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Smithsonian committed to keeping space shuttle in Chantilly despite relocation proposal
The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has no intention right now of shipping off a centerpiece of its Chantilly facility to Texas. The federal budget bill that squeaked through the Republican-led U.S. Senate on Tuesday (July 1) includes a provision directing NASA to transfer the Discovery space shuttle from its longtime home at the Udvar-Hazy Center to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, allocating $85 million toward transportation and construction costs. However, the Smithsonian Institution asserts that it has full ownership of the shuttle, suggesting NASA would have no authority to relocate it even if the proposal makes it to the final budget package intact.
Ex-Virginia Beach prosecutor avoids jail time after pleading guilty to stealing crime victim funds
A former Virginia Beach prosecutor who pleaded guilty in March to embezzling money from crime victims to fund his gambling addiction will not serve jail time. James Spero Panagis Jr., 46, was sentenced last week to three years supervised probation along with a five-year suspended sentence. He pleaded guilty to one felony count of embezzlement of greater than $500, two felony counts of uttering a forged check and two felony counts of embezzlement by a public officer.
Virginia county says April ransomware attack exposed employee SSNs
Government employees working for the county of Gloucester in Virginia had Social Security numbers and other sensitive data stolen during a ransomware attack in April. The county sent 3,527 current and former employees notices this week warning that their personal information was accessed by hackers who breached county systems on April 22. In addition to Social Security numbers, names, driver’s license numbers, bank account information, health insurance numbers and medical information was also stolen during the incident.
Renewables face setback under sweeping federal spending bill
Congress on Thursday afternoon passed the sweeping spending package dubbed the “one big beautiful bill,” marking a major legislative win for President Donald Trump — but clean energy advocates say it could derail future renewable projects. The House approved the measure after the Senate significantly revised the original proposal. For a moment, the renewable energy industry was stunned by provisions that included a proposed tax on solar and wind power, along with an accelerated phase out of Biden-era tax credits. Although the final version of the bill dropped the proposed tax, it also eliminated the electric vehicle tax credit established under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
‘This is not the Virginia way’: U.Va. alumni respond to President Ryan’s resignation
After seven years serving in the position, University President Jim Ryan publicly announced his resignation Friday following demands from the Department of Justice for him to step down from the role. The Cavalier Daily invited University alumni to share their thoughts on the situation via email, and many who responded expressed negative feelings about the news. In their responses, many alums criticized the Trump administration for overstepping its boundaries and abusing its power for political gains. Many also criticized the Board of Visitors for accepting Ryan’s resignation and for failing to uphold the values of the University.
Wittman, Kiggans back Trump bill, despite Medicaid cuts
Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st, and Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-2nd, may have crossed the line they drew for protecting Virginia's Medicaid program, voting on Thursday to pass the budget package that would make deeper cuts to the health care safety net than the bill that the House of Representatives had approved in late May. Wittman and Kiggans, facing reelection challenges in swing districts next year, had signed letters to Republican leaders that said they could not support legislation that would reduce Medicaid health coverage for vulnerable populations.
Jefferson letter goes on sale for $90,000
Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence alongside another leader of the time – Benjamin Harrison the Fifth. He was serving as governor of Virginia, and the two corresponded often about the important issues of the time. Shortly after the American Revolution, Jefferson wrote to Harrison about a subject that remains controversial today. . . . The Second Amendment did not yet exist, but Jefferson was adamant that people have the right to defend their country.
Friday Read Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
‘This is our university’: UVA faculty, lawmakers push back against Jim Ryan’s forced exit
University of Virginia’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jennifer “J.J.” Wagner Davis will act as president while the board works on finding a replacement for outgoing President Jim Ryan, the UVA Board of Visitors announced on June 30. But some UVA faculty members say the board’s statement is premature. It’s too early to discuss replacements, they say. They plan to contest Ryan’s ouster — and hopefully reverse it.
Buc-ee’s just opened its first Va. location. It is truly a behemoth.
Want to microdose Texas this summer? Start in the roasting asphalt parking lot at Buc-ee’s. Wipe the sweat from your brow as you shovel down a bun stuffed with 13-hour-smoked and barbecued brisket, and sip the Styrofoam cup of cream soda on the hood of your car. Lock eyes with the red-capped, bucktoothed beaver, whose cartoon face appears on gas pump awnings, towering highway signs and just about everywhere else at the 74,000-square-foot country store. Virginia welcomed its first iteration of the Texas-based chain in Rockingham County, six miles south of James Madison University, with much fanfare on Monday.