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Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is calling for an investigation into the arrest of a college student with Chicago ties who was shown in a photo with a bloody face as he was held down by an officer. Charlottesville General District Court records show that Martese Johnson is charged on two counts: obstruction of justice without force, and public swearing or intoxication. The Alcoholic Beverage Control agent who made the arrest Wednesday morning, listed in court records as J. Miller, said in the arrest report that Johnson "was very agitated and belligerent." A statement from a group calling itself "Concerned Black...

I received this e-mail from our Faithful Navigator this morning. Dear Knights and friends of the Knights of Columbus, It was recently announced that Gov. Terry McAuliffe was selected as the Grand Marshall for this year's Norfolk St. Patrick's Day Parade (March 14th) which is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus Council 3548. http://norfolkparade.com This was against the directive of Holy Trinity Pastor, Fr. Dan Beeman. Please read Fr. Beeman's letter below. It appears that the KofC State Deputy, Steve Burnley, first agreed to immediately replace Terry McAuliffe, but later he reversed his decision. It is totally unacceptable that Terry...

Virginia is still deciding whether to ratify the ERA. The ERA would put in the U.S. Constitution a guarantee that “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” The proposed amendment was never added because it was not ratified by the requisite 38 states. Virginia is one of the states that haven’t ratified the amendment. It may be too late to make a constitutional difference, but women’s rights activists continue to push for ratification in the Old Dominion. That is the goal of Senate...

Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates flee the chamber TWICE rather than cast a vote on a resolution expressing support for the State of Israel. There are 100 members of the House, with 32 Democrats.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s (D-VA) gun control package has righteously gone down in flames (again) when a Virginia State Senate committee decided to vote them down. One of them sought to institute the one-a-month handgun law, which former Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) repealed in 2012. Up until that point, it was state law since 1993 (via WaPo):

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has been hospitalized following a horse-riding accident over the Christmas holidays in Africa that left him with seven broken ribs and fluid around his lungs, a spokesman said Monday. Spokesman Brian Coy said doctors had expected the weeks-old injury to heal on its own, but after identifying increased fluid around the governor’s lungs, they admitted him around noon Monday for a procedure. McAuliffe (D), who attended a Martin Luther King Jr. event in Norfolk on Monday morning and was interviewed by local media there, was admitted hours later to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond....

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) said he was "disappointed" after former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his primary and resigned because it was a loss for the state's congressional leadership. "As governor, I had the Majority Leader and, potentially, the Speaker of the United States of America as a member of my congressional delegation," McAuliffe told radio host John Catsimatidis in an interview to air Sunday on New York's 970 AM. "Personally, I was disappointed that Eric lost." SNIP When Catsimatidis told the governor that some people blamed him for Cantor's stunning defeat, McAuliffe said he's not at fault.

RICHMOND — The Supreme Court on Monday effectively allowed same-sex marriage to go forward in Virginia, deciding not to take up a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the commonwealth’s ban on same-sex marriages. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a mandate to remove the last barrier to same-sex marriage in Virginia. The first same-sex marriages were performed in Charlottesville and Richmond shortly after 1 p.m. At the same time, the commonwealth recognized marriages already performed in states as legal. ---snip--- Virginia state Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William), co-author of the state’s marriage ban, decried the move...

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s chief of staff left a voice-mail message for a Democrat who was on the verge of quitting the General Assembly in June, saying that the senator’s daughter might get a top state job if he stayed to support the governor’s push to expand Medicaid, according to descriptions from three people who heard the recording. Then-Sen. Phillip P. Puckett wound up resigning, flipping control of the chamber to Republicans and thwarting McAuliffe’s signature goal of expanding health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Puckett’s abrupt exit came amid accusations that Republicans had enticed him to leave with...

Where in the World is Russ Potts? By Chris Freund September 19, 2014 The new Republican majority in the state Senate quickly went to work reorganizing committees while in town for the special session on the budget and Medicaid. Of course, those who’ve been paying attention may remember the battles over committee makeup when Republicans took over the Senate with then LG Bill Bolling casting the tie breaking vote, only to see a reversal of fortune in January when Democrats took control with LG Ralph Northam. Bad blood has been flowing between the two caucuses ever since, so the changes...

BRISTOL, VA (WJHL) - A Virginia newspaper reports a possible use for the vacant Virginia Intermont facility. As the country is faced with a surge in minors arriving on their own from Central America, federal Department of Health and Human Service officials are scrambling to find places to house the children. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that U.S officials are in talks of temporarily sheltering unaccompanied immigrant children on the campus of shuttered Saint Paul’s College in Lawrenceville. Among the discussions, is the possibility of housing the children at Virginia Intermont College in Bristol. According to Richmond Times-Dispatch, federal Department of...

Yesterday Equality Virginia was honored to receive a proclamation from Governor Terry McAuliffe that recognizes June 2014 as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride month. The proclamation noted that the Commonwealth celebrates its diverse LGBT community, is dedicated to fostering acceptance and preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and that LGBT Virginians contribute to a stronger Commonwealth. We couldn't agree more; and will continue to work towards that ideal. The support we have received from the Governor has been invaluable. He understands that fairness and inclusion are important to Virginia's families and to the commonwealth as a...

A Virginia state senator is set to resign on Monday after cutting a deal with Republicans, a stunning move that gives the state GOP the upper hand in an ongoing fight over the state's budget and an expansion of the Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act. Democratic state Sen. Phillip Puckett will step down on Monday, news first reported by The Washington Post. According to the report, Puckett's resignation leads the way for him to get a job as deputy director of the state tobacco commission and for his daughter to be confirmed for a state judgeship. It also...

ERICA YOON | The Roanoke Times Delegates cheer candidate Ed Gillespie during his introduction at the state Republican convention Saturday in Roanoke. Less than 90 minutes after voting began at the convention, Gillespie’s nearest rival, Shak Hill, conceded the nomination to Gillespie. The low attendance — 4,200 delegates had registered but about 2,700 came to Roanoke — may have expedited the balloting. Ed Gillespie, a fixture in national Republican politics, easily won his party’s nomination Saturday to take on Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., setting up a marquee fight with control of the Senate at stake. At 2:50 p.m., less than...

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is considering expanding health coverage for the poor without the approval of the state legislature, a move that would muscle his top priority past Republican opponents but also throw his young administration into a partisan firestorm and uncertain legal territory. McAuliffe and his top advisers have consulted lawyers, health-care experts and legislators on how to bypass the GOP-dominated House of Delegates, according to three people familiar with the discussions. A fourth, who like the others spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal private strategy, said the office of...

Richmond, VA (1140wrva.com) _ Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring is advising Virginia's colleges and universities and the Virginia Community College System that under current Virginia law, Virginia students who are legally present in the United States under the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program qualify for in-state tuition, provided they meet the state's domicile requirements. In a letter sent to Virginia's college and university presidents, the chancellor of the community college system and the State Council of Higher Education, Herring says the students, often called "DREAMers", will still need to gain admission to an institution of higher education, maintain...

RICHMOND — Virginia Republicans were supposed to be squirming by now. For months, their opposition to expanding Medi­caid under the Affordable Care Act has put them at odds with some traditional allies in the business world. Hospitals, the state chamber of commerce and corporate leaders have been calling, writing, visiting and buttonholing, pushing what they call “the business case” for expanding coverage to thousands of uninsured under the health-care law, with the federal government promising to pay most of the cost. Gov. Terry McAuliffe and other Democrats who favor expansion have been betting on that pressure to sway Republicans, particularly...

In his campaign for governor last fall, Terry McAuliffe adopted the straightforward slogan "Putting Jobs First" to convey to Virginia voters that, if elected, he would make the commonwealth's economy his first priority. Mr. McAuliffe's surrogates similarly touted the former Democratic moneyman's fiscal focus. Former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine endorsed Mr. McAuliffe because, he said, "We want somebody who wakes up thinking about jobs, thinking about the economy, thinking about finding a great deal, thinking about training the workforce." "I know what Terry's priority is," Mr. Kaine continued. "It's economic opportunity for Virginia." Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/11/bauer-terry-mcauliffe-culture-warrior/#ixzz2ysZPPChy Follow us: @washtimes on...

Three high-level veterans of former governor Bob McDonnell's administration, two with South Hampton Roads ties, have newly registered as lobbyists for the pro-Medicaid expansion Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association. They are Janet Vestal Kelly, a past secretary of the commonwealth who attended Regent University, and her husband, Ryan; former U.S. Rep. Thelma Drake of Norfolk, who was McDonnell's public transit director; and Matt Cobb, a deputy health secretary under McDonnell.(snip) The hospitals are leading a push to expand Medicaid, a government subsidized health care program, to as many as 400,000 uninsured low-income, Virginians newly eligible under the federal Affordable Care...

On March 19th Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) used his first veto to strike down a bill "meant to clarify state law" regarding how gun owners without a concealed carry permit may store firearms in a vehicle. The bill, HB 962, was sponsored by Delegate Benjamin L. Cline (R-Rockbridge). According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the bill said "the weapon would be considered secured if it was in a container or compartment – such as console or glove compartment – that was closed but not necessarily locked."