Curated News from The Virginia Council 10/4/26

Virginia Government updates:

Spanberger unveils energy plan to meet growing Virginia demand - Cardinal News By Matt Busse

(2) Tim on X: "The Governor has released her new energy plan… https://t.co/CunWXGdPP1" / X

In Danville, Spanberger announces new outdoor recreation position and establishes related statewide process - Cardinal News By Grace Mamon

Soft on Crime Spanberger's Parole Board Just Released a Lot of Violent Felons By Amy Curtis

Virginia’s Clean Slate Act launches automatic record sealing, offering fresh start for hundreds of thousands By Bella Walser

Virginia lawmakers split over gas tax relief as prices rise nationwide By Rachel Branning

(1) Nick Minock on X: "WATCH: President Donald Trump's border czar told me that ICE continues its surge in Virginia and Maryland and he had sharp criticism for Gov. Wes Moore and Gov. Abigail Spanberger's recent actions. “I think she [Spanberger] betrayed the taxpayers of Virginia,” said Tom Homan. https://t.co/HSKkyJChEZ" / X

Virginia plan aims to bring environmental learning closer This article was prepared with the help of AI technology using information collected and verified by journalists.

Undergraduate enrollment at Virginia's public colleges and universities remains steady despite steep declines in graduate students at some institutions - Cardinal News By Meghan Mangrum

UVA's administrators have grown more than ten times as fast as its students since 2013 — The Jefferson Council By The Jefferson Council

Virginia education board approves new rules for local student assessments • Virginia Mercury By Nathaniel Cline

Two years after Hurricane Helene ravaged Southwest Virginia, a study of the storm’s effects on the Clinch River is underway. - Cardinal News By Jeff Lester

A Virginia man freed after 25 years as a murder conviction is vacated | AP News By Rebecca Boone

(2) Nick Minock on X: "🚨New: Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s parole board has released 7/8 felons who have had parole hearings so far today. We’re talking about people who were convicted of murder, rape, child abuse, and bank robbery. Several had decades left on their sentences. Several victims https://t.co/dBu9AHiIpg" / X

Virginia man sentenced to 40 years for exploiting more than 40 girls on Snapchat, possessing CSAM | WRIC ABC 8News By Jessie Nguyen

Virginia man pleads guilty to impersonating FBI agent at polling site in 2024 | Just The News By Joseph Weber

History, Tradition, & the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence:

Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society Critique of Dr Kurin’s 2026 Smithsonian DNA StudyJohn+Works+Assessment+on+Dr+Kurins+DNA+Study1.pdf

Thomas Jefferson's Descendants: New Evidence Revealed - North Fork Sun by Chris Francescani

(2) Mount Vernon on X: "This week in 1776, George Washington reached one of the lowest points of the Revolutionary War. With his army weakened, another British attack looming, and support from Congress falling short, he confessed that he had “never been in such an unhappy, divided state” in his life. https://t.co/eQCB40Npwt" / X

(5) Will Tanner on X: "There is also this dress sword, which was gifted to Washington by Frederick the Great of Prussia When John Brown and his gang of thugs raided Harper's Ferry, they stole it from Colonel Lewis Washington, great-grandnephew of George Washington They also took Washington captive, https://t.co/sZwii8w3pU" / X

Founding Fathers: Washington, Jefferson & More | PragerU | PragerU Meet the men who made America

Echoes of War on X: "He was born into slavery near Richmond, and on this very day in 1864 he charged the defenses of that same city as a free man in a Union uniform. When every officer in his company had been shot down, this former slave took command and led the company on. After the war, in one of https://t.co/fMYJORGptN" / X

George Marshall's Leesburg home designated NPS area | Politics | insidenova.com By InsideNoVa Staff

Ex-AG whose mom fled Cuba warns 32 bills in Congress push 'full-blown embrace of Marxism' | Fox News former AG Jason Miyares by Alex Schemmel

(5) Salina B Baker on X: "Major John Andre, adjutant general for the British army, was hanged as a spy on October 2, 1780 after being found guilty of espionage according to the law and usage of nations for colluding with Benedict Arnold for the plans for West Point by a Continental Army officer tribunal https://t.co/cBBkIDTqa8" / X

The Constitution, Bill of Rights, & Liberty:

Protecting the Indispensable Right: It is Time to Pass the Free Speech Attorney’s Fee Legislation – JONATHAN TURLEY

Even Democrats Oppose Letting Foreign Citizens Tilt The House By Ben Weingarten

Supreme Court Hands Trump Major Victory in Drive to Combat Noncitizen Voting - The Daily Signal By Fred Lucas

Judge says law criminalizing noncitizen voting is unconstitutional in blow to Trump By Reuters

Democrats rethink their mail-voting strategy as voters grow wary - POLITICO By Jalen Beckford

Christian groups sue Virginia State University over new campus ministry policy By Oliver Sabo

America First Legal Moves to Immediately Block Enforcement of California’s Unconstitutional “Stop Nick Shirley Act” - America First Legal

DOJ Won’t Appeal NFA Ruling on Suppressors and SBRs By Duncan Johnson

48 Electoral Votes Away: National Popular Vote Campaign Closing in on Threshold - The Daily Signal By Fred Lucas

News orgs banned from White House accuse Trump of First Amendment violation • Virginia Mercury By Jennifer Shutt

Jack Smith Scooped Up Reporters' Phone Data in Trump Probe: ‘Massive First Amendment Breach’ - The Daily Signal By Fred Lucas

Halt the Humor Police—Stand for Free Speech – Alliance Defending Freedom By The Babylon Bee

Jack Smith Spying On Trump Donors Was Ploy To Chill Speech By Brianna Lyman

Education Department Reinstates Title IX Gender Sanity By Madison Marino Doan & Jonathan Butcher

Over 150 Virginia Pastors Mobilize Against Ballot Questions By Robert B. Bluey

(6) U.S. Department of Justice on X: ".@AGToddBlanche announces indictments against 10 Aliens for Voter Fraud in Minnesota who allegedly illegally voted in the November 2022 and 2024 General Election and the August 2026 Primary Election. ⬇️ https://t.co/SqxqlNxK6W" / X

DOJ Unveils Widespread Illegal Voting: 28 Charged Nationwide By Rebecca Buis

ActBlue lawyer faces House GOP demand for testimony By Kaelan Deese

Feds Charge Two With Illegally Voting Amid NJ Voter Roll Fiasco By Brianna Lyman

A Virginia AI FOIA Protocol - by Josh Stanfield

Articles, News & Quotes:

“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”
— Thomas Paine

(2) GOP Doomerism Isn’t Principled, It’s Stupid By Shaun Kenney

Democrats' Murderous Hatred Of Trump Is Just Hatred Of America By Nathan Stone

rules for routing radicals - by el gato malo

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Criticized America as a Friend By Daniel J. Mahoney

(1) Cynical Publius on X: "📺THE TEN WAYS THE MEDIA DISTORTS THE TRUTH (a/k/a “LYING”)📰 1. EDITORIAL CHOICES. The stories the media chooses to cover are often not the issue. What matters more is the stories they deliberately choose NOT to cover, and in fact they conceal. Good economic news during" / X

(3) The Family Foundation of Virginia on X: "She ordered the pills from a website and entered an age that would make her 15. No exam. No real questions. No instructions. They still shipped them from Reston, Virginia—out of what looks like an apartment, not a clinic or pharmacy. Extra misoprostol. Nothing telling her https://t.co/FdiPlPAV3Q" / X

The Rudest States In The United States (And The Most Polite) - Zippia