By NEAL AUGENSTEIN,
WTOP
A Loudoun County, Virginia, judge set a new trial date for fired school superintendent Scott Ziegler and made no reference to Ziegler’s attorneys claim that the judge erred in ordering a new trial after setting aside a previous misdemeanor conviction.
Thursday morning, Circuit Court Judge Douglas Fleming set Feb. 3, 2025, as the first of a possible five-day jury trial, six weeks after throwing out Ziegler’s conviction for the retaliatory firing of a teacher who reported that an elementary school student inappropriately touched her.
By EVAN GOODENOW,
Loudoun Times
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Former Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Ziegler is scheduled to stand trial from Feb. 3 to Feb. 7, 2025. It will be his second trial on the same misdemeanor charge after a judge last month set aside the September 2023 guilty verdict on one count of illegally retaliating against a special education teacher in 2022. The same jury acquitted Ziegler on a separate misdemeanor retaliation charge.
By PETER CARY,
Piedmont Journalism Foundation
It seemed like a great deal when residents of rural northwest Prince William County decided in 2021 to sell their properties for a new data center alley known as the “Prince William Digital Gateway.”
With contracts to sell for up to $900,000 an acre, they expected to split their real estate tax bills with their data center buyers upon sale and walk away with big profits.
Now, however, that sweet dream has turned into a nightmare — at least, a tax nightmare. The supervisors rezoned the land for data centers, but two lawsuits have blocked the land sales, leaving landowners in limbo. Meanwhile, the land is now considered much more valuable and, therefore, their taxes due have spiked dramatically.
By ERIC KOLENICH,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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The demolition of Richmond’s Public Safety Building, a valuable piece of city-owned downtown real estate, is scheduled to begin in one to two weeks, according to a spokesperson for Virginia Commonwealth University Health.
The removal of the building, long considered an eyesore, is the first step toward its redevelopment. VCU Health agreed to pay for demolition as part of its failed redevelopment plan. It hired Henrico County-based DPR Construction for $5 million, according to city records.
By EM HOLTER,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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The Richmond Coliseum, the defunct regional arena, could soon be torn down pending a vote by the Richmond City Council.
The request comes from the city administration that petitioned an additional $3.5 million be tacked on to Mayor Levar Stoney’s proposed $3 billion FY2025 budget to cover the $3 million cost of demolition as well as $500,000 to meet security needs.
By TYLER LAYNE,
WTVR-TV
The future of Monument Avenue in Richmond remains unclear four years after multiple Confederate statues were removed and Mayor Levar Stoney said he would embark on a planning process to develop a long-term vision for the historic district.
The Robert E. Lee statue, was once the largest Confederate statue in the United States, was removed from Monument Avenue in 2021. Mayor Stoney ordered the emergency removal of the street’s other Confederate monuments amid protests against racial injustice in 2020.
By ASHLYN CAMPBELL,
Daily News Record
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A little more than $1 million in federal funding that Congress approved this March will go toward creating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math hubs across Virginia — but the effort that got the Commonwealth there came from an educator in the Shenandoah Valley’s backyard. Amy Sabarre, the Harrisonburg City Public Schools STEM director and the president of the Virginia STEM Education Advisory Board, helped secure that $1,028,000 for STEM education, an accomplishment that took the teacher 10 years of persistence.
By ALYSSA HUTTON,
Cardinal News
More than 100 people gathered Thursday morning to witness the unveiling of a state historical marker for Lucyville, a community founded in the late 19th century by a freed slave.
The Rev. Reuben T. Coleman was born into slavery, then freed in 1860. Lucyville is named after his daughter. Coleman owned a bank in the community, which in the 1890s also had a post office, a mineral springs resort and a newspaper.
