A group of Democratic Virginia Senators shared a list of complaints with the state Supreme Court yesterday. They’re concerned with Republican nominees for Special Master, who will eventually help the court draw new legislative maps; The Virginia Employment Commission has made headway in clearing a backlog of disputed unemployment claims; The fate of two proposed constitutional amendments are unclear after Republicans seemed to win control of the House of Delegates last week; new testimony in the...
Nov 09, 2021•7 min•Ep. 278
Virginia’s governor-elect, Republican Glenn Youngkin, toured the executive mansion and met with its current inhabitant, Democrat Ralph Northam yesterday; Incoming Attorney General Jason Miyares says his office will focus more on addressing crime; One of the country’s most prominent white nationalist leaders took the stand yesterday in the trial against organizers of the 2017 Unite the Right rally; and other local news stories.
Nov 05, 2021•9 min•Ep. 275
Glenn Youngkin will be Virginia’s first GOP Governor since Bob McDonnell left office in 2014, which means he’ll also be the first Republican since then to appoint top state government officials; Attorneys for the nine people who are suing the organizers of the deadly Unite the Right rally brought their first expert to the stand yesterday; Virginia began its rollout of COVID-19 vaccines for children 5 to 11-years-old; and other local news stories.
Nov 04, 2021•5 min•Ep. 276
Projected results for the governor's race, hiccups at polling places and updates on Richmond's casino referendum, and many other stories.
Nov 03, 2021•7 min
Registrars are already counting early votes in the hopes of reducing delays in election results. Even so, we won’t know the official results of any races on Election Night; In a last push before Election Day, civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton visited Richmond to speak in support of a voter referendum to build a casino; Twenty barbers stationed at Fort Lee have won the right to keep 53 percent of their earnings after being on strike since July; and other local news stories.
Nov 02, 2021•6 min•Ep. 274
Opening arguments began yesterday in the civil trial against the white nationalists who organized the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville; Dominion Energy is becoming a talking point in the Virginia governor’s race; Richmond voters will decide on their ballots whether to allow a casino to open in the city’s Southside neighborhood; and other local news stories.
Oct 29, 2021•7 min•Ep. 273
A jury of 12 has been seated in the trial against white nationalist groups who planned the Unite the Right rally; With Election Day less than a week away, Virginia localities are required to start processing early votes in the hopes of reducing post-election delays; Virginia Senator Mark Warner is continuing to monitor ongoing mail delivery issues with the U.S. Postal service; and other local news stories.
Oct 28, 2021•5 min•Ep. 272
Data from the Richmond Police Department shows that from 2020 to 2021 there were 605 reported crimes in the city’s six largest public housing neighborhoods. Residents and advocates say these neighborhoods are over-policed; Teachers in Chesterfield who wish to take training courses will have to sign a form promising the sessions do not include critical race theory; Next month, Richmond city officials say a temporary shelter is expected to open that will house people experiencing homelessness this...
Oct 27, 2021•10 min•Ep. 271
Jury selection is underway in a trial against white nationalists who planned the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville; The Virginia Redistricting Commission has missed a final deadline to draw new state legislative maps, kicking the process to the Virginia Supreme Court; Hampton Roads’ stake in offshore wind just got a lot bigger; and other local news stories.
Oct 26, 2021•7 min•Ep. 270
Richmond Police are trying to identify who defaced a mural of tennis player Arthur Ashe Jr. in Battery Park with white supremacist imagery; The Supreme Court of Virginia won’t reconsider its decision to allow Governor Ralph Northam to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond; President Joe Biden will be campaigning with gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe; and other local news stories.
Oct 22, 2021•6 min•Ep. 269
The Virginia Redistricting Commission has tentatively cancelled its remaining meetings; Henrico Police are increasing patrols in parts of the county, after finding suspicious bags filled with KKK flyers; Petersburg will not be mandating its employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19; and other local news stories.
Oct 21, 2021•6 min•Ep. 268
Only two public school districts in Central Virginia have fully adopted policies in line with the Virginia Department of Education’s model for the treatment of transgender students in schools; While Virginia is starting to see a slight decline in COVID-19 infections, children now account for more than 20 percent of new cases; More veterans in Virginia will have to wait to get approval for their disability claims; and other local news stories.
Oct 20, 2021•9 min•Ep. 267
JLARC has released its report after investigating the state's adult guardianship program; A national Republican group helped draft a congressional map considered by Virginia’s redistricting committee; Nearly 30 real estate companies in the greater Richmond area are being prosecuted for alleged housing discrimination; and other local news stories.
Oct 19, 2021•7 min•Ep. 266
Derailed redistricting commission begins work on congressional maps; New addition to state's vaccination dashboard; and many other stories.
Oct 15, 2021•8 min
A new analysis from The Commonwealth Institute shows underfunding leaves many students, who are English language learners, behind; Henrico County GreenCity project approved; and other local news stories.
Oct 14, 2021•6 min
A VPM investigation reveals racial disparities in distribution of COVID relief grants, President Obama to stump for Former Gov. McAuliffe, and a candidate running to represent Chesapeake in the House of Delegates was arrested.
Oct 13, 2021•6 min
Redistricting process mired in partisan fighting, voter registration deadline nearing, attorney general candidates spar over prosecution priorities, Richmond recognizes Indigenous Peoples Day, a new mutual aid 'store' opens, and more
Oct 12, 2021•10 min•Ep. 261
As Virginia prepares to choose its next Governor, activists are calling for better environmental justice protections; Residents in Richmond’s Northside neighborhood are taking their grievances over traffic calming measures to the next level; Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists have made an exciting discovery at the site of the original First Baptist Church; and other local news stories.
Oct 08, 2021•7 min•Ep. 260
Chesterfield state Senator Amanda Chase is calling for an election audit in all 50 states, including Virginia; Senator Tim Kaine is among those sponsoring new voting rights legislation in Congress; State officials say they have not decided when to take down the fence around the traffic circle where the Robert E. Lee statue once stood; and other local news stories.
Oct 07, 2021•6 min•Ep. 260
Richmonders living in areas of high poverty are more likely to have had COVID-19 than those living in wealthier areas; The state denied hospitals’ requests for emergency waivers as COVID surged this summer, according to internal emails; The Richmond school board decided this week to keep police in schools for the foreseeable future; and other local news stories.
Oct 06, 2021•6 min•Ep. 259
Hospitals across the country, and in Virginia, are facing an influx of COVID-positive patients, the majority of whom are unvaccinated; Hundreds of Virginia healthcare workers have been suspended or fired for not following hospital COVID-19 vaccination mandates; Virginia’s new redistricting commission is hearing feedback this week on new political maps for the General Assembly; and other local news stories.
Oct 05, 2021•6 min•Ep. 258
The Supreme Court of Virginia has refused an appeal from the company Virginia Uranium, to overturn the state’s ban on uranium mining; Residents of Richmond’s Northside neighborhood are upset about the removal of several traffic calming measures known as “bump outs"; Virginia State University sports fans will have to prove they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 before attending games; and other local news stories.
Oct 01, 2021•5 min•Ep. 257
The State Water Control Board held two in-person public comment hearings on a key Mountain Valley Pipeline permit this week, but an open letter to state officials called for an additional virtual hearing; The property owners who sued to stop Governor Ralph Northam from taking down Richmond’s statue of Robert E. Lee are asking the Virginia Supreme Court to reconsider its unanimous decision to permit the monument’s removal; Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts will celebrate the l...
Sep 30, 2021•9 min•Ep. 256
New state filings by Dominion Energy show the utility company paid a newspaper columnist more than $260,000 over the last four years; The Virginia Employment Commission is delaying the roll out of its new unemployment insurance system by a month; The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce hosted the final gubernatorial debate last night between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin; and other local news stories.
Sep 29, 2021•6 min•Ep. 255
Richmond Police are still searching for leads in a number of missing persons cases; The opening of a museum marks the beginning of a community's journey to repair the broken perspective of Black history in the Appalachian region of Virginia; Two more polling locations are opening today in the City of Richmond; and other local news stories.
Sep 28, 2021•7 min•Ep. 254
The night before the Robert E. Lee statue was removed from Richmond’s Monument Avenue; all traces of the movement that led to it being taken down were confiscated and stored by state officials.; Petersburg has banned firearms in the city’s public areas; Virginia’s Redistricting Commission again struggled with directing its map drawers on which data to prioritize; and other local news stories.
Sep 24, 2021•6 min•Ep. 253
Attorney General Mark Herring is highlighting his efforts to defend abortion rights ahead of the November Election; A new monument now stands on Brown’s Island in Richmond. It commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation; Despite Governor Ralph Northam’s request that state employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, many workers are opting for weekly testing instead; and other local news stories.
Sep 23, 2021•7 min•Ep. 252
Virginia’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission will unveil the Emancipation and Freedom Monument on Brown’s Island in Richmond this morning; Passengers who rely on the GRTC may have to make some adjustments this winter; The mother of Xzavier Hill, a Black teen shot and killed by Virginia State Police during a traffic stop, is petitioning the Richmond Circuit Court to solicit testimony from the troopers; and other local news stories.
Sep 22, 2021•7 min•Ep. 251
Police are investigating a shooting that happened Monday at Heritage High School in Newport News; Two groups of partisan map-drawers have presented new drafts for the Virginia Redistricting Commission to consider; A real estate listing for a building that used to host slave auctions has stirred up debate in Charlottesville; and other local news stories.
Sep 21, 2021•8 min•Ep. 250
A shortage of nurses is limiting options for COVID-19 testing in Chesterfield County schools; The commission drawing Virginia’s new General Assembly and congressional maps voted unanimously this week that it won’t be guided by political data or where incumbents live; Nearly three-quarters of Virginia voters view the health of the Chesapeake Bay as important according to a new poll; and other local news stories.
Sep 17, 2021•6 min•Ep. 249
