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Developers behind mid-county data center project donated tens of thousands to key Prince William supervisors
The developer and landowners involved in the controversial Mid-County Industrial Park, which could bring three, 90-foot-tall data centers just north of Va. 234 and Minnieville Road, have put tens of thousands of dollars into the campaign coffers of three key supervisors in the past year, according to available campaign finance reports. Supervisors Yesli Vega, Margaret Franklin and Andrea Bailey benefited from more than $70,000 collectively from developers and landowners associated with the project.
School division’s legal bills for lawsuit against Bedford County parent reach almost $30,000
Bedford County Public Schools has spent nearly $30,000 on a lawsuit against a parent that was filed in March. The suit was filed during a period when the school board has been closely examining the division’s expenditures, and it has drawn attention because several school board members have said it was filed without their authorization. The school board sued David Rife for damages of $600,000 in late March, alleging he used crude language and threatened police and legal action during repeated calls to the school district about his son.
Democrats smell blood amid vicious GOP primary battle in the 5th District
Crozet resident Paul Riley, an intelligence analyst and U.S. Army veteran, faces Gary Terry, also a veteran and engineer from Danville, and Gloria Witt, a businesswoman and community activist from Amherst County, in the June 18 Democratic primary election. All three are political newcomers. But unlike the bitterly fought contest between incumbent Rep. Bob Good, R-Campbell County, and his challenger, state Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland County, the Democratic nomination contest in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District has been mostly muted, and if the recent candidate forums in Danville and Arrington are an indication, quite civil.
Virginia crab management committee requests opening winter season for dredging
The 2024 Bay-wide Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey revealed last week shows the crustaceans are still below desired population levels, as the state’s Marine Resources Commission considers a request to maintain the same crabbing regulations in Virginia and opening a winter dredge season. The VMRC Crab Management Advisory Committee voted last Wednesday afternoon to have the larger body consider allowing catches past December at its June meeting. Currently, crabbing is only allowed between March through the middle of December in Virginia. The state had a winter dredging season up until 2008, when it was closed down following population lows that necessitated an emergency declaration.
Fare-free bus service coming to Loudoun Co. in 2025; commuter bus fares to D.C. to rise
Local bus services in Loudoun County, Virginia will be free starting in 2025, as the county tries to harness the power of Metro’s Silver Line, and ensure low income, elderly and disabled residents have options for navigating the fast-growing county. However, fares will go up on the county’s commuter bus service to downtown D.C., the Pentagon, Rosslyn and Crystal City.
Yancey: Former state Sen. Chap Petersen takes on his party over pandemic restrictions (again)
Cabo Fish Taco, a popular eatery in the Roanoke and New River valleys, has closed its downtown Roanoke location and begun a search for a new location elsewhere in Roanoke or Salem. In a statement posted on Facebook, the restaurant said: “Unfortunately, Downtown Roanoke has not been completely able to recover after the pandemic, forcing a lot of local businesses to make heartbreaking decisions.” It also went on to cite “staffing issues,” which we all know have become more acute since the pandemic. This is but one example of how the COVID-19 pandemic — with its business shutdowns, its stay-at-home orders, its shift to remote work — has altered the shape of American life long after people have ditched their masks.
Dozens rally in Reston against Virginia’s ‘unchecked’ expansion of data centers
More than 70 people rallied outside a data center in Reston on Sunday against data center expansion demonstrators are calling “harmful” and “unchecked.” “The data center industry is tricky and well-funded,” Alexandria resident Tyler Ray said into a megaphone during the afternoon rally. A data center and electrical substation are set to be built less than 250 feet from some residences in Ray’s housing development, he told 7News. Because the project proposal is permitted “by right,” it can be built without a public hearing if the developer follows county regulations and doesn’t request any special exceptions.
Republican U.S. Senate candidates in Virginia primary discuss national issues in Appomattox
At the Appomattox Community Center last month, Jonathan Emord and Scott Parkinson, Republican candidates running for the U.S. Senate in the Virginia primary, discussed hot topics such as abortion, domestic security and the national budget. Emord is a constitutional law and litigation expert from Clifton, and Parkinson is from Arlington and has multiple experiences working for the Republican Party. According to his campaign website, Parkinson worked as Ron DeSantis’ chief of staff during his campaign for Florida governor in 2018. ... The other three Republican candidates are Hung Cao, Chuck Smith and Eddie Garcia.
Palm: On SB 237 and the morning-after pill
Did you catch the article about the bills Gov. Glenn Youngkin has vetoed? I did. He has set a dubious record by vetoing 201 bills to date. That’s more in one year than other governors have racked up in four years. (“Youngkin kills contraception rights bills,” May 21, 2024). I’m especially concerned about Youngkin’s veto of Senate Bill 237, which would have guaranteed the right to contraception. The problem is the bill contains “no conscience clause protections.” That’s what Youngkin objects to.
’Not one life lost in vain’: Families of Bedford Boys who fought at D-Day remember soldiers’ sacrifices
When John Boggess was growing up in Bedford County, his uncles Bedford and Raymond Hoback were pictures on the mantle. “We knew they died on D-Day and that was kind of it, because no one talked about it,” said Boggess, whose mother Lucille was the Hoback brothers’ younger sister. “The survivors didn’t talk about it, the family members of those who died didn’t talk about it.” The knowledge of the town of Bedford suffering massive casualties during the D-Day invasion was commonly known in the county, but it didn’t draw conversation, Boggess said.