Today's Sponsor:
E. Henry Doggett III
In honor and memory of our mothers throughout the Commonwealth from Chincoteague to Cumberland Gap and Cross Junction to Clarksville. Happy Mother's Day!
General Assembly budget leaders, Youngkin reach compromise
General Assembly budget leaders and Gov. Glenn Youngkin have reached a compromise on the next two-year state budget that would use an additional $525 million in state revenues to pay for Democratic spending priorities — including raises of 3% each year for state employees and teachers — without raising taxes and crossing the Republican governor’s red line for a potential veto. House Appropriations Chairman Luke Torian, D-Prince William, confirmed on Thursday afternoon that assembly budget negotiators had reached a deal with Youngkin that they hope to approve on Monday in a special session that would last one day instead of three.
Senate passes five-year FAA bill that would expand Reagan National flights
The Senate on Thursday passed a five-year, $105 billion bill that will reauthorize the FAA, after a bruising fight over whether to expand long-haul flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport … The measure, H.R. 3935, was passed 88-4. In the end, over the strenuous objections of the Maryland and Virginia delegations, the bill retains language that would expand those flights by five round trips per day.
Shenandoah County School Board votes to restore Confederate names to two schools
School board members in Virginia’s Shenandoah County voted early Friday to restore the names of two schools that previously honored Confederate leaders – four years after those names had been removed. The 5-1 vote came after hours of public comment during a meeting that began Thursday evening from people speaking on both sides of the issue. Vice Chairman Kyle L. Gutshall was the sole opposing vote. “I ask that when you cast your vote, you remember that Stonewall Jackson and others fighting on the side of the Confederacy in this area were intent on protecting the land, the buildings and the lives of those under attack,” said a woman urging the board to restore the Confederate names. “Preservation is the focus of those wishing to restore the names.”
Inside the Port of Virginia’s $450 million plan to lead in era of super-sized ocean containerships
The Port of Virginia is on track to become the functionally widest and deepest port on the U.S. East Coast by early 2025, as massive ocean containerships upend the economics of port terminals. Norfolk Harbor will be the only waterway channel on the East Coast with Congressional authorization for 55-foot depth from end to end and side to side. While there are channels on the East Coast that are wider than the Port of Virginia, they are not uniformly deep from end to end and side to side, regardless of tide. A $450 million dredging project at the Port of Virginia, which began in 2019, completed its widening measures in March, allowing two ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs) to pass each other at the same time.
Veterans rally the troops, state leaders in support of education benefits
When this year’s high school seniors started applying for scholarships, Stuart McFaden told his son, Riley, he didn’t have to worry about finances. “I paid your bill with my body, my sacrifice, my mind,” said McFaden, a Spotsylvania County veteran who served 20 years in the Marine Corps. “I told him to save those scholarships for other kids who could use the leg up.” ... McFaden and other veterans statewide recently discovered language in the state budget bill that would lessen VMSDEP’s benefits. Instead of covering the full costs, the program would become a last payer, used only after students have exhausted other local, state and federal funding.
Friday Read A beloved alley cat now lives in the Watergate. Was she kidnapped or rescued?
The cat worked the not-so-mean streets of Foggy Bottom, earning her keep by playing bad cop with the rats. She kept a quiet, almost monkish life, at first. She dozed on sunlit stoops, her black fur shimmering like polished obsidian. She scaled fences that allowed her a prison guard’s view of Snows Court, a historic alley with brick sidewalks and narrow rowhouses. She slept in a boxy shelter on a neighbor’s lawn. She arrived in Snows Court in the summer of 2021, courtesy of the Blue Collar Cat program run by D.C.’s Humane Rescue Alliance. She was named Kitty Snows, after her new home, where she belonged to everyone and no one.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Virginia budget negotiators, Youngkin strike deal on spending plan
General Assembly negotiators and Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) have reached a deal on the state budget, agreeing to use several hundred million dollars in excess state revenue to pay for spending priorities favored by the General Assembly without resorting to the tax expansion opposed by the governor. “We have a budget!” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Luke E. Torian (D-Prince William) said Thursday afternoon after meetings between lawmakers and Youngkin. The full document will be made public Saturday morning and still has to be approved by the legislature in a special session next week.
Budget deal reached by Virginia governor and negotiators, chairman says
After an earlier breakdown in state budget negotiations, General Assembly budget negotiators and Gov. Glenn Youngkin reached a consensus on a two-year spending plan for Virginia that does not raise taxes. House Appropriations Committee Chair Luke Torian confirmed the budget conferees reached a deal Thursday, though he said the full details of the plan would not go public until this weekend. “It will not be released until Saturday; there are a lot of administrative things that need to be done,” Torian, D-Dumfries, said Thursday. “We just reached an agreement this afternoon.”
Youngkin and budget negotiators reach deal on state’s biennial spending plan
Just four days before lawmakers are set to return to Richmond for a special session to consider a new state budget, the General Assembly’s budget negotiators and Gov. Glenn Youngkin struck a deal Thursday afternoon for a two-year spending plan that, if approved by the legislature next week, would avert a government shutdown by July 1. Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt County and a budget conferee who was part of the negotiations, called the agreement a win for both sides.
Hundreds of stores to stop Virginia Lottery sales until path forward for skill games added to budget
Virginia residents with plans on playing a lottery ticket anytime soon may have just run out of luck — at least for the foreseeable future. Hundreds of stores across the state stopped selling lottery tickets at 5 p.m. on Thursday May 9, and it’s unclear when they will start sales back up again. Convenience store owners like Munir Rassiwala are hoping that their halt of lottery ticket sales will prompt law makers to lift the restrictions against skill games, allowing the money-making machines to start operating again.
FEDERAL ELECTIONS
Candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia responds to super PAC allegations about funds
After months of dodging questions, embattled Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Hung Cao addressed allegations that he misrepresented how money raised by the Unleash America super PAC would be spent. Instead of explaining why the money raised by the super PAC did not go to Virginia Republican candidates for state office in 2023, Cao called the report that prompted the allegations a “hit job” by “the left," on Tuesday's episode of The John Fredericks show, a live conservative radio and TV show.
STATE GOVERNMENT
Portsmouth casino exceeds projections in first year
Fourteen months after opening, the Rivers Casino Portsmouth has generated more than $86 million in state and local tax revenues and about $340 million in total revenues, a new report shows. Virginia’s first permanent casino reported $329 million in adjusted gaming revenues and $11.2 million in food and beverage revenues during the period from its opening in late January 2023 through March 31, 2024, according to a report filed with the Virginia Lottery Board.
CONGRESS
Congresswoman Speaks Candidly About Her Incurable Brain Disease: ‘I’m Too Young for This’
Jennifer Wexton was gearing up for her third term as a United States congresswoman in late 2022 when she received the difficult news that, even if she felt she had a lot left to give to the people of Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, her body didn’t. “Cognitively, I’m the person I’ve always been,” Wexton, 55, tells PEOPLE, her voice muffled and speech somersaulting. “But there are things that it takes me a lot longer to do.” Less than two years ago, the rising Democrat from Leesburg, Va., had a clear vision for her future. She entered Congress in 2018 with a few key bipartisan goals — including fighting childhood cancer in honor of a young girl in Wexton’s community who died of an inoperable brain tumor.
ECONOMY/BUSINESS
Port of Virginia on track to have deepest channels on East Coast
Even while unexpectedly supporting the Port of Baltimore over the past three months, the Port of Virginia is on its way to having the deepest channels on the East Coast by next year, a distinction that will help it further support the exchange of domestic and international goods. According to Port of Virginia CEO and Executive Director Stephen Edwards, such investments have helped the company maintain a competitive edge in the market, which has handled the most cargo over the past four years compared to ports in South Carolina, Georgia and New York.
Dominion Energy delays construction for offshore wind farm, says lawsuit won’t affect timeline
Dominion Energy delayed installation of the first batch of offshore wind turbine bases for its Virginia Beach wind farm, but a spokesperson said an ongoing lawsuit will have no impact on the construction timeline. Installation of the wind turbine monopiles, expected to begin this week, could get underway as soon as next week, said Dominion spokesperson Jeremy Slayton. He said a slight delay in the arrival of an installation support vessel pushed back the start date. However, Slayton said the Orion, the large ship which will transport and install the monopiles, is ready to go after a bit of required maintenance.
A Week After Mountain Valley Pipeline Burst, Builder Says Testing Works
A week after a section of the Mountain Valley Pipeline ruptured during testing, its builder says the failure shows the testing is working as designed and intended. Part of the pipe burst on May 1 at Bent Mountain in Roanoke County, Virginia, releasing an unknown quantity of municipal water used to pressure test the line. Initially, the only way the public knew about the incident was because a landowner reported the sediment-laden water had inundated her property to the state’s Department of Environmental Quality.
The Buc-ee’s stops here? Stafford residents put off by potential gas giant
The mascot for Buc-ee’s may be the beaver, but many Stafford residents aren’t eager for the business to come to the county. Buc-ee’s, a Texas-based chain of large gas station/convenience stores, is seeking a permit to build what would be its third Virginia location near the intersection of Interstate 95 and Courthouse Road in Stafford. The initial public hearing on the proposal likely won’t be held until late fall or early winter at the earliest, but some Stafford residents who live near the proposed site have already begun voicing their opposition to it with county officials.
Denver firm spends $32.7 million on Hanover tract for data center park
A Denver-based developer has purchased a 1,211-acre stretch of rural land east of Ashland for $32.7 million for a planned data center park. The development firm Tract bought the properties after winning the approval of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors for the project in March. ... The company plans a development of as many as 46 buildings and 862 employees.
New regional group wants to push Hampton Roads forward without drag of bureaucracy
Bryan Stephens wants Hampton Roads to be the envy of its peers. But where other mid-sized Southern metros have succeeded, growing and drawing business, Hampton Roads often struggles. Stephens, who’s led the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce for the last decade, has seen the underpinnings that make the economies of those other regions hum. Hampton Roads leaders are now trying something new to push the region forward based on models that have worked elsewhere — a semi-formal group to turn conversations into action, without the bureaucracy, called the Regional Organizations Presidents’ Council.
Forced to Change: What’s Affecting Va. Seafood, Fishing?
Captain Matt Mason looked across Curtis Merritt Harbor and reflected: “Fishing is something I’ve done my whole life.” Mason, a charter fishing guide, has worked the sea for more than four decades, much of that guiding trips for summer flounder operating his business, Marshland Charters. Summer flounder is a species of fish native to the mid-Atlantic. Historically, their biomass was centered off the Virginia and North Carolina coasts. A study done by Virginia Tech researchers has found that biomass is shifting north because of warming ocean temperatures.
TRANSPORTATION
Senate passes air safety bill with more flights at Reagan National Airport
The Senate has passed a $105 billion bill designed to improve safety and customer service for air travelers, a day before the law governing the Federal Aviation Administration expires. The bipartisan bill, which comes after a series of close calls between planes at the nation’s airports, aims to boost the number of air traffic controllers amid a shortage, improve safety standards and make it easier for customers to get refunds after flights are delayed or canceled, among other measures.
Metro’s new bus system proposal could eliminate more than 600 stops, rename routes
On Tuesday, the Metro’s board of directors approved a resolution to hold a series of public meetings next month so riders can weigh in on a major proposed overhaul of Metro’s bus routes. For well over a year, Metro leaders have been working on a plan to make major changes to the bus system. This week, Metro has finally put out concrete plans for the changes they are proposing.
HIGHER EDUCATION
VCU Health planning massive redevelopment of campus
The Virginia Commonwealth University Health system is planning a significant reimagining of its campus in downtown Richmond, a preliminary plan that could take more than 15 years to implement and seemingly cost north of $1 billion. The vision includes a new dental school, an expansion to the inpatient hospital, more space for research, and removal of the 83-year-old West Hospital. With few formal plans made, the vision is considered a “roadmap,” and it’s possible not all projects will come to life, said Meredith Weiss, VCU’s vice president for administration and interim chief financial officer. She presented the plan to VCU’s board of visitors on Thursday.
Students confront UVa President Jim Ryan, demand answers after police crackdown on protesters
The meeting did not go as planned. When University of Virginia President Jim Ryan walked down the Lawn Thursday afternoon, he was expecting to sit down in Pavilion VI with a handful of students who want the school to sever financial ties with weapons manufacturers and other companies “complicit in Israeli human rights violations.” ... When Ryan entered Pavilion VI, accompanied by Chief Student Affairs Officer Kenyon Bonner and Dean of Students Cedric Rucker, he expected the meeting he and UVa Apartheid Divest had agreed to on April 11. What he encountered was five students who had but nine words for him.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators say Israeli drones use Virginia Tech hardware; evidence doesn’t support claim
A specific accusation arose during the student-led demonstrations on the Virginia Tech campus late last month. Protesters accused the university, through its drone program, of complicity in Israel’s war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. “Virginia Tech is the drone capital of the world,” one student said in a video posted to X, the site formerly called Twitter. “Every single drone that is in Gaza, targeting civilians right now and killing them, has Virginia Tech engineering ware in it.”
VIRGINIA OTHER
Virginia judge to decide whether state law considers embryos as property
A trial is underway in Virginia that will determine whether state law allows frozen embryos to be considered property that can be divided up and assigned a monetary value. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Dontae Bugg heard arguments Thursday from a divorced couple who disagree over the ex-wife’s desire to use two embryos that they created when they were married. Honeyhline Heidemann says the embryos are her last chance to conceive a biological child after a cancer treatment left her infertile. Jason Heidemann, says he does not want to be forced to become a biological father to another child.
LOCAL
The Concern Over Arlington’s Empty Office Buildings
What do empty office buildings and over-leveraged commercial developers have to do with Arlington’s parks, libraries and schools? A lot, actually. There’s a storm brewing in the business landscape that has yet to unleash its full fury. In the worst case, fierce economic winds and rain could lash taxpayers and the county services they hold dear, from recreational programs and transit routes to emergency responders. The problem comes down to funding. Arlington has historically derived more of its tax base from the commercial sector than the average suburban municipality does, notes Terry Clower, director of regional analysis at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. Doing so has allowed the county to offer high-level services and an enviable quality of life ...
Virginia Beach marsh terrace project in Back Bay will be the first on East Coast
The marshes of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge provide crucial habitat for local wildlife and help slow down waves that contribute to chronic flooding issues. But over the years, rising waters have started to swamp the marsh. Water pushing in from North Carolina overtakes the wetlands, and sea level rise makes it worse. “It’s just eroding away the existing marshes,” said Kristina Searles, a stormwater engineer with the city of Virginia Beach. … Over the past century, more than 2,000 acres of marsh has been lost to open water at Back Bay, according to Virginia Beach, as well as about 70% of underwater plants. Searles is now managing a massive new city effort to restore about 47 acres of habitat above and below water.
Shenandoah County School Board votes to restore Confederate names of schools
For the first time in United States history, a school district that changed the name of schools that honored Confederate generals, voted to restore the Confederate names years later. The Shenandoah County School Board held a public hearing on May 9 at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School to discuss restoring the names of Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School to Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School. At the hearing, residents voiced their opinions on the school’s current names and whether they agreed with the restoration or were against it.
Shenandoah County School Board votes to restore Confederate names to 2 schools
In front of a lively crowd and after a long meeting, the Shenandoah County School Board voted 5-1 early Friday morning to restore the names of two schools on the southern end of the county that had been named after Confederate generals. Voting “yes” to change Mountain View High School back to Stonewall Jackson High School and to change Honey Run Elementary School back to Ashby Lee Elementary School were Chairman Dennis Barlow, Brandi Rutz, Gloria Carlineo, Thomas Streett and Michael Rickard. Vice Chairman Kyle Gutshall was the lone "no" vote.
Workers extending Chesterfield County road encounter unmarked burial site
Workers extending Nash Road in the county’s court house area have unearthed what appears to be a potential centuries-old burial ground, officials said Thursday. At least one gravesite has been confirmed, and the county said the spot where it was found has been cordoned off to allow for further exploration. Experts used ground-penetrating radar to scan the area, “and have found underground anomalies that could be additional gravesites,” according to a county statement.
Today's Sponsor:
E. Henry Doggett III
In honor and memory of our mothers throughout the Commonwealth from Chincoteague to Cumberland Gap and Cross Junction to Clarksville. Happy Mother's Day!
EDITORIALS
Commonwealth’s NIL rule for college sports should be national model
Nearly four years since the NCAA appropriately decided that student-athletes should be free to receive compensation for their names, images and likenesses (NIL), the landscape of college athletics has been profoundly transformed by the absence of clear, firm rules about those opportunities. Virginia recently has moved to bring order to the chaos with a law that should protect students and ensure stronger oversight in a previously untamed environment. Other states looking to do the same — and Congress, which has dithered on the issue — would do well to follow the commonwealth’s lead and adopt similar models.
COLUMNISTS
Yancey: 37 years ago, one of the Republican Senate candidates tried to run in Roanoke. Here’s what happened.
None of the five candidates seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to run against Democrat Tim Kaine have ever held public office. In some quarters, that’s considered a plus. Some of them, though, have tried. One of them has tried more than any other. In 2010, Virginia Beach attorney Chuck Smith ran for the U.S. House of Representatives against Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News, in the 3rd District but lost, as Republicans typically do in that strongly Democratic district. In 2012, Smith ran for the Kempsville district seat on the Virginia Beach City Council, but finished fourth out of a field of four candidates. In 2017, he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for attorney general but failed to qualify for the ballot. In 2021, Smith did far, far better ...