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Yancey: Federal judge in Roanoke has a new side hustle: Author of a young adult novel.
Like many writers, the author of a new novel that’s set in Virginia has a day job to support his writing habit. In the case of “Charlie-Man,” a young adult novel coming out this summer, the author’s day job is one of the hardest gigs in the country to land: Thomas Cullen is a federal judge. Virginia is no stranger to judges who are also authors. J. Harvie Wilkinson III, who sits on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, has written six books, three of those after he ascended to the bench from the law school faculty at the University of Virginia.
Kroger building $40 million store on Mechanicsville Turnpike
Grocery store chain Kroger broke ground Thursday on a long-planned, $40 million store on Mechanicsville Turnpike. The 123,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace will sell clothing and feature a Starbucks, pharmacy, 18-pump gas station and more than 500 parking spots. It will also feature almost 10,000 square feet for retail shops adjacent to the grocery store. The new location, at Mechanicsville Turnpike and Compass Point Lane, will replace a smaller store just up the road in the Creighton Crossing shopping center. . . . The new location will have 300 employees, about twice as many as the closing store.
Fairfax leaders angered at being left out of funding for future Va. transportation projects
Fairfax County leaders believe they and other Northern Virginia leaders are getting an unfair deal when it comes to state transportation funding. The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday (May 13) to send a letter to Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sheppard Miller III, expressing concern about being passed over in the latest round of “Smart Scale” funding for transportation improvements. The state program allows localities to submit proposals, which are then scored to see how they meet designated criteria. Final approval is given by the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB).
Richmond mayor has ‘no appetite’ to pursue $56M from failed VCU Health deal
Richmond Mayor Danny Avula has “no appetite” to sue over nearly $56 million the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System agreed to pay the city for a failed development project. But that’s where things stand now, and a lawsuit isn’t entirely off the table, Avula spokeswoman Mira Signer told VPM News. “He has no appetite pursuing a lawsuit at this point. It’s not dead," Signer said about Avula’s intentions during a phone call last week. “At this point, he is interested in finding places where they can co-invest.”
Meet the two Democrats running in the primary for Virginia Attorney General
In Virginia’s attorney general race, Democratic voters have two candidates to choose from, former state Del. Jay Jones, in his second primary bid for the role, and longtime Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor. Virginia has an election every year, and this is a big one: this fall, voters will pick the next occupants of the three statewide offices — governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general — as well as all 100 seats in the House of Delegates.
Virginia gubernatorial hopefuls share their housing ideas as commonwealth struggles with supply
Virginia’s housing problems, like the nation’s, date back to the 2008 financial crisis. The influx of homes created a bubble that burst and saw foreclosures at record rates. Developers have been reluctant to ramp up home construction ever since. Only now is the U.S. starting to reach pre-2008 levels of new construction for privately owned housing. Virginia is smack dab in the middle of the national average for such new construction, according to real estate industry trackers Construction Coverage. Their lead data analyst Michael Stromberg said incentives to build lean towards new luxury homes.
Youngkin signs bipartisan child welfare reforms and sets new goals for foster care
Katie Jones was 11 the last time she saw her childhood home, where her father, an alcoholic, stayed between jail stints and her mother struggled with heroin addiction. One day after school, just moments after she had settled in with a bag of chips and her homework, police and social services workers pulled up outside. Within minutes, Jones and her five siblings were loaded into vehicles, separated from each other, and plunged into the foster care system — an experience that would shuffle her through five homes, three schools, and years of uncertainty before she aged out at 18, never adopted.
Virginia education department violated procurement rules in extending $83M contract
The former leadership at the Virginia Department of Education failed to follow state procurement rules when it extended a major student assessment contract worth nearly $83 million, according to a finding by the Office of the State Inspector General. The state’s contract with the education company Pearson is one of the biggest and most politically sensitive in state government. It includes work to develop, administer, score and report statewide students’ assessments, including the Standards of Learning tests.
Chesapeake’s Planning Commission says no to data center proposal
The Chesapeake Planning Commission recommended the City Council deny a rezoning request for a major data center project. Citing a lack of information on key questions like water usage and noise, the commission voted 6-1 against the project. The lone vote against denying approval was commissioner Michael Malone, who instead put a motion forward to delay the vote for 120 days to get answers to those questions.
Charlottesville teachers demand UVa turn down Federal Executive Institute
It's town versus gown. Things got off to a rocky start when the University of Virginia was founded in 1819. But for the better part of the past century, UVa and the city of Charlottesville have enjoyed a civil relationship in the 10-square-mile patch of land in the shadow of university founder Thomas Jefferson's Monticello estate. For decades, city residents have shrugged off grievances over the university's growing appetite for land and development. . . . But some residents have reached a breaking point.