: 1,000 police officers, an anti-racist march and some minor scuffles
Downtown Charlottesville felt like the green zone of a war-torn city Saturday. More than a thousand local and state police officers barricaded 10 blocks of the city’s popular pedestrian district, the Downtown Mall, to prepare for the one-year anniversary of the white supremacist rally last year that left dozens injured and one dead. To enter, […]
Federal agency halts Atlantic Coast Pipeline construction
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered a halt Friday night to Dominion Energy’s 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The order came four days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond vacated the pipeline’s authorization to drill under the Blue Ridge Parkway and gave a detailed explanation for its decision in May […]
‘Medieval’ drunkard law upheld; a novel concept in rally policing; Loudoun couple fight for their meadow
Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. Upholding a ‘medieval’ law A federal appeals court shot down a challenge to a Virginia law that allows police to arrest people designated as “habitual drunkards” if they are caught with alcohol, finding that the state has a “legitimate interest” in discouraging alcohol abuse. A Legal Aid […]
Safety at public events is more important than freedom to tote weapons for Virginians, VCU survey finds
Most Virginians are willing to let law enforcement restrict weapons at public events to better ensure safety, according to a new survey by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. Seventy-five percent of adults favor letting authorities remove objects from events if they could be used as weapons while 21 percent prefer […]
Seventeen signatures is just ‘the tip of the iceberg’ in 2nd District petition controversy, attorney says
The math is in candidate Shaun Brown’s favor, for now. On Wednesday, Marc Elias, an attorney representing the Virginia Democratic Party, sent 17 affidavits to Attorney General Mark Herring from people who said they or their relatives didn’t sign petitions to get Brown on the ballot in the 2nd District congressional race. And there’s likely […]
Was last year’s rally in Charlottesville really protected speech? City may yet get an answer
The crowd hissed as a man with a full white beard and red MAGA hat approached the lectern to address Charlottesville City Council this week. He said he condemned the hateful views expressed last year, but urged tolerance of opposing viewpoints, which he said people should be able to share without fear of violence or […]
State awards contract for electric-vehicle charging network
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has picked a Los Angeles company to build a $14 million electric vehicle charging network in the state. The money comes from Virginia’s nearly $94 million share of a $10 billion settlement with Volkswagen, which admitted to secretly installing devices to cheat emissions tests. EVgo, which says it operates […]
County supervisor and Radford administrator will compete for Roanoke-area House seat
A Roanoke County supervisor and Radford University administrator will compete for the 8th House of Delegates district seat in November. Joe McNamara, a Republican businessman who was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1998, first announced his candidacy a few days after Del. Greg Habeeb said he would be leaving the legislature. “My […]
Norfolk treasurer’s corruption conviction upheld; fighting solar panels; flood damage in Lynchburg
Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. Carter Turner, a Roanoke County Democrat and administrator at Radford University, filed to run for the House of Delegates seat vacated by Del. Greg Habeeb. – The Roanoke Times A three-judge panel upheld former Norfolk treasurer and councilman Anthony Burfoot’s public corruption convictions. He was found guilty […]
As opioid epidemic drags on, meth deaths also start to rise
The drugs helped Stephanie Hague stay numb to the pain. If she left her brain alone for too long without any substances to distract it, she’d start to remember the abuse and trauma in her past. All she wanted to do was forget. “I just did not want to feel,” she said. Hague’s story is […]
Police from around the state pouring into Charlottesville
CHARLOTTESVILLE — A dive team. A giant emergency management trailer. Vans and SUVs tagged with the insignia of every major locality in central Virginia. And squad cars — hundreds and hundreds of State Police squad cars. They’re all already on the ground in Charlottesville as of Wednesday afternoon. Their arrival isn’t exactly a surprise. Police […]