A state traffic death spike and more Virginia headlines

The State Capitol. (Ned Oliver/ Virginia Mercury)

• The White House announced a tentative deal to avoid a railroad strike that could’ve caused major economic disruption.—Washington Post

• A member of the Hanover County School Board could face discipline for sending sensitive student information to a conservative legal group that opposes LGBTQ-friendly policies.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Speaking at Liberty University, former Vice President Mike Pence talked up constitutional duty and declared “wokeism has run amok.”—Cardinal News

• Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration has expressed interested in allowing publicly funded K-12 lab schools at private universities. But there’s a dispute over whether the law allows it.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Traffic deaths in Virginia rose 72% in the first quarter of 2022, the third-highest increase in the nation for that period.—Axios

• Portsmouth City Council members don’t have a great record of attending board and commission meetings dealing with city business.—Virginian-Pilot

• One of the men police accused of plotting a July 4 mass shooting in Richmond is asking a federal court to suppress evidence against him, arguing police found guns by illegally searching his home.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• An independent commission recommended removing a Confederate memorial from Arlington National Cemetery. One retired Army officer called the monument “problematic from top to bottom.”—Associated Press

• Southwest Virginia’s Coalfields Expressway, a road project considered critical to the local economy, is getting another $7 million in federal funding.—Cardinal News

• A $300 million indoor farming operation is coming to Chesterfield County, creating 300 jobs.—WRIC

• A Virginia “Tinder Swindler” pleaded guilty in connection to a scam in which he and alleged co-conspirators posed as women on dating apps to try to get sailors to send them money.—Navy Times

by Staff Report, Virginia Mercury

Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sarah Vogelsong for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on Facebook and Twitter.