rawdog

Here are some of the top headlines from other news outlets around Virginia. Some content may be behind a metered paywall:

Politics:

Dominion offshore wind project in U.S. to resume construction after judge lifts Trump suspension. — CNBC.

After UVa resignations, Spanberger names 27 to Virginia college boards. — The Washington Post (paywall).

Youngkin among governors joining White House to call for lower electricity prices. — The Hill.

Environment:

Lawsuit filed to protect rare Appalachian salamander found in Virginia, neighboring states. — Virginia Mercury.

Economy:

CarMax lays off 230 employees, many in Virginia. — Virginia Business (paywall).

Sports:

Virginia to dedicate John Paul Jones Arena court to honor former coach Tony Bennett. — The (Charlottesville) Daily Progress (paywall).

Courts:

24 plead guilty in Roanoke scheme to defraud pandemic relief program. — The Roanoke Times (paywall).

Weather:

For more weather news, follow weather journalist Kevin Myatt on Twitter / X at @kevinmyattwx and sign up for his free weather email newsletter. His weekly column appears in Cardinal News each Wednesday afternoon.

The post Headlines from across the state: Dominion offshore wind project in U.S. to resume construction after judge lifts Trump suspension; more … appeared first on Cardinal News.

Here’s a visual look at Saturday’s inauguration of Virginia’s 75th governor, Abigail Spanberger.

Former governors

One of Virginia’s traditions is a photo line-up of the outgoing governor, the incoming governor and all the living former governors. Only Charles Robb, who was governor from 1982-86, was absent.

The key ceremony

Another Virginia tradition is the “key ceremony,” where the outgoing governor presents the incoming governor with the key to the Executive Mansion. In recent years, the key has become a key card. Outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin referred to a “mishap” four years ago when Gov. Ralph Northam’s dog chewed the key card before the handover. This year, Youngkin presented Abigail Spanberger with both a key card and a ceremonial key. That’s what she’s reacting to in the first photo above.

The master of ceremonies

Technically, the inauguration is conducted as part of a joint session of the General Assembly that must be called to order and then adjourned with all the usual parliamentary procedure. Presiding over inaugurations is the speaker of the House, currently Don Scott of Portsmouth. The standard protocol is for participants to wear “morning wear,” a formal style of clothing that often includes a top hat for men. Scott went without the top hat, but Adam Spanberger, the new governor’s husband, doffed one.

The soon-to-be officeholders arrive at the Capitol

The soon-to-be officeholders

Here’s Adam Spanberger with his top hat as the ceremonies get underway.

Ceremonies

Video of the oath ceremonies

There is no standard protocol for who swears in whom. Over the years, officeholders have picked the judges who administer the oath, often with symbolism or family connections in mind.

Jay Jones was sworn in by his mother, Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Lyn Simmons. As he was getting in place, she could be heard to ask him: “Are you ready, baby?”

Ghazala Hashmi was sworn in by Cleo Powell, the chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court. The first Muslim woman to be elected to any statewide office in the United States, Hashmi was sworn in on her family Quran and an original version of the U.S. Constitution printed in 1799 on loan from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond.

Spanberger was sworn in by Bill Mims, a senior justice of the Virginia Supreme Court. A former Republican attorney general and state legislator from Loudoun County, Mims had become friends with Spanberger over the years.

Spanberger becomes Virginia’s 75th governor at 12:33 p.m.

Military salute to the new governor

After a new governor is sworn in, the Virginia National Guard fires off a ceremonial 19-gun salute with cannons on the state Capitol grounds and a military flyover. State police had advised that the loud sounds might activate car alarms and building alarms in downtown Richmond.

The former governor exits

By tradition, Virginia’s outgoing governor exits the ceremony before the inaugural address.

The inaugural address

You can read Cardinal’s coverage of Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s inaugural address or the full text.

Celebrations

Indigenous blessing

Virginia’s Native American tribes traditionally offer a ceremonial blessing for the new governor.

More song

Inaugural parade

For more on the inaugural parade, see the story by Cardinal’s Tad Dickens.

Family reaction

Tuckered out

Getting down to business

The first order of business for new governors is to sign multiple executive orders. Spanberger’s were more substantive than most. For more on those, see this story by Cardinal’s Elizabeth Beyer.

Inaugural ball

The evening concluded with the inaugural ball, where the main musical guest was Charlottesville-based Dave Matthews.

The post The inauguration in photos and videos appeared first on Cardinal News.

Here’s a visual look at Saturday’s inauguration of Virginia’s 75th governor, Abigail Spanberger.

Former governors

One of Virginia’s traditions is a photo line-up of the outgoing governor, the incoming governor and all the living former governors. Only Charles Robb, who was governor from 1982-86, was absent.

The key ceremony

Another Virginia tradition is the “key ceremony,” where the outgoing governor presents the incoming governor with the key to the Executive Mansion. In recent years, the key has become a key card. Outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin referred to a “mishap” four years ago when Gov. Ralph Northam’s dog chewed the key card before the handover. This year, Youngkin presented Abigail Spanberger with both a key card and a ceremonial key. That’s what she’s reacting to in the first photo above.

The master of ceremonies

Technically, the inauguration is conducted as part of a joint session of the General Assembly that must be called to order and then adjourned with all the usual parliamentary procedure. Presiding over inaugurations is the speaker of the House, currently Don Scott of Portsmouth. The standard protocol is for participants to wear “morning wear,” a formal style of clothing that often includes a top hat for men. Scott went without the top hat, but Adam Spanberger, the new governor’s husband, doffed one.

The soon-to-be officeholders arrive at the Capitol

Here’s Adam Spanberger with his top hat as the ceremonies get underway.

Ceremonies

Video of the oath ceremonies

There is no standard protocol for who swears in whom. Over the years, officeholders have picked the judges who administer the oath, often with symbolism or family connections in mind.

Jay Jones was sworn in by his mother, Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Lyn Simmons. As he was getting in place, she could be heard to ask him: “Are you ready, baby?”

Ghazala Hashmi was sworn in by Cleo Powell, the chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court. The first Muslim woman to be elected to any statewide office in the United States, Hashmi was sworn in on her family Quran and an original version of the U.S. Constitution printed in 1799 on loan from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond.

Spanberger was sworn in by Bill Mims, a senior justice of the Virginia Supreme Court. A former Republican attorney general and state legislator from Loudoun County, Mims had become friends with Spanberger over the years.

Spanberger becomes Virginia’s 75th governor at 12:33 p.m.

Military salute to the new governor

After a new governor is sworn in, the Virginia National Guard fires off a ceremonial 19-gun salute with cannons on the state Capitol grounds and a military flyover. State police had advised that the loud sounds might activate car alarms and building alarms in downtown Richmond.

The former governor exits

By tradition, Virginia’s outgoing governor exits the ceremony before the inaugural address.

The inaugural address

You can read Cardinal’s coverage of Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s inaugural address or the full text.

Celebrations

Indigenous blessing

Virginia’s Native American tribes traditionally offer a ceremonial blessing for the new governor.

More song

Inaugural parade

For more on the inaugural parade, see the story by Cardinal’s Tad Dickens.

Family reaction

Tuckered out

Getting down to business

The first order of business for new governors is to sign multiple executive orders. Spanberger’s were more substantive than most. For more on those, see this story by Cardinal’s Elizabeth Beyer.

Inaugural ball

The evening concluded with the inaugural ball, where the main musical guest was Charlottesville-based Dave Matthews.

The post The inauguration in photos and videos appeared first on Cardinal News.

Here’s a visual look at Saturday’s inauguration of Virginia’s 75th governor, Abigail Spanberger.

Former governors

One of Virginia’s traditions is a photo line-up of the outgoing governor, the incoming governor and all the living former governors. Only Charles Robb, who was governor from 1982-86, was absent.

The key ceremony

Another Virginia tradition is the “key ceremony,” where the outgoing governor presents the incoming governor with the key to the Executive Mansion. In recent years, the key has become a key card. Outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin referred to a “mishap” four years ago when Gov. Ralph Northam’s dog chewed the key card before the handover. This year, Youngkin presented Abigail Spanberger with both a key card and a ceremonial key. That’s what she’s reacting to in the first photo above.

The master of ceremonies

Technically, the inauguration is conducted as part of a joint session of the General Assembly that must be called to order and then adjourned with all the usual parliamentary procedure. Presiding over inaugurations is the speaker of the House, currently Don Scott of Portsmouth. The standard protocol is for participants to wear “morning wear,” a formal style of clothing that often includes a top hat for men. Scott went without the top hat, but Adam Spanberger, the new governor’s husband, doffed one.

The soon-to-be officeholders arrive at the Capitol

Here’s Adam Spanberger with his top hat as the ceremonies get underway.

Ceremonies

Video of the oath ceremonies

There is no standard protocol for who swears in whom. Over the years, officeholders have picked the judges who administer the oath, often with symbolism or family connections in mind.

Jay Jones was sworn in by his mother, Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Lyn Simmons. As he was getting in place, she could be heard to ask him: “Are you ready, baby?”

Ghazala Hashmi was sworn in by Cleo Powell, the chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court. The first Muslim woman to be elected to any statewide office in the United States, Hashmi was sworn in on her family Quran and an original version of the U.S. Constitution printed in 1799 on loan from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond.

Spanberger was sworn in by Bill Mims, a senior justice of the Virginia Supreme Court. A former Republican attorney general and state legislator from Loudoun County, Mims had become friends with Spanberger over the years.

Spanberger becomes Virginia’s 75th governor at 12:33 p.m.

Military salute to the new governor

After a new governor is sworn in, the Virginia National Guard fires off a ceremonial 19-gun salute with cannons on the state Capitol grounds and a military flyover. State police had advised that the loud sounds might activate car alarms and building alarms in downtown Richmond.

The former governor exits

By tradition, Virginia’s outgoing governor exits the ceremony before the inaugural address.

The inaugural address

You can read Cardinal’s coverage of Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s inaugural address or the full text.

Celebrations

Indigenous blessing

Virginia’s Native American tribes traditionally offer a ceremonial blessing for the new governor.

More song

Inaugural parade

For more on the inaugural parade, see the story by Cardinal’s Tad Dickens.

Family reaction

Tuckered out

Getting down to business

The first order of business for new governors is to sign multiple executive orders. Spanberger’s were more substantive than most. For more on those, see this story by Cardinal’s Elizabeth Beyer.

Inaugural ball

The evening concluded with the inaugural ball, where the main musical guest was Charlottesville-based Dave Matthews.

The post The inauguration in photos and videos appeared first on Cardinal News.

As psychedelic folk music swirled through the air on Friday at Richmond’s 17th Street Market, Mary Arritt and J.J. Price discussed leather handbags.

Price, from Callaway, makes them. Arritt, from North Chesterfield, likes them.

“I like anything that’s locally made, regionally made,” she said.

Price, with his wife, Kathy, had plenty of handmade purses, clutches, wallets and other bags on offer. Their business, JP’s Custom Leatherworks, was among 42 from across the commonwealth for the Made in Virginia Market, part of Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s inaugural weekend celebration.

JP’s represented Southwest Virginia, as did Roanoke-based Hmble Hstle Clothing and the Star City’s Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline Council. The latter was slinging Girl Scout Cookies. On Saturday, another Southwest Virginia business — Washington County-based Squabble State — had three hard ciders on tap at the inaugural ball.

Kathy Price found information about the event on a website and passed it along to her husband, a Roanoke firefighter who makes his station’s personal protective gear. 

“They were looking for Virginia-made stuff,” J.J. Price said, as Richmond band Holy River played live in the background. “And she knows how I am all about American-made. If I can buy American-made hardware, our bags would be 100% American made, but you can’t get it.”

He began making purses when he saw the high prices for name-brand ones that his daughter, then 15, wanted for a present. After he made hers, her friends wanted some for themselves. 

“It grew into a real business,” he said as he stood among his handiwork on the market at Shockoe Bottom. He and Kathy Price saw plenty of customers, handed out cards and, they hoped, drummed up some future customers.

“Most everybody that comes in and looks, you know, they didn’t come here with $300 in their pocket to spend,” but the exposure is valuable too, he said.

A few spaces from him, Hmble Hstle’s Xavier Duckett plied his streetwear, including ball caps and bags. Duckett said he learned about the Made in Virginia Market event through Hmble Hstle’s association with the Virginia Tourism Corp.  

“It’s definitely an honor to get in front of more people,” he said. “I’m all about the exposure, all about getting smaller businesses more exposure to a diverse walk of life.”

Inaugural ball attendees on Saturday night had dozens of libations to choose from. Three of them, hard ciders Everyday Apple, Commonwealth Citrus and Backyard Berry, came from Squabble State — a name inspired by surveying disagreements of the 1700s where Virginia bordered what is now Tennessee. 

Will Payne, who, with Will Clear, owns the orchard and cidery on a 68-acre farm which Payne said is minutes from downtown Bristol and the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, said that Spanberger visited the site Oct. 2 during her campaign’s bus tour, staying to meet the team, learn about production and taste some of what was on tap.

“She asked thoughtful questions about our orchard, how we make cider, and the real challenges small businesses face in Southwest Virginia,” Payne said in an email exchange. “After that visit, we followed up with her team and were proud to be included in the Inaugural Ball as part of a tap wall celebrating Virginia-made craft beverages.”

He said the hard ciders reflect the “unity, fun, affordability and a sincere focus on people” that characterized Spanberger’s campaign. Folks were likely to drink to that at the ball on Saturday.

Reporter Samantha Verrelli contributed to this story.

The post Inauguration events featured leather, streetwear, cookies and hard cider from Southwest Virginia appeared first on Cardinal News.

As psychedelic folk music swirled through the air on Friday at Richmond’s 17th Street Market, Mary Arritt and J.J. Price discussed leather handbags.

Price, from Callaway, makes them. Arritt, from North Chesterfield, likes them.

“I like anything that’s locally made, regionally made,” she said.

Price, with his wife, Kathy, had plenty of handmade purses, clutches, wallets and other bags on offer. Their business, JP’s Custom Leatherworks, was among 42 from across the commonwealth for the Made in Virginia Market, part of Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s inaugural weekend celebration.

JP’s represented Southwest Virginia, as did Roanoke-based Hmble Hstle Clothing and the Star City’s Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline Council. The latter was slinging Girl Scout Cookies. On Saturday, another Southwest Virginia business — Washington County-based Squabble State — had three hard ciders on tap at the inaugural ball.

Kathy Price found information about the event on a website and passed it along to her husband, a Roanoke firefighter who makes his station’s personal protective gear. 

“They were looking for Virginia-made stuff,” J.J. Price said, as Richmond band Holy River played live in the background. “And she knows how I am all about American-made. If I can buy American-made hardware, our bags would be 100% American made, but you can’t get it.”

He began making purses when he saw the high prices for name-brand ones that his daughter, then 15, wanted for a present. After he made hers, her friends wanted some for themselves. 

“It grew into a real business,” he said as he stood among his handiwork on the market at Shockoe Bottom. He and Kathy Price saw plenty of customers, handed out cards and, they hoped, drummed up some future customers.

“Most everybody that comes in and looks, you know, they didn’t come here with $300 in their pocket to spend,” but the exposure is valuable too, he said.

A few spaces from him, Hmble Hstle’s Xavier Duckett plied his streetwear, including ball caps and bags. Duckett said he learned about the Made in Virginia Market event through Hmble Hstle’s association with the Virginia Tourism Corp.  

“It’s definitely an honor to get in front of more people,” he said. “I’m all about the exposure, all about getting smaller businesses more exposure to a diverse walk of life.”

Inaugural ball attendees on Saturday night had dozens of libations to choose from. Three of them, hard ciders Everyday Apple, Commonwealth Citrus and Backyard Berry, came from Squabble State — a name inspired by surveying disagreements of the 1700s where Virginia bordered what is now Tennessee. 

Will Payne, who, with Will Clear, owns the orchard and cidery on a 68-acre farm which Payne said is minutes from downtown Bristol and the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, said that Spanberger visited the site Oct. 27 during her campaign’s bus tour, staying to meet the team, learn about production and taste some of what was on tap.

“She asked thoughtful questions about our orchard, how we make cider, and the real challenges small businesses face in Southwest Virginia,” Payne said in an email exchange. “After that visit, we followed up with her team and were proud to be included in the Inaugural Ball as part of a tap wall celebrating Virginia-made craft beverages.”

He said the hard ciders reflect the “unity, fun, affordability and a sincere focus on people” that characterized Spanberger’s campaign. Folks were likely to drink to that at the ball on Saturday.

Reporter Samantha Verrelli contributed to this story.

The post Inauguration events featured leather, streetwear, cookies and hard cider from Southwest Virginia appeared first on Cardinal News.

Sue Sprano spent most of her 23 years as a teacher focused on Virginia history. She taught students about the first governor, “some good governors and some bad governors” in between and the first Black governor in Virginia.

Now she can tell students about Abigail Spanberger, the first woman elected governor of Virginia.

Girls and women like Sprano came to Richmond from across Southwest Virginia to witness the historic event firsthand on Saturday. 

Sprano has been the school librarian at Spiller Elementary School in Wythe County for five years, after two decades of teaching. 

“I am just so excited that our state is finally making this history-changing moment,” Sprano said in an interview prior to the inauguration weekend. “I have two teenage daughters, and I am just so excited that every little girl can see that they can do whatever they want to do, and there is no stopping them.” 

She only had one ticket for the inauguration ceremony, but plans to bring her daughters to the Executive Mansion open house on Sunday so they can still experience the weekend, she said.

Spanberger’s three daughters sat behind her during her speech, beaming at her, as Spanberger addressed the historical importance of her election.

“On these steps, Virginia’s suffragists brought their cause to the General Assembly, session after session, decade after decade,” she said. “And though these brave women were voted down, time and time again, they refused to give up.”

Sprano, who said this was the first inauguration she has attended, said she’s worried about issues affecting women, like “our freedom to choose what we do with our bodies.”

She said while she likes to keep politics out of her conversations with students, she’ll definitely teach them about Spanberger — especially with Women’s History Month coming up in March.

Some kids at her school, Sprano said, are told things at home that “are not the way things are really done in democracy and in the government.”

“I try to be truthful with them and explain to them that there are politicians there that are working hard to make their lives better and to make Virginia a better place,” she said.

Sprano said later that she was “stunned” as she sat in the stands, watching the inauguration.

“She’s not afraid to say what she thinks. And I appreciate that,” Sprano said. “It was just wonderful.”

Nikki Williams, chief executive officer of the Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline, which covers the southwest part of the commonwealth, said the experience of being at the inauguration was educational “in and of itself” for the girls.

More than 200 Girl Scouts from across the state marched in the parade following the inauguration, and scouts from Southwest Virginia ran a booth during the Made in Virginia Market on Friday afternoon.

London Graham, a 9-year-old scout from Dublin, helped sell cookies at the market.

She said her favorite part of the Girl Scouts is selling cookies to make money to go on trips, like a recent trip she went on to a water park in Massanutten. When asked if she might like to be governor one day, she grinned shyly and nodded.

Williams said Spanberger has been “incredibly supportive” of the Girl Scouts, as she was a troop leader herself and her daughters were involved in Scouting.

She said the Girl Scouts can earn democracy badges and participate in Advocacy Day, where they learn about public policy and the government.

Participating in the inauguration weekend helps the girls understand “how connected we all are,” Williams said. “It really is united in all of Virginia and allows us to be a part of that, and feel like we’re all one big family.”

Meghan Carty, who lives in Bristol, said in an interview Wednesday that she’d be traveling almost five hours to witness the inauguration in person.

“I’ve been there and experienced it,” she said of events like this one, “and then looked at how the TV portrayed it and it’s just not the same. There’s just something really magical when you’re at an event and to feel all the excitement of the crowd. The excitement of a woman taking the highest office in our state is something you can’t really experience on TV.” 

She compared that excitement to watching a favorite football team win the playoffs.

Carty brought her 13-year-old daughter, Caroline, who loves learning about history. This will be a memory “she can take with her forever,” Carty said.

“I work in a predominantly male industry, and those glass ceilings are really hard to break,” she said.

Carty said her daughter recently told her that during the election cycle, a boy at school said he didn’t want to have a woman as Virginia’s governor. Carty said she wishes the political landscape weren’t so “divisive.”

“I try to teach my kids to not demonize people for their beliefs,” Carty said. “Sometimes I think when we look and see where someone is coming from, it might make more sense and we can compromise more.”

Standing beneath the stage where Spanberger had been inaugurated just an hour before, Carty and Caroline were excited to have been in the stands when the new governor took her oath.

“It was amazing,” Carty said. “And I thought it would be a lot bigger. So it made it feel even more special.”

“It’s really exciting,” Caroline agreed, nodding and smiling as her mother spoke about the day.

The post Mothers, daughters, Girl Scouts traveled to Richmond to watch the first woman become governor of Virginia appeared first on Cardinal News.

As soon as Gov. Abigail Spanberger was sworn in as Virginia’s 75th governor, the National Guard fired off the traditional 19-gun cannon salute. State police had issued an advisory that the ceremonial booms from the howitzers might be loud enough to activate car alarms and building alarms in downtown Richmond.

There’s no word on how far away the guns could be heard, but Spanberger’s inaugural address that followed included a sustained and unmistakable rhetorical shot at President Donald Trump.

“I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington,” Spanberger said. “You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities — cutting health care access, imperiling rural hospitals and driving up costs. You are worried about Washington policies that are closing off markets, hurting innovation and private industry, and attacking those who have devoted their lives to public service.”

If that wasn’t clear enough, there was more: “You are worried about an administration that is gilding buildings while schools crumble, breaking the social safety net and sowing fear across our communities — betraying the values of who we are as Americans, the very values we celebrate here on these steps.”

It was a theme Spanberger returned to later in the speech: “And in Virginia, our hardworking, law-abiding immigrant neighbors will know that when we say — we’ll focus on the security and safety of all of our neighbors, we mean them, too.”

The crowd in attendance at the State Capitol cheered those words loudly, and Spanberger’s delivery made it clear those weren’t throwaway lines. We’ll see in the days, weeks and months ahead how those lines resonate across the Potomac with a president who takes some things very personally. 

The remarkable thing is that Spanberger didn’t have to say those words, so they seem akin to laying down a marker. 

I’d divide her speech (you can read the full text here) into four parts:

1) There was the standard call for unity, which probably every governor delivers. Maybe her quoting Patrick Henry — “Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs” — lands differently in these hyperpartisan times, but calling for unity seems pretty boilerplate in an inaugural address.

2) She delivered a history lesson that ran from the American Revolution through the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote, the 1965 Civil Rights Act and the election of Douglas Wilder as governor, placing her status as the first woman to assume the governorship in a long line of breakthroughs. When she quoted Linwood Holton, the first Republican governor since the tumult after the Civil War, his daughter, Anne Holton, appeared to tear up. When she referenced Wilder, “who changed what so many of our fellow citizens believed was even possible,” the state’s first Black governor (who turned 95 on Saturday) rose to acknowledge the crowd. Probably all Virginia governors have acknowledged the state’s long history; Spanberger’s acknowledgment was different but not unexpected under the circumstances.

3) She touched briefly and generally on her policies. “We will tackle the high cost of housing … we will work to lower energy costs … and we will contend with an impending health care crisis.” Again, this is pretty standard. Inaugural addresses are not policy speeches; they are more florid, philosophical statements. In another quirk of the Virginia system, Spanberger will get another chance to speak on Monday, when she addresses the General Assembly — the second time in less than a week that legislators will have heard from a governor, just different ones. Those addresses tend to go into more detail, such as her fleeting reference to show she wants “high energy users [to] pay their fair share.” Those “high energy users” include data centers.

4) That leaves the fourth, and most unusual, part of her address, the Trump-related part, although she never mentioned Trump by name.

Spanberger does not seem to be looking for a fight with Trump, but she certainly seemed to signal she’s not afraid of one. There may be sufficient opportunities. 

Trump has tried to shut down Dominion Energy’s offshore wind project off the coast of Virginia Beach; a federal judge on Friday granted a preliminary injunction to allow the work to resume, but that’s unlikely to be the end of the matter. (Disclosure: Dominion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.) For a governor who used her inaugural address to restate her campaign pledge to produce more energy, getting that energy project up and running will need to be a priority — otherwise, ratepayers will be stuck paying for wind turbines that aren’t producing a single kilowatt, which definitely won’t meet her goal of lowering energy prices.

On Friday, the Trump administration sued Virginia for access to its voter rolls, which the administration says is necessary to identify any fraud, but which some states have said would force them to disclose personal information such as Social Security numbers. The Trump administration is also engaged in negotiations with George Mason University over a federal investigation into various practices at the school. And then, of course, there’s immigration.

Spanberger’s remarks come in the shadow of the tumult in Minneapolis, where federal agents shot and killed an unarmed woman and the Department of Justice is now investigating both the Minnesota governor and the Minneapolis mayor. Richmond has been awash in rumors that the Trump administration will target Virginia for increased enforcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement once a Democratic governor takes office. On Friday, the vice chair of the Henrico County Board of Supervisors warned of “increased ICE activity” in her county. Spanberger followed talk with action. As promised, as one of her first executive orders, she rescinded one of now-former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s orders: State and local law enforcement are no longer required to enforce federal immigration laws. 

Spanberger’s Trump-related comments could cut several ways. They could trigger a president who is prone to being triggered by criticism. They could also serve as a warning.

Spanberger, whose background is in law enforcement, including service as a case officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, does not seem to lack a spine. Whatever you think of her policies, she does not seem like a governor to be trifled with. Even before she took office, she had done something unprecedented: She’d sent word that she wanted five members of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors to resign so she could appoint a majority — and three immediately did. That board has been involved in controversy since last summer, when the Trump administration helped force out the school’s president. Spanberger’s call for some board members to resign wasn’t a surprise, given that she’d said the board shouldn’t hire a new president until she’d taken office (it did anyway), but it does stand out in history. Two previous governors faced controversies involving state universities: Gerald Baliles with Virginia Tech in 1987 and Bob McDonnell with the University of Virginia in 2012. Baliles invited board members to resign if they weren’t prepared to value academics over athletics, McDonnell threatened to demand resignations if board members didn’t resolve a botched presidential firing, but neither actually got to the point of insisting on resignations. Spanberger did — before she even took office.

A few hours after being sworn in, Spanberger signed 10 executive orders. New governors typically do that, but hers were more substantive than recent ones we’ve seen. Besides the order related to immigration enforcement, she set up a state task force to “coordinate a statewide response to federal workforce reductions, funding cuts, tariffs, and immigration impacts” and set in motion reviews of regulations that deter housing construction and how university board members are appointed. (For more on the executive orders, see Elizabeth Beyer’s story on the subject.) Shortly after that, she did something else no modern governor has: She moved to assert control over the three state schools that have sparked the most controversy and/or conflict with the Trump administration. In all, she named 27 people to college boards of visitors — 12 at George Mason University, 10 at the University of Virginia, five at Virginia Military Institute. Among those she named to the VMI board: former Gov. Ralph Northam, a VMI grad.

I wrote last week that Spanberger — who has never served in state government — has surrounded herself with Cabinet members who have long experience in Richmond, which would enable her to move quickly. Nothing I’ve seen or heard so far challenges that observation. On the contrary, her moves regarding the University of Virginia, the tone of her inaugural address and the substance of her executive orders only underscore it. I suspect the political forecast (and the pace of change) may be the same as the weather forecast: Expect things in Richmond to be brisk.

Want more political news and insights? Keep up with what’s happening in Richmond by signing up for our daily newsletter or our weekly political newsletter, West of the Capital.

The post Spanberger didn’t have to criticize Trump in her inaugural address. She did anyway. appeared first on Cardinal News.

As soon as Gov. Abigail Spanberger was sworn in as Virginia’s 75th governor, the National Guard fired off the traditional 19-gun cannon salute. State police had issued an advisory that the ceremonial booms from the howitzers might be loud enough to activate car alarms and building alarms in downtown Richmond.

There’s no word on how far away the guns could be heard, but Spanberger’s inaugural address that followed included a sustained and unmistakable rhetorical shot at President Donald Trump.

“I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington,” Spanberger said. “You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities — cutting health care access, imperiling rural hospitals and driving up costs. You are worried about Washington policies that are closing off markets, hurting innovation and private industry, and attacking those who have devoted their lives to public service.”

If that wasn’t clear enough, there was more: “You are worried about an administration that is gilding buildings while schools crumble, breaking the social safety net and sowing fear across our communities — betraying the values of who we are as Americans, the very values we celebrate here on these steps.”

It was a theme Spanberger returned to later in the speech: “And in Virginia, our hardworking, law-abiding immigrant neighbors will know that when we say — we’ll focus on the security and safety of all of our neighbors, we mean them, too.”

The crowd in attendance at the State Capitol cheered those words loudly, and Spanberger’s delivery made it clear those weren’t throwaway lines. We’ll see in the days, weeks and months ahead how those lines resonate across the Potomac with a president who takes some things very personally. 

The remarkable thing is that Spanberger didn’t have to say those words, so they seem akin to laying down a marker. 

I’d divide her speech (you can read the full text here) into four parts:

1) There was the standard call for unity, which probably every governor delivers. Maybe her quoting Patrick Henry — “Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs” — lands differently in these hyperpartisan times, but calling for unity seems pretty boilerplate in an inaugural address.

2) She delivered a history lesson that ran from the American Revolution through the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote, the 1965 Civil Rights Act and the election of Douglas Wilder as governor, placing her status as the first woman to assume the governorship in a long line of breakthroughs. When she quoted Linwood Holton, the first Republican governor since the tumult after the Civil War, his daughter, Anne Holton, appeared to tear up. When she referenced Wilder, “who changed what so many of our fellow citizens believed was even possible,” the state’s first Black governor (who turned 95 on Saturday) rose to acknowledge the crowd. Probably all Virginia governors have acknowledged the state’s long history; Spanberger’s acknowledgment was different but not unexpected under the circumstances.

3) She touched briefly and generally on her policies. “We will tackle the high cost of housing … we will work to lower energy costs … and we will contend with an impending health care crisis.” Again, this is pretty standard. Inaugural addresses are not policy speeches; they are more florid, philosophical statements. In another quirk of the Virginia system, Spanberger will get another chance to speak on Monday, when she addresses the General Assembly — the second time in less than a week that legislators will have heard from a governor, just different ones. Those addresses tend to go into more detail, such as her fleeting reference to show she wants “high energy users [to] pay their fair share.” Those “high energy users” include data centers.

4) That leaves the fourth, and most unusual, part of her address, the Trump-related part, although she never mentioned Trump by name.

Spanberger does not seem to be looking for a fight with Trump, but she certainly seemed to signal she’s not afraid of one. There may be sufficient opportunities. 

Trump has tried to shut down Dominion Energy’s offshore wind project off the coast of Virginia Beach; a federal judge on Friday granted a preliminary injunction to allow the work to resume, but that’s unlikely to be the end of the matter. (Disclosure: Dominion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.) For a governor who used her inaugural address to restate her campaign pledge to produce more energy, getting that energy project up and running will need to be a priority — otherwise, ratepayers will be stuck paying for wind turbines that aren’t producing a single kilowatt, which definitely won’t meet her goal of lowering energy prices.

On Friday, the Trump administration sued Virginia for access to its voter rolls, which the administration says is necessary to identify any fraud, but which some states have said would force them to disclose personal information such as Social Security numbers. The Trump administration is also engaged in negotiations with George Mason University over a federal investigation into various practices at the school. And then, of course, there’s immigration.

Spanberger’s remarks come in the shadow of the tumult in Minneapolis, where federal agents shot and killed an unarmed woman and the Department of Justice is now investigating both the Minnesota governor and the Minneapolis mayor. Richmond has been awash in rumors that the Trump administration will target Virginia for increased enforcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement once a Democratic governor takes office. On Friday, the vice chair of the Henrico County Board of Supervisors warned of “increased ICE activity” in her county. Spanberger followed talk with action. As promised, as one of her first executive orders, she rescinded one of now-former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s orders: State and local law enforcement are no longer required to enforce federal immigration laws. 

Spanberger’s Trump-related comments could cut several ways. They could trigger a president who is prone to being triggered by criticism. They could also serve as a warning.

Spanberger, whose background is in law enforcement, including service as a case officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, does not seem to lack a spine. Whatever you think of her policies, she does not seem like a governor to be trifled with. Even before she took office, she had done something unprecedented: She’d sent word that she wanted five members of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors to resign so she could appoint a majority — and three immediately did. That board has been involved in controversy since last summer, when the Trump administration helped force out the school’s president. Spanberger’s call for some board members to resign wasn’t a surprise, given that she’d said the board shouldn’t hire a new president until she’d taken office (it did anyway), but it does stand out in history. Two previous governors faced controversies involving state universities: Gerald Baliles with Virginia Tech in 1987 and Bob McDonnell with the University of Virginia in 2012. Baliles invited board members to resign if they weren’t prepared to value academics over athletics, McDonnell threatened to demand resignations if board members didn’t resolve a botched presidential firing, but neither actually got to the point of insisting on resignations. Spanberger did — before she even took office.

A few hours after being sworn in, Spanberger signed 10 executive orders. New governors typically do that, but hers were more substantive than recent ones we’ve seen. Besides the order related to immigration enforcement, she set up a state task force to “coordinate a statewide response to federal workforce reductions, funding cuts, tariffs, and immigration impacts” and set in motion reviews of regulations that deter housing construction and how university board members are appointed. (For more on the executive orders, see Elizabeth Beyer’s story on the subject.) Shortly after that, she did something else no modern governor has: She moved to assert control over the three state schools that have sparked the most controversy and/or conflict with the Trump administration. In all, she named 27 people to college boards of visitors — 12 at George Mason University, 10 at the University of Virginia, five at Virginia Military Institute. Among those she named to the VMI board: former Gov. Ralph Northam, a VMI grad.

I wrote last week that Spanberger — who has never served in state government — has surrounded herself with Cabinet members who have long experience in Richmond, which would enable her to move quickly. Nothing I’ve seen or heard so far challenges that observation. On the contrary, her moves regarding the University of Virginia, the tone of her inaugural address and the substance of her executive orders only underscore it. I suspect the political forecast (and the pace of change) may be the same as the weather forecast: Expect things in Richmond to be brisk.

Want more political news and insights? Keep up with what’s happening in Richmond by signing up for our daily newsletter or our weekly political newsletter, West of the Capital.

The post Spanberger didn’t have to criticize Trump in her inaugural address. She did anyway. appeared first on Cardinal News.

As soon as Gov. Abigail Spanberger was sworn in as Virginia’s 75th governor, the National Guard fired off the traditional 19-gun cannon salute. State police had issued an advisory that the ceremonial booms from the howitzers might be loud enough to activate car alarms and building alarms in downtown Richmond.

There’s no word on how far away the guns could be heard, but Spanberger’s inaugural address that followed included a sustained and unmistakable rhetorical shot at President Donald Trump.

“I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington,” Spanberger said. “You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities — cutting health care access, imperiling rural hospitals and driving up costs. You are worried about Washington policies that are closing off markets, hurting innovation and private industry, and attacking those who have devoted their lives to public service.”

If that wasn’t clear enough, there was more: “You are worried about an administration that is gilding buildings while schools crumble, breaking the social safety net and sowing fear across our communities — betraying the values of who we are as Americans, the very values we celebrate here on these steps.”

It was a theme Spanberger returned to later in the speech: “And in Virginia, our hardworking, law-abiding immigrant neighbors will know that when we say — we’ll focus on the security and safety of all of our neighbors, we mean them, too.”

The crowd in attendance at the State Capitol cheered those words loudly, and Spanberger’s delivery made it clear those weren’t throwaway lines. We’ll see in the days, weeks and months ahead how those lines resonate across the Potomac with a president who takes some things very personally. 

The remarkable thing is that Spanberger didn’t have to say those words, so they seem akin to laying down a marker. 

I’d divide her speech (you can read the full text here) into four parts:

1) There was the standard call for unity, which probably every governor delivers. Maybe her quoting Patrick Henry — “Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs” — lands differently in these hyperpartisan times, but calling for unity seems pretty boilerplate in an inaugural address.

2) She delivered a history lesson that ran from the American Revolution through the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote, the 1965 Civil Rights Act and the election of Douglas Wilder as governor, placing her status as the first woman to assume the governorship in a long line of breakthroughs. When she quoted Linwood Holton, the first Republican governor since the tumult after the Civil War, his daughter, Anne Holton, appeared to tear up. When she referenced Wilder, “who changed what so many of our fellow citizens believed was even possible,” the state’s first Black governor (who turned 95 on Saturday) rose to acknowledge the crowd. Probably all Virginia governors have acknowledged the state’s long history; Spanberger’s acknowledgment was different but not unexpected under the circumstances.

3) She touched briefly and generally on her policies. “We will tackle the high cost of housing … we will work to lower energy costs … and we will contend with an impending health care crisis.” Again, this is pretty standard. Inaugural addresses are not policy speeches; they are more florid, philosophical statements. In another quirk of the Virginia system, Spanberger will get another chance to speak on Monday, when she addresses the General Assembly — the second time in less than a week that legislators will have heard from a governor, just different ones. Those addresses tend to go into more detail, such as her fleeting reference to show she wants “high energy users [to] pay their fair share.” Those “high energy users” include data centers.

4) That leaves the fourth, and most unusual, part of her address, the Trump-related part, although she never mentioned Trump by name.

Spanberger does not seem to be looking for a fight with Trump, but she certainly seemed to signal she’s not afraid of one. There may be sufficient opportunities. 

Trump has tried to shut down Dominion Energy’s offshore wind project off the coast of Virginia Beach; a federal judge on Friday granted a preliminary injunction to allow the work to resume, but that’s unlikely to be the end of the matter. (Disclosure: Dominion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.) For a governor who used her inaugural address to restate her campaign pledge to produce more energy, getting that energy project up and running will need to be a priority — otherwise, ratepayers will be stuck paying for wind turbines that aren’t producing a single kilowatt, which definitely won’t meet her goal of lowering energy prices.

On Friday, the Trump administration sued Virginia for access to its voter rolls, which the administration says is necessary to identify any fraud, but which some states have said would force them to disclose personal information such as Social Security numbers. The Trump administration is also engaged in negotiations with George Mason University over a federal investigation into various practices at the school. And then, of course, there’s immigration.

Spanberger’s remarks come in the shadow of the tumult in Minneapolis, where federal agents shot and killed an unarmed woman and the Department of Justice is now investigating both the Minnesota governor and the Minneapolis mayor. Richmond has been awash in rumors that the Trump administration will target Virginia for increased enforcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement once a Democratic governor takes office. On Friday, the vice chair of the Henrico County Board of Supervisors warned of “increased ICE activity” in her county. Spanberger followed talk with action. As promised, as one of her first executive orders, she rescinded one of now-former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s orders: State and local law enforcement are no longer required to enforce federal immigration laws. 

Spanberger’s Trump-related comments could cut several ways. They could trigger a president who is prone to being triggered by criticism. They could also serve as a warning.

Spanberger, whose background is in law enforcement, including service as a case officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, does not seem to lack a spine. Whatever you think of her policies, she does not seem like a governor to be trifled with. Even before she took office, she had done something unprecedented: She’d sent word that she wanted five members of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors to resign so she could appoint a majority — and three immediately did. That board has been involved in controversy since last summer, when the Trump administration helped force out the school’s president. Spanberger’s call for some board members to resign wasn’t a surprise, given that she’d said the board shouldn’t hire a new president until she’d taken office (it did anyway), but it does stand out in history. Two previous governors faced controversies involving state universities: Gerald Baliles with Virginia Tech in 1987 and Bob McDonnell with the University of Virginia in 2012. Baliles invited board members to resign if they weren’t prepared to value academics over athletics, McDonnell threatened to demand resignations if board members didn’t resolve a botched presidential firing, but neither actually got to the point of insisting on resignations. Spanberger did — before she even took office.

A few hours after being sworn in, Spanberger signed 10 executive orders. New governors typically do that, but hers were more substantive than recent ones we’ve seen. Besides the order related to immigration enforcement, she set up a state task force to “coordinate a statewide response to federal workforce reductions, funding cuts, tariffs, and immigration impacts” and set in motion reviews of regulations that deter housing construction and how university board members are appointed. (For more on the executive orders, see Elizabeth Beyer’s story on the subject.) Shortly after that, she did something else no modern governor has: She moved to assert control over the three state schools that have sparked the most controversy and/or conflict with the Trump administration. In all, she named 27 people to college boards of visitors — 12 at George Mason University, 10 at the University of Virginia, five at Virginia Military Institute. Among those she named to the VMI board: former Gov. Ralph Northam, a VMI grad.

I wrote last week that Spanberger — who has never served in state government — has surrounded herself with Cabinet members who have long experience in Richmond, which would enable her to move quickly. Nothing I’ve seen or heard so far challenges that observation. On the contrary, her moves regarding the University of Virginia, the tone of her inaugural address and the substance of her executive orders only underscore it. I suspect the political forecast (and the pace of change) may be the same as the weather forecast: Expect things in Richmond to be brisk.

Want more political news and insights? Keep up with what’s happening in Richmond by signing up for our daily newsletter or our weekly political newsletter, West of the Capital.

The post Spanberger didn’t have to criticize Trump in her inaugural address. She did anyway. appeared first on Cardinal News.

As soon as Gov. Abigail Spanberger was sworn in as Virginia’s 75th governor, the National Guard fired off the traditional 19-gun cannon salute. State police had issued an advisory that the ceremonial booms from the howitzers might be loud enough to activate car alarms and building alarms in downtown Richmond.

There’s no word on how far away the guns could be heard, but Spanberger’s inaugural address that followed included a sustained and unmistakable rhetorical shot at President Donald Trump.

“I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington,” Spanberger said. “You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities — cutting health care access, imperiling rural hospitals and driving up costs. You are worried about Washington policies that are closing off markets, hurting innovation and private industry, and attacking those who have devoted their lives to public service.”

If that wasn’t clear enough, there was more: “You are worried about an administration that is gilding buildings while schools crumble, breaking the social safety net and sowing fear across our communities — betraying the values of who we are as Americans, the very values we celebrate here on these steps.”

It was a theme Spanberger returned to later in the speech: “And in Virginia, our hardworking, law-abiding immigrant neighbors will know that when we say — we’ll focus on the security and safety of all of our neighbors, we mean them, too.”

The crowd in attendance at the State Capitol cheered those words loudly, and Spanberger’s delivery made it clear those weren’t throwaway lines. We’ll see in the days, weeks and months ahead how those lines resonate across the Potomac with a president who takes some things very personally. 

The remarkable thing is that Spanberger didn’t have to say those words, so they seem akin to laying down a marker. 

I’d divide her speech (you can read the full text here) into four parts:

1) There was the standard call for unity, which probably every governor delivers. Maybe her quoting Patrick Henry — “Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs” — lands differently in these hyperpartisan times, but calling for unity seems pretty boilerplate in an inaugural address.

2) She delivered a history lesson that ran from the American Revolution through the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote, the 1965 Civil Rights Act and the election of Douglas Wilder as governor, placing her status as the first woman to assume the governorship in a long line of breakthroughs. When she quoted Linwood Holton, the first Republican governor since the tumult after the Civil War, his daughter, Anne Holton, appeared to tear up. When she referenced Wilder, “who changed what so many of our fellow citizens believed was even possible,” the state’s first Black governor (who turned 95 on Saturday) rose to acknowledge the crowd. Probably all Virginia governors have acknowledged the state’s long history; Spanberger’s acknowledgment was different but not unexpected under the circumstances.

3) She touched briefly and generally on her policies. “We will tackle the high cost of housing … we will work to lower energy costs … and we will contend with an impending health care crisis.” Again, this is pretty standard. Inaugural addresses are not policy speeches; they are more florid, philosophical statements. In another quirk of the Virginia system, Spanberger will get another chance to speak on Monday, when she addresses the General Assembly — the second time in less than a week that legislators will have heard from a governor, just different ones. Those addresses tend to go into more detail, such as her fleeting reference to show she wants “high energy users [to] pay their fair share.” Those “high energy users” include data centers.

4) That leaves the fourth, and most unusual, part of her address, the Trump-related part, although she never mentioned Trump by name.

Spanberger does not seem to be looking for a fight with Trump, but she certainly seemed to signal she’s not afraid of one. There may be sufficient opportunities. 

Trump has tried to shut down Dominion Energy’s offshore wind project off the coast of Virginia Beach; a federal judge on Friday granted a preliminary injunction to allow the work to resume, but that’s unlikely to be the end of the matter. (Disclosure: Dominion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.) For a governor who used her inaugural address to restate her campaign pledge to produce more energy, getting that energy project up and running will need to be a priority — otherwise, ratepayers will be stuck paying for wind turbines that aren’t producing a single kilowatt, which definitely won’t meet her goal of lowering energy prices.

On Friday, the Trump administration sued Virginia for access to its voter rolls, which the administration says is necessary to identify any fraud, but which some states have said would force them to disclose personal information such as Social Security numbers. The Trump administration is also engaged in negotiations with George Mason University over a federal investigation into various practices at the school. And then, of course, there’s immigration.

Spanberger’s remarks come in the shadow of the tumult in Minneapolis, where federal agents shot and killed an unarmed woman and the Department of Justice is now investigating both the Minnesota governor and the Minneapolis mayor. Richmond has been awash in rumors that the Trump administration will target Virginia for increased enforcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement once a Democratic governor takes office. On Friday, the vice chair of the Henrico County Board of Supervisors warned of “increased ICE activity” in her county. Spanberger followed talk with action. As promised, as one of her first executive orders, she rescinded one of now-former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s orders: State and local law enforcement are no longer required to enforce federal immigration laws. 

Spanberger’s Trump-related comments could cut several ways. They could trigger a president who is prone to being triggered by criticism. They could also serve as a warning.

Spanberger, whose background is in law enforcement, including service as a case officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, does not seem to lack a spine. Whatever you think of her policies, she does not seem like a governor to be trifled with. Even before she took office, she had done something unprecedented: She’d sent word that she wanted five members of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors to resign so she could appoint a majority — and three immediately did. That board has been involved in controversy since last summer, when the Trump administration helped force out the school’s president. Spanberger’s call for some board members to resign wasn’t a surprise, given that she’d said the board shouldn’t hire a new president until she’d taken office (it did anyway), but it does stand out in history. Two previous governors faced controversies involving state universities: Gerald Baliles with Virginia Tech in 1987 and Bob McDonnell with the University of Virginia in 2012. Baliles invited board members to resign if they weren’t prepared to value academics over athletics, McDonnell threatened to demand resignations if board members didn’t resolve a botched presidential firing, but neither actually got to the point of insisting on resignations. Spanberger did — before she even took office.

A few hours after being sworn in, Spanberger signed 10 executive orders. New governors typically do that, but hers were more substantive than recent ones we’ve seen. Besides the order related to immigration enforcement, she set up a state task force to “coordinate a statewide response to federal workforce reductions, funding cuts, tariffs, and immigration impacts” and set in motion reviews of regulations that deter housing construction and how university board members are appointed. (For more on the executive orders, see Elizabeth Beyer’s story on the subject.) Shortly after that, she did something else no modern governor has: She moved to assert control over the three state schools that have sparked the most controversy and/or conflict with the Trump administration. In all, she named 27 people to college boards of visitors — 12 at George Mason University, 10 at the University of Virginia, five at Virginia Military Institute. Among those she named to the VMI board: former Gov. Ralph Northam, a VMI grad.

I wrote last week that Spanberger — who has never served in state government — has surrounded herself with Cabinet members who have long experience in Richmond, which would enable her to move quickly. Nothing I’ve seen or heard so far challenges that observation. On the contrary, her moves regarding the University of Virginia, the tone of her inaugural address and the substance of her executive orders only underscore it. I suspect the political forecast (and the pace of change) may be the same as the weather forecast: Expect things in Richmond to be brisk.

Want more political news and insights? Keep up with what’s happening in Richmond by signing up for our daily newsletter or our weekly political newsletter, West of the Capital.

The post Spanberger didn’t have to criticize Trump in her inaugural address. She did anyway. appeared first on Cardinal News.

As the Crooked Road Marching String Band headed toward newly inaugurated Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Saturday afternoon, a man called out to its members: “What are you going to play?”

Another spectator, a woman, replied in jest, “She’ll Be Comin’ ’Round the Mountain,” then began singing the chorus “in sort of a hillbilly accent,” said band member Tim Thornton of Shawsville.

He and the other couple dozen musicians in the Crooked Road troupe hoped to dispel that sort of stereotype, Thornton said.

“People don’t know and appreciate how important [mountain music culture] is economically to the state, how important it is culturally,” he said.

The group didn’t get much time to represent. While other organizations stopped for a minute of performance in front of Spanberger and the other two newly inaugurated officeholders — Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi and Attorney General Jay Jones — the Crooked Road Marching String Band received instructions to march on through, no stops.

That order inspired a bit of improvisation. Several of the troupe members broke out in a dance while the others played “Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss,” a way to make it a show without stopping to put on a show.

It didn’t spoil the experience, said band member Gina Dilg of Radford, who held her fiddle by its neck while she flatfooted a bit with five others from the group.

“I forget that the majority of people in this world don’t really see fiddles and banjos on a regular basis,” Dilg said. “And so just seeing all the looks of joy on everyone’s faces was really cool.”

They joined a bevy of marching ensembles that included the Virginia Military Institute Corps of Cadets, dance teams from Hasang Korean School and the Cultural Center of India, high school marching bands and Norfolk State University’s marching band — which closed with a funky version of Kool & The Gang’s pop chestnut “Celebration.”

The Crooked Road unit, which includes some of the finest old-time and bluegrass musicians in Southwest Virginia, didn’t need time to rehearse, said Tyler Hughes of Big Stone Gap, executive director of The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail. Once he found players whose schedules allowed them to make the event, the rest was simple.

“One of the best aspects I think of the music in Southwest Virginia is how community-oriented it is and how close-knit we all are,” Hughes said in a phone interview last week. “If you play old-time or bluegrass music, you’re seeing each other every weekend at fiddlers’ conventions, and you’re getting together at Galax or seeing each other at places like the Carter Fold and the Floyd Country Store all the time … so it’s actually really easy to be able to put together this group.”

The players came from along the Crooked Road, he said. 

“We’re so fortunate to live in a region that’s home to hundreds of incredibly talented musicians and dancers, and what I always like to call cultural caretakers,” Hughes said. “It’s not always easy organizing a big group, but having such a large and deep pool of talent makes it really easy to be able to do this.”

The post Crooked Road troupe brings sounds of the mountains to Richmond inaugural parade appeared first on Cardinal News.

As the Crooked Road Marching String Band headed toward newly inaugurated Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Saturday afternoon, a man called out to its members: “What are you going to play?”

Another spectator, a woman, replied in jest, “She’ll Be Comin’ ’Round the Mountain,” then began singing the chorus “in sort of a hillbilly accent,” said band member Tim Thornton of Shawsville.

He and the other couple dozen musicians in the Crooked Road troupe hoped to dispel that sort of stereotype, Thornton said.

“People don’t know and appreciate how important [mountain music culture] is economically to the state, how important it is culturally,” he said.

The group didn’t get much time to represent. While other organizations stopped for a minute of performance in front of Spanberger and the other two newly inaugurated officeholders — Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi and Attorney General Jay Jones — the Crooked Road Marching String Band received instructions to march on through, no stops.

That order inspired a bit of improvisation. Several of the troupe members broke out in a dance while the others played “Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss,” a way to make it a show without stopping to put on a show.

It didn’t spoil the experience, said band member Gina Dilg of Radford, who held her fiddle by its neck while she flatfooted a bit with five others from the group.

“I forget that the majority of people in this world don’t really see fiddles and banjos on a regular basis,” Dilg said. “And so just seeing all the looks of joy on everyone’s faces was really cool.”

They joined a bevy of marching ensembles that included the Virginia Military Institute Corps of Cadets, dance teams from Hasang Korean School and the Cultural Center of India, high school marching bands and Norfolk State University’s marching band — which closed with a funky version of Kool & The Gang’s pop chestnut “Celebration.”

The Crooked Road unit, which includes some of the finest old-time and bluegrass musicians in Southwest Virginia, didn’t need time to rehearse, said Tyler Hughes of Big Stone Gap, executive director of The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail. Once he found players whose schedules allowed them to make the event, the rest was simple.

“One of the best aspects I think of the music in Southwest Virginia is how community-oriented it is and how close-knit we all are,” Hughes said in a phone interview last week. “If you play old-time or bluegrass music, you’re seeing each other every weekend at fiddlers’ conventions, and you’re getting together at Galax or seeing each other at places like the Carter Fold and the Floyd Country Store all the time … so it’s actually really easy to be able to put together this group.”

The players came from along the Crooked Road, he said. 

“We’re so fortunate to live in a region that’s home to hundreds of incredibly talented musicians and dancers, and what I always like to call cultural caretakers,” Hughes said. “It’s not always easy organizing a big group, but having such a large and deep pool of talent makes it really easy to be able to do this.”

The post Crooked Road troupe brings sounds of the mountains to Richmond inaugural parade appeared first on Cardinal News.

Newly minted Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed ten executive orders, which, she said, are an effort to “respond to the moment” and to make living in Virginia more affordable, in her first few hours in office on Saturday. 

“Affordability” was a key campaign platform for the governor during the election last fall. The executive orders focus on “strengthening” K-12 education and “protecting” Virginia’s economy, her office said. 

She also made good on a campaign promise to rescind former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Order 47. Her predecessor’s order required local law enforcement agencies to sign an agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The order also directed state law enforcement and corrections officers to assist with federal immigration enforcement. 

“We are setting the tone for what Virginians can expect over the next four years: pragmatic leadership focused on lowering costs and delivering results,” Spanberger said in a statement. “My administration is getting to work on Day One to address the top-of-mind challenges facing families by lowering costs for Virginians in every community, building a stronger economy for every worker, and making sure that every student in the Commonwealth receives a high-quality education that sets them up for success. These executive orders represent the first steps in our work to create a stronger, safer, and — critically — more affordable future for our Commonwealth.”

House of Delegates Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, bristled at the governor’s rescission of Youngkin’s Executive Order 47. He said pulling Virginia State Police out of the agreement with ICE would make constituents “less safe.” He argued that Spanberger’s action would “shield” undocumented immigrants from cooperation with federal law enforcement. 

“Virginians expect their governor to stand with law enforcement and put public safety first. This action does the opposite, and I strongly oppose it,” Kilgore said in a statement. 

Spanberger’s and previous governor’s orders

The first three orders in the group of ten direct secretaries and all executive branch agencies to identify ways to reduce living expenses for families; establish an Interagency Health Financing Task Force to make health care spending more efficient and reduce health care costs; and require a review of regulation and permitting practices to encourage the development of more housing and lower housing costs, Spanberger’s office said in a statement. 

The remaining orders focus on K-12 education, efforts to help Virginia businesses and employees following cuts to federal funding and the workforce, and tariff policies. 

Spanberger’s predecessor, former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, issued 11 executive actions on his first day in office in 2022. Youngkin’s actions included an effort to ban critical race theory in classrooms, to place the decision to mask in schools in the hands of parents during the COVID-19 pandemic, to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, to investigate Loudoun County for wrongdoing and an effort to combat and prevent human trafficking, among others. 

Youngkin’s predecessor, former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, issued just three executive orders on his first day in office in 2018. His orders focused on an effort to prohibit discrimination in state government, to give powers to the governor’s chief of staff in an emergency should the governor become incapacitated and to allow the chief of staff to declare a state of emergency. 

The post Spanberger rescinds Youngkin immigration enforcement order, issues orders on affordability appeared first on Cardinal News.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger issued a call for unity in her inauguration speech Saturday while she denounced federal policies coming out of Washington, D.C., that she said have hurt Virginians. 

Without once mentioning President Donald Trump by name, Spanberger issued a strong rebuke against the policies of his administration and connected them to the increased cost of living for Virginians. 

“I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington,” she said, as her tone grew firm. “You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities — cutting health care access, imperiling rural hospitals and driving up costs. You are worried about Washington policies that are closing off markets, hurting innovation and private industry, and attacking those who have devoted their lives to public service.

“You are worried about an administration that is gilding buildings while schools crumble, breaking the social safety net and sowing fear across our communities — betraying the values of who we are as Americans, the very values we celebrate here on these steps,” she continued. 

She called on Virginians who may hold different perspectives or political views to come together to “forge a path forward” and pursue progress. She closed out her speech reiterating a cornerstone of her campaign, to “work relentlessly to make life more affordable” for her roughly 8 million constituents. 

Her plan to make life more affordable

In her inauguration speech, Spanberger outlined the key tenets of her effort to reduce the cost of living for Virginians.

She said her administration will tackle the high cost of housing for renters and owners, and cut red tape to increase housing supply and help communities to keep housing affordable. She asserted that her administration will work to lower energy costs by producing more energy in Virginia and ensuring high energy users pay their “fair share.” She added that her administration will protect access to health care by “cracking down” on the middlemen who are “driving up drug prices,” and help Virginians to avoid going into medical debt because of a single emergency. 

Spanberger, a former CIA officer, positioned her campaign last fall as a repudiation of the Trump administration and focused her messaging on the affordability crisis faced by many in the commonwealth. She swept the ballot box with a 15 percentage point lead over her Republican opponent, former Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. 

Democrats won decisive victories in Virginia’s House of Delegates elections as well. The state’s “off year” elections are often seen as a bellwether for the midterm elections and a referendum on the current presidential administration.

Spanberger, the first woman to be governor of Virginia, was sworn in as the 75th executive of the commonwealth on Saturday. Cannon fire punctuated her oath of office, and military aircraft flew overhead in a governor’s salute, offered by the Virginia National Guard. 

Former state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi was sworn in as lieutenant governor, and former Del. Jay Jones was sworn in as attorney general.

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Here are Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s prepared remarks:

Mr. Speaker; Madam President Pro Tempore; Madam Lieutenant Governor; Mr. Attorney General; Members of the General Assembly; Justices of the Supreme Court; honored guests; 

To my parents Martin and Eileen Davis, my sisters Hilary and Meredith, my husband Adam and my daughters, Claire, Charlotte, Catherine; neighbors, friends, and our fellow Virginians: it is my honor to be with all of you today. 

An inauguration ceremony like this one — with all its tradition and pageantry — represents something profound, and in its origins, something uniquely American… the peaceful transfer of power. It is a cornerstone of our American democratic experiment, a tradition and precedent begun by a Virginian, George Washington, and carried forth every time we celebrate an election and the inauguration of new leaders who will be entrusted to govern and serve — for a time. 

Every four years, Virginians have the unique responsibility of choosing those leaders, as we all write the next chapter of our Commonwealth’s story. And today, that tradition continues.

Adam and I extend our appreciation to you, Governor Youngkin and First Lady Suzanne Youngkin, for the time you have both spent with us during this transition. I thank you for your service, and we wish you and your family the best as you exit this role and begin a new chapter.

And to Lieutenant Governor Earle-Sears — herself a trailblazer, to Attorney General Miyares, and to those who served in the Youngkin Administration, thank you for your service to the Commonwealth we all love.

To the former Governors in attendance today, I am grateful that you are here. I thank you for your outreach, your offers of support and help, and for your continued commitment to Virginia.

As I begin my service as Governor, I want to thank the men and women of our armed forces — the Virginians serving overseas and those who serve at military installations across our Commonwealth. Thank you for your defense of our freedom.

I thank the members of the Virginia National Guard — those serving far from home or right here today. I thank our Commonwealth’s law enforcement officers, firefighters, and first responders — for your tireless commitment to our fellow Virginians. 

75 times. 75 times in Virginia’s storied history, we have witnessed this transfer from one Governor to the next. 75 times, a Governor has taken this oath, and so many of those times, it’s been right here, on these steps that those words have been spoken.  

It is the honor of my life to stand before you and take the oath today. The history and the gravity of this moment are not lost on me — I maintain an abiding sense of gratitude to those who worked generation after generation to ensure women could be among those casting ballots, but who could only dream of a day like today.

I stand before those who made it possible for a woman to also participate in that peaceful transfer of power and take that oath…  

And it is with a profound sense of duty to all Virginians that I assume the Governorship and pledge myself to work tirelessly on behalf of our Commonwealth.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of two milestones in American democracy: the first is the signing of our Declaration of Independence — drafted by Thomas Jefferson — Virginia’s second Governor and the man who designed the very building behind us today. And the second milestone we remember this year is the inauguration of Patrick Henry as Virginia’s first Governor. 

Governor Henry is best known for his call against tyranny at St. John’s Church, just up the road — words that helped launch the American Revolution. But in his final public speech, delivered in Virginia years later in 1799, he made an appeal to his fellow citizens, warning against the divisions that were threatening our young country.

His appeal remains timeless. He said:

“United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.”

I’ll say that again. “Let us not split into factions…” which would “destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.” 

That was the challenge Governor Henry put to Virginia at the close of the 18th Century. And it is the charge we must answer again today. I know that the work of perfecting our democracy has never been finished. 

But I am heartened by the fact that so much of that work has been done right here, on these very steps and across this city — where Virginia’s history, and America’s history, has so often been written.

This square has been the scene of remarkable dramas of equality and justice. It has been the site of great struggles and hard-won triumphs, whose consequences have been heard across America.

On these steps, Virginia’s suffragists brought their cause to the General Assembly session after session, decade after decade. And though these brave women were voted down, time and time again, they refused to give up. 

And while the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920, it would not be until 1952 that Virginia finally ratified it. And yet for so many women, the right to vote was not truly secured until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

And in 1960, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed a crowd of more than 2,500 here in Richmond. He implored the then-Governor to comply with the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. 

Building upon a message he had issued one year prior when he wrote: “Today is a day for great men, great ideas, great movements…” and in his urgent appeals for progress, he wrote, “As Virginia goes, so goes the South, perhaps America, and the world.”

In 1960, following his impassioned words at the Pilgrimage of Prayer, they marched here to these steps.

In the generations since Governor Henry’s plea, as rights have been won and progress has been made, our Commonwealth and our country have faced hurdles, hardships, divisions, and bitterness.

And yet, along the way, what has been necessary is leaders who clearly see and willingly confront challenges. And even more importantly, what has always been essential is for people, everyday people — we Virginians — to do the same.

And so it was in 1970, as our Commonwealth once again faced deep divisions, that Virginia’s 61st Governor didn’t shy away from the challenges before him. Governor Linwood Holton stared them down. 

On these steps, he proclaimed — and I’m quoting again: 

“No longer can we be divided into opposing camps of political philosophy.”

He said, “The time for partisan politics is over. It is time now for leadership, for action, for progress through unity.”

He went on to issue a challenge: “I turn today to all Virginians, whatever their political persuasion, and say: Let us act together.”

And just 20 years later, on these steps, Virginia inaugurated our 66th Governor and our nation’s first elected African American Governor.

Governor L. Douglas Wilder changed what so many of our fellow citizens believed was even possible. And today, on your 95th Birthday, I thank you Governor, for being here to celebrate this Virginia tradition as we continue to write our Commonwealth’s story.

It was by design that we are a Commonwealth. In Virginia’s first constitution, written 250 years ago, they designated us as such. Virginia — no longer a colony, and not simply a state in our fledgling nation, but a Commonwealth.

What’s the difference? Kids, pay attention, because eventually someone may ask you! 

There’s no difference in how we operate or function as a state. The difference lies in the intention of our forefathers and the choice to indicate that here our government should serve the common good — that the voices of everyday Virginians — not kings or aristocrats or oligarchs — should drive us forward, and that our prosperity depends upon that union. 

That our leaders and our fellow Virginians should join in common cause, find common ground, and pursue common purpose — this is the concept at the heart of what it means to be a Commonwealth. 

This is what it means to be united for Virginia’s future.

And while I have spoken at length about our history, today must be about our future and the story we will write together. 

I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington. You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities — cutting healthcare access, imperiling rural hospitals, and driving up costs. You are worried about Washington policies that are closing off markets, hurting innovation and private industry, and attacking those who have devoted their lives to public service. 

You are worried about an administration that is gilding buildings while schools crumble, breaking the social safety net, and sowing fear across our communities — betraying the values of who we are as Americans, the very values we celebrate here on these steps.

And across the Commonwealth, everything keeps getting more expensive — groceries, medicine, daycare, the electricity bill, rent, and the mortgage. Families are strained, kids are stressed, and so much just seems to be getting harder and harder.

Growing up, my parents always taught me that when faced with something unacceptable, you must speak up. You must take action, right what you believe is wrong, and fix what isn’t working.

I know that some who are here today or watching from home may disagree with the litany of challenges and hardships I laid out. Your perspective may differ from mine, but that does not preclude us working together where we may find common cause. My priorities for the people of Virginia are drawn from my own background and experience.

I grew up in a family where my parents modeled a commitment to service and community — my father in law enforcement and my mother in nursing. 

My middle class upbringing was a result of their struggle, their hard work, and programs like the GI Bill that sent my dad to college and strong community colleges that allowed my mom to put herself through nursing school as she worked more than fulltime. 

I followed my father’s footsteps into law enforcement. At my academy graduation, he handed me my badge and credentials, and I entered a world where I had to get it right every time and do right by everyone I encountered — victims, witnesses, fellow agents, and even the person whose name was on an arrest warrant. 

Then, as a CIA officer, I worked to combat the greatest threats facing America. I worked to keep our nation safe at home and abroad, and I saw firsthand that the world is safer when the United States shows our mighty strength through the lives we save, the diseases we eradicate, the technologies we create, and the leadership we show on a global stage.

Today, I am a mother to three daughters who are my everything. There is nothing more important to me than their safety, their health, their education, and their future. And I know that far too many parents work hard to make ends meet, but still worry how they’ll put food on the table, take their sick child to the doctor, or keep the lights on. When today is so uncertain, it’s hard to dream big for tomorrow.

Today, I stand before you on these steps not only as Virginia’s 75th Governor, but as someone who believes it is our duty to write the next chapter of our Commonwealth’s story. It is our duty to demonstrate for the generations to come that when faced with hardships, challenges, divisions, and even bitterness, we too forged a path forward and pursued progress.

And as we write this next chapter, we will work relentlessly to make life more affordable for our fellow Virginians.

We will tackle the high cost of housing — whether you’re renting, buying, or trying to stay in your home. We’ll work to cut red tape, increase housing supply, and help communities keep housing affordable.

We will work to lower energy costs by producing more energy and by ensuring that high energy users pay their fair share. 

And we will contend with an impending healthcare crisis by protecting healthcare access, cracking down on the middlemen who are driving up drug prices, and making sure Virginians aren’t going into spiraling medical debt because of a single emergency.

And as we write this next chapter, we will make Virginia’s public schools the best in the nation. 

We will work to ensure every child in the Commonwealth receives a world-class education at every level — providing them a solid foundation in reading and math, and preparing our kids for a prosperous future. 

And we will invest in the schools and educators that are essential to this goal.

And as we write this next chapter, we will grow Virginia’s economy in every corner of the Commonwealth.

We will invest in the apprenticeships and job training of the future. We will bring capital investment into every region of our Commonwealth. We will stand up for Virginia’s workers — including our federal workforce. And we will expand opportunities for Virginia agriculture — our farmers, producers, agribusinesses, and farm families. 

And as we write this next chapter, we will focus on the security and safety of all of our neighbors. 

And we will take action to prevent gun violence, to support Virginians struggling with addiction, and to address the mental health crisis impacting our kids and neighbors. And in Virginia, our hardworking, law-abiding immigrant neighbors will know that when we say — we’ll focus on the security and safety of all of our neighbors, we mean them too. 

We will write this next chapter together, because throughout our history, no leader has ever made progress alone. 

To my friends in the General Assembly — on both sides of the aisle — I look forward to working with you. I know what it means to represent your constituents, to work hard for your district, and to pursue policies you believe in.

We will not agree on everything, but I speak from personal experience when I say that we do not have to see eye-to-eye on every issue in order to stand shoulder-to-shoulder on others. 

Because Virginia has always been a place where we confront challenges, where we build coalitions, and where we prove that democracy still works.

To Lieutenant Governor Hashmi and Attorney General Jones, I look forward to working together with you both as we serve our fellow Virginians over the next four years.

And most importantly, to the people of Virginia: we are beginning a new chapter in our Commonwealth’s story. We need you to help us write it. 

As we mark 250 years since the dawn of American freedom: What will our children, grandchildren, and their descendants write about this time in our Commonwealth’s history — this chapter — 50, 100, and 250 years from now?

Will they say that we let divisions fester or challenges overwhelm us? Or will they say that we stood up for what is right, fixed what is broken, and served the common good here in Virginia?

Today, we’re hearing the call to connect more deeply to our American Experiment — to understand our shared history, not as a single point in time, but as a lesson for how we create our more prosperous future. And so I ask — what will you do to help us author this next chapter? 

As your Governor, I pledge to you that I will work tirelessly for you and for our Commonwealth.

Today, I find myself thinking about Dr. King’s Pilgrimage of Prayer… Such a powerful phrase. 

And it gives me cause to reflect on what our path forward must be… not a Pilgrimage of Politics, certainly not a Pilgrimage of Partisanship… but rather a Pilgrimage of Promise, Progress, and Prosperity. 

My fellow Virginians, as we set an example for the country, the world, and most importantly, our children, let us:

Choose to stand united. Choose to serve one another. Choose to act together.

As we continue forward, let us be united for Virginia’s future.

Thank you all very much! May God Bless the Commonwealth of Virginia. And may God Bless the United States of America.

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Virginia Public Media is making available a livestream of the inauguration. It’s expected to start about 11:20 a.m. with the swearing-in ceremonies at noon, followed by the governor’s inaugural address and then the parade. (Update: You can watch an archived replay below).

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Roanoke Democratic Del. Sam Rasoul was removed from the House of Delegates Appropriations Committee at the start of the 2026 legislative session. 

House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, appoints members to committees at the start of the session. Rasoul will continue serving as chair of the House Education Committee and as a member of the House Public Safety Committee and the House Health and Human Services Committee. 

“I’ve enjoyed all of the committees I’m appointed to right now and I look forward to continuing to serve,” Rasoul said. “I don’t know why those decisions are made, and so just happy to be serving on the committees we’re on.”

Speaker Scott’s office did not respond when asked for a comment on Rasoul’s removal from appropriations. 

He was shifted from appropriations to the House of Delegates Health and Human Services Committee, where he served a few years ago, before he was appointed to the money committee in 2022 as the only Democrat from Southwest Virginia in that role. 

Republican Dels. Terry Austin of Botetourt County, Ellen McLaughlin of Waynesboro and Will Morefield of Tazewell County remain on the appropriations committee as the only members west of the Blue Rige.

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