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Temporary Petersburg casino to open in January

SUMMARY:

  • The temporary Live! Casino in is slated to open January 2026
  • 75,000-square-foot facility will employ about 500 staff
  • industry executive Penny Parayo will be casino’s general manager

A temporary casino preceding the $1.4 billion Live! Casino & Hotel in Petersburg is expected to open in January 2026, employing 500 workers, according to the casino’s developer, The Cordish Cos.

The temporary facility is being built near the site of the permanent casino on a 100-acre site off Interstate 95 in Petersburg, near Wagner Road and Brasfield Parkway. It will include 75,000 square feet of gaming space, 900 slots, 33 live-action table games, a bar and a quick-service restaurant.

While the licensing process is still ongoing, casino spokesperson Renee Mutchnik said via email that the temporary site is on track to open at the beginning of the year.

“We are actively reviewing applications, conducting interviews and hiring qualified candidates,” she said. “We will have 500 team members for the temporary casino.”

Initially, developers expected the temporary site to open by the end of this year. The revised estimate opening date to January reflects a slight delay in plans.

“The opening was always dependent on regulatory approval and until that time we will not have an opening date,” Mutchnik said in an email.

Baltimore-based Cordish and Virginia Beach developer Enterprise broke ground in March on the much-anticipated casino and hotel resort. They anticipate the project will create 1,400 permanent jobs.

Gaming industry veteran Penny Parayo has been tapped as general manager for Live! Casino Virginia. Photo Courtesy The Cordish Cos.

The permanent is slated to open in 2027. Once complete, the site will include more than 450,000 square feet of gaming, and dining space. It will also feature 75,000 square feet of meeting, convention and entertainment space, 1,600 slot machines, 65 live-action table games, high-limit slot and table areas, and a 200-room hotel with 20 suites, a pool and fitness center.

Cordish has tapped gaming industry veteran Penny Parayo as senior vice president and general manager for Live! Casino Virginia, both the temporary and permanent facilities.

“We are incredibly fortunate as a company to have a leader as skilled and knowledgeable as Penny, and we’re so pleased to elevate her to a position where she can have even greater impact on the growth of our organization,” said Joe Billhimer, chief operating and development officer for Cordish Gaming Group, in a statement.

Parayo most recently served as senior vice president of property operations for Live! Casino & Hotel in Hanover, Maryland. She also served as vice president of slot and beverage operations at the Maryland location from 2013 to 2018.

The Petersburg casino is on track to be one of five in Virginia.

So far, Virginia has three operating : Rivers Casino Portsmouth, the state’s first permanent casino; the Hard Rock Bristol Casino, which opened in November; and the Caesars Virginia casino in Danville, which opened in December.

Meanwhile, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Boyd Gaming started construction on the long-delayed casino in February.

All four of those casino projects were passed via local referendum in 2020, but Richmond voters rejected an Urban One casino project in 2021 and 2023 votes. Last year, Virginia General Assembly lawmakers passed legislation that gave Petersburg a chance to host a casino, pending voters’ approval of a referendum on the November ballot, and barred Richmond from a third try.

The state’s casino laws cap the number of casinos to one per city in five designated cities: Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth and now Petersburg, which replaced Richmond. However, Roanoke is interested in hosting a casino, and boosters have also been trying to seek support in the General Assembly for a casino in Fairfax County.

US Patent and Trademark Office to lay off 126 at Alexandria HQ

SUMMARY:

  • will lay off 126 employees in Alexandria on Dec. 9 as part of a reorganization
  • About 68 workers are among those affected
  • USPTO announced it will lay off about 1% of its workforce of over 14,000 employees on Oct. 1

The announced plans to lay off about 1% of its workforce of over 14,000 employees as the agency continues to operate amid a , according to an internal letter to agency staff from Oct. 1. That number includes 126 employees at its Alexandria headquarters, including 68 workers from Virginia.

Citing an agency reorganization, the agency notified Virginia state government of the last week, in compliance with the (WARN) Act.

USPTO Human Resources Director Carolyn Schad said the job cuts were due to reorganization and that the affected employees had been notified that layoffs will occur “no earlier” than Dec. 9. She said the agency plans to host a virtual career fair, along with interview and résumé skills training, for the employees affected by the layoffs.

USPTO did not immediately return requests for comment.

The Oct. 1 letter from acting patent commissioner Valencia Wallace, which was seen by Reuters, described the layoffs as a reduction in force “to focus on mission-critical operations” and said six positions in the agency’s patent unit would be affected.

USPTO Director John Squires said in a separate internal letter on Oct. 1 that the layoffs were not performance-related. Some of the layoffs were in the communications department, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The U.S. government shut down much of its operations on Oct. 1, as deep partisan divisions prevented and the White House from reaching a funding deal. This shutdown is different from past government closures because Trump has threatened to lay off federal workers if lawmakers do not pass legislation to avert the closures.

The USPTO will remain open until further notice using reserve funds from patent and trademark fees collected last year, according to Wallace’s letter and a public notice.

The agency also announced on Oct. 1 that it would permanently close a regional satellite office in Denver. Wallace’s letter said most of the office’s “fewer than 30” employees would now work remotely.

The USPTO is responsible for issuing U.S. patents and trademarks and advising the government on intellectual property policy. Its Patent Trial and Appeal Board provides a venue outside the federal courts for patent validity disputes.

President ‘s campaign to radically reshape the is on track to push out nearly 300,000 workers by December. Though Trump has not singled out the USPTO, which is funded by user fees, for job reductions, some probationary employees lost their jobs earlier this year amid the government’s downsizing efforts.

(Reporting for Reuters by Blake Brittain and Courtney Rozen; Editing by Chris Reese and Nick Zieminski)

Firms compete for plan to reimagine Fort Monroe

SUMMARY:

  • is creating a new landscape action plan to guide future site development
  • Four design firms are finalists to create the plan, with a winner to be chosen by late 2025
  • Leaders aim to make Fort Monroe a evolving site that honors its history, looks to the future and spurs economic growth

Four internationally recognized design firms — including the teams behind Governors Island in New York and the landscaping for Apple Park, Apple’s corporate headquarters campus in Cupertino, California — are competing to shape the next chapter of Fort Monroe’s future.

Next year, the plans to develop a landscape action plan, a guiding framework to steer the future of the site. The plan will determine how the site’s remaining land is divided among commercial, residential and recreational uses, and will identify specific projects — paving the way for new partnerships with developers and businesses to execute them.

“The first observation, when I took the job here, is that we were lacking a north star,” said Fort Monroe CEO Scott Martin, who began overseeing the site in January.

In the past, the authority would wait for developers to pitch ideas for future developments at Fort Monroe, and then it would check to see if those plans aligned with preexisting master plans.

But now Martin says that, rather than waiting for developers to bring ideas to the table, the authority will establish a clear vision first, factoring in project costs and financial sustainability. Then, after the authority forms the plan, it will seek the right partners to bring that vision to life.

While it remains to be determined how many acres could be redeveloped, the site has at least 1.5 million square feet of vacant commercial space.

Located at the southern tip of the Peninsula in , the 560-acre-plus former U.S. Army post closed in 2011 and is now cooperatively managed by the Fort Monroe Authority, a governing entity created by the General Assembly. The state owns about 318 acres of the property, while the National Park Service owns 121 acres and the U.S. Army owns 122 acres (with plans to eventually transfer it to the park service).

Once known as Old Point Comfort, Fort Monroe is steeped in centuries of American history. In 1619, it was the site where the first enslaved Africans were brought to North America. Named for President James Monroe, it was built by the U.S. Army between 1819 and 1834, with a young Robert E. Lee among those who oversaw its construction. During the Civil War, when it remained under Union control, the fort was a haven for thousands of people who escaped enslavement — a legacy that earned it the name “Freedom’s Fortress.” The Army deactivated the post in 2011, transferring many of its missions to nearby Fort Eustis in Newport News; later that year, President Barack Obama designated 325 acres of the site as a national monument.

The final four

The authority launched an international search for proposals to develop the plan earlier this summer. Nineteen firms submitted proposals by the early September deadline.

Since then, the authority has narrowed the candidates to four design firms: West8, Olin Studio, Field Operations and Hargreaves Jones.

The finalists all have high-profile projects under their belt. West8 transformed a former military base at Governors Island in New York into a lush public park; Olin Studio designed the landscape for Apple’s headquarters in California; Field Operations designed the 1.5-mile-long High Line in New York; and Hargreaves Jones was involved with the landscape design of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.

A special jury — including design and landscape deans and directors from Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia and Hampton University, as well as state preservation and cultural landscape leaders — will recommend one of the firms to the authority.

The authority is expected to decide who to choose before the end of the year, likely in November, with design work beginning in January 2026. The goal is to have the plan about 80% complete by August 2026 and finished by the end of the year.

“And then the whole plan on this, this is not to sit on the shelf,” Martin said. “You come out of this with a capital campaign strategy. This plan, if you’re doing it well, it begins to turn into development projects shortly thereafter, with a capital campaign that runs alongside it. So, you move from big idea to big action.”

A reimagined Fort Monroe

The Fort Monroe Authority’s new plan will address oversights in its 2013 land use master plan and earlier plans, which, Martin said, no longer reflect current realities, such as the region’s housing challenges, sea-level rise, changing work patterns or ongoing projects the fort has developed since, like the African Landing Memorial.

The new plan will cover everything from business development, pedestrian trails and adaptative reuse of historic buildings to shoreline resilience and tree planting. Martin said a challenge will be determining whether vacant buildings are best repurposed for commercial, multifamily or hotel uses.

“Every one of those different decisions has ripples that then roll across the rest of the site, and you can’t make these decisions in a vacuum, because you lose the forest for the trees,” he said.

One of the most notable sites at Fort Monroe being eyed for redevelopment is Old Point Comfort Marina. Smithfield-based management company Pack Brothers has plans to redevelop the site into 37 North at Fort Monroe, a forthcoming waterfront resort featuring a 90-room boutique hotel, marina and 500-seat seafood restaurant. The project was put on hold in early 2024 due to rising costs, but managing partner Randy Pack said that his company is still diligently pursuing the project, with hopes to see development begin within the next couple years.

Aazia Mrozinski, executive director of the authority’s nonprofit partner, the Fort Monroe Foundation, noted that the authority and foundation aim to heavily involve the community and stakeholders in forming the action plan.

While Martin hopes the plan honors the history of the site, he also wants to dispel the notion that the fort is “finished” and reframe it as a living, evolving place.

“This site is far from done making history,” he said.

Government shutdown continues to add to stress on air traffic controllers and disrupt flights

Summary

  • Flights were delayed at major airports due to air traffic controller shortages.
  • More than 6,000 flights were delayed nationwide on Thursday.
  • Controllers are working without pay and facing mounting financial strain.
  • Secretary and union leaders urged to end the shutdown.

The ongoing continues to disrupt flights at times and put pressure on who are working without pay.

Flights were delayed Thursday at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, New Jersey’s Newark airport and Washington’s Reagan National Airport because of air traffic controller shortages. The number of for any reason nationwide spiked to 6,158 Thursday after hovering around 4,000 a day earlier in the week, according to FlightAware.com.

Many Federal Aviation Administration facilities are so critically short on controllers that just a few absences can cause disruptions, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said that more air traffic controllers have been calling in sick since the shutdown began. Early on in the shutdown, there were a number of disruptions at airports across the country, but for the past couple of weeks, there haven’t been as many problems.

Duffy plans to hold a news conference later on Friday at the Philadelphia airport with the head of the air traffic controllers union, , to highlight the added stress the shutdown is putting on controllers. Already, some controllers have taken on second jobs to earn some cash to help them pay their bills while the shutdown drags on.

Daniels said in a message to union members Friday that controllers should be focused on keeping flights safe — not worrying about how to pay their bills. He said it’s not fair that controllers are facing impossible choices about whether to pay for rent or childcare or groceries. The union and some airports have offered to help connect controllers with food banks or other assistance to help them get through the shutdown.

“You are carrying the weight of the national airspace system and now doing it without a paycheck. This is not acceptable and it is not sustainable. No American worker should ever be put in this position,” Daniels said.

Duffy has said that air traffic controllers who abuse their sick time during the shutdown could be fired.

Republicans and have been unable to reach an agreement to end the shutdown that began on Oct. 1. The airlines and major unions across the industry have urged Congress to reach an agreement to end the shutdown.

“Our aviation system has operated safely throughout the shutdown, but it’s putting an incredible and unnecessary strain on the system, and on our air traffic controllers, flight crews, and many other aviation professionals,” said Rep. Sam Graves, who is Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The Missouri urged Democrats to support the bill to fund the government.

Target is eliminating 1,800 corporate jobs as it looks to reclaim its lost luster

Summary

  • is cutting about 1,800 corporate positions, including 1,000 next week.
  • Most affected employees work at Target’s headquarters.
  • Incoming CEO says the move will speed decision-making and growth.
  • The retailer continues to lose market share to and amid weak sales.

Target said Thursday that it is eliminating about 1,800 corporate positions in an effort to streamline decision-making and accelerate initiatives to rebuild the flagging discount retailer’s customer base.

About 1,000 employees are expected to receive layoff notices next week, and the company also plans to eliminate about 800 vacant jobs, a company spokesperson said. The cuts represent about 8% of Target’s corporate workforce globally, although the majority of the affected employees work at the company’s Minneapolis headquarters, the spokesperson said.

Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke, who is set to become Target’s next CEO on Feb. 1, issued a note to personnel on Thursday announcing the downsizing. He said further details would come on Tuesday, and he asked employees at the Minneapolis offices to work from home next week.

“The truth is, the complexity we’ve created over time has been holding us back,” Fiddelke, a 20-year Target veteran, wrote in his note. “Too many layers and overlapping work have slowed decisions, making it harder to bring ideas to life.”

Target, which has about 1,980 U.S. stores, lost ground to Walmart and Amazon in recent years as caused shoppers to curtail their discretionary spending. Customers have complained of messy stores with merchandise that did not reflect the expensive-looking but budget-priced niche that long ago earned the retailer the jokingly posh nickname “Tarzhay.”

Fiddelke said in August when he was announced as Target’s next CEO that he would step into the role with three urgent priorities: reclaiming the company’s position as a leader in selecting and displaying merchandise; improving the customer experience by making sure shelves are consistently stocked and stores are clean; and investing in technology.

He cited the same goals in his message to employees, calling the layoffs a “necessary step in building the future of Target and enabling the progress and growth we all want to see.”

“Adjusting our structure is one part of the work ahead of us. It will also require new behaviors and sharper priorities that strengthen our retail leadership in style and design and enable faster execution,” he wrote.

Target has reported flat or declining comparable sales — those from established physical stores and online channels — in nine out of the past 11 quarters. The company reported in August that comparable sales dipped 1.9% in its second quarter, when its net income also dropped 21%.

The job cuts will not affect any store employees or workers in Target’s sorting, distribution and other supply chain facilities, the company spokesperson said.

The corporate workers losing their jobs will receive pay and benefits until Jan. 8 as well as severance packages, the spokesperson said.

US inflation stays elevated but prices rose less than feared last month

Summary

  • U.S. rose 3% in September, the highest since January.
  • jumped 4.1%, driving most of the monthly increase.
  • Core inflation cooled slightly, supporting expected Fed rate cuts.
  • and higher beef prices continue to pressure consumers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation remained elevated last month as gas prices jumped while the cost of rents cooled, painting a mixed picture of the expenses consumers are facing in a murky economy where growth appears steady but hiring slow.

increased 3% in September from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Friday, the highest since January and up from 2.9% in August. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories core prices also rose 3%, down from 3.1% in the previous month.

On a monthly basis, price increases slowed: They rose 0.3% in September, down from 0.4% the previous month. Core inflation also cooled to 0.2%, from 0.3% in August.

The figures show that inflation continues to rise more slowly than many economists expected when President imposed sweeping tariffs in April. Some of those duties were later reduced as part of trade deals, while many companies have only passed on part of the tariff cost to consumers out of concern that doing so would reduce sales. Businesses may shift more costs to consumers in the coming months if the duties appear permanent.

The smaller increase will come as a bit of relief to officials, who have signaled that they will cut their key interest rate at their meeting next week for the second time this year. Yet inflation remains above the Fed’s 2% , underscoring the high stakes of the Fed’s moves.

“Put simply, while inflation doesn’t appear to be accelerating, neither is it moving back toward target,” said Eric Winograd, chief U.S. economist at asset manager AllianceBernstein. “That will keep the Fed cautious rather than aggressive.”

The report on the consumer price index was issued more than a week late because of the , now in its fourth week. The recalled some Labor Department employees to produce the figures because they are used to set the annual cost-of-living adjustment for roughly 70 million Social Security recipients. Friday that increase was set at 2.8% for 2026, equal to about $56 per month.

Gas prices jumped 4.1% just in September from the previous month, a major driver of inflation last month. Grocery prices rose 0.3%, less than in August, and are 2.7% higher than a year ago.

Trump’s duties are pushing up the prices of many goods: Furniture costs jumped 0.9% last month and are 3.8% more expensive than a year ago. Appliance costs rose 0.8% just in September, though they are up only 1.3% from a year earlier. Clothing prices increased 0.7% last month and shoes 0.9%, though neither have risen that much from last year.

The issues of affordability and the cost of necessities are gaining in political importance. Concerns over the costs of rent and groceries have played a key role in the mayoral race in New York City. And Trump, who has acknowledged that the spike in grocery prices under President Joe Biden helped him win the 2024 election, has been considering importing Argentine beef to reduce record-high U.S. beef prices, angering U.S. cattle ranchers.

The cost of ground beef has jumped to $6.32 a pound, a record, in part because of tariffs on imports from countries such as Brazil, which faces a 50% duty. Years of drought that have reduced cattle herds have also raised prices. Beef costs rose 1.2% in September and are up 14.7% from a year earlier, Friday’s report showed.

Even as inflation has fallen sharply from its peak of 9.1% more than three years ago, it remains a major concern for consumers. About half of all Americans say the cost of groceries is a “major” source of stress, according to an August poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

And the Conference Board, a business research group, finds that consumers are still referencing prices and inflation in responses to its monthly survey on consumer confidence.

Many economists, as well as some Fed officials, expect that the tariffs will create a one-time lift to prices that will fade by early next year. At the same time, inflation excluding the tariffs is cooling, they argue: Rental price increases, for example, are declining on average nationwide.

Yet Trump is imposing tariffs in an ongoing fashion that could raise prices in a more sustained fashion.

For example, the Trump administration is investigating whether to slap 100% tariffs on imports from Nicaragua over alleged human rights violations. The prospect of such steep duties is a major headache for Dan Rattigan, the co-founder of premium chocolate maker French Broad, based in Asheville, N.C.

“We’ve been shouldering some significant additional costs,” Rattigan said. The United States barely produces any cocoa, so his company imports it from Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Uganda. The imports from Nicaragua were duty-free because the country had a trade agreement with the United States, but now faces an 18% import tax.

Cocoa prices have more than doubled over the past two years because of poor weather and blights in West Africa, which produces more than 70% of the world’s cocoa. The tariffs are an additional hit on top of that. Rattigan is also paying more for almonds, hazelnuts, and chocolate-making equipment from Italy, which has also been hit with tariffs.

French Broad raised its prices slightly earlier this year and doesn’t have any plans to do so again. But after the winter holidays, “all bets are off … in what is a very unpredictable business climate,” Rattigan said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James pleads not guilty in mortgage fraud case pushed by Trump

Summary

  • New York Attorney General faces federal charges in Norfolk, Virginia.
  • The indictment alleges she misrepresented a 2020 home purchase as a second residence.
  • James calls the case for her lawsuits against .
  • Her lawyers moved to bar prosecutors from leaking case details to the media.

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — New York Attorney General Letitia James accused the of using the justice system as a “tool of revenge” after she pleaded not guilty Friday in a federal mortgage fraud case the president pressed the Justice Department to bring.

James’ first court appearance in Virginia sets the stage for a high-stakes legal battle between the administration and a longtime Democratic Trump foe who angered him with a major civil fraud case she brought against him. She’s accused of lying on mortgage papers to get favorable loan terms when purchasing a modest house in Norfolk, where she has family.

James is the third Trump adversary to appear before a judge this month on federal charges, amplifying concerns that the president is using the government’s law enforcement powers to seek retribution for his own legal troubles. Justice Department leaders have defended the cases and argue the Biden administration — which brought two indictments against him — was the one that weaponized the justice system.

James says she believes in the rule of law

The attorney general left the courthouse smiling to cheers from dozens of waiting supporters, who chanted, “We stand with Tish!” The indictment charging her with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, she declared, was about “a justice system which has been used as a tool of revenge … and a weapon against those individuals who simply did their job and who stood up for the rule of law.”

“My faith is strong, and I have this belief in the justice system and the rule of law, and I have a belief in America,” James said, adding, “There’s no fear today.”

The judge set a trial date for Jan. 26, James’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, told the judge the defense will seek to have the case dismissed, arguing that it’s a vindictive prosecution brought at the direction of the president.

James was indicted this month after the top federal prosecutor who had been overseeing the investigation was pushed out by the Trump administration and the president publicly called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against James and other political foes.

The allegations against James

Prosecutors allege that when buying the Norfolk home in 2020, James signed a standard document called a “second home rider” in which she agreed to keep the property primarily for her “personal use and enjoyment for at least one year,” unless the lender agreed otherwise.

Rather than using the home as a second residence, the indictment alleges, James rented it out to a family of three. According to the indictment, the misrepresentation allowed James to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties.

James was first elected in 2018 as New York state’s top lawyer, after holding elected jobs in New York City. She is the first woman elected as the state’s attorney general.

James has been a frequent of Trump’s ire, especially since she won a staggering judgment against the president and his companies in a lawsuit alleging he defrauded banks by overstating the value of his real estate holdings on financial statements. An appeals court overturned the fine, which had ballooned to more than $500 million with interest, but upheld a lower court’s finding that Trump had committed fraud.

James’ indictment followed the resignation of Erik Siebert as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia amid pressure from Trump administration officials to bring a case. Siebert was replaced with , a White House aide and former Trump lawyer who had never previously served as a federal prosecutor and presented James’ case to the grand jury herself.

After Siebert’s resignation, Trump, in an extraordinary social media post, urged Bondi to prosecute James and other political foes, noting that he had been impeached and indicted himself multiple times. Trump wrote the administration “can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” adding: “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

Other cases targeting Trump foes

Defense lawyers have said they intend to challenge Halligan’s appointment, a step also taken this week by attorneys for former FBI Director James Comey in a different case filed by Halligan. Comey has been charged with lying to in a criminal case filed days after Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute him, and he has pleaded not guilty.

James’ lawyers have also asked for an order prohibiting prosecutors from disclosing to the news media information about the investigation, or materials from the case, outside of court.

The motion followed the revelation from earlier this week that Halligan contacted via an encrypted text messaging platform a reporter from Lawfare, a media organization that covers legal and national security issues, to discuss the James prosecution and complain about coverage of it. The reporter published the exchange that she and Halligan had.

A third Trump adversary, former national security adviser John Bolton, pleaded not guilty last week to charges against him of emailing classified information to family members and keeping top secret documents at his Maryland home.

The Justice Department has also been investigating mortgage fraud allegations against Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, whom Trump has called to be prosecuted over allegations related to a property in Maryland. In a separate mortgage investigation, authorities have been probing allegations against Board member Lisa Cook, who is challenging a Trump administration effort to remove her from her job. Schiff and Cook have denied wrongdoing.

Virginia Democrats will try to reshape US House districts in counter to Trump’s redistricting push

Summary

  • Virginia plan to redraw to boost House representation.
  • The move follows -led redistricting efforts in states like Texas and North Carolina.
  • Speaker called a special session Monday to begin the redistricting process.
  • Republicans vow to challenge the effort, calling it unconstitutional and a “power grab.”

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Democrats are taking steps to redraw their state’s U.S. House districts, hoping to boost their party’s chances in next year’s and counter President ‘s push for more partisan districts in -run states.

Virginia House Speaker Don Scott sent a letter Thursday to members telling them to convene Monday for a special session but did not state a reason. The purpose includes congressional redistricting aimed at gaining more Democratic-held seats, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because they are not authorized to publicly discuss them.

Virginia would be the second state with a Democratic-led legislature after California to enter a national redistricting battle with enormous stakes. If Democrats gain just three more seats, they would take control of the House and effectively impede Trump’s agenda.

Republican lawmakers in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina already have approved new congressional maps aimed at helping their party win more seats and retain the slim GOP House majority. And even more states are considering redistricting as the battle front widens.

A spokeswoman for Democrats’ House campaign arm characterized Virginia’s effort as the party pursuing “every available tool to counter Republicans’ desperate attempts to steal the midterms.”

“Virginia’s decision to convene and preserve the right to consider a new map in 2026 is critical in the fight to ensure voters have fair representation,” said Courtney Rice, communications director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Republicans vowed to fight. Virginia House Minority Leader said Democrats missed their opportunity to carry out this procedure by 2026 and that it’s “too late constitutionally” to do so.

“We are going to do everything legally we can do to stop this power grab,” Kilgore said.

Voting districts typically are redrawn at the start of each decade to account for population changes noted by the census. But Trump took the unusual step over the summer of urging Republican-led states to reshape key districts to try to buck a historical trend of a president’s party losing seats in midterm elections.

Virginia currently is represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and five Republicans who ran in districts whose boundaries were imposed by a court after a bipartisan redistricting commission failed to agree on a map after the 2020 census.

The effort to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts comes in the final weeks before the Nov. 4 state legislative and statewide elections. But Monday’s session is just the start of what could be a long legislative process, running past the election.

Because Virginia’s redistricting commission was established by a voter-approved constitutional amendment, the electorate must sign off on any changes. And any proposed change to the constitution must first pass the legislature in two separate sessions. Democrats are scrambling to hold that first vote this year, so that they can approve the change a second time after a new legislative session begins Jan. 14.

Voters still would have to approve a change in the constitution to allow using the new House map. And that vote would need to occur before congressional primaries, which are currently set for June 16 — though dates for such elections have been pushed back in the past.

The legislators’ move comes amid Virginia’s gubernatorial race. Former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee, said in August in an interview with WJLA that she had “no plans to redistrict Virginia” if elected, and Republican candidate Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears said that although she didn’t “see the need for it,” that “we’ll just cross that bridge when we come to it.”

In 2020, Virginia voters approved a state constitutional amendment that created a bipartisan redistricting commission with 16 members, with seats held by state lawmakers and citizens divided evenly by party. In 2021, however, that body gridlocked over redistricting delayed by the pandemic, so the Virginia oversaw the drawing of the state’s current congressional boundaries.

In many states, congressional districts are drawn by state lawmakers, subject to the approval of the governor. But North Carolina’s new map, which received final approval Wednesday from the Republican-led Legislature, did not have to go to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. Those changes a swing district held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis by adding areas that contain more Republican-leaning voters.

Like Virginia, California has a constitutionally established redistricting commission, which approved maps after the 2020 census. California voters are to decide in a Nov. 4 election whether to temporarily suspend those districts and instead use a map approved by the Democratic-led Legislature that could help Democrats pick up as many as five additional seats.

No voter approval is necessary for the revised districts in Missouri, North Carolina or Texas, though opponents in Missouri are gathering petition signatures to try to force a statewide vote on their new map.

Boeing union sets October 26 vote on contract offer for 3,200 striking workers

Summary

  • More than 3,200 defense workers have been on strike for 80 days.
  • Union members will vote Oct. 26 on a modified Boeing contract offer.
  • Changes include more time before returning to work and limits on non-union labor.
  • The union seeks a deal similar to one reached with Boeing’s Seattle-area workers.

(Reuters) -A union representing over 3,200 striking workers at Boeing said on Thursday that its members will vote on October 26 on an existing contract offer from the company with minor modifications.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers represents members who assemble fighter jets and munitions at Boeing’s plants in the area.

The union, in a memo to its members said, the offer came without a recommendation from its bargaining committee.

Boeing made modifications to its existing contract that give strikers more time before returning to work and remove the provision allowing non-union workers to perform union tasks for up to 30 days after the strike ends.

Boeing’s defense workers have now been on a strike for about 80 days.

The union has been pressing the planemaker for a contract similar to the one it had reached with its Seattle-area workers last year, which included higher retirement plan contributions.

The workers struck work on August 4, after rejecting a second offer from Boeing. They also rejected another proposal that included a 24% general wage increase over five years and a $4,000 ratification bonus.

The members, however, voted 90% in favor of a four-year contract proposal floated by the union that Boeing refused to consider.

(Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Maju Samuel)

 

Trump says he’s ending trade talks with Canada over TV ads

Summary

  • Trump ended with over an ad he called “fake” and “egregious.”
  • The ad, created by ‘s government, featured edited Ronald Reagan remarks about .
  • The said Ontario used the clip without permission and is weighing legal options.
  • The move escalates U.S.-Canada trade tensions ahead of a key tariff case.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President  announced he’s ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of a television ad opposing U.S. tariffs that he said misstated the facts and called “egregious behavior” aimed at influencing U.S. court decisions.

The post on Trump’s social media site came Thursday night after Canadian Prime Minister said he aims to double his country’s exports to countries outside the U.S. because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs. Trump’s call for an abrupt end to negotiations could further inflame trade tensions that already have been building between the two neighboring countries for months.

Trump posted, “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs.”

“The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”

Carney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The prime minister was set to leave Friday morning for a summit in Asia, while Trump is set to do the same Friday evening.

Trump, a , was still at it on Friday morning, furiously posting on his social media site that “CANADA CHEATED AND GOT CAUGHT!!!” on the tariff ad.

“THE UNITED STATES IS WEALTHY, POWERFUL, AND NATIONALLY SECURE AGAIN, ALL BECAUSE OF TARIFFS!” he wrote in a separate post on his Truth Social account. “THE MOST IMPORTANT CASE EVER IS IN THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!”

Earlier Thursday night, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute posted on X that an ad created by the government of Ontario “misrepresents the ‘Presidential Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade’ dated April 25, 1987.” It added that Ontario did not receive foundation permission “to use and edit the remarks.”

The foundation said it is “reviewing legal options in this matter” and invited the public to watch the unedited video of Reagan’s address.

As for the Supreme Court, Trump is referring to a case scheduled for early November in which the justices will consider the legality of his sweeping tariffs. Two lower courts have determined that Trump cannot unilaterally impose wide-ranging tariffs under an emergency powers law. His administration argues otherwise, saying he can regulate importation and that includes tariff policy.

Carney met with Trump earlier this month to try to ease trade tensions, as the two countries and Mexico prepare for a review of the , a trade deal Trump negotiated in his first term but has since soured on.

More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the U.S., and nearly $3.6 billion Canadian ($2.7 billion U.S.) worth of goods and services cross the border daily.

Trump said earlier this week that he had seen the ad on television and said that it showed that his tariffs were having an impact.

“I saw an ad last night from Canada. If I was Canada, I’d take that same ad also,” he said then.

In his own post on X last week, Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, posted a link to the ad and the message: “It’s official: Ontario’s new advertising campaign in the U.S. has launched.”

He continued, “Using every tool we have, we’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada. The way to prosperity is by working together.”

A spokesperson for Ford didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night. But Ford previously got Trump’s attention with an electricity surcharge to U.S. states. Trump responded by doubling steel and aluminum tariffs.

The president has moved to impose steep U.S. tariffs on many goods from Canada. In April, Canada’s government imposed retaliatory levies on certain U.S. goods — but it carved out exemptions for some automakers to bring specific numbers of vehicles into the country, known as remission quotas.

Trump’s tariffs have especially hurt Canada’s auto sector, much of which is based in Ontario. This month, Stellantis said it would move a production line from Ontario to Illinois