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Wet spring keeps Virginia crops growing despite early summer’s blazing heat
This week Virginia has set new heat records and come close to beating old ones for this time of year. The Richmond airport recorded a temperature of 99 degrees at the hottest part of the day on Tuesday, Roanoke reached 99, and Alexandria reached 98. Those high temperatures come at a crucial time for many crops growing across the commonwealth. “We are at a critical point for certain crops like corn that are either about to pollinate or our pollinating and so it will have an impact,” said Wilmer Stoneman, vice president of agriculture development and innovation for the Virginia Farm Bureau.
Virginia hospitals bracing for Medicaid changes
A budget and tax bill moving through Congress could devastate rural hospitals across Southwest Virginia, potentially forcing closures, major job losses and cuts to essential services, health care leaders are warning. “The reconciliation bill currently before congress, as written, will lead to the closure of rural hospitals and will have a disproportionate impact on Red States. Not sure there is any other way to put it,” Alan Levine, CEO of Ballad Health, wrote on X on June 17. Ballad, the dominant health care provider in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee, serves some of the region’s most rural and medically underserved communities, where its hospitals are often the only source of inpatient care for miles.
Virginia’s unemployment rate is continuing to slowly climb
Virginia's unemployment rate has been steadily increasing for the last five months. That's the first time Virginia has seen rising unemployment numbers for that long since the Great Recession almost 20 years ago. John Provo at Virginia Tech says some of that is tied to manufacturing losses in rural areas. "Layoffs at Volvo Trucks in Pulaski, a closure of Georgia Pacific lumber supply facility in Emporia, and there are a couple of others," Provo says. "But I think these are companies that are anticipating a slowdown, and they’re tied to consumer markets ultimately."
Suhas Subramanyam on his path to Congress (and a road trip not taken)
When Suhas Subramanyam was a teenager, he got competing invitations. One group of friends wanted to drive to Florida to volunteer for John Kerry’s campaign. The other wanted to drive there to volunteer for George W. Bush. “They both asked me if I wanted to come, and I said no to both,” he says. He didn’t vote in that election at all, he says. As a student at Tulane University in New Orleans, “I didn’t care about politics as much at the time. It really wasn’t until Hurricane Katrina hit the city and I got involved in community activism that I realized politics is important.”
Republicans announce campaigns against Vindman in 7th District
Politicking is already gearing up for the 2026 midterm election. A self-proclaimed “proud MAGA Republican” from Prince William County announced Tuesday his candidacy for Congress in Virginia’s 7th District. John Gray of Woodbridge is the second Republican candidate in less than a week to announce they were running against Vindman next year. Republican Virginia State Sen. Tara Durant, of Fredericksburg, announced her campaign for the U.S. House seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Eugene Vindman on June 18, according to article in Daily Caller.
Fort Lee changes are now online as post switches Facebook, social-media account names
The changeover from “Fort Gregg-Adams" to “Fort Lee” may not be physically visible yet, but in cyberspace, the rebranding is complete. The official website and social-media outlets Facebook and X now indicate the Prince George County Army post as Fort Lee, less than two weeks after the Pentagon announced it was reverting the names of military posts mainly in the South from what they were changed to in 2023.
Science agency staff brace for HQ takeover
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is expected to announce Wednesday that it’s moving into the headquarters of the National Science Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia, according to the union representing NSF employees. But as of Tuesday evening, staff at the science foundation hadn’t been informed by management about their building’s incoming occupants, leaving them feeling blindsided and unsure about where they’re expected to work.
Report: National Science Foundation headquarters to be taken over by HUD, displacing 1,800+ employees
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will reportedly take over the National Science Foundation (NSF) headquarters building (2415 Eisenhower Ave.), displacing more than 1,833 NSF employees who currently work there. HUD Secretary Scott Turner and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin reportedly plan to announce the takeover Wednesday (June 25), according to information provided to journalist Dan Garisto by multiple NSF staff members. The transition will occur over the next two years. ... The American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403, which represents NSF workers, confirms the takeover in an official statement released Tuesday. The union says it received notice Tuesday afternoon about the planned announcement.
Youngkin responds after ICE detains multiple people at Chesterfield courthouse
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have detained 14 people over three days at the Chesterfield County courthouse, Chesterfield County Sheriff Karl Leonard told CBS 6. "ICE showed up at the Chesterfield courthouse on Friday and detained six people," Leonard confirmed to CBS 6 reporter Cameron Thompson. "They came back yesterday, Monday, and detained six more. They are on the premises today as well." Leonard said his staff received "little notice" about the operation, and he was not sure how long it would last.
Chesterfield becomes focal point in Virginia immigration enforcement debate
Lawyers say they are feeling intimidated by groups of men standing silently in rooms not typically open to the public. Spouses are crying in hallways. Families go days without being able to contact loved ones who have been detained, not knowing if they remain in the same state. These are the realities for some people who have lived in the United States after entering the country illegally but have completed all the required steps to exist within the legal system. Chesterfield was thrust into the spotlight of the national immigration debate this week with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers operating in the courthouse.