Friday, February 21, 2025

Good morning! On this day in 1920, voting rights advocate Mary Elizabeth Pidgeon published the article "From the Virginia Battle Front." She reported that the Commonwealth's suffragists would continue their efforts even though the House of Delegates had refused to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. The amendment was added to the Constitution later that year, although Virginia didn't formally ratify it until this day in 1952.

The Virginia Flyover is relieved that the winter weather has moved on, but it is bringing more disruptions this weekend. If you plan to attend a high school championship event, scroll down to our Sports section because those plans are changing.

Our sponsor today is Pacaso, offering a new type of investment opportunity in the real estate industry.

Virginia Prepares to Aid Fired Federal Employees

Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Virginia will prepare a package of aid to support former federal workers in the Commonwealth who lose their jobs during the Trump administration's ongoing layoffs.

The state government is "preparing to provide as much support as we possibly can for folks that may, in fact, find their employment disrupted and may be in a position where they are looking for something else," Youngkin said.

More than 144,000 federal workers live in Virginia, including at least 28,000 in central and southwestern regions. The governor acknowledged that Virginians employed by the federal government are concerned but added that he thinks the cuts are necessary to reduce federal "inefficiency and bloat."

A bipartisan panel of state legislators started an emergency committee to consider the potential economic consequences of the federal cutbacks. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that unemployment claims in the Commonwealth increased by 12% in the week ending Feb. 8, the most recent data available.

UVA to Discuss Sex-Changing Treatments

The University of Virginia's governing Board of Visitors will meet today in a closed session to discuss regulations and policy concerning "Certain Care/Procedures Performed at the UVA Medical Center and Clinics," such as whether its providers should continue to provide sex-changing medical procedures.

Three hospitals across the Commonwealth, including facilities at UVA, halted such treatment for patients under age 19 after President Donald Trump issued an executive order last month to withhold federal support from any medical facility that continued to do so.

UVA resumed providing these services after a federal judge blocked Trump's order. However, the judge's hold is scheduled to expire next week.

Elsewhere, VCU Health stopped offering sex-changing medications and surgeries to teens after the executive order, and it has not resumed them. "VCU Health's doors have remained open and will continue to be open, to all patients and their families for screening, counseling and all health care needs not affected by the Executive Order," it said in a statement earlier this month.

Arrest Made in 2017 Disappearance

Authorities in Newport News have charged 46-year-old Carlos Johnson Jr. with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the 2017 disappearance of his daughter and her mother.

Keir Johnson and her 8-month-old daughter Chloe were last seen on April 30, 2017, when they failed to show up for an appointment. Court documents say Carlos Johnson was seen driving her car later that night before the vehicle was found abandoned a week later.

The documents also mention several internet searches that Carlos Johnson allegedly made ahead of the disappearance. Authorities said those queries included "accidental baby deaths" and "how much rat poison is needed to kill a human."

The Newport News police chief explained that it can often take a long time to bring charges in a case like this. "I know we can't make up for lost time, and hopefully, we can have a small piece of closure for their family." Johnson's next court date is set for June.

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Zillow's Co-Founder Has a Big New Idea

Spencer Rascoff co-founded Zillow, scaling it into a $16B real estate giant. But everyday investors couldn't invest until after the IPO, missing early gains.

"I wish we had done a round accessible to retail investors prior to Zillow's IPO," Spencer later said.

Now he's doing just that. Spencer has teamed up with another Zillow exec to launch Pacaso. Pacaso's co-ownership marketplace is disrupting the $1.3T vacation home market. And unlike Zillow, you can invest in Pacaso as a private company.

With $100M+ in gross profits and rapid international expansion, Pacaso is scaling fast. Investors like Softbank, Maveron, and others are already on board. Even better, the company's now turning its focus to international markets, giving this disruptive model even more upside than before.

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➤ Statewide: Virginia State Police responded to hundreds of crashes during this week's winter snowstorm. At its height, the storm dropped up to 2 inches of snowfall per hour in the Hampton Roads area. (Details)

➤ Virginia Beach: The city council is scheduled to vote Monday on whether to provide the Virginia Aquarium Foundation with $40,000 to hire the consulting firm Canopy Strategic Partners. (More)

➤ Dillwyn: A former correctional officer at Buckingham Correctional Center was sentenced to 21 months in prison for conspiring to smuggle drugs into the facility where he worked. (Details)

➤ Petersburg: Virginia State University will be the site of a gubernatorial debate on September 16. The nation's first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) had been scheduled to host a general election presidential debate last fall, but that event was canceled. (Details)

➤ Richmond: Lawmakers in both houses unanimously passed the Campaign Integrity Act to ban using campaign funds for personal expenses during the course of an election. The bill now goes to Gov. Glenn Youngkin's desk. (Details)

➤ Danville: Republican Del. Danny Marshall will not seek reelection in the fall, ending his 24-year career in the state legislature. (More)

➤ George Mason, leading the Atlantic 10 Conference, visits second-place VCU tomorrow in men's basketball. (Preview)

➤ Virginia Tech visits Miami while UVA is at UNC tomorrow in ACC men's basketball. (Schedule)

➤ VT hosts UNCG in a three-game baseball series this weekend, while UVA has three games in the Karbuch Round Rock Classic in Texas. (Schedule)

➤ High school state championship events in wrestling, gymnastics, and swimming and diving scheduled for this weekend will be postponed because of poor weather. (Details)

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➤ The historic Wetsel Seed Company Building in downtown Harrisonburg has been refurbished and transformed into the Harrisonburg Innovation Hub, a state-of-the-art co-working space. (More)

➤ A real estate expert debunked a social media post that seemed to show hundreds of houses in Arlington and Falls Church coming on the market since January. "Right now, we are not seeing any major increase in inventory or any plunging in home prices," the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors said. (Details)

➤ Iron Mountain, an information management services company, announced plans to build a data center in the White Oak Technology Park in Sandston. (More)

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Top Investors Are Buying This "Unlisted" Stock

When the team that co-founded Zillow and grew it into a $16b real estate leader starts a new company, investors notice. That's why top firms like SoftBank and Maveron invested in Pacaso.

Sending shockwaves through the real estate industry once again, Pacaso's streamlined platform offers co-ownership of premier properties—completely revamping a $1.3t market.

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Now, they're focused on international expansion—achieving record-breaking sales in Paris, securing 7 homes in Cabo, and recently acquiring their most valuable European property yet in London.

You can join them as an investor – but with this expansion underway, the current share price will be gone tomorrow. Invest at $2.70/share by 2/27.

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➤ The University of Virginia will unveil its 55,000-square-foot campus in Fairfax County with a grand opening next Friday. It features classrooms and collaborative workspaces for students in all of the university's programs. (Details)

➤ The Virginia Department of Emergency Management scheduled a tornado drill for the entire Commonwealth at 9:45 a.m. on March 11. (More)

➤ Troopers wanted! The Virginia State Police is looking to hire 300 officers. To boost recruiting, VSP is offering bigger paychecks and signing bonuses. (Details)

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