It’s official: Virginia’s next governor will be a woman.

The Republican Party of Virginia announced Saturday that would-be challenger Amanda Chase had not submitted enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, meaning that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is now automatically the party’s nominee for governor. Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger was the only Democrat to file by Thursday’s deadline, making her that party’s candidate.

Earle-Sears had faced two prospective challengers. One of them, former Del. David LaRock, announced Thursday he had fallen short in his petition drive. Chase, a former state senator, submitted petitions but acknowledged Thursday she wasn’t sure if she had enough.

A Republican spokesman said Saturday that a count found that Chase had only submitted 6,195 signatures, short of the 10,000 required. The spokesman said petitions for two of the three Republican candidates who filed for lieutenant governor were still being counted and it would be Monday before the party could verify who had made the ballot for a June 17 primary in that race; Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity has already been confirmed. Six Democrats have qualified for the ballot for lieutenant governor as well as two candidates for attorney general. Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is seeking re-election, is already the Republican nominee.

Meanwhile, party officials confirmed that Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt County, will face a primary challenge in one of three Republican primaries for House of Delegates nominations across Southwest and Southside Virginia.

There could also be as many as two Democratic primaries in the western part of the state. Democratic officials are still working to verify signatures on their side. Thursday was the deadline for candidates to file signatures for party nominations. Tuesday is the deadline for parties to verify those signatures. Sometime after that the State Board of Elections will produce the official list of which candidates have qualified for the June 17 primary (for which early voting begins May 2).

Here are the three Republican primaries for House seats in Southwest and Southside Virginia:

Austin will face Austen Schwend of Botetourt County in the 37th District that covers Alleghany County, Botetourt County, Buena Vista, Covington, Craig County, Lexington and part of Rockbridge County. As one of a select group of budget negotiators, Austin is one of the most powerful members of the House Republican delegation. Based on a preliminary list posted on the Virginia Public Access Project, he may be the only House Republican incumbent to draw a challenger.

Grayson County Supervisor Mitchell Cornett and 9th Congressional District Republican chair Adam Tolbert will face each other in a primary in the 46th District that covers Grayson County, Smyth County, Wythe County and part of Pulaski County. This is an open seat; Del. Jed Arnold, R-Smyth County is retiring.

Danville council member Madison Whittle and Concerned Women for America activist Vanessa Scearce will face each other in a primary in the 49th District that covers Danville and parts of Halifax and Pittsylvania County. This is also an open seat; Del. Danny Marshall, R-Danville, is retiring.

It’s possible there will also be a Democratic primary in that district. Two candidates have filed for the nomination — Danville council member Gary Miller and local activist Jasmine Lipscomb — but party officials have not verified yet that both have made the ballot.

It’s also possible there will be a Democratic primary in the Roanoke Valley in House District 40, which covers Salem and parts of Roanoke County. That district is currently represented by Del. Joe McNamara, R-Roanoke County. Three Democratic candidates have filed to run, but party officials have not yet verified whether Donna Littlepage, Kiesha Preston and Misty Vickers have qualified.

For more on the primaries and other election information, see our Voter Guide. We’ll be updating that as more information becomes available.

The post Chase falls short; Earle-Sears declared Republican nominee for governor, setting up fall campaign against Spanberger appeared first on Cardinal News.

It’s official: Virginia’s next governor will be a woman.

The Republican Party of Virginia announced Saturday that would-be challenger Amanda Chase had not submitted enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, meaning that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is now automatically the party’s nominee for governor. Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger was the only Democrat to file by Thursday’s deadline, making her that party’s candidate.

Earle-Sears had faced two prospective challengers. One of them, former Del. David LaRock, announced Thursday he had fallen short in his petition drive. Chase, a former state senator, submitted petitions but acknowledged Thursday she wasn’t sure if she had enough.

A Republican spokesman said Saturday that a count found that Chase had only submitted 6,195 signatures, short of the 10,000 required. The spokesman said petitions for two of the three Republican candidates who filed for lieutenant governor were still being counted and it would be Monday before the party could verify who had made the ballot for a June 17 primary in that race; Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity has already been confirmed. Six Democrats have qualified for the ballot for lieutenant governor as well as two candidates for attorney general. Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is seeking re-election, is already the Republican nominee.

Meanwhile, party officials confirmed that Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt County, will face a primary challenge in one of three Republican primaries for House of Delegates nominations across Southwest and Southside Virginia.

There could also be as many as two Democratic primaries in the western part of the state. Democratic offiicials are still working to verify signatures on their side. Thursday was the deadline for candidates to file signatues for party nominations. Tuesday is the deadline for parties to verify those signatures. Sometime after that the State Board of Elections will produce the official list of which candidates have qualified for the June 17 primary (for which early voting begins May 2).

Here are the three Republican primaries for House seats in Southwest and Southside Virginia:

Austin will face Austen Schwend of Botetourt County in the 37th District that covers Alleghany County, Botetourt County, Buena Vista, Covington, Craig County, Lexington and part of Rockbridge County. As one of a select group of budget negotiators, Austin is one of the most powerful members of the House Republican delegation. Based on a preliminary list posted on the Virginia Public Access Project, he may be the only House Republican incumbent to draw a challenger.

Grayson County Supervisor Mitchell Cornett and 9th Congressional District Republican chair Adam Tolbert will face each other in a primary in the 46th District that covers Grayson County, Smyth County, Wythe County and part of Pulaski County. This is an open seat; Del. Jed Arnold, R-Smyth County is retiring.

Danville council member Madison Whittle and Concerned Women for America activist Vanessa Scearce will face each other in a primary in the 49th District that covers Danville and parts of Halifax and Pittsylvania County. This is also an open seat; Del. Danny Marshall, R-Danville, is retiring.

It’s possible there will also be a Democratic primary in that district. Two candidates have filed for the nomination — Danville council member Gary Miller and local activist Jasmine Lipscomb — but party officials have not verified yet that both have made the ballot.

It’s also possible there will be a Democratic primary in the Roanoke Valley in House District 40, which covers Salem and parts of Roanoke County. That district is currently represented by Del. Joe McNamara, R-Roanoke County. Three Democratic candidates have filed to run but party officials have not yet verified whether Donna Littlepage, Kiesha Preston and Misy Vickers have qualified.

For more on the primaries and other election information, see our Voter Guide. We’ll be updating that as more information becomes available.

The post Chase falls short; Earle-Sears declared Republican nominee for governor, setting up fall campaign against Spanberger appeared first on Cardinal News.

It’s official: Virginia’s governor’s race will pit Democrat Abigail Spanberger against Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, all but guaranteeing that the state will have its first female governor.

The Republican Party of Virginia announced Saturday that would-be challenger Amanda Chase had not submitted enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, meaning that Winsome Earle-Sears, the state’s lieutenant governor, is now automatically the party’s nominee for governor. Spanberger, a former member of the U.S. House, was the only Democrat to file by Thursday’s deadline, making her that party’s candidate.

Earle-Sears had faced two prospective challengers. One of them, former Del. David LaRock, announced Thursday he had fallen short in his petition drive. Chase, a former state senator, submitted petitions but acknowledged Thursday she wasn’t sure if she had enough.

A Republican spokesman said Saturday that a count found that Chase had only submitted 6,195 signatures, short of the 10,000 required. The spokesman said petitions for two of the three Republican candidates who filed for lieutenant governor were still being counted and it would be Monday before the party could verify who had made the ballot for a June 17 primary in that race; Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity has already been confirmed. Six Democrats have qualified for the ballot for lieutenant governor as well as two candidates for attorney general. Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is seeking re-election, is already the Republican nominee.

Meanwhile, party officials confirmed that Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt County, will face a primary challenge in one of three Republican primaries for House of Delegates nominations across Southwest and Southside Virginia.

There could also be as many as two Democratic primaries in the western part of the state. Democratic officials are still working to verify signatures on their side. Thursday was the deadline for candidates to file signatures for party nominations. Tuesday is the deadline for parties to verify those signatures. Sometime after that the State Board of Elections will produce the official list of which candidates have qualified for the June 17 primary (for which early voting begins May 2).

Here are the three Republican primaries for House seats in Southwest and Southside Virginia:

Austin will face Austen Schwend of Botetourt County in the 37th District that covers Alleghany County, Botetourt County, Buena Vista, Covington, Craig County, Lexington and part of Rockbridge County. As one of a select group of budget negotiators, Austin is one of the most powerful members of the House Republican delegation. Based on a preliminary list posted on the Virginia Public Access Project, he may be the only House Republican incumbent to draw a challenger.

Grayson County Supervisor Mitchell Cornett and 9th Congressional District Republican chair Adam Tolbert will face each other in a primary in the 46th District that covers Grayson County, Smyth County, Wythe County and part of Pulaski County. This is an open seat; Del. Jed Arnold, R-Smyth County is retiring.

Danville council member Madison Whittle and Concerned Women for America activist Vanessa Scearce will face each other in a primary in the 49th District that covers Danville and parts of Halifax and Pittsylvania County. This is also an open seat; Del. Danny Marshall, R-Danville, is retiring.

It’s possible there will also be a Democratic primary in that district. Two candidates have filed for the nomination — Danville council member Gary Miller and local activist Jasmine Lipscomb — but party officials have not verified yet that both have made the ballot.

It’s also possible there will be a Democratic primary in the Roanoke Valley in House District 40, which covers Salem and parts of Roanoke County. That district is currently represented by Del. Joe McNamara, R-Roanoke County. Three Democratic candidates have filed to run, but party officials have not yet verified whether Donna Littlepage, Kiesha Preston and Misty Vickers have qualified.

For more on the primaries and other election information, see our Voter Guide. We’ll be updating that as more information becomes available.

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A major disaster declaration for the Southwest Virginia counties affected by catastrophic flooding in February has been approved by President Donald Trump, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Friday afternoon.

The disaster declaration, which opens up federal aid, was for public assistance only, while a final determination on individual assistance has not been made, according to the governor.

Individual assistance provides funding to eligible individuals and households that have sustained losses in a disaster. Public assistance can pay for repairing and replacing public facilities and infrastructure. 

Additional funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and new state funding agreed to by the governor and the General Assembly this week will also be available for ongoing recovery efforts, according to Youngkin. 

“I am grateful to President Trump and the entire Administration for moving forward in their approval of the major disaster declaration,” Youngkin said in a news release. “We will continue to seek every recovery resource necessary to support Virginians that have been adversely impacted by these storms. I committed to assist those with immediate needs to ensure the health and safety of survivors and we will continue our efforts to seek opportunities to rebuild these communities.”  

Following several days of heavy rain, storms hit over the weekend of Feb. 15-16, destroying and damaging homes, washing out roads and leaving thousands without power. The community of Hurley in Buchanan County and parts of Dickenson and Tazewell counties were particularly hit hard.

As much as 7 inches of rain fell over some parts of Southwest Virginia, resulting in flash flooding, closed roads and mudslides. One man died after being swept away by the high water in Bland County. Ninety homes had major damage, and 18 houses were destroyed, according to preliminary estimates from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Originally, the disaster declaration request was for Buchanan, Dickenson and Russell counties, but the governor later expanded it to include Bland, Giles, Lee, Pulaski, Russell, Scott, Smyth and Wise counties.

“President Trump’s approval of this request is a major step in securing federal resources to help Southwest Virginia recover from historic flooding,” Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County, said via text message Friday. 

The General Assembly approved $50 million in the state budget to help communities rebuild after the remnants of Hurricane Helene swept through the region last fall. This week, lawmakers approved an amendment by Youngkin to extend that relief to assist victims of the February flooding. 

“It’s important that we continue to collaborate at all levels of government to ensure that resources are deployed effectively and efficiently,” Pillion added.

Sen. Travis Hackworth, R-Tazewell County, said he is grateful to the Trump administration for the approval of the disaster declaration. 

“I’m also grateful to Governor Glenn Youngkin and our entire Southwest Virginia legislative delegation for working with our federal partners to see this funding through to approval,” he said via email Friday. “So many homes and businesses were damaged in both Hurricane Helene and the February 2025 flood. Now we have access to these desperately needed funds.” 

Del. William Morefield, R-Tazewell County, said the news of the approval is encouraging. He said he remains hopeful that individual assistance will be approved eventually, as well. 

“In the event that individual assistance is not approved, the flood victims can rest assured knowing the commonwealth will be there to provide individual assistance as proposed in the state budget,” he said.

Morefield added that the federal assistance formulas for determining disaster aid are flawed, and he called on Congress to consider revising them. 

“I have heard some members of Congress speak about this on several occasions but I have yet to see any meaningful effort being made,” he said. “I commend President Trump, Governor Youngkin and our colleagues in the General Assembly for making every effort to help so many individuals with few resources help rebuild their lives.”

Tazewell County Administrator Eric Young said Friday that he’s grateful for any federal or state assistance.

“The one-two punch of the hurricane at the end of September and floods in early February truly taxed our resources and our energy,” he said.

The flooding and storms also affected neighboring states, particularly Kentucky and West Virginia. Kentucky’s disaster declaration was for public and individual assistance and was approved Feb. 24. West Virginia’s, for public assistance only, was approved Feb. 26.

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Virginia Tech’s cultural centers will remain open, despite a vote by the board of visitors last week to dissolve the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion office.

In a livestreamed meeting Friday, President Tim Sands spoke at length about the impact of federal executive orders halting DEI efforts in educational settings. He took a particularly candid approach, responding to concerns about how Tech would continue to serve its community in light of the Trump administration’s efforts to quell these initiatives in educational settings nationwide. 

The conversation was limited to a small group of representatives of the five university senates that liaise with state-run universities’ administration, representing faculty, administrative and professional faculty, undergraduates, graduate and professional students and staff. The university has more than 38,000 students across its campus locations, along with nearly 2,600 faculty members.

“The resolution they passed, I don’t like it,” Sands said of the board of visitors resolution approved March 25 that pledged to examine the university’s practices to ensure it adheres to civil rights laws that bar discrimination. “I don’t think it’s properly worded. I think it’s constraining. But I understand why they did it.” 

He went on to explain that he has expressed his personal opinions to the board on many occasions. But in regard to adhering to executive orders and other demands from the new federal administration, “I have to check myself, because the underlying problem is not something that our board of visitors can actually control. It’s really a lack of trust by the public in higher education.”

Americans’ confidence in higher education has dropped significantly over the past 10 years, according to research by Gallup, with Republicans expressing the least confidence out of the three predominant party affiliations.

Sands said Tech’s commitment to InclusiveVT, an element added to the school’s strategic plan about a decade ago, “is absolutely essential to maintain the vibrancy of Virginia Tech.” Sands said some changes will be made in order to comply with the current interpretation of civil rights law, with some programs needing to be repositioned, “but the momentum will continue.”

Cultural and community centers, including the Black Cultural Center that opened nearly 35 years ago, will be moved out of the purview of the now-dissolved Office of Inclusive Strategy and Excellence but will continue to exist. Because they are open to the broader community, there’s “no problem” with maintaining them, Sands said.

The future of Tech’s Living-Learning Communities is in discussions, and “we’re making progress there,” Sands said. The school has more than 20 communities that house students around a particular theme, including options such as entrepreneurship, LGBTQ+ studies and the arts, alongside groups designed for transfer students, students in recovery and first-generation students. The university is examining those to ensure that students can choose whichever they want and that no one is excluded, Sands said.

Sands also updated the group about the status of federally funded research projects. About a dozen research projects representing a “small fraction” of the university’s federally funded work have received stop-work orders, he said, and Tech is trying to minimize the immediate impact on faculty, staff and students working on those projects. 

“The bigger impact is downstream,” he said. “If research funding dries up, it will have a significant impact on the institution and our mission.”

He again referenced the public’s declining trust in higher education, saying that establishing the value of the work done at Tech is “a long-term fight.”

Sands went well over the hour that had been allotted for the meeting, taking questions from representatives for nearly 60 minutes and concluding only when a staff member warned that the room needed to be relinquished for another reservation. 

He said the university would be putting together a series of town halls on topics related to the impacts of federal changes, but he did not say when those would begin.

Sands must report to the board of visitors by the end of April about the university’s progress complying with its resolution. He said the work of reviewing university programs “won’t be completely done by then,” but will be well underway. 

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Little Amanda Kamekona picked up a flyer at her elementary school in California in the late 1990s, hustled home and stuck it on the family’s refrigerator.

Her mother, Rosemary, might not have taken notice amid the daily duties of preparing meals for a family of five.

But Amanda had an appetite for a challenge, even one that might seem to be more than she could chew.

The flyer was advertising school tryouts, but not for soccer, not for volleyball, not for softball.

There it was in big black and white letters:

“BASEBALL”

That piece of paper affixed to the side of the family fridge was mixed with calendars and clippings, but it had a strange magnetic attraction.

“I’m the kid who doesn’t forget anything, so I said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this [tryout] coming up in five days,'” she recalled. “My mom said, ‘OK, we should probably teach you how to catch and throw.”

Amanda’s father, Kory, was more of a football and basketball fan. And besides, he was working out of state at the time. Rosemary knew baseball from growing up near Dodger Stadium, so she put on a glove.

Just one problem. When it was time for the tryout, Amanda and her mom realized part of the deal was putting on a helmet, grabbing a bat, stepping into the batter’s box and facing a scary-looking pitching machine. They forgot to practice hitting.

You know what?

Amanda was ready to step up to the plate.

“Everyone’s messed around in their backyard yard, so it’s not like it’s the first time I ever picked up a bat, so I was watching what people were doing in front of me,” she said. “I said, ‘OK, I guess that machine throws balls.’ I stepped in and was able to hit pretty well.’

Amanda Kamekona, new hitting coach for the Lynchburg Hillcats minor league baseball team. Video by Robert Anderson.

Amanda Kamekona is still in the box some three decades later. The 38-year-old Californian is watching what other hitters are doing, but this time as a coach for a Major League Baseball organization.

Kamekona is the assistant hitting coach for the Lynchburg Hillcats, the Cleveland Guardians’ affiliate in the Class Low-A Carolina League, and is part of a growing list of women serving in on-field roles in professional baseball.

She will be in uniform Friday night when the Hillcats open the 2025 season on the road against the Fayetteville (N.C.) Woodpeckers. Lynchburg’s home opener is April 8. Kamekona and the Hillcats will begin a six-game series in Salem against the Red Sox on April 15.

“What she’s able to do on the baseball side is truly impressive,” third-year Lynchburg manager Jordan Smith said. “How she connects with the guys, how she prepares … she’s extremely smart. Our hiring process in Cleveland is very strenuous. She’s detail oriented, and she kind of crushed it in all [facets]. She’s legit. Her getting here wasn’t by accident.” 

*****

Maybe Kamekona was in the right place at the right time, or perhaps it is just the fact that she has been in plenty of places.

After playing two years of baseball at Ruben S. Ayala High School in Chino Hills, California, she switched to softball, earning a scholarship to Cal State-Fullerton.

She transferred to UCLA, where she led the Bruins to the Women’s College World Series in 2008 and was named a third-team All-American.

Kamekona played professionally on the PFX and NFS tours, winning three fast-pitch national championships as a hard-hitting, 5-foot-2 second baseman.

While playing professionally, she also was an assistant softball coach at Division II Limestone University in South Carolina and the head softball coach at Brevard College in North Carolina.

When her playing career ended, Kamekona coached travel softball and worked as a private softball hitting instructor. Now she’s in Year 3 of teaching the art of hitting the smaller ball on a bigger stage.

“I was in the part of my life where I was, ‘OK, I’ve done this. Now what’s next?'” she said. “This is kind of a big ‘What’s next?'”

Cleveland hired Kamekona as a spring-training hitting instructor in the Arizona Complex League in 2023. She was the assistant instructor for the Akron (Ohio) RubberDucks of the Class AA Eastern League before the Guardians’ front office moved her to Lynchburg.

As of 2023, MLB statistics showed there were 43 women in full-time MLB jobs. Fifteen years ago, there were zero. The number of on-field coaches at all professional baseball levels is in the teens.

Kamekona is following in the footsteps of the likes of Alyssa Nakken, who became the first woman to coach on the field in a Major League game in 2022 for the San Francisco Giants. Nakken was recently hired by the Guardians to work in player development.

One of Kamekona’s close friends is Rachel Folden, who is the new hitting coach for the Chicago Cubs Class AAA affiliate in Iowa.

“It’s like all of my worlds collided,” Kamekona said. “We played high school softball against each other. We played collegiate softball against each other. We played professional softball with each other. Now we’re coaching.”

Folden urged her old friend to apply for the Guardians position.

“She said, ‘Have you ever thought about working in baseball?'” Kamekona recalled. “I said, ‘Seriously, no. But have I ever, yes.’ She was like, ‘I think you should go for it.’ So I put my name in the hat. Anyone who’s familiar with Cleveland is familiar with our notorious hiring process, so that was long and lengthy, but needless to say, here I am.”

 Kamekona understands that she is a trailblazer in a formerly all-male business. 

“I would come off as naive or ignorant if I didn’t acknowledge that,” she said. “If you look around, there’s not a lot of women doing what we do. But there’s comfort in that number is growing.”

Kamekona’s youth baseball teammates in California included future Major Leaguers Mark Trumbo, Evan Longoria and Delmon Young.

She was able to compete with that level of talent … until she wasn’t.

“It was during the time where guys come back their junior year and they’re 6-3, 6-4 and I’m 5-2 and 125 pounds, and that’s not going to pay the bills collegiately,” she said. “My parents and I sat down and it was like, ‘If you want to go to school, we’re not going to be able to send you there, so you’ve got to get a scholarship.’ “

The former UCLA All-American said she can apply her softball experience to the baseball diamond.

“There’s a lot of bleed-over now. Anyone who’s been in the box, baseball or softball, they know that struggle,” she said. “Anyone who’s played baseball, if you have picked up a bat and tried to compete, that’s one of the most humbling things you can do across all sports.”

Kamekona said she requested the move from Class AA to Lynchburg so she could reunite with second-year Hillcats hitting coach Cole Nieto. They previously worked together in the offseason Arizona Complex League.

“Our organization is really big on development,” she said. “This is my third year with Cleveland. Part of the appeal, aside just from our office staff, specifically Cole and I have a really good working relationship. I was really curious about his baseball brain.

“When you look at it from a player perspective, going from Double-A to Single-A, that’s a demotion. From a coaching growth perspective, I needed some [knowledge] on what’s needed from a lower level. Whenever I’m going to be a head [instructor,] I’ll probably start at a lower level. I kind of wanted to spend a whole season seeing what this looks like.”

Nieto, a former Division III standout at Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio, is anxious to get the 2025 season started with Kamekona.

“She’s really good. It’s not like she’s just [waltzing] in here,” he said. “She was a really, really good player. She has a really good background. She knows what it’s like to be in the box. On top of it, she’s a good coach and a good person. Works really hard.

 “We split everything. We’re a team here. She’s doing just as much advance reports as I’m doing. We’re in the cage together. We’re working on player plans together.”

The challenges at the Low-A level are different from Class AA where the players’ skills have been refined, and they are accustomed to the ups and downs of professional baseball.

“He’s young. Maybe it’s the first time he’s facing adversity. He’s away from home,” Kamekona said of a typical Low-A prospect. “Sometimes mechanics fall apart. Sometimes it’s a combination of things. That’s what makes coaching so difficult.”

Kamekona will combine her coaching experience with her UCLA degree in working the 14 position players listed on the Hillcats roster, ranging from 18-year-old potential superstar infielder Welbyn Francisca of the Dominican Republic to 22-year-old third-year pro Tommy Hawke, a former player at Wake Forest.

Hitting a baseball is generally considered the most difficult test in sports.

“This game kicks you in the butt all the time,” Kamekona said. “Coaches are teachers, but you’re also doing a lot of partnering and getting people through a really tough game. Had someone showed me what I’d be doing in the future, I think I would have spent more time in the psychology realm.

“It’s kind of like being in a toxic relationship. When the game loves you up, it ‘love bombs’ you. When you’re sucking, everything sucks. Your food tastes crappy. You can’t sleep. It’s tough.

“If you were talking about the game like it’s a partner, your therapist would say, ‘You need to break up with that person.'”

Even at 5 feet, 2 inches, Kamekona will be easy to spot at Bank of the James Stadium this summer. From her pigtails to her electric shoes, the third-generation Hawaiian figures to be popular.

“She throws some of the best [batting practice] in our entire [organization],” Smith said. “She’s got flash. She’ll wear the fancy Jordans and do her thing. No one’s telling her to slow down.”

Kamekona is at the batting cage watching what baseball players are doing.

That’s her job now.

Someday, maybe soon, it won’t seem unusual.

“What people outside the industry miss sometimes, if you take gender out of it, these guys are looking for people who they feel can help them get to the Big Leagues,” she said.

“The big component is establishing trust and showing you have tools that can help them. So if you are from Mars, purple, rainbow, male, female, it doesn’t really matter.”

The post Once there were no women on the field in professional baseball. Now Amanda Kamekona is a hitting coach for the Lynchburg Hillcats. appeared first on Cardinal News.

Little Amanda Kamekona picked up a flyer at her elementary school in California in the late 1990s, hustled home and stuck it on the family’s refrigerator.

Her mother, Rosemary, might not have taken notice amid the daily duties of preparing meals for a family of five.

But Amanda had an appetite for a challenge, even one that might seem to be more than she could chew.

The flyer was advertising school tryouts, but not for soccer, not for volleyball, not for softball.

There it was in big black and white letters:

“BASEBALL”

That piece of paper affixed to the side of the family fridge was mixed with calendars and clippings, but it had a strange magnetic attraction.

“I’m the kid who doesn’t forget anything, so I said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this [tryout] coming up in five days,'” she recalled. “My mom said, ‘OK, we should probably teach you how to catch and throw.”

Amanda’s father, Kory, was more of a football and basketball fan. And besides, he was working out of state at the time. Rosemary knew baseball from growing up near Dodger Stadium, so she put on a glove.

Just one problem. When it was time for the tryout, Amanda and her mom realized part of the deal was putting on a helmet, grabbing a bat, stepping into the batter’s box and facing a scary-looking pitching machine. They forgot to practice hitting.

You know what?

Amanda was ready to step up to the plate.

“Everyone’s messed around in their backyard yard, so it’s not like it’s the first time I ever picked up a bat, so I was watching what people were doing in front of me,” she said. “I said, ‘OK, I guess that machine throws balls.’ I stepped in and was able to hit pretty well.’

Amanda Kamekona, new hitting coach for the Lynchburg Hillcats minor league baseball team. Video by Robert Anderson.

Amanda Kamekona is still in the box some three decades later. The 38-year-old Californian is watching what other hitters are doing, but this time as a coach for a Major League Baseball organization.

Kamekona is the assistant hitting coach for the Lynchburg Hillcats, the Cleveland Guardians’ affiliate in the Class Low-A Carolina League, and is part of a growing list of women serving in on-field roles in professional baseball.

She will be in uniform Friday night when the Hillcats open the 2025 season on the road against the Fayetteville (N.C.) Woodpeckers. Lynchburg’s home opener is April 8. Kamekona and the Hillcats will begin a six-game series in Salem against the Red Sox on April 15.

“What she’s able to do on the baseball side is truly impressive,” third-year Lynchburg manager Jordan Smith said. “How she connects with the guys, how she prepares … she’s extremely smart. Our hiring process in Cleveland is very strenuous. She’s detail oriented, and she kind of crushed it in all [facets]. She’s legit. Her getting here wasn’t by accident.” 

*****

Maybe Kamekona was in the right place at the right time, or perhaps it is just the fact that she has been in plenty of places.

After playing two years of baseball at Ruben S. Ayala High School in Chino Hills, California, she switched to softball, earning a scholarship to Cal State-Fullerton.

She transferred to UCLA, where she led the Bruins to the Women’s College World Series in 2008 and was named a third-team All-American.

Kamekona played professionally on the PFX and NFS tours, winning three fast-pitch national championships as a hard-hitting, 5-foot-2 second baseman.

While playing professionally, she also was an assistant softball coach at Division II Limestone University in South Carolina and the head softball coach at Brevard College in North Carolina.

When her playing career ended, Kamekona coached travel softball and worked as a private softball hitting instructor. Now she’s in Year 3 of teaching the art of hitting the smaller ball on a bigger stage.

“I was in the part of my life where I was, ‘OK, I’ve done this. Now what’s next?'” she said. “This is kind of a big ‘What’s next?'”

Cleveland hired Kamekona as a spring-training hitting instructor in the Arizona Complex League in 2023. She was the assistant instructor for the Akron (Ohio) RubberDucks of the Class AA Eastern League before the Guardians’ front office moved her to Lynchburg.

As of 2023, MLB statistics showed there were 43 women in full-time MLB jobs. Fifteen years ago, there were zero. The number of on-field coaches at all professional baseball levels is in the teens.

Kamekona is following in the footsteps of the likes of Alyssa Nakken, who became the first woman to coach on the field in a Major League game in 2022 for the San Francisco Giants. Nakken was recently hired by the Guardians to work in player development.

One of Kamekona’s close friends is Rachel Folden, who is the new hitting coach for the Chicago Cubs Class AAA affiliate in Iowa.

“It’s like all of my worlds collided,” Kamekona said. “We played high school softball against each other. We played collegiate softball against each other. We played professional softball with each other. Now we’re coaching.”

Folden urged her old friend to apply for the Guardians position.

“She said, ‘Have you ever thought about working in baseball?'” Kamekona recalled. “I said, ‘Seriously, no. But have I ever, yes.’ She was like, ‘I think you should go for it.’ So I put my name in the hat. Anyone who’s familiar with Cleveland is familiar with our notorious hiring process, so that was long and lengthy, but needless to say, here I am.”

 Kamekona understands that she is a trailblazer in a formerly all-male business. 

“I would come off as naive or ignorant if I didn’t acknowledge that,” she said. “If you look around, there’s not a lot of women doing what we do. But there’s comfort in that number is growing.”

Kamekona’s youth baseball teammates in California included future Major Leaguers Mark Trumbo, Evan Longoria and Delmon Young.

She was able to compete with that level of talent … until she wasn’t.

“It was during the time where guys come back their junior year and they’re 6-3, 6-4 and I’m 5-2 and 125 pounds, and that’s not going to pay the bills collegiately,” she said. “My parents and I sat down and it was like, ‘If you want to go to school, we’re not going to be able to send you there, so you’ve got to get a scholarship.’ “

The former UCLA All-American said she can apply her softball experience to the baseball diamond.

“There’s a lot of bleed-over now. Anyone who’s been in the box, baseball or softball, they know that struggle,” she said. “Anyone who’s played baseball, if you have picked up a bat and tried to compete, that’s one of the most humbling things you can do across all sports.”

Kamekona said she requested the move from Class AA to Lynchburg so she could reunite with second-year Hillcats hitting coach Cole Nieto. They previously worked together in the offseason Arizona Complex League.

“Our organization is really big on development,” she said. “This is my third year with Cleveland. Part of the appeal, aside just from our office staff, specifically Cole and I have a really good working relationship. I was really curious about his baseball brain.

“When you look at it from a player perspective, going from Double-A to Single-A, that’s a demotion. From a coaching growth perspective, I needed some [knowledge] on what’s needed from a lower level. Whenever I’m going to be a head [instructor,] I’ll probably start at a lower level. I kind of wanted to spend a whole season seeing what this looks like.”

Nieto, a former Division III standout at Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio, is anxious to get the 2025 season started with Kamekona.

“She’s really good. It’s not like she’s just [waltzing] in here,” he said. “She was a really, really good player. She has a really good background. She knows what it’s like to be in the box. On top of it, she’s a good coach and a good person. Works really hard.

 “We split everything. We’re a team here. She’s doing just as much advance reports as I’m doing. We’re in the cage together. We’re working on player plans together.”

The challenges at the Low-A level are different from Class AA where the players’ skills have been refined, and they are accustomed to the ups and downs of professional baseball.

“He’s young. Maybe it’s the first time he’s facing adversity. He’s away from home,” Kamekona said of a typical Low-A prospect. “Sometimes mechanics fall apart. Sometimes it’s a combination of things. That’s what makes coaching so difficult.”

Kamekona will combine her coaching experience with her UCLA degree in working the 14 position players listed on the Hillcats roster, ranging from 18-year-old potential superstar infielder Welbyn Francisca of the Dominican Republic to 22-year-old third-year pro Tommy Hawke, a former player at Wake Forest.

Hitting a baseball is generally considered the most difficult test in sports.

“This game kicks you in the butt all the time,” Kamekona said. “Coaches are teachers, but you’re also doing a lot of partnering and getting people through a really tough game. Had someone showed me what I’d be doing in the future, I think I would have spent more time in the psychology realm.

“It’s kind of like being in a toxic relationship. When the game loves you up, it ‘love bombs’ you. When you’re sucking, everything sucks. Your food tastes crappy. You can’t sleep. It’s tough.

“If you were talking about the game like it’s a partner, your therapist would say, ‘You need to break up with that person.'”

Even at 5 feet, 2 inches, Kamekona will be easy to spot at Bank of the James Stadium this summer. From her pigtails to her electric shoes, the third-generation Hawaiian figures to be popular.

“She throws some of the best [batting practice] in our entire [organization],” Smith said. “She’s got flash. She’ll wear the fancy Jordans and do her thing. No one’s telling her to slow down.”

Kamekona is at the batting cage watching what baseball players are doing.

That’s her job now.

Someday, maybe soon, it won’t seem unusual.

“What people outside the industry miss sometimes, if you take gender out of it, these guys are looking for people who they feel can help them get to the Big Leagues,” she said.

“The big component is establishing trust and showing you have tools that can help them. So if you are from Mars, purple, rainbow, male, female, it doesn’t really matter.”

The post Once there were no women on the field in professional baseball. Now Amanda Kamekona is a hitting coach for the Lynchburg Hillcats. appeared first on Cardinal News.

The so-called “veto session” is now behind us but more vetoes lay ahead.

How can this be?

A brief civics lesson before we delve into the politics of what went down in Richmond this week. Virginia’s state government operates somewhat differently from the federal government (thank goodness, right?). A Virginia governor has more options on what to do with measures before him than an American president does. He (or next year, likely she) has three options: to sign a bill, veto it, or send it back to the legislature with amendments.

That’s why the General Assembly session this week is officially called the “reconvened” session, not the “veto session,” the layman’s term. That’s because the legislature would reconvene even if there were no vetoes — it had more amendments to consider than vetoes anyway.

In some cases, the General Assembly accepted Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed amendments to bills, so those are now on their way toward becoming law. Mostly, though, the Democratic-controlled legislature rejected the governor’s amendments. That means Youngkin must now decide what to do with the original bill: sign it without the changes he wanted or veto it. He now has 30 days to do that, and at that point there’s no legislative recourse. If he vetoes a bill because the General Assembly didn’t make the change he wanted, the bill’s as dead as the roadkill I saw on my way home last night.

Here’s one real-life example: The General Assembly passed a bill by state Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico County, that would require social media companies to limit users 16 and under to one hour per day. Youngkin proposed an amendment to raise the age limit to 18 and under. VanValkenburg was fine by that, and the Senate approved the governor’s amendment but the House did not. That means Youngkin’s choice is now to sign the bill with the 16 and under age limit or veto it. We’d expect him to sign it on the theory that, if you want to limit screen time to those under 18, then a bill that puts the limit at under 16 is better than no limit at all, but you never know until the ink is dry.

With that refresher on Virginia government out of the way, here’s a review of the most important things that happened (or will happen).

1. More vetoes are coming.

The most high-profile veto likely coming is to the identical bills by state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, and Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, to create a right to obtain and use contraceptives. (Yes, it’s common for the legislature to pass separate House and Senate bills that do the same thing.) During the session, state Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, had introduced his own measure but with a conscience clause that allowed doctors or pharmacists to opt out if the use of contraceptives violate their religious beliefs. The legislature killed that and advanced the Hashmi-Price bills itself. Youngkin wanted a similar conscience clause added but the legislature rejected that amendment.

2. The big question is what Youngkin does with the budget.

More civics: Virginia already has a two-year budget that’s in place. What the legislature dealt with this year were amendments to that budget, although everyone just called it “the budget” anyway. The governor sent back 205 amendments to those amendments (got that?). The General Assembly accepted 41 of those and rejected the other 164 without even so much as any floor debate. With the exception of an amendment to add $50 million for school construction, most of the amendments accepted were on the minor side of things, dollar-wise. The most important ways the governor wanted to reshape the spending plan were rejected. Will he accept this as the best deal he can get from a legislature controlled by the other party? Or would he take the dramatic step of inking a veto to the whole package?

3. The biggest budget changes the legislature rejected dealt with schools.

During the Great Recession of 2008, the General Assembly enacted a cap on non-teaching support staff in schools. What was intended as an austerity measure remains in place all these years later. Schools, especially those in rural areas, say it’s become a burden because the work still needs to be done but it’s become hard to find ways to pay for that staff. The General Assembly this year included $223 million to lift that “support cap.” Youngkin wanted to shift $183.2 million of that to beef up the state’s rainy day fund. On Wednesday, the legislature said no — so the original appropriation remains in place.

Another high-dollar vote included the $80 million that Youngkin wanted to add for construction of a leadership center at Virginia Military Institute. That addition was rejected. Whatever fiscal concerns Democrats add are also magnified right now by their unhappiness with the VMI board for not renewing the contract of the school’s first Black superintendent. In military terms, Youngkin’s move to add that money was a noble but doomed infantry charge.

4. Federal cuts loom over everything.

Even if Youngkin signed the budget amendments, it’s unclear how real this budget is, given the uncertain state of the economy and the cuts that President Donald Trump is making to the state’s biggest civilian employer, the federal government. There’s also the question — a big question, financially — about whether the Republican-controlled Congress produces a spending plan that reduces Medicaid funding, and thereby shifts some of those costs to the states. This year’s General Assembly session has been gavelled to a close but through a parliamentary maneuver, last year’s remains in special session, so the legislature could return (without any gubernatorial action) to deal with a changing fiscal situation.

We’ve already seen what’s happening in Washington influence what’s happening in Richmond. During the past session, the legislature voted to approve two popular tax measures — to raise the standard deduction and expand the refundable earned income tax credit. The legislature’s approval was only good for two years. Youngkin sent down an amendment to make those changes permanent. Democrats who had approved the two-year plan voted against making them permanent. “They’re both good policies, but that’s not the issue,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County. “The next two budget cycles could be extraordinarily ugly,” so Democrats weren’t in a mood to make those tax changes permanent.

5. Elections loom over everything, too.

The Democratic-controlled General Assembly passed a bunch of gun bills even though they knew exactly what would happen: The Republican governor vetoed those. Democrats also knew they didn’t have the votes to override those vetoes but made sure the bills came up for separate votes anyway (most things were dealt with through votes in a big block). Why go through those motions? One answer is principle: This is what they believe and they want to stand up for their beliefs, just as Republicans do. The other answer, though, is politics.

This fall, Virginia elects a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general — and all 100 members of the House of Delegates. Democrats believe these votes will be good politics for their side. Likewise, many of Youngkin’s amendments seemed designed for fall consumption, too, because he knew Democrats would never go along — and feels their rejection of his amendments will help Republicans. (Example: Some of his amendments that tried to repeal key parts of the Clean Economy Act, which mandates a carbon-free electric grid by 2050.)

In another year, maybe Democrats might have been more willing to accommodate some of the governor’s less controversial amendments. This is not another year, though. It’s the last year of Youngkin’s term and Democrats are feeling bullish about their prospects. Rather than accept a watered-down version of a bill, they were fine rejecting Youngkin’s amendments and risk doing without a bill at all — because they figure they’ll only have to wait a year until they have a Democratic governor who will sign their preferred version.

6. Gilbert may have seen his last session.

We know four House members are retiring, all Republicans: Del. Jed Arnold of Smyth County, Del. Baxter Ennis of Chesapeake, Del. Nick Freitas of Culpeper County, Del. Danny Marshall of Danville. A much bigger name could join them: House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, is in the running for the next U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia — a position that’s a presidential appointment. The Gilbert news is big: He’s a former speaker of the House who would be speaker again if Republicans win a majority again this fall. However, Gilbert has said being the top federal prosecutor in the western half of the state is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

If Gilbert gets the nod, that would have the biggest political impact: House Republicans would need a new leader. That might create an opening for Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, who was House majority leader when Gilbert was speaker. After Republicans lost the majority, Kilgore challenged Gilbert for the leadership but lost — apparently because Republicans didn’t blame him for the party coming up short.

7. Storm relief was extended to cover February’s floods.

This was a minor change of wording that will have a big impact in Southwest Virginia, which got hit hard by flooding in mid-February. Now, the state’s relief package for the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in September will include the February storms, too.

8. Data centers didn’t get their tax break extended.

Data centers have a tax break that expires in 2035. The governor wanted to extend that to 2050. The legislature said no. That expiration date is still a decade off, but companies making investments like to be able to plan ahead. Given the rising heat around the politics of data centers, the failure to extend this tax break can be seen as a sign of some legislative skepticism. However, there’s also lots of time to change this.

9. James Monroe’s home won’t become a state park.

At least not this year. Our fifth president had many homes. One of those was Oak Hill in Loudoun County. The state is now in private hands, but the owners have offered it to the state for a discount. The legislature passed up that opportunity during the session, citing the unknown costs of upkeep for an 19^th century house. Youngkin proposed an amendment that would set up a process by which the state could acquire the house — no money yet, but the prospect of some if certain conditions were met. The General Assembly rejected that. The owners would like to sell this year, and Oak Hill supporters (which include some Democratic legislators from Northern Virginia) see a rare opportunity to preserve the home of one of the nation’s founders without it being turned into a subdivision. However, it’s unclear now how that happens. Monroe did pretty well in the politics of the early 1700s and early 1800s, but he’s having some trouble with today’s.

10. Democrats once again kill measure for Warren County to be part of the Front Royal Industrial Development Authority.

Of all the things the General Assembly did or didn’t do, this is the most inexplicable. What should have been a routine bill of merely local impact has somehow gotten tied up in politics well beyond this community in the northern Shenandoah Valley. For the full back story, you can see the column I wrote earlier this year. The short version is that there was a non-controversial technical bill that would allow Warren County to be part of the Front Royal Industrial Development Authority for the next five years. After Republicans killed a measure related to the Virginia Beach charter and how many council members there should be elected at-large or through districts, state Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, led the charge for his party to kill the next Republican-sponsored bill that came up. That just happened to be this one related to Front Royal and Warren County.

Youngkin sought to remedy that by adding the provision to the budget as a “language amendment,” meaning one that doesn’t include any money, just legal language. It never came up for a vote in the House on Wednesday. Democrats singled out the amendments they wanted to vote on, then voted to “pass by” the rest, a polite way of killing them. The bottom line: Warren County’s authority to participate in the Front Royal IDA will cease on July 1.

I asked the office of both House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, and House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, why this amendment got killed. No explanation. Del. Delores Oates, R-Warren County, has her own: “There was no good reason for Democrats to kill this legislation during the regular session, and there was no reason for them to kill it yesterday. Democrats put spite above the people of my district. They just don’t care about places like Front Royal.”

The post 10 takeaways from this week’s General Assembly session on vetoes and amendments appeared first on Cardinal News.

The so-called “veto session” is now behind us but more vetoes lay ahead.

How can this be?

A brief civics lesson before we delve into the politics of what went down in Richmond this week. Virginia’s state government operates somewhat differently from the federal government (thank goodness, right?). A Virginia governor has more options on what to do with measures before him than an American president does. He (or next year, likely she) has three options: to sign a bill, veto it, or send it back to the legislature with amendments.

That’s why the General Assembly session this week is officially called the “reconvened” session, not the “veto session,” the layman’s term. That’s because the legislature would reconvene even if there were no vetoes — it had more amendments to consider than vetoes anyway.

In some cases, the General Assembly accepted Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed amendments to bills, so those are now on their way toward becoming law. Mostly, though, the Democratic-controlled legislature rejected the governor’s amendments. That means Youngkin must now decide what to do with the original bill: sign it without the changes he wanted or veto it. He now has 30 days to do that, and at that point there’s no legislative recourse. If he vetoes a bill because the General Assembly didn’t make the change he wanted, the bill’s as dead as the roadkill I saw on my way home last night.

Here’s one real-life example: The General Assembly passed a bill by state Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico County, that would require social media companies to limit users 16 and under to one hour per day. Youngkin proposed an amendment to raise the age limit to 18 and under. VanValkenburg was fine by that, and the Senate approved the governor’s amendment but the House did not. That means Youngkin’s choice is now to sign the bill with the 16 and under age limit or veto it. We’d expect him to sign it on the theory that, if you want to limit screen time to those under 18, then a bill that puts the limit at under 16 is better than no limit at all, but you never know until the ink is dry.

With that refresher on Virginia government out of the way, here’s a review of the most important things that happened (or will happen).

1. More vetoes are coming.

The most high-profile veto likely coming is to the identical bills by state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, and Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, to create a right to obtain and use contraceptives. (Yes, it’s common for the legislature to pass separate House and Senate bills that do the same thing.) During the session, state Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, had introduced his own measure but with a conscience clause that allowed doctors or pharmacists to opt out if the use of contraceptives violate their religious beliefs. The legislature killed that and advanced the Hashmi-Price bills itself. Youngkin wanted a similar conscience clause added but the legislature rejected that amendment.

2. The big question is what Youngkin does with the budget.

More civics: Virginia already has a two-year budget that’s in place. What the legislature dealt with this year were amendments to that budget, although everyone just called it “the budget” anyway. The governor sent back 205 amendments to those amendments (got that?). The General Assembly accepted 41 of those and rejected the other 164 without even so much as any floor debate. With the exception of an amendment to add $50 million for school construction, most of the amendments accepted were on the minor side of things, dollar-wise. The most important ways the governor wanted to reshape the spending plan were rejected. Will he accept this as the best deal he can get from a legislature controlled by the other party? Or would he take the dramatic step of inking a veto to the whole package?

3. The biggest budget changes the legislature rejected dealt with schools.

During the Great Recession of 2008, the General Assembly enacted a cap on non-teaching support staff in schools. What was intended as an austerity measure remains in place all these years later. Schools, especially those in rural areas, say it’s become a burden because the work still needs to be done but it’s become hard to find ways to pay for that staff. The General Assembly this year included $223 million to lift that “support cap.” Youngkin wanted to shift $183.2 million of that to beef up the state’s rainy day fund. On Wednesday, the legislature said no — so the original appropriation remains in place.

Another high-dollar vote included the $80 million that Youngkin wanted to add for construction of a leadership center at Virginia Military Institute. That addition was rejected. Whatever fiscal concerns Democrats add are also magnified right now by their unhappiness with the VMI board for not renewing the contract of the school’s first Black superintendent. In military terms, Youngkin’s move to add that money was a noble but doomed infantry charge.

4. Federal cuts loom over everything.

Even if Youngkin signed the budget amendments, it’s unclear how real this budget is, given the uncertain state of the economy and the cuts that President Donald Trump is making to the state’s biggest civilian employer, the federal government. There’s also the question — a big question, financially — about whether the Republican-controlled Congress produces a spending plan that reduces Medicaid funding, and thereby shifts some of those costs to the states. This year’s General Assembly session has been gavelled to a close but through a parliamentary maneuver, last year’s remains in special session, so the legislature could return (without any gubernatorial action) to deal with a changing fiscal situation.

We’ve already seen what’s happening in Washington influence what’s happening in Richmond. During the past session, the legislature voted to approve two popular tax measures — to raise the standard deduction and expand the refundable earned income tax credit. The legislature’s approval was only good for two years. Youngkin sent down an amendment to make those changes permanent. Democrats who had approved the two-year plan voted against making them permanent. “They’re both good policies, but that’s not the issue,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County. “The next two budget cycles could be extraordinarily ugly,” so Democrats weren’t in a mood to make those tax changes permanent.

5. Elections loom over everything, too.

The Democratic-controlled General Assembly passed a bunch of gun bills even though they knew exactly what would happen: The Republican governor vetoed those. Democrats also knew they didn’t have the votes to override those vetoes but made sure the bills came up for separate votes anyway (most things were dealt with through votes in a big block). Why go through those motions? One answer is principle: This is what they believe and they want to stand up for their beliefs, just as Republicans do. The other answer, though, is politics.

This fall, Virginia elects a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general — and all 100 members of the House of Delegates. Democrats believe these votes will be good politics for their side. Likewise, many of Youngkin’s amendments seemed designed for fall consumption, too, because he knew Democrats would never go along — and feels their rejection of his amendments will help Republicans. (Example: Some of his amendments that tried to repeal key parts of the Clean Economy Act, which mandates a carbon-free electric grid by 2050.)

In another year, maybe Democrats might have been more willing to accommodate some of the governor’s less controversial amendments. This is not another year, though. It’s the last year of Youngkin’s term and Democrats are feeling bullish about their prospects. Rather than accept a watered-down version of a bill, they were fine rejecting Youngkin’s amendments and risk doing without a bill at all — because they figure they’ll only have to wait a year until they have a Democratic governor who will sign their preferred version.

6. Gilbert may have seen his last session.

We know four House members are retiring, all Republicans: Del. Jed Arnold of Smyth County, Del. Baxter Ennis of Chesapeake, Del. Nick Freitas of Culpeper County, Del. Danny Marshall of Danville. A much bigger name could join them: House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, is in the running for the next U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia — a position that’s a presidential appointment. The Gilbert news is big: He’s a former speaker of the House who would be speaker again if Republicans win a majority again this fall. However, Gilbert has said being the top federal prosecutor in the western half of the state is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

If Gilbert gets the nod, that would have the biggest political impact: House Republicans would need a new leader. That might create an opening for Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, who was House majority leader when Gilbert was speaker. After Republicans lost the majority, Kilgore challenged Gilbert for the leadership but lost — apparently because Republicans didn’t blame him for the party coming up short.

7. Storm relief was extended to cover February’s floods.

This was a minor change of wording that will have a big impact in Southwest Virginia, which got hit hard by flooding in mid-February. Now, the state’s relief package for the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in September will include the February storms, too.

8. Data centers didn’t get their tax break extended.

Data centers have a tax break that expires in 2035. The governor wanted to extend that to 2050. The legislature said no. That expiration date is still a decade off, but companies making investments like to be able to plan ahead. Given the rising heat around the politics of data centers, the failure to extend this tax break can be seen as a sign of some legislative skepticism. However, there’s also lots of time to change this.

9. James Monroe’s home won’t become a state park.

At least not this year. Our fifth president had many homes. One of those was Oak Hill in Loudoun County. The state is now in private hands, but the owners have offered it to the state for a discount. The legislature passed up that opportunity during the session, citing the unknown costs of upkeep for an 19^th century house. Youngkin proposed an amendment that would set up a process by which the state could acquire the house — no money yet, but the prospect of some if certain conditions were met. The General Assembly rejected that. The owners would like to sell this year, and Oak Hill supporters (which include some Democratic legislators from Northern Virginia) see a rare opportunity to preserve the home of one of the nation’s founders without it being turned into a subdivision. However, it’s unclear now how that happens. Monroe did pretty well in the politics of the early 1700s and early 1800s, but he’s having some trouble with today’s.

10. Democrats once again kill measure for Warren County to be part of the Front Royal Industrial Development Authority.

Of all the things the General Assembly did or didn’t do, this is the most inexplicable. What should have been a routine bill of merely local impact has somehow gotten tied up in politics well beyond this community in the northern Shenandoah Valley. For the full back story, you can see the column I wrote earlier this year. The short version is that there was a non-controversial technical bill that would allow Warren County to be part of the Front Royal Industrial Development Authority for the next five years. After Republicans killed a measure related to the Virginia Beach charter and how many council members there should be elected at-large or through districts, state Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, led the charge for his party to kill the next Republican-sponsored bill that came up. That just happened to be this one related to Front Royal and Warren County.

Youngkin sought to remedy that by adding the provision to the budget as a “language amendment,” meaning one that doesn’t include any money, just legal language. It never came up for a vote in the House on Wednesday. Democrats singled out the amendments they wanted to vote on, then voted to “pass by” the rest, a polite way of killing them. The bottom line: Warren County’s authority to participate in the Front Royal IDA will cease on July 1.

I asked the office of both House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, and House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, why this amendment got killed. No explanation. Del. Delores Oates, R-Warren County, has her own: “There was no good reason for Democrats to kill this legislation during the regular session, and there was no reason for them to kill it yesterday. Democrats put spite above the people of my district. They just don’t care about places like Front Royal.”

The post 10 takeaways from this week’s General Assembly session on vetoes and amendments appeared first on Cardinal News.

The so-called “veto session” is now behind us but more vetoes lay ahead.

How can this be?

A brief civics lesson before we delve into the politics of what went down in Richmond this week. Virginia’s state government operates somewhat differently from the federal government (thank goodness, right?). A Virginia governor has more options on what to do with measures before him than an American president does. He (or next year, likely she) has three options: to sign a bill, veto it, or send it back to the legislature with amendments.

That’s why the General Assembly session this week is officially called the “reconvened” session, not the “veto session,” the layman’s term. That’s because the legislature would reconvene even if there were no vetoes — it had more amendments to consider than vetoes anyway.

In some cases, the General Assembly accepted Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed amendments to bills, so those are now on their way toward becoming law. Mostly, though, the Democratic-controlled legislature rejected the governor’s amendments. That means Youngkin must now decide what to do with the original bill: sign it without the changes he wanted or veto it. He now has 30 days to do that, and at that point there’s no legislative recourse. If he vetoes a bill because the General Assembly didn’t make the change he wanted, the bill’s as dead as the roadkill I saw on my way home last night.

Here’s one real-life example: The General Assembly passed a bill by state Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico County, that would require social media companies to limit users 16 and under to one hour per day. Youngkin proposed an amendment to raise the age limit to 18 and under. VanValkenburg was fine by that, and the Senate approved the governor’s amendment but the House did not. That means Youngkin’s choice is now to sign the bill with the 16 and under age limit or veto it. We’d expect him to sign it on the theory that, if you want to limit screen time to those under 18, then a bill that puts the limit at under 16 is better than no limit at all, but you never know until the ink is dry.

With that refresher on Virginia government out of the way, here’s a review of the most important things that happened (or will happen).

1. More vetoes are coming.

The most high-profile veto likely coming is to the identical bills by state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, and Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, to create a right to obtain and use contraceptives. (Yes, it’s common for the legislature to pass separate House and Senate bills that do the same thing.) During the session, state Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, had introduced his own measure but with a conscience clause that allowed doctors or pharmacists to opt out if the use of contraceptives violate their religious beliefs. The legislature killed that and advanced the Hashmi-Price bills itself. Youngkin wanted a similar conscience clause added but the legislature rejected that amendment.

2. The big question is what Youngkin does with the budget.

More civics: Virginia already has a two-year budget that’s in place. What the legislature dealt with this year were amendments to that budget, although everyone just called it “the budget” anyway. The governor sent back 205 amendments to those amendments (got that?). The General Assembly accepted 41 of those and rejected the other 164 without even so much as any floor debate. With the exception of an amendment to add $50 million for school construction, most of the amendments accepted were on the minor side of things, dollar-wise. The most important ways the governor wanted to reshape the spending plan were rejected. Will he accept this as the best deal he can get from a legislature controlled by the other party? Or would he take the dramatic step of inking a veto to the whole package?

3. The biggest budget changes the legislature rejected dealt with schools.

During the Great Recession of 2008, the General Assembly enacted a cap on non-teaching support staff in schools. What was intended as an austerity measure remains in place all these years later. Schools, especially those in rural areas, say it’s become a burden because the work still needs to be done but it’s become hard to find ways to pay for that staff. The General Assembly this year included $223 million to lift that “support cap.” Youngkin wanted to shift $183.2 million of that to beef up the state’s rainy day fund. On Wednesday, the legislature said no — so the original appropriation remains in place.

Another high-dollar vote included the $80 million that Youngkin wanted to add for construction of a leadership center at Virginia Military Institute. That addition was rejected. Whatever fiscal concerns Democrats add are also magnified right now by their unhappiness with the VMI board for not renewing the contract of the school’s first Black superintendent. In military terms, Youngkin’s move to add that money was a noble but doomed infantry charge.

4. Federal cuts loom over everything.

Even if Youngkin signed the budget amendments, it’s unclear how real this budget is, given the uncertain state of the economy and the cuts that President Donald Trump is making to the state’s biggest civilian employer, the federal government. There’s also the question — a big question, financially — about whether the Republican-controlled Congress produces a spending plan that reduces Medicaid funding, and thereby shifts some of those costs to the states. This year’s General Assembly session has been gavelled to a close but through a parliamentary maneuver, last year’s remains in special session, so the legislature could return (without any gubernatorial action) to deal with a changing fiscal situation.

We’ve already seen what’s happening in Washington influence what’s happening in Richmond. During the past session, the legislature voted to approve two popular tax measures — to raise the standard deduction and expand the refundable earned income tax credit. The legislature’s approval was only good for two years. Youngkin sent down an amendment to make those changes permanent. Democrats who had approved the two-year plan voted against making them permanent. “They’re both good policies, but that’s not the issue,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County. “The next two budget cycles could be extraordinarily ugly,” so Democrats weren’t in a mood to make those tax changes permanent.

5. Elections loom over everything, too.

The Democratic-controlled General Assembly passed a bunch of gun bills even though they knew exactly what would happen: The Republican governor vetoed those. Democrats also knew they didn’t have the votes to override those vetoes but made sure the bills came up for separate votes anyway (most things were dealt with through votes in a big block). Why go through those motions? One answer is principle: This is what they believe and they want to stand up for their beliefs, just as Republicans do. The other answer, though, is politics.

This fall, Virginia elects a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general — and all 100 members of the House of Delegates. Democrats believe these votes will be good politics for their side. Likewise, many of Youngkin’s amendments seemed designed for fall consumption, too, because he knew Democrats would never go along — and feels their rejection of his amendments will help Republicans. (Example: Some of his amendments that tried to repeal key parts of the Clean Economy Act, which mandates a carbon-free electric grid by 2050.)

In another year, maybe Democrats might have been more willing to accommodate some of the governor’s less controversial amendments. This is not another year, though. It’s the last year of Youngkin’s term and Democrats are feeling bullish about their prospects. Rather than accept a watered-down version of a bill, they were fine rejecting Youngkin’s amendments and risk doing without a bill at all — because they figure they’ll only have to wait a year until they have a Democratic governor who will sign their preferred version.

6. Gilbert may have seen his last session.

We know four House members are retiring, all Republicans: Del. Jed Arnold of Smyth County, Del. Baxter Ennis of Chesapeake, Del. Nick Freitas of Culpeper County, Del. Danny Marshall of Danville. A much bigger name could join them: House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, is in the running for the next U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia — a position that’s a presidential appointment. The Gilbert news is big: He’s a former speaker of the House who would be speaker again if Republicans win a majority again this fall. However, Gilbert has said being the top federal prosecutor in the western half of the state is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

If Gilbert gets the nod, that would have the biggest political impact: House Republicans would need a new leader. That might create an opening for Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, who was House majority leader when Gilbert was speaker. After Republicans lost the majority, Kilgore challenged Gilbert for the leadership but lost — apparently because Republicans didn’t blame him for the party coming up short.

7. Storm relief was extended to cover February’s floods.

This was a minor change of wording that will have a big impact in Southwest Virginia, which got hit hard by flooding in mid-February. Now, the state’s relief package for the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in September will include the February storms, too.

8. Data centers didn’t get their tax break extended.

Data centers have a tax break that expires in 2035. The governor wanted to extend that to 2050. The legislature said no. That expiration date is still a decade off, but companies making investments like to be able to plan ahead. Given the rising heat around the politics of data centers, the failure to extend this tax break can be seen as a sign of some legislative skepticism. However, there’s also lots of time to change this.

9. James Monroe’s home won’t become a state park.

At least not this year. Our fifth president had many homes. One of those was Oak Hill in Loudoun County. The state is now in private hands, but the owners have offered it to the state for a discount. The legislature passed up that opportunity during the session, citing the unknown costs of upkeep for an 19^th century house. Youngkin proposed an amendment that would set up a process by which the state could acquire the house — no money yet, but the prospect of some if certain conditions were met. The General Assembly rejected that. The owners would like to sell this year, and Oak Hill supporters (which include some Democratic legislators from Northern Virginia) see a rare opportunity to preserve the home of one of the nation’s founders without it being turned into a subdivision. However, it’s unclear now how that happens. Monroe did pretty well in the politics of the early 1700s and early 1800s, but he’s having some trouble with today’s.

10. Democrats once again kill measure for Warren County to be part of the Front Royal Industrial Development Authority.

Of all the things the General Assembly did or didn’t do, this is the most inexplicable. What should have been a routine bill of merely local impact has somehow gotten tied up in politics well beyond this community in the northern Shenandoah Valley. For the full back story, you can see the column I wrote earlier this year. The short version is that there was a non-controversial technical bill that would allow Warren County to be part of the Front Royal Industrial Development Authority for the next five years. After Republicans killed a measure related to the Virginia Beach charter and how many council members there should be elected at-large or through districts, state Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, led the charge for his party to kill the next Republican-sponsored bill that came up. That just happened to be this one related to Front Royal and Warren County.

Youngkin sought to remedy that by adding the provision to the budget as a “language amendment,” meaning one that doesn’t include any money, just legal language. It never came up for a vote in the House on Wednesday. Democrats singled out the amendments they wanted to vote on, then voted to “pass by” the rest, a polite way of killing them. The bottom line: Warren County’s authority to participate in the Front Royal IDA will cease on July 1.

I asked the office of both House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, and House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, why this amendment got killed. No explanation. Del. Delores Oates, R-Warren County, has her own: “There was no good reason for Democrats to kill this legislation during the regular session, and there was no reason for them to kill it yesterday. Democrats put spite above the people of my district. They just don’t care about places like Front Royal.”

The post 10 takeaways from this week’s General Assembly session on vetoes and amendments appeared first on Cardinal News.

The so-called “veto session” is now behind us but more vetoes lay ahead.

How can this be?

A brief civics lesson before we delve into the politics of what went down in Richmond this week. Virginia’s state government operates somewhat differently from the federal government (thank goodness, right?). A Virginia governor has more options on what to do with measures before him than an American president does. He (or next year, likely she) has three options: to sign a bill, veto it, or send it back to the legislature with amendments.

That’s why the General Assembly session this week is officially called the “reconvened” session, not the “veto session,” the layman’s term. That’s because the legislature would reconvene even if there were no vetoes — it had more amendments to consider than vetoes anyway.

In some cases, the General Assembly accepted Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed amendments to bills, so those are now on their way toward becoming law. Mostly, though, the Democratic-controlled legislature rejected the governor’s amendments. That means Youngkin must now decide what to do with the original bill: sign it without the changes he wanted or veto it. He now has 30 days to do that, and at that point there’s no legislative recourse. If he vetoes a bill because the General Assembly didn’t make the change he wanted, the bill’s as dead as the roadkill I saw on my way home last night.

Here’s one real-life example: The General Assembly passed a bill by state Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico County, that would require social media companies to limit users 16 and under to one hour per day. Youngkin proposed an amendment to raise the age limit to 18 and under. VanValkenburg was fine by that, and the Senate approved the governor’s amendment but the House did not. That means Youngkin’s choice is now to sign the bill with the 16 and under age limit or veto it. We’d expect him to sign it on the theory that, if you want to limit screen time to those under 18, then a bill that puts the limit at under 16 is better than no limit at all, but you never know until the ink is dry.

With that refresher on Virginia government out of the way, here’s a review of the most important things that happened (or will happen).

1. More vetoes are coming.

The most high-profile veto likely coming is to the identical bills by state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, and Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, to create a right to obtain and use contraceptives. (Yes, it’s common for the legislature to pass separate House and Senate bills that do the same thing.) During the session, state Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, had introduced his own measure but with a conscience clause that allowed doctors or pharmacists to opt out if the use of contraceptives violate their religious beliefs. The legislature killed that and advanced the Hashmi-Price bills itself. Youngkin wanted a similar conscience clause added but the legislature rejected that amendment.

2. The big question is what Youngkin does with the budget.

More civics: Virginia already has a two-year budget that’s in place. What the legislature dealt with this year were amendments to that budget, although everyone just called it “the budget” anyway. The governor sent back 205 amendments to those amendments (got that?). The General Assembly accepted 41 of those and rejected the other 164 without even so much as any floor debate. With the exception of an amendment to add $50 million for school construction, most of the amendments accepted were on the minor side of things, dollar-wise. The most important ways the governor wanted to reshape the spending plan were rejected. Will he accept this as the best deal he can get from a legislature controlled by the other party? Or would he take the dramatic step of inking a veto to the whole package?

3. The biggest budget changes the legislature rejected dealt with schools.

During the Great Recession of 2008, the General Assembly enacted a cap on non-teaching support staff in schools. What was intended as an austerity measure remains in place all these years later. Schools, especially those in rural areas, say it’s become a burden because the work still needs to be done but it’s become hard to find ways to pay for that staff. The General Assembly this year included $223 million to lift that “support cap.” Youngkin wanted to shift $183.2 million of that to beef up the state’s rainy day fund. On Wednesday, the legislature said no — so the original appropriation remains in place.

Another high-dollar vote included the $80 million that Youngkin wanted to add for construction of a leadership center at Virginia Military Institute. That addition was rejected. Whatever fiscal concerns Democrats add are also magnified right now by their unhappiness with the VMI board for not renewing the contract of the school’s first Black superintendent. In military terms, Youngkin’s move to add that money was a noble but doomed infantry charge.

4. Federal cuts loom over everything.

Even if Youngkin signed the budget amendments, it’s unclear how real this budget is, given the uncertain state of the economy and the cuts that President Donald Trump is making to the state’s biggest civilian employer, the federal government. There’s also the question — a big question, financially — about whether the Republican-controlled Congress produces a spending plan that reduces Medicaid funding, and thereby shifts some of those costs to the states. This year’s General Assembly session has been gavelled to a close but through a parliamentary maneuver, last year’s remains in special session, so the legislature could return (without any gubernatorial action) to deal with a changing fiscal situation.

We’ve already seen what’s happening in Washington influence what’s happening in Richmond. During the past session, the legislature voted to approve two popular tax measures — to raise the standard deduction and expand the refundable earned income tax credit. The legislature’s approval was only good for two years. Youngkin sent down an amendment to make those changes permanent. Democrats who had approved the two-year plan voted against making them permanent. “They’re both good policies, but that’s not the issue,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County. “The next two budget cycles could be extraordinarily ugly,” so Democrats weren’t in a mood to make those tax changes permanent.

5. Elections loom over everything, too.

The Democratic-controlled General Assembly passed a bunch of gun bills even though they knew exactly what would happen: The Republican governor vetoed those. Democrats also knew they didn’t have the votes to override those vetoes but made sure the bills came up for separate votes anyway (most things were dealt with through votes in a big block). Why go through those motions? One answer is principle: This is what they believe and they want to stand up for their beliefs, just as Republicans do. The other answer, though, is politics.

This fall, Virginia elects a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general — and all 100 members of the House of Delegates. Democrats believe these votes will be good politics for their side. Likewise, many of Youngkin’s amendments seemed designed for fall consumption, too, because he knew Democrats would never go along — and feels their rejection of his amendments will help Republicans. (Example: Some of his amendments that tried to repeal key parts of the Clean Economy Act, which mandates a carbon-free electric grid by 2050.)

In another year, maybe Democrats might have been more willing to accommodate some of the governor’s less controversial amendments. This is not another year, though. It’s the last year of Youngkin’s term and Democrats are feeling bullish about their prospects. Rather than accept a watered-down version of a bill, they were fine rejecting Youngkin’s amendments and risk doing without a bill at all — because they figure they’ll only have to wait a year until they have a Democratic governor who will sign their preferred version.

6. Gilbert may have seen his last session.

We know four House members are retiring, all Republicans: Del. Jed Arnold of Smyth County, Del. Baxter Ennis of Chesapeake, Del. Nick Freitas of Culpeper County, Del. Danny Marshall of Danville. A much bigger name could join them: House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, is in the running for the next U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia — a position that’s a presidential appointment. The Gilbert news is big: He’s a former speaker of the House who would be speaker again if Republicans win a majority again this fall. However, Gilbert has said being the top federal prosecutor in the western half of the state is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

If Gilbert gets the nod, that would have the biggest political impact: House Republicans would need a new leader. That might create an opening for Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, who was House majority leader when Gilbert was speaker. After Republicans lost the majority, Kilgore challenged Gilbert for the leadership but lost — apparently because Republicans didn’t blame him for the party coming up short.

7. Storm relief was extended to cover February’s floods.

This was a minor change of wording that will have a big impact in Southwest Virginia, which got hit hard by flooding in mid-February. Now, the state’s relief package for the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in September will include the February storms, too.

8. Data centers didn’t get their tax break extended.

Data centers have a tax break that expires in 2035. The governor wanted to extend that to 2050. The legislature said no. That expiration date is still a decade off, but companies making investments like to be able to plan ahead. Given the rising heat around the politics of data centers, the failure to extend this tax break can be seen as a sign of some legislative skepticism. However, there’s also lots of time to change this.

9. James Monroe’s home won’t become a state park.

At least not this year. Our fifth president had many homes. One of those was Oak Hill in Loudoun County. The state is now in private hands, but the owners have offered it to the state for a discount. The legislature passed up that opportunity during the session, citing the unknown costs of upkeep for an 19^th century house. Youngkin proposed an amendment that would set up a process by which the state could acquire the house — no money yet, but the prospect of some if certain conditions were met. The General Assembly rejected that. The owners would like to sell this year, and Oak Hill supporters (which include some Democratic legislators from Northern Virginia) see a rare opportunity to preserve the home of one of the nation’s founders without it being turned into a subdivision. However, it’s unclear now how that happens. Monroe did pretty well in the politics of the early 1700s and early 1800s, but he’s having some trouble with today’s.

10. Democrats once again kill measure for Warren County to be part of the Front Royal Industrial Development Authority.

Of all the things the General Assembly did or didn’t do, this is the most inexplicable. What should have been a routine bill of merely local impact has somehow gotten tied up in politics well beyond this community in the northern Shenandoah Valley. For the full back story, you can see the column I wrote earlier this year. The short version is that there was a non-controversial technical bill that would allow Warren County to be part of the Front Royal Industrial Development Authority for the next five years. After Republicans killed a measure related to the Virginia Beach charter and how many council members there should be elected at-large or through districts, state Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, led the charge for his party to kill the next Republican-sponsored bill that came up. That just happened to be this one related to Front Royal and Warren County.

Youngkin sought to remedy that by adding the provision to the budget as a “language amendment,” meaning one that doesn’t include any money, just legal language. It never came up for a vote in the House on Wednesday. Democrats singled out the amendments they wanted to vote on, then voted to “pass by” the rest, a polite way of killing them. The bottom line: Warren County’s authority to participate in the Front Royal IDA will cease on July 1.

I asked the office of both House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, and House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, why this amendment got killed. No explanation. Del. Delores Oates, R-Warren County, has her own: “There was no good reason for Democrats to kill this legislation during the regular session, and there was no reason for them to kill it yesterday. Democrats put spite above the people of my district. They just don’t care about places like Front Royal.”

The post 10 takeaways from this week’s General Assembly session on vetoes and amendments appeared first on Cardinal News.

Covington Middle School returned to in-classroom instruction three weeks ago, but despite some early positive results, air quality questions remain at the facility that houses more than 500 students between the fifth and eighth grades.

And the low level of trust among parents, teachers and the Alleghany Highlands Public Schools was again evident following the discovery of another unidentified odor in part of the building.

The school district returned to investigation mode on Monday, when the strange smell was detected on the building’s third floor, the same location of the original problem on Jan. 31, which led to CMS being closed for nearly six weeks.

Late that morning, CMS parents received a pre-recorded call from Principal Karen Staunton. According to reports from multiple media outlets in Southwest Virginia, Staunton said on the message that the odor was on the third floor of the building. After consulting with other school officials, as well as several city of Covington officials, including emergency manager and chief of police Chris Smith, there was no reason to believe that students were in danger, though as a precaution, students using those third-floor classrooms were relocated to other parts of the building.

Many who received the call were not as confident. AHPS officials acknowledged Tuesday night that middle school attendance in the afternoon noticeably dropped as many children were pulled out by their parents. The trend continued on Tuesday, as the district called the absentee rate “significantly higher than usual.” The school did not provide numbers.

The Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts also confirmed that medical professionals in the Highlands area were visited by patients saying they were ill as a result of being in the school.

“We expect to receive any resulting healthcare reports in coming days,” spokesperson Christie Wills said. “But we have not learned of anyone requiring treatment from the situation.”

This is not the trend that school officials, who had reported strong attendance numbers in the first days back in the building, wanted. An emergency school board meeting was held late Monday night, all of it in closed session as they sought legal advice from their attorney, but no board members or Superintendent Kim Halterman have granted interview requests since.

The school district has continued to update its dedicated page to the CMS situation, with all significant moments through April 1 listed on the site.

While this is the most significant incident since Covington Middle School reopened, there were many other signs prior to the third-floor episode that the relationship among all interested parties is still in need of repair.

Would all of those new carbon monoxide monitors the district had installed work? There were skeptics, which became obvious when some students showed up after the school’s reopening with their own personal detectors.

And when one of them went off, school officials, as well as Covington emergency personnel, quickly responded. That alarm turned out to be a false one.

“I was advised that the detector was being kept in his backpack,” said Chief Smith, who was joined by a Covington firefighter. “These [portable] devices detect other things in the air, too, like the amount of oxygen. So if you stick one where it’s limiting [air circulation,] this is what they can do.”

The post Abseentism runs high at Covington Middle School after strange odor returns appeared first on Cardinal News.

Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, have submitted the paperwork necessary to face off in the race to be Virginia’s next governor, and the first woman to hold the seat. 

There may be a Republican primary for the executive office in June, however. 

Earle-Sears’ campaign filed paperwork to appear on the ballot, and the number of signatures her campaign submitted was verified by the Republican Party of Virginia on March 19. Former State Senator Amanda Chase also filed paperwork to run in the governor’s race by the 5 p.m. deadline on April 3, though the number of signatures Chase submitted had yet to be verified by the party as of 6 p.m. Thursday. 

Candidates for governor, lieutenant governor or attorney general must submit 10,000 signatures, including the signatures of at least 400 qualified voters from each Congressional District in the commonwealth, to appear on the ballot, according to state statute. Those signatures are then verified by the state parties. 

Spanberger, whose signatures were verified by the Democratic Party of Virginia on March 20, is the only Democrat in the gubernatorial race and will appear on the November ballot.

Former Del. David LaRock, a Republican who was also running for governor, bowed out of the race Thursday. He had collected more than 9,000 signatures, he said in a statement, but was shy of the 10,000 required to make it onto the ballot.

Both parties may hold primaries for lieutenant governor

Both parties may hold June primaries to determine who will be second in command in Virginia’s executive branch. 

Six Democratic candidates will appear on the ballot in the June primary, including Alex Bastani, a former employment attorney and labor leader; state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield County; Prince William County School Board Chairman Dr. Babur Lateef; state Senator Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach; Victor Salgado, a federal prosecutor; and former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney. The signatures submitted by all six candidates had been verified by the Democratic Party of Virginia as of Thursday. 

On the Republican side, Pat Herrity had submitted paperwork, and the signatures he collected had been verified by the Republican Party of Virginia prior to Thursday. John Reid, a former radio show host, and John Curran, a Navy veteran, had submitted paperwork, but the signatures they collected had not yet been verified by the party as of Thursday evening. 

If the signatures collected by Reid or Curran, or both, meet the threshold necessary to appear on the ballot, a Republican primary for lieutenant governor will be held in June. 

Democrats will have a primary for attorney general’s nomination

Attorney General Jason Miyares is seeking a second term in his current role and is the only Republican seeking the seat. He submitted the paperwork and number of signatures necessary to appear on the November ballot. 

Two Democrats are challenging him, however, and will face off in a June primary. Former Delegate Jay Jones and Commonwealth’s Attorney of Henrico County Shannon Taylor had both submitted the paperwork and had their signatures verified by the Democratic Party of Virginia to appear on the June primary ballot.

The post Chase files to challenge Earle-Sears for Republican nomination but unclear if she will qualify for ballot appeared first on Cardinal News.

The former vice chair of the Smyth County School Board pleaded guilty Thursday to using at least six male minors to produce child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia.

Todd Stewart Williams, 54, of Chilhowie, pleaded guilty to four counts of persuading, inducing, enticing, and coercing and attempting to persuade, induce, entice and coerce one or more minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct, in interstate commerce, according to a news release.

“The internet has expanded the manner in which young people can be targeted by those looking to exploit them,” acting U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Lee said in the release. “Importantly, this case demonstrates that even those who are entrusted by our communities to oversee the welfare of our children may harbor intentions to exploit them, and for that reason we must be ever vigilant and responsive when our young people report abuse.”

The FBI’s investigation uncovered multiple instances of Williams’ exploitation of multiple minors. Williams spent more than $10,000 buying nude images from at least six underage male victims, the release states.

Williams was arrested and charged last August, leading his fellow school board members to call on him to resign. He did so the following week.

At sentencing, Williams faces 15-30 years in prison.

The post Former vice chair of Smyth County School Board pleads guilty to using at least six minors to produce child pornography appeared first on Cardinal News.

More than a week after a sheriff’s deputy removed council member Aaron Rawls from an open session, Martinsville Mayor L.C. Jones held a press conference Thursday evening to provide his own account of the incident. 

Flanked by community members outside of Martinsville’s municipal building, Jones’ press conference was the second stemming from the March 25 incident. Both councilors Rawls and Julian Mei held their own press conference at the same location a week prior. 

“A lot of different news agencies reached out to me [with] questions,” Jones said. “I only responded to a couple. I felt like by doing it this way it gives the opportunity to respond to everybody at one time.” 

Jones kicked off the meeting touting the city’s accomplishments. He touched on a myriad of topics, from new housing to blight elimination, before the topic shifted to the incident. 

Toward the end of the March 25 regular session, Jones took issue with Rawls’ comments about city manager pay and offered a warning. A sheriff’s deputy then approached Rawls and removed him from the meeting. 

Initially people believed Jones or Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides signalled the deputy to do so. Both Ferrell-Benavides and Jones said this was not the case. 

“Who gave the call, who said what, who did what, the major thing we’ve got to pay attention to is that somebody put themselves in that position,” Jones said, adding that the incident would have been different had Rawls not been removed. “I would have given him another warning, at least a third warning. Then I would have called for a recess or a closed session so that we could discuss what the issue is.” 

Jones defended the deputy, saying she was following the dictates of her training. Jones said that the deputy had witnessed a prior disagreement between Jones and Rawls, which contributed to her decision to deescalate the situation. 

“I believe that when she looked at everything that was in there, the things he was saying, the responses he was getting from the crowd, I think she took the totality of the circumstances at play…and made a judgement call,” Jones said. “I think she did the right thing.” 

Jones said his own experience as an officer makes him hesitant to question the deputy’s actions. 

“As a police officer, I know not to get involved when a police officer is taking action on something,” Jones said. “I don’t know what they see or don’t see and I’d be putting myself in danger.” 

Jones admits that he has not reached out to Rawls since the incident. 

“I’m always open to working with individuals, whether we agree to disagree,” Jones said. “All it is is a conversation, moving forward.” 

The post Following Martinsville meeting controversy, Mayor Jones offers a rebuttal  appeared first on Cardinal News.

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

Politics:

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears says she’s raised $3.1 million this year for gubernatorial bid. — Richmond Times-Dispatch (paywall)

Economy:

Hotel Roanoke releases renderings of proposed expansion — WSLS-TV

Citing casino as a ‘huge’ factor, cigar store opens in Danville — Danville Register & Bee (paywall)

Weather:

World Meterological Organization officially retires name Helene from hurricane list — WCYB-TV

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: Hotel Roanoke releases rendering of proposed expansion appeared first on Cardinal News.