https://apnews.com/article/virginia-election-governor-spanberger-earlesears-fe6a7e9ba19551279fc5339104747d1f
Matt Mullin’s three-year-old daughter Grace loves Paw Patrol and Baby Shark.

But when Grace asked her family’s voice-activated Amazon Alexa to play her favorite song, her father said it did something else.

A house subcommittee has effectively killed a bill from Delegate Josh Thomas (D-Prince William) that would have required social media platforms to get parental consent before allowing kids under 18 to use so-called “addictive feeds” on their platforms, WRIC-TV reports.

“Now with the rise of AI (artificial intelligence) and algorithms, we are getting much more content exposed to our children that they did not sign up for,” said Thomas.

Members of the General Assembly are once again debating firearms, WVTF Radio reports.

The House of Delegates will soon be debating a bill that limits the sale of assault-style weapons to 21 or older. It’s a bill that was introduced by Senator Saddam Salim, a Democrat from Fairfax County. His bill passed the Senate Monday afternoon.

Virginia’s Democratic delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives is urging President Donald Trump to either revise or revoke his executive order implementing a hiring freeze for the federal workforce, specifically citing medical care for veterans, reports the Center Square.

Reps. Jennifer McClellan, Bobby Scott, Don Beyer, Gerry Connolly, Suhas Subramanyam and Eugene Vindman say Trump’s executive action specifically adversely affects the veterans’ community.

Once thought to be on its way out, Dominion Energy’s Possum Point Power Station near Dumfries is now expanding operations to meet rising data center power demands, Insidenova.com reports.

The 75-year-old facility currently burns natural gas and diesel fuel, generating around 660 megawatts of energy, which powers about 170,000 homes.

The United Campus Workers of Virginia, a statewide union representing workers at the University, Virginia Commonwealth University, William & Mary and Virginia Tech, rallied in Richmond’s Capitol Square Jan. 17 to demand collective bargaining rights and advocate for systems reforms in higher education. Following a morning of lobbying sessions with state legislators, the union called for legislative action to address issues such as delayed graduate worker pay and the high cost of living near the represented universities, the Cavalier Daily reports.

The central demand of the rally was to allow for collective bargaining, the process of negotiation between employers and groups of employees to establish provisions for wages, benefits and working conditions. Union members emphasized that without this legal right in the state, public-sector workers and higher education employees alike lack a formal instrument to address issues such as insufficient or delayed pay, suppression of free expression and inadequate workplace conditions. Rally speakers argued that collective bargaining would allow workers to secure fair contracts — holding higher institutions accountable to treating their employees fairly.

Virginia took another decisive step in its ongoing reckoning with its Confederate past as the House of Delegates in a bipartisan move approved legislation to strip tax-exempt status from organizations tied to the Confederacy, reports Virginia Mercury.

House Bill 1699, which passed by a 53-42 vote on Friday, targets groups like the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), ending their property and recordation tax privileges.

Virginia Scope – The Virginia Senate is blocking multiple appointees from Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration. A source told Virginia Scope that these appointees had no idea they were not going to be removed.

Jeff Goettman, Yesli Vega, Meg Bryce and Ken Marcus were among the appointees blocked.

When these appointments made it to the full Senate floor Friday afternoon, the debate lasted hours.

Fredericksburg Free Press – Community leaders and local officials in the Fredericksburg area are grappling with how to protect undocumented immigrants in the context of mass deportation efforts directed by President Trump and enforced by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

One aspect of the president’s new border policy is particularly troubling to some in the Fredericksburg area — the removal of the protection of migrants at schools, churches and hospitals.  

Spotsylvania County Public School Superintendent Clint Mitchell sent a letter to the “SCPS community” stating that school officials and administrators will not inquire about the immigration status of students, or their families and that confidential student information will only be disclosed to authorities “in strict compliance with state and federal laws.”