VISUALIZATION: COLLEGE ACCEPTANCE RATES BY LOCALITY

Overall, seven of every 10 Virginia high school students who apply to a four-year state college or university are accepted. See how acceptance rate varies by locality -- and filter for the six most-selective schools. Rates based on high school classes of 2017 and 2018.

NORTHAM APPOINTEE WHO MADE DEROGATORY AND ANTI-CATHOLIC STATEMENTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA RESIGNS

A citizen appointee of Gov. Ralph Northam who made derogatory attacks on others and anti-Catholic posts on social media resigned Wednesday following an outcry from Catholics. Northam on Aug. 16 appointed Gail Gordon Donegan, a Democratic activist from Alexandria, to the 18-member Virginia Council on Women.

FORMER LEGISLATOR, CHARLOTTESVILLE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER TOM MICHIE DIES

Election Day was cold and dreary on Dec. 29, 1970. But that didn’t stop Thomas J. Michie Jr. and his wife, Molly, from casting a ballot at about 9 a.m. A Daily Progress photographer caught them sporting a smile at the polls. They voted in the special election for the 26th District seat in the House of Delegates, an election that would kick off a long career in the state legislature and earn the city School Board member the nickname “Landslide Michie.”

‘WILLING TO TAKE THE POLITICAL RISK’: DEL. IBRAHEEM SAMIRAH EXPLAINS HIS BRASH BRAND OF ACTIVIST POLITICS

Del. Ibraheem Samirah, D-Fairfax, was so new to the General Assembly when he stood to protest President Donald Trump during a speech at Jamestown last month, it’s not clear that reporters covering the event initially recognized him as a state lawmaker. Since then, Samirah, who won his seat in a February special election and served just six days of this year’s legislative session, has emerged as one of the body’s more outspoken members, penning an op-ed critiquing the so-called Virginia Way, debating the Roanoke Times editorial page about civility and, most recently, challenging U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Virginia Beach, in a Twitter thread that accused her of using “Republican talking points against fellow Democrats” and urged her to support an impeachment inquiry against Trump.

GRANT TARGETS WOMEN FOR SHIP REPAIR JOBS

A $500,000 grant announced Wednesday aims to boost the region’s ship repair industry and improve the lives of a few women in the process. It will train women to work in the waterfront trades — high-demand jobs like welding or pipe-fitting — with a focus on those who need the most help.

SEN. WARNER DEFENDS ACA DURING VISIT TO CARILION CLINIC

U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) continued his visit to central and western Virginia Tuesday, with a tour of Carilion Clinic and a discussion about health care. Warner toured the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit and the Carilion Cardiology and Heart Surgery Center, and he opened his discussion with an expression of gratitude

APPALACHIAN POWER CUSTOMERS TO GET ONE-TIME CREDIT ON UPCOMING BILL

A tax cut pushed by President Donald Trump and passed by Congress in 2017 continues to benefit customers of Appalachian Power Co. in Virginia. Eligible customers will receive a one-time credit on their next bill that amounts to about $22.50 for a home that uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month

APPALACHIAN POWER CUSTOMERS IN VIRGINIA TO RECEIVE ONE-TIME TAX CREDIT

Eligible Appalachian Power customers in Virginia will receive a one-time credit to return $22 million in savings associated with federal corporate tax reform, according to a news release APCo sent Wednesday.

VIRGINIA SHOWCASES NEW ISRAELI TECHNOLOGY FOR TRANSFORMING WASTE AND HOPES ECONOMIC INVESTMENT FOLLOWS

The Richmond region will become the national showcase for an innovative technology that an Israeli company says will transform household waste — everything, including kitchen scraps — into “the greenest thermoplastic material on the planet.” But the initial foray by UBQ Materials into the U.S. market has much higher stakes for Virginia than the 2,000 recycled recycling bins that the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority will distribute to households in the region for the usual bottles, cans and wastepaper collected at curbside.

HOW DOES VIRGINIA LURE NEW COMPANIES? A RARE GLIMPSE AT THE WOOING PROCESS.

You don’t often get a glance at the middle steps of the long, slow courtship of a hot economic development prospect, but the celebration to mark the first U.S. sale of an innovative Israeli recycling company, hosted at the State Capitol on Wednesday by Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, offered a rare glimpse.

YOU CAN NOW GET NALOXONE ONLINE IN VIRGINIA — BUT IT’LL COST YOU

Recognizing the limited availability of naloxone, one company aims to sell the opioid overdose reversal drug online without needing a doctor’s prescription in all 50 states, including Virginia. Chicago-based Naloxoneexchange.com, from the company Script Health, is launching this week in about 30 states, but it doesn’t take insurance — which means one dose of the website’s most popular brand, Narcan, will cost you around $158, plus shipping.

BALTIMORE LAW FIRM EXPANDS TO RICHMOND BY HIRING LITIGATION TEAM FROM LECLAIRRYAN

A Baltimore-based law firm is opening an office in Richmond by hiring some former LeClairRyan attorneys. Miles & Stockbridge, a business law firm with more than 230 lawyers in the Mid-Atlantic region, is picking up five attorneys from the litigation team at LeClairRyan, the Richmond-based legal giant which announced earlier this month that it is shutting down.

U.VA. TO OFFER FINANCIAL AID TO IN-STATE DACA STUDENTS THIS FALL

When Nicole Leal, a fourth-year College student and president of DREAMers on Grounds, found out the University would start offering financial aid to in-state Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals students this fall, she felt that the change “came out of nowhere.” According to Leal, ever since DREAMers on Grounds started at the University in fall 2015, one of the group’s main focuses has been advocating for undocumented students to matriculate financial aid at the University.

FERC ASKS FOR NEW REVIEW OF ENDANGERED SPECIES IN THE PATH OF THE MOUNTAIN VALLEY PIPELINE

The fate of endangered species is becoming more of a danger to the Mountain Valley Pipeline. In a letter Wednesday, the lead federal agency overseeing construction of the natural gas pipeline asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider its earlier finding that the project would not significantly harm protected fish and bats in its path.

VIRGINIA BEACH CITY MANAGER RESIGNS AMID CALLS FOR HIM TO LEAVE

Virginia Beach’s top official resigned on Wednesday after months of heated criticism for his response to the May 31 mass shooting, when a public utilities employee killed 12 people and injured four in a city building. Several council members raised concerns over his ability to continue leading the state’s largest and most populous city.

VIRGINIA BEACH OFFICIAL RESIGNS OVER MASS SHOOTING RESPONSE

Three months after a Virginia Beach city employee killed 12 people in a mass shooting , the city’s executive resigned Wednesday following criticism from victims’ family members and others about his response to the rampage.

VIRGINIA BEACH CITY MANAGER RESIGNS AMID CRITICISM OF HANDLING OF MASS SHOOTING

A top official in Virginia Beach has resigned following criticism of the city’s response to a mass shooting in its municipal offices. David L. Hansen, who oversaw day-to-day affairs as city manager, stepped down almost three months to the day after a city employee opened fire on colleagues, killing 12.

NORFOLK’S NEW CITY MANAGER TAKES OFFICE SEPT. 16

It’s official: “Team Norfolk” has a new chief. Norfolk’s City Council has appointed Old Dominion University administrator Larry “Chip” Filer to serve as the next city manager. Tuesday’s 7-0 vote — Councilman Paul Riddick was absent — confirms Filer’s hire, which was announced earlier this month.

ABINGDON OFFICIALS LARGELY LEFT OUT OF COURTHOUSE DISCUSSIONS

Abingdon officials say they’ve been left out of the potential plan to move the Washington County Courthouse, which is now slated for a referendum even though it could be stalled by zoning issues. None of Abingdon’s town managers for the past 15 months have been asked to be a member of the Washington County Board of Supervisors' “courthouse committee.”

3 CANDIDATES QUALIFY FOR SPECIAL ELECTION

Three people have qualified as candidates for the Mathews County Board of Supervisors to fill the unexpired term of Marion C. “Pepper” Love. Love resigned in February and the board subsequently appointed Michael Rowe, a former member, to fill the vacancy until a special election could be held in November.

MANAGER’S DEPARTURE IS OPPORTUNITY FOR BEACH

Virginia Beach City Manager Dave Hansen has been a polarizing figure during his time at the helm of municipal government, a lightning rod for criticism since he succeeded Jim Spore to become the head administrator of the commonwealth’s largest city in 2016.

DELIBERATE AIM TO BE OFFENSIVE IS UNACCEPTABLE

The problem with Gail Gordon Donegan isn’t that she’s outspoken and provocative. It isn’t that she’s profane.

ACCOUNTABILITY MAY BE SCHOOLS' TOUGHEST TEST

Accountability is a fairly straightforward concept. A person or organization has an assigned task and is given instruction on how to do it. A method of measurement is used to determine if the task has been completed properly, or at least if progress is being made toward that goal.

INVEST IN NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURE

At last count, the Mattaponi Indians included nearly 450 tribal members, although only 75 live on its 150-acre reservation in King William County. This week, Gov. Ralph Northam announced the state expand the Mattaponi horizons by returning an additional 100 acres. The transfer will allow the tribe more opportunities to build homes as well as broaden access to fish and game.

SCHAPIRO: NORTHAM NOT THE TARGET REPUBLICANS HOPED FOR

The most telling line in Ralph Northam’s speech on the 400th anniversary of the arrival of African slaves in Virginia wasn’t even in it. “Y’all needed to stretch your legs, didn’t you?” said the governor, smiling, as he veered from his prepared remarks to acknowledge the unexpected: a standing ovation from his racially mixed, bipartisan audience Saturday at Fort Monroe, in Hampton, after announcing a commission to recommend ways Virginia schools can do a better job teaching black history.