With the General Assembly gearing up for a battle this winter over Virginia’s abortion laws, many are watching a Jan. 10 special election for an open Senate seat in Virginia Beach. 

Richmond City Council wants legislators from around the area to fight for more infrastructure project funding and enable another ballot initiative on bringing a casino to the city; Chesterfield County’s Board of Supervisors has two new leaders; Union organizers say most grad students whose stipends were delayed by a University of Virginia filing error in December have been paid; and other local news stories.

The artist who will design a statue of Barbara Rose Johns that will reside in the U.S. Capitol was announced Wednesday; To meet standards set by Major League Baseball, a new stadium that will be part of the Diamond District needs to be complete by the 2025 season; A group of Chesapeake citizens filed a voter petition as part of their fight against a proposed mega-site; and other local news stories.

In Virginia, jurors get paid $30 a day, but one lawmaker is looking to change that; Richmond City Councilmembers chose Mike Jones as their new council president Monday afternoon; Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin is asking Attorney General Jason Miyares to investigate the leadership of a high-profile magnet school in Northern Virginia; and other local news stories.

At least 40 graduate student workers at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville received late stipend payments during the holidays and some are still waiting to be paid; A wider road, new bike and pedestrian paths, and more than 30 bus shelters are in the works for Henrico County; Tensions are high around Hampton Roads between officials who want to build industrial warehouses and the communities they want to build in; and other local news stories.

Virginia is drawing closer to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s goal of having a law enforcement officer in every public school in the Commonwealth.

The number of travelers across the state this holiday season is expected to rival pre-pandemic figures; A project to widen Interstate 64 in New Kent County is getting funding from the federal infrastructure bill; The minimum wage in Virginia is going up in the new year; and other local news stories.

Last month, the state board of education unanimously rejected taking up history standards presented by Governor Glenn Youngkin’s education team. The Department of Education said a new draft of the proposal would be released sometime this week; Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority announced this week that it acquired the Grace Place Apartments building; Inflation is slowing, but Virginia could soon be looking at an economic downturn; and other local news stories.

Governor Glenn Youngkin wants to consolidate 1,500 state workforce programs into a single agency; Youngkin also proposed a $200 million dollar investment in Virginia’s new flood prevention loan fund; Two Louisa County Sheriff’s deputies are on administrative leave after a fatal shooting; and other local news stories.

Richmond councilmember Katherine Jordan discusses what will happen to the sites where A.P Hill and Robert E. Lee statues formerly stood; A parking lot near the Fan district in Richmond could be the site of new town homes; Virginia Democrats are set to hold a firehouse primary today to fill the 4th District seat left open after Representative Don McEachin’s death in November; and other local news stories.

With the current political focus on transgender kids, Randi B. Hagi with partner station WMRA sat down with two adult community leaders and asked them to reflect on their gender journeys. This is the second of those two conversations. 

Governor Glenn Youngkin is seeking major new tax cuts as part of his budget proposal for 2023; There’s one less Democrat vying for the open Fourth District US House seat; Dominion Energy could roll out small nuclear power stations across Virginia within the next decade; and other local news stories.

Mayor Levar Stoney gave an update on Richmond’s three-pronged approach to road quality and safety at city hall Wednesday; The Virginia Department of Transportation released its first-ever resilience plan; Petersburg City Council selected the Cordish Companies Tuesday to develop a proposed hotel and casino; and other local news stories.

Central Virginia Democrats have less than a week until they choose a candidate to fill the vacant 4th district congressional seat; Virginia Delegate Ronnie Campbell died of cancer Monday night; Governor Glenn Youngkin recently announced $20 million for crime-fighting programs around the commonwealth; and other local news stories.

It’s been more than two years since Richmond started removing confederate monuments on city land. But one remained standing at the intersection of Hermitage Road and Laburum Avenue. It came down on Monday; Richmond Delegate Lamont Bagby announced Monday he’ll enter the race to replace former Congressman Donald McEachin, who passed away last month; Another glitch hit the Virginia Department of Elections; and other local news stories.

With the current political focus on transgender kids, Randi B. Hagi with partner station WMRA asked two adult community leaders to reflect on their gender journeys. Here's the first of those two conversations. Please note this story does include mentions of suicidal ideation. If you or someone you love are experiencing suicidal ideation, there are people you can call. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number is 988. 

Witnesses in last month’s deadly University of Virginia shooting are expected to testify during a preliminary hearing in March; Virginia State Police found that a previous employee who is a suspect in a triple homicide didn’t divulge information that would have disqualified him from employment; Virginia State Police is seeking state funding to grow its workforce by about 10 percent; and other local news stories.

State Senator Ghazala Hashmi plans to reintroduce her legislation from last session to prohibit public colleges from withholding student transcripts over unpaid debt; An executive order signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday requires state officials to gather a list of fines and suspensions levied on businesses that violated COVID-19 rules; Criminal charges have been filed against the owner and administrator of Fillmore Place, a Petersburg assisted living facility that was recently closed due to poor living conditions; and other local news stories.

City of Richmond tax revenue has gone up so much, the city has millions more than it expected; Charlottesville City Council announced it hired a new police chief during a Monday meeting; Chesapeake school officials sent a letter to families last week about a new club called the After School Satan Club; and other local news stories.

Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Commission to Combat Antisemitism released its final report Monday; The Virginia Department of Education has released a full list of those who had input during the development of a controversial draft of state history standards discussed last month; While many localities around the country have taken down Confederate statues in recent years, one Virginia county is meeting Tuesday to protect theirs; The 13-member Virginia Crime Commission will not recommend bills to set a legal limit on blood THC levels or to allow roadside saliva screenings for drivers who are suspected of being high; and other local news stories. 

A play premiering in Harrisonburg this month tells the story of the people who once lived in what is now Shenandoah National Park

The Virginia Tourism Corporation spent up to $11.8 million dollars on contracts that didn’t include a public bidding process, according to public records obtained by VPM News; The first death in Virginia connected to m-pox — which was previously known as monkeypox — has been reported; Representative Abigail Spanberger is vying for a new position within the national Democratic party that will focus on winning battleground districts; and other local news stories.

A recently launched oral history project called “Chesterfield Remembers” is gathering stories from residents that include a journey from Columbia to the county and about being a Black racecar driver at Southside Speedway; About nine months after a fire gutted Fox Elementary, all of Richmond Public Schools’ prior fire violations have been cleared; Congress is on the cusp of approving legislation that would protect same-sex and interracial marriage at the federal level; and other local news stories.

The Virginia Chapter of the NAACP released documents on Attorney General Jason Miyares' election integrity unit that it received through a Freedom of Information Act request; A final decision from the Virginia Department of Education on draft model policies for transgender students is still pending more than a month after the open comment period closed; Virginia flags are flying at half-staff after 61-year-old Congressman Donald McEachin passed away Monday; and other local news stories.

The holiday season is in full gear, and inflation means Christmas trees will cost more this season; Law enforcement units across the country designed to investigate voter fraud so far have not turned up major problems with this year’s midterms; Replacing Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County could cost up to $400 million and run a year behind schedule; and other local news stories.