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Heaphy: What the University of Virginia Should Have Done
On Friday, Jim Ryan stood on the lawn of Carr’s Hill, the residence of the president of the University of Virginia, alone in the center of a crowd of supporters. He offered brief remarks about his inability to fight the forces arrayed against him, including the Trump administration. No one stood alongside him — it was just the university president, Mr. Ryan, explaining why he had made the difficult decision to quit. The moment perfectly illustrated how Mr. Ryan was abandoned by the same people who were supposed to protect the university.
GOP nominee for lieutenant governor recalls meeting Ronald Reagan in Lynchburg
John Reid, the long-time conservative talk radio show host in Richmond who is now the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, had a feature on his show called “Reid on the Road” where he would take his listeners on journeys across the state. On one of his trips, Reid did a live show from the Craddock Terry Hotel in downtown Lynchburg where he reminisced about his visits to Liberty University. One of his best memories was from 45 years ago when he was only 9 years old and got to meet former California Gov. Ronald Reagan who was running for president, Reid recalled in an interview with The News & Advance.
With a big British backer, a Southside Virginia mine reopens
A $3.6 billion London-based investment firm has brought a Southside Virginia mine back to life — and with it, a processing plant that will secure a U.S.-based supply chain of critical minerals. The Atlantic Strategic Minerals mine straddling the Dinwiddie-Sussex county line has resumed producing ilmenite and zircon, from what the company believes is the richest deposit of zircon around. Both minerals are mainly imported now, but a new focus on ensuring that supplies of such critical minerals aren’t interrupted by political conflict makes what Dominic Raab, the former deputy prime minister of Great Britain and head of global affairs at Appian Capital Advisory LLP, calls “a strong business case.”
Democrats’ pick to replace Rep. Connolly wants to carry forward his legacy
In the crowded primary to replace Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia) in Congress, there was only one Democrat who could claim much of a link to the late longtime congressman: Fairfax County Supervisor James R. Walkinshaw. As the popular lawmaker’s chief of staff for a decade, Walkinshaw, 42, had long been seen as a likely successor in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District — even well before Connolly’s death opened up this seat in the D.C. suburbs. With support from Connolly and the broad political coalition he had built across Fairfax, Walkinshaw managed to win almost 60 percent of the vote in Saturday’s election against nine other candidates. . . . The Sept. 9 special election will pit Walkinshaw against Stewart Whitson, a lawyer at a conservative think tank whom Republicans picked as their nominee Saturday.
$500K grant in jeopardy if Averett doesn't get default waiver
Citing “time is of the essence,” Averett University is asking its bondholders for a default waiver to finalize its 2024 financial audit report, otherwise jeopardizing $500,000 in grant funds used in the summer months. Since Averett has stayed current on the payments, there is no monetary default on the $14.67 million in bonds it took out in 2017 for construction projects. However, Averett was informed earlier this year that it was technically in default for other reasons.
NIL settlement should lend greater clarity, stability to college athletics
A recent court ruling moved America’s college athletes closer to fair compensation for their talent and hard work, not to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars they generate for their universities and colleges each year. But appropriate oversight at that compensation remains uncertain and may require congressional intervention — perhaps using a year-old Virginia law as a template.
Yancey: 8 things to know about Google’s data center deal in Botetourt County
The biggest news last week was that Google has bought 312 acres in Botetourt County for a potential data center complex. While “potential” is an important qualifier, this does not appear to be a speculative project. The timeline for “Project Raspberry,” as it’s called in some government circles, is for the project to break ground in early January, shortly before Gov. Glenn Youngkin leaves office. It didn’t take long after the Google project was announced that it drew raspberries of a different sort online.
From VPAP New Episode: The Virginia Press Room Podcast
In the latest episode of the podcast from VaNews and VPM, Michael Pope is joined by Anna Bryson of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Brandon Jarvis of Virginia Scope, and Brad Kutner of Radio IQ. They discuss the week's top headlines: the Virginia GOP ticket's first joint appearance, Sears and Spanberger on immigration, and ICE arrests at Chesterfield County courthouse. Tune in for insights and analysis on Virginia politics. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
How Virginia’s wealth works against poor rural homeowners getting FEMA aid for storm recovery
The calendar that hung on the wall in Sherry Smith’s water-damaged trailer read February. It unceremoniously marked the time when life inside the mobile home stopped for her and her husband, Mike Smith. It had been more than three months since winter storms brought widespread flooding across Southwest Virginia and about three feet of water into the Smiths’ home. . . . When the disaster declaration was approved for Virginia, it was for public assistance to help rebuild infrastructure in damaged localities. Individual assistance, meant to help people rebuild or repair homes or relocate to new ones, was not approved. That fact has left many in the town of Richlands feeling overlooked and wondering why. The answer lies in a formula used by the federal agency to determine whether a state would qualify for assistance, and what kind of assistance, after a disaster. That formula directly disadvantages the more rural, more impoverished — and more disaster-prone — parts of Virginia.
Former Roanoke state Sen. Granger Macfarlane dies
Former Roanoke state Sen. Granger Macfarlane has died. He was 95. A Democrat, Macfarlane served two terms in the 1980s and early 1990s. In Richmond, Macfarlane earned a reputation as an independent-minded legislator — some called him a “maverick” — who insisted on reading every bill, sometimes to the consternation of other senators when he found provisions they were hoping wouldn’t attract attention.