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Sewage Sludge Fertilizer From Maryland? Virginians Say No Thanks.
In 2023, sewage plants in Maryland started to make a troubling discovery. Harmful “forever chemicals” were contaminating the state’s sewage, much of which is turned into fertilizer and spread on farmland. To protect its food and drinking water, Maryland has started restricting the use of fertilizer made from sewage sludge. At the same time, a major sludge-fertilizer maker, Synagro, has been applying for permits to use more of it across the state border, on farms in Virginia. A coalition of environmentalists, fishing groups and some farmers are fighting that effort. They say the contamination threatens to poison farmland and vulnerable waterways that feed the Potomac River.
D.C.-area economy starts to show deep impacts of federal spending cuts
The D.C. region’s economy is teetering on the edge of a painful slump, experts warn, as the Trump administration’s spending cuts, including the elimination of thousands of federal jobs, take their toll on an area that was already struggling to recover from the impacts of the pandemic. ... In Fairfax County, Virginia, unemployment jumped from 2.2 percent in December to 3.2 percent in March. “And we haven’t seen the worst of it yet,” said Jeff McKay, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, noting the lagging data. McKay said this economic crisis is probably the worst he has seen in 18 years on the board. “It’s neck and neck with covid,” he said. “I think it’s worse than covid because we’re not going to get any help.”
Port of Virginia CEO says port should endure Chinese tariffs better than most
Port of Virginia CEO Stephen Edwards said the port is a “blueprint” for the future of the supply chain and will be able to weather the ongoing trade war with China better than others in the nation. New tariffs will certainly affect Virginia’s port, but Edwards doesn’t expect major changes as a result. “We’re in the somewhat fortunate position of being the least-exposed major U.S. port on trade with China,” Edwards told government and industry leaders at the Virginia Beach Marriott Thursday. About 19% of the port’s business comes from China. It’s the port’s second-largest trading partner after the European Union.
Youngkin’s signature sets stage for Virginia health insurance to cover IVF treatment in the future
A bill that can help people start and grow their families through fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization will become law, after Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed it along with several other measures he initially tried to amend. House Bill 1609 by Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, will require the Health Insurance Reform Commission (HIRC) to consider coverage for diagnosis and treatment of infertility and procedures like IVF in its 2025 review of essential health benefits covered by health insurance.
Warner calls for Hegseth to resign following loss of F/A-18s
Virginia U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine are expressing concern and frustration over the loss of well over $100 million in taxpayer money and military equipment in three recent F/A-18 fighter jets on the Norfolk-based USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier. ... As News 3 has reported, according to the Navy the first of the three fighter jets was accidentally shot down by one of the Truman Carrier Strike Group’s own destroyers. The second jet slid out of the carrier’s hangar bay as it was being towed and the third jet slid off after the system set up to stop jets after they land failed when the jet landed. Warner said the U.S. needs a new secretary of defense.
Vick: To protect workers, protect freedom of choice
One of the most cherished rights of all Americans is the freedom of association — the freedom to participate in those activities which align with our personal goals and values, and the freedom to not be forced into groups which oppose them. That concept originated with our founding fathers who saw coercion — whether in religion, party or any other affiliation — as an anathema to the natural rights of a free people in a free society. . . . Considerable attention has been paid to Virginia’s right-to-work law in recent weeks. Virginians deserve a clear understanding of what right-to-work is, and what it is not.
Lee Enterprises says cybersecurity incident cost millions
Newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises has recovered from a cybersecurity incident that began in February and cost the company millions of dollars, the company’s chief executive said Thursday. Kevin Mowbray, Lee’s president and CEO, said in a news release that the company incurred $2 million in “restoration costs” related to the incident during the second quarter, which for Lee runs from Jan. 1 through the end of March. It also suffered lower advertising and subscription revenue because products were limited or unavailable.
Friday Read How One Woman Saved the Outer Banks From Impending Development 50 Years Ago
In August 1973, three children who regularly played atop the East Coast’s tallest active sand dune system spied a bulldozer that hadn’t been there before. The children ran to tell their babysitter, who took them to the family’s nearby store in Nags Head, North Carolina, where their mother, Carolista Baum, made and sold jewelry. Condominiums had been constructed near where the bulldozer was working, and Baum knew more development would irreparably harm these beloved dunes known as Jockey’s Ridge, an Outer Banks fixture for 3,000 to 4,000 years. Immediately, Baum closed shop and rushed to confront the driver. Developers had already flattened most of the dunes north to the Virginia border. “I’m not moving,” Baum said, positioning herself in front of the bulldozer’s blade.
Virginia Beach GOP chair ousted in bitter party feud over control and transparency
In a dramatic late-night vote that capped more than a year of escalating infighting, the Republican Party’s 2nd Congressional District Committee voted Wednesday to remove Laura Hughes as chairwoman of the Virginia Beach GOP, accusing her of mismanagement and failing to perform her duties. But Hughes says the move was political payback — and an affront to the grassroots Republicans who elected her. “This was a ‘screw you’ to the Virginia Beach voters,” she said of her detractors’ actions in a phone interview Thursday, “because they wanted this small little group who likes to stay in charge, and they installed a chair that will do their bidding. And I am most likely going to file an appeal with the state Republican party.”
Spanberger splits the middle on right-to-work, opposes full repeal
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger said she opposes a full repeal of Virginia’s right-to-work law, though she’s open to reforms. In an interview with WRIC’s Tyler Englander, Spanberger said she supports making changes to the decades-old statute but would not sign legislation that eliminates it entirely. ... Spanberger’s Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, has made defending the law a central part of her platform.