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‘A whole new perspective’: Jennifer McClellan could become first Black woman to represent Virginia in U.S. House

22Dec

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Articles

‘A whole new perspective’: Jennifer McClellan could become first Black woman to represent Virginia in U.S. House

Originally published by The 19th The win in a February special election would represent a stunning first for the southern state and a boon for the ranks of Black women in the next Congress. By Mel Leonor Barclay, The 19th Jennifer McClellan, a veteran state legislator, could soon become the first Black woman to represent Virginia in the U.S. House in what would be a stunning first for a district that was home to the capital of the Confederacy. McClellan on Thursday handily defeated three opponents in the Democratic primary for the seat of the late Rep. Don McEachin, who died in November. McClellan is set to face Republican Leon Benjamin in a February 21 special election for a district that favors Democrats. McClellan would join 27 other Black women House members, man...

Developers Found Graves in the Virginia Woods. Authorities Then Helped Erase the Historic Black Cemetery.

16Dec

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Articles

Developers Found Graves in the Virginia Woods. Authorities Then Helped Erase the Historic Black Cemetery.

This story was originally published by ProPublica. By Seth Freed Wessler, ProPublica ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Nobody working to bring a $346 million Microsoft project to rural Virginia expected to find graves in the woods. But in a cluster of yucca plants and cedar that needed to be cleared, surveyors happened upon a cemetery. The largest of the stones bore the name Stephen Moseley, “died December 3, 1930,” in a layer of cracking plaster. Another stone, in near perfect condition and engraved with a branch on the top, belonged to Stephen’s toddler son, Fred, who died in 1906. “This is not as bad as it sounds,” an engineering consultant wrote in March 2014 ...

Virginia cop who pepper-sprayed Army Lieutenant during traffic stop won’t face charges, special prosecutor says

3Aug

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News Briefs

Virginia cop who pepper-sprayed Army Lieutenant during traffic stop won’t face charges, special prosecutor says

A police officer in Virginia involved in a traffic stop with a Army lieutenant he pepper-sprayed reportedly will not face any criminal charges, according to a special prosecutor. The decision was announced in letter written by Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell, the special prosecutor in the case, reported 13News Now. The letter was obtained by 13News Now. The controversial traffic stop happened on Dec. 5, 2020 in Windsor. Windsor police said Nazario, who is of Black and Hispanic descent, didn't have a visible license plate, and didn't pull over immediately after the officer tried to initiate the traffic stop. Nazario’s attorney Jonathan Arthur said his client drove to a well-lit gas station. During the stop, bodycam video shows Nazario was yelled at and pepper-sprayed b...

27Jun

By BNNNo Comments

News Briefs

Fairfax, VA officials to vote on renaming 14 streets with Confederacy ties

The city council in Fairfax, Virginia will vote on a proposal to rename more than a dozen streets that were once tied to slavery and the Confederacy. The city council was scheduled to vote on the agenda item last week but it was postponed due to a council member’s absence. The vote will resume next month. The proposal to rename the streets was introduced to the city council last year. A county supervisor has also announced plans to introduce a bill to change the district name to Franconia. This comes after the a name with Confederate ties was removed from Route 1 in Arlington and Alexandria in 2019. The city council is also reportedly expected to vote next Tuesday on redesigning the city seal which depicts a Confederate soldier. More about the street renaming proposals in Fairfax can...