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Two Democrats vying to run against Wittman in 1st District
Businessman Herb Jones and attorney Leslie Mehta are vying for the Democratic nomination in the 1st Congressional District. The winner of the June 18 primary will face Republican incumbent Rob Wittman in the general election. Wittman has held the U.S. House of Representatives seat since 2007. The district includes portions of suburban Richmond down through York and James City counties, Williamsburg and Poquoson. Jones previously served three terms as treasurer of New Kent County. Mehta has not held elected office.
Judge dismisses legal challenge to Diamond District financing in Richmond
A lawsuit challenging Richmond’s new approach to financing the Diamond District project was dismissed in court Friday, seemingly clearing the way for the city to move forward with issuing bonds for the ballpark-anchored development. After hearing arguments for about an hour Friday, Circuit Judge W. Reilly Marchant tossed out the complaint from local activist Paul Goldman, who alleged that his rights to petition for a referendum of city voters to weigh in on the change were unfairly burdened due to an unclear process in the city’s charter.
Ferrum College president remains hopeful Virginia will consider lab school application
Ferrum College’s hopes for creating a specialized laboratory school have ended after months of discussions with state leaders, but the college’s president is still holding out for a different outcome. According to documents from the Virginia Department of Education, the private institution in Southwest Virginia joins more than a dozen institutions that are not being considered, some of which have withdrawn their applications including Eastern Shore Community College, Southside Virginia Community College, Hampton University and the University of Lynchburg.
Mountain Valley Pipeline project in limbo
The Mountain Valley Pipeline remains in limbo, without a concrete in-service date. A May 21 filing with federal regulators said the developers of the pipeline project were aiming for an “early June” start to operations, after having previously sought authorization to go into service on May 31. “We continue to complete testing and to satisfy all legal and regulatory requirements necessary for the project to enter service,” said Natalie Cox, director of communications and corporate affairs for MVP developer Equitrans Midstream.
Appalachian Power seeks to lower transmission rate for customers
Appalachian Power this week filed a request with the Virginia State Corporation Commission to lower the electric transmission cost for customers, the power company announced Friday. The transmission rate adjustment clause, known as the T-RAC, is the portion of a customer’s bill that recovers costs for transmission services, fees and new construction. ... If approved by the commission, the change would decrease the monthly bill for a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours by $2.12, according to the release.
State OKs Central Virginia Electric Cooperative rate increase
State regulators have given Central Virginia Electric Cooperative approval to increase its rates starting Wednesday. The monthly bill of an average residential customer using 1,160 kilowatt-hours will go up $8.48, or 4.54%, to $199.10. CVEC last raised rates in October by $3.39 per month for an average residential customer. The last time it had an increase significant enough to require approval from state regulators was in 2018.
Youngkin dedicates Culpeper Battlefields State Park
A decades-long effort was commemorated on Saturday with an official ribbon cutting by Gov. Glenn Youngkin at Virginia’s newest state park, Culpeper Battlefields State Park, which will eventually grow to span 2,200 acres. “These preserved battlefields and lands not only connect us to our past, but they inspire us as we walk forward into our future,” Youngkin told the roughly 100 guests during the dedication ceremony. “And of course, this place must be grounded in preservation and education.”
Appeals court denies new trial to National Guardsman pepper-sprayed by Windsor police
When Windsor Police Officer Daniel Crocker attempted to open the driver’s-side door of Virginia National Guard 1st Lt. Caron Nazario’s Chevrolet Tahoe three years ago after pulling him over, Nazario used his elbow to keep the door shut. That act, combined with Nazario’s prior statements to Crocker and ex-officer Joe Gutierrez about refusing to exit the car, was key to a panel of three federal appellate court judges upholding a Richmond jury’s 2023 verdict awarding Nazario well below the $1 million-plus in damages he’d sought.
Va. legislature sees no short-term fix for congestion on I-81
Western Virginia’s rolling terrain and high level of truck traffic make it a tough nut for Virginia’s traffic gurus to crack. The I-81 corridor improvement program, passed by legislators following a study in 2018, is on track to address some of the issues, but not before inflation and other hold ups add a billion and a half dollars and two years to the project’s timeline. One proposal to address the issue was a public private partnership that would implement tolls. But at a recent meeting of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, or JLARC, analyst Kate Hopkins said conditions along the highway make tolls unfeasible.
Yancey: 5 more questions about the 5th District Republican primary
We are now just eight days away from the increasingly nasty Republican primary in the 5th Congressional District where Rep. Bob Good, R-Campbell County, faces a challenge from state Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland County. Someday we may look back on this as an epic election. Of course, some of that depends on how it turns out. It’s unusual in Virginia for an incumbent member of Congress to be denied renomination. Good knows this well: He was the one who ousted Denver Riggleman in 2020 after Riggleman had presided over a same-sex wedding. That came in a convention, where party activists hold more sway than in the larger electorate of a state-run primary.