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Spotsylvania water park to open sooner than expected
In the 16 months since work started on the former Thornburg farmland between U.S. 1 and Interstate 95 the landscape has been gradually morphing into what will eventually be the Kalahari Resorts & Conventions water park. The 135-acre Spotsylvania County site is now a complex with roadways, heavy equipment, cement silos, trailers, along with rising buildings and cranes that dominate the skyline. ... On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the family owners of Kalahari resorts gathered on a stage at the site with a large under-construction building as the backdrop.
Petersburg residents ask City Council for transparency on Sycamore Grove project
Residents asked for more transparency from city officials during Petersburg’s June 3 City Council meeting following last month’s abrupt termination of the Sycamore Grove development agreement — a high-profile project once heralded as a key piece of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s “Partnership for Petersburg” initiative. Petersburg resident Barb Rudolph took to the podium during the public comment period to express frustration over what she called a lack of communication from the city ...
Fauquier County supervisor to sell land for data center
Fauquier County Supervisor Daron Culbertson is seeking to sell land he owns in Fauquier County to a data center developer. The new data center project was pitched this week for 204 acres of land between the Bealeton and Remington service districts. Applicant Ron Meyer, acting on behalf of SDC Capital Partners LLC, proposed to Fauquier County Community Development a seven building data center campus between Remington Road and Falling Creek Drive. Culbertson, who could not be reached for comment, owns part of a 39.5-acre parcel of the land the project would be built on, according to the project’s page on the county’s land development online portal.
Stafford officially recognizes LGBTQ diversity
Stafford County’s government is officially recognizing Pride Month, though some will take exception to that move. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night voted 4-1 with one abstention in favor of a proclamation that recognizes June as a time supporting those of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities in the county. The proclamation was board Chairman Deuntay Diggs’ idea. Diggs, the first openly gay supervisor to serve as chairman, said that, in his leadership role, he gets to see all the proclamations the county issues, and he thought: why not Pride Month? “Right?” he said. “Why do we recognize any community? Because they’ve been marginalized.”
NASA Langley workforce slashed by 40% in Trump budget plan
NASA Langley Research Center will lose funding for several projects and cut its workforce by 672 civil servants under the Trump administration’s proposal to slash about $163 billion in federal spending next fiscal year. The White House budget proposal is a starting point, and ultimately Congress must approve it. But the technical supplement to the proposed budget released Friday includes new details about how the administration would seek to reduce federal spending levels.
Youngkin administration has missed deadline to set AI rules for state police
Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration and state Attorney General Jason Miyares are seven months behind a deadline set by the governor to outline standards for Virginia State Police’s use of artificial intelligence. Youngkin signed an executive order in January 2024 implementing AI guidelines for state agencies, including standards “for the ethical use of AI” and a mandatory approval process to use the technology. The order directed Miyares and Terry Cole, Virginia’s public safety and homeland security secretary, to develop rules for AI use “applicable to all executive branch law enforcement agencies and personnel” within nine months. That deadline passed on Oct. 18, 2024, and specific rules for law enforcement are still not in place.
A Virginia museum found 4 Confederate soldiers’ remains. It’s trying to identify them
Archaeologists in Virginia were excavating the grounds of a building that stored gunpowder during the American Revolution when they uncovered the eye sockets of a human skull. The team carefully unearthed four skeletons, including one with a bullet in the spine, and three amputated legs. They quickly surmised the bones were actually from the Civil War, when a makeshift hospital operated nearby and treated gravely wounded Confederate soldiers. The archaeologists work at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, a museum that owns the land and focuses on the city’s 18th century history. They’re now trying to identify human remains from the 19th century, a rare endeavor that will include searching for living descendants and requesting swabs of DNA.
From trash to takeoff: Virginia eyes sustainable fuel future for aviation
As President Donald Trump’s administration scales back national climate initiatives, local leaders in the Washington Metropolitan region are stepping up to push for cleaner skies — with jet fuel made from trash, crops and forest waste. At the heart of the push is Sustainable Aviation Fuel, or SAF, a biofuel derived from sources like corn grain, municipal solid waste, wet waste, and agricultural residues. Though not yet widely used, SAF is gaining traction thanks to its lower emissions and growing interest from regional policymakers.
Lansdowne Conservancy to appeal Loudoun power line decision
The Lansdowne Conservancy plans to file an appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia over Dominion Energy’s Aspen to Golden 500-230 kV Electric Transmission Project, according to the organization's attorney. Attorney Bryan S. Turner made the announcement during the June 3 meeting of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.
Virginia’s federal lawmakers want to make childbirth free
Childbirth can cost thousands of dollars, with certain conditions also posing extra costs for parents-to-be who have private health insurance. New legislation proposed by Virginia’s Capitol Hill lawmakers and their colleagues could prevent cost-sharing for prenatal, childbirth, neonatal, perinatal and postpartum care, keeping families from being saddled with big bills after birth. U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, remembers the stress and fear of dealing with placenta previa, a life-threatening maternal condition, when carrying her second child, Samantha.