The team at State Navigate was eagerly following primary election results in Virginia earlier this month, but their main interest wasn’t which of the candidates would win, it was the data itself. It was an early test run for what founder Chaz Nuttycombe envisions as the go-to source for state-level election information. The website launched in a limited form earlier this year, with the goal of expanding to all 50 states in the next couple years. Beyond simply offering forecasts, data and predictions, Nuttycombe wants to create more interest in state government as a whole, feeling it is largely ignored in the current environment. “State government keeps getting overlooked,” he said. “You know, I’ve seen child beaters and molesters win state legislative office. And I think it’s just a matter of the fact that people don’t know who’s on their ballot. That’s one of the things we want to do, is just make it easier to navigate state legislatures.”

Virginia Media recently changed the leadership of its newsroom operations. Tribune Publishing, owned by Alden Global Capital since 2021, eliminated the editor-in-chief position held by Kris Worrell since August 2019. As executive editor, she oversaw The Virginian-Pilot, Daily Press, The Virginia Gazette and Tidewater Review and was dedicated to serving readers and the communities with engaging, informative and meaningful stories. Worrell, a graduate of Kempsville High School, got her start in journalism in the Nags Head bureau of The Virginian-Pilot, her hometown newspaper. “This move is part of a pattern that is far too common in our industry: firing talented staff and leaving the rest of us to take on more work for the same pay. This isn’t cost saving, it’s pushing a strained staff to their limit and hurting the long-term health of the paper and the readers who rely on our coverage,” said Gavin Stone, co-chair of Tidewater Media Guild.

Augusta County released more than 100 documents related to the cancellation of the Pride event at the Augusta County Library, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Augusta Free Press. After sifting through the documents, unfortunately, we still don’t know who or what led the Augusta County Board of Supervisors to push for the cancellation of the event, aside from the obvious. We do know, though, that the cancellation didn’t play well with local residents.