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Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced new coronavirus restrictions Thursday and urged people of faith to stay out of their churches during the Christmas season. “This year, we need to think about what is truly the most important thing. Is it the worship or the building?” Northam said at a press conference. “For me, God is wherever you are. You don’t have to sit in the church pew for God to hear your prayers.” He urged faith leaders to “lead the way” and “set an example” for their communities.

Virginia Military Institute's top official resigned Monday, a week after Gov. Ralph Northam announced an investigation into the school's culture and policies following reports of racism that received national attention. Retired Army Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III submitted his resignation letter as superintendent, which the board of visitors accepted "with deep regret," board President John Boland said in a statement. In his resignation letter to the president of the board of visitors, Peay wrote that Gov. Northam’s chief of staff, Clark Mercer, informed him on Friday that “the governor and certain legislative leaders had lost confidence in my leadership as...

Accused conspirators charged in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also discussed "taking" Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, an FBI agent testified at a court hearing Tuesday. During the hearing in Grand Rapids, Mich., to discuss the charges filed last week against members of a self-proclaimed militia accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic governor, FBI Special Agent Richard Trask revealed that months ago some of the suspects met in Dublin, Ohio, where Northam, also a Democrat, was discussed as a potential target.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced he would sign an executive order to protect the lives of babies born alive in a botched abortion. A similar bill failed in the Senate last year, but Democrats have argued that the legislation is “redundant.” If so, they should have no complaints when the president issues his order, right? “I will always defend the sacred right to life,” Trump announced at the 16th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. “Today I am announcing that I will be signing the ‘born alive’ executive order to ensure that all precious babies born alive—no matter their circumstances—receive...

Democratic congressional in North Carolina recently called on his audience to “stomp” on the necks of Republican “extremists,” according to Twitter messages that resurfaced during a debate between candidates for the seat. “Screw they go low, we go high bullsh*t,” said the September 11, 2019 tweet by Moe Davis. “When @NCGOP extremists go low, we stomp their scrawny pasty necks with our heels and once you hear the sound of a crisp snap you grind your heel hard and twist it slowly side to side for good measure. He needs to know who whupped his ass.” Davis, a retired Air...

All but three Senate Democrats now openly support infanticide of babies who manage to be born alive despite an attempted abortion.  A total of 60 votes were needed to overcome a promised filibuster, and the measure gained only 53 votes.  But the field of presidential contenders from the Senate are now all on the record.  As the Washington Post notes: All of the announced 2020 Democratic presidential candidates — Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Kamala D. Harris (Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — voted "no." Senator Ben Sasse's sponsorship of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act and Mitch McConnell's...

Nebraska GOP Sen. Ben Sasse, in an interview Thursday with Fox News, ramped up his criticism of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam over comments on a controversial late-term abortion bill -- saying the governor effectively discussed "infanticide" and should resign if he won't back down. Sasse, a pro-life Republican, said Northam’s comments were “morally repugnant” and argued the Democratic governor should “get the hell out of office” if he doesn’t support protecting the life of a child who survived an abortion. “The comments the governor of Virginia made were about fourth-term abortions,” Sasse said on Fox News’ “The Daily Briefing with...

Back in February Virginia passed legislation that could give nearly 270,000 undocumented immigrants living in Virginia the opportunity to drive passed each chamber of the General Assembly. Bills passed in the House with a 57-42 vote and in the Senate with a 22-18 vote. The so-called ‘Licenses for All’ bills allow immigrants to get a driver privilege card (essentially a temporary license) regardless of their legal status. Previously, Virginia law required anyone applying for a driver’s license to provide proof of a “legal presence” to show you are legally authorized to be in the country. Yesterday it was officially signed...

Unlike the long-dead figures whose statues and other honorifics have been assailed in recent weeks, Robert Byrd, a former Ku Klux Klan organizer, remains basically untouchable. CHARLESTON, W.Va. — While monuments and building names said to be stained by racism are being erased across the country, one former Ku Klux Klan organizer remains virtually untouchable.The late Sen. Robert C. Byrd, the West Virginia Democrat and Senate majority leader who organized a Klan chapter in 1941 and filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is celebrated in the state, his name gracing over three dozen public works projects, including two federal...

Teachers in Virginia's largest school district have developed a new "anti-racist" and "culturally responsible" curriculum that will be available to students as early as this fall. Social studies teachers from Fairfax County collaborated with other Virginia public school teachers to revamp their history curriculum, using a framework from Teaching Tolerance, the educational arm of the liberal nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center. The new curriculum encourages students to "examine materials, events, and institutions critically attending to power, position, and bias" and will be available for use in 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 11th-grade classrooms. Colleen Eddy, Fairfax County Public Schools social...

The First Lady of Virginia, Pam Northam, wife of Ralph, got herself in hot water this week for handing out cotton to black students while they were on a tour. But the Northams have form when it comes to messy race relations. There’s the whole blackface or KKK costume school photograph business. Then there’s the blacking up as Michael Jackson thing, which Ralph admitted to. Oh, and Ralph Northam’s family owned at least 84 slaves. Northam maintains that he learned about his family’s slave ownership in 2017. That story is harder to believe once you see that three out of...

Virginia Beach native and Grammy-winning pop superstar Pharrell Williams has teamed with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to announce the official declaration of June 19, “Juneteenth,” as a state holiday. “Every year we celebrate July 4th, Independence Day … but that freedom we celebrate did not include everyone … it’s time we elevate this, not just a celebration by and for some Virginians, but one acknowledged and celebrated by all of us because that’s how important this event is,” Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said on Tuesday. June 19, also known as “Juneteenth,” is a day celebrated for the final liberation of...

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - The Christopher Columbus statue has been torn down and thrown in the lake by protesters in downtown Richmond. The Christopher Columbus statue is located in Byrd Park. The statue was also set on fire before being thrown into the lake.

Some of the changes Northam said they’ve made include expanding voting laws, making election day a holiday, decriminalizing marijuana and eliminating a holiday commemorate Confederating generals. Going forward, the Governor presented four pillars of a plan for going forward with reforms that address racial inequities:

The United Daughters of the Confederacy have removed a Confederate monument a month early from an Alexandria, Va., intersection, Mayor Justin Wilson (D) said Tuesday. Wilson said the group made the decision to remove the statue, “Appomattox,” ahead of schedule in light of several cases of segregation-era Confederate monuments being defaced in protests around the country, The Washington Post reported. The statue was erected decades after the end of the Civil War in Alexandria's Old Town neighborhood. The city has sought to remove the statue from public land for years, but it remained protected by state law. In April, Virginia...

Gun control legislation has been all the rage in Richmond since Democrats took over the Virginia General Assembly last November. The Democratic majority teamed with Gov. Ralph Northam in their ambitious efforts to cross items off the gun control checklist, such as enacting a “red flag” law, banning private firearm transfers, reviving a handgun purchase limit, and even implementing a modern sporting rifle ban that was thankfully defeated in committee — for now. It should come as no surprise, then, that the governor who wouldn’t let his past use of blackface stop his political pandering would also not let a...

On May 26, Virginia’s Gov. Ralph Northam announced that wearing masks outside one’s home will be mandatory effective May 29. He first hinted he might issue a masking order a week ago, likely to test the water. A new refrain in public discourse is growing in volume by the day: “Things will never be the same.” The certainty with which we are assured of this pre-determined future is perplexing. Whether or not “things” will ever be the same is not at all clear, but that some people hope things will never be the same is certain. To those looking to...

“This emergency declaration will provide the necessary support to localities as they work to keep our communities safe,” Northam said in a release. “There are many voices speaking out for justice and healing across the United States and in our Commonwealth, but others are exploiting this pain and inciting violence.”

Northern Virginia finally entered Phase One of the “Forward Virginia” reopening plan after meeting four key metrics. After delaying our region’s entry originally scheduled for May 15th, residents here in this politically blue haven can now breathe a sigh of relief. Though our region is getting a semblance of freedom, there’s a big caveat: the entire state is subject to a mandatory mask rule, effective today. On Tuesday, Governor Ralph Northam issued an edict mandating mask-wearing statewide. Virginians must wear them in public indoor places—despite Northam being caught maskless and not adhering to his own social distancing recommendations in Virginia...

Face coverings will be required inside public establishments starting Friday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday. He also addressed photos of him without a face covering interacting with well-wishers in Virginia Beach over the weekend. At a briefing, Northam said that anywhere people can congregate in groups — including but not limited to stores, restaurants, barbershops, government buildings and public transportation — must wear face coverings, with a few exceptions for people: Eating or drinking at a restaurant Exercising Who have a health condition that prohibits a face covering Who are under the age of 10, although Northam strongly recommended...