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‘Fight the Flood’ program pairs Middle Peninsula property owners with flooding solutions
Lewie Lawrence hears the same thing over and over from people living along Virginia’s rural Middle Peninsula: They have issues with flooding, but don’t know where to turn for help. People say, “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to pay for this, and nobody will call me back,” said Lawrence, a lifelong resident of the area and outgoing head of the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission. “That is a constant and consistent theme.” That’s where the organization’s Fight the Flood program comes in.
FBI headquarters will remain in Washington, but at newer digs
After more than a decade of haggling over efforts to move the FBI’s headquarters to the Washington suburbs, federal officials announced Tuesday it will remain in Washington, but at a newer location. The bureau’s thousands of agents who now work in the crumbling J. Edgar Hoover Building on Pennsylvania Avenue will move up the street, literally, to the more recently constructed Ronald Reagan Building. The announcement angered lawmakers in Virginia and Maryland, who had been working for years to lure the FBI to the suburbs, which would bring new revenue, more than 7,500 jobs and an economic boost from a newly constructed headquarters.
The Unexpected Trump Target: As the University of Virginia’s president is forced out, the campus is reeling.
On Saturday, scores of students, faculty and staff members, and local residents joined James E. Ryan, president of the University of Virginia, for what could be the very last “Run With Jim.” Only this time, it was branded as a “Run for Jim.” Ryan, whose compelled resignation under pressure from the Department of Justice startled the higher-ed sector last week, had made recurring group jogs around campus his trademark. They helped cement his reputation among some as a president-of-the-people after taking office in 2018. Nearly seven years later, at the abrupt and emotional end of his presidency, Ryan addressed some of those people.
Faculty members express deep concern over President Ryan’s resignation
Faculty members across the University expressed their shock and concern after the resignation of University President Jim Ryan last Friday, pressured by Trump’s Department of Justice. At the time of publication, around 160 faculty members have signed an open letter condemning political interference and urging the Board of Visitors, the University’s highest governing body, to resist pressure from the federal government. “The forced installation of a new president under these circumstances would impede the exchange of ideas, set a dangerous precedent for the destruction of academic freedom, and cast a shadow on the integrity of the research and teaching conducted at the university,” the faculty wrote.
McLean government IT contractor hiring almost 900
McLean, Virginia-based 22nd Century Technologies is investing $1 million to expand its headquarters and will hire an additional 880 workers. At a time when many big D.C.-area government contractors are scaling back expansion, minority-owned 22nd Century continues to grow operations in Fairfax County and across the U.S. The company relocated its headquarters from New Jersey to McLean in 2008. Fairfax County competed with sites in Texas, Florida and West Virginia for the company’s expansion.
Virginia Tech researchers study link between large solar installations, property values
A new study from a Virginia Tech-led team of researchers explores how large-scale solar power plants affect the value of agricultural and residential properties. Researchers analyzed millions of real estate transactions around thousands of utility-scale solar facilities nationwide. They found that the construction of a solar facility increased the value of nearby agricultural and vacant land by 19% on average, while the value of nearby residential properties saw an approximately 5% temporary decrease.
Virginia faces Medicaid cuts after US Senate passes Trump budget bill
On Tuesday, the US Senate passed its version of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” by a narrow 51–50 margin, with Vice President JD Vance casting the deciding vote after three Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — joined Democrats in voting against the bill. The bill will cut roughly $1 trillion from Medicaid, according to a preliminary review done by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The legislation will now head back to the House of Representatives, where at least two Republican members of Virginia’s congressional delegation have said they opposed it.
Former Va. superintendent Lisa Coons to receive over $100,000 in severance
Former Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons, who resigned in March, is receiving more than $100,000 in severance payments from the state, according to information obtained from the governor’s office through a public records request. Before Coons resigned as chief executive of the Virginia Department of Education on March 14, the department had violated state procurement laws, failed to publish teaching materials for the new history standards that the department promised to teachers last year, and hemorrhaged longtime staffers since Coons’ arrival two years ago.
Trump nominates Gilbert for U.S. attorney post
President Donald Trump has nominated former House Speaker Todd Gilbert of Shenandoah County to be the next U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia — the top federal prosecutor for the western half of the state. Gilbert had been one of two attorneys recommended to the president by Virginia’s two Democratic U.S. senators, which is the standard procedure for such positions.
Va. GOP's ticket campaigns together, but not side-by-side
Virginia’s statewide GOP ticket appeared together for the first time Tuesday night — for about a minute — at a rally in Fairfax County, following a controversy that had prompted Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the party’s nominee for governor, to keep John Reid, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, at arm’s length. Earle-Sears, Reid and Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is running for reelection, shared a brief moment on the stage together alongside Gov. Glenn Youngkin and many others at the end of the rally at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department.