Early voting begins today on a referendum to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts… Federal grant money is helping to fix an ongoing sewage problem in Albemarle County… Jeff Schapiro surveys the week in Virginia politics….

Valley delegates host a town hall to raise concerns about the upcoming special election over redistricting, which Virginia’s Supreme Court has ruled can go ahead… A Staunton man who fled political persecution in Cuba has been detained by ICE for more than seven months… We explore the challenges that honey bees, and native bees, face….

The Spanberger administration restores the original plans to study a rail-to-trail project in the Shenandoah Valley… UVa researchers say Virginia’s economy could take a turn for the worse this year… Justice Cleo Powell becomes the first Black woman to hold the role of chief justice of Virginia’s Supreme Court….

Military families in Virginia are preparing for long deployments due to President Trump’s war on Iran… Early voting on the referendum to allow redistricting in Virginia begins Friday… Harrisonburg’s music scene is shaken by liquor license and fire code violations….

The JMU community mourns a student lost in a fire… Governor Spanberger’s rhetoric against ICE activity in Virginia is providing hope to legislators working to limit the federal agency… The General Assembly debates rules for so-called “forever chemicals” used in widely available consumer products….

A criminal investigation into the conduct of a Shenandoah County school board member continues… Supervisors in Augusta and Rockingham Counties voice opposition to Democrats’ redistricting plan… Jeff Schapiro reviews Governor Spanberger’s time in the national spotlight, and more in the week in politics….

After four years of wrangling in court, a trial in the Nexus financial exploitation case is delayed yet again… With help from Harrisonburg’s mayor, researchers are discovering a rich trove of historical documents detailing Black entrepreneurial life in the city… In the General Assembly, bills advance to prevent gun violence, offset health care cost spikes, and give legislators a pay raise….

Governor Spanberger delivers the Democrats' response to President Trump’s State of the Union speech… Ahead of the address, Senator Tim Kaine, joined by a Harrisonburg dentist, warned of harm done by changes to Medicaid… Virginia’s attorney general joins 23 other states in a lawsuit against the EPA over grant funding for solar power….

Workers at UVa gather to press for collective bargaining legislation… Meanwhile, UVa names a new rector and vice rector… A new poll casts doubt on whether the plan by Virginia Democrats for mid-decade redistricting has enough public support to pass….

Augusta County’s sheriff's office investigates the shooting death of a high school student… Despite the federal government’s increasingly anti-vaccine stance, the Virginia Department of Health encourages families to get their children vaccinated… The Democrats’ effort to establish Virginia’s first legal cannabis market also has some Republican support….