8/11/26 - Voters will decide reproductive rights' future four years after Roe

You're listening to the VPM Daily Newscast, the recap of today's top stories in central Virginia. From the VPM newsroom in Richmond, I'm Kim Strother. Early voting doesn't begin until September 18th, but campaigning on a constitutional amendment on abortion is already underway. VPM news reporter Jad Khalil says both sides are presenting their arguments to Virginians. The amendment would put a, quote, fundamental right to reproductive freedom into the Virginia Constitution, preventing a future legislature from banning it. Sarah Sanatkar is a field and canvas manager with Repro Rising. The organization is pushing for Virginians to vote yes. Passing this constitutional amendments would provide this sense of calmness for voters in Virginia, where... Every November, they don't have to be anxious about whether next session they're going to lose these rights or not. Amy McRnerney is director of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington's Office of Marriage, Family, and Respect Life. She wants Virginians to vote no. The status quo of the Code of Virginia aligns more closely with the road decision. So what we have on the books right now and what we will have on the books on November 4th if this amendment fails is closer. to the goals of Roe v. Wade. Abortion is still legal in Virginia despite the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. Jad Khalil, VPM News. For more, watch the latest episode of our Amending Virginia series at v.p.org. On Monday, Lieutenant Governor Gazala Hashmi announced a listening tour related to Next Era Energy's planned acquisition of Dominion Energy. At five stops, including Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginians will have the opportunity to hear from experts, ask questions, and share opinions on the proposed $67 billion deal. Last week, Governor Abigail Spanberger said she would intervene in regulatory review of the sale. We should note, Dominion Energy is... a VPN sponsor. A federal judge ruled last week in favor of a group of students who sued Shenandoah County School Board over its renaming of schools after Confederates. Bridget Manley from our partner station WMRA reports. The court case has been ongoing since the summer of 2024, when several Shenandoah County students and the Virginia chapter of the NAACP sued the Shenandoah County School Board over its controversial decision to reverse the names of two schools, originally named for Confederates, which had been changed in 2020. Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School were reverted to Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School. Federal judge Michael Urbansky said in his ruling that, quote, the evidence establishes that the school board's decision to reinstate the Confederate school names violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, Title IX, and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act. That was WMRA's Bridget Manley reporting.

Chesterfield County voters will decide in November whether to approve a 1% sales tax hike that would fund school construction projects. Superintendent John Murray estimates the increase from 6% to 7% would infuse the school system with about $40 million for capital improvements, including two new elementary schools and a replacement for the aging Midlothian middle school. The tax hike, which would exclude food for home consumption and personal hygiene products, would expire in 20 years. Richmond City officials have announced that the third draft of Code Refresh is set to be released next Monday. The zoning proposal, which would overhaul Richmond's rules for the first time since the 1970s, is expected to answer key questions, including how many housing units should be permitted on a single residential lot. The draft plan is expected to hit the city's social media channels and rva8.gov on August 17th. This has been the VPN Daily Newscast.

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