Credit: 401(K) 2012 / Flickr

Republicans and Democrats are striking a deal to crack down on wage theft.

Michael Pope reports.

  House Speaker Kirk Cox took the rare measure of leaving the dais to speak from his old seat on the floor of the House of Delegates.
(Credit Michael Pope)

Abortion remains one of the hottest issues in the General Assembly, and it blew up on the floor of the House of Delegates and social media today/Wednesday.

Michael Pope has the story.

Credit: alamosbasement / Flickr

Republicans and Democrats in Virginia are both on board with a five-percent teacher pay raise. That news comes after thousands of educators marched to the capitol Monday.

But as Mallory Noe-Payne reports, there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to raising teacher salaries.

(Credit: 401kcalculator.org / Flickr)

Each year, the state adjusts the tax code to reflect changes in federal law. But this year the routine process has been tangled up in a debate on tax policy.

If lawmakers don’t act immediately it could impact your return.

Mallory Noe-Payne has more from the capitol.

  Thousands of teachers and education advocates marched to the state capitol Monday to rally for more education funding.
(Credit: Mallory Noe-Payne)

Virginia teachers turned out in the thousands Monday to march on the state capitol – demanding higher pay and increases in school funding.

Mallory Noe-Payne was there and has this report.

The death of a firefighter on the side of an interstate is prompting action in Richmond, where lawmakers are considering legislation to toughen the penalties on drivers who don’t move over when approaching emergency vehicles.

Melanie Clark, the widow of that firefighter, is promoting the bill. Monday morning, she asked lawmakers to take action this year to keep first responders safe.

There’s a new idea for using trains to reduce congestion on Interstate 81. And members of Norfolk’s school board want to know who’s been criticizing them using a government Twitter account.

Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link.

More now from Fred Echols.

(Credit: Virginia Educators United)

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of teachers are expected to show up in Richmond Monday to show support for public education.

Mallory Noe-Payne has details on the march and rally.

Lawmakers in Richmond are considering a proposal that would crack down on the kind of paramilitary groups that marched on Charlottesville.

Michael Pope reports.

(Credit Rog Cogswell via flickr.com / CC)

Virginia’s new Congressional members are becoming increasingly active in efforts to end a partial government shutdown.

Jeff Bossert reports.

Wild oysters from Tangier Sound (Credit: Pamela D’Angelo)

It’s been ten years since Maryland and Virginia were ordered to restore oyster populations to tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay by 2025.

To meet that goal scientists have banked on building oyster sanctuaries. But reviving a species decimated by disease, over-harvesting and pollution hasn’t proved easy.

Maryland, Virginia and federal recently scientists met at the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News to assess progress.

Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Two Virginia Indian tribes are at odds over a casino in Norfolk…and the City of Portsmouth was surprised to learn that a gift will cost it quite a bit of money. 

Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link. 

More from Fred Echols.

Downtown Richmond comes into view as overgrown areas of Evergreen Cemetery are cleared. (Credit: Pamela D’Angelo)

Martin Luther King Day is a national day of service and for the past few years volunteers have worked alongside the descendants of those buried in a neglected historical African American Cemetery in Richmond to restore it to its former glory.

Pamela D’Angelo reports.

(Credit: Jeff Atkins)

As of a week ago, Virginia has received almost 500 claims for unemployment benefits from furloughed federal workers.

But the effects of the government shutdown don’t stop there. As Mallory Noe-Payne reports, there’s also been an impact on science.

The Sensible Seafood program advises consumers to try invasive species such as lionfish, snakehead and blue catfish. (Credit: Virginia Aquarium)

It’s a dangerous world for fish and other marine life.  Populations are coping with climate change, pollution and fishermen armed with high-tech devices that make it easier than ever to harvest the sea.

In the final part of our series, Sandy Hausman reports on what you – as a consumer – can do to help assure sustainable fisheries.

State regulators are rejecting major elements in Dominion Energy’s 6-billion dollar plan to modernize the grid.

Mallory Noe-Payne has more.

Since the 1940s, Virginia has imposed strong restrictions on labor unions.

Now those restrictions are at the center of a political debate in Richmond. Michael Pope reports.

  Former Governor Bob McDonnell and other supporters of Virginians for Reconciliation speak at the capitol. (Credit Michael Pope)

Virginia has a very long history, a history that has several dark chapters.

Now, as Michael Pope reports, a group of prominent state leaders are hoping for reconciliation.

David Drummond and Marshall Reedy are two of the state’s 78 marine police officers. (Credit: Sandy Hausman)

Virginia’s seafood industry is one of the oldest and most valuable in the nation.

We’re the fourth largest producer of finfish and shellfish – behind Alaska, Louisiana and Washington State.

The Commonwealth keeps an eye on watermen to prevent over-fishing and assure food safety for consumers.  On the front lines– a force founded in 1875 as the Oyster Navy.

Sandy Hausman rode along to see how these specially trained sea-cops work.

  Blue Ridge Aquaculture raises about two million tilapia at a time — calm fish that like swimming in large schools. (Credit Sandy Hausman)

Like many cities in southside Virginia, Martinsville lost thousands of jobs as tobacco, furniture-making and textiles left for places where labor was cheaper.

But as those industries went away, a new one grew up thanks to one man with an idea.

Sandy Hausman met him and toured what is now the largest indoor fish farm in the world.

Blue crabs harvested by waterman James Eskridge (Credit: Sandy Hausman)

Virginia is the top supplier of seafood on the east coast.  Our watermen harvest more than four dozen species – scallops and oysters, blue crabs, clams, flounder and other fin fish worth over $200 million.

The creatures that live off our coast face some big problems, but as Sandy Hausman reports, scientists here are hoping to find solutions that make sustainable fishing possible.

The Virginia General Assembly now has two former journalists as members, and they are hoping to move forward with bills to increase press freedom.

Michael Pope has the story.

Marijuana users in Norfolk will no longer be prosecuted for misdemeanor possession and the City of Bristol is gearing up to take full advantage of job opportunities in the medical marijuana field.

Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link.

More now from Fred Echols.

  Menhaden are nutritious fish enjoyed by marine mammals, sea birds and bigger fish.
(Credit: VIMS)

Virginia’s legislature is back in session, and lawmakers may again be talking about a tiny fish called the menhaden.

It’s the only fish regulated by the General Assembly, and proposed catch limits are proving controversial as Sandy Hausman reports.

Throughout Virginia’s 2019 General Assembly session, All Things Considered host Luke Church and reporter Michael Pope will break down the highlights from the Capitol each week.

Week 7:

Virginia’s 2019 General Assembly session is almost in the history books.  The legislature is scheduled to adjourn this weekend.

Week 6:

The General Assembly session is heading into the home stretch.

Week 5:

It’s been a tumultuous week in Richmond, with one controversy after another. Despite that, lawmakers still tried to govern amid all the chaos.

Week 4:

Abortion overshadowed all other issues at the General Assembly this week.

Week 3:

The ERA and Guns have brought out a lot of emotion at the General Assembly.

Week 2:

There were some surprising moves in the General Assembly this week.

Week 1:

The 2019 General Assembly session got started this week with a little more bipartisanship than in years past.

It’s been decades since lawmakers first started debating the Equal Rights Amendment.

And, as Michael Pope reports it’s a debate that’s still going strong.