Dan Easley

Four Virginia prisons will close next year; Charlottesville’s Police Civilian Oversight Board has an opening, and new technology to help crack down on automobile noise might be coming to Virginia.

The General Assembly reconvenes this week to pass amendments to the budget, Harrisonburg public officials issue a Drought Warning, and experts expect a rise in cases of RSV, COVID-19, and the flu.

A guilty verdict for a murder in Waynesboro. As a court decides whether Virginia will remain in a multi-state environmental compact, all streams and rivers in the Shenandoah National Park are closed to fishing. And, as the Secretary of the Commonwealth steps down to join Governor Youngkin’s political team, Youngkin replaces her with the Director of the Virginia Lottery.

A guilty verdict found in a local murder case, a private company contracted by the Virginia Retirement System lets retirees’ personal information leak, and the General Assembly tries to pass amendments to the Commonwealth’s budget, a couple months late.

A diner in Staunton is for sale, construction begins on a new road in Waynesboro, and Charlottesville City Schools tells students to turn off their cell phones. That, and a recap of the week in Virginia governance and politics.

The Commonwealth’s budget impasse continues, not without repercussions; a Harrisonburg Councilman has his Driving While Intoxicated charge amended to improper driving; the Town of Strasburg declares a drought emergency; and the Inflation Reduction Act provides new tax incentives for renewable energy.

Billboard Governor Youngkin visits the Rockingham County Fair and talks about supporting education, 1,000 students in Albemarle County won’t have a bus ride to school, chronic wasting disease spreads across the deer population, and a charitable bingo hall in Richmond argues a referendum should be removed from the city ballot.

Two legal challenges against the Mountain Valley pipeline dismissed last week. Charlottesville and Albemarle county join a national program to address violent crime, while, in Staunton, a man dressed as Spider-Man patrols the streets. Secretly recorded audio plays a role in election campaigns, and the 87th Annual Old Fiddler’s Convention happened in Galax last week.

Virginia Medicaid is reviewing whether the two million people covered by the program are still eligible for its free health care. Virginia's governor is working to remove the Commonwealth from multistate organizations. And the National Park Service has awarded more than $9 million in grants to twelve states, including Virginia.

A roundup of the weeks news in the Commonowealth; Senator Kaine announced federal funding for mental health care in Harrisonburg, we learn about libraries, lunches, and weapons scanners in the schools, the Richmond Jazz Festival returns, and we look at a book remembering the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, now six years past.