CATHOLIC BISHOPS CALL ON NORTHAM TO RESCIND APPOINTMENT OVER ANTI-CATHOLIC JOKES

Virginia’s two Catholic bishops issued a statement Tuesday calling on Gov. Ralph Northam to rescind the appointment of a Democratic activist to the Virginia Council on Women because of anti-Catholic jokes she posted publicly on Twitter.

GOV. HEARS FROM AREA BUSINESSES ABOUT WORKFORCE CHALLENGES

Gov. Ralph Northam was greeted by a crowd of nearly 80 people at the Harrisonburg Ice House on Tuesday before hearing about their experiences hiring employees during a time of low unemployment. “While our unemployment rate right now in Virginia is 2.9%, the lowest it’s been in over 10 years, with that comes with challenges,” Northam said.

VA. REPUBLICANS ACCUSE DEMOCRATS OF STONEWALLING ON FAIRFAX HEARING

Republican lawmakers in Virginia blame Democrats for preventing a public hearing into allegations made by two women who say Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) sexually assaulted them years ago. In a statement Tuesday, House Speaker Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) said that Republicans had made several attempts to negotiate terms with Democrats over what would be an unprecedented public hearing

GOP STATE SENATOR ATTACKS HIS 'RADICAL' CHALLENGER, A MUSLIM, OVER 'ISLAMIC TERRORISM'

State Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Stafford, launched Facebook ads this week attacking his Democratic challenger over the issue of "Islamic terrorism." Qasim Rashid, a lawyer challenger Stuart in Senate District 28, said Stuart's allegations were false and an attempt to distract voters from real issues in the campaign, like the need to raise pay for teachers and improve Virginia's infrastructure.

WHAT HAPPENS IF VOTERS SPELL DEL. NICK FREITAS’ NAME WRONG?

The spelling rhyme goes something like: I before E except after C — and R if your name is Nick Freitas. Freitas, R-Culpeper, is running a write-in campaign to win re-election to the House of the Delegates. The conservative up-and-comer failed to make it on the ballot as the Republican nominee because his candidate qualification form was filed too late.

SOME EARLY GOP MARKERS FOR HOT HOUSE RACES

A national Republican group that focuses on state races has placed some early markers for high priority Virginia House of Delegates races, including two in Hampton Roads. The Republican State Leadership Committee gave $45,000 each to Del. Chris Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, and Rocky Holcomb, who is seeking to win back for the GOP the Virginia Beach district won by Del. Cheryl Turpin in 2017. (Turpin is seeking to flip the state Senate district long represented by the retiring Frank Wagner.)

WHERE’S THE BIG MONEY BEEN GOING THIS SUMMER?

The big money flowing into campaign warchests this summer has a decidedly blue-ish tinge, a quick look at the running tally of large donation reports compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project suggests. Consider: topping the list of recipients of large donations (those $10,000-plus ones that state law says must be disclosed within three days) are the Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus, reporting big donations totaling just over $1.3 million since June, and the Democratic Party of Virginia, reporting $810,000 of big contributions.

AT RICHMOND FUNDRAISER, BIDEN SAYS HE WOULDN'T BE RUNNING IF IT WEREN'T FOR CHARLOTTESVILLE

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he would not be seeking the presidency if it weren’t for the white supremacist violence that occurred in Charlottesville in August 2017 and President Donald Trump’s response to it.

SEN. WARNER CALLS FOR SOCIAL INSURANCE THAT STAYS WITH WORKERS AS THEY MOVE THROUGH JOBS

Sen. Mark Warner on Tuesday hit all the prescribed notes when talking with Roanoke-area health care, community and business leaders about fixing the Affordable Care Act, reining in escalating drug prices and halting surprise billing. But when he was given the signal to wrap it up, Warner, D-Va., dropped two ideas that moved beyond the current political dialogue: designing a benefits system that attaches to a person, not a job, and creating tax credits that reward businesses that invest in workers.

SEN. MARK WARNER SAYS IN MARTINSVILLE THAT HE WORRIES THAT U.S. IS DEVELOPING WRONG WEAPONS

The United States should spend less on planes and tanks and more on the real threats of the modern age – internet and cyberpace issues, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Tuesday. Warner (D-Va.) was speaking to leaders from local businesses and the Martinsville-Henry Chamber of Commerce at New College Institute as part of a week-long trip across Virginia.

VIRGINIA ANGLERS ANGRY OVER NEW CATCH LIMITS ON STRIPED BASS, SAY TOURNAMENTS ARE IN JEOPARDY

Anglers will be allowed to keep just one striped bass instead of two a day in the upcoming season, state fisheries officials decided Tuesday. The move is meant to protect the species by keeping large breeding fish in the water, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission said in a statement. But it could squash the charter fishing industry and a popular fall tournament scene that relied on big fish.

PHILIP MORRIS AND ALTRIA IN TALKS TO MERGE IN BID FOR VAPING MARKET

Two of the world’s largest tobacco companies, Philip Morris International and the Altria Group, are discussing a merger that would reunite them after more than a decade in a deal aimed at domination of the fast-growing electronic-cigarette market. Analysts and investors have long speculated that the companies would merge, given mounting pressure from declining cigarette sales and the need to invest in other sources of revenue.

HENRICO-BASED ALTRIA IS IN TALKS WITH PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL ON POSSIBLE 'MERGER OF EQUALS'

Henrico County-based tobacco giant Altria Group Inc. may be reunited with Philip Morris International Inc., the company it spun off in 2008. Altria, the Fortune 500 parent company of top U.S. cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, and Philip Morris International on Tuesday confirmed that they are in discussions “regarding a potential all-stock, merger of equals.”

NEW MANUFACTURING JOBS ANNOUNCED IN SHENANDOAH COUNTY

Virginia officials say they beat out two other states and a Canadian province to land 102 new manufacturing jobs. Gov. Ralph Northam said Tuesday that Howell Metal will spend $8 million to expand production in Shenandoah County.

COUNCIL CENSURES MAYOR IN CLOSED SESSION

Town Council members drafted a statement to censure the mayor during a closed session Monday evening. Mayor Richard A. “Rich” Orndorff Jr. was absent from the special meeting. He said on Tuesday that he chose not to attend so council members could speak freely about him.

QUESTIONS REMAIN AS PROBES DIG INTO VIRGINIA BEACH SHOOTING

A firm conducting an independent probe into Virginia Beach's mass shooting said Tuesday that it's reviewed more than 300,000 emails, thousands of documents and 10 hours of camera footage and 911 calls. But the firm's CEO said it's not ready to release details from its investigation into why a city engineer submitted his resignation before fatally shooting 12 people in a municipal building.

NAVY HOUSING SURVEY SHOWS POOR RANK FOR HAMPTON ROADS

The Navy wanted to know how sailors and their families living in privatized military housing felt about their homes. Turns out, those in Hampton Roads are less satisfied than most.

CRICKET SOLAR PULLS PERMIT APPLICATION FOR CULPEPER PROJECT

Less than three weeks after submitting revised plans for a solar power plant on some 1,600 acres in southern Culpeper County, the company behind the Cricket Solar project has withdrawn the application altogether.

ANCIENT MONACAN SITE INTERSECTS WITH LOUISA’S GROWING THIRST

In John Smith’s 1612 map of Virginia, at the point where the Rivanna River meets the James, he marked Rassawek, the capital of the Monacan Indians. Jump forward 400 years and the site is on another map, this one targeting it as a pump station to quench Zion Crossroads’ thirst.

VIRGINIA’S LONGEST-SERVING TOWN MANAGER ABRUPTLY RETIRES

Farmville’s town manager for the past 41 years abruptly retired Monday. Gerald Spates was the longest-serving town manager in Virginia before submitted a letter to the Town Council that he was retiring immediately. Town Council held an emergency Monday night meeting and named Assistant Town Manager Scott Davis as Interim Town Manager.

SPEAKER'S TUITION FREEZE A GOOD IDEA, FOR NOW

Virginia's 15 four-year state colleges and universities are operating this year without a tuition increase for in-state students for the first time in 18 years. In exchange, they each get a share of a $57.5 million allocation in the state budget. That’s on top of the state’s $8.75 billion higher education operating budget. If House Speaker Kirk Cox, R–Colonial Heights, has his way, the General Assembly in its 2020 session will extend the plan another year

COUNTING OUR CHILDREN

With less than a year to go, outreach efforts for the 2020 census are underway. And, rightfully so, accuracy is paramount and time is of the essence. As part of its push to educate the public, the Virginia Complete Count Commission website brings visitors back to grade school, testing knowledge of the census with a brief but essential “messaging pop quiz.”

EMBRACING THE IMPORTANCE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY

Gov. Ralph Northam is an unlikely messenger for promoting African American history in Virginia's education curricula. It was only February that he sat, huddled, in the Governor’s Mansion after flubbing a nationally broadcast interview in which he intended to address a photo on his personal page in the Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook of one man wearing blackface and another in Ku Klux Klan robes.

MUNLEY: NORTHAM IS 'GREENWASHING' MVP

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is working hard greenwashing his Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) boondoggle mess. On July 18, Northam celebrated a tobacco commission broadband grant for rural Franklin County, only a half-mile from the multi-generational Werner/Reilly Four Corners Farm, recently forced by MVP damage to cease operation.

Munley is an organizer of Preserve Salem