All posts tagged: Virginia News

Judge Temporarily Blocks Payouts From Trump’s .776 Billion ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Settlement Fund

Judge Temporarily Blocks Payouts From Trump’s $1.776 Billion ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Settlement Fund

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from proceeding with a new $1.776 billion settlement fund for the Republican president’s allies who believe they were victims of a weaponized government, halting its formation or any potential payouts for at least the next two weeks. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, scheduled a June 12 hearing for arguments on whether to extend her order barring the government from moving forward with its “Anti-Weaponization Fund” while pending litigation challenges it. The administration created the fund to resolve President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. A Justice Department spokesperson said it’s “extremely confident” that the fund is legally supported “by ample precedent,” including from settlements during the administration of President Barack Obama, a Democrat. “We will not allow the policy preferences of judges to interfere with our efforts to provide restitution to victims of lawfare,” the spokesperson said in a statement. The White House declined to comment on the judge’s ruling, …

Judge Dismisses Charges Against Ex-Administrator Accused After Student Shot Teacher

Judge Dismisses Charges Against Ex-Administrator Accused After Student Shot Teacher

Published by Sam Flores

A Virginia judge on Thursday dismissed all charges against a former school administrator accused of ignoring repeated warnings that a 6-year-old had a gun hours before a teacher was shot. Acting on a defense motion, Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson issued the ruling on the fourth day of the trial of Ebony Parker, who was charged with eight felony counts of child neglect. “The court is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime,” Robinson said. The former assistant principal was charged in the January 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News that left teacher Abby Zwerner wounded. Prosecutors had said the charges issued in a grand jury indictment were for each of the bullets in the gun brought into Zwerner’s classroom. Each count could have carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction. “We had hoped the community would have had the opportunity to weigh in through the full judicial process,” Hampton commonwealth’s attorney Anton A. Bell said in a statement. “Nevertheless, the Court has now concluded the …

Supreme Court Rejects Virginia’s Bid to Restore Congressional Map Favoring Democrats

Supreme Court Rejects Virginia’s Bid to Restore Congressional Map Favoring Democrats

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected Virginia’s bid to restore a congressional map that would have given Democrats a chance to pick up four seats in the closely divided House of Representatives. In recent days, the justices have sided with Republicans in Alabama and Louisiana who hope to redo their congressional maps to produce more GOP-leaning seats following the court’s voting rights decision. But the Virginia situation was different, stemming from a 4-3 ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court that struck down a constitutional amendment that voters narrowly passed just last month. The state court found that the Democratic-controlled legislature improperly began the process of placing the amendment on the ballot after early voting had begun in Virginia’s general election last fall. The Supreme Court typically doesn’t intervene in state court proceedings unless they present an issue of federal law. Virginia Democrats had hoped to persuade the justices that the Virginia court misread federal law and Supreme Court precedent that hold that, even if early voting is underway, an election does not …

New Virginia Law Banning `Assault Firearms’ Prompts Quick Lawsuits From Gun-Rights Groups

New Virginia Law Banning `Assault Firearms’ Prompts Quick Lawsuits From Gun-Rights Groups

Published by Sam Flores

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has signed legislation banning the sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic firearms, prompting immediate lawsuits from gun-rights groups. The limits on “ assault firearms,” as they are described by the legislation, are among two dozen new restrictions and regulations on guns enacted by the Democratic governor in her first few months in office. That marks a sharp policy reversal from her Republican predecessor, who had vetoed many similar measures. “Firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets,” Spanberger said in a statement Friday. “We are taking this step to protect families and support the law enforcement officers who work every day to keep our communities safe.” The new gun restrictions move Virginia closer to the likes of California, Illinois and New York, which similarly have full Democratic control of their legislatures and governors’ offices. They also highlight a continued national divide on gun policy, as various Republican-led states have taken steps to relax firearm restrictions that they describe as an infringement on Second Amendment rights. A dozen …

Takeaways From AP’s Profile of a Christian IVF Doctor

Takeaways From AP’s Profile of a Christian IVF Doctor

Published by Sam Flores

Dr. John Gordon, a Christian IVF doctor, was co-director of a large fertility clinic when he started to have doubts about his profession. He was troubled over helping create surplus embryos, which would often languish in storage or be discarded. With the expansion of genetic testing, couples could choose the sex of their baby. They could screen out painful or fatal diseases, but also milder impairments like hearing loss. “What are children?” he asked recently. “I mean, are they a gift from the Lord or are they just a product where you’re trying to manufacture the best product you can?” Used to treat infertility, in vitro fertilization is an assisted reproductive technology that combines sperm and egg in a lab to create an embryo. The embryo can be frozen and later transferred to a patient’s uterus in hopes of achieving a pregnancy. More than 100,000 U.S. babies were born through IVF in 2024, the most recorded in a single year, according to a recent announcement from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. Medical experts estimate …

Redistricting Is Rampant Ahead of the US House Midterm Elections. What States Are Taking Action?

Redistricting Is Rampant Ahead of the US House Midterm Elections. What States Are Taking Action?

Published by Sam Flores

A partisan redistricting battle among states has accelerated ahead of the November midterm elections following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened the federal Voting Rights Act and opened the way for states to try to eliminate voting districts drawn for racial minorities. Legislative voting districts typically are redrawn based on census data after the start of each decade. But an unusual spate of mid-decade redistricting broke out after President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans last year to reshape U.S. House districts to give the party an edge in the midterm elections. Democrats in California countered with their own political gerrymandering. More states followed. Eight states have already adopted new House maps, and several more are considering it. So far, Republicans believe they could win up to 13 additional seats from new districts in Texas, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. Democrats, meanwhile, think they could gain up to 10 seats from new districts in California, Utah and Virginia. But those tallies presume past voting patterns hold in November. Historically, the president’s party tends to …

Jury Is Deliberating in Trial of Alleged IS Militant Charged in Deadly Kabul Airport Bombing

Jury Is Deliberating in Trial of Alleged IS Militant Charged in Deadly Kabul Airport Bombing

Published by Sam Flores

The jury began deliberating after hearing attorneys’ closing arguments in the federal trial of Mohammad Sharifullah, whose capture was heralded by President Donald Trump as he addressed a joint session of Congress last year. Jurors deliberated for roughly five hours without reaching a verdict and are scheduled to resume Wednesday. Approximately 160 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members were killed in the attack on Aug. 26, 2021, when a lone suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device near an airport entry point known as Abbey Gate. Defense attorney Lauren Rosen argued that prosecutors failed to present any evidence tying Sharifullah to the bombing besides his own words to FBI agents during hours of interrogation. She said her client lied about scouting a route for the suicide bomber to the airport, where U.S. troops were conducting an evacuation operation after the longest war in American history. Rosen said Sharifullah told FBI agents what he thought they wanted to hear, possibly because he was afraid of being tortured in Pakistani custody before he was brought to the …

VCU to Create Memorial for People, Most of African Descent, Whose Remains Were Dumped in a Well

VCU to Create Memorial for People, Most of African Descent, Whose Remains Were Dumped in a Well

Published by Sam Flores

Virginia Commonwealth University will spend $3.6 million on a memorial for dozens of people, most of African descent, whose bodies were stolen from their graves, dissected by medical students and then dumped in a forgotten well. The Richmond school’s board of visitors voted Friday to fund what VCU calls the East Marshall Street Well Project, an effort to right wrongs committed more than a century ago. Construction of the memorial and burial site are expected to start in summer of 2027. “Years ago, VCU initiated this journey because we recognized a profound obligation to restore the human dignity of the people who were not afforded respect in their physical existence,” VCU President Michael Rao said in a story about the effort posted on the school’s website. “The East Marshall Street Well Project’s sacred mission is to ensure every life is honored with the permanence and reverence they deserve.” The circular memorial will feature a “unity chamber” inspired by the Toguna structures of Dogon culture in West Africa. Its design “is intended to encourage humility and …

What to Know About a Kidnapping Case Involving a Child Flown Back to the US From Cuba

What to Know About a Kidnapping Case Involving a Child Flown Back to the US From Cuba

Published by Sam Flores

The child was returned to their biological mother this week when President Donald Trump’s administration took the unusual step of sending a government plane to Cuba to retrieve the child. Federal officials cited concerns that the child had been taken to Havana for gender transition surgery. It’s not clear from court documents if the defendants, Rose Inessa-Ethington — a transgender woman and the child’s biological father — and partner Blue Inessa-Ethington actually planned on getting the child surgery, which isn’t legal for children in Cuba. A Canada camping trip turns into a flight to Cuba Rose Inessa-Ethington had shared custody under a court agreement and had arranged to take the child along with Blue Inessa-Ethington and Blue’s 3-year-old child to Calgary, Canada, last month, ostensibly to go camping, authorities said. Instead they went hundreds of miles away to Vancouver, Canada, and boarded a flight to Mexico City. On April 1, they flew to Cuba, authorities said. When the group failed to return as expected on April 3, the child’s mother contacted police in Logan, Utah, …

Navy Reservist Arrested, Accused of Fleeing to Hong Kong After Wife’s Body Found in Virginia Freezer

Navy Reservist Arrested, Accused of Fleeing to Hong Kong After Wife’s Body Found in Virginia Freezer

Published by Sam Flores

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A man accused of fleeing to Hong Kong after his wife’s body was found in a freezer in their Virginia apartment has been apprehended, authorities said. David Varela, a 38-year-old Navy Reservist, was wanted on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Lina M. Guerra, 39, who was found dead at their Norfolk apartment in February, FBI Director Kash Patel announced in a social media post. Varela had been on the run for more than two months, “but justice doesn’t forget,” he said. Varela was returned to the United States on Wednesday and remains in California, where he faces federal charges, Norfolk police said Thursday in a news release. A notice filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco states that Varela was arrested on an unlawful flight warrant and accused of fleeing to Hong Kong from Virginia to avoid prosecution for first-degree murder and concealing a dead body to prevent detection. On Feb. 5, Norfolk police searched the home of Varela and Guerra, identified in an FBI affidavit as …