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State review of failed Richmond development calls for changes at VCU Health

By JONATHAN SPIERS, Richmond BizSense

A year after a Richmond BizSense report revealed that backing out of an ill-fated downtown development cost VCU Health $80 million and counting, a state review is calling for significant changes to the health system’s leadership structure. At a meeting Wednesday of the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission, the oversight agency of the Virginia General Assembly, JLARC staff presented the findings and recommendations from a monthslong study of VCU Health aimed at improving the health system’s governance and process for reviewing and approving capital projects.

VaNews June 6, 2024


Youngkin moves to lift Virginia’s strict auto emissions standards

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

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said Wednesday that he will withdraw the state from participation in California’s tough auto emissions standards at the end of this year, citing an opinion from Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares (R) as justification for undoing an action taken by the General Assembly but causing Democrats to accuse him of overreach.

VaNews June 6, 2024


Youngkin pulling Virginia out of clean car emission standards mandate

By TREVOR METCALFE, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Wednesday his administration will withdraw Virginia from a plan to follow strict car emissions standards set by California. The move, which will take effect when current standards expire at the end of 2024, drew applause from gasoline and auto dealer trade groups and condemnation from Virginia Democrats and environmental groups, who said the administration was overstepping its authority. In an announcement, Youngkin said Virginia will not follow new California rules set to take effect in 2025, which mandate all new cars, trucks and SUVs sold in the state to run on electricity or hydrogen by 2035.

VaNews June 6, 2024


Against backdrop of car dealership, Youngkin announces reversal of California-driven electric-car sale rules

By BILL ATKINSON, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 10 articles a month)

Saying he was “unleashing the power” of Virginia consumers, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he planned to do away with a California-driven initiative requiring that a percentage of vehicle purchases in the state be electrically-powered cars by the end of the year. “We are ending once and for all the California Electric Vehicle Mandate in Virginia,” Youngkin said to thunderous applause Wednesday afternoon in an appearance at Loyalty Toyota.

VaNews June 6, 2024


Yancey: Dwight Eisenhower’s mother grew up in Augusta County, but no historical marker remembers her

By DWAYNE YANCEY, Cardinal News

Eighty years ago Thursday morning, Americans woke up to the news that Allied forces had crossed the English Channel and were fighting on the beaches of Normandy — the day we now remember simply as D-Day. The first indications came shortly after midnight Eastern time, from a suspicious source: German radio. American news organizations were rightly skeptical until 3:32 a.m. — 9:32 a.m. at the landing sites — when radio stations interrupted their programming to bring a message from Col. Richard Dupuy … By then, the fighting was three hours old, and many of the Virginians who were in those first waves were already dead or dying — but the liberation of Europe had begun.

VaNews June 6, 2024


Casey: Reps. Griffith, Cline question Dr. Anthony Fauci and Attorney General Merrick Garland

By DAN CASEY, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Did you catch representatives from Western Virginia shining in some congressional hearings earlier this week? Those would be Reps. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, and Ben Cline, R-Botetourt. OK, “shining” might not be the most accurate descriptor for Cline, R-Fincastle and Griffith. But hey, each got exposure and some of the limelight. That ought to be worth something, right? Cline and Griffith aren’t exactly household names beyond Front Royal and Big Stone Gap, respectively.

VaNews June 6, 2024


State air board adopts federal particulate matter standards

By PATRICK LARSEN, VPM

The Virginia Air Pollution Control Board voted to adopt federal standards for fine particulate matter found in wildfire smoke on Tuesday. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized new National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM 2.5 — particles smaller than 2.5 microns. … Karen Sabasteanski, a Department of Environmental Quality policy analyst, told members of the air board that Virginia localities are already in compliance with the standards, meaning new emissions controls won’t be needed when the rules take effect this summer. “Compared to the rest of the country, we’re in good shape,” Sabasteanski said.

VaNews June 6, 2024


Hard Rock Bristol casino pushes back opening timeline

By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

The partners behind Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol on Wednesday announced an extension of the grand opening timeline for the permanent casino resort to “late fall” of this year. The casino was originally expected to open in July with the luxury hotel and other components later in the year. Instead of opening the permanent casino in stages beginning in July, the partnership team now plans to have a grand opening later this year with a fully operational casino and amenities for an overall better guest experience, according to a written statement.

VaNews June 6, 2024


Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office turns off all comments on social media channels

By EVAN GOODENOW, Loudoun Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has turned off comments on its social media posts. “Our goal is to ensure that the LCSO social media platforms are informative and welcoming and that all members of our community feel respected and safe when they visit,” said a May 31 LCSO post explaining the change. “We will continue to provide information that is relevant, accurate, and timely related to law enforcement matters, public safety, community outreach, and agency news.” ... The agency’s Facebook posts regularly received dozens — and sometimes hundreds — of comments, and Julia said some were “inflammatory.”

VaNews June 6, 2024


Virginia man’s brothers died in WWII, but French admirers keep their memory alive

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

Donald Stevens couldn’t make it to Normandy this year for the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday, but he considers his spirit to be there anyway. It’s there with his brother Paul, killed two weeks after landing at Omaha Beach in the Allied invasion. And it’s there with another brother, Bill, killed nearly a year later in Germany as the war neared its end. Donald Stevens, now 97, was the youngest of the three. When he became the sole survivor on active duty, the military told the teenage seaman second class to go home to prevent more deaths in one family. He refused and wound up relegated to a dead-end assignment in Philadelphia, angry and bereft.

VaNews June 6, 2024