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Here’s a recap of the top stories on the morning of May 14, 2025:
Murders highlight Chesterfield's need for intimate partner violence shelter
Reported by VPM News’ Billy Shields
This story contains references to intimate partner violence, also known as domestic violence.
According to information presented by the Chesterfield County Police Department in April, five of the 13 murders that occurred in the county last year — nearly 40% — were acts of intimate partner violence, which is also known as domestic violence or domestic abuse.
Tana Mooney, the domestic violence coordinator for the Chesterfield County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit, said that statistic did not surprise her: “That unfortunately is a pretty average number that we see here on a yearly basis here in Chesterfield.”
Mooney and other officials said the county — Virginia’s fifth-largest, with a population of over 380,000 people — needs a dedicated shelter for survivors of IPV, which it hasn’t had since 2007.
Clover Hill Supervisor Jessica Schneider, who is also a survivor of IPV, said the Board of Supervisors is considering establishing a 16-unit shelter for abuse survivors near the Chesterfield County Courthouse.
“When police get called out on domestic violence calls, they will pull out from their own pocket for women,” Schneider said. “That’s amazing that they do that, but that shouldn’t be what we have to do so that women can be safe from their abusers.”
‘Absolute shock’ at Charlottesville City Schools over FEI retraction
Reported by VPM News’ Hannah Davis-Reid
Charlottesville City Schools was bubbling with excitement in late April when it learned it would acquire the Federal Executive Institute property at no cost through a federal program.
In its application to the Federal Real Property Assistance Program, CCS outlined plans to consolidate the city’s preschools and move some administrative offices from Walker Upper Elementary School to the roughly 14-acre campus on Emmet Street North.
“This is a generational opportunity. We transform the system with this one property becoming available,” City Manager Sam Sanders said at a press conference on April 30.
Just a little over a week later, however, the US Department of Education undid its decision and announced via letter to CCS Superintendent Royal Gurley that it would instead recommend transferring the property to the University of Virginia. No additional details about what changed in the 10 days between tentative approval and retraction were provided.
“When we received this email, the assumption was that it was going to be next steps on how this process was going to continue forward,” said Emily Dooley, chair of the Charlottesville City School Board. “So, you might imagine how all of our stomachs dropped and just absolute shock when the letter was absolutely not that and was instead a complete reverse course.”
News you might have missed from around the commonwealth:
- 'Nothing sounds good': Tariff deal with China doesn't end uncertainty (Richmond Times-Dispatch)*
- Virginia ups school spending for kids, but still lags behind nation (Axios Richmond)
*This outlet utilizes a paywall.