Good afternoon,

Something I’ve always found kind of awkward about being a reporter is how I’ll have these wide-ranging interviews with people and then only use like one or two of their comments in my story.

That’s usually because the stories I do need to have a tighter focus in which each point needs to build on what came before. But I still feel bad about not always being able to include what I personally found interesting.

Something like this happened to me in the course of reporting out my first story on artificial intelligence. Hit me up at michaeloconnor@couriernewsroom.com if you want to share your thoughts on AI.

Below, I have that AI story, and a look at today’s bad jobs report.

Plus, a trailblazing Virginian gets her due in Washington.

Michael O’Connor

Reporter, Dogwood

Bruce Perry, 17, demonstrates the possibilities of artificial intelligence by creating an AI companion on Character.AI,, July 15, 2025, in Russellville, Ark. (AP Photo/Katie Adkins, file)

The ongoing rise of AI presents a question for society: can we harness it for good? Or will we stand back as bad actors use it for nefarious purposes?

That’s a question we can ask of really any technology and one that can never really stop being asked, whether it’s in the context of the internet more broadly or autonomous vehicles.

For today’s story, I spoke with two people about the current state of AI regulation in Virginia. One was state Del. Michelle Lopes Maldonado (D-Manassas), a former tech lawyer who once worked for AOL.

The other was Max Shapiro, who is developing an AI program to help people learn about and analyze bills filed in the Virginia legislature.

I was prompted to reach out to them in response to the news that President Donald Trump wants his administration to go after states that regulate AI in ways he doesn’t like. (There’s a world where it probably makes sense to make sure states are not enacting laws that threaten national security somehow, but it’s hard to take Trump’s word at face value, especially given how much money Big Tech has spent on supporting him.)

Maldonado told me she’s looking to address AI in the state code in a targeted way after Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed her bill to try to regulate AI in the state code in a more broadly applied way.

Shapiro told me he thinks it would be wiser to take a broader approach to AI regulation to cut down on the complexities and potential confusion that could come with a number of smaller changes.

You can read my coverage here.

A vertical farming company is closing, putting 173 people out of work in the Danville area, Virginia Business reports. Richmond BizSense reports that a printing firm is also laying off 76 in Henrico County.
The Chesapeake School Board has barred employees from asking others to use their preferred pronouns, WTKR reports.

A new report from Old Dominion University says Virginia’s economy has slowed in 2025.

“Help Wanted” sign is displayed at a dry cleaner in Rolling Meadows, Ill., Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, file)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that US unemployment rose to 4.6% in November, up from 4.4% in October.

Heather Long, an economist, pointed out online that the economy is about people not percentages, posting: “There are nearly 1 million more unemployed people now than in January.”

She also said that the US economy is in a “hiring recession.”

Another economist, Jed Kolko, said that Trump’s mass deportation efforts and restrictions on immigration—which were billed as putting American workers first—aren’t actually playing out the way MAGA said they would.

“Unemployment continues to increase more for native-born workers than foreign-born workers,” Kelko posted.

And US Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia pointed out that tariffs haven’t helped either.

“The year before Trump took office, the US averaged +168,000 jobs per month,” Beyer said on X. “It added just 119,000 jobs TOTAL in 7 months since Trump’s tariffs began.”

(Screenshot/X)

Today, the country celebrated the legacy of Virginian Barbara Rose Johns with the unveiling of her statue at the Capitol.

In 1951, when Johns was 16, she led a walkout in protest of the conditions at her segregated school.

You can read more about her legacy and her new statue here.

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