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Gretz: A brighter future for Virginia’s rural schools
As the current superintendent of the Fluvanna County Public Schools and now in my 35th year as a Virginia educator, I have had the responsibility and privilege of impacting the education of countless students. I constantly strive to find creative ways to maximize our community’s resources as efficiently as possible. This can be especially challenging for smaller, rural communities where resources are limited. I am proud of the bipartisan work our General Assembly has done to promote and make available a win-win solution to help address this resource challenge by reducing our energy costs 25%.
Virginia Tech preparing for ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ Metallica concert—and its economic impact
The lush grass of Worsham Field was stripped away. The sprinkler heads were removed. The field that is home to the Virginia Tech football team was barren and level. Part of the crew that sets up the stage for Metallica’s concerts spent the early parts of Friday afternoon beginning the process of laying down the flooring that signaled the transformation of a football stadium into a temporary concert venue. The group began the multi-day process that will culminate Wednesday with a long-awaited concert that features Metallica performing “Enter Sandman,” the song that has welcomed the Hokies onto the field for nearly a quarter of a century, in front of a sold-out crowd inside Lane Stadium.
Most Virginia teachers are women, but most superintendents are men
Early in her administrative career, before she became the first female superintendent of Henrico County Public Schools in 2018, Amy Cashwell recalled being the only woman in a boardroom full of men. As they discussed a major project, one of the men asked if she would be hindered from giving a project her all. She looked at him with a puzzled expression. He said: “Well, you have kids.” She responded: “So do you.” It’s a moment many women in education leadership recognize — a quiet but persistent skepticism about whether they can lead and mother at the same time.
Special education student in Salem wrongly suspended, lawsuit says
A federal lawsuit accuses Salem City Schools of improperly suspending a special education student, whom it found responsible for causing a disturbance at Andrew Lewis Middle School. The case involves an eighth grader who suffers from a variety of mental and emotional disabilities that include autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, sensory processing difficulty and oppositional defiant disorder. . . . In suspending the student for 55 days, school officials violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws that make the student eligible for special education services, the lawsuit alleges.
Aborted landings due to Army helicopter near Reagan airport ‘unacceptable,’ top official says
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday that it is “unacceptable” that two commercial aircraft had to abort landings at a Washington airport this week because of an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was flying to the Pentagon. In addition to the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration investigating what happened Thursday afternoon at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Duffy said he plans to talk to the Department of Defense to determine why rules were “disregarded.”
Schapiro: A little word from yesterday has big meaning today
Tim Kaine, Virginia’s Minnesota-born, Kansas-raised junior U.S. senator, rarely passes on an opportunity to share his adoptive state’s story with others. That’s because the Democrat believes that there are lessons for the nation — good and bad — that spring from the state where it was born. In a speech at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture and in an op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, both pegged to the fast-approaching 250th anniversary of American independence, Kaine focused on Virginia’s motto, one as old as the republic: Sic Semper Tyrannis — Latin for “Thus always to tyrants” or “Ever thus to tyrants.” Kaine implied that its spirit should guide public and political resistance to President Donald Trump.
Too much fluoride? It just might be what RVA needs
Sometimes, getting lost in the shuffle isn't such a bad thing. Early last week, with the news cycle consumed by D.C. dumpster fires and the Virginia GOP's political cannibalism, City Hall's latest blunder largely went unnoticed: Richmond’s Department of Public Utilities, while installing a new fluoride pump at the city’s beleaguered water treatment plant, accidentally dumped too much of the cavity-fighting, dentist-recommended mineral into the public drinking water on April 23. And then didn’t tell anyone — for five days.
Roanoke equity board meets in ‘stealth mode’
Members of Roanoke’s Equity and Empowerment Advisory Board are wondering how to continue their work when such concepts are under scrutiny from the federal government. Information about and documents relating to the equity board are gone from the city website, replaced by an error message. . . . Nonetheless, Roanoke’s equity board — comprised of volunteer citizen members who have a constitutional right to assemble — met Thursday night at the Melrose branch library, joined briefly by Mayor Joe Cobb, as well as the elephant in the room.
Amazon Data Services Files Appeal with King George Circuit Court
Amazon Data Services has filed a petition with King George County Circuit Court appealing a March decision by the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals. ... In May of 2024, Amazon requested a determination from the county’s then-zoning administrator, Angela Foroughi, asking her to find that the company has vested rights in nine parcels, totaling 893 acres, that it purchased for $168 million in 2023 with the intention of developing a data center.
Georgia Pacific to close plywood mill in Emporia, costing 550 jobs
A hard-hit part of Southside Virginia got another blow as forest products giant Georgia-Pacific said Friday that it is closing its plywood mill in Emporia, laying off about 550 people. It’s the second major plant closing in less than a year in that part of the state, an hour south of Richmond near the North Carolina state line.