Day: October 22, 2021

Virginia Supreme Court Dismisses Petition to Appeal in McAuliffe Signature Lawsuit

Eric Burk

The Virginia Supreme Court refused a petition to appeal the dismissal of a lawsuit over the missing signature on Terry McAuliffe’s election paperwork. On Wednesday, attorney Peter Hansen argued in a writ panel that the Court should take up the appeal, saying that McAuliffe failed to file a valid declaration of candidacy, and that when the City of Richmond Circuit Court dismissed the case, it did so based on speculation.

“Unfortunately, the trial court effectually made up facts. There’s nothing in the evidence, nothing in the record that suggested that Mr. McAuliffe was present when he didn’t sign the declaration. There’s nothing in evidence that suggests he raised his hand as if taking an oath, and that’s what ‘sworn to under my hand’ means,” Hansen told the panel.

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Exclusive: Loudoun County Superintendent Not Planning to Resign After More Details Emerge in Alleged Rape Coverup

Peter D'Abrosca

Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) and the communications office for Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler ignored The Virginia Star’s comment requests Friday, as more evidence emerged that the district covered up the alleged rape of a teenaged girl. 

WTOP reported Thursday that Ziegler sent an email to the Loudoun County School Board (LCSB) on May 28, the day when a male student in a skirt allegedly raped a ninth-grade girl in the bathroom at Stone Bridge High School.

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Virginia’s Educational Policy Debates Rattle Isle of Wight County Public Schools

Eric Burk

The Isle of Wight County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jim Thornton has received multiple death threats, and two members of the school board have announced their departure within the past month. The board and district leaders have come under fire from some parents for decisions about masks, transgender policy, and library books — issues that are being debated in school board public comment periods across Virginia. Thornton told Wavy.com the district is introducing cultural awareness training for teachers this year as part of several equity initiatives.

“We’re not telling them what to believe. We’re sharing information for them to process,” Thornton said.

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Richmond Public Schools Taking Whole Week Off for Teachers’ Mental Health

Peter D'Abrosca

Citing teacher burnout, Richmond Public Schools (RPS) has decided to take an entire week off at the beginning of November. 

During that week, students were already set to have three days off: Nov. 2 for Election Day, Nov. 4 for Diwali, a Hindu holiday and Nov. 5 for parent/teacher conferences, according to a letter sent to the RPS community by Superintendent Jason Kamras. 

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Education Group Launches Million Dollar Ad Campaign Against Virginia Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate McAuliffe

Peter D'Abrosca

Free to Learn Action, an advocacy group intent on removing politics from the classroom in America’s public schools, launched a one million dollar ad campaign against Virginia’s Democrat gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe Thursday.

“The ad highlights the devastating consequences of allowing partisan political agendas to seep into schools while also undermining parents’ roles in their child’s education,” the organization said in an email. 

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Biden Ditches Alaska Oil Drilling Project That Would’ve Created Thousands of Jobs

Virginia Star Staff

The Biden administration abandoned an oil and gas drilling project in Alaska approved by former President Donald Trump, which it had previously defended.

The Department of the Interior failed to file an appeal to a federal judge’s August decision blocking the multi-billion dollar Willow Project being developed by the Texas-based oil and gas firm ConocoPhillips. Judge Sharon Gleason of the U.S. District Court of the District of Alaska ruled that the federal government hadn’t adequately reviewed the emissions profile of the project, which she said would ultimately harm the environment and wildlife.

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DOJ Ends Case Quota for Immigration Judges Set by Trump Admin

Virginia Star Staff

The Department of Justice ended a Trump-era case quota for immigration judges, CNN Politics reported on Wednesday.

Judges said the Trump administration’s quota policy prioritized moving through cases quickly rather than due process for all immigrants and wasn’t fair, according to documents obtained by CNN. Immigration judges are tasked with moving through a 1.5 million case backlog, and case quotas didn’t necessarily make a difference in how quickly cases were processed, CNN reported.

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‘Not Acceptable’: Facebook’s Oversight Board Says Company Hid Details on How It Privileges Popular Accounts

Virginia Star Staff

Facebook’s Oversight Board issued a transparency report Thursday scolding the tech giant for concealing details of its content review process and demanding more transparency.

The report criticized Facebook for failing to disclose the existence of its “cross-check” content review system, the details of which were leaked to The Wall Street Journal by Frances Haugen and published in September. The cross-check system applies different moderation standards to accounts belonging to celebrities or other popular accounts, which Facebook did not disclose when asked.

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GETTR CEO Jason Miller Welcomes Trump to Social Media World

Peter D'Abrosca

Despite former President Donald J. Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) announcing plans to become a rival of newly-launched social media site GETTR, the CEO of the latter firm welcomed Trump into the social media space.

“Congratulations to President Trump for re-entering the social media fray! Now Facebook and Twitter will lose even more market share. President Trump has always been a great deal-maker, but we just couldn’t come to terms on a deal,” Miller said in a Wednesday statement. “And get ready for the new platform features GETTR has on the way: live-streaming, GVision short videos and our GETTR Pay payments system capabilities. Exciting new additions that will provide our global customer base an even better user experience. Let the downloads begin!”

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House Holds Steve Bannon in Criminal Contempt, Refers Matter to Justice Department

Virginia Star Staff

The House of Representatives voted Thursday to hold former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress following his refusal to cooperate with the House’s investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

The resolution passed largely along party lines in a vote of 229-202, with nine Republicans voting in favor of the bill.

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Weekly Jobless Claims Drop to 290,000

Virginia Star Staff

The number of Americans who filed new unemployment claims decreased to 290,000 last week as employers attempt to hold onto workers amid struggles with inflation, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics figure released Thursday shows a 6,000 claim decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending on Oct. 9, when jobless claims dipped below 300,000 for the first time since March 2020.

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Newt Gingrich Commentary: The Afghanistan Withdrawal Disaster Would Not Have Happened Under President Trump

Virginia Star Staff

On Feb. 29, 2020, the U.S. and the Taliban signed the Doha Agreement, which set conditions for an American military withdrawal from Afghanistan. A few days later, then-President Donald Trump picked up the phone to call Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar. On that call, Trump explained to Baradar in no uncertain terms that, if he and his men didn’t fulfill the agreement, which included a pledge not to attack U.S. forces, the Taliban would suffer dearly. Not a single U.S. soldier was killed in combat in Afghanistan for the rest of Trump’s presidency.

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CDC Says Five-Year-Olds Will Still Need to Wear Masks After Vaccine Is Approved for Kids

Virginia Star Staff
Blonde child wearing hair up, holding journal and wearing a mask

Students as young as five years old may still need to wear masks in school after the COVID-19 vaccine is approved for children ages 5-11, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said in a White House briefing Wednesday. Walensky did not discuss if or when children would not be required to wear masks in school.

“After we have authorization from (the Food and Drug Administration) and recommendations from the CDC, we will be working to scale up pediatric vaccination. That said, it will take some time … as we head into these winter months, we know we cannot be complacent,” Walensky stated.

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Amazon Warehouse Workers in New York Set to File for Union Vote

Virginia Star Staff

Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island, New York City, announced plans Thursday to file for a union election before the National Labor Relations Board next week.

Amazon Labor Union, which represents 2,000 Amazon workers, signed union authorization cards and announced plans to petition for an election, according to Vice. If the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) approves this request and the unionization vote succeeds, the workers would be the first Amazon employees to successfully unionize.

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