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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.”
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.
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.
Youngkin Vetoes Clean Energy Bills That Garnered Support From Dominion, Environmental Groups
Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed two bills for the development of small solar projects and energy storage that had won bipartisan votes and support from Dominion Energy, environmental groups and farm and forestry representatives. The bills would have encouraged private homes and companies to initiate solar projects and bolstered the existing utility’s efforts to capture electricity from renewable sources for later use. Dominion said in April, in an application to purchase electricity from third-party suppliers, that enhanced solar production and its own plans to store electricity would result in billions of dollars of fuel savings through 2035.
Virginia teachers struggle to keep up as history guide rollout lags
Virginia teachers are still flying blind months into a new school year — trying to adapt to overhauled history standards without the full set of instructional guides the state promised to help them navigate the change. Since early April, the Virginia Department of Education has continued to publish its history instructional guides to help prepare teachers to instruct students in the state’s updated history and social studies standards.
James Madison University students protest DEI’s dissolution during new president meet and greet
Recently-selected JMU President James “Jim” Schmidt, alongside Vice President for Student Affairs Tim Miller, planned to speak to Dukes on Thursday so he could acclimate himself to campus and get to know the student body, but as he arrived to the Warner Commons in front of D-hall, he was met with a group of students protesting JMU’s dissolution of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) division last month. . . . Holding pamphlets with QR codes to a change.org petition, Puerto Rican flags, and signs that read “DEI IS NOT A CRIME” and “REJECT FASCISM,” students continuously chanted “knowledge is power, inclusion is strength” across from Schmidt, who was conversing with Dukes and other faculty. The students said the protest’s proximity to Schmidt was intentional.
Amid DOGE cuts, families struggle with bills, consider leaving D.C. area
There’s the fired federal contractor scrambling for a new job in his 60s and the meteorologist tightening his budget by eating more rice and beans. The nonprofit administrator who lies awake at night worried she’ll lose her grant funding and the masters student wondering what job prospects, if any, will exist upon graduation. As the Trump administration and the U.S. DOGE Service, which stands for the Department of Government Efficiency, wield a chain saw to the federal government, they’ve also yanked away the tablecloth upon which many in the D.C. region laid their lives.
Lego announces plans for massive distribution center in Prince George
As it pieces together a $1 billion factory in Chesterfield, Lego Group has another sizable build in the works in a neighboring county. The Danish toymaker announced plans this week to build a $366 million warehouse and distribution facility in the Crosspointe Business Centre in Prince George County. The 2 million-square-foot project would rise on a 200-plus-acre site at 8800 Wells Station Road, across from the former Rolls-Royce manufacturing facility.
Lego to invest $366M in 2 million-square-foot Virginia warehouse
The Lego Group is continuing to build its empire, investing $366 million to build a new 2 million-square-foot warehouse in Prince George County, Virginia. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday the warehouse will employ over 300. "The Lego Group is not just a household name, it’s a symbol of creativity, innovation and quality that resonates globally," Youngkin said in a news release. "Three years after choosing Virginia to establish its U.S. manufacturing plant, the Lego Group’s decision to expand into Prince George County is an exciting new chapter in this partnership, bringing 305 new, high-quality jobs to the region."
Southwest, Southside Virginians could bear the brunt of Medicaid cuts
More than one-third of Virginia’s rural hospitals are operating in the red, and federal threats to Medicaid funding could put many hospitals that mainly serve residents in Southwest and Southside Virginia at risk. Virginia has 28 health care facilities that fit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ definition of “rural hospitals.” They serve populations that are older, with higher rates of chronic illness and poverty. Many of their patients have a greater reliance on government-funded health insurance programs like Medicaid and Medicare, according to a Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association report.