by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, February 21.
- Trump’s compromise on gun control: explaining the president’s (tiny) offer (“Trump offered a ban on the bump stock devices and a new law to enforce background check laws that are already on the books”)
- Controversies pile up for White House, alarming GOP
- Coming soon: Another showdown over Dreamers in Congress (“A massive, must-pass spending package is likely to reprise the fight over DACA and Donald Trump’s wall.”)
- Mueller Just Made Many More People Much More Nervous (“The indictments are not going to stop anytime soon.”)
- Trump Calls for Ban on ‘Bump Stocks’ Used to Convert Guns (When he calls for universal background checks and bans on assault weapons, we’ll know he’s getting serious.)
- Trump orders ‘bump stock’ ban but indicates no stronger action on gun control (“The announcement falls far short of demands from students who survived the Florida massacre and are pushing for a ban on assault rifles” Pathetic as usual from Trump.)
- Trump, citing ‘evil massacre’ in Florida, considers ideas that could draw NRA’s ire
- Kushner Resists Losing Access as Kelly Tackles Security Clearance Issues (Kushner has absolutely no business having a security clearance or being in the White House.)
- Florida House votes down motion to take up weapons ban with Douglas students present (Vote. All. The. NRA. Tools. Out.)
- Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Lying to Special Counsel in Russia Inquiry (“His plea could intensify pressure on Mr. Gates and Paul Manafort, Mr. Gates’s longtime business partner and Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman.”)
- Why ‘Red Flag Laws’ Are Drawing Bipartisan Support After Parkland (Except among Virginia Republicans like Todd Gilbert.)
- Sarah Sanders says Trump ‘absolutely’ acknowledges Russia meddling, walks it back 2 minutes later (“Incoherent.”)
- In Deep Red Districts, Democrats Are Running for Office in Record Numbers (“The ‘Virginia Effect’ should have Republicans very concerned…One analysis found that in deep-red Virginia precincts where a Democratic delegate candidate was on the ballot, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam picked up 17 percent more votes than his Democratic predecessor, Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Northam saw a mere 4 percent improvement in conservative precincts where the Republican delegate was unopposed. Another independent analysis concluded that the competition for the delegate races helped drive up turnout.”)
- Our ‘National Gun Conversation’ Is Now the Worst of American Discourse (“We don’t need to appease conspiracy theorists or literal gun worshippers.”)
- CPAC Says Dinesh D’Souza Not Going to Speak This Year, Condemns ‘Indefensible’ Remarks (D’Souza is so evil that even CPAC doesn’t want him. But the VA GOP loooves him!)
- Democrat Takes Kentucky House Seat in District Trump Won by 49 Points (“Republicans hoping that predictions of a Democratic midterm wave are overblown got some bad news on Tuesday night. Democrat Linda Belcher won a special election in Kentucky’s House District 49, beating Republican Rebecca Johnson by 68 percent to 32 percent. The district went for Trump by a vote of 72-23 in 2016, and Mitt Romney carried it by 66-33 in 2012. Democrats have now flipped 37 legislative seats across the country since Trump’s election.”)
- Trump’s Jealous Obama Obsession Includes Claiming Obama Never Used the Oval Office (“The first rule of Trump: it is always worse than you think.”)
- Florida students have turned social media into a weapon for good (At its best, social media CAN be a force for good. But overall, I’d say it’s been a disaster.)
- How rightwing media is already attacking Florida teens speaking out (Evil.)
- Donald Trump Jr. Is Giving A Speech In India This Week — About What, We Have No Idea (“The president’s eldest son is slated to speak at an event with India’s prime minister, during a trip meant to sell luxury apartments.” Now imagine the reaction on Fox, etc. if Hillary Clinton were president and Chelsea Clinton did this. My god…)
- EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Employees Are Very Interested in a Particular Article About Arlington (“The vast majority of the traffic to the page over the past week that can be tracked came from what appears to be an internal Amazon.com page devoted to its HQ2 search. Arlington, of course, is in the running as one of the potential landing spots for the company’s second headquarters.”)
- Did Amazon employees just tip the company’s hand on HQ2? (“Clicks on an Arlington, Virginia, website are originating from an internal Amazon site”)
- Anti-‘double dip’ provision added to Senate bill to overhaul electricity regulation in Virginia
- Northam transition panel pushes for new Potomac crossing (Nope.)
- In Virginia, it’s 2004 all over again (“Virginia Republicans are setting themselves up to reenact the budget stalemate that nearly broke them as a majority party.” Hahahaha.)
- At session’s midpoint, black legislators hail success
- Pipeline opponent makes it 4 Democrats in mix for Goodlatte’s seat (Wait, they’re just now reporting on this? LOL)
- NRVI to hold town hall, Griffith says no thanks (“Griffith, NRVI members say, is ignoring his responsibility in a back-and-forth discussion that should be taking place.”)
- Catherine Kilduff: Offshore drilling would hurt Virginia
- #IfNotNow, then when?(“Yes, this is the time to talk — about gun laws and other factors that contribute to mass shootings”)
- From the Publisher: We’re focused on serving you despite a challenging 2018 (The RTD announces
it is “shifting from a predominantly advertising-supported business to an operation that relies more on subscription revenue,” also that it will “raise subscription prices and increase the newsstand price of The Times-Dispatch” and that “On Tuesday, for example, we eliminated 21 positions, including layoffs involving nine colleagues.” Hmmmm…good luck with that business model.) - Richmond School Board approves $11 million increase in next year’s budget
- William & Mary hires first female president in college’s 325-year history
- Stewart calls fellow Republicans ‘flaccid’ and ‘weak’ over plan to expand Medicaid
- Prince William school board chief calls for resignation of superintendent (“The school board chief claims Steven L. Walts misled the board about an August car accident, which a district spokeswoman said Walts reported immediately to school officials and police.”)
- Alexandria manager proposes no-new-taxes budget plan
- Fairfax County budget proposal includes raises for teachers, county employees
- Senators mourn former colleague Harry Blevins
- Hampton Roads Regional Jail fired lieutenant accused of forcing employee into sex, lawsuit says
- Five students charged following reported threats at at least 10 Hampton Roads area schools
- Stoney’s Monument Avenue Commission schedules five meetings
- Incredible warmth again today, then turning cooler and showery
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