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Richmond judges recuse themselves from ex-DPU director’s lawsuit against city
Richmond’s Circuit Court judges are just like the rest of us, said local veteran defense attorney Steven Benjamin. All seven of the judges on that bench live within the city limits as required by state law and, as a result, were “affected in the same way” as everyone else by the six-day water outage of January 2025. That could very well be the reason every one of those judges recused themselves from hearing former utilities department Director April Bingham’s wrongful termination lawsuit against Mayor Danny Avula and other city officials, Benjamin said.
Perriello wants to represent Nelson County, regardless of redistricting
Former U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th, will continue to run for Congress, whether it’s in the existing 5th Congressional District, or the 6th District under a new congressional map proposed by Democrats in Richmond. Speaking at a town hall meeting hosted by the Nelson County Democratic Committee and attended by about 60 people on Feb. 18, Perriello said when he ran against Ralph Northam in the Democratic primary for governor in 2017, he received 73% of the vote in the area that would become part of the new 6th District under the proposed maps.
‘Tracking everybody, everywhere’: Richmonders rally against Flock license plate readers
Flock camera surveillance technology utilized by the Richmond Police Department to help solve crimes is at the center of controversy, with demonstrators rallying against their use in the city Monday night. “Big brother, no way — we want Flock to go away,” protestors chanted during a Monday, Feb. 23 rally. Demonstrators argued the license plate reader program fuels mass surveillance and threatens community safety by tracking daily life without judicial oversight. “If I stand at the end of my driveway, I can see four Flock ALPRs,” said Cullen Murr, a 5th District resident, during a Monday meeting of Richmond City Council. “I cannot leave home in a vehicle without being tracked.”
Environmental, Community Groups to Challenge Regulators’ Approval of Dominion’s Gas Plant
Three climate and justice nonprofits filed a notice before the Virginia Supreme Court on Tuesday that they would appeal a state regulator’s approval of a new Dominion Energy natural gas plant in Chesterfield County. Filed by Appalachian Voices, Mothers Out Front and the Chesterfield County Branch of the NAACP, the appeal would be the first of its kind under the Virginia Environmental Justice Act, a 2020 law seeking to prevent disproportionate harm to communities of color and low-income areas that have endured decades of fossil fuel pollution.
Bill that would make it harder to sue against developments tabled for further workshopping
Among a slate of bills lawmakers introduced this year to address housing stock and affordability issues was House Bill 447 by Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax. It aimed to curb people filing lawsuits to stall housing developments by fine-tuning requirements for legal challenges against local government land use decisions. “The bill itself was to try and limit the abilities of vexatious NIMBYs,” Simon said, a reference to the term “not in my backyard,” which is used to describe people who oppose developments. “That’s the sort of bad action we’re trying to stop.”
Yancey: Roanoke College poll shows redistricting vote would fail 52% to 44% if held now
The push to hold a referendum on whether to redraw Virginia’s congressional lines before November’s midterms is currently held up in court, but if Virginians could vote, they’d vote against redistricting. Those are the findings of the latest Roanoke College poll, which found that 52% would vote against the proposed constitutional amendment that would enable redistricting, while 44% would vote in favor. This poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.43 percentage points, is the first public poll taken since the proposed map of new lines was released that shows how Democrats seek to knock out four of the state’s five Republican U.S. House members.
Seymour: Virginia’s partisan gerrymandering: Desperate times call for desperate measures
In a few short weeks, Virginia voters will be afforded a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save our nation’s democracy. On Feb. 13, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that Virginia’s General Assembly can hold a statewide referendum on redrawing Virginia’s Congressional districts. Although a Circuit Court judge in deep red Tazewell County issued, on Thursday, an order restraining Democrat leaders from proceeding with the referendum, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones is confident that the Virginia Supreme Court will, once again, reverse that ruling and allow the vote to proceed.
Yancey: Why Virginia’s lobster is blue: A closer look at the political dynamics in the proposed congressional districts
Land doesn’t vote, people do. That’s a point that has to get emphasized every time there’s one of those red-and-blue election maps that shows a geographically small slice of Virginia (or the United States) outvoting everything. That’s simply where the people are. Accordingly, simply looking at the Democrats’ proposed congressional redistricting maps — subject to a Virginia Supreme Court ruling and maybe an April 21 referendum after that — doesn’t necessarily give a good picture of where the population in each district is. The proposed 7th District, now dubbed “the lobster district” because of its crustacean-like shape, encompasses a lot of rural territory through the Piedmont, the Shenandoah Valley and even parts of Southside, but its population base is inside the Beltway.
Jones: No place for skill games in Virginia
With a renewed mandate to focus on consumer prices and affordability, the Virginia General Assembly is curiously advancing a proposal it just can’t seem to shake: legalizing convenience store slot machines that have been proliferating in gas stations and similar establishments. I spent more than four decades in law enforcement and public service, including serving as Louisiana’s top gambling regulator. What I learned over that career is simple: there is no such thing as risk-free gaming. But there are minimum standards for safety and responsibility that can — and must — be enforced. While I have many concerns about so-called “skill” games, the most troubling is their impact on low-income communities.
Italian rocket manufacturer to bring 1,500 jobs, $500 million investment to Pittsylvania
An Italian rocket manufacturer will bring over $500 million in investment and more than 1,500 jobs to Pittsylvania County, state officials announced Monday. Avio will build a facility at an industrial park in Hurt where it will manufacture solid rocket motors for defense, propulsion, missile systems and the commercial space sectors, according to a news release from Gov. Abigail Spanberger. This is the second-largest economic development deal in Southside Virginia history, topped only by the 2024 announcement that Microporous, a lithium-battery separator manufacturer, would invest $1.3 billion at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill and create just over 2,000 jobs.