Top stories in politics today
The top five stories in Virginia politics for Wednesday
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Petersburg won’t release $1.4B casino proposal from company that won project - Va Mercury
by Graham Moomaw
Petersburg officials say they won’t release the winning proposal for a planned casino project they’ve called the largest economic development effort in the city’s history.
Last month, The Virginia Mercury requested a copy of the successful casino offer submitted to the city by Maryland-based Cordish Companies. On Tuesday, the city’s Freedom of Information Act officer said the document wouldn’t be released because the city canceled its competitive bidding process and hasn’t awarded a contract to Cordish.
“Therefore, the file is closed and no records are available,” Petersburg FOIA Officer Shaunta’ Beasley said in an email.
More coverage of this from the Progress Index: ‘Political theater’ is how state senator classifies Petersburg’s claim of casino-bullying
2 Virginia Universities Won’t Require DEI Classes After Governor’s Review, Board Pushback - Inside Higher Ed
by Ryan Quinn
Starting this fall, undergraduate students at two public Virginia universities, Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason, were going to be required to take diversity-themed coursework. The efforts had been years in the making, the classes had been crafted and faculty bodies had already signed off.
But earlier this semester, the impending mandates faced 11th-hour scrutiny from Virginia’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin. His administration asked to review the syllabi for the classes—a move that one Virginia Commonwealth faculty member called “hostile state scrutiny.” A spokesman said that Youngkin had heard concerns from parents and students about “a thinly veiled attempt to incorporate the progressive left’s groupthink on Virginia’s students.”
Fewer Virginia kids are overdosing on cannabis products following new law - RTD
by Eric Kolenich
The number of children and teens in Virginia going to the emergency room for cannabis-related sickness has declined, following a law passed last year that regulates the sale of THC in commercial hemp products or extracts.
An analysis from the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association determined the number of cannabis-related pediatric ER visits dropped 14% between the second half of 2022 and the second half of 2023.
Body-worn cameras for state police dropped from new budget - RTD
by Luca Powell
An effort to purchase body-worn cameras for the Virginia State Police died during this year’s prolonged budget talks, which concluded on Monday.
That means the state police, Virginia’s largest law enforcement agency with over 1,800 officers, will remain without the devices at least until next session.
The effort was initiated this session by State Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg.
Many Virginia students still separated by race, economic class - RTD
by Anna Bryson, Sean Jones and Karen Robinson-Jacobs
When the U.S. Supreme Court ordered school desegregation in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education, the court hoped K-12 schools across the nation would give equal opportunities to both Black and white students.
Many believed that tying the fate of Black students to the fate of their white peers would lift Black students because of white parents’ and legislators’ resources and political leverage to provide for their own children.
But today, nearly 70 years after the landmark ruling, students in Virginia remain largely separated by race and economic class. While segregation is no longer mandated by public policy, it is reinforced by school attendance zones and segregated housing patterns.
