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WASHINGTON – Health insurance premiums in Virginia’s individual marketplace are set to rise as high as 265 percent in this new year. According to the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Affordable Care Act filing data, the maximum allowable premium hike for Optima Health Plan customers is 265.5 percent, which represents the largest increases in the Virginia individual market next year. Some Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company health plans on the individual market are set to rise 168.6 percent in 2018.

A large southern university hosts a total of 12 different LGBTQ organizations as well as an LGBTQ resource center, an arrangement that has led it to receive high marks by a national gay campus watchdog group. Campus officials, however, remain silent on how much of the school’s budget goes to fund these groups, and not a single one of the groups responded to repeated inquiries from The College Fix.

WASHINGTON — Republican David Yancey won a drawing to break a tie in the disputed 94th District race in Newport News Thursday however his opponent is expected to challenge the decision, possibly seeking yet another recount. Control of the House of Delegates is at stake. A win by Yancey in the race would give Republicans enough votes to lead the chamber, selecting a Republican speaker – likely Kirk Cox – and choosing Republican committee chairs. Simonds replied that she may also still seek a second recount, a contest in the House of Delegates or “other legal options.”

Republican David Yancey will keep his seat in the Virginia House of Delegates after a state official pulled his name out of a bowl Thursday, deciding a contest that ended in a tie in November. Yancey and Democrat Shelly Simonds each received 11,608 votes in their Newport News-based district. Initial results showed Yancey leading by just ten votes. A recount gave Simonds a one-vote edge. But Republicans challenged a single ballot, resulting in a tie. Democrats sued to overturn the challenge, but on Wednesday a three-judge panel rejected their complaint. That led to Thursday’s drawing, in Richmond, out of a...

President Trump announced late Wednesday that he had disbanded his controversial "election integrity" commission and blamed a refusal by more than a dozen states to provide what he called "basic information." "Rather than engage in endless legal battles at taxpayer expense, today President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order to dissolve the Commission, and he has asked the Department of Homeland Security to review its initial findings and determine next courses of action," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. The commission, led by Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, had...

The disputed ballot that ended the race in a tie. Democrat Shelly Simonds had asked the court to reverse course and declare her the winner. (Ballot in court documents) WASHINGTON — A recount court has denied Democrat Shelly Simonds’ request to reconsider its finding that Virginia’s 94th District House race ended in a tie at 11,608 votes. The ruling, issued Wednesday, means the random drawing scheduled to decide the outcome of the recount between Simonds and Republican Del. David Yancey is set to move forward as planned Thursday morning barring any snow-related delays. (The Department of Elections said no schedule...

This week, SpaceX has been working diligently to drum up media coverage for the unveiling of the "Falcon Heavy," its reusable, super heavy lift rocket that may be used for deep space missions. While the media narrative SpaceX is pushing might look appealing, federal appropriators should proceed with extreme caution.SpaceX is advertising this rocket as "the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two." The company projects it has the potential to lift 119,000 pounds into space – twice the amount of the current leader. While the concept sounds good in theory, so have all the...

"I’m going to deny the transfer, I’m going to inform the voter that they’re still registered in [their previous jurisdiction], and I’m going to send them an application so they can fill that out,” Fairfax County General Registrar Cameron Sasnett said in an interview. (WTOP/Max Smith) WASHINGTON — Thousands of people who recently moved to Fairfax County from other parts of Virginia are set to receive notice in the next week or so that their voter registration requests have been denied. This move follows concerns about the way a state Department of Elections system handles requests submitted through the Department...

WASHINGTON — With construction on new toll lanes ramping up this year on Interstate 66 between Gainesville and the Beltway, Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board is due to approve a number of projects next week that will be paid for by the toll lane operators. After a public hearing Thursday, the board is due to vote Jan. 10 on how to spend $496 million of a $579 million payment that Express Mobility Partners gave the state as part of the construction agreement. An additional $79 million is due to go toward oversight of the project, including public outreach, and there is...

The FBI on Friday night raided the Sterling, Virginia, home of a Muslim convert, Sean Andrew Duncan, who, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case, stated that he attempted to join ISIS in Syria and shared bomb-making instructions with a woman currently in international custody. Sterling, about 20 miles from Washington, D.C., is home to a large Muslim community. According to an Instagram post by Duncan, he converted to Islam at age 17 and moved to the area from Pittsburgh this past June. When reports emerged Friday night that an FBI raid was ongoing, there was no indication...

WASHINGTON — About two years ago, during the last big debate over Interstate 66 rush-hour tolls for solo drivers, there was a lot of talk about $17 round-trip tolls. Virginia’s transportation secretary said this week that the tolls drivers have seen inside the Beltway so far remain in line with those projections. New data the Virginia Department of Transportation provided Thursday from the first day of tolls on Monday morning show the average morning toll for drivers who paid with an E-ZPass, or who will get automated violation notices in the mail, was $10.70, while the average afternoon toll paid...

STERLING, Va. - The FBI is conducting a raid in a Northern Virginia neighborhood on Friday. Aerial footage from SkyFox showed police activity taking place in the 46900 block of Courtyard Square in Sterling. by Taboola Sponsored Links Ad Content How an MSCJ Can Help You Serve Federal Agencies University of Cincinnati This Shave Club's New Offer Explains Their Cult Following Dollar Shave Club “At this time we can only confirm that there is court authorized law enforcement activity in Sterling, Virginia,” an FBI spokesperson said in a statement. Image Gallery 3 PHOTOS (Photo: Cori Coffin / FOX 5 WTTG)...

It is almost as though Joey Gargan decided to slip away before anyone noticed. And the funny thing about it is that he succeeded. So, Ted Kennedy cousin Joseph F. “Joey” Gargan, who was Kennedy’s close companion, won’t be around to answer any questions about “Chappaquiddick,” the upcoming film about the late Sen. Ted Kennedy and the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. Joey, 87, who was at Kennedy’s side that fateful night, died at his Virginia home December 12 and hardly anybody made the connection to Kennedy and Chappaquiddick

Many of us came into 2017 expecting the worst. And the worst is what we got. Donald Trump has been every bit as horrible as one might have expected; he continues to prove himself utterly unfit for office, morally and intellectually. And the Republican Party turns out to be composed entirely of cynical apparatchiks, willing to sell out every principle — and every shred of their own dignity — as long as their donors get big tax cuts. Yet I’m ending this year with a feeling of hope, because tens of millions of Americans have risen to the occasion. The...

A man suspected of fatally shooting his wife at a Fredericksburg apartment complex led authorities on a chase along Interstate 95 in Stafford County late Thursday morning, opened fire on officers and then turned the gun on himself before crashing his SUV, police said. The man crashed into a guardrail in the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 after sideswiping another vehicle shortly after 11:30 a.m. Thursday, flipping his black Ford Explorer and blocking the interstate. The crash came after the driver fired multiple rounds at both a Virginia State Police trooper and a Stafford County Sheriff’s deputy who were attempting...

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The superintendent of the Virginia State Police is retiring, but the agency’s spokeswoman says his departure is unrelated to this summer’s violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Governor-elect Ralph Northam made the announcement along with other administration appointments Tuesday afternoon at Richmond’s Fire Station No. 17. Colonel W. Steven Flaherty’s retirement marks the third departure in two days of a public official who had a role in responding to the deadly rally. State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said, however, that Flaherty’s retirement is unrelated. She says he had been planning to step down at the end...

Multinational telecommunications conglomerate AT&T is expected to lay off more than 1,000 American workers, including those in the Midwest and South, while the company continues importing foreign workers. This week, AT&T announced that it would be laying off roughly 600 Americans across the Midwest, according to AppleInsider. Additionally, the company will lay off about 700 American workers with the AT&T subsidiary DirectTV and another 700 workers in the Texas and Missouri regions. This month, AT&T also laid off about 215 American workers in nine southern states. Overall, according to AppleInsider, the layoffs are impacting Americans in California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland,...

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine’s youngest son has been placed on probation and ordered to pay $236 in fines and fees in connection with his arrest following a rally for President Donald Trump in Minnesota. Linwood “Woody” Kaine, of Minneapolis, was among eight people arrested in the St. Paul rally in March. He pleaded guilty to a charge of obstructing the legal process and received a 90-day sentence, with 86 days suspended. He served four days in jail.

[snip]The two U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the Turkish officer was working at the headquarters of NATO's Allied Command Transformation, located in Norfolk, Virginia. They did not name him or offer his rank. However, an official at Turkey's embassy in Washington said Turkish Navy Rear Admiral Mustafa Ugurlu had failed to report to authorities after Turkey issued a detention order for him last month. "On July 22, on that day he left his badges and his ID at the base and after that no one has heard anything from him," the official said, also...

Police in Fairfax County, a Washington suburb, announced Saturday they filed charges against the teen. His name wasn’t released because of his age. Scott Fricker, 48, and his wife Buckley Kuhn-Fricker, 43, were shot Friday in their home in the community of Reston. Police say the teen knew the victims, who confronted him when he entered their home. Police say the teen then shot the couple and himself. The Washington Post reported Saturday the suspect had been dating the couple’s daughter, but that the family had recently persuaded her to break up with him because he espoused neo-Nazi philosophies.