Search
Fairfax Co. schools staff eligible for maternity, paternity leave benefits starting this summer
Fairfax County Public Schools teachers and staff will be eligible to get maternity or paternity leave starting July 1. School Board Member Melanie Meren said Virginia’s largest school district is expected to learn more details about the county’s program this summer. Information on human resources-related matters is usually shared in July, she said. … The maternity and paternity leave, Meren said, gives the district an added recruitment advantage.
Stoney talks economy, education during visit to Bristol
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said residents of Southwest Virginia have more in common with residents of the capital city than one might think. Stoney, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in the 2025 general election, visited Bristol and Abingdon last Friday. A former Secretary of the Commonwealth under Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Stoney also served as head of the state Democratic party.
Tobacco Commission approves $500,000 for Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill
The Virginia Tobacco Commission voted to approve a $500,000 grant toward engineering and design of an improved natural gas gate at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill in Pittsylvania County. The commission approved the grant during its meeting Wednesday in Ewing in southwest Virginia. "Prospect interest in the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill makes it imperative that engineering design for the natural gas gate to proceed so that the required gas gate infrastructure can be constructed to provide natural gas service to the property," according to staff comments on the commission agenda.
Data center boom takes central Virginia by storm with recent large-scale project approvals
Virginia is talking world domination — at least, when it comes to data centers. According to the Virginia Economic Development Project, the state hosts about 35% of the world’s hyperscale data center market, with the majority of those sites located in Northern Virginia. Now, all eyes on Central Virginia as it follows suit. If it feels like you’re hearing about new plans or proposals for data centers in the region almost every couple of weeks, that’s probably because you are.
Opinions vary on proposed solar program in Washington County
County officials and residents of Washington County, Virginia, [last] week began discussing the pros and cons of a proposed large-scale solar energy project. Texas-based Catalyst Energy has proposed placing solar panels on as much as 1,800 acres to collect supplemental energy and sell power to the electricity grid. … Catalyst is interested in coming to Washington County because of proximity to Wolf Hills Energy, a natural gas-fired power plant located near the county’s western border with the city of Bristol Virginia, said County Administrator Jason Berry.
VPAP Visual Congressional Primaries by Year
While the overall number of congressional primaries remains steady, this year has the fewest contested Republican primaries since VPAP began tracking them in 2012, with only three districts holding Republican contests this year.
For the first time, all of these nomination contests will be state-run primaries. In past years, many districts used party-run conventions or firehouse primaries to choose their nominees. But a new law effectively requires a state-run primary by mandating that the method of nomination allows all eligible voters to participate, including active-duty service members and students attending out-of-state universities.
How Florida’s abortion law is affecting East Coast abortion clinics
Clinics up the East Coast have seen a surge in patient traffic since a law banning most abortions in Florida went into effect on May 1 — but so far they have not experienced the collapse in care that many providers had feared before the new restrictions began in the country’s third most populous state, according to new data collected by a research team at Middlebury College. Wait times for abortion appointments have increased at approximately 30 percent of clinics across North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., the areas closest to Florida where abortion remains legal after six weeks of pregnancy, according to the data, which is based on a survey of clinics before and after the law went into effect.
Shucet: HRBT tunnel ‘breakthrough’ and a Hidden Figure’s legacy
Bryan Jackson passed the island every day when he lived in Hampton and worked at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard as a sandblaster. The island looked small to him. “I always wanted to be on that little island,” he said. On April 17, Jackson gave up a day’s pay, $400, to be on the island — the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel’s north island. … Being on the island that day was a bonus for Jackson. He was invited there to see Mary the Tunnel Boring Machine complete the first leg of her journey. … Decades earlier, another Jackson made a breakthrough not far from this island. Jackson’s grandmother was Mary Jackson, the first Black female engineer at NASA. The tunnel boring machine is named for her.
Grand Contraband Camp in Hampton listed among the state’s most endangered historic sites
The Grand Contraband Camp — a place that provided a sanctuary for thousands of enslaved individuals seeking refuge behind Union lines during the Civil War — is listed this year among the state’s most endangered historic places. … In May 1861, shortly after Virginia seceded from the Union, three enslaved men working on a Confederate fortification in Norfolk — Frank Baker, James Townsend and Sheppard Mallory — appeared at the gates of Fort Monroe and asked for sanctuary. When a Southern officer demanded their return under the Fugitive Slave Act, which declared all citizens must turn in runaway slaves even if they lived in free states, Union Gen. Benjamin Butler refused, calling them “contrabands of war.”
After ‘whites only’ job posting, Va. technology company hit with fine from the Justice Department
A tech company based in Loudoun County, Virginia, has been fined by the Department of Justice after it advertised that it was seeking “white” candidates for an open job posting. The job posting by Ashburn-based Arthur Grand Technologies Inc. was published in March 2023 and said that the company was only looking for “U.S. Born Citizens [white] who are local within 60 miles from Dallas, TX [Don’t share with candidates],” according to a Justice Department news release.