Category: Virginia Mercury

• “If Virginia passes the proposed amendment on reproductive health, what happens to the state’s laws on abortion? Here’s what legal experts say.” — Cardinal News • “Virginia releases statewide environmental literacy plan.” — Bay Journal • “Virginia gun owners want assault-style firearm sales ban overturned.” — WDBJ 7  •

The Trump administration’s order to allow import of Russian diesel violates a 2022 law banning Russian energy imports while the country’s war with Ukraine is ongoing, according to a bipartisan group of U.S. senators. Following an Oct. 9 call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the U.S. Treasury

In the course of a single election cycle, the backlash against data centers has grown from an issue at local planning commission and city council meetings to become a flashpoint in state and federal races across the country. Candidates who once touted data centers as an economic boon have backtracked, and voters

Students face pressure to do well from family expectations, peer competition, college admissions, and a broader achievement-focused culture. Some Virginia education experts say it is leading them to rely on artificial intelligence, at the expense of strengthening their own creative and critical thinking skills. “They want to do well, and

Measles cases for the calendar year surpassed 4,000 for the first time in decades, with as many as five deaths in Pennsylvania, as the federal government steps in with financial help for states but also fans vaccination fears and skepticism.  A weekly report from the Centers for Disease Control and

In his 1975 book, “Systemantics,” John Gall hypothesizes that complex systems tend to fail, and not because of bad intentions, incompetent operators, or a few correctable defects. Organizations and other human-made systems develop unanticipated behaviors that often thwart their intended purposes. As we begin to recognize these tendencies toward failure,

As OBGYN Dr. Christina Francis stood in Virginia’s General Assembly Building earlier this month to speak against a proposed reproductive rights constitutional amendment, she said that voters “should not look at this as a political issue.” But the ballot referendum to enshrine reproductive rights into Virginia’s constitution — along with

U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Woodbridge, is seeking a second term in one of Virginia’s most politically astute and competitive districts, where five challengers — including Republican Douglas Ollivant — are on the ballot. The outcome of the 7th Congressional District race could weigh heavily in determining which party will control

• “After a felony, Virginia took away his vote. A court win is giving it back.” — The Washington Post • “(Virginia) congregants celebrate the reconstruction of one of America’s oldest Black churches.” — The Associated Press • “Northampton County shellfish farmers are reeling after algal bloom devastates oyster crops.”

Pending changes to Head Start initiated by President Donald Trump’s administration could make it harder for Virginia families to utilize the program, including those whose families lack permanent shelter.  A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposal would eliminate a rule that allows Head Start centers to reserve admission