King George County Researching Marijuana Sales Ban

Marijuana sales won’t be legal in Virginia until 2024, according to legalization bills passed by the General Assembly in 2021. But King George County is already moving to potentially ban sales. At its April 27 meeting, the Board of Supervisors requested County Attorney Matt Britton to research how to implement such a ban.

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Commentary: The Origins of the Cruel Ritual of Diversity Training

In the typical scenario, students, staff, and faculty submit themselves to the mercies of hectoring lectures and demeaning demonstrations that purport to reveal white privilege and the oppressive conditions faced by “underrepresented populations” in their institutions. Former Smith College staffer Jodi Shaw’s account of how, as part of such training, she was humiliatingly reduced to her racial identity and reprimanded for her role in the oppression of non-white co-workers is but the most recent high-profile example being discussed and debated.

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Memos Hint Zuckerberg to Continue Big Spending on Georgia Election Workers, Infrastructure

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s multimillion dollar investment in the 2020 presidential election process may extend into this year or beyond, at least if Fulton County is any measure.

Georgia’s largest county, which encompasses the blue-leaning city of Atlanta, received more than $6.3 million in private grants from the Zuckerberg-funded Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) to conduct elections during the 2020 pandemic, but recently reported it did not use all the money last year.

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Some Immigrant Spouses Won’t Need to Submit Fingerprints to Renew Their Visas

CBP detainee

Some spouses of immigrants working in the U.S. won’t be required to submit new fingerprints to renew their visas, the Department of Homeland Security said in a court filing Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Trump administration required new fingerprints to safeguard against misrepresentation in 2019, though the requirement caused tens of thousands of immigrants to lose their visas due to processing delays, the WSJ reported. The requirement will be suspended for two years starting May 17, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) decided.

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‘Enemy of Free Speech:’ Republicans Hit Back at Facebook After It Upholds Trump Ban

Republicans are hitting back at Facebook and the Big Tech giants in Silicon Valley after Facebook’s Oversight Board announced Wednesday that it will uphold its ban of Former President Donald J. Trump.

Facebook claimed in a statement that Trump post “violated Facebook’s rules prohibiting praise or support of people engaged in violence,” when he called Capitol protestors “great patriots” and and “very special” on Jan. 6. 

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Big Corporations Come Out Against Texas Election Integrity Bills

As the state of Texas considered several comprehensive bills aimed at cracking down on voter fraud, multiple large corporations have released statements condemning the measures with baseless allegations of voter suppression, according to The Hill.

On Tuesday, 52 different companies signed onto a letter demanding that the state legislature reject any such bills, without providing any evidence or naming any specific pieces of legislation. Among the signatories were the tech company Microsoft and American Airlines.

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Hamilton College Student Leaders Work to ‘Defund the Police,’ Claim ‘White Supremacists’ Are on Campus

Hamilton College

Following the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, students and faculty at Hamilton College received an email denoting some of them as white supremacists and calling for the admissions office to better block such students from enrolling in the future.

It was part of a larger push to grow a “defund the police” effort at the private, New York college.

The email came from leadership at the school’s Student Assembly and was signed by President Saphire Ruiz as well as Fall Vice President Eric Stenzel and Spring Vice President Christian Hernandez Barragan.

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Senator Ted Cruz Stumps in Virginia for Gubernatorial Hopeful Glenn Youngkin

Gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin was joined on the campaign trail by United States Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Wednesday. The former CEO of the Carlyle Group is currently in a seven way race for the Republican nomination for Governor in Virginia, hoping that the last minute endorsement from the conservative stalwart will help seal the deal.

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States, Political Parties Draw Battle Lines over Taxpayer Funding of Critical Race Theory

A grassroots group of conservatives and Republican state leaders is pushing back after the Biden administration tied federal education funding to adopting controversial critical race theory teachings in schools’ curriculum.

The Biden administration in April proposed a new Department of Education rule that gives preference in grant awarding to schools that incorporate into their curriculum content from the “1619 Project,” a controversial history project that is the most prominent work containing critical race theory ideas.

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Steve Scalise Wants Liz Cheney Out of Leadership

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise is openly backing the ousting of Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney from her Republican leadership position and supporting New York Rep. Elise Stefanik to replace her.

“House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden’s radical socialist agenda, and Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that, which is why Whip Scalise has pledged to support her for Conference Chair,” his spokesman, Lauren Fine, said in a statement first reported by Punchbowl News.

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REPORT: Biden, DOJ Plan to Challenge Laws Banning Biological Boys from Girls’ Sports

boy and girl soccer

President Joe Biden’s administration and the Department of Justice are reportedly preparing to challenge bills banning biological males from women’s sports, multiple sources told the Daily Beast.

“We are having conversations with the Biden administration about additional actions that they should be taking as it relates to anti-LGBTQ bills that we’re seeing in these states,” Human Rights Campaign (HRC) president Alphonso David told the Daily Beast. “But we want to make sure we don’t lose sight of how important those words are, and how important his early actions have been to support and protect LGBTQ people throughout the country.”

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GOP Lieutenant Governor Candidate Winsome Sears Makes Stop in Roanoke

Group of people standing outside

  ROANOKE, Virginia – Winsome Sears made a campaign stop as a part of her statewide RV tour in Roanoke on Thursday. The former Delegate is seen by many as an insurgent candidate in the wide-open race for Lieutenant Governor. Sears served in the United States Marine Corps as an electrician.…

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Virginia Applications Open for New Restaurant Revitalization Fund

Restaurants can now apply for up to $10 million in COVID-19 relief funds through the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), a part of the recently passed American Recovery Plan (ARP). The RRF will provide a minimum $1,000 in funds to eligible restaurants and similar businesses to replace funds lost due to the pandemic.

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Virginia Gubernatorial Candidates Hustle Before the Convention

After months of contention among party leadership and claims of cheating and irregularities among the candidates, the Republican Party of Virginia will finally select its candidates for statewide office on Saturday, although the final count may not be known for several days. The candidates have fanned out across the state, emphasizing policies like reopening schools and businesses, supporting gun rights, and fighting for election integrity. This week the candidates are making their final appeals to convention delegates with more calls for reform, campaign stops, and support from major GOP political figures.

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