Author: Staff Report

Gov. Spanberger talks utility mega-merger on CNBC and more Virginia headlines
• “Virginia Gov. Spanberger on intervening in NextEra-Dominion merger: The deal should benefit the people of VA.” — CNBC • “Congressional analysts predict Newport News Shipbuilding doesn’t have room to build Trump’s new battleships.” — WHRO • “Virginia tourism hits $36.2 billion as Roanoke among standout performers.” — The Roanoke

Va.’s vaccine recommendations, requirements won’t change after Trump order, officials say
After President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday to alter childhood vaccine guidance, Virginia’s Department of Health on Tuesday reaffirmed the state’s requirements and recommendations for all children to be vaccinated. VDH Commissioner Dr. Cameron Webb said that Virginia families should trust the state’s decisions to be “grounded in

Lt. Gov. Hashmi hits the road to hear from Virginians on Dominion-NextEra merger
With the clock ticking on the six-month window for the State Corporation Commission to decide whether Dominion Energy should be allowed to merge with the Florida-based NextEra Energy, Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi said this week she would host a statewide tour to meet with constituents, educate them on the case

What candidates have planned for Virginia’s coast could decide a key congressional race
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. With Virginia’s Aug. 4 primaries in the rearview mirror, the ballot is set in one of the nation’s most competitive congressional districts. In the

Va. resident seeks answers from state education superintendent over genocide definition
A Virginia resident is asking a Prince William County district court to order the state’s superintendent of public instruction to demonstrate how the Virginia Department of Education defines the term “genocide” in the state’s K-12 history curriculum. Prince William resident Gene Sokolowski filed a FOIA lawsuit in his county district

Trump urges shift in childhood vaccine recommendations, calls for splitting up MMR vaccine
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday signed a sweeping executive order that aims to reshape guidance surrounding childhood vaccines, standing alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and was met with immediate pushback. The order — which calls on federal programs and funding to “support maximal parental
Virginia tourism generates $3.4B in state, local taxes
(The Center Square) – Tourism generated about $3.4 billion in state and local taxes in Virginia last year as visitors spent a record $36.2 billion across the Commonwealth. Local governments accounted for about $2.1 billion of the tax impact, while $1.36 billion went to the state, according to an economic impact analysis by Tourism Economics…

The main lesson from DEQ’s groundwater report: Va. must budget to live within environmental limits
The timing of the release of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s report on groundwater availability last month was suspicious, given that it was completed in January but not made available to lawmakers or the public until several months after the General Assembly’s legislative session. The science presented in the

Voters will decide reproductive rights’ future four years after Roe and more Va. headlines
• “Amending Virginia: Voters will decide reproductive rights’ future four years after Roe.” — VPM News • “Chiefs’ Eric Bieniemy returns to practice after wife’s shooting at their Virginia home.” — ABC News • “Virginia communities race to get 1% sales tax for school construction on the ballot.” — Cardinal

More states ban child marriage, including Virginia, though it’s still legal in most of the US
After authorities rescued 16 children last month who had been confined to a single room in a home in rural Ohio, attention turned to their mother, who had been 15 and pregnant when she married their father. The child endangerment case has recharged a national conversation around child marriage, which








