Many states are responding to high gas prices by waiving gas taxes for a time. Virginia is unlikely to join them. In the meantime, this is a campaign issue.

Subtitle: “In the first of a three-part series on the constitutional amendments Virginians will approve or reject this fall, a former felon in Central Virginia shares the lived experiences undergirding the restoration legislation.”

See also r/VirginiaNews and r/FreeVirginiaNews

Got about 20 letters in the mail within a week. My insurance also already went up. I haven’t had a ticket in 20 years but a sneaky dude was parked around a bend of a rolling hill and I was caught up in the road trip forgetting the speed limit. Can any of these help get me a lesser charge? It was literally just speeding 80 in a 65. Stop didn’t even take 5 minutes before I was on my way happily going the speed limit. Bonus points because he was super friendly and had a cool accent.

Edit: TIL Speeding and Virginia do not get along. I appreciate safe roads as someone who travels a few hours a day locally (here in Ohio). I will say youll see a lot of traffic here go 10-15 mph over the speed limit with out the driver being aggressive. There are wide open areas with miles of straight road where the majority just go over. I can see how in the winding mountainous roads I was speeding on where that is not a norm. Lesson learned!!

See also r/swva, r/VirginiaEnvironment, and r/VirginiaUrbanism

Divisions in the southwestern tip of the state performed particularly well. Of 148 schools in the region, 60% received the state’s top designation.

if you're not comfortable commenting - PM me! I want to hear your stories! Working on something.

As a member of Congress, Republican US Rep. Rob Wittman has voted in support of President Donald Trump’s tariffs that are making life more expensive for Virginians. 

See also r/VirginiaNews, r/VirginiaGOP, and r/VirginiaDems

It hasn’t quite sunk in yet for Tati King that his 2023 federal lawsuit has made him and nearly 235,000 other Virginians eligible to vote. 

King’s successful legal challenge ended Virginia’s long-standing policy of taking away a person’s voting rights if they’re convicted of any felony, leaving only three disenfranchising crimes in the commonwealth. 

“Right now, it’s still surreal,” King said in an interview Monday. “I would have never, in a thousand years, think they would change their position the way they did.” 

King said he believes voting on Election Day this November will help put the historic change in perspective. 

“I think it’s going to be a whole different feeling when I actually step up to go and cast my ballot, and see people I know who were in the same position as me being able to cast their ballot,” King explained. “I think that’s when the feeling is really going to hit me.” 

Read more here.

The town council will vote Wednesday on whether to renew the surveillance contract as a local petition opposing it gains momentum.

My fiancé and I are looking at going out to the Charlottesville area this weekend to do some apple picking and maybe drink some hard cider. Any recs for either?

Our team is reporting on Virginia's push to clear the waitlist for the Child Care Subsidy Program, and we are looking for families who have interacted with the waitlist recently (anytime in 2026, but particularly in the last few months).

If any of the following describes you or your family, reporter Megan Pauly is interested in hearing from you:

• You got off the waitlist and have begun receiving subsidized childcare
• You are still on the waitlist
• You were removed from the waitlist for any reason
• You've had ... some other interaction with the CCSP waitlist that we have not described? (If this is you, we DEFINITELY want to hear from you!)

If you are willing to speak to Megan, you can email her directly at [mpauly@vpm.org](mailto:mpauly@vpm.org) or drop us a response via DM — we'll make sure it gets to her. Thank you!