Fallout Over Youngkin Tourism Ad; More Va., Headlines

Staff Report, Virginia Mercury

October 6, 2022

• The CEO of the Virginia Tourism Corporation said her agency used the firm that made Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s political ads to produce a tourism video featuring the governor partly due to the firm’s “familiarity” with Youngkin. Tourism officials said late Wednesday that the governor’s office had insisted on competitive bidding, even though the firm won the work in the end—VPM, Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Democratic leaders called for an investigation into the matter and said it was inappropriate for a state contract to be steered to a company that played a key role in Youngkin’s campaign. “This is government corruption at its height,” said House Minority Leader Don Scott, D-Portsmouth.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• An Arlington NAACP leader was killed while vacationing in Turks and Caicos when gang members ambushed a vehicle he was riding in after a water-skiing excursion.—Washington Post

• A technology glitch in voter registration info coming from the DMV has left local election officials with a backlog of about 107,000 registrations to process.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Two Virginia men who took in Zachary Cruz, the brother of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz, are facing financial exploitation charges over the relationship.—South Florida Sun Sentinel

• A Northern Virginia woman is demanding an apology from Fairfax County Police after her car was rammed and she was handcuffed in front of her kids in an apparent case of mistaken identity.—NBC4 Washington

• Former Virginia congressman and attorney Tom Davis is defending Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder in an ongoing congressional probe, accusing the House Oversight Committee of using “innuendo” to drive Snyder out of the NFL.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Fairfax County Democrats will pick a nominee to replace former Del. Mark Keam on Saturday.—WTOP

• Black bears in Virginia have a mange problem.—Washington Post

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