| Silver Spring CVS puts soda on lockdown |
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A CVS in Montgomery County, Maryland, is keeping its soda under lock and key. The store on Wayne Avenue in downtown Silver Spring equipped its refrigerators with locks. Customers must ask an employee to unlock them if they want to buy a beverage. Customer Linda Leakes said she goes to the store since the one closest to her, in D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood, closed earlier this year after a long-running battle with retail theft that made national news. |
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| Virginia House repeals eligibility restrictions to veteran tuition benefits |
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Virginia’s House of Delegates voted unanimously Friday to restore free college tuition at state schools for families of veterans who were killed or seriously disabled while on active duty. The 92-0 vote would repeal restrictions to the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program that had been placed in the state’s annual budget earlier this year. Military families complained about the restrictions after the budget passed. Gov. Glenn Youngkin and legislative leaders have since been trying to appease those dismayed by the change. | |
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| Prince George's County Fire & EMS reallocating staff to address shortages, burnout |
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Prince George’s County Fire & EMS’s chief plans to move dozens of firefighters from four stations to other parts of the county to address a critical staffing shortage, but three municipalities have gone to court to fight the decision with concerns it could be dangerous. Chief Tiffany Green says the department needs to move 55 firefighters to address the shortage and worker burnout heading into peak summer vacation season. Safety will not be impacted, she said. “The 55 personnel that we are redeploying are going into existing vacancies all throughout the county, and that’s the goal, again, to ensure that they’re not called back for mandatory overtime and holdovers, but we are filling the existing vacancies and spreading out our resources throughout the entire county,” Green said. | |
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| ‘Virginia is in play': Virginia looking more like a battleground state in 2024 presidential election |
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There is growing agreement that Virginia will be a battleground in the 2024 presidential race, and Thursday’s debate only reinforces the belief that Virginia will be competitive. It’s an assessment that is delighting Republicans and causing worry for Democrats. Virginians have not backed a Republican presidential candidate since 2004. One day after former President Donald Trump faced President Joe Biden on the debate stage, Trump made it clear that he is focused on Virginia by hosting a campaign rally in Chesapeake. | |
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| Minimum wage boosts and ban of college legacy admissions: New laws go into effect July 1 |
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New laws in D.C., Maryland and Virginia will change how much people are getting paid and how much resellers can charge for tickets. Here’s a look at the new changes happening July 1. Minimum wage increase: The minimum wage will increase from $17 per hour to $17.50 per hour for all non-tipped workers, regardless of the size of their employer. Those who receive tips will be increased from $8 per hour to $10 per hour. | |
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| ‘I Am Art': DC teacher launches art exhibit to raise awareness about gun violence |
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With National Gun Violence Awareness month coming to an end, a D.C. teacher is making a statement. Blu Murphy, the director of arts education at Perry Street Preparatory Public Charter School in Northeast, uses images of her students in her art to remind people that students must be protected. Her mixed media series, “I Am Art,” is about how young people, mainly students of color, are at risk of gun violence. | |
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