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Lego announces plans for massive distribution center in Prince George

By JACK JACOBS, Richmond BizSense

As it pieces together a $1 billion factory in Chesterfield, Lego Group has another sizable build in the works in a neighboring county. The Danish toymaker announced plans this week to build a $366 million warehouse and distribution facility in the Crosspointe Business Centre in Prince George County. The 2 million-square-foot project would rise on a 200-plus-acre site at 8800 Wells Station Road, across from the former Rolls-Royce manufacturing facility.

VaNews May 9, 2025


Amid DOGE cuts, families struggle with bills, consider leaving D.C. area

By OLIVIA GEORGE, SCOTT CLEMENT AND EMILY GUSKIN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

There’s the fired federal contractor scrambling for a new job in his 60s and the meteorologist tightening his budget by eating more rice and beans. The nonprofit administrator who lies awake at night worried she’ll lose her grant funding and the masters student wondering what job prospects, if any, will exist upon graduation. As the Trump administration and the U.S. DOGE Service, which stands for the Department of Government Efficiency, wield a chain saw to the federal government, they’ve also yanked away the tablecloth upon which many in the D.C. region laid their lives.

VaNews May 9, 2025


Inside the 50-year battle between Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens

By ERIC KOLENICH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Kings Dominion sold funnel cakes with blue and white icing, resembling a birthday cake. When Busch Gardens Williamsburg hosts its 50th birthday bash Friday, it will offer 75-cent beer and free admission to anyone celebrating a 50th birthday during May. Virginia's two theme parks are turning 50 years old this month, and they've never stopped competing for guests. Dennis Speigel, Kings Dominion's first general manager, regards them as two of the best parks in the country. "It's always been a prize fight," Speigel said. "They're going after the same guy going down 95 and up 64."

VaNews May 9, 2025


Virginia teachers struggle to keep up as history guide rollout lags

By NATHANIEL CLINE, Virginia Mercury

Virginia teachers are still flying blind months into a new school year — trying to adapt to overhauled history standards without the full set of instructional guides the state promised to help them navigate the change. Since early April, the Virginia Department of Education has continued to publish its history instructional guides to help ​​prepare teachers to instruct students in the state’s updated history and social studies standards.

VaNews May 9, 2025


From ‘tariffs’ to hiring freeze, GOP-led Lynchburg council discusses ways to reduce taxes

By MARK HAND, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Lynchburg Republicans on city council are flexing their political muscle as they move toward adopting a budget for fiscal year 2026, with many of their proposals mirroring what President Donald Trump introduced in his first 100 days in office. From local forms of so-called tariffs to attacking the city bureaucracy to taking steps similar to Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, Republicans, who have a 6-1 majority on council, are identifying ways to scale back government in the Hill City and creatively fund the remaining operations.

VaNews May 9, 2025


Spotsylvania school board chair issues ‘first warning’ about decorum during public comment

By TAFT COGHILL JR., Fredericksburg Free Press

Spotsylvania County School Board Chair Megan Jackson issued a warning to public speakers via email earlier this week, stating that the board will strictly adhere to a recently-revised policy regarding decorum at meetings. “Due to increasing disruptive behaviors, we are reminding the community of our school board policy BDDH,” Jackson wrote in an email to parents. “This notice shall serve as an official first warning. If a second warning is warranted at a school board meeting, [the] violator will be told to leave immediately.”

VaNews May 9, 2025


Williamsburg-area school board halts middle school renaming

By JAMES W. ROBINSON, Virginia Gazette (Metered Paywall - 4 Articles per Month)

The Williamsburg-James City County School Board has tabled talks on renaming James Blair Middle School, but some board members say they hoped the issue would continue to encourage conversation. Tuesday’s decision to table came several months after a grassroots group called the school’s name into question, pointing out that Blair, a Scottish minister who founded William & Mary, was an enslaver who also advocated for slavery.

VaNews May 9, 2025


OSHA investigating Alexandria’s Parks and Rec department

By SABRINA MARTIN, Alexandria Times

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into the safety conditions of the City of Alexandria’s Department of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities. A safety complaint preceded the investigation that sent a handful of OSHA officials to RPCA’s administrative office on March 10. The initial OSHA complaint accused RPCA of falsifying a safety investigation, mishandling two near-accidents and stonewalling employee safety concerns, residents close to the situation said.

VaNews May 9, 2025


Lego to build $366M Prince George County warehouse

By KATHERINE SCHULTE, Virginia Business

The Lego Group will invest $366 million to build a 2 million-square-foot warehouse, expected to create 305 jobs, in Prince George County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the Danish toymaker announced Thursday. The warehouse and distribution center will be located at 8800 Wells Station Road in the county’s Crosspointe Business Centre, near a former Rolls-Royce facility that manufactured discs for aerospace engines. Construction on the facility will start later this year, and the company expects it to be operational in 2027, according to a Lego news release.

VaNews May 9, 2025


Kaine visits Danville amid uncertainty facing Southside economy

By SHANNON KELLY, Chatham Star Tribune

Senator Tim Kaine [D-VA] visited with business leaders at the Institute of Advanced Learning and Research in Danville on Tuesday, April 22, to discuss the economy, and hear concerns or questions businesses had specifically related to tariffs being threatened or imposed by the Trump administration – and, in some cases, the potential loss of anticipated federal funding. Some Danville manufacturers export goods outside of the country, and/or import materials from various nations around the world to use in their production processes. The threat of tariffs has caused no small amount of concern locally, and nationally ...

VaNews May 9, 2025