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Prince William supervisor’s PAC receives another $100K, this time from Dumfries data center backer
Prince William County Supervisor Yesli Vega earlier this month received a $100,000 campaign donation via her political action committee, YES PAC, from a real estate developer with ties to a recently-pitched data center project near the Four Seasons at Historic Virginia retirement community in Dumfries.
Data center demand brings first gas substation to Nokesville
Western Prince William County needs an infusion of electricity to avoid getting close to running out of power by as soon as 2027 due to soaring demand from power-hungry data centers. That will mean big changes for a stretch of Vint Hill Road that’s already a tangle of high-voltage power transmission lines. Dominion Energy plans a major upgrade of an existing electrical substation near Vint Hill Road and Reid Lane in Nokesville. That’s where a picturesque, mostly rural roadway is interrupted by a confluence of three high-voltage power transmission lines with giant metal poles and towers.
Herndon sues Comstock, demanding return of downtown redevelopment site
Herndon is officially taking legal action against Comstock Companies after the developer backed out of its long-stalled downtown redevelopment project last year. The town filed a lawsuit in Fairfax County Circuit Court this afternoon (Friday) demanding that Comstock return the nearly 5-acre site that it planned to transform into a mixed-use block with an arts center, apartments, retail space and a parking garage. The Town of Herndon transferred the property to Comstock in 2020 as part of an agreement for the redevelopment originally signed in 2017.
Inside the Conservative Campaign That Took Down the U.Va. President
The Jefferson Council, a band of conservative-leaning University of Virginia alumni, was impatient and fed up. For years, the group had railed against the university’s president, James E. Ryan, for his robust promotion of campus diversity initiatives. They had counted on Glenn Youngkin, the state’s Republican governor who vocally opposed D.E.I., to force a new direction at one of the country’s most prestigious public universities. But as 2025, the final year of Mr. Youngkin’s term, began, the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion apparatus was still in place. And time was running out, with polls showing that the governor’s race would be an uphill battle for a Republican candidate.
Certain Aetna health insurance plans leaving the Affordable Care Act marketplace next year
Starting next year, Aetna clients in Virginia and other states will no longer be able to purchase individual or family health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The ACA is a 15-year-old federal law that allows people who don’t have employer-provided insurance to purchase their own through the ACA marketplace. Congress also created associated tax credits that have helped some offset those costs even further. Over 261,000 people in Virginia have Aetna healthcare, according to the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services.
Arlington Electoral Board members debate when to make early-voting dropboxes available
Arlington's two Republican members of the Electoral Board appear at loggerheads over how long early-voting dropboxes should be available before Election Day. Richard Samp, the senior Republican on the three-member panel and its vice chair, used the July 8 board meeting to press for a reduction from more than 40 days of use to just 10. Not everyone was in favor. Samp said the elections office was running its “own private mail service,” since it is required that each of the nine dropboxes scattered across Arlington be emptied every day.
From VPAP New Episode: The Virginia Press Room Podcast
In the latest episode of the podcast from VaNews and VPM, Michael Pope is joined by Kate Seltzer of The Virginian-Pilot, Andrew Kerley of The Commonwealth Times, and Dean Mirshahi of VPM News. They discuss the week's top headlines: Youngkin says Homeland Security Task Force has removed 2,500 violent criminals, Senate Democrats clash with Youngkin over university board appointments, and Richmond City Council vote delayed again for civilian police review board. Tune in for insights and analysis on Virginia politics. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Virginia Lottery continues to embrace its gaming oversight role
In just the past decade, Virginia has become one of the nation’s top states for gaming and most of the state’s oversight is handled through the Virginia Lottery — an agency that has grown 20% larger to accommodate those responsibilities. Today the lottery oversees its traditional lottery ticket sales and drawings, online iLottery play, the state’s three casinos — with another in Norfolk now under construction — and a robust sports betting program with 14 licensed operators.
Henrico’s housing trust fund wraps first year with homes sold, more on the way
One year in, Henrico’s multimillion-dollar investment to help improve housing affordability in the county is beginning to pay off. Henrico’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund program, launched last July with a $60 million cash contribution from the county, has finished out its initial year with its first homes sold and dozens more in the pipeline or under construction. . . . Henrico’s goal is to produce 750 new homes that are affordable to first-time buyers at as low as 60% AMI over the program’s first five years, using the $60 million in unbudgeted tax revenues that were generated specifically from data centers in the county.
General Assembly prepares for potential September special session
General Assembly leadership has advised legislators that they could be called back to a special session the second week of September, lobbyists, delegates and state senators told VPM News. At the end of the 2025 session, legislators amended the rules for a still-active special session from 2024 to “address the impacts” of actions taken by the federal government. The special session would come after trillions of dollars in changes to the federal tax structure . . .