Saslaw and Locke respond to Youngkin’s tip line
A new bill aims to extend the oyster collection season in Virginia
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The Rundown
Democratic leadership in the state Senate issued a statement in response to Gov. Youngkin’s teacher tip line
Attorney General Jason Miyares joins Sean Hannity on Fox News
A new bill aims to extend the oyster collection season in Virginia
Headlines from Virginia politics
New Bill Aims to Extend Oyster Collection Season
By Meghan McIntyre
Capital News Service
RICHMOND, Va. – A new bill aims to increase the state’s oyster collection season by an additional 30 days. Sen. Richard H. Stuart, R-King George, introduced Senate Bill 629, which extends the patent tong oyster taking season until March 31. The season currently lasts from Oct. 1 to March 1.
Patent tongs are large, claw-like machines that extract oysters. The devices produce a larger yield compared to other harvesting methods like hand tongs.
Approximately 15% of the total reported public market oyster harvest in Virginia during 2020 was harvested using patent tongs, according to Andrew Button. Button is the head of the Conservation and Replenishment Department through the Fisheries Management Division, which is a part of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
The Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee recently approved the bill with 14 members voting yes and one abstention from Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D- Richmond.
Mike Hutt, executive director of the Virginia Marine Products Board, supports the extension. Workers in the industry often have to miss days of work because of bad weather, he said. This extension would provide workers with additional income and an increase of oysters in the market.
“I don't see any adverse effects, because with the supply and demand for oysters being so strong,” Hutt said. “It's just a win-win.”
The current law also states the commission has the ability to set an alternative opening date for the season, no later than Nov. 1.
Chris Moore, senior regional ecosystem scientist at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, is working alongside Stuart to add language to the bill that clarifies the commission has discretion to set an alternative closing date.
If the bill passes, the commission will still decide whether the season will be extended. The commission must first consider conditions of the oyster population and the impact of an additional 30 days of harvesting, Button said.
During the meeting, Stuart said he plans to introduce an amendment to the bill on the Senate floor. The amendment clarifies the commission’s ability to close the season for areas where the condition of the oysters warrants the closure, Moore said.
Saslaw and Locke respond to Youngkin’s tip line
Democratic leadership in the state Senate issued statements on Wednesday responding to the tip line that Governor Glenn Youngkin established for parents to report the teaching of divisive topics across Virginia.
Majority Leader Dick Saslaw said: “Senate Democrats and Virginians trust our teachers – plain and simple. Parents are always a part of the conversation with their local and state elected officials. The commonwealth’s schools are ranked fourth-best in the nation, and Virginia Republicans’ unconstitutional executive orders and draconian legislation would only hurt our students, not help them learn. Senate Democrats are listening to the majority of parents who do not agree with what Governor Youngkin and Republicans in the General Assembly endeavor to accomplish in undermining the people who have helped us achieve world-class public education.”
Caucus Chair Mamie Locke said: “On Red For Ed Day, legislators in the Capitol are wearing red to show support for educators – but our support doesn’t stop with our wardrobe. Forcing educators to submit to parental approval of every lesson, every assignment is backwards and burdensome. As Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears said in the Senate today, ‘an informed citizenry is the best citizenry.’ Making sure students have every fact and every opinion in front of them to learn from our past helps them make better decisions for our future. Teachers are charged with ensuring a next generation that is educated, emotionally intelligent, and prepared for the challenges of the future. We must enable them with the tools to carry out that charge.”
Youngkin says he’s ‘having a ball,’ defends actions as living up to campaign promises - Washington Post
by Greg Schneider
Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Wednesday that he’s “having a ball” during his first days in office and expressed surprise at public reaction against some of his initial actions, which include letting parents opt their children out of school mask mandates and banning the teaching of critical race theory.
“I am surprised that so many are surprised,” Youngkin (R) said to an enthusiastically supportive audience at a Richmond meeting of Virginia members of the National Federation of Independent Business. “I am delivering on what we promised.”
Virginia AG blasts Jim Acosta's ‘Soviet-style police state’ assertion: ‘Take some history classes’ - Fox News
On "Hannity," Miyares dismissed Acosta's characterization, suggesting that he read up on world history before declaring Virginia another version of the U.S.S.R. or Cuba. He told host Sean Hannity that a theme in his and Youngkin's campaign was that "parents matter," and that he knows personally what a Soviet-style police state looks like and does to innocent civilians.
"I think what Jim Acosta said — listen, my family fled Communist Cuba. You want to talk about what 'Soviet-style' looks like? It's the opposite of freedom," he said. "My mother has distinct memories of being forced to take classes in Marxist-Leninism." Miyares also disclosed that his uncle, Angel Miyares, had been arrested in the dark of night by now-deceased dictator Fidel Castro's secret police and detained without due process — and that his parents later had their home "nationalized: in the name of fairness and equity."
More than half of Virginia school districts are defying Youngkin’s mask-optional order - Washington Post
About a week after announcing his executive order making masks optional in schools throughout Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said on a radio show that school districts statewide had rushed to comply.
“The reality is it’s about 25 out of our 130 school systems across Virginia who aren’t recognizing the rights of parents today,” Youngkin told conservative host John Fredericks on Monday, adding that the noncompliant districts were prioritizing “bureaucrats and politicians over the rights of parents.”
ICYMI from yesterday:
Youngkin went to the capitol Wednesday to confront the delegate that questioned his faith
Miyares announced new policy to help Virginians with student loan debt
More Virginia News
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Second gang member convicted of 5 charges in burning death of local woman used for sex trafficking