Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, June 24. Also check out VPAP, which finds: “Throughout most of Virginia, the General Assembly elections this November will be a mere formality. In 79 of 140 districts, only one name will appear on the ballot. The lack of competition is particularly keen in the House of Delegates, where 62 of 100 seats are uncontested…The percentage of contested seats is down slightly from four years ago, the last year when both House and Senate seats were up for election.”
*Tally Counters Perceptions of Top Terror Threat in U.S. (“Since Sept. 11, 2001, nearly twice as many people have been killed on American soil by white supremacists, antigovernment fanatics and other non-Muslim extremists than by radical Muslims, according to a count by a research group in Washington.”)
*President Obama Must Use Trade Authority to Reach Better Agreements (“Now it is up to the administration to reach deals that uphold the high standards it has promised on labor rights, the environment and other issues.”)
*Catholic And Evangelical Leaders Call On Lawmakers To Fight Climate Change
*A historic shift to banish a divisive Southern symbol
*Medical Examiner Rules Freddie Gray’s Death a Homicide by Fatal Blow to the Neck
*The Stupid Party’s Candidate (“Running to the right isn’t working for Bobby Jindal.”)
*The New Conservative Plan To Make A Supreme Court Case Gutting Obamacare Even Worse
*13 Senate Dems vote with GOP to advance trade bill (Virginia’s two Senators voted for cloture.)
*Jim Webb Is the Only Presidential Hopeful Who Won’t Comment on the Confederate Flag Controversy (“The former Virginia senator has defended the Confederate Army in the past.”)
*Tim Kaine: Breaking Up Iraq Into Three Parts May Be “Only Realistic Alternative”
*Dorothy McAuliffe backs program to avoid the “summer slide” in child nutrition
*McAuliffe widens felon voting rights restoration
*Will Virginia Republicans Shoot Themselves In The Foot In 2016?
*McAuliffe moves to ban Confederate flag from state license plates
*Remove the flag, emblem of prejudice
*Va. governor wants Confederate flags off license plates
*McAuliffe’s Confederate flag license plate decision wins lawmakers’ approval
*Schapiro: Other Rebel symbols – some barely visible – endure
*Hampton Roads eager for progress on Virginia’s transportation projects
*Strasburg pitches five shutout innings as Nationals defeat Braves
*D.C. area forecast: Wonderful Wednesday, then turning unsettled through weekend
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