Updated: Feb. 26, 2022 at 11:07 AM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury and Graham Moomaw
The attorney general’s office did not give a direct answer when asked if any action would be taken in response to Chase’s information.
Updated: Feb. 19, 2022 at 10:13 AM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously, now heads to the House of Delegates.
Updated: Feb. 16, 2022 at 3:17 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
The Virginia Senate voted to speed up the timeline for retail marijuana sales Tuesday, approving a plan that would allow existing medical dispensaries to open sales to the general public in September.
Updated: Feb. 12, 2022 at 12:32 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
The legislation would allow police to tap into databases when they have “reasonable suspicion” their target committed a crime or is planning to commit a crime. It would also allow police to use the technology to help identify crime victims or witnesses and dead people, among other circumstances.
Updated: Feb. 3, 2022 at 3:23 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
The Lucky Charms cereal bars for sale at Sen. Louise Lucas’ cannabis shop in Portsmouth feature a stoned cartoon leprechaun and a warning that it “contains cannabis, a Schedule 1 controlled substance.”
Updated: Jan. 26, 2022 at 6:40 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Lawmakers in the Virginia Senate rejected legislation requested by the state’s new Republican attorney general that would have allowed him to overrule local prosecutors when police disagreed with their charging decisions.
Updated: Jan. 25, 2022 at 2:43 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
GOP lawmakers in the Virginia House of Delegates are taking their first stab at legislation to open the retail marijuana market, introducing bills that would lower the tax rate on sales and redirect proposed social equity funding to school infrastructure.
Updated: Jan. 17, 2022 at 4:44 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
On the campaign trail, Gov. Glenn Youngkin promised to fire his Democratic predecessor’s Parole Board on the first day he took office.
Updated: Oct. 26, 2021 at 3:26 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Dominion Energy’s political giving in Virginia has surged into the millions this year, and Democrats are the biggest beneficiaries, with donations totaling more than $1.8 million so far this cycle, according to campaign finance records compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project.
Updated: Jul. 16, 2021 at 3:01 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Doctors and hospitals are up 2-1 over insurance companies as the first three disputes resolved under the state’s ban on balance billing emerge from arbitration, according to a report released this month by state regulators.
Updated: Apr. 7, 2021 at 4:37 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
The GOP candidates for governor had just finished introducing themselves to members of the Princess Anne Republican Women’s Club when the forum’s moderator realized she had misplaced her list of questions.
Updated: Mar. 11, 2021 at 3:21 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
An increasingly vocal group of Virginia lawmakers and advocates is urging Gov. Ralph Northam to send down a legislative amendment that would make marijuana legal this year.
Updated: Mar. 8, 2021 at 3:31 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Lawmakers plan to appoint six new judges to the Virginia Court of Appeals later this year as part of a plan to expand the court’s jurisdiction to all civil and criminal cases.
Updated: Feb. 17, 2021 at 3:59 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
The bill would forgive an estimated $18 million in overpayments made since March as a result of errors by the Virginia Employment Commission.
Updated: Feb. 10, 2021 at 5:12 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
The General Assembly broke from its staid and often secretive approach to making judicial appointments this week when a hearing to interview candidates devolved into a spectacle that prompted one exasperated senator to let loose a string of expletives.
Updated: Feb. 8, 2021 at 4:43 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Virginia lawmakers voted Friday to legalize marijuana, agreeing in principle to legislation that would allow retail sales to begin in 2024 and expunge many past convictions.
Updated: Nov. 18, 2020 at 5:54 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury and Sarah Vogelsong | Virginia Mercury
Gov. Ralph Northam signed a revised state budget Wednesday that restricts evictions and prohibits utilities from cutting off power, water and gas through the end of the state of emergency.
Updated: Nov. 18, 2020 at 4:10 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
As Virginia begins its first earnest conversations about legalizing recreational marijuana, the state’s nascent medical marijuana industry is just getting off the ground.
Updated: Nov. 11, 2020 at 4:17 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
A plywood barricade blocking the entrance to the Virginia Capitol — a stark reminder of the civil unrest the roiled Richmond after George Floyd’s death — came down this week after more than five months.
Updated: Sep. 25, 2020 at 9:45 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Lawmakers in the Virginia General Assembly are on track to give citizen boards brand new authority to investigate and discipline local police officers accused of misconduct.
Updated: Sep. 8, 2020 at 5:17 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
The Virginia House of Delegates narrowly passed legislation Tuesday rolling back qualified immunity as a defense against lawsuits alleging police misconduct, reviving the measure just four days after voting it down.
Updated: Sep. 4, 2020 at 6:44 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
The Virginia House of Delegates passed a wide-ranging package of police reform legislation Friday that would establish a blanket prohibition on chokeholds and create criminal penalties for officers who fail to intervene in a colleague’s unlawful use of force.
Updated: Aug. 31, 2020 at 7:23 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
A Virginia House of Delegates panel voted down legislation Monday aimed at making it easier to sue police officers who abuse their authority.
Updated: Aug. 19, 2020 at 3:53 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
After a week of deliberation, Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration said Wednesday that Virginia is in the process of applying for federal funds made available by President Donald Trump to supplement state unemployment benefits by $300 a week.
Updated: Aug. 13, 2020 at 7:01 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
With the General Assembly set to convene for a special session next week, Virginia lawmakers are signaling strong support for legislation empowering local citizen review boards to investigate and in some cases discipline police officers accused of misconduct.
Updated: Jul. 15, 2020 at 3:45 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Social distancing and other precautions against COVID-19 will soon be mandatory in workplaces around Virginia under emergency pandemic safety regulations finalized Wednesday.
Updated: Jul. 1, 2020 at 5:39 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Possessing small amounts of marijuana is still illegal in Virginia, but as of Wednesday, the maximum penalty for people caught with an ounce or less the drug has been reduced to a $25 civil fine.
Updated: Jun. 26, 2020 at 10:23 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Democrats in the Senate outlined an expansive criminal justice reform agenda Friday they say their 21-member majority has agreed to pursue during a coming special session of the General Assembly.
Updated: Jun. 17, 2020 at 12:17 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Virginia workplace safety regulators are proposing emergency COVID-19 rules for businesses that would make social distancing mandatory and require employers to notify their employees within 24 hours if a coworker tests positive for the virus.
Updated: Jun. 12, 2020 at 9:21 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
A top Virginia Democrat is promising quick action on police reform when the General Assembly reconvenes this summer for a special legislative session.
Updated: Jun. 8, 2020 at 10:59 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
After a week of demonstrations demanding police accountability, officials in Richmond aren’t saying how police are being held accountable for tear gassing a large crowd of peaceful protesters.
Updated: Jun. 2, 2020 at 8:17 AM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Virginia occupational safety inspectors have opened investigations into seven employee deaths related to COVID-19 and four hospitalizations, according to the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry.
Updated: May. 12, 2020 at 7:23 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
A group of 27 inmates and the Virginia Department of Corrections agreed to settle a lawsuit accusing the state of cruel and unusual punishment for keeping medically vulnerable inmates in crowded facilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Updated: Apr. 21, 2020 at 5:07 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Evictions are frozen in Virginia until the state court system reopens, possibly as soon as the end of the month.
Updated: Mar. 13, 2020 at 9:47 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Demetrice Taylor works as a clerk at 7-Eleven in downtown Richmond, but with schools around the state closed for at least two weeks, she said that’s about to change.
Updated: Mar. 10, 2020 at 5:06 PM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
For months, a handful of Virginia lawmakers had been pushing legislation that would grant access to paid sick time to thousands of workers.
Updated: Feb. 24, 2020 at 9:29 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Virginia will extend parole eligibility to people convicted of felonies they committed when they were under the age of 18, prompting convicted sniper Lee Boyd Malvo to drop a resentencing request that had been pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Updated: Feb. 24, 2020 at 9:22 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Virginia lawmakers cleared residents to smoke industrial hemp Monday, though they say they didn’t really understand why anyone would want to.
Updated: Feb. 11, 2020 at 9:58 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Lawmakers in both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly voted Tuesday to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for driving privileges.
Updated: Feb. 10, 2020 at 9:09 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Virginia Democrats have made no secret that they planned to use their new majorities to decriminalize marijuana this year.
Updated: Feb. 5, 2020 at 11:37 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
The General Assembly shut down proposals to legalize marijuana for the year, but lawmakers said this week they would study the issue and potentially move forward when they reconvene in 2021.
Updated: Jan. 27, 2020 at 9:46 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Legislation aimed at forcing student loan service companies to be more transparent and forthcoming in their dealings with borrowers cleared the House of Delegates with bipartisan support Monday.
Updated: Jan. 24, 2020 at 8:48 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
If police pull you over in Virginia and say they smell marijuana, they have probable cause to search your car without a warrant.
Updated: Jan. 21, 2020 at 9:51 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
A suite of LGBT-friendly legislation cleared the Virginia Senate on Tuesday.
Updated: Jan. 17, 2020 at 12:31 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Republicans imposed a 24-hour-waiting period and mandatory ultrasounds for women seeking abortions in 2012 when they last controlled both branches of the General Assembly and the Executive Mansion.
Updated: Nov. 15, 2019 at 9:46 AM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Activists are accusing the development team behind a major arena proposal of paying people who held signs supporting the controversial $1.5 billion plan at Richmond City Council meeting.
Updated: Nov. 12, 2019 at 2:17 PM EST
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Virginia Republicans promised a “thoughtful and deliberative study” of gun legislation when they abruptly adjourned a special legislative session called by Gov. Ralph Northam following a May mass shooting in Virginia Beach.
Updated: Oct. 30, 2019 at 10:15 AM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
The debate over so-called “skill games” in Virginia reached new heights Tuesday outside a strip mall in Chesterfield.
Updated: Oct. 28, 2019 at 9:38 AM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
Presented with a generic ballot, 51 percent of likely voters said they plan to vote for a Democrat and 37 percent said they plan to vote for a Republican.
Updated: Oct. 28, 2019 at 9:16 AM EDT
|By Ned Oliver | Virginia Mercury
With candidates on both sides of the aisle campaigning on promises to ensure access to affordable care, it’s not always easy to discern exactly what’s at stake when voters head to the polls.
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