U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, speak with the media following a roundtable discussion on federal healthcare and housing policy in Henrico County on Sept. 9, 2026. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
By Charlotte Rene Woods
During a roundtable discussion at Feed More, a food bank in Henrico County Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said he believed there’s a growing chance Congress could adjust or undo Medicaid changes the Republican-controlled legislature enacted last summer — with or without flipping Congress to Democratic control.
It would still be a long shot, he and U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, noted. But since H.R. 1 passed, every member of Congress has spent time in their districts hearing from their constituents, as voters name healthcare a chief concern.
Virginia State Corporation Commission members have ordered three opportunities for the public to have their say about the proposed NextEra-Dominion merger, the first to kick off Nov. 5. In this September 2, 2025 photo, commissions hear testimony in Richmond on a different case. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
By Shanon Heckt
The State Corporation Commission has ordered additional chances for the public to officially testify in the case to approve or reject the proposed $67 billion NextEra-Dominion merger, Virginia regulators said Thursday.
In addition to the three days for telephonic testimony already planned at the beginning of the case, the commissioners mandated three in-person hearings across Dominion’s Virginia coverage area.
A person holds a sign stating “reinstate the fired six now” outside of Virginia State University on Feb. 24, 2026. The university fired six faculty members from its agricultural research station in December 2025. (Photo by Nathaniel Cline/Virginia Mercury)
By Nathaniel Cline
The Virginia State University Board of Visitors met Friday, roughly a week after the legal team representing six professors fired late last year filed discrimination complaints against the university with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office of Civil Rights.
Faculty leaders have recommended the instructors, dubbed The Fired Six, be reinstated and cited policy violations in the “reorganization” process that led to their terminations.
COMMENTARY
By Bob Lewis
On a television in the press office of Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore on the third floor of the Capitol on Sept. 11, 2001, I watched as the first of the twin towers collapsed in Lower Manhattan. On the same screen, I could see orange balls of burning jet fuel leaping from the destroyed western facet of the Pentagon, staining the deep blue sky of a perfect autumn day.
We were a nation instantly at war and gripped by terror. And in that terror, there was word that another hijacked jetliner was bound for Richmond with either our state Capitol or the Federal Reserve Bank as its target.
ICYMI
Andrea Fletcher tapped to lead Virginia’s government technology overhaul | By Markus Schmidt
Va. health dept. updates food allergen list, food establishment guidance | By Charlotte Rene Woods
Virginia rolls out more secure EBT cards to curb SNAP benefit theft | By Markus Schmidt
Amtrak to suspend Virginia-to-D.C. service for critical track upgrades Oct. 16–26 | By Nathaniel Cline
COMMENTARY: Nixing Black hero’s name from Va.-built aircraft carrier is offensive, affront to military members | By Roger Chesley
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