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Ranked-choice voting in Charlottesville 'didn't make a powerful difference'
After months of buildup, Charlottesville’s first experiment with ranked-choice voting was anticlimatic. Proponents of the voting model — which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference instead of simply voting for one candidate for one open seat — say ranked-choice voting diversifies the candidate pool, reduces the effects of spoilers on the race, produces more focused campaigning and increases turnout at the polls.
Saslaw is back and he has a new PAC
At the end of his 44-year tenure in the Virginia Senate, increasingly surrounded by a new generation of more liberal Democrats, Dick Saslaw remained a bulwark for the state’s business community. Now, two years after his retirement, Saslaw, 85, is putting himself back in the role of nudging Democrats toward the middle — with the help of an unexpected $450,000 windfall that he has rolled into a new political leadership committee.
After UVA president’s exit, Dems say they want to prevent further politicization of higher education
University of Virginia president Jim Ryan’s abrupt resignation in the midst of federal pressure on the school to end its DEI initiatives set off a firestorm of controversy, with Virginia Democratic lawmakers now pledging that they will find ways to prevent further politicization of higher education. The lawmakers said they’re reconsidering legislation to support governing boards and reevaluating the gubernatorial appointments process.
Youngkin ignores assembly on vetoes as budget takes effect
Virginia will have a new budget on Tuesday, but it won’t include money to pay for wider access to weight loss drugs, hire nursing home staff under Medicaid or prevent the state from issuing contracts that allow vendors to pocket a portion of any savings they find. Those three provisions were among 37 line-items that Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed in the revised budget that the General Assembly adopted in late February.
Researchers look for reasons behind Osprey nest failures
It was early Tuesday morning when Keriann Spiewak lifted an 8-foot pole above one of Virginia Beach’s osprey nests on the Lynnhaven River. At the end of the pole, a mirror — about the size of a laptop screen — reflected a gathering of twigs, small branches and other nesting material. It did not reflect ospreys. “They’re gone,” she said over her shoulder. “We had three eggs in here that weren’t going to hatch, but now they’re gone, so we’re just checking if they were still there.”
James City, York counties latest localities to mull data centers
As more and more data centers continue to pop up across Virginia, localities such as James City and York counties are looking to implement policies amid concerns over size, utility usage and noise. Lessons are being learned from jurisdictions in Northern Virginia, where data centers have been built without regulations in place, giving them free rein over how they operate. ... In Hampton Roads, municipalities are starting to incorporate policies about data centers with regards to where they can be located, as well as how much power and water they can use.
Jefferson warned about monarchs. UVA president’s ouster shows why.
Thomas Jefferson spent his many years in public life stridently opposed to monarchs. The Declaration of Independence he helped author stands as a scathing indictment of offenses endured by the colonies at the hands of King George III and a stirring call for liberty, which he viewed as the antidote to monarchical power. One wonders, then, what the Sage of Monticello would think about a president leveraging the immense resources of the federal government to oust the leader of a university Jefferson founded.
Yancey: The politics over UVa send us to a place we’ve never been before
Some years ago, a former state college president, by then safe in retirement, told me how easy it was to bamboozle members of the college’s governing board. While members of the gubernatorially appointed board of visitors may have accomplished backgrounds as strong business leaders in their respective fields, they rarely applied those skills to their work on the college board, he said. They hardly ever asked detailed — and certainly not critical — questions of whatever proposals the administration put before them. . . . Those days may now be long gone.
State issues funds for micro reactor feasibility study for Southwest Virginia
The state approved nearly $100,000 last week to conduct a feasibility study for potentially locating a micro nuclear reactor in Southwest Virginia. On Friday Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the funding as part of $6.8 million for eight projects in Growth and Opportunity for Virginia (GO Virginia) grant awards.
‘Blue economy’ gives Hampton Roads competitive advantage, leaders say
Hampton Roads waterways give the region and state an economic competitive advantage, local leaders say. “The blue economy is more than a connection of water-based industries,” Virginia Peninsula Chamber President and CEO Bob McKenna said. “It’s a forward-looking collaborative approach that blends science, infrastructure and commerce to unlock the potential of our coastal and marine resources.” The Virginia Peninsula Chamber explored the “blue economy” in a Friday event, ...