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Loudoun Community Raises Concerns Over Sheriff’s Office ICE Agreement
Community members gathered at the Board of Supervisors meeting last night to raise concerns over an agreement between the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agreement was formalized in March and has sheriff’s deputies inquiring with other agencies about detainers prior to releasing a person incarcerated at the Adult Detention Center. If ICE has a detainer, the Sheriff’s Office will hold the person to be picked up by federal agents for 48 hours.
Spotsylvania data center project milestone hit, opening nears
Spotsylvania County’s first data center facility is set to go online soon, and progress on the work was celebrated Wednesday morning. Hundreds of workers filled several aisles of tables in the large lunch facility on the Cosner Tech Campus data center complex around 10:30 on the rainy morning. There was catered food and a band to mark a milestone for the tech-giant Amazon project.
Data center developers pitch seven 80-foot buildings for Fauquier campus
The Fauquier Planning Commission has received its first formal presentation of the proposed Gigaland data center campus project on 200 acres south of Lucky Hill Road, just outside the Remington town limits. Adam Shellenberger, Fauquier County’s chief of planning, led the May 15 briefing, intended as a preview ahead of a public hearing expected in June. Commissioners used the session to ask questions and direct concerns about the proposal to the applicant.
Earle-Sears declines to say if she’ll sign a bill limiting abortion access if elected governor
The Republican nominee for governor, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, is declining to say if she’ll sign a bill limiting a woman’s access to abortion, if she’s elected governor. The question was hypothetical, as no bills were introduced in this year’s General Assembly session to limit a woman’s access to abortion at 15 weeks or less.
Lucas endorses Spanberger after initial skepticism
Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, one of Virginia’s most powerful Democratic lawmakers, has endorsed Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s campaign for governor, signaling peace in the valley for Democrats moving forward. Lucas had previously expressed skepticism about Spanberger’s candidacy. She was among those encouraging Rep. Bobby Scott (D-3rd) to launch a campaign for governor, arguing that Spanberger had not done enough to connect with Black communities across the state. Scott ultimately decided against entering the race, and Spanberger became the Democratic nominee.
Senators including Virginia’s Warner push Trump to release broadband deployment funding
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., has joined a call for the Trump administration to release broadband deployment funds and refrain from changing guidelines about what to do with the money. Warner, a co-author and negotiator of the 2021 law that created the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, says that President Donald Trump has been blocking the so-called BEAD dollars for months. Late last week, he co-signed a letter to Trump, calling on him to follow the law. “This unprecedented move by the NTIA [National Telecommunications and Information Administration] will further delay our communities from having the connectivity they need to grow and thrive,” read the letter, which Warner and 11 other Democratic senators signed and sent on Friday.
Access to mental health, addiction recovery services at risk if Congress reduces Medicaid funding
Robyn Hantelman, director of treatment and recovery at Encompass Community Supports in Culpepper, gets a lump in her throat whenever she thinks about the possible cuts to Medicaid that have been floated at the federal level. “Ten years ago, when I first started thinking about getting into recovery and getting sober and trying to change my life, I would have had to travel 45 minutes to an hour — maybe even an hour and a half — to get medication for substance use,” Hantelman said. Today, however, many clinics have opened and other services expanded, with Medicaid being partially responsible for the improvements, especially in more remote areas. Medicaid can even help with transportation when patients need to travel further for better care, Hantelman explained.
How proposed federal cuts to Medicaid could impact Virginians
The massive tax cut and immigration bill narrowly advanced by House Republicans this week would have sweeping impacts to Medicaid users, including Virginians. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates at least 8.6 million people could become newly uninsured by 2034 as a result of Medicaid spending cuts proposed under President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill.” In Virginia, experts say most people would likely lose Medicaid access by failing to comply with new administrative regulations on enrolling in and maintaining coverage. Virginia Medicaid, called Cardinal Care, and Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, together cover nearly 1 in 4 Virginians.
Williams: Don’t be fooled: Youngkin, et al., are mocking Black history
Barbara Rose Johns, who led a 1951 student boycott that changed the course of American education, did not graduate from her Prince Edward County high school. Johns, in the aftermath of the student strike at Robert Russa Moton High School, was chased out of Prince Edward County by death threats. She was sent to Montgomery, Alabama, to live with her uncle, the Rev. Vernon Johns, a legendary civil rights activist in his own right who preceded the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
Arlington Co. lawmakers to assess damage, develop plan to deal with federal workforce cuts
One in five residents in Arlington County is directly employed by the federal government. County board members and the local delegation in the Virginia General Assembly are working together to assess the damage of recent federal cuts and develop strategies to weather the storm. “This is going to be a long-haul commitment for all of us,” said Arlington County Board member Maureen Coffey during a Monday work session with several local state senators and delegates.