91´«Ã½

In Virginia’s Foster Care System, Parents are ‘Crawling Through Broken Glass’

In Winter 2025, six senior journalism majors spent 12 weeks examining Virginia’s foster care system, combing through documents and interviewing mothers, social workers, judges and lawyers. They built a database of more than 200 appeals filed by parents who contested the termination of legal rights to their children, discovering that all but two lost. The other major findings: The Department of Social Services is failing to meet its legally mandated goal of reuniting children with their biological parents. Parents also are receiving inadequate legal support and uneven access to resources they need to help them make their homes safe for their kids.

Hemp retailers say a Virginia law is driving them out of business

Since July 2023, the state has imposed a stricter definition of hemp than what federal law requires. State inspectors issued $7.3 million in fines against nearly 200 shops in the law’s first 10 months because products contained too much tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)—the psychoactive chemical in hemp and marijuana products—or violated labeling rules.

NCAA transfer portal weakens athletics at VMI

The widespread use of the portal has exacerbated the small military school’s long-standing struggles to recruit student-athletes. Recruiting has never been easy for VMI because of the college’s military structure, its history of racism and sexism, and a lack of funding that has left its athletics programs in the red.

Natural Bridge Zoo: Who cares for the animals?

For 30 years, the zoo has been cited time and again for poor care of animals it displays for the public. But now, the zoo’s owners face what may be their toughest challenge ever as lawyers in the state attorney general’s office seek nearly $120,000 to cover costs of caring for animals that were seized during a state police raid.

Outdated Rockbridge area water systems

Lexington, Buena Vista and Rockbridge County are locked in a defensive and expensive posture as they plug leaks and fix aging water and sewer pipes one at a time because it would cost millions of dollars to replace them all at once. The band-aid approach means that water and sewage bills that are already high will continue to increase.

Divided Education

More than 30 years ago, officials in the city of Lexington and Rockbridge County formed an unusual hybrid education system for children in the area. Each jurisdiction operates a separate K-8 school system. Beginning in ninth grade, all 91´«Ã½ attend Rockbridge County High School. The agreement expires in 2040, but formal talks must begin by 2035. Discussions could begin sooner, as Lexington’s school board transitions to an elected body from an appointed entity.

VMI: Past, Present & Future

Cadets have not fought as a unit in a domestic war since the Civil War. But they now find themselves in the middle of the culture war over the term DEI, the abbreviation for diversity, equity and inclusion. The word equity is drawing the most fire and putting the nation’s oldest state-funded military college in the spotlight as it grapples with allegations of rampant racism and sexism.