VPM News

Updated: As one commission staffer writes, the proposed Dominion–NextEra deal fails to satisfy the Virginia Utility Transfers Act.

The Charlottesville Police Department has deployed surveillance camera technology across the city, including Axon technologies and camera trailers at encampments before the city cleared the area. Learn more here: www.vpm.org/news/2026-10...

If you were unable to register to vote by today's deadline, fret not. You can still register and cast a ballot that will be counted: a provisional ballot. But what is a provisional ballot, anyway? And why does a voter cast one instead of a regular ballot?

ICYMI: You should read this thread. It has...been a WEEK of news in Virginia.

The federal government has arrested state Sen. Louise Lucas, alleging she participated in a criminal conspiracy to sell marijuana and launder the profits. This is a developing story and will be updated.

Richmond Public Schools officials are currently investigating a cybersecurity incident that’s disrupting several of their operational systems, according to an email sent to staff Wednesday afternoon. “As a precaution, we have temporarily taken internet access offline.”

Virginia’s Department of Forensic Science has notified local prosecutors and law enforcement that 2,173 comparison cases that one former examiner worked on — and 497 from a second ex-DFS employee — should be reviewed for possible reexamination.

Mayor Danny Avula said the policy change brings more clarity and accountability: “For our city employees, it gives them clear guidance about what their responsibilities are and how to respond when situations arise that could undermine the trust of our immigrant communities.

DEVELOPING: SCC staff recommend axing Dominion–NextEra Energy merger www.vpm.org/news/2026-10...

If successful, Virginia's Ballot Question 2 would define marriage in the commonwealth as between two adults regardless of race, sex or gender. It would likely be the first time that the state's constitution has distinguished sex and gender as separate — which has made social conservatives uneasy.

The 5th District has historically been a Republican stronghold, but one that Perriello has represented in the past. It comprises more than 20 mostly rural counties, but includes small cities like Charlottesville, Lynchburg and Danville. The constituency also includes many college students.

The new study by JLARC also found AI standards from Virginia’s Information Technologies Agency — which serves 65 state agencies — haven’t kept up with the evolving risks of the technology.

At CARITAS’ newly renovated campus in Richmond’s Southside, Cameron Patey is guiding participants of The Healing Place, a peer-driven, long-term residential recovery program. He found structure in the program focused on wellness, employment and stability.

After driving from Texas to turn themselves in to Chesterfield authorities, the former owners of the now-closed Shoosmith Landfill appeared in court in a bid to be permitted to return to Texas while awaiting trial, citing health concerns and pointing out both men have doctors there.

Richmond Mayor Danny Avula said in an Instagram video posted Saturday that the city would let its contract with Flock Safety — the company behind a national network of controversial automatic license plate readers — expire June 30, 2027, rather than renewing the agreement.

Joshua Ertle said that Randall Terry — who was seeking a congressional seat in at least two other states as of June — guided him when he was prepping paperwork for his campaign.

Henrico County announced Tuesday that it was terminating its contract with Flock Safety, the public safety and surveillance firm known for its controversial automatic license plate readers. “Ending this contract is the right thing to do for our residents and community,” Roscoe Cooper said.

YWCA Richmond CEO Rupa Murthy told VPM News the closure will be temporary at Sprout School Second Presbyterian, and that the goal is to start reopening some classrooms at the school “as early as next week.” They are in the process of actively trying to hire more staff, she said.

The highest-return degree at every public four-year university was either computer engineering, computer science or computer and information sciences. On the flip side, the lowest-ROI degrees at most schools were in the visual or performing arts, particularly those related to drama.

Rebekkah Robinson, a professional staff intelligence investigator, faces two counts for improper use of an ALPR system by law enforcement and two counts of computer invasion of privacy, according to a Friday press release. Both are Class 1 misdemeanors.

Spanberger’s administration posits that the most affordable path forward for Virginia is to focus on renewable energy resources, battery storage, demand management and emerging energy technologies.

According to a Sept. 29 letter, DEQ staff “received email correspondence indicating unauthorized filling of surface waters … outside the permitted impact areas at the Project Peanut site.” DEQ received 7 reports between Dec. 2025 and Aug. 2026 and conducted 5 inspections during the same period.

Effective today, legally residing immigrants with humanitarian statuses — including refugees, people granted asylum, victims of trafficking, and others — who were previously eligible for Medicaid will now be unable to access publicly-funded coverage.

Richmond City officials are plotting out what policy proposals and funding requests they will take to state lawmakers for the 2027 Virginia General Assembly session. The package has a request for $100m in state funding to cover costs for its combined sewer overflow project in fiscal year 2028.

Human Rights First’s ICE Flight Monitor, which tracks immigration enforcement flights using publicly available data, documented 104 enforcement flights departing from Richmond International Airport through July 2026. There were 128 such flights in all of 2025. New from @keyrisreports.bsky.social:

“Black Survival, Joy and Community at America’s 250th” was the theme of the Descendants of Enslaved Communities of Virginia's Descendants’ Day Symposium. DEC-VA VP Bertha French called the event part of a movement to re-center stories of enslaved communities in conversations about US history.

Scott Ukrop said his father Jim's north star was shaped by a sense of competition and a belief in taking care of the customer: “Really trying to treat people to see how you'd like to be treated.”

Virginia ELECT said mailers were sent out to 234,852 people after a landmark federal court ruling mostly struck down Virginia’s automatic felony disenfranchisement rule. The department also said it identified 998 people whose registrations had been incorrectly denied or canceled.

The National Weather Service had issued an extreme heat warning for Prince Edward County over the July 4th weekend, warning of heat-index values of 110 degrees or higher. CoreCivic acknowledged that Farmville has experienced air conditioning problems this summer.

@amylaufer55.bsky.social carried legislation earlier this year to order JLARC, the General Assembly’s research agency, to study AI policies in higher education. As part of the study, JLARC is tasked with developing a model policy for AI use in institutions of higher education across the state.

Amid recent backlash against Flock Safety cameras, Mayor Danny Avula has directed RPD to purge their ALPR reader data every week instead of every 21 days. The change is 1 of 4 actions Avula announced Saturday in a video where he said the city would review its Flock deal, which runs until June 2027

I’m working on a story about the impact of upcoming changes to Medicaid in Charlottesville. I'm looking for people who'd be open to talking with me about how new work requirements will impact them. Feel free to DM me or shoot me an email at hdreid@vpm.org!

New data from the Center for Conservation Biology at William & Mary reveals that Chesapeake Bay osprey experienced their worst breeding season on record. To understand how populations are faring across the estuary, the researchers selected birds that live on water with varying salinity levels.

As part of the new legislative mandate, nearly 40 two- and four-year colleges and two state agencies will be required to report detailed data on VMSDEP recipients and program funding to the General Assembly by Dec. 15 of each year.

Virginia has implemented a landmark federal court order and now no longer strips someone’s voting rights away over any felony conviction except three: murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.

Hanover County recently completed a major renovation to the Wickham Building, home to the county’s department of elections, ahead of the early voting period. Officials celebrated the approximately $5m project at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Hanover’s administrative campus on County Complex Road.

On Sept. 17, we'll be co-moderating the 6th District Richmond School Board debate with @richmonder.org, featuring candidates Anne Holton and Jackie McDonnough. Both candidates bring decades of experience in education, public service and community advocacy to the school board race.

The Richmond Regional Water Workgroup has recommended using nearly $33M in state grant money for a filter upgrade at the city's main water treatment plant off Douglasdale Road. The project is expected to cost $43.8M, with the remaining funds coming from ratepayers in the region.

For over 15 years, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank has given out food monthly at 10 mobile pantry locations across Virginia. Its goal: to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables for those in areas with limited food options or transportation challenges — regardless of their income.

Staunton's Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents is still open and the 2023 JLARC recommendation to shut it down hasn’t changed. “While some time has passed since the JLARC study, we don’t have reason to believe that conditions have improved significantly, if at all,” Hal Greer said.

The project developed by Charlottesville-based Hexagon Energy would use about 26 acres of the roughly 100-acre parcel off Blunts Bridge Road to develop a small-scale, 3-megawatt solar farm in Hanover County.

If approved, the 1% increase to the county sales tax would be in effect through July 22, 2046 – which is the date when the county’s board of supervisors approved the referendum this year.

This fall, Virginians could vote on whether people convicted of felonies can have their voting rights automatically restored once they are out of prison...125 years after Virginia's lawmakers rewrote the state constitution to disenfranchise Black voters. Watch "Amending Virginia: Voting Rights" ⬇️

Judge Vernida Chaney, of the Court of Appeals of Virginia, wrote in an Aug. 11 opinion that Arlington County police's use of a "reverse-keyword warrant" to identify a suspect in a 2022 malicious wounding case via Google search history opens up questions about constitutional privacy protections.

The Cumberland County Planning Commission voted 5–1 Monday to recommend approval of a conditional use permit for Dominion Energy’s proposed 3-gigawatt Cumberland Energy Center, which would be the largest natural gas plant in the state.

This fall, Virginians could decide to replace a currently-defunct ban on same-sex marriage in the state's constitution with a provision that any two adults can marry. VPM News' Jahd Khalil talked to people who support and oppose that amendment. Watch "Amending Virginia: Marriage Equality" now.