Tag Archives: Virginia

Virginia Beach’s NBC affiliate reports: A former Norfolk church youth group leader was sentenced to seven years in prison for the sexual abuse of a minor. Charles Willoughby III, 39 was convicted to seven years in prison for traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. Willoughby routinely groomed minor teen girls who were part …

NBC News reports: The mother of a 6-year-old boy who seriously wounded his teacher with a gun in January will face charges in the shooting, a local prosecutor in Virginia said Monday. A grand jury indicted Deja Taylor on charges of felony child neglect and a misdemeanor count of recklessly leaving a loaded firearm so as to endanger a child, …

NBC News reports: Lindsey Taylor loved running elections here. The previous registrar had spent nearly three decades in the job, and Taylor, 37, hoped to do the same when she was first hired in 2019. In January, the GOP assumed control of the Buckingham County Electoral Board that oversees her office, and local Republicans began advancing baseless voter fraud claims …

Congress Minutes reports: Club for Growth Vice President of Government Affairs Scott Parkinson has filed to seek the Republican nomination to challenge Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) next year, according to election filings. Who is he? A leading voice for the conservative group, Parkinson has worked in politics for over 16 years, according to his Club for Growth biography. He has …

NBC News reports: Almost three months after Virginia teacher Abigail Zwerner was shot by a 6-year-old student, she filed a $40 million lawsuit Monday alleging school administrators shrugged off multiple warnings from staff and students who believed the boy had a gun and posed an imminent threat on the day of the shooting, and did so knowing the child “had …

The Northern Virginia Daily reports: Strasburg police are accusing a local church leader of committing sex crimes against a child four years ago. Mark Newton Heatwole, 65, of Timberville, remains free on bond after his arrest last week on one count of taking indecent liberties with a child under the age of 15. Sgt. Chris Nixon, of the Strasburg Police …

The Daily Beast reports: A Virginia lawmaker who previously warned of a “coming Civil War” in America is proposing a law that would make it a felony to pass gun laws. Virginia delegate Marie March made national headlines in 2021 when she was among a crop of candidates who won election despite attending a Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally …

The Associated Press reports: Frozen human embryos can legally be considered property, or “chattel,” a Virginia judge has ruled, basing his decision in part on a 19th century law governing the treatment of slaves. The preliminary opinion by Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Richard Gardiner – delivered in a long-running dispute between a divorced husband and wife – is being …

Johnson City’s ABC affiliate reports: A former pastor from Southwest Virginia was sentenced to four life sentences after he pleaded guilty to multiple child sex crimes. A release from the office of Washington County Commonwealth’s Attorney Josh Cumbow states that Terry Frank Compton was sentenced in Washington County Circuit Court. Compton was sentenced to 240 years in addition to the …

Cardinal News reports: Del. Matt Fariss, R-Campbell County, has been arrested on two felony charges following what Virginia State Police describe as a hit-and-run that injured a pedestrian and led to the woman obtaining a protective order against him. Farriss, 54, is charged with one count of malicious wounding, a Class 3 felony punishable by up to 20 years in …

USA Today reports: Former Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney is joining the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics following her ouster from Congress by a Trump-backed candidate last year. Cheney will serve as a professor of practice for UVA in an inaugural appointment. She will teach through the fall 2023 semester, according to a press release. Her duties include holding …

The New York Times reports: On Wednesday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia is scheduled to meet with donors and other influential figures in the city. Among them will be John Catsimatidis, a grocery store magnate who has historically been a politically ambidextrous donor, but who had a long history with Mr. Trump. People familiar with his thinking had said he …

ABC News reports: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is reviewing College Board’s Advanced Placement African American studies course, following nationwide debate over the curriculum that erupted after the course was rejected by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “After numerous reports about draft course content, the governor asked the Education Secretariat to review the College Board’s proposed AP African American Studies course as …

The Associated Press reports: Virginia state Sen. Jennifer McClellan overwhelmingly won a Tuesday special election for a vacant Richmond-based congressional district, making her the state’s first Black woman elected to Congress. McClellan led 68 percent to 32 percent over Republican Leon Benjamin when the Associated Press called the race with 32 percent of precincts reporting in the heavily Democratic area. …

NPR reports: Voters in Richmond and Southside Virginia are heading to the polls Tuesday to select a new congressional representative in a race that could narrow Republicans’ control of the U.S. House of Representatives to only nine seats. State Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D–Richmond) is the heavy favorite against the Rev. Leon Benjamin Sr. in Virginia’s blue-leaning 4th Congressional District. The …

The Virginian-Pilot reports: Virginia Senate Democrats defeated two bills Thursday that would have restricted transgender students’ participation in school athletics and required officials to notify parents if their child identifies as trans in school, measures that faced strenuous objections from LGBTQ advocacy groups. Their defeat in a committee Thursday, according to several groups tracking such measures, means that no legislation …

The Virginia Mercury reports: A scaled-back proposal to repeal Virginia’s antiquated constitutional ban on same-sex marriage was blocked Friday by the Republican-controlled House of Delegates, despite supporters’ attempts to win bipartisan votes by stripping out any language overtly backing LGBTQ equality. Just prior to Friday’s vote in a House Rules subcommittee set up to hear proposals for constitutional amendments, a …

The Guardian reports: The Republican governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, appears to have thwarted an attempt to stop law enforcement obtaining menstrual histories of women in the state. A bill passed in the Democratic-led state senate, and supported by half the chamber’s Republicans, would have banned search warrants for menstrual data stored in tracking apps on mobile phones or other …

The Associated Press reports: Virginia Senate Democrats defeated several bills Thursday that would have restricted abortion access in the state, including a proposed 15-week ban with exceptions that was a priority for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The Senate Committee on Education and Health voted the measures down on a party-line basis without debate after a subcommittee had previously recommended that …

NBC News reports: The Newport News School Board on Wednesday voted to replace its embattled superintendent amid the continuing fallout from a 6-year-old boy shooting his first-grade teacher this month. The board voted 5-1 to remove George Parker III as the head of the district of about 26,500 students. His separation is effective Feb. 1, School Board Chair Lisa Surles-Law …