Governor Spanberger wants next year’s legal cannabis market to begin in July, not January, one of the bills she amended before her signing deadline Monday… An early report shows that the early April cold snap severely damaged apple and peach crops in the Winchester area… We launch our four-part series on Virginia’s redistricting vote, and conversations with some of the candidates affected….

With her deadline looming, Governor Spanberger signs a series of bills on gun safety and support for first responders… Other pending laws would give farm workers a minimum wage and open up a retail marijuana market next January… Opponents of Virginia’s redistricting amendment target Black voters, claiming their voting power would be diluted….

The governor signs legislation that will raise Virginia’s minimum wage to $15 an hour… Virginians will also soon have a right to contraception… Jeff Schapiro discusses that, plus the governor’s first veto, and more in Virginia politics….

Senator Tim Kaine responds to news of a cease-fire with Iran… College professors call on Governor Spanberger to amend a bill on collective bargaining… The governor hits back at recent criticism from the Department of Homeland Security about Virginia’s cooperation with immigration enforcement….

News deserts in Virginia grow as newspapers close or merge with other companies… We talk with JMU’s new president as he prepares for his inauguration… In an emotional announcement, the Artemis II astronauts name a newly discovered moon crater after the mission commander’s late wife, a JMU grad….

We pay a visit to a line of homeless encampments along the Rivanna in Charlottesville, and the debate over what to do about them… Governor Spanberger signs bills securing investments in pharmaceutical development in Albemarle and Goochland counties… A new poll shows the governor’s popularity deeply split along party lines….

Charlottesville’s school board declares it will not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement… A new study finds that Farmville’s main hospital is among ten in Virginia at risk of closure due to last year’s federal budget cuts… Meanwhile, data show that tens of thousands of Virginians are dropping health care coverage due to the end of ACA subsidies….

Now that a longstanding cooperation between Harrisonburg public schools and Massanutten Technical Center is ending, city schools sponsor a new program with Blue Ridge Community College… A lawyer for the Shenandoah County School Board, enmeshed in a lawsuit over Confederate school names, speaks out… As the governor signs a flurry of bills, Jeff Schapiro reviews the week in Virginia politics….

After a bizarre highway chase and crash in February, a man is indicted on federal weapons and drug charges… Virginia’s attorney general defends mail-in voting against the Trump administration… We tag along with one large animal vet as she makes her rounds in a profession that is in short supply….

Parties in the lawsuit against Confederate school names in Shenandoah County make their final arguments… Charlottesville grapples with providing more affordable housing… Meanwhile, the governor signs her first bills addressing affordability….