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A guide to the Republican primary in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District
Republicans in Northern Virginia may have had a sleepy few months during primary election season, but that’s about to change: There’s a set of special primaries this week to replace the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D). Connolly’s death in May after his esophageal cancer returned has opened up a deep-blue seat representing much of Fairfax County — and unleashed a high-velocity set of primaries on both sides of the aisle ... The GOP nominee will face a steep uphill climb to flip Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, which elected Kamala Harris for president last fall by more than 34 points. But that hasn’t gotten in the way of a crowded race with longtime party activists and some newer faces seeking to jump in.
Deeds, Youngkin react to BOV appointees lawsuit
State Senator Creigh Deeds and Gov. Glenn Youngkin offered their opinions on the lawsuit filed regarding the latter's Board of Visitors appointees. The suit, filed by the Democratic members of the Virginia Senate Privileges and Elections Committee, challenges eight appointments to the boards at UVA, GMU and VMI, including former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to UVA.
Kroger to close at least two Virginia stores
At least two Virginia Kroger stores will be among the 60 locations the Cincinnati, Ohio-based company plans to shutter over the next 18 months to improve efficiency and profitability. Kroger announced the plan during a corporate earnings call Friday. The company hasn’t said which stores it plans to close ... On June 20, Kroger filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) ... The filing said 81 employees will lose their jobs by Aug. 22 due to the store at 1904 Emmet St. N in Charlottesville ... A news release distributed Friday by United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 ... noted that in addition to the Charlottesville store, another Virginia Kroger, a location at 466 S. Cummings St. in Abingdon, will close Sept. 19.
‘Hallowed ground, desecrated’: ICE sweeps at Chesterfield court draw fierce backlash
Jessica Schneider, a member of Chesterfield County’s Board of Supervisors, was about to address a growing crowd of people protesting area immigration raids outside the Chesterfield County Courthouse Wednesday morning when her phone buzzed with news that visibly shook her. Another immigrant, Salvador Calderon-Cuella — whose immigration status remains unclear at this time — had just been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and quietly whisked away through the courthouse’s back entrance. Calderon-Cuellar had pleaded guilty in April to two misdemeanor traffic offenses — driving without a license and failing to yield when entering a highway. The fines totaled $130, according to Chesterfield General District Court records. On Wednesday, he arrived at the court to make the payment.
‘Forever chemicals’ mar pristine reputation of Virginia’s Chickahominy River
The Chickahominy River in Virginia is known for its physical beauty, with bald cypress trees and lily pads decorating the water that meanders through largely undeveloped acres of forests and wetlands. But the river’s appearance tells only part of the story. In May, the Virginia Department of Health issued its first fish consumption advisory for the presence of harmful chemicals in the Chickahominy River, which is a James River tributary, and the White Oak Swamp where its waters originate. The advisory notifies the public of the risk of exposure to PFOS, a so-called “forever chemical,” by eating too many (or, in some cases, any) of some fish species from the waterway.
Chesterfield supervisors approve incentive agreements for data center projects
While some mystery remains over who exactly is behind them, two sizable data center developments planned for western Chesterfield are now eligible for an extra financial boost from the county. The Board of Supervisors this week unanimously approved tax incentive agreements for the EDA-initiated projects at sites near Moseley and Westchester Commons. The agreements lock in the county’s personal property tax rate for the code-named data center projects at the current 24 cents per $100 of assessed value for a 30-year period.
Luray will stop adding fluoride to drinking water
On Thursday, the Town of Luray issued a notice to all residents and municipal water customers that the long-held practice of adding fluoride to the Town’s drinking water will cease in September. “Based on significant discussions and updates by Town staff, the Town Council [has] elected to discontinue the addition of fluoride to its drinking water,” the Town’s June 26 notice states. ... While the benefits of adding fluoride to public drinking water to aid in dental health has been debated since the practice began in the United States in 1945, the Town of Luray started the practice about a quarter century ago. The key benefit was aimed at preventing tooth decay.
Yancey: We almost ran out of power this week. Congress is trying to make it harder to get new power onto the grid.
We got through the week without any blackouts. That shouldn’t be news, but it is. Three times this week PJM Interconnection, which runs the 13-state (plus District of Columbia) electric grid that Virginia is part of, issued a “Maximum Generation Alert,” in which it instructed utilities to crank out as much power as possible. That was the fourth such alert this year, twice as many as last year. The prompt this week was a brutal heat wave, but those triple-digit temperatures came on top of electric demand that was rising anyway, due primarily to the growth of energy-guzzling data centers.
From VPAP New Episode of Policy Matters: Your Window Into Virginia Politics with VPAP on VPM
Join VPAP’s Chris Piper and VPM’s Ben Dolle as they recap Virginia’s June primaries and VPAP's campaign finance resources that helped voters prepare. They dig into a trove of features on vpap.org: primary night results and interactive maps that break down votes by contest and district, plus helpful post-primary tools that let users explore results down to their ballot. You’ll also hear about new data on legislator stock holdings, paid conferences, and the top VaNews headlines covering government and politics across the commonwealth.
Housing Department to Move Headquarters to Virginia, Booting National Science Foundation
The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced on Wednesday that it was moving its headquarters out of Washington and into a building in Alexandria, Va., already occupied by the National Science Foundation, with no clear plan in place for the foundation’s employees. It is the first major shift of a federal agency’s operations out of the capital under President Trump’s plans to relocate parts of the government. But the science foundation will need to move out before the housing agency moves in. Union representatives for the foundation’s employees said that more than 1,833 people with the agency work in the building, and that they did not know where those employees would go.