From The Center Square:
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced late Sunday the commonwealth will file an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to block the return of more than 1,500 noncitizens to voter rolls.
The appeal follows a unanimous panel ruling Sunday from the Fourth Circuit of Appeals rejecting Virginia’s request to stop an order from a lower court to reinstate noncitizens removed from voter rolls within 90 days of an election.
American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) will invest $54.7 million to expand its campus in Prince William County with a new biomanufacturing facility focused on global health. The expansion will create 75 new jobs and further ATCC’s mission to provide scientists with essential biomaterials for critical life science research. Virginia successfully competed against Maryland to secure the project. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership, alongside Prince William County, facilitated the deal, with Governor Glenn Youngkin approving an $800,000 grant to support the project. ATCC’s expansion highlights the continued growth of Virginia’s life sciences sector, a vital industry for global health and national security.
Press release:
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Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears has announced her candidacy for governor. She aims to continue the work of the Youngkin-Sears administration.
If elected, she would become the first Black woman to serve as Virginia’s governor and the first Black woman in U.S. history to hold such a position. Earle-Sears, an immigrant from Jamaica and former U.S. Marine, highlighted the administration’s achievements in improving community safety, boosting the economy, cutting taxes, and expanding educational choices for parents.
Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican like Earle-Sears, is ineligible to run for a second term due to Virginia’s unique one-term limit for governors. His term will end on December 31, 2025 January 11, 2026. Earle-Sears is positioning her campaign as a continuation of Youngkin’s efforts.
On the Democratic side, Abigail Spanberger, who represents Virginia’s 7th Congressional District (covering parts of Prince William County, Stafford, Spotsylvania counties, and Fredericksburg), is the presumptive nominee for governor. Spanberger has decided not to seek re-election to her U.S. House seat, opting instead to run for governor.
Press release:
Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears today announced her official candidacy for governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, embarking on a historic campaign to build upon nearly three years of the Youngkin-Sears Administration’s work to keep the Commonwealth’s communities safe, open Virginia’s economy for business, cut taxes for working families, and empower parents with more choices for their children’s education. Earle-Sears, an immigrant from Jamaica and United States Marine, would become the first woman to serve as Virginia’s governor, and first Black woman in American history to serve as any state’s governor –– a story possible only in America.
“I could have never believed growing up that I could be asking Virginians for their faith and confidence in me to serve them as governor of our great Commonwealth,” said Earle-Sears. “Yes, this is an opportunity to make history, but our campaign is about making life better for every Virginian right here, right now. Our Administration has delivered on our promise to guide Virginia back on course toward prosperity, but we have much more to achieve to make sure stories like mine –– stories of the American Dream giving hope and purpose –– are possible for everyone. We cannot go backwards now. Little girls and boys, from Fairfax to Fincastle, from Haysi to Henry, from Phoebus to Port Republic, and from Wachapreague to Wise –– they are all counting on us to win and succeed in Virginia. I will not be outworked. And I will not let them down.”
Ahead of her announcement at a rally of supporters in Virginia Beach, Earle-Sears released on her social media channels, “Ever Forward,” a video detailing her American-Dream story and her mission to make stories like hers possible for more Virginians.
A native of Kingston, Jamaica, Sears immigrated to the United States at the age of six. She is proud to have served in the United States Marine Corps. In addition to her various appointments, she has served as the Vice President of the Virginia State Board of Education; and as a presidential appointee to the US Census Bureau, as co-chair of the African American Committee; and the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Winsome was first elected in 2002 to a majority Black House of Delegates district, a first for a Republican in Virginia since 1865. She is the first female Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the first Black female elected to statewide office. As Lieutenant Governor, Winsome Earle-Sears presides over the Senate when they are in session.
A former program manager for the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and VISTA volunteer, Winsome is a trained electrician and successful businesswoman. However, Winsome is most proud of her community work leading a men’s prison ministry and as director of a women’s homeless shelter. She holds a B.A. in English with a minor in Economics, and an M.A. in Organizational Leadership, with a concentration in Government. Winsome and her husband, Terence, have two daughters Katia and Janel, in addition to DeJon, and granddaughters Victoria and Faith, who are now looking into the face of God.
Follow the Sears campaign’s latest news at winsomeforgovernor.com, X, and Facebook.
Governor Glenn Youngkin announced today that the Virginia Lottery's fiscal year 2024 profits exceeded $934 million, the highest in its 36-year history. All profits from the Lottery go towards supporting K-12 public education in the Commonwealth.
Since 1999, Virginia Lottery profits have generated over $12 billion for Virginia's K-12 public schools. 10% of the Virginia K-12 education budget comes from the Lottery. The record profits in FY24 were driven by over $5.5 billion in sales, the highest ever. Tickets were purchased at over 5,300 businesses and online, and retailers earned $142 million in commissions and bonuses. Of that $5.5 billion, players received $4.2 billion in prizes, with 77 cents returned for every dollar spent. The Lottery also recorded a low administrative cost rate of 3.8%, which will be finalized after a standard audit by the Auditor of Public Accounts.
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Governor Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 35, codifying his administration’s election security procedures, which include stringent ballot security, thorough counting machine testing, and rigorous voter list maintenance.
Press release:
Governor Glenn Youngkin today issued Executive Order 35, which codifies the election security procedures put into place during his administration, including stringent ballot security, complete and thorough counting machine testing, and best-in-the-nation voter list maintenance.
“The Virginia model for Election Security works. This isn’t a Democrat or Republican issue, it’s an American and Virginian issue. Every legal vote deserves to be counted without being watered down by illegal votes or inaccurate machines. In Virginia, we don’t play games and our model for election security is working,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin.
“We use 100% paper ballots with a strict chain of custody. We use counting machines, not voting machines, that are tested prior to every election and never connected to the internet. We do not mass mail ballots. We monitor our drop boxes 24/7. We verify the legal presence and identity of voters using DMV data and other trusted data sources to update our voter rolls daily, not only adding new voters, but scrubbing the lists to remove those that should not be on it, like the deceased, individuals that have moved, and non-citizens that have accidentally or maliciously attempted to register,” Governor Glenn Youngkin continued.
The EO codifies improvements to election security made during the Governor’s administration by directing the Commissioner of the Department of Elections to certify in writing annually that these improvements are in place. The EO also outlines the procedures in place for non-citizens who attempt to violate the law and register to vote, which includes referral to the local Commonwealth’s attorney and the Office of Attorney General, which has concurrent jurisdiction.
Updated — Virignia Gov. Glenn Youngkin expressed his frustration at the White House after it did not provide him with a briefing on the arrests of two illegal immigrants charged with ramming the gate and trespassing on Quantico Marine Corps Base.
They haven’t briefed me at all, which is just stunning. What I know is what you know,” Youngkin told Potomac Local News during a tour of the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office’s National Night Out event at Spotsylvania Towne Center on Tuesday, August 6, 2024.
A federal judge released Hasan Y. Hamdan and Mohammad K. Dabous on bond on July 22. Both are due back in an Alexandria federal courtroom in September. They are just some of the illegal immigrants Potomac Local News has learned have entered Quanctio Marine Corps Base, a trend among military bases as more illegal immigrants appear to be testing the security of military installations across the U.S.Â
“I’m just shocked they could be released when they were illegally here and not turned over to the authorities to be dealt with,” said Youngkin.
The governor asked the White House for a briefing on the incident 76 days ago. Youngkin said the silence from the Biden administration is “consistent on what it’s demonstrated” when it comes to open border policies.
“[Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee] Kamala Harris needs to live with the fact that she was the border czar. They may try to deny it, but that was her job. She didn’t do anything to secure the border, and now we’re one border state,” said Youngkin.
Youngkin toured the community fair with Derrick Anderson, a Spotsylvania native who’s running to replace Abigail Spanberger (D) in Congress. Spanberger is not seeking reelection.
Republican State Senate Candidate Hung Cao was also there.
“We have to shut down the border immediately. I mean, that’s got to happen right now. We’re seeing illegal immigrants coming in day in and day out, causing havoc not only to the United States but here in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Anderson. “We have five people in Virginia dying from fentanyl overdoses a day in the Commonwealth. We’re seeing an impact in us.”
Republican Senate Candidate Hung Cao also attended the event. He’s running against incumbent Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine, who told WJLA-TV he’s not in favor of a mass deportation of illegals. “The notion of mass deportation or calling everybody invaders, no, that’s not something I support,” the senator told the TV station.
“First of all, I’m a legal immigrant to this country. And I’m telling you, don’t ask for the American dream if you’re not willing to obey the American laws and embrace the American culture,” said Cao. Shame on him for not defending this country like he’s supposed to and living up to his oath of office.”
Despite Democrats removing Biden from the presidential ballot and replacing him with his vice president, Younkgin said Trump may win Virginia, a state he’s never won and one in which he lost to Biden by 10 points in 2020.
“Virignia is still in play,” said Youngkin.
@GlennYoungkin attended the@SpotsySheriff National Night Out event at @SpotsylvaniaTC on August 6, 2024 with @DerrickforVA and @HungCao_VA pic.twitter.com/0jwDnDd2HT
— Potomac Local News (@PotomacLocal) August 7, 2024
Stafford County Public Schools is set to implement significant operational changes for the upcoming school year, which begins on August 13, 2024. The school division has introduced a new system for identifying school buses and a district-wide ban on cell phones in the classroom.
Starting this school year, buses will no longer be identified by fleet numbers but will use route numbers instead. This change is designed to streamline the process of locating and tracking buses, especially when substitute buses are deployed. Sandra Osborn, the spokeswoman for Stafford County Public Schools, explained the decision, stating, "Identifying buses by route number simplifies the sub-bus process as any bus may be identified quickly with the route number. We no longer need to issue updates to which bus number a family needs to look for - they will simply look for the route number on any of our buses."
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The Virginia Department of Education is hosting Commonwealth Conversations to gather input from parents, educators, and community members on achieving cell phone-free education in Virginia, addressing youth mental health, and education performance. Following Governor Youngkin's Executive Order 33, which mandates cell phone-free education, school boards will implement related policies by the end of the year, with the changes taking effect in January 2025.
The Virginia Department of Education is hosting a series of Commonwealth Conversations to give parents, educators, and community members the opportunity to share their thoughts on the best ways to achieve cell phone-free education in Virginia and address the increasing evidence of the impact cell phone and social media usage has on youth mental health and education performance.
On July 9, Governor Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 33 to establish cell phone-free education to promote the health and safety of Virginia’s K-12 students. Executive Order 33 directs the VDOE to provide guidance to school boards on cell phone-free education policies and procedures. School boards will establish local cell phone-free education policies and procedures before the end of this year.
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It has been over two months since two Jordanian nationals attempted to breach the gates of Marine Corps Base Quantico, and officials still have not released the identity of the two men arrested. They also offered no explanation as to why state and local officials were not notified.
While we were able to obtain a copy of the police report documenting the incident, the report has been heavily redacted. All identifying information about the two men has been concealed, in addition to the license plate and VIN for the truck involved.Â
