With a shortage of school bus drivers in Chesterfield County and long lines of cars queuing up to drop off students, many parents are considering alternative ways to get their kids to school; The Virginia Department of Health is reinstating information on COVID-19 outbreaks in their online dashboards; Prison reform advocates want the public to rethink what we call people who are incarcerated; and other local news stories.

While the CDC is recommending quarantines for unvaccinated teachers who come in close contact with COVID-positive students in the classroom, there’s an exception for children who are fully masked. These guidelines have formed the basis for Virginia’s school reopening plans; As the delta variant leads to a surge of COVID-19 cases in Virginia, health officials also report a higher number of infections among children; Mayor Stoney announced the launch of a “community rooted” crime prevention program; and other local news stories.

The Virginia Redistricting Commission is set to begin drawing new political maps next week; Virginia student athletes have new protections from the General Assembly to secure their ability to sell their name, rights and images to brands outside of their college or university; Unvaccinated Virginians developed COVID-19 symptoms or tested positive at a rate 12.5 times higher than their fully vaxxed counterparts this year; and other local news stories.

Thousands of Afghan nationals that have worked for or with the U.S. are trying to secure transport to the states; Two children in Central Virginia have died after contracting COVID-19; This week, the White House announced plans to make COVID-19 booster shots available by the end of next month; and other local news stories.

Governor Ralph Northam is urging students and parents to comply with his executive order requiring masks in schools; Yesterday was move-in day on the University of Richmond campus where students, faculty, and staff are required to be fully vaccinated before classes start next week; U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona toured Glen Allen High School in Henrico County yesterday; and other local news stories.

Last month, the Virginia Department of Health stopped reporting the specific locations of COVID-19 outbreaks, including the names of school districts and nursing homes, but that decision is being called into question as cases and outbreaks increase; Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and First Lady Pam Northam announced yesterday that they anticipate a record number of Virginia children will enroll in pre-K this year; Advocates for Virginia’s new redistricting commission said it would limit the influence of partisanship on the state’s political maps, but in a meeting yesterday, the group took votes that cemented the role parties play in the process; and Mark Warner speaks to VPM's Ben Paviour about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Virginia Redistricting Commission will begin drawing new legislative maps in less than two weeks; As the U.S. government scrambles to evacuate allies from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, a Prince George County army garrison serves as temporary housing for many fleeing the country; Tonight, the task force creating a civilian review board to investigate complaints against Richmond police will release a draft of its recommendations; and other local news stories.

Governor Ralph Northam is calling on all K through 12 schools in Virginia to require mask wearing by staff and students; The COVID-19 outbreak now impacting the entire fourth grade at Patrick Henry Elementary is the second COVID outbreak in Richmond Public Schools since July. The district’s first outbreak took place at Fisher Elementary’s summer school program; The redistricting process in Virginia can now officially begin, with the release of 2020 Census data; and other local news stories.

A new policy making sure transgender students are treated equally in Chesterfield County schools was approved this week; The Hanover County NAACP is calling the local school board’s decision to not require masks for students and staff “totally irresponsible"; State lawmakers selected eight new judges this week to Virginia’s Court of Appeals amid criticism that the process was too secretive; and other local news stories.

State lawmakers are heading home after wrapping up a special session yesterday; Hopewell Public Schools is making plans to expand virtual learning in response to over three dozen confirmed COVID-19 cases among students and staff; Governor Ralph Northam is asserting local school districts must adopt mask mandates; and other local news stories.

Yesterday, the Virginia General Assembly approved the final budget for American Rescue Plan funds; Virginia lawmakers selected eight candidates yesterday to sit on the Virginia Court of Appeals; Richmond Public Schools kicked off a series of trainings for educators yesterday; and other local news stories.

State employees in Virginia must get vaccinated against COVID-19 by September 1st under a new directive issued by Gov. Ralph Northam; The Virginia Department of Health announced yesterday the first death of a child in the eastern region of the state due to COVID-19 complications; Democrats will fill eight judicial vacancies on the Virginia Court of Appeals in the coming days; and other local news stories.

Democrats in Virginia want to set aside federal stimulus funds to give bonuses to law enforcement officers, but Republicans are pressing them to move faster; Virginia DMVs may have to open up their doors to customers without appointments under a proposal passed by the state Senate; Richmond city employees are now required to get the COVID-19 vaccine; and other local news stories.

As eviction filings rise, lawmakers in Virginia are looking at extending state-level programs to keep people in their homes; RRHA has updated its policy about how it bars certain visitors from its housing developments; The Richmond and Henrico Health Departments are hosting walk-up events today so students can get their required physicals and vaccinations; and other local news stories.

Lawmakers returned to Richmond yesterday for a special session of the General Assembly; A new Marcus Alert system is one of the measures being discussed in the special session; US Representative Abigail Spanberger is seeking $1 million in federal funds to help build a detox center in Henrico County; and other local news stories.

Governor Ralph Northam announced funding priorities for behavioral health care this week; Republican candidate for governor Glenn Youngkin proposed using more than half of the estimated budget surplus on a tax rebate for Virginians; A federal eviction ban ends Saturday. It comes as more than 60,000 Virginians say they could lose their homes soon because they’re struggling to make rent; and other local news stories.

A circuit court judge in Lynchburg tossed out a legal challenge to policies designed to protect transgender students on Tuesday; The City of Richmond is asking residents for input on how it should spend $77 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan; Rural Virginians tend to be older than their urban counterparts. The median age in densely populated localities is about a decade younger than in sparsely populated ones, and that gap continues to grow; and other local news stories.

State Republican lawmakers say they’re being excluded from discussions on how the federal money should be spent; For the last month, advocates and lawmakers have visited schools throughout Virginia as part of the Crumbling Schools tour. On Tuesday, the group stopped by Petersburg; Governor Ralph Northam announced plans on Monday to use federal funds to improve school ventilation systems, but experts and advocates say they want more flexibility with how that money is spent; and other local news stories.

Yesterday was the first day of school for all K-12 students in Hopewell Public Schools. Hopewell is the first in Virginia to resume classes district-wide for the next school year; Governor Ralph Northam was in Hopewell to take part in the back-to-school activities. He used the opportunity to announce his intention to invest in public school ventilation systems; Education advocates are heading to Petersburg today as part of the Crumbling Schools tour; and other local news stories.

A prisoner suing the Virginia Department of Corrections for refusing to allow him to take medication for his opioid dependency is asking a federal appeals court to hear his case. He claims the department’s policy violates the Americans with Disabilities Act; The Virginia State Board for Community Colleges approved changing the name of John Tyler Community College to Brightpoint Community College; As the fall semester approaches, universities in the area are mixed on whether they should require their students to get the COVID-19 vaccine; and other local news stories.

The Virginia Department of Health, along with the department of education, released new guidance for preK-12 schools yesterday as students prepare to resume in-person instruction; Virginia Commonwealth University is requiring all students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to return to the classroom in the fall; A State Inspector General report released last month found flaws in the state agency overseeing drinking water quality; and other local news stories.

The Richmond school board approved a plan Monday to move forward with rebuilding George Wythe High School; The Virginians for Affordable Medicine is a brand new coalition of advocates, patients, and physicians advocating for affordable medications; Virginians have till the end of today to add artifacts to a new time capsule; and other local news stories.

John Tyler Community College could become Brightpoint Community College; The commission tasked with redrawing Virginia’s Congressional districts will hold a public hearing today for Hampton Roads; Federal data show a rise in drug overdose deaths inside prisons and jails across the country in recent years. Virginia falls near the middle of the pack; and other local news stories.

U.S. congressional races are more than a year away, but Democratic Representative Abigail Spanberger is already facing a challenge from the right; Virginia ended its fiscal year with $2.6 billion dollars more in tax revenue than it had forecasted; Students, scientists, citizens and more across Virginia took part yesterday in the country’s largest-ever heat mapping project; and other local news stories.

A federal appeals court in Richmond struck down the federal government’s long-standing ban on selling handguns to people under the age of 21; Virginia Military Institute is implementing changes following an investigation ordered by Governor Ralph Northam into allegations of racism at the university; The Richmond community is expressing frustration about delays in construction of a new George Wythe High School; and other local news stories.