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USDA Staffing and Funding Cuts Would Threaten Virginia’s Ability to Reach Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Goals
Lee Good grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania and raises cows, calfs, crops and hay on about 200 acres in the foothills of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Good, 55, previously farmed as a hobby but now makes his living in Rockingham County, the top contributor to the state’s top private industry—agriculture. He cares about clean water and air while still being profitable, and he wants to protect the environment in both his local community and the Chesapeake Bay at the other end of the state, which recreators, crabbers and fishermen all rely on.
Poll: Amid rising costs, Republican and Democratic voters value Va.’s colleges and universities
An overwhelming majority of voters are proud of Virginia’s colleges and universities and feel they are equipping young people to succeed, even as, across the country, frustrations mount due to rapidly shifting federal education systems and rising tuition costs. According to poll results released by Virginia Business Higher Education Council (VBHEC), 90% of respondents both Democrats and Republicans in Virginia are proud of the colleges and universities in the commonwealth because they see a “strong connection” between the work on Virginia’s campuses, the prospects for the state’s economy to grow and for young people to succeed in the job market.
Metro’s automated train expansion delayed over safety concerns, says oversight commission
The commission that has federally granted oversight of Metrorail on safety said Tuesday afternoon it is still not ready to allow Metro to expand its use of automated trains. Officials with the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (WMSC) said they still have too many safety concerns to allow Metro to increase its use of train autopilot features. But they added that they are working with Metro to get to a point where the transit agency will be allowed to use more automation.
Green Recycle in Pittsylvania to create 28 jobs; QualiChem in Salem to add 12
A plastics recycling startup will invest $4.3 million and create 28 jobs in Pittsylvania County, the governor’s office announced Tuesday. Green Recycle USA LLC will turn industrial plastic waste into raw material to be used in new products by manufacturers in a variety of industries, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a news release. ... A Salem-based producer of fluids used in fabricating metal components will invest $9 million to expand in the city, creating 12 jobs, the governor’s office announced Tuesday. QualiChem Inc.’s products include oils, coolants, rust preventatives and cleaners used in the aerospace, medical and automotive industries, among others.
Pulaski company’s $1.3 million poultry poop proposition
A Pulaski County company stands to earn $1.3 million in a state program to keep pollution out of the Chesapeake Bay. The target: chicken poop. MOVA Technologies is one of nine Virginia businesses chosen for the Department of Environmental Quality’s $19 million grant program, called Pay-For-Outcomes Nonpoint Source Pollution Reduction, according to a DEQ news release. MOVA will begin testing its poultry air purification system later this year in Rockingham County, at a poultry house near the Shenandoah River, company spokesman Luke Allison said. Commercial demonstrations will begin next year. Ultimately, the system will help both farmers and MOVA make a profit, he said.
New Virginia law requires all car passengers to wear seatbelts on highways
It's a major win for a grieving Virginia mother who says her son lost his life because he wasn't wearing a seat belt. After years of advocacy work and asking lawmakers to listen, the "Christopher King Seat Belt Law," also known as HB2475, will go into effect July 1. The law requires every adult riding in a car on a public highway to wear a seat belt, even in the back seat. Current law only requires adults in the front seat to wear a seat belt. . . . The Christopher King Seat Belt Law is still considered a secondary law, meaning police cannot stop a driver for not wearing a seat belt. Police can, however, issue a $25 fine for not wearing a seat belt if a driver is stopped for something else.
Virginia GOP embraced a diverse ticket in this year’s elections. Then things got complicated
Republicans engaged in scrubbing the federal government of diversity, equity and inclusion programs are fielding a historically diverse ticket in Virginia in one of the only states holding elections this year. Those two things aren’t inherently incompatible, and some experts say nominating diverse candidates could reinforce the argument that officeholders should be chosen on merit. But in the shadow of Washington, where President Donald Trump’s push to stamp out DEI programs has caused turmoil at colleges, businesses and throughout the federal government, things have gotten complicated.
Yancey: Is Fairfax County gaining population or losing population? Here’s why two estimates differ.
In the famous quantum mechanics thought experiment known as Schrödinger’s Cat, the question concerns the status of a feline in a box with a flask of poison and something radioactive: Under some quantum theories, the cat is both alive and dead at the same time. Fairfax County is Virginia’s Schrödinger’s Cat. In the annual population estimates from the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, the state’s largest locality is losing population. In the latest population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, it’s gaining population. So which is it?
Yancey: Former Del. Barnie Day, known as ‘Virginia’s Mark Twain,’ dies
Sometimes on winter mornings, Barnie Day would wake up and find a freshly killed deer hanging in his barn in Patrick County. He often had no idea who had left it, but that’s not what mattered. What mattered is that the hunters who hauled their kill to Day’s barn knew that he’d know what to do with it. “They knew Barnie would know who didn’t have meat in his refrigerator, so Barnie would call around and see who needed venison,” says Jack Betts, Day’s friend and former neighbor. Day died Monday at age 72. Those who follow Virginia politics might remember Day from his brief stint in the House of Delegates more than a quarter-century ago, during which he made such a name for himself as an orator that he was mentioned as a possible candidate for lieutenant governor.
Amazon to open giant warehouse in Goochland County
Retail giant Amazon broke ground Wednesday on a massive, 3.1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Goochland County. It will be the 10th Amazon facility in Greater Richmond, feature robotic operations and create more than 1,000 jobs, the company said. Amazon is building the warehouse at 2022 Ashland Road, near two dozen other industrial business locations. Expected to open in 2027, it will be the largest Amazon facility in greater Richmond and the second largest in the state, following Suffolk.