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Climate group expanding to Richmond with focus on businesses’ energy efficiency
It’s a phrase that has been called less sexy than other energy conservation efforts to combat climate change, but a local group is focused on making energy efficiency available to a narrow sector. Climate Community Collaborative, also known as C3, is expanding from Charlottesville to Richmond after working the past few years to help businesses reach carbon neutral emission goals, a more modest approach to ultimately reaching zero-carbon goals.
Police forcefully clear encampment at UVa., detain protesters
Over 50 police officers, including state troopers in riot gear, cleared the pro-Palestinian encampment near the University chapel Saturday afternoon and detained at least 25 protesters. The removal of the encampment marked the end of a days-long protest that called on the University to disclose its investment portfolio and divest from institutions benefiting from Israeli occupation in Palestine, among other demands.
Prosecutor seeks to drop charges against five deputies in Irvo Otieno death
The Virginia prosecutor investigating the death of Irvo Otieno is seeking to withdraw charges against five law enforcement officers who were indicted on murder counts last year, curtailing the scope of what was once a sprawling case to just three defendants. Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man whose family said he was in mental distress when he arrived at Central State Hospital for treatment, died there of asphyxia as Henrico County sheriff’s deputies and hospital workers restrained him for 11 minutes, according to surveillance video and the medical examiner. Authorities in Virginia’s Dinwiddie County initially charged 10 people in Otieno’s death.
Letter signed by at least three dozen UVa. professors condemns school leaders over police response
At least three dozen history professors at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville signed an open letter on Sunday condemning “the repression of a peaceful protest of our students” by the police, a day after officers in riot gear clashed with pro-Palestinian demonstrators, spraying chemical irritants and arresting at least 25 people. In the letter, which was particularly scathing toward President Jim Ryan and Ian Baucom, the provost, the professors also demanded answers about the intensity of the police response, who approved it and why, and whether protesters at the school could be guaranteed the ability to protest peacefully.
Documents show Petersburg financial advisers wanted more vetting about Bally’s future, Rivers’ hotel
The investment firm that has advised Petersburg for many years informally recommended The Cordish Companies as the city’s casino sponsor in part because of wariness about the financial status of one top bidder and another top bidder’s reluctance to include a hotel in its proposal, according to a review by The Progress-Index of the questions the firm submitted to the city. Davenport & Co. had chosen Cordish and co-developer Bruce Smith Enterprise, Bally's Corporation and Rush Street Gaming as the top three candidates for Petersburg's casino business. Davenport noted, though, that the recommendation for Cordish was "informal" based on the proposals Davenport reviewed and its previous business dealings with Cordish officials.
Daily Progress sues UVa after school withholds review of fatal 2022 shooting
A Daily Progress reporter who has repeatedly sought access to a fact-finding report on the 2022 shooting that killed three University of Virginia students has won a legal victory over a team of lawyers that UVa has hired to shield the report from public view. Last month, a judge rejected UVa’s effort to dismiss the petition filed by reporter Jason Armesto, the Daily Progress and the newspaper’s parent company Lee Enterprises and greenlighted the matter for trial later this summer.
More than 125 arrested at four Virginia universities amid nationwide protest over Israel-Hamas war
Following the strong reaction to the Israel-Hamas war across the country, some Virginia colleges and universities are still responding to last week’s series of on-campus demonstrations that resulted in dozens of students’ arrests and lingering questions about upcoming graduation ceremonies. Some of the most notable Virginia protests that led to arrests occurred at the University of Mary Washington, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech and, most recently, the University of Virginia.
‘Everything’s on fire’: Inside the nation’s failure to safeguard toxic pipelines
The inspectors warned for months that the construction crew was burying the pipeline on unstable ground. In at least a dozen reports, they described soupy soil, landslides and failed efforts to contain runoff. But the crew kept working as the problems mounted. The Revolution ethane pipeline had to get built. In September 2018, just below a neighborhood outside Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, the muddy hillside gave way. The landslide severed the pipe, and the dense gas inside erupted into a roaring inferno. The blaze incinerated a house. The family inside escaped with just the clothes they were wearing and one of their dogs. Their other pets, a dog and several cats, died in the fire. Karen Gdula, who lives nearby on Ivy Lane, raced through the neighborhood shouting, “It’s the pipeline. Everything’s on fire. Get out now!”
Early voting begins for Virginia’s June congressional primaries
Virginia’s 45-day early voting window began Friday for the June 18 primaries that will set the stage for the state’s U.S. Senate race as well as a handful of competitive races for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans are choosing a nominee to challenge U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. in a statewide contest this fall, and at least one party is holding a primary in six of Virginia’s 11 congressional districts.
Inova CEO betting $2.5B on a huge expansion
"If you take this job, you’re going to have to replace that hospital.” That suggestion was one of the first things Dr. Stephen Jones heard about Inova Health System’s Alexandria hospital when interviewing for the nonprofit’s top slot more than six years ago. ... The solution was to build not one, but two state-of-the-art facilities five miles apart, one in Alexandria and another in the Franconia-Springfield area, each spanning roughly 1 million square feet, as well as an outpatient medical complex nearby.