A selection committee of five retired judges on Wednesday chose the eight citizens who will serve on the Virginia Redistricting Commission, completing the membership determination process for the newly-implemented body tasked with proposing plans for redrawing the Commonwealth’s 111 congressional and legislative districts.
The judges met for several hours on Wednesday morning and had to come up with the eight names from a pool of 62 finalists.
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Utilities provider Dominion Energy has announced $500,000 in 2021 scholarships aimed at helping underrepresented minority high school seniors or graduates enrolling in college or vocational schools for the upcoming academic year.
“We have partnered with historically black colleges and universities for nearly 40 years, offering volunteer and financial support,” Dominion Energy’s Executive Chairman Thomas F. Farrell, II, said in a press release. “This scholarship program is another way for us to support the students who will one day lead our nation.”
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Five Virginians were arrested Wednesday for involvement in unrest at the nation’s capital on Wednesday. A U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) press release states that Cindy Fitchett and Douglas Sweet, both from Virginia’s Middle Peninsula, were arrested for alleged unlawful entry. According to a list from the department, Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police (MPD) arrested three other Virginians, including Daniel Clavijo for an alleged curfew violation and Julian Snell and Timothy Wolfe for allegedly carrying a pistol without a license. The USCP have jurisdiction over Capitol grounds, while the MPD has jurisdiction over the rest of the city.
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All four of Virginia Republican congressmen voted in support of objections to at least one state’s electors, joining 147 Republican representatives from across the country, according to The Washington Post. Congressmen Ben Cline (R-VA-06), Bob Good (R-VA-05), Morgan Griffith (R-VA-09), and Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) all voted to support objections to Pennsylvania’s electors. Of the four, Wittman was the only one who did not also support a challenge to Arizona’s electors. The objections for both states were defeated, and objections to other states did not have enough support in the 117th Congress to go to a vote.
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A group of Commonwealth’s Attorneys has released a letter to the General Assembly calling for more criminal justice reform. In the letter, the Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice (VPPFJ) call for automated expungement of criminal records, ending mandatory minimum sentences, ending cash bail, abolishing the death penalty, and ending the “three-strikes” felony enhancement for petty larceny.
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Virginia State Delegate Lee J. Carter (D-Manassas) officially joined the governor’s race last Friday and is now part of the crowded Democratic field vying for the party nomination this summer.
Carter, 33, is the fifth Democrat to seek the Executive Mansion next November and had originally filed paperwork to raise money for a gubernatorial bid last month.
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State Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) was present at the Washington, D.C. rally on Wednesday morning, and she told The Virginia Star that it was a historic day after historic voter fraud.
“It was very heartwarming,” Chase said. “The people that were there, they were good people. They were patriots, they love their country, they were there to peacefully show support. They weren’t there for destructive purposes at all.”
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Pete Snyder’s Virginia 30 Day Fund has a new partner, the Barstool Fund, which is funding businesses who are still paying their employees even though they aren’t making enough to stay open.
“I’ve been ranting and raving lately about the plight of small businesses in the United States,” Barstool Sports Founder David Portnoy said in a video. “New York City just shut down in door dining. It’s like, ‘How do you expect these people to survive? How are restaurants going to survive?'”
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Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has appointed Dr. Danny Avula, director of the Richmond City and Henrico County health departments, to lead the Commonwealth’s ongoing COVID-19 vaccination program.
Northam made the announcement during a coronavirus press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, the first time he has provided updates on the virus to the public in the new year.
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Following a summer of civil unrest over social injustice throughout the Commonwealth, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (D) announced the launch of the Office of Civil Rights on Tuesday.
The Office of Civil Rights will operate within the larger Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and is supposed to help ongoing efforts to protect against discrimination and the civil rights of all Virginians, according to a press release.
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A group of Commonwealth’s Attorneys has released a letter to the General Assembly calling for more criminal justice reform. In the letter, the Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice (VPPFJ) call for automated expungement of criminal records, ending mandatory minimum sentences, ending cash bail, abolishing the death penalty, and ending the “three-strikes” felony enhancement for petty larceny.
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Democratic candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff claimed victory in their respective U.S. Senate runoff elections as vote counting continued. Warnock declared that he’d won late Tuesday evening, while Ossoff waited until Wednesday morning to declare his win.
At the time of press with over 98 percent reporting in for both races, Warnock led Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) by over 55,600 votes, or just over 1 point. Ossoff led Republican incumbent David Perdue (R-GA) by over 18,400 votes, or just over half a point.
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Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Gabriel Sterling negotiated a $200,000 annual contract for himself last year to oversee the new voting technology from Dominion Voting Systems. Under that position, it’s reported that he worked as an independent contractor rather than as a government employee. However, he identified himself in that position as a full-time employee.
Sterling’s stint last year as an independent contractor aligned with the state’s decision in 2019 to award Dominion a $107 million contract for its voting systems. Prior to working as an independent contractor for the state, Sterling worked under one of his current positions: Chief Operating Officer. He earned much less under that government position – around $114,000 annually. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained the information on Sterling’s contracts through an open records request.
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President Donald J. Trump is closely monitoring the election results in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff from Tuesday night, and decried several instances of possible malfeasance in the vote counting process.
“Looks like they are setting up a big ‘voter dump’ against the Republican candidates. Waiting to see how many votes they need?” he tweeted at 10:28pm.
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Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) said in a Tuesday press call that legislators who challenge electoral results are undermining Americans’ faith in democracy, but three of Virginia’s Republican congressmen support a challenge, and two have committed to vote to challenge the results.
Warner said, “We’ve got what traditionally has been a pro-forma event happening tomorrow, January 6, where the House and the Senate meet in tandem to basically count the certified electoral votes.”
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Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) said in a Tuesday press call that legislators who challenge electoral results are undermining Americans’ faith in democracy, but three of Virginia’s Republican congressmen support a challenge, and two have committed to vote to challenge the results.
Warner said, “We’ve got what traditionally has been a pro-forma event happening tomorrow, January 6, where the House and the Senate meet in tandem to basically count the certified electoral votes.”
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The four legislative leaders of the House of Delegates and state Senate picked 62 citizen finalists last Friday to be considered for eight available spots on Virginia’s new redistricting commission.
House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax), House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) and Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment (R-James City) were responsible for making lists of 16 citizens out of more than 1,200 applicants.
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Democratic candidates Candi King and Angelia Williams Graves emerged victorious Tuesday night from special elections for the 2nd and 90th Districts of the Virginia House of Delegates, defeating Republican underdogs Heather Mitchell and Sylvia Bryant.
In the 2nd District, which encompasses the eastern edge of Prince William County along the Potomac River and the northern section of Stafford County, King narrowly won by receiving 51.50 percent (4,386) of the total votes compared to 48.41 percent (4,123) for Mitchell, according to election results tabulated by the Virginia Department of Elections.
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GOP candidate for governor and Virginia State Delegate Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) reportedly said Tuesday he does not stand with Republicans in Congress who plan to object to the Electoral College votes and that Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States.
Cox’s reported comments were shared by Daniel Grimes, a reporter and weekend anchor for NBC29 in Charlottesville, in a post on Twitter.
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Georgia voter Richard Hendrix reported that the Dominion Voting Systems (Dominion) scanners ran out of battery power at his Fulton County voting location at Heards Ferry Elementary School on Tuesday morning.
Hendrix stated that he filed a complaint with the Secretary of State’s office, and sent copies to Senator Burt Jones, Republican Party of Georgia Chairman David Ralston, and Governor Brian Kemp.
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Twitter paired up with far-left news outlet Reuters Tuesday to prepare the public for a drawn-out runoff election process in Georgia.
“Why the winners in Georgia runoffs might not be known for days,” a Twitter “moment” said.
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A Spalding County voter told The Georgia Star News early Tuesday that voting machines broke at a Griffin-area polling place, and instead of receiving paper ballots, workers sent the voters waiting in line away.
In an interview with The Star News, the voter stated that she’d arrived at her polling place at Union Baptist church early because she works several jobs and wanted to ensure she could cast her vote.
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Underdog Republican Sylvia Bryant is facing off against Democrat Angelia Graves today in a special election for Virginia’s 90th House of Delegates District in Norfolk. The 90th district traditionally favors Democrats, but after redistricting in 2019, and with low turnout expected, the district appears slightly easier to win for Republicans, according to former chair of the Republican Party of Norfolk Pam Brown.
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A private call between President Donald Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was leaked by The Washington Post on Sunday afternoon. The call reportedly took place almost exactly a day prior to the time that the audio was leaked.
Others on the call included White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Trump’s attorneys Cleta Mitchell and Kurt Hilbert, Georgia’s Secretary of State General Counsel Ryan Germany, and Georgia’s Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs.
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The new year is here at last and for Virginians throughout the Commonwealth, the arrival of 2021 means a number of laws passed by the General Assembly last year have now gone into effect and bring several important changes.
Here is an overview of some new laws that Virginians should know about.
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Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) was one of just five House of Representative Democrats who did not vote for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) to continue as Speaker of the House in the 117th Congress.
“In a time marked by historically low trust in our government, new voices are necessary to moving forward and achieving real progress,” Spanberger said in a press release. “Last Congress, I kept my promise to vote for new leadership upon my swearing-in – and in this Congress, I remain consistent in my commitment to ushering in new leadership. Accordingly, I did not vote for Speaker Pelosi.”
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Underdog Republican Sylvia Bryant is facing off against Democrat Angelia Graves today in a special election for Virginia’s 90th House of Delegates District in Norfolk. The 90th district traditionally favors Democrats, but after redistricting in 2019, and with low turnout expected, the district appears slightly easier to win for Republicans, according to former chair of the Republican Party of Norfolk Pam Brown.
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Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) was one of just five House of Representative Democrats who did not vote for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) to continue as Speaker of the House in the 117th Congress.
“In a time marked by historically low trust in our government, new voices are necessary to moving forward and achieving real progress,” Spanberger said in a press release. “Last Congress, I kept my promise to vote for new leadership upon my swearing-in – and in this Congress, I remain consistent in my commitment to ushering in new leadership. Accordingly, I did not vote for Speaker Pelosi.”
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U.S. Senate candidate Raphael Warnock wants to defund the police, even though he hides his beliefs from Georgia voters, according to a video that members of Project Veritas released Monday. Two Warnock campaign staff members shared what they said were Warnock’s true thoughts and feelings with an undercover Project Veritas reporter.
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Election day for the Virginia House of Delegates 2nd District race has finally arrived and the winner will fill the vacant seat left by Jennifer Carroll Foy before the General Assembly begins its next session on January 13th.
Community activist Candi King (D) and military wife Heather Mitchell (R) are vying for a seat that could play a role in keeping a Democratic majority in the House or assist Republicans in their efforts to flip the legislative body in 2021.
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A New Year, a new General Assembly session, a new state election, a new vaccine — The Virginia Star is looking forward to the stories of 2021. We asked a few newsmakers what their resolutions for 2021 are. Here’s what they said:
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Republican Virginia State Sen. Ben Chafin Jr. has died from COVID-19 complications, his office announced in a statement.
Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Virginia Senate Republican Caucus confirmed Chafin’s death, The Hill reported. Chafin represented Virginia’s 38th District in the last six years and was 60 years old.
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A New Year, a new General Assembly session, a new state election, a new vaccine — The Virginia Star is looking forward to the stories of 2021. We asked a few newsmakers what their resolutions for 2021 are. Here’s what they said:
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With multiple COVID-19 vaccines now being distributed and administered across the Commonwealth of Virginia, a Republican state Senator is looking to revisit the topic of religious exemptions to immunizations when the General Assembly convenes for its regular session in ten days.
Senator Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg) has introduced and pre-filed Senate Bill 1116, which would allow for a parent or guardian to object to the vaccination of a child on the grounds that immunization conflicts with their religious practices or tenets, even during an emergency declared by the state board of health.
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Two months after the November 3 presidential election, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office and county officials in the state have failed to produce chain of custody documents known as ballot transfer forms that tracked the movement of 76 percent of the estimated 600,000 absentee ballots deposited in 300 drop boxes around the state and subsequently delivered to county registrars responsible for accurately and honestly counting those votes in that election.
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The Petersburg City School Board voted 6-1 in a virtual meeting last week to move forward with high school winter sports during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The school board’s decision allows for the return of high school boys and girls basketball, indoor track and field, wrestling as well as cheerleading, and came just a couple weeks after the body had originally voted on December 16 to cancel winter sports because of the virus.
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Most Virginians have not heard of State Senator Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax). They should. He runs Virginia’s government.
For the first time in 26 years, Virginia’s government was in total Democrat control in 2020, including the executive offices, the judicial branch, and the General Assembly.
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Four days before Christmas, Richmond-based utilities provider Dominion Energy gave $50,000 to Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney’s One Richmond PAC, according to the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP). With Stoney having just won re-election for another four-year term as mayor, it’s unclear what the funds are for.
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Most Virginians have not heard of State Senator Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax). They should. He runs Virginia’s government.
For the first time in 26 years, Virginia’s government was in total Democrat control in 2020, including the executive offices, the judicial branch, and the General Assembly.
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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is not responding to questions about major flaws in his office’s “audit” of Cobb County absentee ballot envelope signatures counted in the November 3 presidential election, the results of which were announced in a press release last week.
Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp, both Republicans, have certified that former Vice President Joe Biden secured a razor thin margin of victory of 11,779 votes in Georgia in the November 3 election, despite numerous lawsuits alleging significant irregularities in that election.
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Anybody who knows me knows I’m a jobs guy. I believe in jobs, good wages and all the positives than come from infrastructure projects. We have one about to explode in our own backyard here in Virginia – and I mean explode in a good way. It’s the multi-billion dollar economic development blockbuster known as the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project. This thing has been under development for a long time…from the informational meetings years ago, the drawing boards, the public meetings, the regulatory hurdles and the construction.
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Richmond residents struggling to keep up with their utility bills or already several months behind as a result of economic hardships from the coronavirus pandemic can now apply for assistance from the city.
The city of Richmond Department of Public Utilities (DPU) has received funding from the COVID-19 Municipal Utility Relief Program – originally provided by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) – to make this assistance possible.
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On New Years Eve, Senator Bill DeSteph (R-Virginia Beach) struck a deal with leaders of the Virginia General Assembly that will provide space for constituents to meet with legislators near the Capitol grounds even though the Pocahontas Building and Capitol Building remain closed to outsiders due to COVID-19.
DeSteph said the out-of-court settlement was a win. “This will allow citizens, subject matter experts, and other professional staff to meet face-to-face with legislators during the upcoming regular session. This is a huge victory for the First Amendment and for open access to government for all Virginians,” the press release states.
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On New Years Eve, Senator Bill DeSteph (R-Virginia Beach) struck a deal with leaders of the Virginia General Assembly that will provide space for constituents to meet with legislators near the Capitol grounds even though the Pocahontas Building and Capitol Building remain closed to outsiders due to COVID-19.
DeSteph said the out-of-court settlement was a win. “This will allow citizens, subject matter experts, and other professional staff to meet face-to-face with legislators during the upcoming regular session. This is a huge victory for the First Amendment and for open access to government for all Virginians,” the press release states.
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Falls Church City Public Schools plans to have all students back to in-person classes by the end of January, according to a notice from Superintendent Peter Noonan.
“ALL students are slated to return in the month of January,” Noonan said on Monday. “We plan to return students in phases beginning on January 5, 2021, consistent with employee capacity to clean our buildings. We will open, starting with the smallest cohort and lead up to the largest cohort.”
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The Colonial Downs Group is opening a new Rosie’s Gaming Emporium in Dumfries on January 8. The new location will offer simulcast horse racing and betting, as well as 150 historical horse racing machines. The machines use historical horse race data to offer a slots-style gaming experience to patrons.
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President Trump issued an executive order on Monday allowing states to use COVID-19 funds to be provided as emergency learning scholarships for students who don’t have access to in-person learning. The funds are directed at families, not schools, and can also be used by homeschooling students. Gubernatorial candidate Delegate Kirk Cox’s staff (R-Colonial Heights) said the program is similar to one that he introduced in the General Assembly.
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Falls Church City Public Schools plans to have all students back to in-person classes by the end of January, according to a notice from Superintendent Peter Noonan.
“ALL students are slated to return in the month of January,” Noonan said on Monday. “We plan to return students in phases beginning on January 5, 2021, consistent with employee capacity to clean our buildings. We will open, starting with the smallest cohort and lead up to the largest cohort.”
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Thanks to a recently implemented law from the Virginia General Assembly, emergency relief payments from the federal government to Virginians will be protected from being seized or garnished by debt collectors and creditors.
The new law, stemming from House Bill 5068, comes as Virginians and Americans from across the country are starting to receive a second round of relief payments relating to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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Coronavirus vaccination efforts by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) have been ongoing since December 15, but the number of administered doses is significantly less than the amount distributed throughout the Commonwealth.
According to the COVID-19 vaccine dashboard, as of Thursday, Virginia has distributed 388,100 doses, but only 64,882 have actually been administered so far.
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