As Virginia prepares to choose its next Governor, activists are calling for better environmental justice protections; Residents in Richmond’s Northside neighborhood are taking their grievances over traffic calming measures to the next level; Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists have made an exciting discovery at the site of the original First Baptist Church; and other local news stories.

Chesterfield state Senator Amanda Chase is calling for an election audit in all 50 states, including Virginia; Senator Tim Kaine is among those sponsoring new voting rights legislation in Congress; State officials say they have not decided when to take down the fence around the traffic circle where the Robert E. Lee statue once stood; and other local news stories.

Richmonders living in areas of high poverty are more likely to have had COVID-19 than those living in wealthier areas; The state denied hospitals’ requests for emergency waivers as COVID surged this summer, according to internal emails; The Richmond school board decided this week to keep police in schools for the foreseeable future; and other local news stories.

Hospitals across the country, and in Virginia, are facing an influx of COVID-positive patients, the majority of whom are unvaccinated; Hundreds of Virginia healthcare workers have been suspended or fired for not following hospital COVID-19 vaccination mandates; Virginia’s new redistricting commission is hearing feedback this week on new political maps for the General Assembly; and other local news stories.

The Supreme Court of Virginia has refused an appeal from the company Virginia Uranium, to overturn the state’s ban on uranium mining; Residents of Richmond’s Northside neighborhood are upset about the removal of several traffic calming measures known as “bump outs"; Virginia State University sports fans will have to prove they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 before attending games; and other local news stories.

The State Water Control Board held two in-person public comment hearings on a key Mountain Valley Pipeline permit this week, but an open letter to state officials called for an additional virtual hearing; The property owners who sued to stop Governor Ralph Northam from taking down Richmond’s statue of Robert E. Lee are asking the Virginia Supreme Court to reconsider its unanimous decision to permit the monument’s removal; Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts will celebrate the life of former dean Murry N. DePillars today, through the official unveiling of a building name after him; and other local news stories.

New state filings by Dominion Energy show the utility company paid a newspaper columnist more than $260,000 over the last four years; The Virginia Employment Commission is delaying the roll out of its new unemployment insurance system by a month; The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce hosted the final gubernatorial debate last night between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin; and other local news stories.

Richmond Police are still searching for leads in a number of missing persons cases; The opening of a museum marks the beginning of a community's journey to repair the broken perspective of Black history in the Appalachian region of Virginia; Two more polling locations are opening today in the City of Richmond; and other local news stories.

The night before the Robert E. Lee statue was removed from Richmond’s Monument Avenue; all traces of the movement that led to it being taken down were confiscated and stored by state officials.; Petersburg has banned firearms in the city’s public areas; Virginia’s Redistricting Commission again struggled with directing its map drawers on which data to prioritize; and other local news stories.

Attorney General Mark Herring is highlighting his efforts to defend abortion rights ahead of the November Election; A new monument now stands on Brown’s Island in Richmond. It commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation; Despite Governor Ralph Northam’s request that state employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, many workers are opting for weekly testing instead; and other local news stories.

Virginia’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission will unveil the Emancipation and Freedom Monument on Brown’s Island in Richmond this morning; Passengers who rely on the GRTC may have to make some adjustments this winter; The mother of Xzavier Hill, a Black teen shot and killed by Virginia State Police during a traffic stop, is petitioning the Richmond Circuit Court to solicit testimony from the troopers; and other local news stories.

Police are investigating a shooting that happened Monday at Heritage High School in Newport News; Two groups of partisan map-drawers have presented new drafts for the Virginia Redistricting Commission to consider; A real estate listing for a building that used to host slave auctions has stirred up debate in Charlottesville; and other local news stories.

A shortage of nurses is limiting options for COVID-19 testing in Chesterfield County schools; The commission drawing Virginia’s new General Assembly and congressional maps voted unanimously this week that it won’t be guided by political data or where incumbents live; Nearly three-quarters of Virginia voters view the health of the Chesapeake Bay as important according to a new poll; and other local news stories.

Virginia’s first gubernatorial debate of the 2021 campaign is tonight at 7 o’clock at Appalachian School of Law, but one candidate won't be on the stage; Striking workers at a Nabisco plant in Richmond may be able to go back to work soon; A Culpeper County couple is suing an electric company for trying to install internet cable lines along their property without their consent; and other local news stories.

A task force to establish a civilian review board on police misconduct in Richmond presented their recommendations to City Council Monday afternoon; An investigation into the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline; Virginia’s redistricting commission is shifting its region by region approach to focus on statewide maps; and other local news stories.

Governor Ralph Northam signed a sweeping voting rights act yesterday in Newport News; The race for the Governor’s office is heating up in Virginia, with attack ads coming from both major-party candidates; Families across Virginia qualify for a new monthly payment from the federal government, but thousands are at risk of not getting the child tax credit; and other local news stories.

Excavation crews worked through the day on Thursday searching for an over 130-year-old time capsule believed to be under the pedestal that, until yesterday, held a statue of Robert E. Lee; A vacancy on the state redistricting commission has been filled; Quarantined students in Chesterfield face challenges in getting academic help; and other local news stories.

Hundreds of people watched as the last Confederate General on Monument Ave. was taken down from its pedestal yesterday; The Chesterfield County branch of the NAACP is asking Chesterfield County Schools to immediately take steps to ensure students’ safety as the number of positive cases of Covid-19 continue to rise; and The Virginia Department of Health is adding 170 additional community testing events during September.

The pedestal of the Lee Monument contains a 134-year-old time capsule. On Tuesday, state officials sealed a new capsule filled with dozens of items that they say will replace it; People planning to watch the Robert E. Lee Monument come down today may have to rely on streaming options; A task force is recommending Virginia's largest city give its police review board subpoena power and increase the number of members to better reflect city demographics; and other local news stories.

Several roads in Richmond are being closed in preparation for the removal of the Robert E. Lee monument, as questions remain about what will replace it; Amazon expands operations in Hampton Roads, and the Department of Conservation and Recreation is calling on homeowners to get flood coverage this hurricane season.

Local leaders are responding to yesterday’s state Supreme Court decision allowing the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond to be taken down; Activists at last summer’s racial justice protests called for the removal of Richmond’s confederate monuments. Chelsea Higgs Wise, of Marijuana Justice, and Kalia Harris, of the Virginia Student Power Network, shared voice memos with VPM on the Robert E. Lee memorial’s imminent removal, and the demands they still have; This week, Richmond Superintendent Jason Kamras hit a school board mandated goal to submit a request for proposals for the design of George Wythe High School; and other local news stories.

If you want to legally buy marijuana in Virginia, medical dispensaries are your only option, but a product called Delta-8 has many of the same effects and it’s flying off the shelves at local stores; While Virginia once again won the title as the top state for business by CNBC this year, the commonwealth still has room to grow as a place for workers according to Oxfam’s new rankings; In the same week that Chesterfield County Public Schools announced pay raises for its school bus drivers, Henrico schools announced a similar hourly rate increase; and other local news stories.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has granted a posthumous pardon to seven Black men executed in 1951; Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner signed onto a letter, urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide more mental health resources to military members who served in Afghanistan; Richmond Public School teachers are getting ready for another stressful year. To help them prepare, a local nonprofit is offering free mindfulness meditation sessions; and other local news stories.

The families of seven Black men who were executed in 1951 are scheduled to meet with Governor Ralph Northam today to discuss a posthumous pardon; Republican Glenn Youngkin proposed a series of tax cuts in a campaign announcement yesterday. He says the plans won’t cause any cuts in state services if he’s elected governor, but it’s not clear how he will pay for it; Chesterfield County Public Schools announced yesterday that new and existing bus drivers will see an increase in pay and incentives; and other local news stories.

Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine say they are closely monitoring the situation in Kabul; While evacuation efforts continue to evolve, state officials say Virginia is prepared to support more Afghans leaving their home country; The American Civil Liberties Union announced yesterday that the Gloucester County School Board has agreed to pay over $1 million in attorney’s fees and costs to resolve former student Gavin Grimm’s case; and other local news stories.