It’s been 10 months since former Governor Ralph Northam handed over the keys to the Executive Mansion to Glenn Youngkin. A new book by former Virginian-Pilot reporter Margaret Edds takes a deeper look at Northam’s tenure. Edds’ book focuses on how the discovery of a racist photo on Northam’s medical school yearbook page nearly cost him his job — but, instead, led to an unusual rebound. VPM News reporter Ben Paviour spoke to Edds about the book.
Nov 14, 2022•6 min•Ep. 515
Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears said Thursday she won’t support former President Donald Trump if he makes a third run for president; School boards in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake will look different after this week’s election; A Republican delegate from Virginia Beach has proposed a constitutional amendment that would introduce term limits for members of the General Assembly; and other local news stories.
Nov 11, 2022•10 min•Ep. 517
Virginia’s two state-funded grant programs are supposed to benefit the neediest college students, but that’s not always the case; Students from Virginia’s historically Black colleges and universities will tutor and mentor children in K to 12 schools; Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney is set to propose a onetime real estate tax rebate on Monday; and other local news stories.
Nov 10, 2022•9 min•Ep. 516
Democrats were re-elected in two out of three close Virginia Congressional races Tuesday; Some voters in the City of Richmond and Chesterfield County faced issues while trying to cast their ballot; It will probably be next week before we know how many Virginians registered the same day they voted; and other local news stories.
Nov 09, 2022•7 min•Ep. 515
Three close Congressional elections in Virginia could give a hint of whether election night will bring a red wave; Nonpartisan state auditors say the COVID-19 pandemic had an unprecedented impact on K through 12 students; A second G-R-T-C rapid bus transit route, similar to the Pulse, is in the works; and other local news stories.
Nov 08, 2022•6 min•Ep. 514
In the past two elections, Virginia poll workers had to wear masks and keep their distance from voters because of the pandemic. This year, officials are turning their attention to poll worker safety for another concern – potential interference from people who don't trust the election process.
Nov 07, 2022•6 min•Ep. 513
Governor Glenn Youngkin’s tip line for parents is no more; The Cordish Companies is considering a Wagner Road location for a potential casino in Petersburg; The Chesapeake Bay Foundation recently released a report on the economic benefits of fighting agricultural pollution in the Bay; and other local news stories.
Nov 04, 2022•6 min•Ep. 512
The number of eviction hearings in Virginia is up since the middle of the year, and advocates fear it could get worse; A Richmond city council member has withdrawn a proposal to rename the Robert E. Lee Memorial Bridge; A section of a popular hiking and biking trail now belongs to the Capital Region Land Conservancy; and other local news stories.
Nov 03, 2022•7 min•Ep. 511
State Senator Amanda Chase says she’ll introduce a bill designed to ban all abortions in Virginia; Latino voters drifted away Democrats in 2020. The abortion issue could bring them back; Some call center employees staged strikes across the country on Tuesday; and other local news stories.
Nov 02, 2022•11 min•Ep. 510
The Virginia Department of Elections says they’ve found nearly 150,000 unprocessed voter registration records that were caught in limbo due to an IT glitch; The Supreme Court of Virginia will consider today whether an unannounced gathering of Prince William County supervisors was illegal; The process for college admissions might be different in the wake of the pandemic; and other local news stories.
Nov 01, 2022•6 min•Ep. 509
Research shows young Americans on both sides of the aisle are more likely than older Americans to think the government isn’t doing enough to protect the climate. Patrick Larsen spoke with two young clean energy advocates about what they want to hear from candidates this election.
Oct 31, 2022•6 min•Ep. 508
Community groups that cared for many of Richmond’s well-known parks say they can’t operate in the wake of the dissolution of the Enrichmond Foundation in July; Bon Secours began work this week on an $80 million expansion to its Harbor View facility in North Suffolk; Representative Bob Good and Democratic challenger Josh Throneburg met Wednesday for a candidate forum ahead of the November Election; and other local news stories.
Oct 28, 2022•6 min•Ep. 507
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney won’t say whether he asked for Chief Gerald Smith’s resignation; The former Colonial Heights Police Chief can no longer serve as a police officer after being decertified earlier this month; The Inspector General of Virginia is looking into whether the Virginia Tourism Corporation broke state procurement rules; and other local news stories.
Oct 27, 2022•6 min•Ep. 506
Today is the final day to submit online comments related to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s proposed model policies regarding transgender students; New test data released this week from the National Center for Education Statistics illustrates the scope of pandemic-related learning loss for Virginia students; Chesterfield County voters can now cast their early ballots in person at multiple places; and other local news stories.
Oct 26, 2022•6 min•Ep. 505
Starting Monday, 40 locally owned restaurants are participating in Richmond Restaurant Week; Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC has suspended eminent domain proceedings for about 70 tracts of private land in North Carolina; The ACLU of Virginia has filed a lawsuit against the Hanover County school board over its policies for transgender students; and other local news stories.
Oct 25, 2022•6 min•Ep. 504
Henrico County is asking voters to authorize $511 million in bonds to pay for investments like a replacement for the middle school. In Chesterfield County, a $540-million bond authorization is on the ballot.
Oct 24, 2022•6 min•Ep. 503
Mayor Levar Stoney supports keeping the city’s real property tax rate unchanged, instead favoring a three-percent rebate; A nonprofit and the Wells Fargo Foundation are partnering to expand home ownership in Black and brown communities around Richmond; Petersburg City Council approved The Cordish Companies as its preferred developer for a proposed casino in the city; and other local news stories.
Oct 21, 2022•6 min•Ep. 502
Virginia’s superintendent of public instruction wants another delay in approving new history standards for the K-12 curriculum; College enrollment is down nationally, but Virginia State University is seeing its highest enrollment numbers in three decades; Charlottesville is putting new personnel policies in place after a city employee attended the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol building; and other local news stories.
Oct 20, 2022•10 min•Ep. 501
Historically, the stereotype of younger voters is that they’re apathetic, disinterested or disengaged with voting and don’t show up at the polls, but a University of Virginia professor says that’s not the case; A nonpartisan commission is recommending a single state agency oversee gambling in Virginia; The organizers of a planned forum on Friday between Representative Abigail Spanberger and Republican Yesli Vega say the event won’t happen; and other local news stories.
Oct 19, 2022•9 min•Ep. 500
The City of Richmond planning commission gave first approval for the city to buy an abandoned right of way from freighting giant CSX on Monday; Governor Glenn Youngkin was in Southwest Virginia last week to further sketch out his vision for the state’s energy plan; Richmond police say they’re investigating eight shooting incidents over the weekend in which two people were killed and 10 were injured; and other local news stories.
Oct 18, 2022•6 min•Ep. 499
Members of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s administration pressed officials to cancel a no-bid state contract awarded to the ad firm he used during his campaign; and a group of teenagers in Norfolk have transformed a vacant lot into a “green oasis."
Oct 17, 2022•6 min•Ep. 498
Jackson Ward residents are seeking reparations after Interstate 95 split the neighborhood in the 1950s; The Richmond Folk Festival entertained a record number of attendees last weekend; Many colleges across the country started a new type of grading system early in the pandemic, and some are keeping that system around for this school year; and other local news stories.
Oct 14, 2022•10 min•Ep. 497
Abortion continues to be a major concern across Virginia; Gas prices are rising in Virginia following OPEC’s announcement that it is cutting oil production by 2 million barrels per day; Congressman Donald McEachin is asking Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and city council president Cynthia Newbille to initiate a flood wall climate resiliency study; and other local news stories.
Oct 13, 2022•7 min•Ep. 496
There’s been a rise in reports of antisemitism in Virginia, according to data from the Anti-Defamation League; A new report from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services says Black and Latino drivers are more likely to be stopped by police than their white counterparts; The pandemic has intensified a shortage of school bus drivers across the state, but in Richmond Public Schools, all driver vacancies have been filled; and other local news stories.
Oct 12, 2022•6 min•Ep. 495
A February trial date has been set in a lawsuit over plans to melt down the statue of Robert E. Lee that was taken down in Charlottesville last year; It’s been nearly a century since a statue of Christopher Columbus was unveiled in Richmond’s Byrd Park, and a little over two years since protesters tore it down; Researchers at the University of Virginia are getting more than three and a half million dollars to help treat Crohn’s disease; and other local news stories.
Oct 11, 2022•7 min•Ep. 494
Election Day in Virginia is less than a month away; The candidates running to represent Virginia's sixth district in the U.S. House of Representatives recently met on the debate stage; Richmond City Council may take up a final vote on legislation to create a civilian review board tonight; and other local news stories.
Oct 10, 2022•8 min•Ep. 493
Local registrars in Virginia are getting a late start updating voter rolls, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch; The Virginia Department of Education is refusing to release more than 300 pages of documents related to recently proposed policies for transgender students; Several roads will be closed near Brown’s Island in Richmond starting Friday afternoon because of the Richmond Folk Festival; and other local news stories.
Oct 07, 2022•6 min•Ep. 492
FEMA has approved a Major Disaster Declaration for Buchanan and Tazewell Counties, where extreme rainfall caused floods and landslides in July; Virginia Democrats are calling for an investigation into a state contract awarded to an ad agency connected to Governor Glenn Youngkin; For the second month in a row, Amtrak ridership in Virginia hit record highs; and other local news stories.
Oct 06, 2022•6 min•Ep. 491
Richmond school leaders will soon be convening workgroups to review curriculum materials; A new state report shows the number of people working remotely for the commonwealth of Virginia has nearly tripled from pre-pandemic levels; Organizations in Virginia are providing support in the wake of Hurricanes Ian and Fiona; and other local news stories.
Oct 05, 2022•11 min•Ep. 490
Governor Glenn Youngkin outlined the 2022 Virginia Energy Plan yesterday during a press conference in Lynchburg; Yesterday, parts of Hampton roads were preparing for significant tidal flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian; The Menokin Glass House Project in Warsaw is getting $1 million from the state; and other local news stories.
Oct 04, 2022•7 min•Ep. 489
