Friday morning on The John Fredericks Show, host Fredericks welcomed the U.S. Representative of Virginia’s First District to the show to discuss how Congress is dragging its feet on appropriations bills and the details of a coronavirus vaccine.
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A new statewide poll released and conducted by the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) offers a glimpse at the opinions of Virginians on two separate policy issues: COVID-19 vaccines and in-person education.
The Survey of 804 adults, age 18 or older, living in Virginia was conducted between August 28 and September 7 using telephone interviews.
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At a small rally on the lawn of a local courthouse, Del. Nicholas Freitas (R-Culpeper County) exuded confidence in his ability to win Virginia’s seventh congressional district and reclaim the seat for Republicans.
Freitas is squaring up against incumbent Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), who recently became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019.
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Welcome to the Thursday edition of our daily Virginia Trump campaign update! We will provide our readers with daily updates on the Trump Virginia campaign from today to November 3 (and after…if need be!).
It’s officially 47 days until the election on November 3, and 12 days until President Trump and Joe Biden square off in the first presidential debate.
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Welcome to the Wednesday edition of our daily Virginia Trump campaign update! We will provide our readers with daily updates on the Trump Virginia campaign from today to November 3 (and after…if need be!).
It’s officially 49 days until the election on November 3, and 13 days until President Trump and Joe Biden square off in the first presidential debate.
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The Trump Victory campaign announced Friday it has passed two million voter contacts in Virginia ahead of the quickly-approaching November election.
The milestone brings with it plenty of confidence and optimism from those working on the campaign.
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Roughly 70% of inmates at the Pamunkey Regional Jail recently tested for COVID-19 are positive, causing the facility to go on lockdown, jail officials said in a release Wednesday.
The facility, which takes offenders from the town of Ashland, Hanover and Caroline counties and the U.S. Marshals Service, can hold up to 549 inmates, but currently houses only 382.
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The Virginia House passed four more pieces of criminal justice reform legislation that will be sent to the Senate, including mandatory local mental health teams, more restrictions on police acquiring military surplus weapons and an expansion of the earned sentence credit program.
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Three Virginia residents are filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of tenants across the Commonwealth against the firm Senex Law, alleging abusive and unfair debt collection practices in violation of federal law.
Representing the tenants are attorneys from the Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC), Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley and Charlottesville law firm MichieHamlett.
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A campus workers union at the University of Virginia (UVA) has launched a mutual fund in order to provide university staff with personal protective equipment (PPE) and raise money in the form of an emergency fund for potential furloughs as in-person instruction began Tuesday.
The union, United Campus Workers of Virginia at UVA (UCWVA-UVA), announced the formation of the fund via press release.
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The University of Virginia (UVA) athletics department announced Friday that no fans will be allowed at fall sporting events until further notice, including football.
The current state guidelines for sports venues under the Forward Virginia plan put in place by the Commonwealth allow for less than 50 percent occupancy of the facility or 1,000 people.
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It has been six months since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in March forcing nationwide shutdowns and changing the way millions of people live, but new information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raises questions about the severity of coronavirus and who is impacted most.
For six percent of the deaths between February 1 and August 29, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. Conversely, 94 percent of deaths involving COVID have additional causes or conditions, according to the CDC.
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Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA-05) announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to run for governor of Virginia in the 2021 gubernatorial election.
The first-term congressman and former intelligence officer made the announcement during an appearance on Virginia Free radio hosted by Chris Saxman on the John Fredericks Radio Network.
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James Madison University (JMU) is temporarily moving classes online and sending students back home because of a rise in COVID-19 cases and a lack of room for positive students to quarantine, JMU President Jonathan Alger announced Tuesday.
The announcement from Alger to the JMU community comes less than a week after in-person classes had resumed.
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Liberty University says it is conducting a forensic investigation of Jerry Falwell Jr. a week after he resigned as president.
Falwell resigned last Tuesday after amid conflicting claims about a sexual relationship his wife Becki Falwell had with a business partner, The Associated Press reported. Falwell reportedly participated in some of the liaisons as a voyeur.
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Virginia Tech and the town of Blacksburg announced Tuesday that tailgating for football games is prohibited out of concerns the activity could increase the spread of COVID-19.
The announcement specifically prohibited tailgating on university or town parking lots as well as other public places, and instead asked Hokie fans to watch games while “homegating” with friends or family as a more safe alternative.
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Governor Ralph Northam announced Thursday a new elective course for Virginia high school students on African American history.
The course will be offered in 16 Virginia school divisions during the 2020-2021 academic year, including Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Prince William County, Charlottesville, among others.
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As the Senate wraps up its second week of the 2020 special session and continues to pass new legislation, the timing of crossover with the House of Delegates, a requirement for a bill to become law, remains unknown.
Since the Senate began considering bills in Committee and advancing legislation during sessions almost a week before the House, the two bodies are currently not in sync with their lawmaking procedures.
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Members of Trump Virginia delegation gathered at a local Innsbrook bar Thursday evening to celebrate the fourth and final night for the Republican National Convention, and the official nomination of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
Bishop Leon Benjamin, a congressional candidate in Virginia’s fourth district, was the main speaker and crowd-pleaser of the event, offering a plethora proclamations about the upcoming election and the efforts of Virginia delegation.
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A poll from Roanoke College would have you believe President Donald Trump and U.S. Senate candidate Daniel Gade are in trouble in Virginia’s November election.
The chairman of the Virginia Trump delegation refutes the findings.
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Henrico County officials and the Henrico County Manager shut down a fundraiser to support COVID-19 relief and Black Lives Matter on Tuesday.
State Senator Joe Morrissey (D-16) was hosting and sponsoring the event alongside local Richmond promoters Avantae Jones and Keron Dixon with their company True Society Events, LLC.
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The Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would eliminate the mandatory minimum sentence of six months jail time for assaulting a law enforcement officer or other public servants.
The bill passed by a vote of 21-Y 15-N after over an hour of back and forth between Senators.
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A group of Virginians have started Fair Districts, a political action committee (PAC) created to oppose Amendment 1.
Amendment 1 — supported by FairMapsVA, a separate PAC — will create a citizen-led committee to lead redistricting in the state.
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A Sterling man was arrested last week on charges of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and for inducing aliens to come to the United States using fraudulently obtained H-1B visas, the Department of Justice said.
According to court documents, Ashish Sawhney, 48, allegedly used four corporations to orchestrate the improper submission of fraudulent applications for H-1B specialty-occupation work visas, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
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The State Corporation Commission (SCC) is extending its general moratorium on service shut-offs until September 16 to help customers struggling to pay their utility bills during the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout.
In an news release Monday, the SCC said it is continuing its emergency measure to give the Virginia General Assembly, currently meeting in a special session, more time to pass legislation addressing the impact of COVID-19 on utility customers over the last six months.
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The city of Richmond’s 2020 census response rate is 59.3 percent, lower than the Virginia and national average, which could result in lost federal funding at state and local levels.
The deadline for census counting is September 30th, moved up a month by President Trump, and Richmond is falling behind not just nationally, but also compared to the surrounding central-Virginia counties.
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Aldi, Wegmans, Kroger and Target stores are all recalling bagged and loose peaches from Wawona Packing Company out of an abundance of caution that those products may be contaminated Salmonella.
The peaches are being recalled after an investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) looking into a salmonella outbreak. The California fruit packing company is suspected to be the source of the illness of over 60 people in nine states.
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As Richmond area colleges start the fall semester, the impact from COVID-19 exposure and cases remains unclear.
Both Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the University of Richmond (UR) have implemented new policy and procedures which students, faculty and employees must strictly adhere to.
VCU residential students must complete a daily health survey and there are normal COVID-19 policies such as wearing a mask, social distancing as well as cleaning and disinfecting shared spaces.
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Legislation that would have banned the enforcement of mandatory minimum sentencing in Virginia was killed in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday after some Democrats joined Republicans in their opposition.
Senate Bill 5046, sponsored by Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, effectively would have ended all mandatory minimums in Virginia by halting their enforcement for offenses committed on or after Jan. 1, 2021. Although reforming mandatory minimum laws has bipartisan support, SB 5046 did not provide exemptions for violent crimes, such as murder or rape, which led to it ultimately failing.
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Local Virginia Trump supporters have high hopes for the presidential election in November and believe that Trump will secure another four years in office.
At a gathering set up by the Trump Virginia campaign, people from various towns and counties surrounding Richmond came to show their support for the campaign and form a collective focus on the highly important last stretch before the election.
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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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With a $2.7 billion budget shortfall and continued economic uncertainty, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam wants the General Assembly to postpone considerations of higher education spending, teacher pay raises and other spending initiatives he had hoped to include in the budget before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The General Assembly passed a biennial budget in April that gutted about $2.3 billion from the governor’s pre-pandemic budget proposal. The General Assembly was expected to reconsider some of these proposals based on new revenue projections in a special session that convened Tuesday, but Northam proposed a budget that maintained all of the cuts and urged the General Assembly to reconsider the spending initiatives when they reconvene in January.
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Dominion Energy earned $502.7 million in revenues above authorized profit from 2017-2019, and customers’ residential energy bills have increased by 28.81 percent since 2007, the State Corporation Commission (SCC) said.
The Virginia State Corporation Commission released its annual report on the status of implementation of the Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act, highlighting detailed business figures of Dominion Energy and other electric companies operating in Virginia.
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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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COVIDWISE, an app that alerts users of possible COVID-19 exposure, has been downloaded 356,777 times in Virginia, according to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH).
The application was launched by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on August 5.
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In an effort to combat possible ballot delays from USPS, the Richmond City General Registrar J. Kirk Showalter is asking voters to apply for and submit mail-in voting forms sooner rather than later.
“If you are getting your ballot through the mail and you apply early on, there should be adequate time for you to get your ballot and return it,” Showalter said in an interview with The Virginia Star.
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John Pence will be stumping across Virginia today and tomorrow for the Trump Victory campaign.
Pence, a senior advisor for the campaign and the nephew of Vice President Pence, will speak at three Trump Victory rallies. He will be joined by Tommy Hicks, co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
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I condemn, in the strongest manner possible, the horrific violence that occurred in Richmond this past Saturday, July 25, 2020. Setting fire to a $75,000 city utility vehicle, smashing scores of windows on the VCU campus and destroying the private property of innocent citizens on Monument Avenue and vicinity is despicable. This type of behavior is not legitimate protest. Rather, it is indefensible mayhem that should be prosecuted.
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Even as rioting damages large sections of Richmond and the Virginia General Assembly convenes in a special session, Mayor Levar Stoney wants lawmakers to take action — not on fighting lawlessness, but to help people get stoned.
Stoney used his bully pulpit to call for the Assembly to legalize marijuana.
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If Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam opts to expand unemployment benefits by $100 a week per person, it would cost the state an additional $45 million a week, but the unemployment insurance fund already is set to run out of money in September, state officials said.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order to extend federal unemployment benefits by $300 a week, but states would have to supply an additional $100 a week, increasing the benefit to $400 a week.
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Mobile sports betting will be launching in Virginia by January 2021 at the earliest.
Since legislation was passed by the Virginia General Assembly and became effective July 1st, the Virginia lottery, who has been tasked with regulation and oversight, has been working to turn mobile sports betting for Virginians into a reality.
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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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Wednesday morning on The John Fredericks Show, Fredericks welcomed Virginia Democratic state Senator Joe Morrissey to discuss the violence and looting happening in downtown Richmond, Virginia.
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