Bob Leweke

LGBTQ advocates and legal experts decry the Augusta County School Board’s decision to reject new state guidelines protecting transgender students…  A Lynchburg judge says Liberty University’s lawsuit against former leader Jerry Falwell, Jr., can go ahead…  The General Assembly reconvenes in special session today….

More than 60,000 Virginians could be in danger of losing housing as the federal eviction moratorium ends…  We have some analysis of next week’s special General Assembly session…  Kansas comes to Virginia!

A Virginia judge tosses out a challenge to transgender student protections…  Virginia’s redistricting commission is hearing from voters…  We share another local StoryCorps conversation between two women who forged a friendship through a shared journey of grief and healing….

A federal review recommends that miles of installed pipeline and downed trees be left in place after the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline…  Virginia Republicans complain they’re being left out of discussions over how to spend more than $4 billion in federal stimulus funds…  Virginia is doing better than most other states in rent relief, but many families are still at risk….

Governor Northam wants to use some federal stimulus money to fix the air systems in Virginia’s public schools…  But that’s largely up to the General Assembly, which meets next week…  The hotel sector in Virginia is having trouble recovering from the pandemic downturn….

Authorities believe they may have found the body of a missing Charlottesville woman in Shenandoah National Park…  A UVa doctor is arrested for allegedly possessing child pornography…  Undocumented pregnant women in Virginia are now eligible for Medicaid coverage….

COVID-19 cases are again on the rise in Virginia, and the governor says he will continue to encourage, rather than mandate, vaccinations and other measures…  How much federal stimulus money will state lawmakers allocate to protect people against getting evicted?...  A prisoner sues the state for refusing to allow him to take medication for his opioid dependency….

Virginia will get more than half a billion dollars from a national opioid settlement…  With the mask mandates for public schools ending and vaccines still unavailable for kids under 12, state health officials release new guidelines urging school divisions to require masks, at least in elementary schools…  Over the next three Saturdays, venues in Augusta County will host 'Vax the Valley' events to get more shots in arms….

After weeks of declining or holding steady, new COVID-19 cases are up in Virginia…  As police search for a missing woman this week in Shenandoah National Park, a murder case from 25 years ago in the Park gets new attention from the FBI, and the Innocence Project…  We share another local StoryCorps conversation between the co-founders of the Native American Church of Virginia….

Virginia’s redistricting commission replaces a missing member, passing over a representative from McGaheysville in favor of a member from the Lynchburg area…  Hundreds of Afghans and their families will be evacuated to a military base in Virginia, part of an effort to protect those who worked for the U.S. military in Afghanistan…  WMRA’s General Manager Matt Bingay has a remembrance of Martha Woodroof, who died Sunday….

New police data show that Black drivers in Virginia are more likely to be stopped and searched by police than any other racial or ethnic group…  A new art exhibit in Charlottesville is based on the idea of the Little Free Library…  We remember Martha Woodroof, the former WMRA reporter and host who passed away early Sunday….

Internal emails from the support force of the Virginia National Guard are up for sale on the dark web…  Virginia ends the fiscal year with a huge surplus, despite the pandemic…  Students around the state help gather data as part of a big heat-mapping project….

VMI is implementing changes to address racism at the school in Lexington, and we have an update…  The staffing shortages at some mental health hospitals are so bad that Virginia has suspended new admissions at five of them, including Western State in Staunton…  A new grant program for small businesses aims to help them stay open, and re-orient themselves coming out of the pandemic….

After skipping a big debate with his rival, GOP candidate for governor Glenn Youngkin also is getting noticed for his lack of concrete policy proposals…  Missing one of its members who abruptly resigned, Virginia’s Redistricting Commission meets voters in Farmville…  Our latest StoryCorps conversation focuses on the formation of a group called the Children of Shenandoah – those who were forced off the land when the national park was constructed….

A second child under the age of 10 has died of complications from COVID-19 in Virginia…  GOP governor candidate Glenn Youngkin gets tripped up in the politics of abortion…  24 states, including Virginia, reach a settlement with the makers of Oxycontin….

A statue of segregationist Harry Byrd Senior in the state capital is now in storage…  A former NFL player sues Liberty University over his firing, alleging racial discrimination…  Good news if you’re a state employee – Virginia’s pension fund is at a record high….

A member of Virginia’s new redistricting commission has upset the apple cart by resigning…  Another statue in Richmond comes down today, this one a monument to the architect of Virginia’s racist ‘massive resistance’ to desegregation…  In another local StoryCorps conversation, a couple reflects on the pandemic, and how tough times 40 years ago brought them together….

Charlottesville’s statue of ‘Stonewall’ Jackson is again splattered with paint, even as the city moves to get rid of it, and the statue of Robert E. Lee…  About 6 in 10 Virginians are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, and more than 7 in 10 have received at least one shot…  After months of meeting virtually, Virginia’s redistricting commission will meet in person for the first time….

An Augusta County deputy will not face charges after shooting a man to death in Grottoes in May…  New state police data reveal sharp inequities in the racial makeup of drivers who are stopped by police…  President Biden nominates a UVa law professor, Virginia’s top trial lawyer, to the federal bench….

UVa follows Virginia Tech in prohibiting pot on university grounds, despite Virginia’s legalization…  State environmental regulators will have another year to gauge the impact of the Mountain Valley Pipeline on sensitive wetlands in its path…  We go behind the scenes of a big Shenandoah Valley produce auction, for the story of where those fresh tomatoes and green onions on your plate came from….

After a rockslide closure and nearly two months of heavy repair work, U.S. 250 near Afton is finally fit as a fiddle and ready for traffic, just in time for July 4th holiday weekend travel…  Pot is now legal in Virginia, and we have details on what that actually means…  Also today, Virginia's definition of robbery has changed….

Some big changes to Virginia law go into effect tomorrow, from pot possession, to the death penalty, to new gun restrictions…  The state’s top health official says despite the rise of the Delta variant, vaccinated Virginians are safe ditching the face masks…  On Zoom during the pandemic, what’s the future of city council sessions, and school board meetings, and such – and what will remain digital?

Governor Northam signs four bills in regards to voting in Virginia.  Gavin Grimm wins in the Supreme Court over his right to use the boys’ restroom while he was in Gloucester County public schools…  We share another local StoryCorps conversation, today with environmental writer Chris Bolgiano….

Sixty years after the Freedom Riders traveled through Virginia to fight unlawful segregation, another Freedom Ride passes through to fight voter suppression...  Virginia’s new redistricting commission is having trouble finding legal and PR firms that are willing to help…  As the president and Congress wrangle over an infrastructure bill, we survey some dams in Virginia that pose a threat….

It looks like Charlottesville’s Confederate statues will find new homes, but where will they be, and how will they reflect our history?...  Beginning July 1st, Medicaid will cover some dental services…  Birth rates are declining in Virginia, and that could have dramatic consequences for decades to come….

Police identify the man they shot to death after a hostage standoff in Luray…  The General Assembly will meet in August to decide what to do with a huge budget surplus, but much of that money is already spoken for…  In our latest local StoryCorps conversation, two women remember their fight against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline….

Police shoot a man to death after a standoff in Luray…  For the first time, the descendants of enslaved persons will have equal say in governing the place that held their ancestors in bondage – that’s happening at James Madison’s Montpelier…  Starting July 1st, thousands more Virginians will be eligible for food assistance….

Virginia reaches President Biden’s goal of getting 7 out of 10 adults vaccinated, nearly two weeks ahead of schedule…  Meanwhile, Virginia’s mental health hospitals are overwhelmed, in part due to staffing shortages…  We meet the third candidate for governor, the one whose name isn’t McAuliffe or Youngkin….

Virginia is oh-so-close to reaching President Biden’s goal of 70 percent of adults with at least one COVID-19 vaccine…  Delegate Danica Roem, the first openly transgender legislator in the nation, talks about Virginia’s first-of-its-kind law in the south protecting those in LGBTQ communities from the so-called “panic” defense…  Last year, it was toilet paper and hand sanitizer, now it’s shipping pallets that are in short supply, and we check in with a pallet maker in Lyndhurst….