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Spanberger, Hashmi advocate in Charlottesville for abortion access
Three years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a crowd of about 300 people gathered Tuesday in Charlottesville to hear Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger discuss the future of reproductive health care in Virginia. Spanberger was joined on her “Span Virginia Bus Tour” by her running mates, state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D–Chesterfield) and former Del. Jay Jones, to say that a potential Democratic trifecta in state government would work to codify reproductive rights in Virginia’s Constitution.
Legislators call for revisiting Clean Economy Act as rural Virginia rejects large solar farms
Five years after the General Assembly enacted the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which mandates Dominion Energy transition to 100% carbon-free power sources by 2045, two Republican legislators who represent Isle of Wight and Surry counties say the goal is easier said than done. It’s a position two of the state’s top Democrats, who voted to enact the 2020 law when their party held both legislative chambers and the governor’s office, say they’ve come to share.
Va. unemployment rate sees longest rise since ’08 crisis
Virginia's unemployment rate is on a steady five-month increase — the longest streak since the 2008 Great Recession. The Trump administration's federal job slashing and freezing of grants, contracts and medical research may be to blame. Virginia's unemployment rate climbed to 3.4% in May, per new U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. While still below the national average (4.2%), the uptick marks the state's highest unemployment level since August 2021. The state's total labor force decreased by more than 11,500 compared with last May, according to new Virginia Works household survey data.
In first big federal relocation, HUD will move to Virginia
The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that the Department of Housing and Urban Development will be the first major federal agency to relocate its headquarters outside of D.C., part of a larger plan to restructure the federal government’s real estate footprint. HUD Secretary Scott Turner, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and Michael Peters, commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service, said at a news conference that the agency will move 2,700 workers from a building in such a state of disrepair that the ceiling appears to be crumbling to a more modern building in the city of Alexandria.
HUD announces relocation to National Science Foundation building in Alexandria
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will relocate its headquarters to the National Science Foundation (NSF) building in Alexandria, displacing approximately 1,800 NSF employees over the next two years, officials announced Wednesday. HUD Secretary Scott Turner, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, and General Services Administration (GSA) Commissioner Michael Peters made the announcement at the NSF headquarters at 2415 Eisenhower Ave. on Wednesday (June 25), emphasizing taxpayer savings and improved working conditions for HUD employees.
Arlington’s controversial ‘missing middle’ housing policy to stay in place following court ruling
The controversial saga of the "missing middle" housing policy continues in Arlington after a Virginia appeals court reversed and kicked a case back down to the lower court. Ultimately, developers can tear down a single-family home and replace it with multi-family homes, all in an attempt to expand access to affordable housing in Arlington County. This latest court ruling reverses a block on the missing middle, allowing development of multi-unit buildings to proceed—at least for now. Some say the latest court ruling is a big win for affordable housing and developers. But critics assert that homes built under the missing middle are far from affordable.
Jones, Miyares trade blows in Virginia attorney general race
As November's election draws closer, the race for Virginia's attorney general is heating up, with incumbent Republican Jason Miyares and Democratic challenger Jay Jones, a former State House Delegate, engaged in a tough race. Both candidates are holding little back, exchanging critiques on qualifications, public safety, and political loyalties. "Look at his record in the General Assembly; he's one of the most left-wing legislators ever in the history of the Virginia legislature," Miyares said of his opponent.
Virginia appeals court says Arlington can end single-family-only zoning
An Arlington policy eliminating single-family-only zoning was effectively reinstated Tuesday by a Virginia panel of judges, who ruled that homeowners challenging the county over that effort in court should have also sued real estate developers who built projects under the zoning change. The ruling marks another development in a dizzying legal saga over the Northern Virginia county’s push for more “missing middle” housing, which is aimed at bringing more homes into a tight real estate market and eventually lowering costs in the expensive D.C. suburb.
Appeals Court puts Missing Middle back on the books in Arlington
Arlington’s Missing Middle zoning ordinance is back on the books, at least for the time being, following a ruling in the Virginia Court of Appeals. In the latest development in the dramatic legal battle over the county’s Expanded Housing Options (EHO), three appeals court judges issued a ruling yesterday (Tuesday) that reverses a circuit court decision declaring the zoning change void. The move sends the case back to the lower court for further review, according to court documents reviewed by ARLnow. The disposition doesn’t touch on the legal arguments at the heart of the lawsuit, which seeks to overturn an ordinance allowing for the development of multi-unit buildings in previously single-family neighborhoods.
Charles City County defers data center decision amid public outcry
Charles City County has again deferred a decision on a planned 500-acre data center campus. The county Board of Supervisors unanimously decided Tuesday to delay voting on the proposed Roxbury Technology Park, after previously postponing the decision in May. Kansas-based Diode Ventures first submitted plans for the park last November and is seeking to rezone around 515 acres about 20 miles due east of Richmond to allow for the campus.