Youngkin launches fight over school mask rules and more Va. headlines

• School systems in Northern Virginia and elsewhere said they’re keeping their mask mandates, despite Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order that seems to make masks optional.—WTOP, Washington Post

• Identifying herself as an Arlington County parent, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki publicly pushed back on Youngkin’s mask order.—The Hill

• Youngkin said he will “consider all options” to help parents who opt their children out of local mask rules.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• About a third of Youngkin’s cabinet worked in the Trump administration.—Business Insider

• More than 150 former EPA workers signed a letter urging the Virginia Senate to reject Youngkin’s nomination of former EPA head Andrew Wheeler to the state’s top environmental job.—Associated Press

• Former Portsmouth police chief Angela Greene is fighting the city’s decision to pay Sen. Louise Lucas $300,000 instead of contesting the defamation suit Lucas filed against Greene.—Virginian-Pilot

• A former state investigator who looked into problems at the Virginia Parole Board filed a federal lawsuit claiming she was wrongfully fired while seeking whistleblower protections.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• As one of his final acts, former Gov. Ralph Northam pardoned Sen. Joe Morrissey for a misdemeanor conviction arising from his relationship with a 17-year-old who is now his wife.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Loudoun County school officials say they’re pulling a “sexually explicit” book on gender from school libraries.—Washington Post

• “A national organization that supports the rights of conservatives to speak out on college campuses is continuing its legal battle against what it calls the ‘speech police’ at Virginia Tech.”—Roanoke Times

• A Richmond man is the proud owner of the world’s largest collection of Spice Girls dolls.—Richmond Times-Dispatch