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It’s been a week since you last heard from me. It feels like a long time, especially in the fast-paced news cycles of 2026. But that just means I have more to share. Hopefully, you like this new format.

My son started kindergarten on Monday, and his first week back at Fairfax County Public Schools has been great. Unfortunately, the new school year is off to a rockier start in Richmond, where serious issues with mold forced a school to close.

However disheartening that is, school officials might have known better had they heeded warnings from their staff.

The Richmond Education Association (REA) blasted Richmond Public Schools (RPS) for years of “negligence toward facility maintenance and safety.”

“It is no surprise to many that RPS has a mold issue within their buildings,” the REA posted on Facebook. “Across the district, countless staff members have sounded the alarm—mold infesting HVAC systems, contaminating classroom furniture, spreading across walls, and ruining instructional materials.”

Here’s hoping the situation improves in Richmond, both for the sake of the kids trying to learn and for the staff trying to educate and support them. As is often said, “Working conditions are learning conditions.”

Below, I report on the ongoing labor dispute at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and the artists standing in solidarity with the workers there.

And I share how the labor world is grieving over union sister Dolly Parton.

Want to get in touch, or have stories you want me to cover? Reply to this email or reach out to me directly at michaeloconnor@couriernewsroom.com.

Michael O’Connor

Reporter, Dogwood

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden workers on strike on July 29, 2026. (Photo by Eryn Boyle)

At least two more music artists canceled their shows at Lewis Ginter in solidarity with the workers there who are fighting for their first union contract.

Charlottesville-based Ramona and the Holy Smokes, a honky tonk band that formed in 2022, canceled its performance on Aug. 13.

And The Dan Schutt Band backed out of its Aug. 20 show in support of the workers fighting for “livable wages.” The garden’s management has said it cancelled its evening programming that day over the threat of severe weather. But that claim has been viewed skeptically given the timing of the band’s cancellation.

Dan Schutt (pronounced SHOOT) told me his four-piece band lost out on about $800 by not performing at Lewis Ginter.

“People who work full time deserve to be able to keep a roof over their head and have reasonable benefits like basic healthcare and retirement,” Schutt, a special education teacher when he’s not performing with his band, told me. “Workers’ rights and the rights of less fortunate people are a priority to me.”

With contract talks stalled, workers at the garden are trying to raise awareness about what it’s really like to work there.

You can read about Clare Reines, a conservatory horticulturist, and Laura Lee Folman, the garden’s youth program logistics coordinator. And the union is still raising money for a strike fund.

I’m told Lewis Ginter postponed an employee cookout because not enough people RSVP’d. A member of the union tells me people don’t want to go “because the last one was super lame and everyone is mad at the garden currently.”

“We want $$$ not overcooked burgers,” the garden worker told me.

Support workers’ rights? These candidates on the ballot in Virginia do, too.

Fairfax Education Unions, a partnership between the Fairfax Education Association and the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, is celebrating a grievance victory that fought back against an attempt by management to designate “blackout days” for leave.

US Rep. Rob Wittman in the competitive 1st Congressional District owns stock in the big energy company looking to combine with Dominion Energy. Watch my breakdown here.

Visitors walk the boardwalk of the Virginia Beach Oceanfront during Tropical Storm Ophelia on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, in Virginia Beach, Va. (AP Photo/John C. Clark)

Brandon Jarvis of Virginia Scope reported on a candidate in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District with a history of praising President Donald Trump now running in the highly competitive race on a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) platform.

After seeing the story, I reached out to Tidewater DSA, a DSA chapter in Hampton Roads about it. Spoiler alert: They’d never heard of the candidate in question, Bishop Staten.

“Bishop Staten is not a dues paying member of DSA for our region, nor has he had any communications with the Chapter or participated in any Chapter activities,” Tidewater DSA told me.

(Dolly Parton/YouTube)

Speaking of Trump and the DSA, both shared in yesterday’s universal sadness over the death of Dolly Parton.

Parton was, of course, a legend who transcended country music. She also leaves behind an important legacy of supporting the labor movement and working people. Brad Kutner of Radio IQ also has the details about her legacy in Virginia.

Beyond the working-class anthem “9 to 5,” Parton was also a member in good standing of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 257 in Nashville.

“She set the gold standard for supporting her band and fellow musicians,” said Dave Pomeroy, president of Local 257. “Dolly and her team consistently filed AFM union contracts for gigs, sessions, and tours, ensuring that the bands, singers, and studio musicians working alongside her received the benefits of union membership.”