News

A plan to bring deer hunters into an Albemarle County's subdivision has neighbors at odds with one another...and a Virginia university that primarily educates Mormon students has been cleared of an anti-gay harassment accusation but told to institute some new policies. Those are among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project's VA News link on vpap.org.
 

Governor McAuliffe has named March “Mediation Month” in the Commonwealth, to honor the work done in courts and other resolution centers. 

The Virginia Association for Community Conflict Resolution and the Virginia Mediation Network are promoting several free seminars during the month.

The 2015 legislative session in Virginia may be remembered for expanding access to medical marijuana and excusing Dominion Power from government oversight of its rates, but it could also be known for what didn’t happen. 

When President Obama announced that children raised in this country by undocumented parents could remain here legally, states had to decide whether to grant them in-state tuition.  Two lawmakers introduced bills to deny it, but Delegate Alfonso Lopez says neither was approved. 

Despite advancements in gender equality, women still do the majority of housework in the U.S.  It’s known as the ‘Second Shift’ - when they find themselves working late, like some secret, unpaid workforce. But some say it’s time to bring cleaning out of the closet, appreciate it for what it is, and treat it with the dignity it deserves. 

So what’s the secret to getting your house clean? Invite people over.  Something about the idea of company on the way focuses the mind. 

State and local officials would be governed by tougher ethics rules under legislation that passed the General Assembly during the final hours of the 2015 session.  The bills make it illegal for lobbyists, their clients, and anyone who seeks to do business with the state or local governments to give an official a gift worth more than $100. 

The bills lower the gift cap from $250 to $100, require on-line reporting of gifts worth more than $50, and erase the distinction between tangible and intangible gifts, such as meals or travel.