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Private meeting spurs new collaboration involving Virginia Tech and surrounding towns
Virginia Tech is signaling its intentions to take a more active role in infrastructure planning for the New River Valley. University representatives, as well as those from Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Christiansburg and the New River Valley Regional Commission, came together in a recent private meeting, and it was then announced that a new initiative to jointly plan for the future of the region is starting. … The announcement comes after Blacksburg Mayor Leslie Hager-Smith said in January that the Virginia Tech needs to take more accountability for the pressure its growth is putting on the town.
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.
GOP candidates campaign in Lynchburg ahead of U.S. Senate primary
With the upcoming primary in June, Republican U.S. Senate candidates are hitting the campaign trail. Two of the five running, Chuck Smith and Eddie Garcia, came to a veteran event in Lynchburg. Incumbent Senator Tim Kaine is the only Democratic candidate in the race.
Fauquier County planning commission greenlights 93-acre solar farm near Bealeton
A 93-acre solar farm proposed for southern Fauquier County has cleared a hurdle that tripped up similar projects before it. The Bealeton Solar Center — a utility-scale solar farm halfway between Bealeton and Remington — got a boost last week when the county planning commission decided unanimously that it aligns with the county’s comprehensive plan.
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.
Amazon buys former Parsons Farm for $218 million for first mid-county data center complex in Prince William
It’s official: Data centers are moving into Prince William County’s mid-county. Amazon has purchased the former Parsons Farm landscaping outlet and the surrounding acreage for $218 million. The sale, first reported earlier this week by the Washington Business Journal, confirms the fears nearby residents expressed at public hearings before the Prince William County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors earlier this year: that concrete buildings up to 85 feet tall would soon be on the horizon for sleepy Independent Hill.
What’s to become of the keepsakes left at Arlington Cemetery?
During one of their winter visits to Arlington National Cemetery, Mark and Nancy Umbrell placed a colorful patchwork quilt beside their son Colby’s grave. It had arrived in the mail years earlier from a sender they did not know after the 26-year-old’s 2007 death in Iraq. They had observed other visitors leaving mementos, a gesture that felt to them like a fitting way to both honor the fallen Army officer and thank the quilt maker whose kindness meant so much in their moment of grief, Nancy Umbrell said.
Virginia went all in on solar. Then its powerful utility changed the rules.
Four years ago, Fairfax County announced a landmark clean energy plan to install solar panels on more than 100 buildings including schools, community centers and government facilities. But progress on that goal — which the county estimated would save $60 million in utility costs over 25 years — has stalled after the state’s biggest utility imposed expensive grid connection requirements that solar proponents say make those midsize projects not viable. Fairfax had completed six projects before Dominion Energy changed the requirements for midsize solar in December 2022. Since then, the county has downsized two projects to fall below the requirements’ parameters, while five others — including a police station, stormwater complex and library — are on hold.
UVa student panel: The significance of college counselors and how Virginia falls short
In 1954, ruling on the case of Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court asserted that “education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments.” While this case dealt with racial segregation in schools, it upheld the notion that all children should have the opportunity to pursue an education “on all equal terms.” Over the past 70 years, the nature of education has changed, with college degrees now required to pursue many careers. Across the nation, and in many of Virginia’s public schools, there is a lack of adequate college counseling and preparatory resources.
Schapiro: For Levar Stoney, do more opponents mean more opportunities?
The day after announcing that the city of Richmond had, for the first time, received Wall Street’s highest-possible credit rating — triple-A, a distinction that speaks to the strength of the local economy and could save taxpayers millions of dollars in interest on debt-backed bonds for a glittery replacement to the Diamond baseball park — Mayor Levar Stoney traveled to Bristol, in the rural southwestern corner of Virginia, where jobs are scarce and Democrats scarcer. Appearing with a political pal, former Mayor Neal Osborne, the trip was an exercise in self-promotion by Stoney, who — concluding that he would lose a one-on-one fight for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger — is now running for lieutenant governor ...