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Richmond mayor to launch guaranteed income pilot
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney unveiled a guaranteed income pilot program on Thursday that will give 18 working families $500 a month for 24 months. The city, in partnership with the Robins Foundation, has launched the Richmond Resilience Initiative. The program is intended to benefit families who no longer qualify for benefits ass[...]
Initial jobless claims on the rise again
The number of initial jobless claims in Virginia rose by 8.7% last week, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday. For the week ending Oct. 24, 12,352 Virginians filed initial claims for unemployment, an increase of 987 from the previous week — rising to its highest level since mid-August, according to the VEC. Continued claims dropped […]
Va., Md., N.C. governors sign offshore wind collaboration
The governors of Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina on Thursday announced a three-state collaboration to advance offshore wind projects — the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Regional Transformative Partnership for Offshore Wind Energy Resources. SMART-POWER will work to promote the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions as a hub for[...]
SW Va. sees COVID increase; governor urges caution
Although Virginia’s overall COVID-19 infection rate is much lower than other states that are currently experiencing spikes, the number of new cases in Southwest Virginia has been steadily increasing over the past two weeks, Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday in a COVID-19 update. According to health directors in the region,[...]
Con man gets 7 years for $4.4M government intelligence scam
A former Drug Enforcement Administration spokesperson was sentenced to seven years in federal prison on Wednesday for defrauding at least a dozen companies of more than $4 million while pretending to be a covert officer of the Central Intelligence Agency. In June, Garrison Kenneth Courtney, 44, of Florida, entered a guilty plea [...]
Kaine introduces legislation to establish HBCU business centers
U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) and Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) announced Tuesday they have introduced the Reaching America’s Rural Minority Businesses Act, which would establish up to 10 minority business centers at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to serve rural and underserved communities. The legislation would authorize the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) in the […][...]
State wins Lee monument suit; removal of statue is delayed
Updated Oct. 29: Five plaintiffs seeking to keep the monument in place have filed a notice of appeal with the Richmond Circuit Court, according to the attorney general’s office, which provided the document. The notice was signed by Helen Marie Taylor, Evan Morgan Massey, Janet Heltzel, George D. Hostetler and John-Lawrenc[...]
Virginia COVID-19 rate remains steady at 5%
Virginia recorded an increase of 7,447 COVID-19 cases and 124 deaths last week, according to Virginia Department of Health statistics reported Monday, Oct. 26. The state’s positivity rate remained at 5% for the second week. As the nation sees surges in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths across the South, West and Midwest, the numbers in […]
CACI wins $86.5M Homeland Security task order
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded Arlington-based federal technology contractor CACI International Inc. a five-year, $86.5 million task order to analyze open-source data to prevent criminal, fraud, risk and terrorism activity. Under the task order, CACI will work to identify event patterns through data analysis approaches aimed at detecting criminal groups, conspiracies and activities […][...]
Leidos secures $149.2M Navy contract
The U.S. Navy awarded Reston-based Fortune 500 federal contractor Leidos Holdings Inc. a $149.2 million contract to provide services and supplies for the Naval Array Technical Support Center facility’s operations, the Department of Defense announced Thursday. The majority of the work on the contract will be performed in Newport, Rhode Island; Reston and Virginia Beach. […]
BAE Systems lands $400M Air Force contract
The U.S. Air Force awarded Arlington-based defense contractor BAE Systems Inc. a $400 million contract to develop an air vehicle system for the Skyborg program, a team of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) that use artificial intelligence to adapt to battlefield conditions. “The need to generate combat power faster than our advers[...]
Northam signs bills on COVID-19, criminal justice
Gov. Ralph Northam signed 16 bills from the General Assembly’s fall special session into law on Wednesday, many of which were related to the COVID-19 pandemic and criminal justice reforms. Northam also proposed changes to five bills. “I am proud to sign new laws that strengthen our COVID-19 response efforts and make our [...]
