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Today’s Sponsor: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
"The bullhook is designed for one purpose, and one purpose only, to inflict pain and punishment. I should know, I used to make them. I built them to where you can’t break them, no matter how hard you hit the elephant." – Declaration of the late Sam Haddock, who off and on between 1976 and 2005 worked as an elephant trainer, handler, and/or caretaker for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's. Before she died, Mr. Haddock promised his beloved, ailing wife Millie—who “never liked what elephants went through”—that he would “do the right thing.” He contacted PETA to blow the whistle.
Credit: Sam Haddock/PETA
Happy Holidays!
I hope everyone is having a great holiday season! I am really appreciative of the supporters who helped this newsletter receive more than 2.2 million views in 2023.
A busy season is coming up with the legislative session beginning in two weeks, so enjoy the time off if you are lucky enough to have it.
Below are some of the top stories from this past year and links to the latest news in Virginia politics.
Glen Sturtevant says he “whiffed” when voting for Red Flag Laws
This story ran on March 20, 2023.
by Brandon Jarvis
Sturtevant explained why he voted in support of red flag laws and why he believes it was a mistake during a recent forum with a prominent gun group.
For context, Sturtevant served one term in the state Senate from 2015-2019. He eventually lost reelection in 2019 to Ghazala Hashmi (D).
His opponents have been attacking him for supporting the red flag laws as he is now running in a more conservative district.
During a recent forum with the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL), Sturtevant spoke directly about his vote for red flag laws. (VCDL is the group that is responsible for the orange “Guns Save Lives” stickers.
by Barb Rudolph - Rudolph is a Petersburg resident and a prominent political commentator on city issues.She founded Clean Sweep Petersburg.
I guess Joe thinks that if he and his minions repeat a lie enough times, people will believe it. Yes, he’s still flailing about trying to pin his failure to deliver a casino referendum on Lashrecse Aird’s supposed inaction as a delegate. This mailer recently arrived packed full of lies/inaccuracies but I’m just gonna focus on one right now.
FACT: Casino gaming was not approved in Virginia until the 2020 General Assembly, the first session with Morrissey as our senator.
FACT: Joe Morrissey did NOTHING, then, to advance casino gaming in Petersburg. Instead, he threw all his weight behind a casino in south Richmond, an area he also represents.
FACT: Petersburg city council did NOT include casino gaming as a legislative goal for the 2021 General Assembly session. This would have been essential to approaching the city’s legislative delegation (Delegate Aird and Senator Morrissey) to push for a casino gambling referendum for Petersburg.
FACT: On the same election day – November 2, 2021 – Richmond voters narrowly rejected a casino there and Kim Taylor narrowly defeated Aird in the House of Delegates race. It was only AFTER this rejection of the Richmond casino that Joe Morrissey jumped on bringing a casino to Petersburg, energizing Parham in the process.
FACT: The FIRST time that Morrissey pushed a Petersburg casino and worked to get the required state approval was AFTER Aird had been voted out of office and was replaced by Taylor.
Don’t be taken in by Morrissey trying to make this about Aird when Joe’s “Petersburg casino epiphany” didn’t happen until after Aird lost her bid for reelection. Always consider the source, and what all these lies say about the character of their author.
Context added in December 2023: Morrissey lost to Lashresce Aird during the June primary. Aird won the general election in November.
Youngkin to halt ‘critical’ academic recovery program amid school year - RTD
by Anna Bryson
The Virginia Department of Education in February launched an academic recovery and coaching program to help students recover from the pandemic’s impact on learning and attendance. But Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration decided to scrap the program, and it is scheduled to end Dec. 31.
Some parents and school division leaders were dismayed to learn this month that the Engage Virginia program would cease halfway through the academic year, and more than 7,200 students will lose its services. An additional 2,000 students on the waitlist will not get the support their families sought.
New Virginia laws go into effect January 1 - WVEC-TV
by Preston Steger
With 2024 approaching, a new year means some new laws for Virginians. The laws were passed during the 2023 General Assembly session by the Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House of Delegates, then signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
While the new laws aren’t drastic changes, most of them are centered around streamlining health care for Virginians. Aside from those, one of the new laws makes changes to the state’s adoption system, while another will affect how medical marijuana is regulated.
Virginia uses attack dogs in prisons more than any other state. Now lawmakers want to crack down. - Business Insider
by Hannah Beckler
Two Virginia lawmakers plan to introduce legislation meant to severely restrict the use of attack-trained patrol dogs in Virginia state prisons.
The legislative effort was sparked by a Business Insider investigation that revealed Virginia prisons had deployed patrol dogs to attack 271 incarcerated people from 2017 to 2022 — the most instances by far of any state. The attacks, used to enforce discipline, break up fights, or aid in cell extractions, left many prisoners maimed and traumatized. Only seven other states deployed attack-trained dogs on prisoners in that same period; Arizona, which was second in the number of recent deployments, used them to attack only 15 prisoners during that time.
