An unhappy snapper hisses as it is studied, then released as part of a VCU study of Virginia’s turtle population.
Credit Benjamin Colteaux

With the coming of spring, snapping turtles have emerged from their winter homes in the mud – ready to reproduce and to spend the summer trolling ponds, lakes, rivers and streams.

They’re a hearty species with few natural enemies.

Now, however, turtles which can live more than a hundred years are in danger.

Sandy Hausman tells why.

Credit: Creative Commons / Flickr

Virginia gets a lot of money from the federal government, so much that it’s often seen as being overly reliant on Uncle Sam.

But there’s one part of the state’s budget where the federal government plays a minimal role.

Michael Pope has the story.

Credit: MBandman / Creative Commons

Much has been made of the role that campaign contributions from the NRA has on elected leaders in Washington.

But, as Michael Pope reports, money is flowing on both sides of the gun debate.

Chesterfield County is trying a new approach to providing transportation for residents in need. And if you don’t believe those signs on Virginia highways that warn of speed limits being enforced by aircraft then you may be right.
Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link.
More now from Fred Echols.

A team of experts will train landowners and their neighbors to identify and remove invasive plants. (Credit: Sandy Hausman)

A central Virginia group is declaring war on weeds this spring.

Blue Ridge PRISM will hold free workshops to teach landowners how to identify and remove some of the 91 non-native plants that threaten our forests.

Sandy Hausman has that story.

To sign up for training, visit http://blueridgeprism.org/

Virginia has about thirty thousand people in its prisons, and for each one it spends two dollars and ten cents a day on food.

Now, one inmate is suing, alleging the daily diet puts him at high risk for obesity, cancer and many chronic conditions.

The state says it’s a security risk to allow recording in person, so Sandy Hausman spoke with the plaintiff by phone and filed this report.

  Credit Derek Bruff/Flickr CC

Virginia is facing a critical shortage of teachers. Lawmakers in Richmond are trying to tackle that problem. They passed several measures this year making it easier to get and keep a teaching license.

As part of that push, they’re also urging colleges and universities to create four year teaching programs — instead of the traditional five or six years.

But as Mallory Noe-Payne reports, not everyone thinks that’s the best solution.

Credit: USDA/Flickr

The U.S Department of Agriculture along with the hog industry have proposed more deregulation at hog plants.

If implemented, meat packers would get more authority to police food safety themselves while allowing them to slaughter hogs faster.

Jessie Knadler has more.

As President Trump continues to call for spending cuts, Congressional Democrats like Rep. Don Beyer  are trying to keep environmental protection money flowing towards the Chesapeake.

Matt Laslo has more from the Capitol.

PST performs at Charles City County High School. (Credit: Brad Kutner)

The art of step is as much a form of storytelling as it is a physical activity. Using a mix of stomps, claps, hand motions and shouts, stepping offers an outlet for people to have their feelings heard and send a message.

Brad Kutner spent some time with Precision Step Team, an award winning collection of Richmond-area middle and high school girls, to learn more about what’s involved and give them a chance to talk about Step in their own words.

They were getting ready to perform a show honoring Harriet Tubman.

The Shenandoah Valley city of Buena Vista has long been economically depressed.

But now that a Roanoke developer snapped up 11 buildings downtown, some wonder if the old manufacturing town just outside of Lexington is ripe for a revival.

Reporter Jessie Knadler heads to BV to find out.

Credit Rog Cogswell, Creative Commons

Virginia lawmakers are worried that President Trump’s proposal to hike tariffs on steel and aluminum may spark a trade war.

Correspondent Matt Laslo has the details form Washington.

Parents are about to be forced to strap their children into rear-facing child seats.

Michael Pope explains why from the Capitol.

Texting while driving is already illegal in Virginia. But a bill now being debated in the state Senate would require hands-free use of cell phones.

Michael Pope explains.

  The budget bills on the desk of a state delegate. A budget conference committee has a tight deadline to find a compromise between the $400 million difference in their budget proposals.
Credit Steve Helber / AP

Virginia’s Senate and House have written their versions of the two-year state budget. But there’s a problem.

The two budgets are about 400-million dollars apart.

A handful of lawmakers are tasked with hammering out the difference.

But as Mallory Noe-Payne reports, all the wrangling happens behind closed doors.

  As part of their sentence, criminals are often asked to pay restitution to their victims. But in Virginia the money often goes uncollected and unpaid.
Credit Shawn/Flickr

One of the highlight compromises this legislative session is a deal to raise the felony larceny threshold.

The flipside of that deal is a crackdown on restitution. That’s the out of pocket costs criminals are often ordered to pay to their victims.

And Mallory Noe-Payne reports it often goes uncollected and unpaid in Virginia.

Lawmakers in Richmond are debating a bill that would make it easier for people with disabilities to make changes to their homes.

Michael Pope reports from the Capitol.

Eleven-month old Stephanie is one of four mastiffs brought to Charlottesville from a now-shuttered dog meat farm in South Korea. (Credit: Emily Richardson-Lorente)

If you’re a dog person, it may bother you to know that many dogs are bred to be eaten in South Korea. But increasingly, it bothers Koreans as well.

That’s why, in the last three years, the Humane Society International has been able to negotiate the closure of nearly a dozen meat farms.

Where do the dogs go after that? Well, it turns out many head to shelters here in the U.S. 

Emily Richardson-Lorente tracked down a few in Charlottesville.

In President Trump’s newly released budget the administration calls for drastic cuts to environmental programs, including the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund.

Matt Laslo reports from Washington that lawmakers from the region are divided on the role the Environmental Protection Agency should play today.

Lawmakers in Richmond are deep in a discussion about lifting a freeze on utility rates that has customers overpaying electric companies.

But what happens next?

As Michael Pope reports, lawmakers are divided.

Volunteers from Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Tidewater Oyster Gardener’s Association hauling oyster shell. (Credit: Pamela D’Angelo)

Virginia calls itself the “Oyster Capitol of the East Coast.”

But because the oyster population remains at historic lows, there’s a struggle for oyster farmers and state sanctuaries to keep up with the shell needed to continue producing more oysters.

Now, even homeowners are kicking in, as Pamela D’Angelo explains.

Lottery profits are supposed to go to education.

But critics say lawmakers are engaged in a bait and switch.

Michael Pope explains why.

Supporters of expanding Medicaid are celebrating movement in the House of Delegates after many years of resistance.

The House included an expansion in its state budget proposal released over the weekend.

But, as Michael Pope reports, they still have to get through the Senate.

The city of Buena Vista has won the latest round in its legal battle against an insurance company. And Culpeper County is trying to decide whether to embrace the solar power industry.

Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link.

Fred Echols reports.

Millennial generation lawmakers announce the formation of Future Caucus. (Mallory Noe-Payne/Radio IQ)

The freshman class in Virginia’s House of Delegates is the most diverse in history.

But, as Michael Pope reports, it’s also one of the youngest.

 (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Virginia lawmakers have mixed reactions to the sweeping federal budget proposal President Trump released this week.

Correspondent Matt Laslo has more on what the document means and doesn’t mean for our state.

  A clap board is readied during the filming of an American Heroes Channel three-part series about the Revolutionary War in Powhatan County, Va., in 2014.
  (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Should Hollywood moguls get money from Virginia taxpayers? Lawmakers in Richmond are divided.

Michael Pope is at the Capitol with the latest.

The Navy Yard at Nofolk around 1917. Credit: Harry S. Truman Library & Museum

A hundred years ago this November, the First World War came to an end.

All of those who fought are now gone, but Virginia’s Historical Society wants Americans to remember what that conflict meant on the battlefield and here at home.

As Sandy Hausman reports, a special exhibit opens this weekend.

Gun violence is back in the news this week.

It’s also a topic that lawmakers in Richmond are debating.

Michael Pope is at the Capitol with the latest.

The Montpelier Foundation

It’s a question that has long vexed America: How do we teach our history of slavery?

Last weekend, James Madison’s Montpelier started working on an answer.

Jordy Yager has more.

New poultry houses in Accomack County near the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
Pamela D’Angelo

Big poultry on the DelMarVa Peninsula began by accident when  homemaker Cecile Steele was shipped 500 chicks to raise instead of the 50 she ordered. She kept them, made a profit and ordered a thousand the next year.

And so, an industry was born and has been growing ever since.

But the hundreds of thousands of tons of manure produced each year so close to the Chesapeake Bay worries residents of Virginia’s Eastern Shore as Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Credit Tom Woodward / Flickr

Virginia’s capital city is raising its meals tax.

The money is earmarked to help fix the city’s crumbling schools. Richmond City Council voted late Monday night 7 to 2.

Mallory Noe-Payne was at the contentious meeting and has this report.

  Del. Lee Carter, D-Prince William recites the pledge of allegiance during opening ceremonies of the 2018 session of the Virginia House of Delegates. Carter may end the session with all of his legislative proposals killed.
Credit (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

The halls of power in Richmond are loaded with new members after the wave election in November.

But, as Michael Pope reports, that doesn’t mean their proposals are seeing much success.

Being a freshman House member in the minority isn’t easy. You just got here and you’re not sure how it all works. And you’ve got Republicans eager to kill your bills just because you’re new.

  A contest at the Curling Club of Virginia
Credit Brad Kutner

While Virginia’s warm climate might not offer the perfect venue for some Winter Olympic sports, indoor ice rinks have opened their doors to the ancient art of Curling.

Brad Kutner takes us inside a regional club for more insight ahead of the games.

Eric Deggans (Credit: Washington & Lee University)

NPR TV critic Eric Deggans is giving a talk about race and media at Washington and Lee University in Lexington Tuesday night.

His talk is called “Building Bridges, Not Walls: Decoding Media’s Confusing Coverage of Race and Culture.”

Reporter Jessie Knadler has this preview.

Credit Rog Cogswell, Creative Commons

Virginia lawmakers have mixed reactions to President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address, especially on his call for a massive new infrastructure spending package.

Matt Laslo reports: Infrastructure

Matt Laslo reports: Military Spending

In Richmond, a bipartisan coalition is cracking down on predatory lending.

Walk into a payday lender, and there are dozens of rules they have to follow to protect consumers. Same thing for a car title lender. But log into a website, and it’s the Wild West. That’s why Senator Scott Surovell, a Democrat from Fairfax County, wants to limit consumer finance loans to a 36 percent annual interest rate.

Michael Pope is at the Capitol with the latest.

Scientists have found a more precise way to predict when and where flooding will happen on Virginia’s Atlantic coast, and a planned art exhibit in Norfolk caused some controversy in the workplace.

Those have been among the most read stories over the past week on the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link.

Fred Echols reports:

Click here for the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News Link.  

This undated photo provided by the California State Lands Commission shows Platform Holly, an oil drilling rig in the Santa Barbara Channel offshore of the city of Goleta, Calif.
Credit (State Lands Commission via AP)

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from Virginia are upset over the Interior Department’s plans to open up waters off the east coast to oil and gas drilling.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is under fire from lawmakers up and down the east coast who oppose his plan to allow oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic Ocean. But the anger turned to outrage last week when Florida was given a waiver that blocks drilling off that states shores.

Correspondent Matt Laslo has the story from Washington.

A BAAAR exhibit at Richmond’s annual 2nd Street Festival
Credit P. Muzi Branch/BAAAR

A Richmond group is working to ensure the contributions of Black artists are included in the city’s thriving cultural scene.

The Black American Artists Alliance of Richmond wants to see more Black art in museums, galleries and corporate collections across the city and state. Members include a muralist, a musician, even a quilt maker.

Samantha Willis has the story.

(AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Lawmakers from southwest Virginia are pushing several bills responding to controversial plans to build natural gas pipelines in Virginia.

Michael Pope has more on their proposals.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, left, waves to the gallery as he arrives to address a joint session of the the 2018 session in the House chambers at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Terry McAuliffe’s term as Governor of Virginia is coming to an end. McAuliffe’s official portrait was unveiled this week. In it he has his hand on an executive order. The one where he restored voting rights to former felons.

McAuliffe spoke with Virginia Public Radio’s Mallory Noe-Payne.

She began by asking whether that order was one of his proudest moments.

Wendy Gooditis speaks to supporters during her campaign for the House of Delegates.  (AP PHOTO/STEVE HELBER)

After years of pushing for expanding Medicaid, Democrats are hopeful that they’ll be able to use their new members in the House to finally make it happen.

For freshman Delegate Wendy Gooditis, a Democrat from Clarke County, the fight is personal.

Michael Pope explains why.

(AP PHOTO/J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE)

Six Virginia Native American tribes are cheering.

After a twenty-year effort, the United States Senate unanimously approved legislation that recognizes the Commonwealth’s tribes.

Correspondent Matt Laslo reports from Washington.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks April 15,1967 at a peace rally in New York City. January 15th is the birthday of the late civil rights leader. (AP Photo/stf)

In light of the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville over the summer, Lexington residents wishing to honor Martin Luther King Jr. have opted for compromise over controversy.

Jessie Knadler has more on the potential conflict with the Lee-Jackson state holiday.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe , center, shakes the hand of Del. Israel O’Quinn, R-Bristol, left, after addressing a joint session of the the 2018 Virginia General Assembly for his last State of the Commonwealth address in the House chambers at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Outgoing Governor Terry McAuliffe gave his final State of the Commonwealth speech in Richmond Wednesday night.

He celebrated Virginia’s growing economy and low unemployment, and said his greatest pride while in office was restoring voting rights to former felons.

Mallory Noe-Payne reports on the speech.

Michael Pope has reaction from Republican and Democratic lawmakers.