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Spotsylvania water park to open sooner than expected
In the 16 months since work started on the former Thornburg farmland between U.S. 1 and Interstate 95 the landscape has been gradually morphing into what will eventually be the Kalahari Resorts & Conventions water park. The 135-acre Spotsylvania County site is now a complex with roadways, heavy equipment, cement silos, trailers, along with rising buildings and cranes that dominate the skyline. ... On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the family owners of Kalahari resorts gathered on a stage at the site with a large under-construction building as the backdrop.
Stafford proclamation prompts mixed reviews
The Stafford Board of Supervisors approves dozens of proclamations each year, but one presented Tuesday, to recognize June as the month to support individuals of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, struck a nerve among those gathered. Those who supported the recognition were aghast that people would oppose any action that might make people feel included, valued and accepted, as described by Terry Martin, a retired social worker. ... Those who opposed the measure, like Shamgar Connors, said Stafford was on a quest “to become the ultimate modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Richmond won’t sue VCU Health over failed real estate deal
The city of Richmond is not planning to sue the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System as part of their prolonged disagreement over a failed real estate deal. For more than a year, the city and the state-affiliated health system have been at odds over $56 million that VCU Health promised the city in 2021 as part of the unsuccessful Clay Street real estate project. But state leaders have told VCU Health to stop writing the checks.
Loudoun Supervisors Deny Lansdowne Cell Tower Proposal
The Board of Supervisors last night denied a commission permit for a cell tower in Lansdowne, overruling its approval by the Planning Commission. The application was submitted by Milestone Towers which has multiple cell structures within the county. The proposal would have allowed telecommunications monopole within a Virginia Department of Transportation right-of-way at the interchange between Rt. 7 and Claiborne Parkway.
Proposed budget cuts expected to significantly change NASA’s research focus, workforce
NASA is positioned to lose a quarter of its budget and nearly a third of its workforce under a government proposal seeking to slash federal spending. For NASA Langley Research Center, the proposal includes cutting nearly 700 employees and impacts to research in things like aeronautics—which is research related to air and space flight—and earth science, which includes studying the atmosphere, oceans, land and ice.
JLARC: Moving juvenile justice department won’t boost services
Virginia’s juvenile justice officials can connect kids in trouble with services they need faster than the state’s social services, mental health and health agencies often can, a study by the legislature’s watchdog agency found. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission study investigated advocates’ recommendations that the state switch the Department of Juvenile Justice from the oversight of the Secretary of Public Safety to the Secretary of Health and Human Resources.
Report: Moving Department of Juvenile Justice to another state agency likely won’t improve youth programs
A new report says moving the Department of Juvenile Justice under a different state agency likely wouldn’t improve the programs it offers to incarcerated youth. The report comes as the state Inspector General’s office says it will review mental health services being offered to children at the Bon Air Correctional Center — Virginia’s only state-run youth prison. Research for the nonpartisan report included interviews with Department of Juvenile Justice staff, state cabinet members and national experts.
A look at the views of 2 candidates vying for the GOP nod in 62nd House District
Agreeing on many issues while differing on others, Republican statehouse primary candidates Karen Hamilton, of Orange, and Clay Jackson, of Madison, sat side by side last Thursday night for a candidates’ forum in the District 62 nominating race. A homeschool mom of three, college educated in structural engineering and a first-time political candidate, Hamilton briefly stumbled in her opening statement ... A beef cattle farmer and board of supervisors’ chairman, Jackson admitted he didn’t know what his first three bills would be if elected to the statehouse, but stressed time and again he would fight to represent local interests.
Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor talk about how they’d fight Trump while working with GOP legislators
The field of Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor is packed, with six hopefuls who hail from Hampton Roads, the Richmond area and Northern Virginia. In part two of the questions posed by Cardinal News to candidates, we ask them how they plan to push back against actions by the Trump administration, if elected.
Study recommends no change in oversight of Virginia’s juvenile justice agency
Who should oversee Virginia's Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), which is responsible for serving more than 3,000 court-involved youth every day? That was the question at the center of the latest study from the General Assembly's research arm, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). Currently, DJJ falls under the purview of the public safety secretary, but advocates have argued that transferring DJJ to the health and human resources secretariat would improve access to services since behavioral health is a big focus of the rehabilitative process.