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By MEGHAN MCINTYRE,
Virginia Mercury
Both residents and Virginia Department of Forestry officials agree: Callery pear trees, including the much-loathed Bradford pear variety, aren’t just offensive to the nose — they’re detrimental to the state’s environment.
A new state program is what led approximately 300 residents to the department’s headquarters in Charlottesville this past weekend, each having chopped down at least one pungent, invasive Callery pear in exchange for a native tree species.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By LAURENCE HAMMACK,
Roanoke Times
(Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The Mountain Valley Pipeline is largely completed, the company said Monday in requesting federal approval for it to be placed in service. Although some work remains, the company asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue an order by May 23 that would allow it to begin operations. “Mountain Valley has completed all waterbody and wetland crossings project-wide,” Matthew Eggerding, deputy general counsel for the joint venture building the natural gas pipeline, wrote in a letter filed late Monday to the FERC docket.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By MICHAEL MARTZ,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney is getting out of the race for governor and jumping into the Democratic nominating contest for lieutenant governor. Stoney, 42, in the final year of his second term as mayor, will formally bow out of the race on Tuesday morning at the same time as his announcement that he will run for lieutenant governor. That is the path then-state Sen. Doug Wilder took almost 40 years ago before becoming the nation’s first elected Black governor four years later.
VaNews April 23, 2024
ArlNow
Arlington’s Congressman split his votes on security funding bills for U.S. allies over the weekend.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) voted for bills to aid the defense of Ukraine, which is under Russian invasion, and Taiwan, which is under the threat of Chinese military action. He voted against defense aid for Israel, which is battling Hamas in a bloody conflict that has killed scores of civilians on both sides.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By JILL PALERMO,
Prince William Times
In the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created a Civilian Conservation Corps, and about 2,000 of its members worked from 1935 to 1942 to build what is now Prince William Forest Park.
On Monday, President Joe Biden made an Earth Day stop at that park, one of Prince William County’s two national parks, to announce what he called “two major steps forward” in his proposals for fighting climate change — including that the new “American Climate Corps” is now open for applications for the first time.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By SARAH RANKIN,
Associated Press
The former longtime medical director of a Virginia hospital that serves vulnerable children used physical examinations as a “ruse” to sexually abuse two teenage patients, a prosecutor said Monday, while the physician’s attorney “adamantly” denied any inappropriate conduct.
The trial of Daniel N. Davidow of Richmond, who for decades served as the medical director of the Cumberland Hospital for Children and Adolescents, opened Monday morning in New Kent County, where a judge will weigh the charges against him.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By LAURA VOZZELLA,
Washington Post
(Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney is telling fellow Democrats that he intends to drop out of next year’s race for Virginia governor and is weighing a run for lieutenant governor instead, according to four people familiar with his plans.
Stoney, who has faced a tough contest against Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) for their party’s gubernatorial nomination, has been calling donors, supporters and others in recent days to say that he will bow out of that race, according to the four people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private conversations.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By DAVE RESS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Some Virginia state employees will pay more for health insurance beginning July 1, following the state’s latest review and projection of claims.
Overall, the state Department of Human Resource Management proposed a 6.3% increase in total premiums for the next fiscal year.
But full-time employee contributions — the sums taken out of paychecks — will rise by less than that. For some plans, there will be no increase at all.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By STAFF REPORT,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The CoStar Group, which announced in February plans to move its headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Rosslyn, announced that it will acquire California 3D technology company Matterport for $1.6 billion. Matterport offers 3-D capture technology which delivers “dimensionally accurate, photorealistic virtual tours” for any type of property and is widely used in real estate. ... CoStar said last year it expected to hire 2,000 more people in Richmond, putting its workforce here at about 3,500.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By MICHAEL MARTZ,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
President Joe Biden on Monday celebrated the 54th anniversary of Earth Day with a return trip to Prince William County, announcing a $7 billion investment to help low- and middle-income families buy solar panels for their homes. The investment includes more than $156 million in grants for Virginia. A trio of progressive Democratic leaders — Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. — joined Biden in a ringing commitment for the U.S. to lead the fight against climate change.
VaNews April 23, 2024
