MINIMUM WAGE
Virginia House OKs bill to halt minimum wage increases
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Republican-controlled Virginia House has passed a bill that would halt future scheduled increases in the state’s minimum wage. But the measure is not expected to pass the Democrat-controlled state Senate. The House advanced the bill from Del. Nick Freitas on a 51-48 vote. Democrats have argued that wages haven’t kept pace with productivity and that the scheduled increases will lift up workers and help families. Republicans said that the government shouldn’t set wages and that the increases will hurt small businesses. A Senate committee has already killed a similar bill introduced in that chamber.
DISCRIMINATORY POLICING LAWSUIT
Virginia town asks to dismiss discriminatory policing case
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A small town in southeastern Virginia has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges its police department has operated in a way that led to discrimination against Black people. The town of Windsor called the allegations made in the lawsuit filed by former Attorney General Mark Herring “erroneous and conclusory.” The court action came after an investigation by Herring’s office that was prompted by a traffic stop involving two Windsor police officers and Caron Nazario, an Army lieutenant who is Black and Latino. Body camera video of the traffic stop showed the officers drawing their guns, pointing them at Nazario and using a slang term to suggest he was facing execution before pepper-spraying him and knocking him to the ground.
VIRGINIA COLLEGE LOCKDOWN
Suspect in custody after Virginia college lockdown
BRIDGEWATER, Va. (AP) — Authorities say one person was in police custody after a Virginia college warned the campus of a report of a possible shooting, urging people to shelter in place. Bridgewater College tweeted that a person was in police custody about 45 minutes after first tweeting the warning. But the college said that students should continue to shelter in place until police officers come through buildings and give them instructions. Gov. Glenn Youngkin tweeted that he had been briefed on the situation, and: “The shooter is in custody and state and local police are on the scene.” No other details about the apparent shooting were available. The Virginia State Police didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
WORK ZONE-FATAL CRASH
Police: Truck driver killed in crash at I-81 work zone
WEYERS CAVE, Va. (AP) — Virginia State Police say the driver of a crash truck accompanying a crew setting up a work zone on Interstate 81 was killed when a tractor-trailer rear-ended the truck. Police say the Ford F-650 truck was stopped in the left lane early Tuesday as a crew set up cones. They say the truck’s arrow board was activated and amber lights were flashing when the tractor-trailer rear-ended the truck, sending it into the median, where it overturned. Police say the truck’s driver, Shawn Dick of Paw Paw, West Virginia, died at the scene. The tractor-trailer driver was taken to a hospital with injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening. Police say charges are pending.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Panel kills bill that would end public sector bargaining
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Democrat-led Virginia Senate panel has defeated a measure that would have repealed the ability for certain local public sector employees to engage in collective bargaining. The vote was 12-3, and there was no public comment. Republican Sen. Mark Obenshain was carrying the bill, which was a priority of GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin. It also contained provisions dealing with wage rate agreements and project labor agreements. Obenshain said collective bargaining had come with administrative costs running into the “millions” for localities that have opted into it under a measure passed in 2020. There is a House version of the bill but little reason to think it would face a different outcome once it crossed over to the Senate.
MISSING BOY
Police in Virginia city search for missing 4-year-old boy
HAMPTON, Va. (AP) — Police in Virginia say they are searching for a 4-year-old boy whose father said wasn’t in their home when he awakened on Monday. News outlets report Codi Bigsby was reported missing from a residence in the Buckroe Beach neighborhood in Hampton. Police Chief Mark Talbot said Codi’s father, Cory Bigsby, told investigators he searched the home but Codi was nowhere to be found. Cory Bigsby said he last saw his son in the home at around 2 a.m. Monday. There were other children in the home who are all safe with police, but Talbot wouldn’t say how many children there were
AP-US-YOUNGKIN-SHIFTING-VIRGINIA
Youngkin hustles to push swing state Virginia to the right
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has used his first two weeks in office to push Virginia firmly to the right. He’s attempting a dramatic political shift deep in once reliably Democratic territory and potentially blazing a trail other conservatives could follow in similarly blue-leaning states. Virginia’s whiplash has been acute. Republicans hadn’t won statewide office since 2009 before Youngkin’s upset victory, which was only by 2 percentage points. Democrats argue Virginians don’t want Youngkin hustling to impose a broad conservative agenda on a state that is far from deeply red. They say that’s especially the case given that its population growth has been driven by heavily Democratic suburbs around Washington.
AP-US-YOUNGKIN-CABINET-EPA
Ex-Wheeler colleagues urge his approval to Youngkin cabinet
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A group of about 130 former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employees and others who have worked directly with Andrew Wheeler wrote to the Virginia Senate over the weekend to urge lawmakers to approve the former EPA administrator’s nomination to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Cabinet. The letter marks the latest instance of activism around Wheeler’s unusually controversial appointment as secretary of natural and historic resources. A committee could take up the appointment as soon as Tuesday. Wheeler is a former coal lobbyist who led the EPA during the Trump administration.
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