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Appalachian Power says new financing method will save customers money
Appalachian Power on Thursday said it plans to save customers money by using a newly allowed method of financing to recover costs associated with recent storms and balances on two coal power plants. . . . Specifically, Appalachian’s proposal would save the company an estimated $176 million and decrease the average residential monthly bill by $6.66, according to the utility. That average bill has risen by about $50 since July 2022 to about $174 today.
Trump administration increases scrutiny of another Virginia university
Weeks after the University of Virginia’s president resigned amid pressure from the Justice Department, the Trump administration is increasing its scrutiny of another large public university in the state. On Thursday, the Education Department said it had opened its second civil rights investigation in two weeks into George Mason University, this one over the alleged use of race in the hiring and promotion of faculty members. The department said it had received complaints from multiple professors, including about university initiatives to make the demographics of faculty better reflect the diversity of its student body.
Virginia prisoners report extreme heat as air conditioning fails
The high temperature in and around Chatham, Virginia is expected to be ninety degrees for the next three days – a dire forecast for about 980 men at the Green Rock Correctional Center. Tim Wright is among them. “We’ve had like two weeks of air conditioning since April,” he says. That’s because the man who had nursed the aging air conditioning system along was transferred to another facility. . . ." The Department of Corrections reports a compressor is on order but could not say when it might be delivered. The facility is now 18 years old.
The Trump staffers who set out to reshape their alma maters
Less than a decade ago, Gregory W. Brown helped fundraise for the University of Virginia by posing for pictures in his old dorm room. Now he is central to the Trump administration’s effort to crack down on his alma mater for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion programs, as one of two Justice Department leaders and U-Va. alumni to threaten sweeping funding cuts and compel the school’s president to resign. Brown is one of several key architects of President Donald Trump’s wide-reaching campaign to root out liberal ideology from higher education who graduated from the prestigious universities the president has emboldened them to transform. Driven by personal experience, the staffers are pushing to overhaul the progressive culture they feel has come to dominate elite colleges and universities.
New Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan includes staggered goals after 2025 deadlines weren’t met
Cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay is a big feat, and the targets from a plan set in 2014 with a deadline of this year weren’t quite met. The new Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement has four thematic goals with staggered goals and varying targets to meet for each subcategory. Maryland Secretary of Natural Resources Josh Kurtz said that those main goals are “healthy landscapes, clean water, engaged communities and thriving habitat and wildlife.” He said by breaking them down, officials were hoping to make them easier to navigate and give everyone involved clear and attainable targets, compared to the 2014 plan.
Richmond grapples with legacy of Confederate statues amid Trump DEI orders
Ideas of how to memorialize and teach American history continue to clash five years after the purge of Confederate statues along Monument Avenue. Many cheered as the statues came down, witnessing a landmark moment that many considered impossible in their lifetime. Others still wish to see them restored. Two months into his new administration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” . . . Legal experts and analysts say the order is unlikely to revive Richmond’s monuments, as they were local and state property, not under the jurisdiction of the federal government. But the president’s actions signal his willingness to wrest control of cultural institutions and mold American national identity.
Candidate facing bestiality porn charges makes the ballot in Patrick County
A man facing 10 felony charges of attempting to possess bestiality materials has made the ballot for a seat on the Patrick County Board of Supervisors. Malcolm Roach Sr., 70, of Stuart was arrested by the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office on June 9 and was released the same day on a $7,500 secured bond, Sgt. Michael Harris said via email on Thursday. Harris declined to provide the incident or arrest report, citing the ongoing investigation. Roach filed the paperwork necessary to run for the board of supervisors seat on June 11, according to the Patrick County Registrar, two days after his arrest. The signatures, or petitions, he collected in order to make it onto the ballot were notarized on June 4, before his arrest.
Residential solar industry weighs impacts of tax credit loss, potential rate changes
Solar installers are staring down a potential one-two punch of changes that could drastically alter the math for residential customers who are considering whether to invest in panels. A federal tax credit that can help a homeowner offset thousands of dollars of the cost of buying solar panels is set to expire at the end of this year, thanks to the federal megabill dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Separately, Virginia utility regulators are deciding whether to allow Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy to reduce how much they credit future residential solar panel owners for the electricity they generate beyond what they consume.
The White House says it’s investigating antisemitism. Faculty at George Mason U. suspect a coordinated ouster attempt.
When the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) notified George Mason University on July 1 that it was opening an antisemitism investigation based on a recent complaint, the university’s president, Gregory Washington, said he was “perplexed.” Compared with other campuses, where protesters had ransacked buildings and hunkered down in encampments, George Mason had been relatively quiet over the past year, he said. His administration had taken extensive steps to improve relations with the Jewish community, enacted strict rules on protest, and communicated all of that to the OCR during a previous antisemitism investigation that remained open. By the next day, though, there were signs that the new probe was part of a coordinated campaign to oust him.
The ‘defunding’ of Planned Parenthood on pause for now as legal battles progress
Federal funding to Planned Parenthood facilities in Virginia and across the nation are tied up in legal battles for the time being. A provision in Congress’ “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed by President Donald Trump last week would block Medicaid payments for services at facilities like Planned Parenthood for up to a year. Planned Parenthood sued the Trump administration over the provision on Monday and a district court judge granted the organization a two-week restraining order against the federal government. In the commonwealth, about 700 to 800 patients per month use Medicaid to pay for services, said RaeAnn Pickett, communications director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia.