Hey, y’all. It’s Amie.

Please excuse any typos, friends, my face is about to hit the keyboard. Yes, this week contained Election Day (the most exhausting day for reporters, ever), but it did not contain ample amounts of caffeine necessary to function properly until the weekend. That’s because, in my Election Day Eve haze, I completely forgot to add my precious four-pack of curuba-flavored Red Bulls to our weekly grocery pickup order.

You know what I did get in the order, though? A Pokemon watch on sale for $3. I gave it to Colton on Monday, and he’s worn it nearly 24 hours a day ever since (even to sleep). He’s become rather obsessed with time lately, but I didn’t realize this little impulse buy would bring so much joy. I guess it goes to show that it’s not the amount, it’s the intent. But next week, I do intend to remember my Red Bulls. Until then, we’ll push through to the weekend together because I’m so glad you’re here.

Abigail Spanberger supporters celebrate her winning Virginia’s gubernatorial election on Nov. 4, 2025. (Michael O’Connor/Dogwood)

By Michael O’Connor

For much of the gubernatorial campaign in Virginia, the question wasn’t whether Democrat Abigail Spanberger would win, it was what her margin of victory would be. 

That’s in part because her opponent, Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, ran what was widely viewed as a bad campaign. It’s also because it seemed inevitable that President Donald Trump’s cuts to the federal government would be particularly harmful for any Republican running in a state like Virginia, with its hundreds of thousands of federal workers. 

Spanberger beat Earle-Sears by a whopping 15 points. That by itself would have been enough for Democrats to reasonably argue they had a mandate from voters. 

But add on top of Spanberger’s big win, state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi’s win in the lieutenant governor’s race, Jay Jones’ election as attorney general despite a texting scandal, and Democrats picking up 13 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, and Democrats are living up to the preferred walk-up song of House Speaker Don Scott, “All I Do Is Win.” 

Republicans’ focus on Jones’ texts clearly moved some voters, one of whom I actually met on Election Day. And those texts will follow Jones the rest of his political life. But in the end, Jones beat Jason Miyares by six points with the simple message that he would try to hold Trump accountable in ways that the incumbent never had.

The guy in the White House surely also played a role in the massive gains Democrats made in the House of Delegates, where they defended competitive seats and flipped 13 seats away from Republicans by the sheer will of the voters—no redistricting needed. 

Around 5,000 South Richmonders will get a double utility bill this month, but payments might not be as high as you think. (Steve Johnson/Unsplash)

By Sam Cohen

On Tuesday, the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) announced that around 5,000 customers in Richmond’s Southside will have to pay a one-time double utility bill this month. The announcement comes after the DPU noted an equipment failure in October that temporarily corrupted meter readings. Customers impacted by that corruption were not charged for October’s billing cycle in an effort to prevent anyone from paying the wrong amount.

The DPU has since corrected the issue and released a statement saying, “After an extensive review of the data over the last two weeks, a single, correct bill will be issued to impacted customers reflecting both the previous and current billing period.” 

DPU’s Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald II said they’re aware of the inconvenience the delay in billing has caused and that they’ll only be billing for the base fees for one month to make up for the meter corruption issue. That means bills will be between $40-$50 less than they would be otherwise.

By Dorothy Scott

James Avery, a beloved late actor, attended Virginia State University. Most of us recognize him as the voice of Shredder in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” from the late ’80s—he was in 114 episodes—or the uncle from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” Philip Banks. As Philip, Avery appeared in 147 episodes between 1990 and 1996, and he didn’t hit the brakes when his run there ended, either.

After “Fresh Prince,” Avery went on to appear in myriad projects, including multi-episode arcs, like his 22 episodes of “Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys” and 11 episodes of “The Closer.” Sadly, following many years of success in the industry, Avery died at age 68 on New Year’s Eve in 2013. Reports from the time indicate that an open-heart surgery caused issues that ultimately led to his passing.

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