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If the Virginia Cavaliers win their first baseball championship at the College World Series, they face the task of beating the defending national champion. The title series starts tonight (MON) at 8 (ET) in Omaha and will be televised on ESPN. Reporter Greg Echlin has the story.

The Crooked Road’s Mountains of Music Homecoming is a nine-day festival staged in nineteen counties and four cities across Southwest Virginia. Events range from Barter Theatre performances to canoe and snorkeling trips to tours of an alpaca farm. But at its heart, the Homecoming is about music.  Tim Thornton reports.

The Crooked Road’s Mountains of Music Homecoming, running throughout the week, spotlights the music, environment and culture of Southwest Virginia, including some venues that do that work all the time. Tim Thornton reports.

The Crooked Road’s Mountains of Music Homecoming is a nine-day festival staged in nineteen counties and four cities across Southwest Virginia. But for some people, including Ralph Stanley Museum director Tammy Hill, the work of preserving mountain music and mountain culture goes on all the time.  Tim Thornton reports.

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The University of Virginia baseball team was so close to winning the national championship last year.  The Cavaliers are back in Omaha this year to try it again and they’re off to a good start. Greg Echlin reports.

Senate Democratic leaders are hoping to filibuster a bill this week that’s vital to Virginia’s servicemen and women and the state’s defense industry. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the story on how Virginia’s two senators are planning to buck their party leaders.

Last month fisheries managers from Florida to Maine voted for a ten percent increase in commercial harvests of menhaden. The oily fish is loved by bald eagles, osprey and other fish and is used along the Atlantic as bait to catch tastier fare like lobster and crab. At a rainy ceremony today, Governor Terry McAuliffe threw his support behind Omega Protein, the last fish rendering plant on the East Coast. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Virginia lawmakers are divided over the free trade agreements winding their way through Congress this summer – the debate over whether the deals will be good or bad for the commonwealth.

Virginia’s Supreme Court has handed down a ruling that could help people wrongfully convicted of crimes. Sandy Hausman has that story.

After the State Board of Elections in April decertified the touchscreen voting machines used in 20% of Virginia’s precincts, the localities with June primaries were left scrambling to find replacements for their WinVote equipment in time. But a state elections official says one way or another, the voters there will be accommodated. While localities are implementing a variety of short-term fixes, the state is working on a more long-term, uniform solution.

An acclaimed example of Virginia history thundered its way home over the weekend to the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke. It now prepares to lead excursions, but its long-term ability to do so is largely out of the museum’s control.

The hurricane season won’t OFFICIALY begin for a few more days, but with all the tragic events still unfolding in Texas and Oklahoma due to flooding and violent storms, a number of state agencies are emphasizing that Virginians should prepare now. That means stocking up on supplies AND making sure families have the right insurance coverage during this Hurricane and Flooding Preparedness Week.

Congress is sending the president its thirty-second short term patch to keep the federal Highway Trust Fund funded this summer, but Virginia officials say that’s no way to fund the state’s transportation projects.

Virginia’s child care providers will be undergoing a number of changes that aim to enhance the safety of the children they are babysitting.  To draw attention to the new law, Governor McAuliffe held a bill-signing ceremony with advocates, lawmakers, and parents whose children had died while in unlicensed facilities. Participants said that while this law is a good start, the Commonwealth needs an even tougher one.

For two years, the state of Virginia has been begging cattle farmers to keep animals out of streams on their property – offering to pay the full cost of fencing to prevent pollution of rivers and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay.  Sandy Hausman reports on why some have embraced the program and others have walked away.

A number of changes are in the works for Virginia’s open-government laws.  For instance, the General Assembly passed more than a dozen bills earlier this year that would amend the Freedom of Information Act. Other controversial bills were referred to a state advisory council to be studied—and potentially reintroduced in next year’s session. Tommie McNeil reports.

Attorney General Mark Herring and the Federal Trade Commission have announced one of the largest charity fraud actions ever brought by enforcers. The FTC, Virginia, all other states, and the District of Columbia have charged four cancer charities and their operators with bilking more than $187 million from consumers. The joint enforcement action alleges deceptive solicitations.

Hampton Roads has twice the relative sea-level rise of other Atlantic coastal communities, and Virginia is stepping up its efforts to address the associated recurrent flooding. While the General Assembly recently ordered updates to the state’s flood protection plan, the Army Corps of Engineers has rolled out a new, proactive strategic framework. It calls on local, state, regional, and federal governments to work together—due to the enormity of the tasks ahead.

Residents in one of the reamaining rural areas of Fairfax County have stopped  a plan to open a micro-brewery in their community…and in Spotsylvania there’s controversy over whether biosolids – which are made partly from human waste – should be allowed as fertilizer on farm fields. Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s VaNews link onvpap.org.

While a domestic violence victim may be too afraid or embarrassed to admit that he or she is being abused, pets that witness or endure it don’t lie.  And now with a backdrop of the trauma endured by pets, animal control, law enforcement, and victims’ advocates are learning how to identify and pursue domestic abuse cases.

Medicaid accounts for more than one-fifth of the state budget, and the General Assembly’s watchdog agency wants to understand the reasons why. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission has launched a two-year investigation into what’s driving up the program’s costs—and whether those costs can be reigned in.

Virginia has some of the best medical schools in the country, but state leaders are realizing that many medical students will live and get their education here–and, upon graduation, will look for better opportunities elsewhere. A state panel has been tasked with not only helping to produce more medical school graduates, but also keeping them in the Commonwealth.

Morgan Harrington and Alexis Murphy

Family members of missing persons throughout Virginia appeared before the State Crime Commission today to discuss ways to enhance the search and rescue process. Alexis Murphy’s aunt Trina and Morgan Harrington’s mother Gil were both present, and they believe the Commonwealth can make specific improvements to help better facilitate search and rescue efforts in abduction cases.

This week, East Coast fisheries managers voted to increase by 10 percent the catch for menhaden. The fish is used as bait, processed for vitamin supplements and food for fish farms. The two-year increase will give back half of the 20 percent harvest reduction taken in 2012. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Every spring, fishing communities across the nation open the new season with a blessing of the fleet. The historic town of Reedville, Virginia has celebrated the tradition for 45 years. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

With 2.3 million Americans now behind bars, many states are looking at alternatives to jail time for those who commit non-violent crimes, but Virginia continues to imprison large numbers of people. Sandy Hausman reports.

One in five teens suffers from mental illness, but many don’t want to discuss their struggles, making diagnosis more difficult. That’s the impetus for the National Alliance on Mental Illness Say it Out Loud campaign…to get young people talking. Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil visited NAMI’s Richmond headquarters and met some young people who are doing just that.

Virginia lawmakers are all hoping to avert another round of those indiscriminate federal budget cuts known as sequestration.  But as Matt Laslo reports, it seems like those budget cuts are barreling back down on the commonwealth next year.

Virginia’s energy-providers would still like to see a large-scale commercial offshore wind turbine project off the state’s coast by the year 2020, but getting there is challenging—at best.  Bids to build two pilot turbines are astronomical right now, and the Authority tasked to keep the project’s momentum going is looking for ways to significantly lower costs.

Cancer is the leading cause of death across Virginia and the nation.  A new study predicts the number of new cancer cases as the population ages. Beverly Amsler reports.

Pamunkey Tribe Smithsonian Institution #888

Virginia’s Pamunkey Tribe was dealt a setback in its effort to gain federal recognition by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Matt Laslo has the details on how civil rights groups and a big casino may be winning the century’s old fight of the Pamunkey.

Students at the University of Mary Washington spent three weeks sitting-in at the administration building – demanding the school consider selling its investments in coal.  As a major producer of greenhouse gas, they argued that fuel was putting the Earth at risk, but the school’s  board didn’t see the point, and its president says two students will be prosecuted.  Sandy Hausman has details.

Photo: Creative Commons, Flickr

Human-rights advocates are applauding the passage and benefits of Virginia’s first standalone sex trafficking law, which goes into effect this July.  They say the new law is long overdue and puts the Commonwealth in step with other states that have passed similar measures. But they also say this should simply start the effort to pass laws that deter sex trafficking-which is the second fastest-growing criminal enterprise in the U.S.

Jim Johnson on his farm.

Virginia is juggling a host of contentious alternative energy proposals. An offshore wind farm, hydrofracking in a national forest and a 550-mile gas pipeline that cuts through the state.

But there’s one project on the Eastern Shore that has moved along quietly despite being the largest of its kind in the state. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

A bipartisan agreement unveiled by state lawmakers and Governor McAuliffe will expedite the construction of two new veterans care centers in Virginia.  To set the plan into motion, the governor proposed amendments to recently passed legislation that would have released state funding only AFTER a U.S. Veterans Affairs grant was awarded — but state officials say such a delay is unacceptable.

Governor McAuliffe and Senator Warner tour the Central Lab

The Virginia Department of Forensic Science has achieved its 10,000th DNA data bank hit.  The record-setting cold hit was announced by Governor McAuliffe, who joined U.S. Senator Mark Warner for a tour of the state forensic lab that analyzes DNA and other crime-scene evidence.

Image: Creative Commons

In light of the recent data breach at Anthem and what some believe will be an inevitable cyberattack by sophisticated terrorists, Governor McAuliffe is imploring tech-savvy business leaders and IT professionals to get aggressive.  He’s asking them to take additional steps to identify, assess, and defeat threats-as well as to help attract cybersecurity entities to the Commonwealth.

Gun-rights advocates who vowed to keep addressing an issue which they say violates civil liberties may have some ammunition when state lawmakers return to Richmond for next week’s Veto Session.  The state ACLU’s executive director is sympathizing with advocates who say LEGAL concealed-carry permit-holders are being unfairly targeted by law enforcement in neighboring states that do not recognize those permits.

An interim study by the Virginia Department of Elections indicates that numerous localities have voting machines that are wearing out—and some have potential security problems.  The investigation was prompted by reports of irregularities during last November’s election. The result could be a new and costly requirement to replace some widely used touchscreen voting machines.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker joined U.S. Senator Tim Kaine in his hometown of Richmond Monday to discuss trade opportunities and obstacles with local business leaders. They especially focused on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, which supporters say would open up improved trade between the 12 nations that are involved in negotiations.

While the Virginia ACLU applauds Governor McAuliffe’s signing of a number of bills this past legislative session, the organization opposes his amendments to several bills that had aimed to reign in the government’s powers of surveillance–and which passed the General Assembly overwhelmingly. The ACLU is asking state lawmakers to reject the amendments when they soon return to Richmond.

The practice of “streeting”—or releasing people with mental illnesses when psychiatric beds are not found for them—came to light in 2013 when that happened to Senator Creigh Deeds’ son, who later took his own life.  But changes in civil commitment laws to reform the state’s crisis response system were subsequently approved and took effect last July.  State officials have unveiled new statistics that reveal the effects of those reforms.

Elementary and middle school students who fail Standards of Learning tests by narrow margins will have an opportunity to retake those tests this spring thanks to new regulations passed by the State Board of Education. The rules stem from a law that sailed through the General Assembly—but would not have taken effect until July 1st if the Board had not acted.

Virginia is creating a new Center for Behavioral Health and Justice under an executive directive signed by Governor McAuliffe.  Its mission is to foster better interagency collaboration and help coordinate services in the state’s behavioral health system. The focus will be on individuals with mental illness who become involved with the criminal justice system.

One of Virginia’s smallest towns has voted itself out of existence….and now that the General Assembly has established regulations that allow commercial online ridesharing in Virginia the taxi industry says it can’t compete. Those are among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s VaNews link on vpap.org. 

Kevin Badke shows how he extended his arm to return the ID card.

The debate continues this week over the level of force Alcoholic Beverage Control Officers may have used force against a UVA student, turned away from a Charlottesville bar. The public still has no explanation for why Martese Johnson ended up bleeding from a head wound, lying on a sidewalk, restrained by three officers.

Photo: Black Dot

A Virginia State Police investigation is underway regarding the March 18th arrest of an honored UVA student in Charlottesville by state ABC officers.  During the incident, the student was injured and a picture of him on the ground and bleeding from the head spread quickly on social media.

Governor Terry McAullife has ordered an administrative review, and at the request of the City of Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney, a criminal investigation is also underway. Hawes Spencer reports.

This week civic groups and nonprofits are taking a closer look at the importance of open government and freedom of information for Sunshine week.   To that end, WAMU reporter Michael Pope is looking deeper into Virginia’s Death Row.

               Courtesy of VCU Athletics

From the White House to your house, the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament brackets are out, and this year the Commonwealth has a real contender.