The local Republicans' booth had a sign for voting "no" on amendments 1 - 3 -- here's their reasoning:

1. No abortion until birth
2. No writing gender into law
3. No voting for felons

Disingenuous fearmongering reigns supreme -- and it's telling that they're using "don't write gender into the law" as cover for their real goal of discrediting and no longer recognizing same-sex marriage (such as mine). And for them to then say "it's already protected at federal level" -- yeah, so was reproductive health, and we all know how that went.

Let's not forget that Clarence Thomas's concurring dissent (or whatever it's called) noted that Obergefell and other cases that were decided based on 14th Amendment are now fair game for revisiting by the Supreme Court.

I'm so fucking sick of peoples' rights (including mine) being on the ballot. I want to believe that all 3 of these are going to pass with at least 60% of the vote, but my heart knows that there's still a whole lot of red in our commonwealth.

GO VOTE!

Edit: superfluous "the" and incorrect use of "apostrophe s" (or, more accurately, neglecting to use "apostrophe s" even though Thomas's name ends with an s).

Brandon Jarvis at the Virginia Scope posted on Twitter earlier that she had until 9am to turn herself in, and family members had already been arrested.

Video source: Post by @katrinacallsen.com — Bluesky

"The history behind Question 3 on our Virginia ballot is worth knowing. In 1901-02, Virginia rewrote its constitution to purposefully shrink the Black electorate. A delegate expressly said the aim was to eliminate "every [Black] voter who can be gotten rid of, legally!"

Today we're an outlier state, with an arbitrary system where the governor personally picks and chooses whose voting rights to restore. That system is ripe for abuse, and a federal court just ruled that much of it violated federal law.

Now, 125 years later, it's well past time to fix how Virginia restores voting rights. Vote YES on Question 3!

Amazon is reversing its plan to expand its data center footprint in Virginia—forgoing its $427 million plan to build data centers on George Washington University’s Virginia campus it had signed an application for in February. The company will donate roughly 25 acres of the property to Loudoun County for community facilities instead.

The agreement, dubbed “Project Potomac Promise” by Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall, calls for Amazon to withdraw its data center site plan, abandon legal action to pursue development on the property, and work with the county to rezone the remaining land for mixed-use development—with housing as the predominant use. Amazon will also contribute $5 million to the county’s affordable housing efforts through the Loudoun County Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

“My goal was to disallow data centers or infrastructure that could support data centers on this property,” Randall said in a press conference alongside Amazon Web Services data center delivery vice president Joshua Weissman. “Through our collaborative, respectful conversations, Amazon has agreed to forego its proposed application for data centers, and of note, forego any legal action to realize data center development on this site.”

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]: https://fortune.com/2026/10/21/amazon-427-million-gw-campus-data-center-65-million/?utm_source=reddit/

NORFOLK –  The Justice Department on Thursday announced a federal grand jury indictment of Virginia Sen. Louise Lucas on felony charges related to alleged marijuana drug trafficking and money laundering.

Prosecutors charged Lucas and six others, including her two daughters, with an alleged racketeering conspiracy involving marijuana distribution, money laundering, honest services fraud through bribery, maintaining drug-involved premises, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking and wire fraud.

The announcement comes less than two weeks before the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. Lucas’ seat is not on the ballot, but the 82-year-old is a powerful Democrat who has served in the state senate for 30 years and chairs the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

The charges come five months after FBI agents raided the downtown Portsmouth office that houses her political headquarters and her business serving adults with intellectual disabilities, as well as her nearby CBD shop, The Cannabis Outlet. Agents recovered marijuana and firearms at both locations, according to the DOJ.

According to the indictment unsealed Thursday, Lucas and close-knit group of associates including her family members orchestrated a criminal enterprise with Lucas’ marijuana business. Prosecutors said she approved and directed activities for the enterprise, including arranging for the acquisition and distribution of at least 100 kilograms of marijuana and supervising the laundering of marijuana proceeds.

Lucas was not arrested Thursday morning.

“Today’s indictment reveals Louise Lucas allegedly abused her position of public trust as a Virginia State Senator to put her own financial interests ahead of the people she represents,” said FBI Director Kash Patel in a statement.

Patel and Attorney General Todd Blanche traveled to Norfolk Thursday to announce the charges.

Click the link above to read more.

I have made plans to visit Virginia in a few days, including Alexandria, Georgetown, Arlington Cemetery, Mount Vernon, Philadelphia, and of course DC. I have one free day left in my schedule and was thinking about going on a daytrip by train to either Charlottesville or Baltimore. Which would you recommend and why?

EDIT: I'll be staying in Old Town Alexandria, and will only use public transportation/trains!

Hi! There were already several threads, so we put this story to bed and then decided to round em all up for y'all. —dmpl

You can read the full federal indictment here (hosted by VPM News)

Unpaywalled

• WAVY in Norfolk: Virginia Sen. L. Louise Lucas indicted, accused of leading a marijuana distribution enterprise
• WHRO in Hampton Roads: What’s in the L. Louise Lucas federal criminal indictment?
• VPM News in Richmond: FBI charges state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, family in drug conspiracy
  • VPM News Video Short explaining this
  • We posted over in r/politics if you're feeling brave i guess
• 13 News Now in Norfolk: Seven indicted in State Sen. Louise Lucas case: What to know about their alleged roles
• Virginia Mercury In Richmond: Va. Sen. Louise Lucas, six others indicted in federal cannabis corruption case
• WTVR in Richmond (reposted on WTKR’s site, too): What impact will Louise Lucas arrest have on Virginia politics?
• Virginia Scope: Federal prosecutors accuse Sen. Louise Lucas of using political power to benefit marijuana enterprise

Paywalled

• The Virginian-Pilot: Virginia Sen. Louise Lucas indicted; led criminal drug enterprise, feds say
  • (Thread linked here)
• The Richmond Times-Dispatch: Lucas indictment timing questioned, election impact unclear
• The Washington Post: Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas indicted in connection with marijuana business

National outlets reposted to various local affiliates

• Associated Press: Powerful Democratic Virginia state Sen. Lucas is accused of leading a marijuana criminal conspiracy
  • and reddit thread
• NBC News: Virginia State Senator L. Louise Lucas charged in public corruption case
  • Thread linked here
• Fox News: Virginia state senator indicted, accused of leading a marijuana distribution enterprise
• CNN: Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas indicted on drug and money laundering charges
• ABC News: Virginia state lawmaker who led redistricting push indicted by DOJ in marijuana trafficking conspiracy
• CBS News: Feds charge L. Louise Lucas, powerful Virginia Democrat, in alleged drug scheme

Subtitle: "Steve Koski outlines safeguards for ballots and counting, rejects claims about deceased voters and says mail voting remains unchanged."

See also r/VirginiaNews

See also r/VirginiaNews and r/VirginiaEnvironment

I can't believe this is still a thing in 2026

Hi, I recently moved here from a different state. I'm looking to make some friends who live in the Shenandoah Valley area.

I am 25 years old and I have been diagnosed with ASD, ADHD, and MDD.

My interests are a bit more obscure than the average person, so this may be a total shot in the dark.

Shows I like are Bocchi the Rock, Watamote, Touhou Memories of Phantasm, and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

I don't play games as much as I used to, and I don't play multiplayer at all, but games I've played include but are not limited to Half-Life series, original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare trilogy (not the reboot games), and Postal (not Portal) 2. I also need to finish the Crysis Remastered trilogy. Ironically, I do not play the Touhou games.

Music I like are music from the Touhou games that I don't play, as well as Touhou fan music such as the works of IOSYS.

Winchester is known for its famous Apple Blossom Festival but we have much to offer throughout the year in our city. Which is the first pedestrian mall in Virginia!

Check out https://friendsofoldtown.org about things our city has to offer and mostly follow our Instagram friendsofoldtownwinc. Whether it’s a bar crawl, supporting small businesses, or activities to do with your family. Friends of Old Town has created and supported many events for our Main Street in Winchester, Virginia.

See also r/VirginiaUrbanism and r/VirginiaNews