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Youngkin joins veterans, families in commemorating Memorial Day at Virginia War Memorial
Hundreds of Virginians joined veterans, their families and Gov. Glenn Youngkin at the Virginia War Memorial on Monday for the Commonwealth’s 68th Annual Memorial Day Ceremony. “On Memorial Day, it is not the death of our service members, but it is how they lived their lives, that we must celebrate,” Youngkin said. Youngkin was joined by Major General James Wing, who served as the Adjutant General of Virginia.
Shucet: HRBT tunnel ‘breakthrough’ and a Hidden Figure’s legacy
Bryan Jackson passed the island every day when he lived in Hampton and worked at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard as a sandblaster. The island looked small to him. “I always wanted to be on that little island,” he said. On April 17, Jackson gave up a day’s pay, $400, to be on the island — the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel’s north island. … Being on the island that day was a bonus for Jackson. He was invited there to see Mary the Tunnel Boring Machine complete the first leg of her journey. … Decades earlier, another Jackson made a breakthrough not far from this island. Jackson’s grandmother was Mary Jackson, the first Black female engineer at NASA. The tunnel boring machine is named for her.
Opposition mounts to revived Catlett data center plan in Fauquier
More than 90 people who packed the old rescue squad hall in Catlett [last] week for a meeting about a data center complex proposed for just north of town had a resounding message for developers and county officials: Not here. First pitched in 2020, the project was recently revived with a new application to Fauquier County officials. Developer Headwaters is seeking a rezoning to allow up to four two-story buildings with 1.2 million square feet of floor space at the junction of Catlett Road and Gaskins Lane.
New Va. budget allocates $3.75M toward cleaning up contaminated ‘Money Point’ section of Elizabeth River
With the newly signed Virginia state budget, $3.75 million will now go toward cleaning up a historically contaminated and polluted section of the Elizabeth River watershed. In the southern branch of the Elizabeth River, sitting below the waters just above the Gilmerton Bridge, lies a layer of tar runoff and creosote leftover from an industrial lumber yard in the early 1900s.
‘Your quiet community could be destroyed’: Gum Springs residents in Fairfax fight to preserve local history
In 1833, West Ford — a freed slave — bought 214 acres of land in Northern Virginia and founded the oldest free-sustained African American community in Fairfax County known as Gum Springs. “A Black man in Northern Virginia, buying property in 1833? That just didn’t happen,” said Ronald L. Chase, president of the Gum Springs Historical Society and Museum.
Grand Contraband Camp in Hampton listed among the state’s most endangered historic sites
The Grand Contraband Camp — a place that provided a sanctuary for thousands of enslaved individuals seeking refuge behind Union lines during the Civil War — is listed this year among the state’s most endangered historic places. … In May 1861, shortly after Virginia seceded from the Union, three enslaved men working on a Confederate fortification in Norfolk — Frank Baker, James Townsend and Sheppard Mallory — appeared at the gates of Fort Monroe and asked for sanctuary. When a Southern officer demanded their return under the Fugitive Slave Act, which declared all citizens must turn in runaway slaves even if they lived in free states, Union Gen. Benjamin Butler refused, calling them “contrabands of war.”
100 years after Charlottesville’s Lee statue went up, work starts to find a replacement
A hundred years ago, a bronze statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee astride his horse Traveller was erected in what was then known as Lee Park in downtown Charlottesville, where it stood until … eight years ago, when Zyahna Bryant, a Black student at Charlottesville High School, wrote a petition to City Council calling on the city’s leaders to remove the “offensive” statue … The statue would remain up throughout this until … three years ago, when Lee was removed and the park renamed.
Private meeting spurs new collaboration involving Virginia Tech and surrounding towns
Virginia Tech is signaling its intentions to take a more active role in infrastructure planning for the New River Valley. University representatives, as well as those from Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Christiansburg and the New River Valley Regional Commission, came together in a recent private meeting, and it was then announced that a new initiative to jointly plan for the future of the region is starting. … The announcement comes after Blacksburg Mayor Leslie Hager-Smith said in January that the Virginia Tech needs to take more accountability for the pressure its growth is putting on the town.
Opinions vary on proposed solar program in Washington County
County officials and residents of Washington County, Virginia, [last] week began discussing the pros and cons of a proposed large-scale solar energy project. Texas-based Catalyst Energy has proposed placing solar panels on as much as 1,800 acres to collect supplemental energy and sell power to the electricity grid. … Catalyst is interested in coming to Washington County because of proximity to Wolf Hills Energy, a natural gas-fired power plant located near the county’s western border with the city of Bristol Virginia, said County Administrator Jason Berry.
VPAP Visual Congressional Primaries by Year
While the overall number of congressional primaries remains steady, this year has the fewest contested Republican primaries since VPAP began tracking them in 2012, with only three districts holding Republican contests this year.
For the first time, all of these nomination contests will be state-run primaries. In past years, many districts used party-run conventions or firehouse primaries to choose their nominees. But a new law effectively requires a state-run primary by mandating that the method of nomination allows all eligible voters to participate, including active-duty service members and students attending out-of-state universities.