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Mountain Valley Pipeline says it’s ready to operate
Developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline on Monday said that the natural gas project is ready to go and asked federal regulators for authorization to begin operating by Tuesday. The request comes a decade after the project was first announced in 2014 with an anticipated completion date of 2018. It has been delayed for years by legal and permitting challenges and has seen its price tag more than double from $3.5 billion to $7.85 billion. The 42-inch-diameter pipeline is designed to transport up to 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily from West Virginia through six Virginia counties, ending at a Transco compressor station in Pittsylvania County.
Injured veterans call for state to preserve college funding
Jason Redman, a member of the U.S. Navy, was shot eight times during his deployment to Iraq in 2007. When he retired, the military gave him full disability benefits. Because of his injuries, his daughter attends Old Dominion University at no charge because of the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program, or VMSDEP. But he feels Virginia leaders no longer support him, because they planned to curtail the program after it ballooned in cost and size. ... At the first task force meeting on Monday, veterans and their families told their stories of service, injury and death and told how they lost trust in government leaders, because lawmakers made the change quickly in the state budget and without explanation.
Man resisted being booked into the Virginia Beach city jail; now he’s dead
Virginia State Police are investigating the case of a 34-year-old man who died less than six days after clashing with police officers and sheriff’s deputies as they booked him into the Virginia Beach city jail last week. Rolin Gilbert Hill was arrested by the Virginia Beach Police Tuesday on three misdemeanor charges — trespassing, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Officers took him to the jail about 7:15 p.m. After a magistrate denied him bond, he was booked into the jail at about 8:20 p.m. “Hill was uncooperative and combative during the arrest and booking process, requiring response to resistance and for him to be restrained for his safety and the safety of the arresting officers and jail deputies,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Settlement reached in lawsuit filed by tenant of former Del. Marie March
A disabled woman’s lawsuit that claimed that she was mistreated while living in a Christiansburg apartment owned at the time by a state lawmaker was dismissed Friday pursuant to a settlement. Debra Long alleged that she was harassed and discriminated against by Marie March, a former member of the House of Delegates, and her company, Big Bear Properties. A judge in U.S. District Court in Roanoke dismissed the lawsuit after the parties “resolved this matter upon mutually agreeable terms” during a confidential mediation session, according to court records. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.
Outgoing Virginia air pollution board member wants continued environmental justice focus
An outgoing member of the State Air Pollution Control Board — whose repeated attempts to raise awareness about environmental justice concerns helped halt the construction of a Mountain Valley Pipeline compressor station in Pittsylvania County — called for her successor, who will be appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, to maintain a keen focus on how energy projects can disproportionately impact communities in Virginia. Once an incoming board member begins in their new role, the air board will consist of a full slate of appointees selected by Youngkin, whose administration’s handling of environmental justice policy has been scrutinized by advocates and lawmakers.
Watson: With numbers rising, homeschooling in Virginia needs guardrails
Homeschooling in Virginia has grown over the years, but this year is a little different. Virginia homeschool participation hit nearly 60,000 students at the peak of the pandemic, dropping to around 51,000 last year. This decline was expected as families who switched to homeschooling during the pandemic returned to traditional schools as a post-pandemic new normal. However, homeschool participation is once again on the rise with the state reporting nearly 54,000 homeschooled students for the 2023-24 school year.
Virginia agencies investigating E. coli hospitalizations connected to Lake Anna visits
The Virginia Department of Health, along with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, is investigating at least 20 confirmed cases of gastrointestinal illnesses connected to visits to Lake Anna in Spotsylvania County over Memorial Day weekend. In a news release last week, the VDH said some of the hospitalized patients have been diagnosed with Escherichia coli, or E. coli, infections. They said a majority of the reports of the gastrointestinal illness have been seen in children.
Va. legislature sees no short-term fix for congestion on I-81
Western Virginia’s rolling terrain and high level of truck traffic make it a tough nut for Virginia’s traffic gurus to crack. The I-81 corridor improvement program, passed by legislators following a study in 2018, is on track to address some of the issues, but not before inflation and other hold ups add a billion and a half dollars and two years to the project’s timeline. One proposal to address the issue was a public private partnership that would implement tolls. But at a recent meeting of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, or JLARC, analyst Kate Hopkins said conditions along the highway make tolls unfeasible.
From VPAP Now Live: Pre-Primary Campaign Finance Disclosures
VPAP has posted pre-primary disclosures from candidates running in November for local offices. Our overview page is a convenient place to jump to what interests you — mayor, city council or school board. We rank each group of committees by most raised and cash on hand. If you are interested in a specific committee, you can drill down for a sortable list of donors and expenditures from April 1 through June 6.
‘Limited supply’ leads to increased demand for local administrators
Caroline County officials were alarmed when County Administrator Charles Culley unexpectedly submitted his letter of resignation last fall. Culley is a veteran administrator with 30 years of experience in county government. At the time, Caroline was exploring several major development projects, including data centers, and its board of supervisors did not believe anyone on the staff was capable of taking over the reins. Salary data obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request showed that Culley was earning $201,929 per year when he resigned. The board of supervisors were able to convince him to stay, and starting this past Jan. 1, Culley’s salary grew to $247,803 — a raise of nearly $46,000 per year in the middle of a budget cycle.