GOVERNOR’S OFFICE URGES PRUDENCE AND CAUTION IN UPCOMING BUDGET

Virginia’s unemployment is among the lowest in the country and state officials say the economy remains solid. But while the fiscal news remains mostly good, Governor Northam says he isn’t ready to go on a spending spree in the upcoming 2020-2022 state budget. “I’ve always taken a cautiously optimistic approach, and that’s where we are now,” Northam said after a meeting with business leaders earlier this week.

HUDSON'S PLANNED STATUES BILL COULD BE AMONG SEVERAL CHALLENGING DILLON RULE

A long-guiding judicial precedent is expected to face challenges in the coming Virginia General Assembly session following a “blue wave” election that saw Democrats obtain the majority in both chambers for the first time in over a decade. Democrats are expected to push harder for bills that died in committee in recent sessions, such as a measure that would allow localities to remove war memorials. The bills are expected to emphasize home rule, which grants localities the power to enact a range of laws they see fit.

SEN. SUETTERLEIN REFILES TWICE-VETOED ANTI-GERRYMANDERING BILL, NONCOMMITTAL ON REDISTRICTING COMMISSION

With Virginia close to passing redistricting reform, Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, has refiled his anti-gerrymandering legislation that Gov. Ralph Northam has vetoed twice. But Suetterlein hasn’t committed to backing a proposal that would create an independent redistricting commission that will come before the legislature again next year.

ELIZABETH WARREN CALLS ON VIRGINIA GOVERNOR TO OVERTURN LAW HAMPERING UNIONS

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called on Virginia’s Democratic governor to repeal the state’s anti-union “right-to-work” law on Wednesday, adding to pressure from progressives frustrated with the governor’s doubts about passing such a repeal bill. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) had said at an economic and revenue forecasting meeting on Monday that, despite Democrats winning unified control of the state government earlier this month, he did not “foresee” the party moving to undo the state’s decadeslong status as a hotbed of union hostility.

ICE HAS JENS SOERING IN CUSTODY AND IS INTERVIEWING ELIZABETH HAYSOM, TWO DAYS AFTER THEIR PAROLE FOR 1985 MURDERS

One of the special parole conditions imposed on Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom — who were convicted in the 1985 slaying of Haysom’s parents — is that they remain in custody until they have left the country. “You are on Parole Supervision for life and as a condition of your parole you are forever forbidden from remaining in or returning to the United States or any U.S Territory,” according to the conditions released Wednesday by Adrianne Bennett, chair of the Virginia Parole Board.

NEW FIELD TEST KITS WILL HELP POLICE DISTINGUISH BETWEEN ILLEGAL MARIJUANA AND LEGAL INDUSTRIAL HEMP

Field test kits for police to help distinguish illegal marijuana from legal industrial hemp — both cannabis plants — will be distributed to departments across Virginia. The Virginia Department of Forensic Science notified law enforcement agencies this month that 16,150 kits have been purchased for $97,500 using a grant from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services.

MEET THE NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBE THAT WANTS TO BE THE FIRST CHEROKEE GROUP RECOGNIZED BY VIRGINIA

November is the busiest month of the year for Wolf Creek Cherokee Chief Terry Price. He travels to military installations, schools and community events around the state in between running his heating and cooling business. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening, he’s back at the Wolf Creek Cherokee Museum in Henrico County for the tribe’s traditional drum circle, where men play drums and sing songs in the Cherokee language.

DATA: MORE WORK FROM HOME IN US, VIRGINIA AND DC AREA

More Americans are working from home, and that’s especially true in Virginia and in the Washington, D.C., metro area, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Nationally, the proportion of workers who work from home rose from 4.3% in 2010 to 5.3% last year, the data show. Virginia is slightly above the national average

NORFOLK FORMS MAYOR’S COMMITTEE ON GAMING AND PLANS NEW PUBLIC HEARINGS ON PAMUNKEY CASINO DEAL

Petitioners hit the signature mark to force Norfolk’s City Council to hold public hearings and take another vote on the land sale deal for a casino resort that has been at the heart of much public controversy over the past two months. And seemingly in response to persistent criticism of the deal, the council also established a Mayor’s Committee on Gaming on Tuesday night to study potential impacts from gambling and a casino.

QUESTIONS RAISED ABOUT POLITICAL ADVOCACY BY GROUP CLAIMING TO REPRESENT EDUCATORS

Early on Election Day, state Del. Barry Knight, R-81st District, drove from his home in rural Virginia Beach to the Capps Shop Precinct at Back Bay Christian Assembly. The delegate spotted a sign with his name on it outside the polling location. There was a list of candidates, generally on the conservative side, endorsed by an unknown group called the Virginia Beach Teachers’ Association. Illustrated by a bespectacled owl, the sign urged voters to “make the wise choice.”

CITY TAX COLLECTION SYSTEM EXPERIENCES DATA BREACH

The city of Charlottesville is dealing with a data breach in the third-party software used to collect real estate and personal property tax payments. The breach was discovered on Friday and the city immediately disabled the software, according to city spokesman Brian Wheeler. The software is used by the treasurer’s office and other localities, Wheeler said.

KW SUPERVISORS DECLARE THE COUNTY IS A “2ND AMENDMENT SANCTUARY”

County is first in Tidewater area to issue gun rights resolution. As people filled the courthouse seats and spilled out into the lobby, families, hunters and gun enthusiasts came to demand the Board of Supervisors declare King William a “2nd Amendment sanctuary” in which officials oppose state-legislated gun restrictions. Before opening the comment period, the board addressed the estimated 220 attendees by introducing a resolution stating the board upholds the federal Constitution and refuses to recognize any state legislation restricting gun laws.

A TRADITION BORN IN VIRGINIA

For generations, most Americans considered it fact that the first Thanksgiving celebration was a feast shared by Pilgrims and Native Americans at Plymouth, Mass., in sometime in the fall of 1621. Turkey, cranberries and other now traditional fare were on the menu, we were told. Informed Virginians, however, have known for some time that the first Thanksgiving bragging rights belong here, at Berkeley Plantation on the James River about 30 miles upstream from the Jamestown settlement.