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Nickel and Dimed Behind Bars
Lawmakers take a look at fines and fees charged to inmates at jails across Virginia.
People who were locked up in the Alexandria jail are not staying there for free, and taxpayers are paying only part of the bill.
Young Turk from Alexandria
Armistead Boothe led war vets in General Assembly who took on Byrd Machine.
In some ways, Alexandria was the home of the forces who worked against the conservative political organization that ran Virginia politics for most of the 20th century. Starting after the conclusion of World War II, the city was represented in the House of Delegates by a young war vet by the name of Armistead Boothe.
Financing the Rampage
Economic toll of gun violence is more than $14 billion a year for Virginia.
All those school security measures to harden your local elementary school add up. So do trips to the emergency room and the multiple surgeries needed to address gunshot wounds. While the human tragedy of gun violence often grabs headlines, the economic toll continues to mount with each mass shooting. According to Everytown for Gun Safety, the annual cost to Virginia is more than $14 billion a year.
Candidates are Set for Fall Election
Don Beyer secures nomination as Republicans select candidates for fall election season.
Voters in Northern Virginia overwhelmingly supported four-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8)...
Fossil Fuel Fiesta in Alexandria
Governor proposes gas-tax holiday, but will Virginians benefit?
gas tax
Beloved Cancel Culture in Fairfax County
Toni Morrison novel prompts legislation that has critics worried about book bans.
Toni Morrison's Pulitzer-prize winning book "Beloved" prompted such outrage in one Fairfax County parent in 2013 that she tried to have the book banned from her son's AP English class. Laura Murphy said the book gave her teenage son nightmares, and she urged school officials to do something about it. She took the fight all the way to the Fairfax County School Board, which voted six to two to keep the book in the AP English curriculum.
Virginia at a Crossroads
Voters to determine direction of state government.
Two years ago, Democrats seized control of the General Assembly for the first time in a generation. Now Republicans are hoping this is their moment to "Take Back Virginia," the name of a recent rally in support of the GOP statewide ticket that featured a call-in appearance from former President Donald Trump, who used the opportunity to repeat baseless claims about widespread election fraud.
Voters to Determine Direction of City
Republican Annetta Catchings challenges incumbent Democrat Justin Wilson for mayor.
The race for mayor comes down to a simple question: Are Alexandria voters happy with the direction of the city or not?
House Seat Shuffle
Former CIA branch chief J.D. Maddox to face Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker.
In Richmond, the 45th House District is known as a cursed seat because of its dizzying turnover. After the retirement of longtime Del. Marian Van Landingham (D-45) in 2006, the district has blazed through three delegates in rapid succession. Now the seat is open once again after the incumbent, former radio talk show host Mark Levine, lost the primary when his name appeared on the ballot twice because he was trying to simultaneously win reelection to the House while also snagging the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
Bag It?—Not Any More
Arlington to consider a new five-cent tax for each plastic bag.
Bag It?—Not Any More
Reform Is in the Bag
City Council to consider new five-cent tax for each plastic bag.
Alexandria started pressing for a plastic bag tax when George W. Bush was in the White House and Virginia was a red state. Now the years of advocacy have finally paid off, and state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-30) has been able to pass a bill giving City Hall authority to impose a five-cent tax on each and every plastic bag that's used in grocery stores and convenience stores.
Big Money for Big Biz, Not as Much for Poor
Lawmakers go on a spending spree with billions of dollars from Uncle Sam.
Big business cleaned up this week, taking home the biggest prizes in the special session to spend $3 billion in stimulus cash. Meanwhile, low-income Virginians didn't fare quite as well.
Marijuana Is Now Legal
The long strange trip from a failed war on drugs to social equity licenses
Smoke 'em if you've got 'em because pot is now legal in the commonwealth of Virginia.
Gutter Politics
City Council candidates campaign on fixing Alexandria's flooding problem.
None of the candidates for Alexandria City Council are for flooding, which has swamped the city's aging infrastructure in recent years as a series of major storm events have repeatedly submerged parts of Alexandria.
Seven Republicans Running for Governor
May 8 convention to determine direction of party heading into November.
Republicans haven’t won a statewide race since 2009, when Attorney General Bob McDonnell received 59 percent of the vote against Democrat Creigh Deeds. Since then, Republicans have been shut out of the Executive Mansion. Ken Cuccinelli lost to Terry McAuliffe in 2013, and Ed Gillespie lost to Ralph Northam in 2017. Now Republicans are about to determine their statewide candidates in a May 8 convention, which will take place at 37 locations.
Green Summer
Alexandria delegation works with the governor to legalize marijuana on July 1.
Alexandria is about to become the capital of marijuana in Virginia. The city's legislative delegation is at the center of an effort poised to legalize weed this summer, years ahead of an agreement that was struck behind closed doors at the end of the General Assembly session in February.
The Strange Career of Felon Disenfranchisement
Amendment targets Jacksonian-era restriction weaponized during Jim Crow.
Felons have been prohibited from voting in Virginia since 1830, when the "right to suffrage" was denied "to any person convicted of any infamous offense." But it was during the era of Jim Crow that felon disenfranchisement became weaponized to prevent Black voters from influencing elections.
The Pandemic Election
Virginia voters support Biden, Warner and a new redistricting commission.
Twenty years ago, Virginia was a red state. Republicans scored Virginia's electoral votes in every presidential election since LBJ was reelected in 1964. Republicans held both U.S. Senate seats. The Grand Old Party had all the statewide offices, a majority of the congressional delegation and both chambers of the General Assembly. That was the environment when Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Democrats, ran for governor and lieutenant governor.
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