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Chesapeake Bay watershed not likely to meet some pollution reduction goals by 2025
Virginia did not reach its 2023 pollution reduction targets for nitrogen and phosphorus, according to modeling tools from the Chesapeake Bay Program, but the state is on track for reducing sediment in the bay. Too much nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment in the Chesapeake Bay contribute to poor quality of the water. Nitrogen and phosphorus fuel the growth of algae blooms, and sediment can block sunlight from reaching underwater grasses, suffocating shellfish. Between 2022 and 2023, pollution loads for nitrogen fell 3.3%, phosphorus fell 4.5% and overall sediment levels decreased by 1% across six states and DC. Those seven entities are part of the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint.
U.S. company fined $650,000 for illegally hiring children to clean meat processing plants
A Tennessee-based sanitation company has agreed to pay more than half a million dollars after a federal investigation found it illegally hired at least two dozen children to clean dangerous meat processing facilities in Iowa and Virginia. The U.S. Department of Labor announced Monday that Fayette Janitorial Service LLC entered into a consent judgment, in which the company agrees to nearly $650,000 in civil penalties and the court-ordered mandate that it no longer employs minors. The February filing indicated federal investigators believed at least four children had still been working at one Iowa slaughterhouse as of Dec. 12.
Family of Irvo Otieno criticizes move to withdraw murder charges against 5 deputies
A Virginia judge has signed off on a prosecutor’s request to withdraw charges against five more people in connection with the 2023 death of Irvo Otieno, a young man who was pinned to the floor for about 11 minutes while being admitted to a state psychiatric hospital. Judge Joseph Teefy of Dinwiddie Circuit Court on Sunday approved the prosecutor’s motion to nolle prosequi — or effectively drop for now — the case against five sheriff’s deputies, according to court records. The prosecutor could still seek to renew the charges, attorneys involved with the matter said.
Expansion of data centers fuels demand for generators and battery backups: ‘You cannot have downtime’
The data-center building boom is underpinned by a basic requirement: Never, ever, lose power. The race to power new artificial-intelligence models and keep internet and mobile services humming around the clock is creating a windfall for the makers of the generators and battery systems that are crucial to keeping power flowing through thunderstorms and grid failures. Blips, sags, dips or anything else less than a smooth, continuous flow of electricity aren’t tolerated at Stream Data Centers’ two computer server sites in suburban Chicago. The converted warehouse buildings host thousands of servers, backed up by banks of batteries and diesel generators.
Youngkin spending on consultants to push for procurement savings
Gov. Glenn Youngkin‘s chief procurement officer is leaving state government, but not before a final push to reach the governor’s promised goal of saving $200 million on state purchases of goods and services by the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Reaching that goal is costing the state more money on outside consultants, including four information technology consultants that the governor’s office hired in the previous three months.
No one will take credit for calling state police on UVa campus protesters
On Saturday, a decision was made by someone at the University of Virginia to have state police break up a small anti-war encampment on Grounds. Exactly who made that decision remains unclear. Gov. Glenn Youngkin is not taking credit. Various statements from the school indicate it was President Jim Ryan or university police that determined state troopers were needed to remove the two dozen rain-soaked protesters, what remained of a four-day demonstration on a patch of grass near the University Chapel.
Va. panel advances 3 more lab school applications as spending deadline looms
The Virginia Board of Education’s lab school committee advanced three more lab school applications on Monday, with the future of funding for such schools in flux. Funding in the current budget can be used until the fiscal year ends June 30. Lab schools, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s signature school choice initiative, are partnerships between universities and school divisions that provide nonreligious education to K-12 students.
Bristow data center corridor looks to expand to 8 buildings
While some see the proliferation of data centers stretching from Loudoun into Prince William County as one big “data center alley,” a closer look shows they are popping up in clusters. One such cluster near the southern end of Hornbaker Road in Bristow is owned and operated by Stack Infrastructure of Denver. Stack hopes to make it bigger. A land-use firm that represents Stack held open houses at the Sweeney Barn in Manassas last week to introduce residents to its latest additions — two new data center buildings dubbed “Bristow Campus.” They would be built on land north of Nokesville Road, about a half-mile west of the Hornbaker Road site.
Race to replace Va. Rep. Wexton accelerates with start of early voting
A cow bell clanged inside the Rust Library in Northern Virginia, and the 12 Democrats vying for a chance to replace U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) each moved to a different cluster of voters, hoping to win them over during a “speed dating” candidates forum. A few days later, three of the four Republicans running in their party’s primary election in Wexton’s 10th Congressional District stood before an audience of Loudoun County retirees and tried to outflank each other on issues like border security and inflation.
More of Youngkin’s lab schools approved, but future state funding still in limbo
Three more lab schools were approved by a state committee Monday. The approvals come as future state funding for the program remains in limbo. A high-ceilinged meeting room in Old City Hall played host to the approval of three lab school applications Monday. Among them was one at Old Dominion University, which aims to educate students as young as kindergarten. The program would refit a Suffolk elementary school to “incorporate hands-on STEM experiences.”