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Youngkin wants to increase Virginia's sales tax, but cut the income tax

GOP governor will have to strike a deal with Democrat-led General Assembly

Illustration of the Virginia State Capitol with lines radiating from it.

Taxes

Gov. Glenn Youngkin&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="latest budget proposal" data-vars-click-url="https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2023/december/name-1019260-en.html" data-vars-content-id="29320cbc-a2e1-48ff-905f-cbd8e20a1104" data-vars-headline="Youngkin wants to increase Virginia&#x27;s sales tax, but cut the income tax" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2023/december/name-1019260-en.html" target="_blank">latest budget proposal</a> includes an unexpected surprise from a GOP governor: a tax increase.What&#x27;s happening: Youngkin wants to bump the state&#x27;s sales tax just under a percentage point, but only, he says, to help offset the cost of an even bigger cut to the state&#x27;s income tax.<ul><li>It&#x27;s his opening offer to Democrats in the General Assembly, with whom he will ultimately have to strike a deal on the state&#x27;s finances for the next two years.</li></ul>

News

Here's what we came up with in our last-minute scramble for great gifts that rep Richmond and all its weird and wonderful local artists and shops.

Cat not included. Photo: Courtesy of Mathew Oswald

📔 A beautiful coffee table book: "Richmond Architectura" ($50), just published, offers a dreamy, idealized study of the buildings that make the city so beautiful.

Who it's for: The design-obsessed people in your life. Its author, architectural and real estate photographer Mathew Oswald, says he designed it specifically to look great as an interior design prop. (Superficial? Yes, but we respect the honesty.)

How to get it: Order online before Christmas, and Oswald says he'll hand deliver in Richmond. But move fast because he says he only has 10 copies left on hand.

Let the current wash over you. Photo: Courtesy of Rise Labs

🌁 A low-key cityscape: Help a friend brighten up a bare wall with this calming print of the view from Belle Isle ($12). Produced by Rise Labs, a nonprofit in Church Hill, it's also available in the form of a tote bag or tea towel.

Who it's for: Rise honestly has something for everyone. Their prints cover a lot of geographic ground, from Libby Hill to Forest Hill Park.

How to get it: Order online, and you can arrange for local pick up through the end of the week.

Have opossums been designated as Richmond's official marsupial yet? Photo: Courtesy of The Wild Wander

🛶 A cheeky little sticker: Ned here. If someone slipped this cute Richmond river opossum sticker ($4) in a Christmas card for me, I'd probably love them forever.

Who it's for: Me. And I guess anyone who has plopped down on a rock for a lazy afternoon in the muddy green shallows of the James.

How to get it: The design, by the always delightful Clara Cline, is available in her shop and design studio, The Wild Wander, on Strawberry Street.

It's a vibe. Photo: Courtesy of The Locker Room

😵‍💫 A hoodie for going hard: Karri here, coveting the best Richmond gift ever: a hoodie celebrating Richmond's very best and beloved dive bar, The Locker Room ($39).

Who's it for: Me. Or your dive bar, Southside-loving friend.

How to get it: In person at The Locker Room only — and they're going fast. Plan to stay for a drink. Or three.

Of note: If you're a browser, check out Studio Two Three's Winter Market, which is running through the 24th and features work by over a hundred local artists.

And don't sleep on any of our suggestions from last year.

We maintain that Valentine's Meat Juice bloody mary mix is one of the most delightfully weird local history things ever. (Grab it at the museum's shop downtown or make it a party pack via Cirrus Vodka.)

Plus, the gift shops at Richmond's museums make some of the best local shopping around (check out VMFA, VMHC, ACWM and Poe).

And we could never rep local illustrator Doug Orleski hard enough.

4 great last-minute gifts for your favorite Richmonder

These gifts rep Richmond and all its weird and wonderful local artists and shops.

Illustration of the Axios logo with a gift bow on it.

So you procrastinated.What&#x27;s happening: It&#x27;s OK, so did we.Here&#x27;s what we came up with in our last-minute scramble for great gifts that rep Richmond and all its weird and wonderful local artists and shops.

Holidays

Things to Do

Newcomers Guide

Why it matters: It's easy to fixate on the negative. Honestly, it's kind of our job as journalists — it's not exactly news when the zoo doesn't burn down or the city sends out tax bills without mucking a bunch of them up.

We're always so fixated on whatever's happening right now that it can be hard to find the time and space to reflect on the bigger picture.

What's happening: This end-of-year edition forced us to find some time and space to reflect on the bigger picture.

And on the whole, we found more good than bad.

Mayor Stoney crammed a decade's worth of milestones into one year: marriage, pregnancy and announcing a gubernatorial run.

He also unveiled his first themed couple's Halloween costume. Welcome to middle age, millennial mayor.

Sen. Joe Morrissey exited stage left after losing two Democratic primaries in a row amid a high-profile divorce and allegations of abuse.

And we sent Jenn McClellan, quite possibly Richmond's least objectionable politician, to Congress. (Here's some dirt: Did you know she's a Disney adult? Heartwarming.)

We re-lived the casino debate. Which, yes, was tedious and, at times, ugly.

But whichever side you're on, we can appreciate that the losing campaign pumped $10 million into the local economy.

The city announced plans for the Diamond District this summer. Things have been suspiciously quiet since then, but city officials swear things are still on track.

We learned about VPNs after Gov. Youngkin signed a law cracking down on online porn. Which, listen, we don't care why you're using one — it's an excellent security practice on unfamiliar WiFi networks anyways.

It took tragedy, but the city and VCU started to get serious about pedestrian safety, installing speed humps and making plans for bigger changes.

We bid farewell to Youngkinology, a tedious creation of national political reporters fixated on whether our political-neophyte governor would run for president.

And let us never forget Patches, the 40-pound cat that stole our hearts while sticking to his rigorous weight-loss plan (he's now a svelte 28.58 pounds).

By all accounts he's thriving, and maybe, so are we.

Richmond's year in news: 2023

Animated illustration of a vortex of concentric circles with the year 2023 and Axios logos flying in to it.

You know, maybe 2023 wasn&#x27;t so bad.Why it matters: It&#x27;s easy to fixate on the negative. Honestly, it&#x27;s kind of our job as journalists — it&#x27;s not exactly news when the zoo doesn&#x27;t <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="burn down" data-vars-click-url="https://www.12onyourside.com/2023/06/05/large-fire-metro-richmond-zoo-all-animals-saved-flames/" data-vars-content-id="5fe543b3-371c-4ab6-b1c9-5a7317be6c41" data-vars-headline="Richmond&#x27;s year in news: 2023" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.12onyourside.com/2023/06/05/large-fire-metro-richmond-zoo-all-animals-saved-flames/" target="_blank">burn down</a> or the city sends out tax bills without <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="mucking a bunch of them up" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2023/12/12/richmond-car-tax-audit-fees" data-vars-content-id="5fe543b3-371c-4ab6-b1c9-5a7317be6c41" data-vars-headline="Richmond&#x27;s year in news: 2023" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2023/12/12/richmond-car-tax-audit-fees" target="_self">mucking a bunch of them up</a>.

The plant that may have killed Socrates could also be growing in your backyard.

Why it matters: Poison hemlock is one of the deadliest plants in North America but can look and smell like a carrot. So you should probably know how to spot it so you (or your dog) don't eat it.

The big picture: It's peak blooming season for poison hemlock, which grows along fences, ditches and roadsides.

Chris Holstege, the director of the Blue Ridge Poison Center, told Axios he's also seen it in scattered areas while hiking in Virginia.

It carries a poison that's like a much more toxic nicotine and can cause respiratory failure, muscle paralysis and death if even the smallest of doses are ingested.

The juice from the plant can also irritate the skin, said Shelly Clary, an education specialist at the Virginia Poison Center at VCU Health.

The good news: Hemlock poisoning — which yes, is said to be how the Athenians executed Socrates — is rare, and Virginia's poison centers haven't yet seen an uptick in exposure calls this year.

But Holstege said it's important to know the risks because foraging has become a more mainstream hobby during the pandemic.

And it can be dangerous if people pick a plant that looks edible but is actually poisonous, like confusing the toxic false-hellebore with leek.

What it looks like: When poison hemlock first starts growing, its bright green leaves are low to the ground and fern-like.

It can grow up to 10 feet tall with a green stem that has red or purple splotches — the best tell-tale sign — with white flowers blooming in small clusters during the summertime.

Pro tip: Do not mow or burn the plant if you spot it. The seeds can re-sprout and the fumes can be hazardous.

Instead, dig it out in small patches while wearing gloves, a face mask and long sleeves.

The intrigue: It's about to be peak season for other poisonous plants, too, like milkweed — which Holstege says is common in Shenandoah National Park — and mountain laurel, which Holstege saw "tons of" while hiking Old Rag.

The bottom line: Keep your eyes peeled this summer when climbing mountains or mowing your lawn.

Go deeper: See UVA Health's guide for more details on identifying poisonous plants in Virginia.

Watch out for poison hemlock, the deadly plant blooming across Virginia

The poisonous plant is common statewide and is in peak season.

Poison hemlock can be harmful if ingested. Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Virginia

The plant that may have killed Socrates could also be growing in your backyard.Why it matters: Poison hemlock is one of the deadliest plants in North America but can look and smell like a carrot. So you should probably know how to spot it so you (or your dog) don&#x27;t eat it.

Health

If you're thinking about jumping on the #NoMowMay bandwagon this year, you may want to think again. 

The big picture: The campaign has spread widely on social media in recent years, urging people to stop cutting their grass for the month in an effort to boost habitat and food for bees and other pollinators.

Why it matters: Now some experts say the mowing hiatus doesn't actually help bees all that much and could ruin your lawn.

State of play: An academic study supporting the theory that a month off from mowing helps bees was retracted in 2022.

Cities are backing away from the trend, too. Des Moines dropped the program after one year and hundreds of tall grass complaints.

Zoom in: In Virginia, timing is the main issue NoMowMay, Virginia Tech turf specialist and associate professor of agriculture Mike Goatley tells the Virginia Cooperative Extension.

Dandelions and clover, which would be the primary pollen source for bees if you let your lawn go, actually peak in April in Virginia. 

And how often you ought to mow depends on what kind of grass you have. Some types found in Virginia, like Bermuda grass or zoysia grass, grow very quick and can be hard to cut through when your mowing reprieve ends. 

Plus, letting your lawn go for a month and then mowing it back down to the nub is a recipe for a patchy mess of turf because it would expose what has become the tender crown of the grass, according to turf experts at OSU. 

Instead of No Mow, grass pros now recommend a tempered version of the trend: Less Mow May (or April, or maybe March, depending on where you live). 

Studies that show limiting mowing — like every two weeks — throughout the growing season increases the number and types of bees drawn to suburban yards without the drawbacks of a monthlong mowing moratorium.

The bottom line: If you're looking to support pollinators on your property, there are better ways than skipping mowing. 

Karri's thought bubble: But if you're looking for a yardwork-free way to tackle your lawn, I recommend you do it old school: Get a dog. You'll never see a blade of grass again. 

Just say no to #NoMowMay in Virginia

Some experts say the mowing hiatus doesn't actually help bees all that much and could ruin your lawn.

Illustration of a lawnmower towering over a butterfly on a flower.

Environment

If you&#x27;re thinking about jumping on the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="#NoMowMay bandwagon" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/04/30/lawn-wars-mow-may-bees-pollinator-turf" data-vars-content-id="b3133b0a-b56a-4487-8e52-dfc626f27cba" data-vars-headline="Just say no to #NoMowMay in Virginia" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/04/30/lawn-wars-mow-may-bees-pollinator-turf" target="_self">#NoMowMay bandwagon</a> this year, you may want to think again. The big picture: The campaign has <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="spread widely" data-vars-click-url="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/28/travel/no-mow-may-wisconsin.html" data-vars-content-id="b3133b0a-b56a-4487-8e52-dfc626f27cba" data-vars-headline="Just say no to #NoMowMay in Virginia" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/28/travel/no-mow-may-wisconsin.html" target="_blank">spread widely</a> on social media in recent years, urging people to stop cutting their grass for the month in an effort to boost habitat and food for bees and other pollinators.

Ned Oliver

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