Virginia

The FBI alleges John William Kirby Kelley participated in hundreds of 'swatting' attacks involving 134 agencies in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

National

Virginia Man Charged In Neo-Nazi-Affiliated 'Swatting' Ring

8:14pm January 15, 2020

by Vanessa Romo

Swatting is harassing a target by drawing extreme law enforcement responses with fake bomb or shooting reports. The government says the suspect bragged about it in a white supremacist chatroom.

Both houses of Virginia's legislature voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, but the ERA's future is uncertain: Its original deadline elapsed decades ago. Here, an ERA supporter reacts to a Virginia Senate committee's vote to advance the ERA amendmen

Virginia Ratifies The Equal Rights Amendment, Decades After The Deadline

7:08pm January 15, 2020

by Bill Chappell

The ERA's provisions include a guarantee that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged ... on account of sex." But its legal status is uncertain.

Va. Gov. Ralph Northam announced on Friday that he is "deeply disturbed" by reports of a young girl being strip searched at a corrections facility last month.

National

Virginia Governor Suspends Policy Allowing Strip Searches Of Children At Prisons

7:14pm December 06, 2019

by Brakkton Booker

An 8-year-old girl was strip searched at Buckingham Correctional Center last month. A prison spokesperson says the prison staffer who approved the search didn't have the authority to do so.

Virginia's Gov. Ralph Northam speaks to supporters at a Democratic victory party in Richmond, Va., Tuesday. Democrats will control the Governor's mansion, and both chambers of the General Assembly for the first time since 1993.

As Democrats Prepare To Take Power In Virginia, Gov. Northam Focuses On Gun Control

3:15am November 09, 2019

Democrats will soon control Virginia for the first time since 1993. Gov. Ralph Northam tells NPR: "With a Democratic Senate and House, I believe we can move forward with common sense gun legislation."

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President Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Lexington, Ky., Monday. His efforts don't appear to have been enough to carry incumbent GOP Gov. Matt Bevin over the finish line.

Politics & Government

Tuesday's Elections Show Impeachment Might Not Boost GOP As Much As It Hoped

4:21pm November 06, 2019

by Domenico Montanaro

The president's campaign may be raising lots of money off impeachment, but it may not be firing up rural voters as Republicans anticipated. We talk about that and six other lessons from the elections.

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Garrison Coward is one of two African American Republican candidates running in next month's legislative elections in Virginia. Coward previously served as an aide to GOP U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman and led the Republican Party of Virginia's outreach to minorit

In Virginia, 2 Young Candidates Vie To Be First Black GOP Lawmakers In 15 Years

10:31am October 18, 2019

by Ben Paviour

Since Reconstruction, Virginia has elected only two African American Republicans to the legislature. This year, two young black men running against Democrats might change that.

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Canvassing for votes in Virginia Beach, Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal meets voter Mildred Manger. "It's just stupid that everybody has to have a gun," Manger says. "I mean, give me a break!"

Gun Control Is Front And Center In Virginia Races

8:24pm October 11, 2019

by Melissa Block

A mass shooting there this spring that left 12 dead has put the issue into sharp focus. Democrats — bolstered by large cash infusions from gun control groups — hope to turn the state legislature blue.

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Dr. Joel Smithers was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Wednesday for illegal opioid prescriptions.

Doctor Gets 40 Years For Illegally Prescribing More Than Half A Million Opioid Doses

8:45pm October 02, 2019

by Brakkton Booker

Dr. Joel Smithers was convicted in May of more than 800 federal counts of illegal drug distribution. He was facing life in prison and a $200 million fine. The court ordered him to pay $86,000.

Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax is suing CBS, alleging the network didn't fully vet his accusers' claims and omitted information that would exonerate him.

Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax Files $400 Million Lawsuit Against CBS

8:26pm September 12, 2019

by Ben Paviour

Fairfax alleges the network defamed him by airing interviews with two women who had accused him of sexual assault. CBS said it stands by its reporting and will "vigorously defend" against the lawsuit.

Pastor Earnie Lucas of Friendship Baptist Church in Appomattox, Va., posted this message on his church sign around the same time that President Trump tweeted that four Democratic members of Congress — all women of color — should "go back and help fix

In Virginia, 2 Churches Feel The Aftermath Of Trump's Racist Rhetoric

6:40am August 12, 2019

by Sarah McCammon

Two small-town Virginia churches with the same name, but very different congregations, recently found themselves tangled in controversy related to the president's tweets.