WMRA Daily 6/30/26

For WMRA News, I'm Bob Levicki. ICE confirms arrests in the Rutgersville area just days before restrictions on cooperation with local law enforcement go into effect. It's official in Virginia has a budget just before today's deadline, and we dig into the popularity and health risks of raw milk in our area. This is the WMRA Daily. or Tuesday, June 30th.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has confirmed they conducted an arrest operation in the Ruckersville area last week just before state law restrictions on their partnerships with local law enforcement agencies go into effect. WMRA's Randy B. Hagey reports. On Tuesday, June 23rd, ICE officers and local law enforcement partners arrested 49 people in the Rutgersville area. who are illegally in the United States, according to an ICE spokesperson. Charlottesville Tomorrow previously reported that dozens of vehicles sat abandoned along local roads as ICE agents and Green County Sheriff's deputies stopped them and arrested the occupants. Earlier this year, Governor Abigail Spanberger ordered state law enforcement agencies,

including the Virginia State Police, to terminate their contracts with ICE, referred to as 287G agreements. She wrote in an executive directive that the agreements, quote, improperly cede accountability and discretion over Virginia law enforcement to the federal government. ICE still lists 288 local agencies in Virginia as 287G participants on its website, including the sheriff's offices in Green, Page, and Shenandoah counties. A new Virginia law that goes into effect July 1st puts guardrails on local agency collaboration with ICE. If they want to keep a 287G, it comes with several requirements.

in the first three months of the second Trump administration, 139 people. Many more were arrested in the cities of North Chesterfield and Chantilly, where two ICE offices are located. We also shared information about the number and severity of those people's criminal convictions, or lack thereof. We got that information as the result of a FOIA request submitted last March. By the time we got those records, the information was already six months old, so we immediately submitted a new FOIA request for the same spreadsheet with those same data points through October 1, 2025. Our request was ultimately denied in May, as the ICE FOIA office claimed these documents are on the ICE website. We immediately appealed this decision because neither this spreadsheet nor those data points are on the website.

The data shown on their website are only current to December 31, 2024. We appealed the agency's FOIA decision, and the appeal was denied on June 25th. Their response claimed that their decision to refer us to the website was adequate in all respects. They go on to say that FOIA, quote, imposes no duty on the agency to create records, and an agency is not required by FOIA to create a document that does not exist in order to satisfy a request. We reached out to the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press to get their take on this. Rachel Seller, a legal fellow for the organization, wrote back, quote, ICE may not maintain the spreadsheet anymore. But if that's the case, I don't know why they didn't

just say that instead of insisting the website has the data. For WMRA News, I'm Randy B. Hagee. You can find links to more information and all our reporting on ICE at WMRA.org and on our app. Virginia's lawmakers were back for one last meeting Monday as they wrapped up the long overdue state budget. The votes approved Governor Abigail Spanberger's handful of amendments. Radio IQ's Brad Cutner has the details. The wait is over, Virginia, you have a budget. That affirmation comes after months of back and forth between the two legislative chambers and Governor Abigail Spanberger. House Speaker Don Scott said he was proud of the work the Democratic trifecta governing the Commonwealth achieved. I think this worked out really, really well. I think the governor did a great job

with it, and I think, and we did, and we delivered. Those deliveries included hundreds of millions in spending to make up for federal cuts, as well as legislator, state employee, home health care worker, and teacher pay raises. Other approved changes include expanding bill refunds to residential and religious customers of electric co-ops, not just Dominion and Appalachian power. More controversial amendments included delaying the start date for new firearm open carry laws. Virginia Beach Republican Senator Bill to staff had concerns. We're asking Richmond to stop taking away the rights, the tools, and the tradition of people that it is, it does not understand. The amendment passed on a mostly party line vote in both chambers.

Once the Senate wrapped their work, Democratic Majority Leader Scott Suravell pointed to the new data center tax as his proudest victory. We went through a lot to get here, but at the end of the day, uh, data centers are going to contribute about $1.1.2 billion dollars that would buy any of them to help fund our government, just like every other taxpayer in our state. Monday's vote ends much of the General Assembly's work until 2027. In Richmond, I'm Brad Cutner. A Virginia judge has blocked a ban on assault-style weapons and magazines that was set to go into effect tomorrow, July 1st. State Senator Saddam Salim of Fairfax co-authored the ban.

Here's how he characterized the law earlier this year. This bill, the way it's written, no law-abiding citizen should have problems following it. The people that are law enforcement, that are military, those are the folks that have the proper training and the licenses in order to carry these. Various gun owners and gun rights groups sued, arguing the ban infringes upon rights guaranteed in the state constitution. In a ruling last Thursday, the Lancaster judge said there was no, quote, rational basis for the state's ban. Farmers in more than 100 Virginia counties may qualify for federal disaster aid. Colder than normal temperatures this spring devastated this year's crops and the state's forestry industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a disaster declaration for the affected areas last Friday.

Farmers in eligible counties have eight months to apply for emergency loans through the USDA. A new Virginia law could change salary negotiations for job seekers. As of tomorrow, July 1st, respective employers will not be able to use a person's wage or salary history to set their future salary in the hiring process. The law also requires employers to disclose a possible pay range in all job postings. Legislation meant to protect Virginians taking HIV prevention medication from insurance discrimination goes into effect on Wednesday. Governor Abigail Spanberger signed the bill into law. After former Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed a similar measure last year, Leah Small with VPN News, has the details. The Affordable Care Act requires health insurers to fully cover the HIV prevention drug prep.

But life, disability, and long-term care insurance are subject to state laws. Delegate Gian Ward wrote the legislation. She says these barriers are discriminatory because other preventive health measures don't trigger coverage denials. She says now, Virginians won't have to worry about not qualifying. Simply because of a medication that they're taking, it's really to prevent them, from getting sick. Prep can lower the risk of contracting HIV from sex by about 99%. The Virginia State Corporation Commission tells VPM it's received a single complaint since

2018 about a life insurer's approval process for an applicant using prep. Leah Small reporting. It is illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption in Virginia. But those who get it through herd shares funding the care and feeding of cows on farms where it's produced, say that it's worth the trouble. Even as nutrition scientists warn, drink at your own risk, WMRI's Christine Cuter digs in. 10-year-old Gweny-Lavoy has been drinking raw milk since she was three. I like it better than store-bought milk because I feel that it's healthier.

I like the taste better. I don't know why, but it just tastes different. When we grow strawberries and tomatoes, we just eat them right off the plant, and we don't like buy them from stores, and we have more of a country life, so I like raw milk better. Gweny's mom, Mabby, who grew up on a cattle farm, has been getting raw milk for her family of six

since moving from Fairfax to Albemarle County in 2019. I have always gravitated towards minimally processed foods, whether we have made our own bread, or, I mean, I've made yogurt, or just anything we purchased, I've always gravitated towards minimally processed foods, because there's a lot of stuff put in our food. That's really been my thing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates

that about 2% of Americans who prepare meals at home consume raw milk each week. That's about 3.2 million people. While rules about selling raw milk vary by state. In Virginia, it's illegal to sell unpasteurized milk for human consumption, but there's a way around the law. Okay, this is the cooler that we have all of our empty jars in. Those who want raw milk buy herd shares from farmers, which help pay for the care and upkeep of animals in exchange for regular dairy deliveries or drop-offs.

The LaVois pick up three gallons each week from Windy Hill Farm in Keesletown, where dairy farmers John Welsh and Corrine Warrens graze their 12 Jersey cows. The LaVois say the price is right, too. When I was looking at the cost of organic whole milk versus joining a herd share and getting our raw milk, the cost was the same. you have $7 a gallon for the whole milk organic on the shelves and the same cost for raw milk. And I was like, and the delivery spot was right around the corner. And I said, well, that's a no-brainer. Nutrition experts aren't as convinced. So it's kind of like drink at your own risk.

Catherine Bassbaum is a registered dietitian at UVA Health. How well do you know the person or the farm getting this raw milk for you from the cows? Are they mindful of utter infections? Are they mindful of fecal matter in the tanks? You know, all the reasons why raw milk can be dangerous, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, all these potential outcomes. From a nutrition standpoint, I've looked at the research and a lot of the claims about raw milk that it's less allergenic, that if you have lactose intolerance, that it kind of

bypasses that, that it has probiotic, you know, all of those things, no. It doesn't, it's not better in any of those respects. According to the Centers for Disease Control, between 1998 and 2018, there were 202 outbreaks linked to raw milk that caused thousands of illnesses and 228 hospitalizations from bacteria such as salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, and campelobacter. Dairy such as Creambrook Farm in Middlebrook regularly test their animals. and milk, but owner Ben Bichler says that process is far from perfect. Some of our information we can get back within 24 hours, population tests. Those are very, very quick. Specific tests, like pathogen testing, those can take a frustrating long amount of time for them to get back on, you know, what the results are.

When you're dealing with a really short shelf life product, like raw milk, where it goes out one week and it's consumed and it's refreshed the next week, it just makes the process trickier. Still, Bikler says, Creambrook, which he started with his wife, in 2017 is busier than ever. They milk their 150 jersey cows twice a day and have more than 100 drop-off points around the state. There's a little bit of a cultural shift going on here where people are interested in their food choices more so than they were several years ago. That's very much been to raw milk's benefit. It's fun to serve a very enthusiastic customer base. Back at the Levoys,

raw milk's not just for drinking. They use it to make butter, sourdough bread, yogurt, biscuits, pancakes, even homemade Elfrado sauce. share in the cattle, which is cool. I wish I could milk my own cow here, but I don't have the fencing, I don't have the infrastructure, but man, if I had fencing, we would have had a dairy cow already. Both Windy Hill and Creambrook Farms exclusively raised Jersey cows, which produce milk with a higher fat content than other cow varieties, like Holstein. No matter the breed, though, raw milk tends to have a higher fat content compared to pasteurize whole milk. Creambrook Farm's raw milk contains about 13 grams of fat per cup, nine of which are saturated,

almost half the recommended daily allowance of saturated fat. Dietician Bassbaum and the federal government's dietary guidelines for Americans urge people to get fewer than 10% of their calories from saturated fat. A cup of pasteurized whole milk contains about a quarter of the recommended allowance of saturated fat. No matter the fat percentage, though, all milk is a good source of protein, Bassbaum says. For WMRA News, I'm Christine Cuter. You'll find photos from this story and links to more information at WMRA.org and on our app. Every year, more than 67,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

In most cases, the disease has spread, and patients survive on average less than a year. Now, the University of Virginia is testing a new kind of drug that doubles life expectancy and offers a whole new way to treat several kinds of cancer. The Radio IQ's Sandy Housman reports. You might not expect an emotional outburst from doctors at a medical meeting, but this year at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Conference in Chicago, physicians like UVA's Matthew Riley were excited when scientists shared the results of a large-scale trial

for a new drug to treat pancreatic cancer. This study, when it was presented, got two separate standing ovations. It was pretty well-recognized. by everyone there that this was a big deal. For one thing, the drug called Diraxin-Rosib, doubled life expectancy from six and a half months on average to more than a year. And most patients could tolerate the side effects better than what they experienced on chemo. It's taken as a pill rather than an infusion.

But what's really got doctors excited, Riley says, is the way Diraxin Rassib works. The vast majority of pancreatic cancer patients have a mutation in a gene called KRAS that helps cells to survive and grow more complex. quickly, so it's not surprising that cancer would take advantage of that. The new drug targets the mutated K-RAS gene found in 90% of pancreatic tumors, 50% of colon cancers, and a third of lung tumors, and it could shrink tumors so that surgery and a cure is possible. The medication is not yet approved by the FDA, but UVA has a couple of clinical trials underway, and it joins other medical centers in working with the manufacturer, Revolution Medicine, to expand access. I'm Sandy Hausman.

Companies that own or operate data centers are some of the most influential businesses in Virginia. They are also some of the most widely held stocks by members of the General Assembly. Also with Radio IQ, Michael Pope has the details. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are not just some of the largest data center companies in Virginia. They're also some of the most widely held stocks among members of the General Assembly. That's according to disclosure reports posted to the Virginia Public Access Project. Here's Jennifer Victor at George Mason University. I wouldn't look at this list and think that legislators are doing something nefarious or underhanded or devious in order to profit from it necessarily.

I mean, it could be that, but it isn't necessarily that. More likely it's a coincidence, but still problematic to be invested in the companies that you're actively regulating. Members of the General Assembly are paid part-time salaries, and they're expected to have other financial interests outside of politics. But Craig Holman, the Consumer Advocacy Organization, public citizen, says this is still a conflict of interest. That outside income should not be tied to their official duties. And in this case of owning stocks, that is directly tied to their official duties. They could actually manipulate the market for their own benefit. This year, members of the General Assembly debated the future of a huge tax break for data centers worth about $2 billion a year.

They ended up keeping the tax credit, although they also created a new consumption tax based on how much power they're consuming. I'm Michael Pope. Finally today, 35 years ago, the Reedville Fisherman's Museum asked a local group of retired Menhaden fishermen to perform some of their work songs known as shanties for a 4th of July celebration. They became the northern neck shanty singers and spent decades touring the country. Last Friday, three remaining members now in their 80s performed one last time. Also with Radio IQ, Pamela D'Angelo was there. More than a century ago before there was a hydraulic lift, black fishermen strained to bring up fish-laden nets on menhaden boats out in the Chesapeake Bay in the Atlantic.

Here's shanty singer Lloyd Hill. Chanty Singh was made to make the work go easier. Throughout history, black men, Americans have always performed music when they perform menial labor. In the agricultural fields, in the mines, on the railroads, in the forest industry, and now in their sea industry. But contrary to popular belief, we were not singing because we were happy. The lowest paid and hardest laborers their singing was based on call and response to keep

the men working together to pull in hundreds of thousands of families. thousands of fish in one net. Come on, boy. Let's go get them. Let's go get them, boy. Now we're pulling up the net. And you were out there on the water. Just you, the men, the fish, and the seagulls. Some of those songs were, well, salty. So the original 14 singers clean them up when they went on tour.

Others, like Remember Me, honored those who have passed on land and water. Hill read out the names of the original 14 who brought shanties to the world. The museum with a grant for, from the Virginia Humanities and William G. Pomeroy Foundation unveiled a road sign to be placed on Main Street in Reedville to honor the shanty singers. From Reedville, I'm Pamela DiAngelo.

For WMRA News, I'm Bob Levicki. Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy your Tuesday. I'm