Virginia News

Mark Obenshain, Virginia State Senator from the Shenandoah Valley issued the following statement this week, entitled: "My Votes on the Budget and Senate Leadership Playing Games." In the email, he explains why he voted against the Virginia Senate budget bill that just passed, and which is now headed to the Virginia House for approval.

Virginia lawmakers approved bills Wednesday that will expand the death penalty, making more people eligible for capital punishment in a state that already is home to the nation's second-busiest death chamber.

Three cheers to Gov. Bob McDonnell, who gives every indication that he intends to enforce at least a smidgen of spending restraint in Virginia, bringing general government spending back down to 2006 levels.

Forty-five local police and sheriff's departments across Virginia will receive homeland security grants totaling $4.9 million.

Gov. Bob McDonnell signed into law Wednesday offshore drilling legislation intended to realize his goal of making Virginia the East Coast's energy superpower.

Virginia's General Assembly became the first in the nation Wednesday to approve legislation that bucks any attempt by President Barack Obama and Congress to implement a national health care overhaul in individual states.

Prosecutors in West Virginia have dropped a misdemeanor charge that accused an FBI security guard of spying on girls as they tried on prom gowns at a Fairmont mall.

A federal appeals court has refused to reconsider a Virginia death row inmate's bid for a new trial.

Senators are retreating somewhat on fattened court fees to help balance Virginia's recession-wracked budget, but delegates aren't impressed.

State lawmakers are clashing over a bill that would supersede new guidelines requiring Virginia 's saltwater anglers to register with the federal government.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli created quite a stir. We are not lawyers and have not been admitted to the Virginia bar, so we will not judge the legal merits of his letter informing the state's public colleges and universities that they cannot add sexual orientation and related categories to their non-discrimination policies without authorization ...

The Navy plans to honor emergency personnel and others who helped rescue 17 people aboard a helicopter that crashed in a remote area of West Virginia last month.

Forbes magazine says eight Virginia localities are among the country's wealthiest.

Campus activists across Virginia mobilized yesterday against Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who has riled student groups with a letter advising public universities to retreat from their policies against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

For the foreseeable future, most Virginians will have to be content with being able to purchase only one handgun a month.

A rockabilly singer and a book collector are among eight people being honored by the Library of Virginia 's 2010 Women in History program.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has suggested the state will not move against public colleges and universities that do not rescind anti-discrimination policies based on sexual orientation, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

The newly-elected Republican leadership of Virginia continues its rapid dismantling of the Commonwealth's human rights protections.

A complaint by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources was dismissed by the State Corporation Commission, giving the go-ahead to a development company to construct the state's first commercial wind farm.

Virginia lawmakers desperate for cash to balance the state budget are considering reimposing ironclad caps on the fees court-appointed attorneys can receive for representing indigent defendants.