On January 13, 2024, El Salvador’s vice president, Dr. Félix Ulloa, Jr., visited Woodbridge, one of his stops on his U.S. tour.
Since beginning his term in June of 2019, Ulloa has helped promote peace within Salvadoran communities in favor of seeking reverse migration of people back to his country.
As the Virginia Presidential Primary on March 5 approaches, residents in the state can cast their votes early today, Friday, January 19, 2024. Virginia will hold a dual presidential primary this year, with the Democratic Party and the Republican Party hosting primaries on the same day.
In a dual primary system, voters can choose between voting in the Democratic Party Primary or the Republican Party Primary. While all qualified voters are eligible to participate in either primary, they cannot vote in both.
“One of the bills to watch for Virginia’s 2024 legislative session — legislation that would have repealed the 2021 law tying the commonwealth’s vehicle emissions standards to California’s — died in a Senate committee this week,” reports Morgan Sweeney at The Center Square. “Senate Republicans attempted to persuade the committee not only of the infeasibility of California’s electric vehicle laws for Virginia due to EVs’ higher price tags, mechanical flaws and lack of demand, but of the injustice of allowing California’s policies to dictate Virginia’s.”
“A Virginia Senate committee narrowly defeated legislation Wednesday that would expand the circumstances in which a drug dealer could be charged with felony homicide in connection with a user’s death,” reports WTOP-FM. “The bill, a priority of Gov. Glenn Youngkin and fellow Republicans, was pitched as a deterrent to criminals that would save lives amid the rising tide of overdoses deaths, particularly those attributable to fentanyl. But the Democrats on the committee who voted it down voiced skepticism that stiffer penalties, rather than an approach focused on substance abuse treatment, would effectively address the root causes of the issue.”
“The Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee recommends legislation to boost teacher pay, following the committee’s first meeting of the 2024 legislative session,” reports Morgan Sweeney at The Center Square. “SB 104, sponsored by longtime senator and committee member Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, would deeply impact teachers’ livelihoods in the commonwealth and require an ongoing commitment from the state. It seeks to raise Virginia teachers’ salaries to at or above the national average.”
Manassas City Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger is attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) 92nd Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C. The three-day conference brings together over 250 mayors nationwide to discuss challenges, share best practices, and engage with federal officials.
Davis-Younger, a first-time attendee, expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to network and participate in informative sessions addressing various concerns, from poverty and homelessness to AI. The meeting includes conversations with national leaders, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Davis-Younger will also visit the White House on January 19.
The Center Square: “Former President Donald Trump is far and away the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, but new polling digs into why the former president dominates when it comes to the working class.”
“The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll of 2,573 likely voters, conducted in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights, shows Trump’s support is highest among Republican voters making less than $50,000 and those without a college degree.”
“A northern Virginia county is acknowledging that it underreported President Joe Biden’s margin of victory over Donald Trump there in the 2020 presidential election by about 4,000 votes, the first detailed accounting of errors that came to light in 2022 as part of a criminal case,” reports Matthew Barrakat at the Associated Press.
