Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · 4d

I think they've now made it available publicly. I don't get a paywall when I click into it. www.nationalreview.com/news/dem-ag-...

Dem AG Nominee Jay Jones Fantasized About Shooting Former Virginia GOP Speaker: ‘He Receives Both Bullets’ | National Review

NR has obtained a string of disturbing text messages sent by the former state lawmaker in 2022.

www.nationalreview.com

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · 4d

It's a measure of how siloed the information environment is that this story is all over my X feed but has not yet surfaced over here.

www.nationalreview.com/news/dem-ag-...

Dem AG Nominee Jay Jones Fantasized About Shooting Former Virginia GOP Speaker: ‘He Receives Both Bullets’ | National Review

NR has obtained a string of disturbing text messages sent by the former state lawmaker in 2022.

www.nationalreview.com

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · 15d

Including a teensy tiny bit of analysis about what a federal shutdown could mean for the race -

WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 15d

Early voting for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates is officially open in Virginia. Here's the state of the race.

Early voting is in full swing in Virginia. Here’s what’s on your ballot

Races include governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and the House of Delegates, along with a handful of local contests in Northern Virginia.

buff.ly

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Reposted by Margaret Barthel

Markus Schmidt @mschmidtrva.bsky.social · 15d

NEW: GOP-leaning House of Delegates districts are outpacing Democratic ones in Virginia’s first week of early voting.

Of the 20 districts with the highest turnout, 11 are strongly or lean Republican, 5 strongly Democratic, 4 are competitive. #VALeg

virginiamercury.com/2025/09/23/g...

GOP districts take early lead in Virginia’s first week of early voting • Virginia Mercury

Early voting in Virginia began just last week, but the first wave of ballots already shows Republican-leaning House of Delegates districts pulling ahead of their Democratic counterparts.

virginiamercury.com

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · 18d

Snaps from the first day of early voting at Fairfax Government Center, where voters got to hear from John Reid and Abigail Spanberger.

It was sunny, it was hot, it was bustling: a good beginning to our annual festival of democracy in Virginia.

Republican Lt. Gov. candidate John Reid addresses press and supporters outside Fairfax Government Center. Photo shows Reid speaking and gesturing with his hands, with supporters standing in the background.

Photo shows a crowd of Moms Demand Action volunteers in red shirts waving Abigail Spanberger signs.

Photo shows Abigail Spanberger smiling as she speaks to press. Her supporters hold signs in the background.

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · 21d

Thoughtful opinion piece in the Times-Dispatch from Miyares advisor Shaun Kenney on engaging in good faith:

richmond.com/opinion/colu...

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Reposted by Margaret Barthel

Sam Shirazi @samshirazi.bsky.social · 28d

James Walkinshaw is trying to get seated ASAP

Will have to turn to government funding deadline in 20 days

He has a lot of Federal workers in VA-11

But also a Dem base that wants to take a stand

Will there be a deal or does a shutdown actually happens this time?

Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · 28d

Democrat James Walkinshaw is headed to Congress, having won about 75% of the vote in the #VA11 special election this evening.

Once he's there, what are his thoughts on the looming federal spending bill deadline? I asked -

Screenshot of text of a news article that reads:
Walkinshaw will arrive in Congress a few weeks before funding for the federal government runs out, a situation that offers Democrats an opening to demand their priorities be included in a spending bill — or shut the government down if they are not.

Walkinshaw said he didn’t want a government shutdown, but said he’d consider withholding his vote if the funding bill was not bipartisan.

“If they’re looking to have my vote on any government funding there needs to be a real bipartisan process in negotiation,” he said. “I’m not going to vote to extend cuts to health care that kick people off their health care. I’m not going to vote to extend DOGE.”

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · 28d

Full story here: wamu.org/story/25/09/...

In special election, Democrats easily hold Northern Virginia congressional seat

Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw said his win in the safe Democratic seat was a mark of building resistance against the Trump administration.

wamu.org

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · 28d

Democrat James Walkinshaw is headed to Congress, having won about 75% of the vote in the #VA11 special election this evening.

Once he's there, what are his thoughts on the looming federal spending bill deadline? I asked -

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · 29d

Wrote this up here: wamu.org/story/25/09/...

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 5

Anyway, love a Friday news drop. I'll have more on this on Monday. It's been a long week.

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 5

"Many of the complaint's allegations could only properly be responded to by developers like Wilsons Ventures," the judges argue. And they note that the original lawsuit seeks relief that would "directly impact the land owned and already developed by EHO permit holders."

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 5

I haven't had time yet to wade through today's 10-page ruling, but here is one passage that stuck out. The appellate court found that the way the plaintiffs in the original case argued against 'missing middle' makes it difficult to then exclude developers from the suit.

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 5

Here is my explainer on what the heck all that means from last month: wamu.org/story/25/07/...

Court considers the role of developers in Arlington ‘missing middle’ housing suit

The Virginia Court of Appeals will decide whether a developer who has built ‘missing middle’ housing in the county should be allowed to join the lawsuit.

wamu.org

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 5

This is the second time the Court of Appeals has reversed and remanded the case back to the circuit court. The first time was in June. Then it reversed itself in July in order to hear arguments from the lawyers on both sides. And now they've done it again.

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 5

A three-judge panel found that the original circuit judge had erred in preventing a developer, Wilsons Ventures, who received two permits to build 'missing middle'-style housing, from intervening in the case after it had gone to trial.

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 5

The Virginia Court of Appeals has *again* sent the Arlington 'missing middle' lawsuit back to the circuit court.

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 4

She does not expect the surge in funding to ICE to result in better conditions.

"People are still being fed one burrito a day despite the fact that this agency has billions upon billions of dollars to care for those in their custody."

Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 4

I posed that 32% capacity figure to Amy Fischer, the Director of Refugee and Migrant Rights at Amnesty International USA. She said it could be that represents a single point-in-time, like when a big number of people are bussed out overnight to other facilities.

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 4

ICE disputes these accounts. Here's what they sent me in response:

Image text says: “The ICE field office in Chantilly serves as a processing facility for illegal aliens before they are moved to longer-term detention facilities. No detainees are staying at the Chantilly facility for seven days or over the legal limit. The Chantilly field office is at 32 percent capacity—nowhere near maximum capacity. Detainees are receiving three meals a day, have access to phones, showers legal representation, blankets, and medical care.

“Some of the criminal illegal aliens processed at Chantilly field office include Tren de Aragua gang members, child rapists, drug dealers and those convicted of violent assault.

“When will the media stop covering sob stories of illegal alien processing and detention centers and start focusing on the victims of illegal alien crime?”

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 4

They also detail accounts of inadequate food and little ability to contact families or lawyers.

Image text says:
The only means by which individuals at ICE WAS can communicate with the outside world is via a non-confidential phone line. While some people detained at ICE WAS are provided with a short free phone call after arriving at the facility, many families report not hearing from their loved ones at all. People whoa re able to use the phone are permitted ot make calls for no longer than a few minutes, and all of these calls are monitored.

Despite not having access to counsel, officials at ICE WAS are meeting with people and pressuring them to sign deportation orders. For example, individuals reported being summoned to meet alone with ICE officials on multiple occasions while detained at ICE WAS, where they were badgered and insulted in an effort to have them sign their deportation order, despite having no ability to consult with their attorney.

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 4

They describe people in overcrowded conditions without access to medical care, including an account of a fever spreading among the people held there.

Image text says there is no medical professional on-site to respond to detained noncitizens' pre-existing or sudden health concerns. It details accounts of a viral illness causing fevers spreading through the people detained in a room in Chantilly. One person fainted due to a high fever.

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 4

The ACLU says that the usual system has been swamped by the surge in people picked up by heightened enforcement in D.C., leading to some people staying for multiple days at a facility ill-equipped to house them.

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Sep 4

The Virginia ACLU sent an emergency letter to ICE about conditions for detainees at the processing center in Chantilly, where people detained in D.C. and NoVA usually pass through on the way to the agency's actual detention facilities.

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Reposted by Margaret Barthel

Alex Koma @alexkoma.bsky.social · Aug 20

Kudos to the Post for pushing back on this because the anecdotal evidence we have just doesn’t support any surge in policing in wards 7 and 8.

I’ll put this to my followers in those neighborhoods: are you seeing federal agents/the National Guard? If so, what’re they doing?

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · Aug 19

President Donald Trump's crusade against crime in the nation’s capital has resulted in more than 450 arrests since Aug. 7.

But a full picture about who has been arrested, where, for what and by whom is not yet clear. https://wapo.st/41d7khc

On Trump’s order, dozens arrested daily in D.C. The details are hidden.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to tout the progress of the operation — progress that, without publicly available arrest data, is difficult to measure.

wapo.st

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