Youngkin's Amendments Protect People "Who Want To Engage In Discrimination," Democrat Shin Says

A Virginia Mercury Staff Report

April 22, 2022

• Del. Irene Shin, D-Fairfax, says amendments Youngkin made to her bill protecting people from discrimination on the basis of an outward expression of faith like a headscarf or yarmulke does the opposite of what she intended and “ends up protecting people who want to engage in discrimination.”—WVTF

• Virginia is closing its rent relief program to new applications next month. Officials worry that a surge in requests will exceed available federal funding.—VPM

• On Earth Day, a look at how Virginia’s doing on litter, which taxpayers spend $3.5 million annually to clean up.—VPM

• After five days at large, the second escapee from Eastern State Hospital has been captured. Police said the two got out by damaging an interior wall.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Republicans have retaken control of the Tobacco Commission.—Cardinal News

• William & Mary is planning to overhaul its residence and dining halls. More than half of its beds are in buildings that lack full air-conditioning and ventilation.—Virginia Gazette

• A national anti-CRT group is suing Albemarle’s school system over its anti-racism policy, which the district adopted in the wake of the 2017 Unite the Right rally.—Daily Progress

• The Charlottesville Police Department’s annual report reveals “the department continues to show a trend in arresting more Black people than white people.”—Daily Progress

• Warrenton got a grant for a program that will allow citizens “to provide an immediate and anonymous rating for every single police encounter.”—Fox 5 DC

• Virginia Beach is considering buying an oceanfront Dairy Queen property that includes an adjacent park the city has long used for events. A councilman said it was one of the last chances to buy open space on the boardwalk: “It is now the scale of Teddy Roosevelt preserving Yellowstone.”—Virginian-Pilot

• After the disappearance of high-demand, limited-availability bourbon from Virginia ABC shelves fueled a spate of conspiracy theories, the agency is rolling out a new program for its sale. “We want to make it so that everybody has an equal shot.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• A Loudoun County firefighter was crowned Miss Virginia USA.—WTOP

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