RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s Democratic candidate for attorney general has apologized for widely condemned text messages from 2022 that revealed him suggesting that a prominent Republican get “two bullets to the head.”
The texts put the Democratic challenger, Jay Jones, on the defensive in what has been a hard-hitting campaign. Early voting is well underway in Virginia ahead of the November general election.
Members of Arlington’s reconstituted Human Rights Commission are seeking to clarify what they can do when county staff’s attempts to mediate disputes fail.
It’s a rare circumstance, to be sure. Most formal complaints to the county’s human rights office are settled, dismissed or withdrawn at the staff level, and over the past year, county officials said there was just a single case where the complaint was found justified but no settlement could be reached.
Should Arlington Public Schools bring back school resource officers? Candidates running for School Board have starkly different opinions.
School Board candidate James “Vell” Rives IV used the Sept. 2 Arlington County Civic Federation candidate forum to press for a return of resource officers, known as SROs, which were removed from county schools four years ago.
An Arlington School Board member is cautioning Democrats against arguing with voters about the school system’s policies on transgender students this election season.
“Please don’t engage — you don’t need to get into a debate,” School Board member Zuraya Tapia-Hadley told attendees at an Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting on Wednesday.
Start-of-school enrollment in Arlington is down from a year before and below springtime projections, but could move higher by the time a final tally is compiled at the end of the month.
Arlington Public Schools counted 27,603 students in pre-kindergarten to 12th-grade classes on Sept. 4, Superintendent Francisco Durán reported to School Board members that evening.
VHC Health has filed requests for land-use changes to support a new behavioral-health facility in Glencarlyn.
The submission, made Aug. 29, formally kicks off what could be a lengthy review process for a county-owned parcel at 601 S. Carlin Springs Road. The hospital organization is seeking to lease some of the 11.5 acres for the new structure.
Arlington’s unemployment rate ticked up once again in July, continuing a months-long trend that has paralleled federal downsizing across the region.
The county’s unemployment rate stood at 3.5% last month, slightly above 3.4% in June and a major increase from 2.5% in July 2024.
Members of an advisory panel are suggesting that the County Board might need to intervene in issues with a transportation program for residents with disabilities.
Karen Audant, interim chair of the Disability Advisory Commission, said she is “deeply concerned” about the operations of the Specialized Transit for Arlington Residents (STAR) program following a scathing report on the initiative from the county’s internal auditor, Wayne Scott.
Efforts to provide more funding for Arlington’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF) will require buy-in from elected officials, the development industry, the General Assembly, activists and the broader community to be viable, an advisory panel believes.
“We should take the time and get it right,” said Joe Ventrone, a member of the Housing Commission’s working group on revisions to the government’s affordable-housing ordinance.
A controversial sign at an Arlington transgender rights rally last week is prompting public condemnation from organizers and invigorating supporters of Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears.
The sign in question reads, “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom then Blacks can’t share my water fountain.” It went viral on social media following a post on X from the Arlington GOP.
Arlington Public Schools leaders are playing their cards close to their chests following the end of a federal investigation into the school system’s anti-discrimination policy.
In response to demands from the U.S. Department of Education, which targeted policies allowing transgender students to use facilities corresponding with their gender identities, Superintendent Francisco Durán said only that APS has received the findings and is formulating a response.
Falls Church is considering changes to trash and recycling services, but city leaders say a voter referendum is unlikely.
The changes could decrease the financial burden on some property owners while increasing fees for single-family homeowners.
