Pro-Palestine Students Confront W&M Leadership, WJCC School Board to Consider Transgender Policies, and more
Pro-Palestine Students Confront W&M Leadership, WJCC School Board to Consider Transgender Policies, and more
Historic Triangle News Roundup November 13 - November 18
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Williamsburg-James City Council School Board will consider state policies regarding trans students at its Nov. 28 meeting
At this week’s school board work session, Deputy Superintendent Daniel Keever proposed three policy revisions to align the division with the VA Dept. of Education’s “Model Policies” regarding the treatment of transgender youth.
These include forcing school personnel to only address students by their official name on record, except in cases where the student has obtained written permission from their parents to go by a different name.
Since these policies debuted in 2022, students across the state have spoken out against them and organized walkouts to protest the endangerment of trans youth.
$756 million I-64 Widening Project breaks ground
On Monday Gov. Glenn Youngkin and state transportation officials posed with shovels for a photoshoot to kick off the I-64 Widening Project, which will expand the highway from two to three lanes on both sides between mile marker 204.9 in New Kent County outside of Richmond to mile marker 233.3 in James City County.
In addition to driving more commerce through the region, the widened stretch of highway will also help streamline evacuation via the corridor in response to natural disasters like hurricanes.
The project is split into three segments and should be finished by 2028. The Gov. Office has made assurances that two lanes will stay available for motorists throughout construction.
Other Headlines
On Thursday, William & Mary students confronted the school’s Board of Visitors as they left a dinner, protesting the school’s “failure to recognize the ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which over 12,000 people, including over 5,000 children, have been killed.”
Virginia localities can now apply for state funding to remove abandoned boats from the water. There are at least 200 “abandoned or derelict vessels” identified around the state’s coastal areas, mostly in Hampton Roads.
The new state health benefit exchange, which replaces the federal healthcare.gov or “Obamacare,” has already seen a high number of sign-ups, mainly due to over 200,000 Virginians losing Medicaid coverage since pandemic-era exceptions expired in May, according to a state spokesperson.
Upcoming Events
“Voices of Integration” Screening:
When: TODAY, 2 - 4 PM
Where: Williamsburg Library Theater, 515 Scotland St., Williamsburg
Food & Feasts of Colonial Virginia:
When: Nov. 24 and Nov. 25
Where: Jamestown Settlement & American Revolution Museum at Yorktown
When: Now until Dec. 31
Where: 2nd St & The Boardwalk, Virginia Beach
Thanks for reading! Before you go, if you have a home garden try out the free Virginia Native Plant Finder tool to help with your native landscaping!
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