Good morning from the Mercury.
"The teachers and students have been misled by this, and the point here is this is a fundamental misrepresentation. This is not a minor wording difference."– Gene Sokolowski, a Polish-American Prince William County resident who filed suit against the Virginia Department of Education, arguing the state’s history standards incorrectly define groups that can be targeted for genocide.
A view from outside the Prince William County Judicial Center on Aug. 11, 2026, where a county resident has lodged a lawsuit against the state education department over its definition of genocide in student curriculum. (Photo by Nathaniel Cline/Virginia Mercury)
By Nathaniel Cline
A Virginia resident is asking a Prince William County district court to order the state’s superintendent of public instruction to demonstrate how the Virginia Department of Education defines the term “genocide” in the state’s K-12 history curriculum.
Prince William resident Gene Sokolowski filed a FOIA lawsuit in his county district court, alleging that Superintendent of Public Instruction Jenna Conway of the Virginia Department of Education could not identify the source material supporting the definition used in statewide history and social science standards, designed to ensure students master key subjects before graduation.
Sokolowski, a Polish-American, alleges that the state’s history standards incorrectly define groups that can be targeted for genocide, diverging from the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi during the 2026 legislative session in Richmond. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
By Shannon Heckt
With the clock ticking on the six-month window for the State Corporation Commission to decide whether Dominion Energy should be allowed to merge with the Florida-based NextEra Energy, Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi said this week she would host a statewide tour to meet with constituents, educate them on the case and hear their opinions.
Last month, Hashmi asked the utilities to provide more clarity on what the $67 billion merger will mean for Virginia ratepayers. The merger would create the largest utility company in the country.
Dominion Energy installed two test turbines to generate power 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, seen here in 2021, as a precursor of the Central Virginia Offshore Wind Project, largest offshore wind project in the United States. (Photo courtesy Dominion Energy)
By Avril Silva/Inside Climate News
With Virginia’s Aug. 4 primaries in the rearview mirror, the ballot is set in one of the nation’s most competitive congressional districts.
In the state’s 2nd Congressional District, Republican incumbent Jen Kiggans will fight to hold her seat against former U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria in a district that includes Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads, and abuts Norfolk. The Cook Political Report describes VA-2 as a swing seat.
By Shauneen Miranda
President Donald Trump on Monday signed a sweeping executive order that aims to reshape guidance surrounding childhood vaccines, standing alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and was met with immediate pushback.
The order — which calls on federal programs and funding to “support maximal parental choice over childhood vaccines” — came as Trump continued to erroneously connect vaccines with autism during the White House event and his administration has sought to de-emphasize childhood vaccinations’ importance.
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