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Kaine: Attacking Iran needs congressional approval
From the start of his time in the U.S. Senate, Tim Kaine has tried to convince presidents that it’s up to Congress to declare war. Now, he’s trying again, hoping to remind President Donald Trump that he needs to go to Congress before attacking Iran. Before last week’s attack, Kaine filed a resolution saying “Congress hereby directs the President to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces for hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran or any part of its government or military, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force against Iran.”
Rep. Don Beyer buzzes to spelling bee win
“Stygian” means having the characteristics of death, but the word kept a lawmaker alive in a spelling competition Wednesday night. Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr., D-Va., got it correct to move on to the final round of the National Press Club’s Press & Politicians Spelling Bee, where he squared off against Jessica Mendoza, a podcast co-host at The Wall Street Journal. Mendoza spelled “caryatid” right, while Beyer missed “espalier” to start the round. But then Mendoza stumbled on “trichinosis,” knocking her out of the contest altogether and leaving Beyer as the last speller standing.
Kroger to close at least two Virginia stores
At least two Virginia Kroger stores will be among the 60 locations the Cincinnati, Ohio-based company plans to shutter over the next 18 months to improve efficiency and profitability. Kroger announced the plan during a corporate earnings call Friday. The company hasn’t said which stores it plans to close ... On June 20, Kroger filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) ... The filing said 81 employees will lose their jobs by Aug. 22 due to the store at 1904 Emmet St. N in Charlottesville ... A news release distributed Friday by United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 ... noted that in addition to the Charlottesville store, another Virginia Kroger, a location at 466 S. Cummings St. in Abingdon, will close Sept. 19.
Editor-in-chief position eliminated for The Virginian-Pilot, Daily Press
Virginia Media recently changed the leadership of its newsroom operations. Tribune Publishing, owned by Alden Global Capital since 2021, eliminated the editor-in-chief position held by Kris Worrell since August 2019. As executive editor, she oversaw The Virginian-Pilot, Daily Press, The Virginia Gazette and Tidewater Review and was dedicated to serving readers and the communities with engaging, informative and meaningful stories.
DOJ officials call for UVa President Jim Ryan to resign
In an unprecedented move, U.S. Department of Justice officials are calling on University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign, saying he has slow-walked the removal of diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the school and misrepresented the steps UVa has taken to end them. DOJ officials have asked Ryan to step down on multiple occasions, as first reported by the New York Times on Thursday. The DOJ did not immediately respond a Daily Progress request for confirmation.
‘Hallowed ground, desecrated’: ICE sweeps at Chesterfield court draw fierce backlash
Jessica Schneider, a member of Chesterfield County’s Board of Supervisors, was about to address a growing crowd of people protesting area immigration raids outside the Chesterfield County Courthouse Wednesday morning when her phone buzzed with news that visibly shook her. Another immigrant, Salvador Calderon-Cuella — whose immigration status remains unclear at this time — had just been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and quietly whisked away through the courthouse’s back entrance. Calderon-Cuellar had pleaded guilty in April to two misdemeanor traffic offenses — driving without a license and failing to yield when entering a highway. The fines totaled $130, according to Chesterfield General District Court records. On Wednesday, he arrived at the court to make the payment.
‘Forever chemicals’ mar pristine reputation of Virginia’s Chickahominy River
The Chickahominy River in Virginia is known for its physical beauty, with bald cypress trees and lily pads decorating the water that meanders through largely undeveloped acres of forests and wetlands. But the river’s appearance tells only part of the story. In May, the Virginia Department of Health issued its first fish consumption advisory for the presence of harmful chemicals in the Chickahominy River, which is a James River tributary, and the White Oak Swamp where its waters originate. The advisory notifies the public of the risk of exposure to PFOS, a so-called “forever chemical,” by eating too many (or, in some cases, any) of some fish species from the waterway.
Chesterfield supervisors approve incentive agreements for data center projects
While some mystery remains over who exactly is behind them, two sizable data center developments planned for western Chesterfield are now eligible for an extra financial boost from the county. The Board of Supervisors this week unanimously approved tax incentive agreements for the EDA-initiated projects at sites near Moseley and Westchester Commons. The agreements lock in the county’s personal property tax rate for the code-named data center projects at the current 24 cents per $100 of assessed value for a 30-year period.
Luray will stop adding fluoride to drinking water
On Thursday, the Town of Luray issued a notice to all residents and municipal water customers that the long-held practice of adding fluoride to the Town’s drinking water will cease in September. “Based on significant discussions and updates by Town staff, the Town Council [has] elected to discontinue the addition of fluoride to its drinking water,” the Town’s June 26 notice states. ... While the benefits of adding fluoride to public drinking water to aid in dental health has been debated since the practice began in the United States in 1945, the Town of Luray started the practice about a quarter century ago. The key benefit was aimed at preventing tooth decay.
Yancey: We almost ran out of power this week. Congress is trying to make it harder to get new power onto the grid.
We got through the week without any blackouts. That shouldn’t be news, but it is. Three times this week PJM Interconnection, which runs the 13-state (plus District of Columbia) electric grid that Virginia is part of, issued a “Maximum Generation Alert,” in which it instructed utilities to crank out as much power as possible. That was the fourth such alert this year, twice as many as last year. The prompt this week was a brutal heat wave, but those triple-digit temperatures came on top of electric demand that was rising anyway, due primarily to the growth of energy-guzzling data centers.