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Jennifer McClellan wins special election to succeed Va. congressman

Richmond Democrat is first Black woman from state in Congress

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Virginia Congresswoman-elect Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond) (Screen capture via Giffords/YouTube)

Virginia state Sen. Jennifer McClellan (R-Richmond) will succeed the late-Congresman A. Donald McEachin in the U.S. House of Representatives after she defeated her Republican challenger on Tuesday in a special election.

McClellan defeated Leon Benjamin by a 74.3-25.7 percent margin.

McEachin, who represented Virginiaā€™s 4th Congressional District, died on Nov. 28, 2022. 

McClellan is the first Black woman from Virginia in Congress.

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Virginia

Va. Senate committee tables three anti-transgender bills

Measures targeted trans student athletes, gender-affirming care for minors

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(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Virginia lawmakers this week killed three anti-transgender bills.

The Virginia Senate Health and Education Committee on Thursday tabled Senate Bill 749, which would have banned trans athletes from school sports teams that correspond with their gender identity. The same committee on Thursday tabled a similar measure, Senate Bill 1079.

The committee on Thursday also tabled Senate Bill 1074, which would have made it “unlawful for any individual to provide gender transition procedures, defined in the bill, for minors and prohibits the use of public funds for gender transition procedures.”

“All students deserve to play and to have access to essential healthcare,” said the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia on Thursday in a social media post.

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Virginia

Va. Senate approves resolution to repeal marriage amendment

Two successive legislatures must approve proposal before it goes to voters

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(Bigstock photo)

The Virginia Senate on Tuesday approved a resolution that seeks to repeal a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

The resolution that state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) introduced passed by a 24-15 vote margin. An identical measure that state Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County) has proposed passed in the Virginia House of Delegates last week.

Sickles and Ebbin are both gay.

Voters approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment in 2006.

Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin last year signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.

The General Assembly in 2021 approved a resolution that seeks to repeal the Marshall-Newman Amendment. It must pass in two successive legislatures before it can go to the ballot.

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Virginia

Arlington man arrested for arson at Freddie’s Beach Bar

Suspect charged with setting fires at two other nearby restaurants

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Timothy Clark Pollock (Photo courtesy of the Arlington County Fire Department)

The Arlington County Fire Department announced on Jan. 16 that an Arlington man has been arrested on three counts of arson for at least three fires set at restaurants on the same block on South 23rd Street, including Freddieā€™s Beach Bar and Restaurant, which is a gay establishment.

A statement released by the fire department says a warrant for the arrest of Timothy Clark Pollock was issued on Jan. 15 and that Clark was apprehended by Alexandria police on Jan. 16 at approximately 6:54 a.m. It says he was transferred into the custody of fire marshals and the Arlington Police Department.

Fire department officials have said the fires that Pollock allegedly set took place between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9, on the 500 block of South 23rd Street in the Crystal City section of Arlington.

Freddie Lutz, owner of Freddieā€™s, said the front door of his establishment was set on fire with what appeared to be a flammable liquid such as lighter fluid. The door was partially blackened by the fire, but the restaurant itself did not catch fire, Lutz said.

Fire department officials said the other two nearby establishments hit by small fires around that same time were the Crystal City Sports Pub and McNamaraā€™s Pub and Restaurant.

Lutz told the Washington Blade that the fire at Freddieā€™s took place the day before and the day after Freddieā€™s received a threatening phone call from what sounded like the same unidentified male caller.

ā€œHe said Iā€™m going to fuck you up and Iā€™m going to fuck the women up,ā€ Lutz said the person told Freddieā€™s manager, who answered the two calls.

Lutz speculated that the caller could have been the same person who started the fire at Freddieā€™s and possibly the other two restaurants.

The short statement by the Arlington County Fire Department announcing the arrest did not say whether fire and police investigators have determined a possible motive for the fires. The statement says Pollock was being held without bond and that he is ā€œalso facing additional charges for unrelated crimes, which remain under investigation.ā€

The online Arlington news publication ARLNow reports that a Facebook account associated with Timothy C. Pollock includes a photo from inside Freddieā€™s posted on Facebook on Dec. 21.

Lutz confirmed for the Blade the photo is clearly one that was taken inside Freddieā€™s showing Christmas decorations, leading Lutz to believe that Pollock has been inside Freddieā€™s at least once if not more than once.

Photos of Timothy C. Pollock on that personā€™s Facebook page appear to be the same Pollock as that captured in the mug shot photo of Pollock released by the Arlington County Fire Department on Jan. 16.

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