Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. Richmond police and firefighters unions launched a political attack against Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, digging up some serious dirt from her past. The unions hired an opposition researcher who uncovered a bankruptcy filing in which McLaughlin stated that she couldn’t pay back more than $100,000 in student loans because “serious psychiatric disabilities” kept her from holding down a full-time job. McLaughlin made the court filing before being elected to the Richmond City Council in 2004; she was elected mayor in 2006. McLaughlin admitted yesterday to suffering from depression and says she’s still paying back the student loans, the CoCo Times reports. The unions don’t like the liberal McLaughlin, because she opposed the hiring of more firefighters and upgrading the cops’ benefits packages. They also object to her opposition to the Chevron refinery expansion and the proposed Indian gaming casino at Point Molate.