As newly elected lawmakers head to Richmond, lobbyists remain; Richmond City Council speaks with potential 9th District candidates; The Life and Legacy of Enslaved Virginian Emily Winfree; and other stories
The mayor of Petersburg has stepped down from the city’s Democratic committee after appearing in campaign material for a Republican House of Delegates candidate; The State Board of Elections on Monday certified the results of November's general elections; Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney has announced his bid for Virginia governor in 2025; and other local news stories.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this episode didn't include all the bells and whistles. Sorry about that! Local businesses benefit the neighborhoods they’re in — serving residents’ specific needs and acting as local landmarks. But in Richmond, local businesses are less likely to be owned by Black residents. As part of VPM News Healthy City series, Connor Scribner reports on challenges facing entrepreneurs. For more Healthy City stories, go to vpm.org/healthy.
The redevelopment of another entire city block in Scott’s Addition is moving forward, The fate of some of Dominion Energy’s prime downtown real estate holdings has taken another turn, A local developer is looking to add about 550 new residential units in western Chesterfield, all of which would be age-restricted; and other local business stories.
The Virginia Department of Education announced $12 million dollars in security grants for hundreds of schools across the commonwealth this week; Governor Glenn Youngkin said he’s QUOTE “extremely worried about the state” of college campuses and discussed Thomas Jefferson’s writings on free expression at the University of Virginia; The 2023 Dominion Energy Christmas Parade is set to begin at 10.15 a.m. Saturday at the Science Museum of Virginia.
Virginia’s executive mansion will display a Christmas tree grown in Floyd County this year; Henrico’s Board of Supervisors scheduled a public hearing to discuss the county's Green City development; Possession of small amounts of marijuana is legal in Virginia…but there’s no adult-use retail market.
Most of Virginia under a drought advisory; Richmond Public Schools launched the Build Our Own Teacher program to help full-time staff become fully-licensed; and other stories
The Richmond City School Board approved a $30 million bid to rebuild William Fox Elementary School; GRTC asks riders to weigh in on their 10-year strategic plan; Respiratory virus season arrives in Virginia with COVID, influenza and RSV; and other stories
Hanover voters struck down a referendum to elect the county’s school board on Election Day, paving the way for the board to uphold its more divisive policies; The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles is pausing work zones and lifting lane closures in the Commonwealth for Thanksgiving holiday travel; Firefighters working to contain the Matts Creek Wildfire in Bedford County got some help from Mother Nature on Tuesday.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has indicated that the budget he will introduce next month will be planned around the possibility of a mild recession after meeting with the Governor's Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates, or GACRE. Our other top audio stories today include pieces on Hopewell, Richmond Ballet and tax cuts.
Democrats in Virginia’s General Assembly are submitting key legislation ahead of the 20-24 session; Virginia State University will host one of the 20-24 Presidential Debates next fall; Relatively few children who enter Virginia’s foster care system end up being placed with relatives compared to other states.
Southside Richmond residents have been vocal about what they need to make their neighborhoods safer, healthier and more liveable.
VCU Health’s costly exit from an ill-fated downtown development project is set to get a closer look from officials on both the state and federal level; The disclosure this spring that VCU Health System had to pay $73 million to back out of a costly downtown development project revealed another financial detail that has kept some observers scratching their heads; Kinsale Capital Group is planning more than just an office renovation on the land it owns near Willow Lawn; and another Richmond brewer...
Northrup Grumman announced a new Waynesboro facility this week; Henrico County's annual State of the County address; More FBI HQ drama; and other stories
A bipartisan group of 11 Virginia lawmakers sent a letter Wednesday to the U.S. Investigator General to request an investigation into the site-selection process of the new FBI headquarters; The Hanover County school board approved a number of policy revisions, aligning the school system with the Virginia Department of Education’s trans Model Policies; The Virginia Board of Education OK’d two new lab schools on Wednesday.
The Public Utilities and Services Commission, once organized, will advise City Council and the mayor on “matters involving the operation, maintenance, and expansion of the City’s public utilities, including natural gas, clean drinking water, wastewater, solid waste, and stormwater.”
Republicans in the House of Delegates have elected Todd Gilbert as house minority leader after Tuesday’s election results gave Democrats control; Virginia Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger says she is running for governor in 2025 - instead of seeking reelection next year; Richmond City Councilor Mike Jones announced last week that he’s resigning at the end of December to represent Southside as a Virginia state delegate.
The latest Virginia election updates; Two planned emergency housing shelters in Richmond could take a step forward at tonight's City Council meeting; Richmond installs four speed enforcement cameras at two schools on a trial basis; and other stories
Henrico-based Brandefy topped this year’s RVA 25 list of the region’s fastest-growing companies; A former senior manager with Richmond’s public works department will serve more than two years in prison for his role in a yearslong scheme that defrauded the city of over $600,000 in department contracts; Two years after leaving the kitchen at Quirk Hotel and striking out on his own in Midlothian, David Dunlap is readying another concept a couple miles away; and the region’s 46th brewery and first i...
After years of back and forth, a federal agency announced Wednesday that the FBI’s new headquarters will be built in Maryland, not Virginia; State Senator Jennifer Boysko announced thursday that she will run for U.S. Congress to represent Virginia’s 10th District; Mental health in the U-S has worsened since the pandemic, hitting children especially hard.
Governor Glenn Youngkin discussed the remainder of his term at the Virginia capitol after Democrats regain statehouse control; The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday in a case that will determine whether the Department of Veterans Affairs owes a Virginia military veteran more education benefits; and other stories
If certified, Tuesday night's unofficial results means GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin will have to work with them for the remainder of his term. Hear the latest election news from VPM News alongside the pre-recorded episode by Kim Strother, which includes the apparent failure of Richmond's second casino referendum, early vote counts, a wildfire state of emergency and more.
Peak voting times are usually in the early morning and the final few hours before polls close at 7 p.m. Today, VPM News is re-airing some of the team’s recent work, including pieces on local referendums, voting rights and access, and the last entry in our 2023 voter guide.
The maternal mortality rate in Virginia more than doubled between 2018 and 2020.
Richmond’s efforts to increase housing availability in the city is getting a funding boost from a national nonprofit; More than five years after launching the Pulse, GRTC has a project in the works to introduce new, larger buses to the rapid-transit line; The Franklin Inn has changed hands for the second time in less than 10 years; and other local business stories.
Saturday is the last day of in-person early voting ahead of Tuesday’s general election; Governor Glenn Youngkin issued a new executive order this week following several student overdoses in Northern Virginia; The Chickahominy tribe is receiving a 25-thousand-dollar grant from the Comcast Corporation to improve internet connectivity.
Criminal justice advocates and Democrats are doubling down on calls for a federal investigation into the removal of 3400 voters from Virginia’s rolls; Dominion preps grid for renewables, surging electric demand; Suburban women in Virginia likely to decide control of General Assembly; and other stories.
A group aiming to help elect Republicans is offering to collect voters’ ballots and drop them off at polling stations; A federal judge earlier this week denied a motion to suspend new state hemp regulations; Political experts say neither party has a clear lead heading into the General Assembly elections; and other local news stories.
Late last week, ballots were counted in a runoff union election between the Teamsters and The Laborers' International Union of North America to represent some Richmond workers. In June neither won a majority of the votes. On Friday, Virginia election officials said they added back nearly 3,400 voters who were mistakenly removed from the rolls – thousands more than initially projected. Isley Brewing Company has served its last … last round. With a rent hike coming, one of the longest running brew...
This summer, the advocacy group R-V-A Rapid Transit released a report outlining the state of public transit in Richmond and several recommendations for improving the service. The report noted that only 26 percent of bus stops in the city have a bench or shelter. The Greater Richmond Transit Company, GRTC, says it plans to at least double that number over the next few years. As part of the VPM News Healthy City series, Transportation reporter Ian Stewart caught up with some riders who talked abou...
