Around Virginia, the hottest primary on the ballot June 14 is the Republican contest in Hampton Roads. That’s where Republican incumbent Scott Rigell is stepping down after three terms in office.  As Michael Pope reports, one of the candidates in that primary is buying hundreds of thousands of dollars in television time.

The hottest race on the ballot this year is likely to be in Northern Virginia, where freshman Republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock is facing Democratic challenger LuAnn Bennett. Michael Pope reports.

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Kroger and the food workers union have a new deal…one that will stop a possible strike next week. The tentative contract agreement comes after two days of negotiations between Local 400 of the United Food and Commercial Workers, and the biggest supermarket chain in the country.  Joe Staniunas reports.

As the Virginia death toll from opiates continues to rise, two big healthcare groups recently endorsed new opiate prescription guidelines aimed at hospital emergency rooms in an attempt to curb the epidemic. Jessie Knadler talks to two ER physicians in Augusta County about the guidelines, and what it’s like to work on the front lines of the drug scourge.

Stock Photo/Cory Doctorow, Creative Commons

Car-title lenders in Virginia may have dodged a bullet earlier this year when the Virginia General Assembly passed on reforming their industry. But the industry now faces a new threat from Washington. Michael Pope continues our coverage, with the latest on the new federal rule that could dramatically undermine predatory lending. 

In our region, the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline has aroused controversy.  So has another proposed natural gas line through Southwestern Virginia.  A new study takes a look at local costs of the pipeline that would stretch from West Virginia to a compressor station in southern Virginia. 

Image: Creative Commons

Now that the presidential election cycle is heating up, so is the job market for people who work in political organizations. Michael Pope reports.

Stone Brewery Tasting Room

Been out to a bar lately? Chances are you had more beer choices than you used to. That’s a sign of the state’s growing craft beer economy. The number of breweries in the Commonwealth has almost tripled in the past three years. Today, a look at that industry, and how it could change, as large out-of-state companies move into the market.  Reporter Mallory Noe-Payne kicksoff with a question: Is big beer actually a boon for the local guys?

Tom Woodward/Creative Commons

When members of the General Assembly convened in January, they were considering more than a dozen bills aimed at cracking down on the car-title lending industry. All of those efforts were scrapped, though, when lawmakers decided against passing legislation and instead asked the state regulator to take action. Now new campaign finance numbers that show what was happening behind the scenes. Michael Pope reports.

Across Virginia, local governments are balancing books any way they can. Some are raising taxes on hotel guests. Others are increasing the cost of street parking.  Michael Pope has the story.

Devils Backbone, the eight year old craft brewery headquartered in Nelson County, was recently bought for an undisclosed sum by global beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev. Now, some Virginia fans of the scruffy indie brand are questioning whether the label has sold out. Jessie Knadler sat down with CEO Steve Crandall to find out what’s in store for the Virginia brewery.

Temperatures are creeping up — with highs hitting the 80s this week. That may mean it’s time to trade in that hot cup of coffee in the morning for something different.  Cold brew coffee is a quickly growing sector of the caffeine marketplace, and a new company here in Virginia is finding a way to cash in. It didn’t take much to convince reporter Mallory Noe-Payne to bring us their story.

Frustration is growing in both parties on Capitol Hill because pressing national issues are going unaddressed, which has led to some questioning whether the gridlock will hurt the Republican Party, which controls both chambers of Congress. Matt Laslo reports. 

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It’s been less than a year since the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages will be recognized nationally. Now the Virginia Supreme Court is getting into the act. The commonwealth’s highest court is making a move toward divorce equality.  Matt Laslo reports.

Photo: Taber Andrew Bain, Creative Commons

Virginia’s car-title lending industry has exploded in the six years since the General Assembly crafted regulations legalizing loans that have more than 200 percent interest rates. But Virginia is not alone. States across the country are struggling to deal with payday loans and Internet loans and open-ended credit loans – a set of financial products critics call “predatory lending.” As Michael Pope reports, that’s why lawmakers in Washington are hoping to create new rules to crack down on the industry.

In Washington, Virginia’s two senators are joining forces along with half a dozen other senators to help encourage states to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act. As Michael Pope reports, the law is aimed at extending a deadline that’s already passed.

James Earhart scaling a tree, photo by Pamela D’Angelo

You may not know it but climbing trees is a competitive sport among certified arborists and three of Virginia’s top professional tree climbers headed to Texas this past weekend to the International Tree Climbing Championship. One, defending his title as world champion. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Mar 27, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Trevor Cooney (10) shoots between Virginia Cavaliers guard London Perrantes (32) and forward Anthony Gill (13) during the first half in the championship game of the midwest regional of the NCAA Tournament at United Center. Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The Virginia Cavaliers, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest  Regional, were trying to clinch their first appearance in the Final Four since 1984.  But tenth-seeded Syracuse prevented  that from happening as Greg Echlin reports.

There are isolationist sentiments sweeping the nation right now, and Virginia lawmakers are feeling the pressure to oppose new trade deals. Matt Laslo has more.

In the past year, officials in New Orleans, Birmingham, and Baltimore have all voted to remove some of the Confederate monuments in their locales. Now, a couple of city councilors in Charlottesville are mobilizing to have their city join that list. Tony Field reports.

The Chronicle of Higher Education is out with its second annual assessment of trends on campus.  Sandy Hausman reports on what the Chronicle found in studying colleges and universities in 2016.

The western shores of the Chesapeake Bay have a deep history of slavery. One black community is memorializing its past and engaging its white community in moving forward. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

The Chronicle of Higher Education is out with its second annual assessment of trends on campus.  Sandy Hausman reports on what the Chronicle found in studying colleges and universities in 2016. Sandy Hausman reports.

Achmed Osman, Sudanese refugee
teaches computer classes at Arlington Mill Center, off Columbia Pike, Arlington VA
Columbia Pike Documentary Project

During the current presidential campaign, the nation seems more divided than ever, but a team of photographers from Virginia has set out to show how one community – home to dozens of different ethnic groups – is making diversity work.  Sandy Hausman reports.

The Black Lives Matter movement has revived discussion of a problem that has persisted in this nation’s history since the time of slavery – the unequal treatment of African-Americans by police and the justice system. It’s a subject that distresses Ross Howell, author of a new book about a black teenager who was executed in Virginia more than a hundred years ago. Sandy Hausman has details.

Super Tuesday IS a big deal, but it’s not necessarily the be-all-end-all for presidential contenders. While this may explain why some candidates have not dropped out of the race, determining how delegates are tallied is complex—with 595 delegates at stake for Republicans and 1,004 for Democrats in a single day.    And as Tommie McNeil reports, the Super Tuesday states and territory include Virginia—for both political parties. 

Tuesday is an election day — Virginians’ turn to get their say in who should be the Republican or Democratic nominee for President. For those who still have basic questions, Mallory Noe-Payne lays out how to vote.

http://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com

Virginia has a state bird… a state tree… but what about a state snake? Lawmakers this year have made a bit of a surprising pick — the Eastern Garter Snake.  As Mallory Noe-Payne reports the choice might have more to do with the snake’s main proponent, than the animal itself.

 

Creative Commons/Den Smith

A yearly consensus is about to begin in waterways leading to the Chesapeake Bay.. a count of nesting bald eagle pairs. There was a time when their very survival in Virginia was in doubt, but as Evan Jones reports, their numbers now may be nearing the saturation point.

The day after Virginia was battered by at least three confirmed tornadoes, Governor Terry McAuliffe visited the hardest-hit regions of the state to assess the damage.

The governor visited Appomattox—where one of the state’s four tornado deaths was recorded as a funnel cloud left an 8-to-10 mile path of debris, and injured seven. About 100 structures were damaged– 20 severely– including some that were flattened.

Governor McAuliffe also visited Waverly, where three people were killed as a confirmed tornado carved a five mile path of destruction there. And he toured the damage in Essex County, where at least 15 structures were destroyed and 25 people were injured, in a confirmed tornado.

The National Weather Service continues surveying several areas to confirm whether tornadoes touched down. Crews are fanning out in the Richmond area, Southside, and the Northern Neck, looking for signs of tornadoes.

Oyster restoration efforts around the Chesapeake Bay come with a variety of concerns including one that returns every spring with the annual migration of the cownose ray. A new Florida State University report published by Nature is using new data to refute claims that cownose rays are responsible for the collapse of the oyster industry. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Even before the fight erupted over whether to replace deceased Justice Antonin Scalia, President Obama and Republicans in Congress were squaring off on the nation’s spending priorities. Republicans from the region are proving a thorn in the president’s side on the final budget he sent to Congress, as our correspondent, Matt Laslo, reports from Washington.

Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge was hit hard by last week’s winter storm. Wind gusts of up to 85 miles per hour created a pounding surf that carried away parts of the beach and parking lot. This is normal for a barrier island, but it’s a huge problem for the nearby town of Chincoteague. Like many of Virginia’s coastal towns and islands, money is the only thing that can save them.  Pamela D’Angelo reports.