VIRGINIA SENATOR FACES CRITICISM AFTER ONLINE RAPE COMMENT

District 11 Senator Amanda Chase made a controversial comment during a back-and-forth online exchange concerning the second amendment. In an online Facebook exchange, Chase told someone “it’s those who are naive and unprepared that end up raped. Sorry but i’m not going to be a statistic.”

VIRGINIA SEN. BILL DESTEPH HAS 20,000 AMERICAN FLAGS PLACED IN VIRGINIA BEACH DISTRICT

If you've noticed parts of the city look more patriotic this Independence Day than in years past, it's not your imagination. A record number of American flags are flanking neighborhood streets, and even more could be displayed next year. "A lot of people love them," said Sen. Bill DeSteph, who along with a friend, personally bought 20,000 small plastic flags and coordinated volunteers to distribute them to homes in Virginia's 8th Senate District.

DEBRIS TO DIESEL: CHESAPEAKE COULD SOON BE HOME TO A BIOENERGY FACILITY THAT TURNS TRASH TO FUEL

A 61-acre property along the Elizabeth River may soon become a complex with technology straight out of the 1980s movie “Back to the Future.” The proposed facility promises to turn household garbage into diesel and wax much like how Doc Brown used trash to power the DeLorean time machine.

THREE ONLINE LENDERS TO HALT HIGH RATE LOANS, REPAY EXCESS CHARGES

Virginians burned by triple-digit interest rates from lenders pretending to be Indian tribes have won a promise that the companies will cancel their debts and return $16.9 million to tens of thousands of borrowers across the country. The settlement comes in tandem with a $39.7 million settlement in the Texas bankruptcy of the finance company that ran those loan operations and others.

NEW BOOK PAYS TRIBUTE TO LATE RICHARD OBENSHAIN

Former chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, Richard Obenshain, became well-known in the world of politics during the early 1960-70s and his name lays across the headquarters of the Republican Party of Virginia in downtown Richmond. But his career was cut short. After returning home from a campaign appearance where he won the Republican nomination to run for the U.S. Senate, the small twin-engine airplane he was traveling in crashed into trees while attempting to land, killing Obenshain, the pilot and a flight instructor.

ANOTHER REVOLUTIONARY WAR SHIPWRECK — COMPLETE WITH CANNONS — FOUND IN YORK RIVER

Researchers scouting the York River for Revolutionary War shipwrecks believe they’ve found another one — complete with cannons, "a historic diver's dream," said one of the explorers. Like most of the 10 wrecks previously discovered, this one is entombed in the muck, a ghostly witness to America's fight for freedom, shrouded with a mound of silt and oyster shells. The wrecks are a reminder that Yorktown played a pivotal role in our country's first chapter

ACLU SUES VIRGINIA HOUSING COMPLEX OVER BAN ON FELONS

Sterling Glen, an apartment complex near Richmond, offers prospective tenants a pool, a fitness center, a tennis court, and other amenities. Convicted felons, however, need not apply — no matter how long ago the crimes occurred, their circumstances or whether there is evidence the former inmates have turned their lives around.

PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY MAKES PITCH TO IMPORT BEDFORD COUNTY SOLID WASTE

With a bid to import trash now on the line, one Pittsylvania County official said he could see a future where the county accepts solid waste from other localities. “We’re taking one at a time, but we do have the capacity to take additional trash and use our landfill as a profit center for the county,” County Administrator David Smitherman said.

AS SUBURBAN POVERTY GROWS, SCHOOL SYSTEM RAMPS UP MEALS PROGRAM

...Feeding children who might otherwise go hungry has become a growing concern for Chesterfield County Public Schools. According to the county’s 2018 demographic report, Chesterfield’s median household income exceeds that of the region, state and nation, but the number of individuals living in poverty has increased by 110% since 2000. As many cities nationwide redevelop and see stabilizing or declining poverty rates, inner-ring suburbs are seeing an increase. In Chesterfield, it means the school system is on the front lines when it comes to ensuring its students have something to eat.

HIGH-TECH FIRM’S POTENTIAL MANUFACTURING PLANS WOULD BE A MAJOR VICTORY FOR SW VIRGINIA

A high-tech startup company’s suggestion that it could build a manufacturing facility somewhere in our depressed Southwest Virginia coal country is astoundingly welcome news. According to a recent story by David McGee in the Bristol Herald Courier, this Pulaski, Virginia, firm is developing a filtration system that could efficiently remove pollutants from the emissions of coal-fired power plants and other sources, then package the filtered-out materials for recycling.

CITIES TAKE NEW TACK TO BATTLE OPIOIDS

It's too late for those who died unnecessarily. It’s too late to undo the pain and derailed lives of those struggling with addiction. But it’s never too late for accountability and for justice. It shouldn’t be too late to make those responsible help pay the enormous costs of dealing with the opioid epidemic.

BAD BEHAVIOR

We much prefer to celebrate good behavior, so next week, we’ll name our annual All-Star team in conjunction with baseball’s All-Star game. But lately there’s been some bad behavior that demands our attention. As with baseball, it’s three strikes and you’re out: 1. Mountain Valley Pipeline protestor.

SCHAPIRO: THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE THAT IS HANOVER COUNTY

Long before he became the latest casualty of Republican cannibalism, Chris Peace summed up that slice of the Hanover County electorate enraged by his support of a Virginia health care fix and which would take its revenge for his reversal in a nasty nominating contest that reflects the larger tensions wracking the GOP.

WATKINS: WE TRIED DEREGULATING ELECTRICITY. IT DIDN'T WORK.

For people too young to remember or for those who are just not aware, Virginia already plowed the ground of electric deregulation years ago. As a member of the General Assembly, not only was I in favor of it, I sat on the study committee that created the report to the General Assembly and then Gov. George Allen that led to the Commonwealth’s experiment with deregulation.

Watkins was a member of the Virginia General Assembly for 34 years serving as a Delegate and Senator. He is a Republican from Chesterfield County.

RETIRED NASA EMPLOYEE’S QUEST TO BRING BACK ‘EXTINCT’ CATTLE

There may be more than one reason to celebrate Independence Day this year at Paradise Farm in Dinwiddie County. The farm, the epicenter of the American red Dexter cattle restoration project, is expecting a new calf to be born any day now, farm owner Gene Bowen said. And that calf could be the key to restoring the red Dexter in America, a small, stocky, ginger-colored breed of cattle from Ireland that no longer has any known living counterparts.