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“The people who would want to change this law are not in the legislature, and so long as the legislature has powerful lawyers in it, I don’t see a change, and I don’t see the House Speaker putting this on his bingo card anytime soon.”- Bob Holsworth, a veteran Virginia political analyst, on the state’s § 30-5 law.
State law allows attorneys serving in the General Assembly to obtain continuances in court proceedings when legislative duties interfere. (Graphic by the Virginia Mercury/Photos by Charlotte Rene Woods, left, and Getty Images)
By Markus Schmidt
More than four years after Buchanan County Supervisor Trey Adkins was charged with dozens of felonies, his case has yet to reach a jury.
Adkins was indicted in May 2022 on 82 counts stemming from allegations that included election fraud, absentee-voting violations, forgery, conspiracy and embezzlement of public property. He has maintained his innocence.
The case is now scheduled for trial Oct. 19 in Dickinson County, nearly 54 months after the charges were filed. Court motions obtained by The Mercury show that Virginia House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, one of Adkins’ attorneys, invoked a century-old Virginia law at least three times in 2023 and 2024 to seek continuances tied to his legislative responsibilities.
U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, speaks at a campaign event for then-Republican gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears on Aug. 14, 2025. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
By Charlotte Rene Woods
U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, is backing President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense spending budget, as the nation marks its eighth month in a war with Iran that Trump launched without congressional approval.
Wittman, who is running against Democrat Shannon Taylor to represent Virginia’s 1st Congressional District for an eighth term, argued that a beefed up military can help prevent and prepare for future wars, and deter other nations from picking fights.
A view of a data center in Loudoun County next to Chick Ford & Ryan Bickel Fields. (Photo courtesy of Karen Graham/Loudoun Times-Mirror)
By Shannon Heckt
Loudoun County, the epicenter of Data Center Alley, is set to take up two amendments that would curb data center development, at least temporarily, and permanently end by-right development of the power-hungry data warehouses.
Led by the county board member Juli Briskman, who is running for board chair, the amendments could pause the processing of all new data center applications while the county revisits its comprehensive plan’s zoning ordinances for data centers.
By Nathaniel Cline
Virginia is moving closer to regulating self-driving vehicles, with lawmakers and experts recently agreeing on a plan ahead of the next legislative session as the technology expands and safety concerns grow.
Last year, the General Assembly directed a workgroup to consider rules for autonomous vehicles, or AVs, which have been tested in states including Arizona and Texas and restricted in California. Meanwhile, the federal government announced a national strategy plan to accelerate the development and deployment of self-driving vehicles across the country.
NEWS TO KNOW
Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere.
"State approves $98 million electricity project for Eli Lilly property." | Richmond Times-Dispatch
"(Shenandoah County) School Board creates donation fund for school-name litigation." | The Northern Virginia Daily
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