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Accused of making Metro less safe, watchdog relents on self-driving trains
After a two-month standoff with its safety watchdog, Metro received approval Tuesday to use self-driving trains on three of its six subway lines. Automation will expand beyond the Red Line to the Green and Yellow lines Friday. But a broader conflict between the two agencies continues, and multiple elected leaders say the commission created in 2018 to address Metro’s dysfunctional safety culture is now creating problems that add risk instead of reducing it. They are pushing back on a commission plan to start fining Metro for failing to follow orders — and backing Metro’s calls for an outsider to resolve future conflicts instead.
Liberty University pays $15 million to former president Falwell Jr. in settlement
Liberty University has agreed to pay former President Jerry Falwell Jr. $15 million as part of recent settlements tied to lawsuits following his resignation. According to a copy of Liberty University's 2023-2024 tax form, Falwell will receive $5.5 million to settle the lawsuits. This amount is in addition to nearly $10 million he received as part of his retirement package.
Virginia reports first mammal with bird flu
Virginia has reported its first case of bird flu in a mammal, as the disease continues to ravage the U.S. poultry industry sending the price of eggs skyrocketing. The Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Clarke County recently admitted an adult female red fox found in Loudoun County that tested positive for H5N1, highly pathogenic avian influenza. ... Though a first for Virginia, other states have reported many bird flu cases in mammals, especially dairy cows and free-roaming domestic cats
Arlington Co. lawmakers to assess damage, develop plan to deal with federal workforce cuts
One in five residents in Arlington County is directly employed by the federal government. County board members and the local delegation in the Virginia General Assembly are working together to assess the damage of recent federal cuts and develop strategies to weather the storm. “This is going to be a long-haul commitment for all of us,” said Arlington County Board member Maureen Coffey during a Monday work session with several local state senators and delegates.
Data center developers pitch seven 80-foot buildings for Fauquier campus
The Fauquier Planning Commission has received its first formal presentation of the proposed Gigaland data center campus project on 200 acres south of Lucky Hill Road, just outside the Remington town limits. Adam Shellenberger, Fauquier County’s chief of planning, led the May 15 briefing, intended as a preview ahead of a public hearing expected in June. Commissioners used the session to ask questions and direct concerns about the proposal to the applicant.
Training center property near Lynchburg listed for sale
The Central Virginia Training Center campus of 386 acres in Madison Heights is for sale five years after its last remaining resident was relocated and the state-run facility closed. The site at 521 Colony Road at one time was Amherst County’s largest employer and according to its sale listing offers a prime redevelopment opportunity with extensive frontage on the James River and views of downtown Lynchburg. ... Lucas said the Alliance and stakeholders were waiting on the state’s budget to be finalized to roll out the marketing plan for the sale.
Preservation of clean-energy laws is essential to Hampton Roads’ growth
State and local officials last month joined with economic development personnel and leaders from LS GreenLink USA to break ground on a project that could transform Chesapeake and create new opportunities for Hampton Roads. Construction of a new subsea cable factory, slated to be the tallest building in Virginia, represents a massive investment in the future of the region’s steadily growing clean energy sector. But its success, as well as that of the larger sector, depends on Congress protecting tax credits that enable companies such as GreenLink to invest in these facilities and create the renewable energy needed to power America’s future.
Yancey: The U.S. loses its last perfect credit rating. Will there be political fallout? Why the answer is probably ‘no.’
Something important happened last week that ought to become an issue in next year’s midterm congressional races, but probably won’t. The financial services company Moody’s downgraded the United States’ bond rating, becoming the last of the three major credit rating services to take away the nation’s once-perfect AAA rating. Instead, it assigned the U.S. a rating of AA1, still good but not the best. The Trump administration responded the same way the Obama administration did when S&P became the first credit rating service to downgrade the United States’ rating back in 2011: It blamed the rating agency. Between those two events, 14 years apart, and the similar reactions from two very different administrations, we get a glimpse of why all three ratings services — Moody’s, S&P and Fitch’s — don’t think much of U.S. finances.
Williams: Don’t be fooled: Youngkin, et al., are mocking Black history
Barbara Rose Johns, who led a 1951 student boycott that changed the course of American education, did not graduate from her Prince Edward County high school. Johns, in the aftermath of the student strike at Robert Russa Moton High School, was chased out of Prince Edward County by death threats. She was sent to Montgomery, Alabama, to live with her uncle, the Rev. Vernon Johns, a legendary civil rights activist in his own right who preceded the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
How proposed federal cuts to Medicaid could impact Virginians
The massive tax cut and immigration bill narrowly advanced by House Republicans this week would have sweeping impacts to Medicaid users, including Virginians. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates at least 8.6 million people could become newly uninsured by 2034 as a result of Medicaid spending cuts proposed under President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill.” In Virginia, experts say most people would likely lose Medicaid access by failing to comply with new administrative regulations on enrolling in and maintaining coverage. Virginia Medicaid, called Cardinal Care, and Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, together cover nearly 1 in 4 Virginians.