Top stories in Virginia politics
Top five stories in Virginia politics today.
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Virginia House committee breaks down ballooning veteran education benefit program - Radio IQ
by Brad Kutner
A nearly 100-year-old veterans benefit program saw cuts during the latest state budget cycle after costs ballooned 450% in just four years.
The Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program, or VMSDEP, started after World War I as a way to support veterans to get an education. Over the next 90 years it was expanded, allowing family members of vets to also get a nearly cost-free education.
Groups criticize environmental justice approach in Virginia - Bay Journal
by Whitney Pipkin
Some environmental justice advocates in Virginia have denounced recent actions by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin that they say undermine efforts to protect vulnerable communities in the state.
The governor has appointed a half-dozen members to the Virginia Council on Environmental Justice whose professional or business interests, advocates say, may put them at odds with the council’s mission. He also recently vetoed a bill that would have given the council additional authority and more funding to travel around the state to communities affected by environmental justice concerns.
Youngkin signs bill codifying overdose notification guidelines - Loudoun Times-Mirror
By Evan Goodenow
A bill directing the Virginia Board of Education to develop a parental notification policy for school-connected suspected overdoses has become a law without a provision calling for those notifications to be sent within 24 hours of an incident.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) signed the bill on May 17 but said the House of Delegates diluted the legislation by removing the 24-hour notification provision included in the state Senate version of the bill.
Murder charges against 3 in Irvo Otieno death case downgraded - WRIC
by Dean Mirshahi
Second-degree murder charges against the last three people with active cases tied to the 2023 death of Irvo Otieno have been reduced to involuntary manslaughter, online court records show.
The move to change the charges for the three people comes after second-degree murder charges were dropped against seven others in the case. Earlier this month, Otieno’s family criticized the decision to withdraw murder charges against five people and continued to call on the U.S. Department of Justice to step in for a federal investigation.
McDonald sentenced to 14 years in prison for EDA scandal - NOVA Daily
by Alex Bridges
A federal judge sentenced Jennifer McDonald, a former executive director of the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority, to 14 years in prison on Wednesday for committing financial crimes against the agency.
McDonald appeared Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg for the second part of her sentencing hearing. Federal appointed public defenders Andrea Harris and Abigail Thibeault represented McDonald. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrea Broach, Rachel Swartz and Sean Welsh appeared for the government.
