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Following the Money from High-Interest Lenders to Virginia Lawmakers

Campaign cash helps undermine efforts to create consumer protections.

Recent years have seen increased scrutiny of high-interest lenders, businesses that offer a variety of loans at interest rates that often exceed 300 percent. Now campaign finance disclosures show the industry is spreading its influence across the political spectrum with about $800,000 in political contributions this election cycle according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project.

On the Ballot

A look at statewide candidates and where they get their money.

Voters across Virginia will be headed to the polls Tuesday Nov. 7. Here’s a look at what’s on the ballot.

House District 40 Shows Republicans Still Competitive in Clinton Districts

Democratic newcomer Donte Tanner faces uphill climb against incumbent Tim Hugo.

Democrats are energized, and they’re targeting Republican-held House districts that Hillary Clinton won last year. But House District 40 shows what an uphill climb this year will be for them.

Party-Line Vote Protects Child Labor at Tobacco Farms in Virginia

Republican-led House panel kills effort to craft new protections for kids in unrecorded vote.

In an unrecorded party-line vote, House Republicans killed a bill that would have cracked down on child labor at tobacco farms in Virginia.

The Safeway Four: Armed Robbers Sentenced

Three defendants sentenced to 35 years each; another sentenced to 12 years.

It was a crime that shocked Old Town, an armed robbery that rattled a neighborhood where most of the illicit activity is limited to petty theft from unlocked vehicles.

Empire Strikes Back: Establishment Beats Tea Party at Republican Convention

Party insider Ed Gillespie seizes nomination at convention in Roanoke.

When conservative preacher E.W. Jackson took the stage at the Roanoke Civic Center to introduce Tea Party favorite Shak Hill at the Republican convention last weekend, hundreds of conservatives from across Virginia took to their feet. They waved placards.

The Fighter

Longtime congressman celebrated by Alexandria Democrats.

During his first run for Congress, then-Mayor Jim Moran assembled a campaign team that was hungry to oust incumbent Republican Stan Parris. Mame Reiley ran the operation, which included a young communications consultant named Joe Trippi. As the race headed toward Election Day, Reiley and Trippi became concerned that Moran's campaign signs kept disappearing from Eisenhower Avenue. So they set up a sting operation with a video camera to catch the culprit, who turned out to be Jim Moran.

C-Section Boom in Northern Virginia

Region has some of the highest rates of cesarean-section deliveries for low-risk pregnancies.

Behind the closed doors at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church and the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, a quiet change has been taking shape over the last few decades.

Democrats Lead in Polls as Voters Head to the Polls for Election Day

Hotly contested race for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

Democrats have the wind at their backs heading into Election Day next week, as Republican gubernatorial candidates Ken Cuccinelli struggles to overcome a deficit in the polls.

Alexandria School Board Members Approve Deal to Double Rent for Central Administration

School system to have a new lease on a larger central administration office.

Right now, the Alexandria City Public School system pays about $1 million in rent every year at three locations across the city — one central administration headquarters on Beauregard Street and two of satellite locations across the city.

On the Campaign Trail

Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe is not the standard candidate for higher office.

On the Campaign Trail

Turnout for Tuesday's primary was abysmally low, with only 140,000 participating in the voting.

Establishment Wins Democratic Primary

State senators beat out first-time candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general.

Two first-time candidates had a hard time beating back the establishment this week, as two state senators won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor and attorney general Tuesday night.

Tea Party Ticket

Republican convention selects conservative slate of candidates for November.

Perhaps the biggest sign that the Tea Party has taken control of the Republican Party of Virginia was the yellow Gadsden flag emblem that appeared on placards distributed by supporters of Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, who was one of seven candidates vying to be the nominee for lieutenant governor last weekend at a raucous convention in Richmond. Davis, who represented Fairfax County for a decade in the General Assembly, has a reputation as being a moderate.

Council Notebook

Once upon a midnight dreary, while Alexandria Poet Laureate Amy Young pondered weak and weary.

Uranium Money Spreads Across Virginia in Radioactive Debate

Upcoming General Assembly session to feature effort to lift ban on uranium mining.

The uranium deposits under the farmlands of Pittsylvania County are miles away from Northern Virginia, but the debate about what happens there is shaping up to be one of the hottest issues of the upcoming General Assembly session.

City Officials Clash with Descendants of Long-Neglected Graves at Fort Ward

African-American burials may never be discovered as city prepares management plan.

Two years ago, city officials aimed a high-powered radar from California at the ground in various spots at Fort Ward.

Hidden History of St. Asaph Racetrack

Del Ray was once home to an infamous gambling operation creating by a double-dealing senator.

You’d never know it today, but Del Ray was once the capital of gambling in Northern Virginia.

Voters to Determine Republican and Democratic Candidates for House and Senate

Low turnout expected in June 12 primary.

Election officials are expecting an extremely low turnout for the June 12 primary, ranging from 3 percent in Arlington to 15 percent in Alexandria.

Student Shots Required and Available

All incoming sixth-graders are required to get immunized before the first day of school.