Associated Press | FFXnow

JUST IN: Trump targets GMU with investigation into diversity-related hiring practices

Published July 10, 2025 at 8:20PM | Updated July 10, 2025 at 8:53PM

George Mason University (file photo)

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday opened a civil rights investigation into the hiring practices at George Mason University, expanding a national campaign against diversity policies to Virginia’s largest public university.

News

Vienna credit union no longer required to refund $80M in overdraft fees

By Associated Press

Published July 1, 2025 at 7:30PM

A sign for Navy Federal Credit Union's headquarters branch in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

By KEN SWEET AP Banking Reporter

NEW YORK (AP) — Navy Federal Credit Union will no longer have to refund $80 million to servicemen and women for illegally charging them overdraft fees on their accounts, after the President Donald Trump-led Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moved to dismiss the case.

Countywide

Virginia Democrats vying for lieutenant governor and attorney general locked in tight races

By Associated Press

Published June 17, 2025 at 9:45PM

Virginia State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi is among six candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for Virginia's lieutenant governor (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrats seeking to be Virginia’s next lieutenant governor and attorney general remained locked in tight races in Virginia’s primary election Tuesday night.

Countywide

FCPD trainer and other experts urge action to prevent deaths at police academies

By Associated Press

Published June 13, 2025 at 10:00AM

The Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy in Chantilly (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

By RYAN J. FOLEY Associated Press

A panel of experts called Wednesday for policy and cultural changes to prevent deaths linked to heat and exertion at the nation’s police academies, and insisted that urgent action is needed to save the lives of recruits.

Countywide

Education Department launches investigation of FCPS over TJ admissions

By Associated Press and Angela Woolsey

Published May 22, 2025 at 6:15PM | Updated May 22, 2025 at 6:38PM

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon testifies before a House Committee on Appropriations subcommittee budget hearing on the US Department of Education on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating Fairfax County Public Schools over its admissions policy for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ).

The department announced today (Thursday) that it has opened an investigation into whether policy changes designed to diversify the magnet school’s student body violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race.

News

Reston-based child care research library faces risk of losing federal funding

By Angela Woolsey and Associated Press

Published May 15, 2025 at 1:45PM

The office buildings at 1900 and 1902 Reston Metro Plaza at Reston Station (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

As the Trump administration continues to gut the federal workforce and budget, a Reston contractor recently got an inadvertent head’s up that one of its research projects could be next on the chopping block.

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spreadsheet mistakenly emailed to grant recipients on April 30 listed over 150 projects to support child welfare that are apparently being considered for termination, including Child Care and Early Education Research Connections, the Associated Press reported.

News

White South Africans admitted by Trump administration arrive at Dulles Airport

By Associated Press

Published May 12, 2025 at 3:45PM

Afrikaner refugees from South Africa arrive, Monday, May 12, 2025, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

By MATTHEW LEE, REBECCA SANTANA and MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press

DULLES, Virginia (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday welcomed a small group of white South Africans as refugees, saying they face discrimination and violence at home, which the country’s government strongly denies.

Countywide

Youngkin amends state budget bill to increase rainy-day reserves over changes in D.C.

By Associated Press

Published March 25, 2025 at 11:15AM

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announces Alarm.com expansion in Tysons in February 2022 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said on Monday that he hoped to bolster Virginia’s rainy-day fund by $300 million in light of economic uncertainty surrounding the White House’s overhaul of federal jobs and its impact on the state’s workforce.

Countywide

Judge finds frozen embryos are not divisible property in cancer survivor’s case against ex-husband

By Associated Press

Published March 17, 2025 at 9:00AM

Fairfax County Courthouse (staff photo by James Jarvis)

By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia judge determined embryos are not property that can be divided up, rejecting a previous analysis by the court saying such fertilized eggs could be considered divisible “goods or chattel” based on 19th-century slave law.

News

Springfield man convicted of funneling money to Islamic State group

By Associated Press

Published December 18, 2024 at 11:15AM

The Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia man targeted by an FBI sting operation has been convicted on terrorism charges for collecting funds on behalf of the Islamic State group.

Mohammed Chhipa, 35, of Springfield, was convicted late Friday afternoon on all five counts against him, including providing material support to a terrorist organization, after a weeklong trial at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria. The jury deliberated for about three hours.