Virginians' views on abortion can vary dramatically depending on how they're asked about it, new polling by Christopher Newport University's Wason Center indicates.

What they found: General questions about abortion rights yielded familiar results, finding broad support for access to the procedure.

• 67% of respondents said they think abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
• 58% said they oppose or strongly oppose the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

👀 Yes, but: A narrow majority of respondents (51%) also said they'd support a ban on abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy with exceptions for pregnancies arising from rape or incest.

Details: The poll, conducted between Sept. 18 and Oct. 7, surveyed 740 registered voters and has a margin of error of +/- 4.5%.

Why it matters: It's the first time a public poll has asked voters directly about Gov. Glenn Youngkin's push for a 15-week abortion ban, which he announced immediately after the Supreme Court overturned Roe.

• Democrats, who hold a one-seat majority in the state Senate, have vowed to block any measures.

Context: Abortion is currently legal in Virginia with no restrictions through the 25th week of pregnancy.

Between the lines: How can the same survey show voters hold two seemingly contradictory views?

• Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo, the Wason Center's research director, tells Axios she reads the results in the context of broader fears about complete bans on abortion. Juxtaposed to those extreme stances, she says a 15-week ban could "seem like the moderate take of the moment."

What we're watching: Bromley-Trujillo says views can change as the policy is debated.

• "It's clearly a nuanced and complicated issue," she says.

The owners of Short Pump Town Center have an application pending for an open container permit to allow shoppers to cruise the mall with an alcoholic drink in hand.

• If approved, which is likely to happen and be in effect by spring, it would be the first commercial center in Richmond to allow it and the closest thing to an open container district anywhere in the area.

Why it matters: Legislation loosening Virginia's once stringent liquor laws (restaurants couldn't serve "liquor by the drink" until 1968) have passed the General Assembly in recent years, but official open container districts have remained elusive in the state.

• In 2021, a bill to allow localities to create up to three open container or entertainment districts didn't make it out of committee.

Catch up quick: Legislation went into effect in 2017 allowing commercial lifestyle center ABC licenses, like the one Short Pump is seeking, in which shoppers can buy a drink from a restaurant and wander through the mall drink in hand (in a plastic, branded cup).

• A similar law allowing event organizers to set up open container districts in designated areas up to a dozen times a year for events like First Fridays or the 17th Street Farmers Market went into effect in 2019.

Keep reading

😮 Richmond Folk Festival organizers say 230,000 people went to the festival last weekend, the biggest attendance ever. The Bucket Brigade brought in $125,000. (Times-Dispatch)

🎭 Virginia Repertory Theatre bought the Scottish Rite Temple building on Northside for $3.5 million and plans to host its Children's Theatre there by the end of the year, plus special events. (BizSense)

🚨 Three students and one teacher at Dinwiddie High School were hospitalized after a classroom chemistry demonstration exploded in flames. (WTVR)

• “I saw my friends start burning,” one student said.

⚖️ Two Virginia men who drove a hummer loaded with guns to a vote counting center in Philadelphia were found not guilty of interfering with the 2020 election but convicted on weapons charges. (AP)

It's time for Richmond's favorite oyster festival, OystoberFest, where oysters are celebrated and served up three ways (raw, fried or steamed) to benefit St. Thomas' Episcopal Church.

• Brats, wine and beer are also available for sale.

Why it's the pick: Oysters — as many as you like, however you like — are $9 (in tickets) for a half-dozen and $17 for a dozen.

• There will also be live music all day, plus a kids' zone with bounce houses and face painting ($6 for an adult pass to the kids' zone).
• All the shells are donated to VCU's Oyster Shell Recycling Program.

Insider tip: Cyclists get $2 in free tickets for not driving to the festival.

Details: Saturday from noon to 6pm at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in Ginter Park.

• Admission is free.

Bonus pick: 🎃 Scott's Addition Pumpkin Festival is also back on Saturday from noon to 6pm. The free festival on Arthur Ashe Boulevard includes live music, beer trucks and a costume contest.

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A tip from a friend led us to a literal pile of Hard Mountain Dew at the Forest Hill Publix.

What's happening: We have regrets.

We were both eager to try the limited-release alcoholic version of the soft drink when we heard it was coming to Richmond, but neither of us was willing to drive to the Food Lion in Chester, which Mountain Dew's website listed as the only local retailer.

• So, naturally, we were excited when a friend spotted it closer to home (and it is now widely available in the city, per the Dew finder).

Ned's thought bubble: I wanted to like it. I hated it. It's made with artificial sweetener, and that’s all I taste — like, super sweet in a weird, gross way.

Karri's thought bubble: I like to joke that I'd drink rubbing alcohol if it was the only booze available. I can now say with confidence that I found something worse — Hard Dew.

The bottom line: Do not buy this product.