A deer tick (left), one of the species of tick that transmits the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. High resolution fluorescently tagged image of the bacteria B. burgdorferi that causes Lyme disease (right).  (Credit Brandon Jutras)

With temperatures in the U.S. on an upward trend, so is Lyme Disease. The ticks that carry it thrive in warm, wet environments and it’s expected that some 300-thousand people will contract it this year.

As Robbie Harris reports, new research out of Virginia Tech is showing promise for better diagnosis and treatment of Lyme Disease.  

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring is calling for decriminalization of marijuana, adding that the enforcement often unfairly targets African Americans.

Michael Pope has the story.

Credit Matt Wade via flickr.com / CC

Justices on the United States Supreme Court rejected a Republican effort to throw out newly drawn maps of legislative districts.

Michael Pope reports.

Credit: Creative Commons / Flickr

State Democratic leaders are touring Virginia, getting feedback from community members on addressing gun violence.

As Mallory Noe-Payne reports, it’s in preparation for the July 9th special session.

A Virginia county that’s gotten all too accustomed to bad economic news has just heard some more of it…and after some four centuries of operation a ferry in Hampton Roads is about to observe a first.

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.

The gun issue is about to take center stage in Virginia politics as advocates on both sides will try to influence the outcome of a special session next month.

But, as Michael Pope reports, the campaign contributions on the issue may surprise you.

(Credit: ICE)

An outbreak of mumps at an immigration detention center in Virginia is growing.

Authorities say there are now 24 confirmed or suspected cases at the Farmville facility.

As Mallory Noe-Payne reports, immigrant advocates say it’s part of a larger problem.

Turnout in primary elections is historically low and it will be a couple days before we get a complete picture of turnout in Tuesday’s elections.

But Democrats and Republicans are already battling it out over who has more energy as they head towards November.

Mallory Noe-Payne reports on Democratic Party efforts to keep the “Blue Wave” going:

Michael Pope reports on some of Tuesday’s primary upsets:

Credit: John Brighenti via flickr.com / CC

A growing number of House Democrats have now joined the chorus calling to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump.

But most Virginia Democrats aren’t singing the same tune, as Matt Laslo reports from the Capitol.

Many people know there was a slave uprising in Virginia in the early 19th Century.

But fewer are aware of how close it came to ending slavery in the state…and when localities try to regulate billboards they sometimes find it’s not quite so easy as they expected.

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.

Vice President Mike Pence delivered the keynote address. (Credit: David Seidel

D-Day and World War Two veterans marked the 75^th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion.

David Seidel reports there were thousands of visitors to the National D-Day Memorial Thursday as well.

  Debra Rodman (left) is running against Veena Lothe (right) for the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s 12th Senate District.

A lot is at stake for Virginia this November. All 140 state lawmakers are up for election. And Democrats are hoping they can take control of the state legislature for the first time in decades.

But first, they have to choose the right candidates for the job.

Ahead of next week’s primaries, Mallory Noe-Payne has this look at what electability looks like for Democrats.

  Ann Phillips, Rear Admiral, US Navy (Ret.) speaking last year when she was appointed by Gov. Northam. (Credit: Pamela D’Angelo)

Last year, Gov. Ralph Northam appointed Retired Navy Admiral Ann Phillips to spearhead efforts for coastal adaptation to climate change.

After nearly 31 years in the Navy where she implemented climate change adaptation plans, she is traveling the state putting together a coastal master plan.

She hopes it will inform a tight-fisted and, in some cases reluctant, General Assembly to fund statewide climate change adaptation and protection when it reconvenes this winter.

Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Credit: dcJohn via flickr.com / CC

Hunger is a problem in Virginia schools, and educators say students can’t learn if they are hungry.

But are schools doing everything they can to prevent that from happening? Michael Pope reports.

Virginia Tech’s incoming class has turned out to be a little more than the school bargained for…and a decision to end a federal jobs program in the Virginia coalfields is drawing strong opposition.

These 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 Matt Wade via flickr.com / CC

Voters are about to head to the polls across Virginia, even though the United States Supreme Court is still considering a challenge to a dozen districts.

Michael Pope reports.

Taikein Cooper

Prince Edward County in Central Virginia is known for locking a generation of black students out of education by closing down its public schools. That was during the desegregation battles of the 1960’s.

Now, one man is trying to help right that wrong by starting a scholarship and mentorship program, with a thousand dollars of his own money.

Mallory Noe-Payne reports.

Any recent graduate of Prince Edward County High School can apply with a video submission.

  Amrie Grammer is co-founder of AMPEL, a company that combines genetics and big data to discover new medical treatments. (Credit Amrie Grammer)

Getting approval for new drugs takes years and costs companies millions of dollars.  What’s more, clinical trials sometimes fail, leaving firms with nothing to show.

Now, however, a Virginia company is taking a different approach – looking at drugs that already have FDA approval to see what other conditions they might treat.

Sandy Hausman explains.

Governor Ralph Northam signs the legislation. (Credit: Mallory Noe-Payne)

Across the country, one in every 59 children born today will be diagnosed with autism.

Now in Virginia they can no longer be denied coverage by insurance companies.

Mallory Noe-Payne has more.

Credit: dcJohn via flickr.com / CC

Is Virginia headed to a teacher shortage?  Some education leaders in the teaching profession fear so.

Michael Pope reports.

Credit: David Nakayama / Creative Commons

Since Virginia abolished parole in 1995 there’s been just one way for most inmates to win an early release from state prisons – asking for a pardon from the governor.

Sandy Hausman examines the backlog and a new public outreach effort by Virginia officials.

Part 1:

Since Virginia abolished parole in 1995 there’s been just one way for most inmates to win an early release from state prisons – asking for a pardon from the governor.

As a result, Ralph Northam’s team may be overwhelmed by a backlog of cases, and some pleas have languished for years.

Part 2:

Officials have designated this May as “Second Chance Month” for about 37,000 state prisoners.

Those who committed their crimes before 1995 are eligible for parole, and Virginia has been freeing about 12% of them each year, but one high profile prisoner says he hasn’t even gotten a first chance.

Part 3:

Virginia’s Department of Corrections spends over a billion dollars a year to operate 41 prisons where it holds about 30-thousand inmates.  Another seven-thousand are kept in regional jails.

13,000 of them are freed annually after serving their sentence, but nearly one in four will be back after committing new crimes.

Part 4:

This year, Congress approved a series of reforms to the criminal justice system – changes that should reduce the number of people in federal prisons.

In Virginia’s General Assembly, several proposed reforms failed, but Democrats say that could change if they get control of the legislature in November.

Virginia state revenues are looking strong.

But as Mallory Noe-Payne reports, a trade war and heavy debt at the federal level could threaten that.

(Credit: Rog Cogswell via flickr.com / CC)

The Trump administration has sent conflicting messages on its plan for oil and gas drilling off Virginia’s coast.

But it now seems to be moving ahead with plans to explore the reserves sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic.

As correspondent Matt Laslo reports, that’s music to the ears of the state’s four Republicans in Congress.

Many of Virginia’s school buildings are tobacco free – but some aren’t.

New legislation signed by the Governor Tuesday will change that. Mallory Noe-Payne reports.

Realization of the potential cost of climate change is hitting home in Hampton Roads. And one of Virginia’s prime vacation spots may soon stop reminding you that it’s illegal to swear in public. 

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.

Lawmakers are forbidden from raising money during the General Assembly session, but their opponents are not.

Michael Pope reports that might not make for an early advantage.

  Research engineers Brian Overby and Patrick Foltz run crash tests to help design a better seatbelt. (Credit: Sandy Hausman)

More than 50 years ago the federal government ordered car makers to install seat belts.

Originally designed for an average American man – 5 feet, 9 inches tall and 170 pounds – they have saved millions of lives, but one third of adults in this country are now obese, and seatbelts aren’t working so well for them.

That’s why engineers at the University of Virginia are studying the science of seatbelts, hoping to create safer restraints.

Sandy Hausman has details.

Republicans are outpacing Democrats in the race for campaign cash this year.

Michael Pope has more on the money.

An unlikely coalition of conservative and progressive groups announced an effort to take on Dominion, along with Virginia’s entire energy market.

Mallory Noe-Payne has details.

Telecommunications towers keep people connected but often annoy those who live within sight of them. One Virginia community tries to deal with the issue. And a huge flagpole east of Charlottesville has run afoul of a county ordinance but can it be removed?

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.

Party control of Virginia’s state house is up for grabs this November — and Republicans are hoping they can keep the majority.

But as Mallory Noe-Payne reports, first some of them have to survive attacks from within their own party.

Crime is down across Virginia.

Michael Pope reports that new data offers insights on where it’s happening.

(Credit Penelope M. Carrington / The American Civil War Museum)

This weekend, the American Civil War Museum opens in Richmond for the first time.

The institution is six years in the making… the result of a merger between the American Civil War Center and the Museum of the Confederacy.

As Mallory Noe-Payne reports, it’s a timely look at history that’s loomed large in recent years.

(Credit: Biodiversity Heritage Library via flicr.com / CC)

A dwindling population of striped bass, better known on restaurant menus as rockfish, has alarmed states from Florida to Maine.

This week, Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commissioners drew up a plan to cut back landings by the commercial and recreational fisheries, including in the Chesapeake Bay.

Pamela D’Angelo reports.

(Credit: John Brighenti via flickr.com / CC)

One of the first things Democrats did after taking control of the House of Representatives was to create a new Select Committee on Climate Crisis.

As Michael Pope reports, the committee has Virginia congressmen on opposite sides of a debate over coal.

Nearly a third of Virginia’s adult population has obesity. A new statewide plan is looking to address the issue.

Mallory Noe-Payne has details.

A Southside Virginia native who has made it big in baseball is taking his favorite piece of his hometown with him.

And Danville residents seem to have mixed feelings about the possibility of a casino coming to town.

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: Champlain College Center for Financial Literacy)

Here’s one thing Virginia is getting right: financial education in high schools.

Michael Pope explains why.

(Credit: Rog Cogswell via flickr.com / CC)

This month Democrats reached their 100th day controlling the U. S. House of Representatives. But some fissures are starting to show in the party.

Washington Correspondent Matt Laslo reports on how some new lawmakers are starting to show some frustration with life in the nation’s capital.

 (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Late last week rumors circulated that Joe Biden would come to Virginia to announce a run for the presidency, but it now appears he’ll be going elsewhere.

Sandy Hausman reports on why his campaign might have considered launching from Charlottesville and what may have scared them off.

Another Virginia prosecutor has announced plans to stop trying misdemeanor marijuana cases.  And Virginia may shorten this year’s striped bass season.

 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.

NASA Wallops Flight Facility shoreline that is undergoing replenishment this year. To the left is the launch pad under preparation in February for April’s launch.
(Credit: Pamela D’Angelo)

NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore sits at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

It’s a climate change hot spot, where rising waters and stronger storms are eroding about 12 feet of shoreline every year.

For NASA, science and persistence are major tools in climate resilience.

Pamela D’Angelo reports.

How wealthy are members of the General Assembly?

Michael Pope found some answers.

Click here to see the complete data from VPAP

The University of Virginia outlasted Texas Tech in overtime, 85-77, Monday night in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game.

Greg Echlin has more from Minneapolis where UVA made team history with its first men’s hoops title.

After a bizarre finish to the first national semifinal game on Saturday night, the Virginia Cavaliers are in their first men’s basketball title game Monday night against Texas Tech.

Greg Echlin has more from Minneapolis.

The Port of Virginia says many of the containers it’s shipping out are empty. That’s not a good sign for the U.S. balance of trade.  And Pulaski County leaders say one person is using the Freedom of Information Act to tie up months of staff time.

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.

Women across Virginia are about to get a tax break on feminine hygiene products.

Michael Pope reports.

The University of Virginia men’s basketball team is getting ready to play Auburn in the Final Four Saturday night.

Greg Echlin  has more from Minneapolis.

UVA coach Tony Bennett isn’t far from his roots at the Men’s Final Four in Minneapolis.

Greg Echlin explains why.

Credit: Patrick Feller via flickr.com / CC

More than half a million people in Virginia with outstanding court fines are about to get their driver’s licenses back.

That’s thanks to a budget amendment from Democratic Governor Ralph Northam that was approved yesterday by a Republican-led General Assembly.

Michael Pope reports.

Rental property owners are bringing 21st-Century technology into the battle against dog poop…and we take a look back at the time the Virginia State Lottery was at the center of an intercontinental controversy. 

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.