VP JD Vance announces upcoming visit to Damascus and more Virginia headlines
The state Capitol. (Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury)
• 'VP JD Vance announces upcoming visit to Damascus, Virginia on CBS's 'Face the Nation.'' — WCYB
• 'Virginia Senate Democrats block nine Youngkin board appointments.' — The Washington Post
• 'Data centers could double Virginia's energy use in a decade. Bills to regulate them are getting mixed support.' — Daily Progress
• 'One dead after small plane crash in Albemarle.' — WVIR
• 'Restaurant Week in Virginia Beach extended for another week.' — WTKR
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A teenager with a job making burritos became a powerful Minnesota lawmaker who trained service dogs
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Outside the state Capitol in St. Paul, a memorial to Hortman and her husband included flowers, candles, small American flags and a photo of the couple. Visitors left messages on Post-It notes commending Hortman's legislative work, including, 'You changed countless lives." Legislative colleagues described Hortman as funny, savvy and fiercely committed to liberal causes. When lawmakers convened in January with a vacancy in a Democratic seat in the House giving the GOP a temporary advantage, Hortman led a boycott of daily sessions for more than three weeks to force Republicans into a power-sharing arrangement. Republicans were intent this year on ending state health coverage for adult immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally, authorized in 2023 as part of a sweeping liberal program. Democrats wanted to keep it, and lawmakers began June — the last month of the 2025 budget year — without having passed a 2026-27 spending blueprint. 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