Michael Lee Pope is an award-winning journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria. He has reported for NPR, the New York Daily News and Northern Virginia Magazine. He has a master's degree in American Studies from Florida State University, and he is a former adjunct professor at Tallahassee Community College. Pope is the author of four books.
Recent Stories
Fossil Fuel Fiesta in Alexandria
Governor proposes gas-tax holiday, but will Virginians benefit?
gas tax
Election Mirage Evaporates in Alexandria
Governor signs bill to improve election returns at the precinct level.
Election
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.
Privacy Advocates Urge Veto
Opponents of facial recognition technology call on governor to reject social-media dragnet.
Police departments across Virginia may soon have the ability to use billions of images scraped from social-media sites like Facebook and Instagram to track down suspects, a development that is concerning to critics who say the technology is invasive and a violation of privacy. The governor is now considering the bill, and critics are urging him to veto it or amend it to require a warrant.
Up in Smoke
Black market to remain underground for now as lawmakers reject licensing scheme.
Cannabis
Oops! They Did it Again
Lawmakers ‘accidentally’ gave overtime protections to farmworkers and domestic workers, now taking it back.
Farmers and work hours
Commemorating Hidden History in Arlington and Alexandria
Local 'Green Book' locations may soon be designated historic sites.
Green Book
Green Rollback May Hit Blue Wall
Republican efforts to undo environmental laws to face opposition in Democratic-led Senate.
Environmental laws