Editor’s Note: This article is based on reporting by Julianna Brown of Capital News Service, a student-powered newsroom at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Communication. RVA Magazine has edited and expanded the reporting for our audience. For...
Supporting alternative energy, lowering carbon emissions, and protecting Virginia's vulnerable communities were important issues to the crowd that gathered at the Capitol building. Hundreds of clean energy supporters trekked to the State Capitol last week demanding Virginia move away from reliance on carbon-based energy, invest in alternative...
Advocates may not agree about whether decriminalization or outright legalization is the correct path for Virginia marijuana legislation. But they're united in the belief that the state's current laws must change. Advocates dressed in black stood Wednesday at the base of the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial to voice their support of marijuana...
States requiring schools to teach sex education have lower teen pregnancy rates; some say high teen pregnancy rates in some Virginia localities are a direct result of the lack of a sex ed requirement in the Commonwealth's schools. In the early 2000s, Martinsville, a city of about 13,000 near the North Carolina line, had one of the highest teen...
You probably think you'll only get a speeding ticket if you're going at least 10 mph over the speed limit. According to the data on tickets issued in Virginia, it seems that you're right to think so. “Nine you’re fine, ten you’re mine.” A Reddit user recently quoted that saying in an online discussion about speeding in Virginia. The conventional...
After 17 years, Harley Peterson has broken his silence about his run-in with the so-called Beltway Snipers who terrorized Virginia, Maryland and Washington in 2002 — and about the lasting effect the memory and ensuing survivor’s guilt had on him. After 27 years in the Navy, Harley Peterson couldn’t help but evaluate a passing car as he would an...
Virginia has some of the harshest eviction laws in the country, but the attention generated by a high-profile 2018 study has led to increased focus on finding ways to alleviate the problem, some of which are having a positive effect. Martin Wegbreit has known for a long time that Richmond has a problem with evictions, but a 2018 New York Times...
In November 2019, Jen Soering and Elizabeth Haysom received parole after serving 30 years in state prison for the sensational murder of Haysom’s parents in 1985. Soering, a German national who had been given two life sentences, and Haysom, a Canadian who had been sentenced to 90 years, were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement...
In 2019 Del. Chris Hurst introduced legislation to protect student journalists and their school advisers. That bill died in subcommittee, but Hurst hasn't given up; he introduced a new bill for the upcoming 2020 session. A former journalist turned delegate filed a bill for the upcoming General Assembly session that aims to ensure First Amendment...
Under the Dillon Rule, all decisions made by Virginia localities must be authorized by the General Assembly. Thus far, the GA has not allowed Richmond and other VA cities to remove Confederate monuments. But a new Democratic majority may change all that in 2020. Virginia has 110 Confederate monuments, many of which are housed in Richmond, the...
