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By DAVE RESS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Gov. Glenn Youngkin still has concerns about legislation to legalize skill games — the slot machine-like devices that hundreds of convenience stores say keep them in business — but says he thinks an answer could come when the General Assembly meets next month to consider a new state budget.
His big concern is to make sure skill games are not set up too close to schools or churches, and he thinks the bill aligns with the state’s casino gaming law, which bars additional historical horse racing gambling devices within 35 miles of a casino host city.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By BETH JOJACK,
Virginia Business
Florida-based aerospace and defense contractor L3Harris Technologies announced on Thursday a $41.2 million expansion and modernization of its Aerojet Rocketdyne facility in Orange County, with plans to add 80 employees.
Over the next three years, L3Harris also plans to construct new facilities and buy new equipment for the facility, according to a statement from the company and another by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By NEAL AUGENSTEIN,
WTOP
A Loudoun County, Virginia, judge set a new trial date for fired school superintendent Scott Ziegler and made no reference to Ziegler’s attorneys claim that the judge erred in ordering a new trial after setting aside a previous misdemeanor conviction.
Thursday morning, Circuit Court Judge Douglas Fleming set Feb. 3, 2025, as the first of a possible five-day jury trial, six weeks after throwing out Ziegler’s conviction for the retaliatory firing of a teacher who reported that an elementary school student inappropriately touched her.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By MICKEY POWELL,
Winchester Star
(Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Acquiring safety improvements for the stretch of Va. 7 (Harry Byrd Highway) on Blue Ridge Mountain ultimately could be an issue of who has more political clout in Richmond. Is it Clarke County, a small agricultural community of roughly 15,000 residents? Or, is it Loudoun County, an affluent suburb of Washington, D.C., with a population of about 420,000? Clarke failed in its attempt, so county officials are letting Loudoun try.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By ELIZABETH BEYER,
News Leader
(Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)
Four reproductive health care bills were sent back to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk for his signature or veto following the Wednesday General Assembly reconvene session, when lawmakers met to consider the governor’s action on legislation passed during the regular 2024 session.
The legislative body sent four bills that the governor had amended back to his desk in their original form after rejecting the amendments, for his veto or signature. He has 30 days to act on the bills.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By ELIZABETH BEYER,
News Leader
(Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)
One of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s amendments was approved by the General Assembly, six were sent back to the governor’s desk for his signature or veto, and attempts to override the governor's veto on 22 gun safety related bills failed during Wednesday's reconvene session. The General Assembly accepted the governor’s amendment to SB 363, a bill that would prohibit the purchase, selling, or possession of a firearm with a removed, altered or defaced serial number. That bill will now be enacted into law.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By ANNA BRYSON,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
A senior-level Virginia Department of Education official has left her post to serve as Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s special adviser to the CEO of the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. Although she has no experience with cannabis policy, the Youngkin administration says Elizabeth Schultz is uniquely positioned to serve under the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, Terrance Cole.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By PETER CARY,
Piedmont Journalism Foundation
It seemed like a great deal when residents of rural northwest Prince William County decided in 2021 to sell their properties for a new data center alley known as the “Prince William Digital Gateway.”
With contracts to sell for up to $900,000 an acre, they expected to split their real estate tax bills with their data center buyers upon sale and walk away with big profits.
Now, however, that sweet dream has turned into a nightmare — at least, a tax nightmare. The supervisors rezoned the land for data centers, but two lawsuits have blocked the land sales, leaving landowners in limbo. Meanwhile, the land is now considered much more valuable and, therefore, their taxes due have spiked dramatically.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By ASHLYN CAMPBELL,
Daily News Record
(Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
A little more than $1 million in federal funding that Congress approved this March will go toward creating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math hubs across Virginia — but the effort that got the Commonwealth there came from an educator in the Shenandoah Valley’s backyard. Amy Sabarre, the Harrisonburg City Public Schools STEM director and the president of the Virginia STEM Education Advisory Board, helped secure that $1,028,000 for STEM education, an accomplishment that took the teacher 10 years of persistence.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By MATT BUSSE AND MARKUS SCHMIDT,
Cardinal News
A California-based manufacturer is looking at opening a lithium-ion battery plant in Lynchburg, backed by a $100 million federal award. State Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg, confirmed that a state commission approved an additional economic incentive package for the company, Applied Materials, on Thursday. Peake, who is not a member of the commission, said it’s anticipated the company will add about 100 jobs to the city. “I’m happy any time we get a major employment investment in Lynchburg,” Peake said.
VaNews April 19, 2024
