Missy Elliott Christmas🎄; Will Trump Upend 85,000 Fed Jobs; Henson, Cousins Announce Re-Elect; Portsmouth Coffee Talk

🚩 3 days until Dec. 25 🎅🏽 Christmas + Hanukkah and 4 days until Kwanzaa
🚩 12 days until Jan. 3, 2025 the 119th Congress is sworn in.
🚩 17 days until the Virginia General Assembly convenes on Jan. 8, 2025.
🚩 29 days until the MLK Holiday on Jan. 20, 2025.
🚩 29 days until Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, 2025.

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Missy Elliott’s 2nd Annual Toy Giveaway in Portsmouth

On Dec. 21 in Portsmouth, Grammy Award winning rapper Missy Elliott hosted her 2nd Annual Toy Giveaway in Portsmouth. This holiday toy giveaway and celebration was held in partnership with Forkids, Portsmouth Children’s Museum and Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. The event took place at Portsmouth Children’s Museum.

RELATED: Missy Elliott (Library of Hip-hop Biographies, 2009)

“Missy Elliott donated more than $60,000 worth of toys and gift cards which are serviced by For Kids (A local Non profit) and other local agencies. In an effort to assist parents during the holiday season, Missy Elliott received a Christmas Gift Wish List from each child in attendance and worked to fulfill the children’s request. Each family will also receive a $350 Walmart gift card per child to assist with necessities and ease the financial stress the holidays can bring,” according to a release.

Elliott grew up in Portsmouth and is a graduate of Manor High School.

Trump’s Plans Pose Dilemma for Virginia Governor

By David Toscano. Gov. Glenn Youngkin emerged from this fall’s campaign as one of Donald Trump’s most enthusiastic supporters. But the incoming president’s plans have the potential to create major challenges for Virginia’s present governor.

Youngkin is pitching a tax cut, and cites a hefty state budgetary surplus as justification. But surpluses can evaporate in a Mar-a-Largo minute, and the prospects of declining revenue flowing to Virginia because of cutbacks in federal employment and reductions in Medicaid reimbursements are making Virginia budget makers skittish about the future. READ ENTIRE

More federal workers live here than in any other state; 85,000 live in Northern Virginia and another 60,000 make Hampton Roads their home.

Delegates Henson Announce Re-Election Bids for Virginia House

Members of the Virginia House of Delegates are announcing their re-election bids for the Virginia House of Delegates in 2025. Two recent announcements were from Delegate Rozia Henson and Delegate Rae Cousins.

Delegate Rozia Henson: “I am proud of what I have accomplished representing the values and interests of my home district, House District 19,” said Delegate Henson. “However, my work representing our community is far from over. That’s why I’m announcing my candidacy today — December 19th — for re-election to the House of Delegates representing Virginia’s 19th House District.”

Delegate Rae Cousins: “In my first General Assembly session earlier this year, I was proud to secure $11.65 million to benefit Richmond, including funding for Richmond Public Schools, the Richmond Teacher Residency program, Federally Qualified Health Centers like CAHN and the Daily Planet, and cultural institutions including the Valentine Museum and the JXN Project. I also passed ten bills to fully fund public education, to protect tenants from eviction, to reform our criminal legal system, and to address food insecurity and maternal health across the Commonwealth, and supported legislation to make our communities safe from gun violence.”

Portsmouth Coffee Talk: Ashley Watts

Below is the latest live episode of Portsmouth Coffee Talk

Reading List

1- Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey (Oct. 2024)
2- Positive, Successful, Stylish Black People Coloring Book (2024)
3- When Mayor Doug Wilder Ruled Richmond: Strong-Arm Politics in Virginia's Capital City by Linwoood Norman (Aug. 2024)

4- Rumor, Repression, and Racial Politics: How the Harassment of Black Elected Officials Shaped Post-Civil Rights America (Since 1970: Histories of Contemporary America) by George Derek Musgrove
5- Son of Virginia, A Life in America's Political Arena (2015) by L. Douglas Wilder
6- The New Jim Crow (2010) by Michelle Alexander
7- Remaking Virginia Politics by Paul Goldman (Jan. 2022)

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