By Susan Laume: (Editor’s Note: This is the second of an occasional series on Virginia’s 2020 animal legislation.) Animal welfare is an issue where “two Virginias” are often evidenced in citizen viewpoints: rural and urban. Perhaps nowhere has the difference in views of what constitutes humane treatment been seen as acutely as in the multi-year legislative debate over adequate shelter…
By Susan Laume: Those following Virginia’s gun violence prevention measures were surprised when State Sen. Scott Surovell (D-36th) joined three other Democrats, Sens. “Chap” Petersen (D-34th), John Edwards (D-21st) and Creigh Deeds (D-25th), in a committee vote against advancing an assault weapons ban on February 17. Gun control and gun advocates were among those in the audience to ask about…
By Susan Laume: A large group of Northern Virginians interested in redistricting reform and several of their legislators attended a League of Women Voters (LWV) forum on the topic on Sunday at Sherwood Community Center in Fairfax. Virginia Del. Mark Sickles (District 43), a member of the House Privileges and Elections Committee, spoke about the Constitutional Amendment (SJ 306) sponsored…
The heated topic of money in politics in Virginia drew a star-studded list of speakers and a large, boisterous audience to a forum on Nov. 28th at the Mason District Government Center. State legislators, candidates and activists took turns detailing the corrosive effects of corporate money on politics throughout the Commonwealth, calling out Dominion Energy, the NRA, the Koch industrial…
Thursday night, Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, Northern Virginia’s only LGBTQ+ bar, was filled to capacity for Virginia Del. Mark Levine’s 2nd Annual Rainbow Democrats Extravaganza featuring special guest Va. Del. Danica Roem. Levine, who is one of three openly-LGBTQ+ state legislators representing Fairfax County, kicked things off cheering the recent passage of Medicaid expansion in the state, saying, “Danica…