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Wolf Announces Appointments to the Nation’s Service Academies

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) announced the 10th District’s Class of 2017 appointments to the nation’s service academies, as well as those selected for Academy prep schools.

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Establishment Wins Democratic Primary

State senators beat out first-time candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general.

Two first-time candidates had a hard time beating back the establishment this week, as two state senators won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor and attorney general Tuesday night.

Absentee Voting Starts Now for Democratic Primaries

Primaries held for lieutenant governor and attorney general.

The State Board of Elections reported Monday, May 6, that absentee voting began for the June 11, 2013 primary and all localities met the required 45-day deadline for mailing absentee ballots to voters.

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Governor McDonnell Endorses Springfield Site for FBI Headquarters

In letter to FBI director, McDonnell says Fairfax County site will advance “national security mission.”

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has publicly endorsed the Springfield warehouse site for the new FBI building headquarters. In an April 30 letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller and Dan Tangherlini, the acting administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration, McDonnell said the federally owned warehouse is the best choice for a number of reasons.

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McLean Forum Highlights Sex Trafficking

Area officials host human trafficking forum.

Del. Barbara Comstock (R-34) and Del. Tim Hugo (R-40) joined Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) and others at the McLean Community Center Friday, May 3, to discuss the facts of human trafficking. The U.S. State Department estimated that human trafficking is the third largest source of profits for international organized crime, behind firearms and narcotics.

Comstock, Wolf to Host Human Trafficking Forum in McLean

Delegate Barbara Comstock (R-34) will host a town hall meeting on Friday, May 3, with U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10), Del. Tim Hugo (R-40), the Richmond Justice Initiative and a panel of local experts, federal and state officials to educate the community about human sex trafficking in Virginia and both how the commonwealth is cracking down on this growing crime and how residents can further increase awareness of the threat posed in the area.

Eight Run for MCC Governing Board

Three adult, two teen positions available.

Eight Run for MCC Governing Board

Editorial: More Obstacles to Transparency

General Assembly puts more information out of public reach, but other factors also limit access.

The first paragraph of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, passed by the General Assembly in 1968, states that all public records "shall be presumed open." It doesn’t add, “except when we don’t want to,” although that provision does seem to be available in many cases. Individual government entities have a variety of ways of making it hard for the public to access public information.

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Governor Approves Conditional Budget for Medicaid Expansion

Vote-swapping operation traded transportation votes for Medicaid money.

Half a million uninsured Virginians may be eligible for Medicaid under an agreement now being worked out in Richmond — a deal in which Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell agreed to include Medicaid expansion as part of the budget if Senate Democrats supported a transportation package.

A Voice for the Voiceless

Q&A with SALT Coordinator John Horejsi.

“When there are bills affecting the wealthy the committee rooms are filled to capacity, but when issues affecting the needy, the hearing rooms are empty.” —SALT Coordinator John Horejsi

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EPA Will Not Appeal Court Decision on Accotink Watershed

EPA regulations could have cost county $300 million.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) effectively ended a two-year legal battle with Fairfax County when the agency announced last week it will not appeal a federal court decision favoring Fairfax County’s handling of the Accotink Creek watershed.

Local Leaders Praise Transportation Funding Bill

State Senator Chap Petersen wants you to curb your enthusiasm.

Politics makes strange bedfellows, and sometimes estranged ones as well. On Saturday, the last day of the Virginia General Assembly, state legislators struck a bipartisan 11th hour deal to pass a comprehensive transportation funding plan—the first long-term plan in 27 years.

Kathleen Murphy to Challenge Comstock in November

Democrat Kathleen Murphy kicked off her campaign yesterday to challenge Virginia Del. Barbara Comstock (R-34) in this November’s House of Delegates election.

Nazi Commonwealth

Bipartisan team seeks compensation for victims of forced sterilization.

Nobody knows how many people are survivors of Virginia’s forced sterilization program, which targeted people with mental illness, mental retardation or epilepsy. But a bipartisan effort now under consideration in Richmond would hand each and every one of them a $50,000 check from the people of Virginia. According to one calculation, that could mean as much as $73 million.

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Four Northern Virginia Senators Targeted

Redistricting effort puts Fairfax County seats in the spotlight.

Four Northern Virginia state Senators are targets of a Republican-led effort to draw new districts — Sen. George Barker (D-39), Sen. Dave Marsden (D-37), Sen. Toddy Puller (D-36) and Sen. Chap Petersen (D-34). Democrats say the redistricting effort is a cynical attempt to take advantage of the absence of Sen. Henry Marsh (D-16), a prominent civil rights veteran, who was in Washington, D.C. for the inauguration on Monday. But state Sen. John Watkins (R-10) of Powhatan defended the effort as a way to create a sixth majority black Senate district in Southside. It passed the Senate on a 20-to-19 vote.

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