Michael Lee Pope is an award-winning journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria. He has reported for NPR, the New York Daily News and Northern Virginia Magazine. He has a master's degree in American Studies from Florida State University, and he is a former adjunct professor at Tallahassee Community College. Pope is the author of four books.
Recent Stories
Financing the Rampage
Economic toll of gun violence is more than $14 billion a year for Virginia.
All those school security measures to harden your local elementary school add up. So do trips to the emergency room and the multiple surgeries needed to address gunshot wounds. While the human tragedy of gun violence often grabs headlines, the economic toll continues to mount with each mass shooting. According to Everytown for Gun Safety, the annual cost to Virginia is more than $14 billion a year.
Great Resignation Hits the Classroom
Pay penalty for teachers in Virginia is the worst in the country.
The Great Resignation is hitting classrooms across Virginia, worrying school administrators about what happens when fall arrives and schools are forced to deal with a teacher shortage.
Prosecutorial Discretion
Northern Virginia prosecutors say they won't enforce abortion restrictions.
Nine prosecutors across Virginia say they will not enforce any new restrictions on abortion, complicating Republican efforts to crack down on reproductive freedom in the wake of the Supreme Court decision
Body of Law
The history of abortion in Virginia has many twists and turns.
The United States Supreme Court's decision to dismantle the right to abortion has upended the discussion over reproductive freedom.
Candidates are Set for Fall Election
Don Beyer secures nomination as Republicans select candidates for fall election season.
Voters in Northern Virginia overwhelmingly supported four-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8)...
Ban Battle Botched
Inside the failed effort to ban assault weapons in Virginia.
Banning assault weapons was a major priority for gun-violence prevention advocates in early 2020...
Fauci Flip Flop
Republican candidate tries to walk back 'Fauci should be jailed' comment.
Republican congressional candidate Karina Lipsman is trying to walk back her comment that President Biden's chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci "should be jailed," a position she took during a time when she was battling four competitors to get the nomination to run in the Eighth Congressional District. Now that she has secured the nomination in a GOP convention, she is flip flopping on Fauci.
'Fauci Should Be Jailed'
Republican candidate for Congress in the 8th calls for incarceration of medical advisor.
The Republican candidate for Congress in the 8th Congressional District is calling for President Biden's chief medical advisor to be "jailed," a comment she made during a candidates forum hosted by the Alexandria Republican City Committee earlier this month.
Taking on Beyer
Five Republican candidates seek nomination in convention to challenge incumbent congressman.
Usually Republicans have to recruit candidates to run against four-term U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8). Not this year. Five Republicans are seeking the Republican nomination for the 8th Congressional District in a convention later this month.
Deep Blue Primary
Incumbent congressman to face first-time candidate.
The Eighth Congressional District is the bluest of the blue strongholds, giving President Biden 78 percent of the vote in 2020...