The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is well underway, and while Republicans are busy in Virginia, Democrat delegates seem to be taking a break from political action this week.
That’s according to Ben Tribbett and Danny Barefoot, two political consultants who work with the Democratic Party in Virginia.
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Election season is in full swing, and with the Democratic National Convention (DNC) underway, the Trump campaign and Republican National Convention (RNC) are busy with counterprogramming this week.
Samantha Cotten, the Regional Communications Director for the Trump campaign, said that Republicans are focusing on 17 battleground states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
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Republican John Kasich, who served as Ohio’s governor from 2011-2019 and ran in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, delivered a speech on the first night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) Monday.
Kasich, who refused to support Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, spoke to the current political division in America, saying that “America is at a crossroads.”
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Ibrahim Bouaichi, an inmate in Virginia who was released on bond from jail due to the Coronavirus pandemic, made headlines last week for allegedly killing his accuser.
At the time of his release, the jail where Bouaichi was held had no recorded cases of COVID-19.
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A report from Virginia’s Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG) alleges that the Virginia Parole Board (VPB) acted illegally and violated parole board policies earlier this year.
The report from the Virginia OSIG found the Virginia Parole Board and its former chairperson, Adrianne Bennett, “violated both state law and parole board policies earlier this year in granting parole to the murderer of a police officer.”
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The Virginia legislature is considering laws that would remove qualified immunity for law enforcement officers.
On August 13, Democrats in the House announced a list of items they will introduce into the legislature’s Special Session.
Among these items is the “[elimination of] qualified immunity for law enforcement officers.”
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While many public schools across Virginia will keep their doors closed in lieu of virtual classrooms this fall, a private school may be the in-person educational option parents and students are looking for.
Fork Union Military Academy (FUMA) (7-12, male-only) is one such option. The boarding military school is known for its “One Subject Plan.” Students are enrolled in one subject at a time, allowing them to focus on one specific area of study for 7 weeks at a time. FUMA will offer in-person classes and athletics programs during the fall while taking necessary precautions for the health of its students and staff.
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Virginia’s legislature will meet in a Special Session on August 18, and House Democrats are eyeing new laws and regulations that will place tighter regulations on Virginia police departments and officers.
In a statement released today, the House Democrats listed a myriad of points (detailed at the end of the article) they hope to address by introducing new legislation during the Special Session.
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Protests in the City of Richmond took a turn for the worse late Tuesday night as vandalism and violence broke out, damaging multiple city buildings.
The James Center, Sun Trust building, John Marshall Courts Building, and other city buildings in Richmond had their windows smashed in by a group of roughly 50 people, the Washington Post reports
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Many public schools in Virginia won’t start until the end of August, but Thales Academy in Glen Allen is already off to a strong start for the 2020-2021 school year.
Thales, which is a private school with campuses in Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, started their school year on July 20.
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The Virginia legislature is considering laws that would remove qualified immunity for law enforcement officers.
The proposed legislation would remove protection for police officers that prevents individuals from suing an officer in civil court under certain circumstances.
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Nashville Metro police arrested 4 people and cited 42 others for violating mask mandates over the weekend on Broadway.
The police wrote 20 citations on Friday, 18 on Saturday, and four on Sunday. One arrest was made Friday, and three were made Saturday.
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Dr. Simone Gold, a board-certified emergency physician and the founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, has responded to Twitter’s removal of her tweet about treatments for COVID-19 and locking her out of her account.
In her response, Dr. Gold – who also graduated from Stanford Law School after completing her medical degree – called out her temporary Twitter ban, calling the action “another classic case of tech censorship against anyone who speaks out against the media narrative.”
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A Virginia inmate who was released from jail because of the Coronavirus pandemic is back in police custody for allegedly murdering his accuser.
Ibrahm Elkahlil Bouaichi, a 33-year-old man who was arrested for allegedly raping his ex-girlfriend Karla Elizabeth Dominguez Gonzalez in October 2019 and held without bond, was arrested Wednesday morning for shooting and killing Gonzalez on July 29.
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Joseph Bryant, a 61-year-old man, was arrested in downtown Nashville Wednesday evening for not wearing a mask.
Bryant was approached by police in the downtown area of Nashville at approximately 6:40 PM for not wearing a mask, according to News Channel 5. The police cited Bryant for violating Nashville’s standing mask mandate.
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Kanye West, the popular rapper and social icon, has officially filed to appear on Ohio ballots for the 2020 presidential election, according to Fox 5.
West, who announced he would run for the presidency on July 4, submitted paperwork to the state on August 5.
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Mayors in multiple counties across Tennessee have extended their mask mandates. Many of these mandates, which were set to expire on August 3, will continue through most of August.
Governor Bill Lee signed Executive Order 54 on July 3, which grants local leaders the authority to order masks and other face coverings when out in public.
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Dr. Amy Acton stepped down from her role as Governor Mike DeWine’s Chief Health Advisor, the Ohio Department of Health announced Wednesday.
DeWine called Acton a “friend and advisor” on Twitter, saying that “she has assured [him] that she is just a phone call away and will be available to continuing advising [his administration] as [they] move through this pandemic.”
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A group that called a political candidate “literally Hitler” in a flyer won its case challenging a law that criminalizes the use of “false language” in campaign literature. The judge presiding over the case, which was heard Thursday, called the law “incompatible with the First Amendment.”
Tennesseans for Sensible Elections Laws (TSEL), an organization that describes itself as “a nonpartisan group of concerned citizens who care about protecting Tennessee’s democratic process,” was subject to criminal penalties for a political flier claiming that Representative Bruce Griffey was “literally Hitler.”
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A lengthy email from a counselor in Plano Independent School District (PISD) sent to colleagues contained three attachments including, among other things, a list of overtly Marxist media for use in classrooms, and a study guide for those “trying to become better allies.”
The attachments highlight materials like The 1619 Project (which claims America’s history is based on racism and slavery), talking points concerning the deaths of George Floyd; Breonna Taylor; and Ahmaud Arbery; and suggested reading lists including Marxist and Communist literature.
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The Tennessee Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday concerning the citizens’ right to vote via absentee ballot.
The cases presented (Earle J. Fisher et al. v. Tre Hargett et al. and Benjamin Lay et al. v. Mark Goins et al.) have become the focal point of the ongoing debate surrounding the efficacy of absentee and mail-in ballots and voters’ rights to absentee and mail-in ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Tennessee saw 19,461 new unemployment claims for the week ending on July 25, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).
The number of new jobless claims dropped from 25,794 the week prior (ending July 18).
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