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Gigaland data center developer offers county $15M for land conservation

By PETER CARY, Fauquier Times

The developers of Gigaland, a seven-building, 2-million-square-foot data center campus proposed near Remington, are offering $15 million to Fauquier County’s land conservation program as part of a package of incentives to encourage county supervisors to approve it. The project initially included an offer of $1 million for county parks and trails, $1 million for Remington recreation programs and $500,000 to the nearby Meadows subdivision to mitigate its effects. With the additional $15 million, “it’s a bigger proffer package than the county's ever seen for anything ever, and certainly, the economics are very compelling,” said county Supervisor Ike Broaddus.

VaNews July 3, 2025


Virginia’s statewide GOP candidates finally appear together — briefly

By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

After more than two months of snubs and internal squabbling, the GOP candidates for Virginia’s statewide offices finally appeared in the same place at the same time Tuesday night — though they shared the stage at a packed firehouse in Vienna for just a moment after speaking separately to a raucous crowd. Gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears never mentioned lieutenant governor nominee John Reid, the first openly gay nominee for statewide office in Virginia, who some evangelicals in the GOP base have opposed. Earle-Sears praised state Attorney General Jason S. Miyares — who is seeking reelection — and urged the crowd to support Republicans running for Congress and the House of Delegates.

VaNews July 3, 2025


The first Democrat to declare for a House seat from Virginia's fifth congressional district

WVTF-FM

A small crowd gathered in the shade of a picnic shelter at Crozet Park near Charlottesville to hear from a man who’d like to represent them in Congress – but from the moment he spoke it seemed people were not quite ready for that election. “Morning everybody!” the candidate called out. The crowd continued to chatter until someone finally insisted they quiet down. 58-year-old Paul Riley ran for a seat in the U.S. House two years ago but lost in the Democratic primary to Gloria Witt. Now he’s back, having learned an important political lesson.

VaNews July 3, 2025


Youngkin says 2,500 'violent illegals' arrested. But ICE data, advocates say otherwise

By BRAD KUTNER, WVTF-FM

This week, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced a partnership between federal and state law enforcement has hit a new benchmark in removing what he called “violent criminals here illegally.” But statistics provided by federal immigration authorities and immigrant advocates tell a different story. “Violent criminals that represent the most violent drug cartels and gangs who are living among us in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Governor Glenn Youngkin told the press at a Virginia State Police facility outside Richmond Wednesday. . . . But according to recent reporting on federal data by WRIC, roughly half of those being kept in migrant detention at Virginia’s two Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, facilities have no criminal history.

VaNews July 3, 2025


Judge’s ruling means Charlottesville has no zoning laws whatsoever right now

By ERIN O'HARE AND JESSIE HIGGINS, Charlottesville Tomorrow

Right now, Charlottesville has no zoning ordinance. During a 10-minute hearing for an ongoing lawsuit in Charlottesville Circuit Court on Monday, June 30, Judge Claude Worrell ruled that the city had to toss out its new zoning ordinance and revert back to the old rules. But there’s a catch, City Manager Sam Sanders told Charlottesville Tomorrow in an email Wednesday afternoon. “The old ordinance had to be repealed in order for the new one to be adopted,” Sanders wrote. “The void of the new one leaves us without one temporarily.”

VaNews July 3, 2025


Glenn Youngkin wrote a GOP playbook for winning Virginia. Republicans hope Winsome Earle-Sears can follow it.

By EVA MCKEND, CNN

On a Tuesday evening in northern Virginia, Republicans on edge across the state finally got their wish: a campaign event featuring gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears, backed by incumbent Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who beat a Democrat four years ago. A racially diverse crowd was packed into a firehouse waving signs that read “Axe the Tax,” a nod to an Earle-Sears campaign pledge to eliminate the state’s car tax. Youngkin lauded Earle-Sears’ biography and work as the state’s lieutenant governor. At the end, he appeared on stage with the entire GOP ticket, clapping along to the tune of the classic disco song “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now.”

VaNews July 3, 2025


Fed’s hidden immigration weapon – Virginia’s surveillance network

By KUNLE FALAYI, Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism

Hundreds of Flock Safety cameras capturing images of motorists across Virginia weren’t supposed to be used for immigration enforcement. But they were. At least five Virginia counties shared data collected by Flock Safety automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) with federal authorities for immigration enforcement, despite prohibitions against using the surveillance for such operations, according to law enforcement logs. About 50 immigration-related enforcement searches were conducted in Flock data in Fairfax, Chesterfield, Isle of Wight, Loudoun and Stafford counties between June 2024 and April 2025, according to an analysis of the logs. . . . The logs reveal how data from more than 1,000 cameras tracking Virginia motorists was shared widely between agencies, and potentially used beyond its original purpose for criminal investigations and locating missing persons.

VaNews July 3, 2025


Ryan to return to UVa as professor

By STAFF REPORT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

University of Virginia President Jim Ryan may have resigned, but he won't be leaving UVa for good. The university announced Wednesday that Ryan will officially step down from office on July 11 and, after a sabbatical, will return to Grounds to teach at the schools of law and education

VaNews July 3, 2025


Emerson to lay off 87 workers in Charlottesville

By JOSH JANNEY, Virginia Business

Emerson Electric — the St. Louis-based Fortune 500 multinational corporation that provides engineering services and manufactures items such as industrial automation equipment and climate control systems — plans to lay off 87 workers working at its Charlottesville manufacturing facility, starting Dec. 31. Emerson Automation Solutions, in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, notified the state last week of plans to lay off employees due to the decision to permanently reduce operations at the Emerson subsidiary’s Charlottesville site.

VaNews July 3, 2025


Former BOV member Bert Ellis says Ryan resignation an opportunity to move UVA to the right

By GRACE WAGNER, Cville Right Now

Bert Ellis, a former member of the UVA Board of Visitors and outspoken critic of President Jim Ryan, believes Ryan’s ouster creates an opportunity for the school to move away from what Ellis sees as its recent left-leaning politics. “I wasn’t trying to move the University of Virginia towards the hard right, I just wanted it to move from hard left towards the middle,” Ellis said during an appearance on the Schilling Show on Monday. “He could have easily done that and been a hero and a leader in higher education but no. He drew his line in the sand on DEI.”

VaNews July 3, 2025