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Energy Developers Want Reforms to Va.’s Process for Connecting Renewables to Grid
As Virginia solar developers and Dominion Energy continue to clash over requirements for tying new small and mid-sized renewables into the electric grid, some environmental groups and grid experts say changing how the state approaches interconnection costs could ease long-standing issues. “It’s a solution to a big problem that’s been stifling a lot of solar projects,” said Josephus Allmond, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. Virginia, like other states that have adopted ambitious renewables goals, has seen increasing tension in recent years over interconnection, the process of connecting new power sources to the electric grid.
Congresswoman battling brain disorder delivers House speech using a text-to-voice app
Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) stepped to the microphone on the House floor Monday to speak about one of her latest pieces of legislation, as she has done many times before during her five years in Congress. But the voice that gave the speech wasn’t hers — it was from a text-to-voice application, an assistive device she uses to help her navigate a degenerative brain condition with which she was diagnosed last year. Wexton’s disorder — progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) — has largely affected her ability to speak, hear and move. With the help of the assistive app, the congresswoman on Monday spoke about legislation she introduced to rename a post office in Purcellville, Va., after former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who lived in nearby Hillsboro, Va.
Interior Department defends Va. offshore wind farm in court
The Biden administration and the developer of a $9.8 billion wind farm off of Virginia Beach, Virginia, assured a federal court Friday that the project has all necessary approvals, amid claims that construction would harm the endangered North Atlantic right whale. The joint court filing from the Interior Department and Dominion Energy comes in response to a request to halt work on the massive Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which is slated to include 176 turbines and is the largest project of its kind currently under development in the United States.
Coyner: Hospitals backstop our mental health. We must keep them open
Most people tend to think of hospitals as a place you go to seek treatment for serious or life-threatening physical injuries. We think of the emergency departments whose doors are open 24/7, every day of the year, ready to provide acute and comprehensive care. But in addition, hospitals are also increasingly providing a different kind of crucial safety net: backstopping our mental health services.
Rozell: Youngkin, Dems wasted months on political theater. Can they pass a budget?
During the one-day reconvened General Assembly session in which legislators consider gubernatorial amendments and vetoes, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Democratic legislative leaders said out loud the part we knew all along — it was finally time to compromise. Perhaps we should rejoice that the realization sank in late instead of too late to meet the June 30 deadline for finalizing a new budget to direct state government spending for the next two fiscal years.
Yancey: Shenandoah County set to vote on whether to restore Confederate names
The Shenandoah County School Board is set to vote Thursday on whether to restore Confederate names to two schools. What used to be Stonewall Jackson High School is now Mountain View High School. What used to be Ashby Lee Elementary is now Honey Run Elementary. The 2020 name changes have not sat well with some in the county. Those who opposed the name changes in the first place remain on the school board; those who favored them are now gone and a new school board might well take the unusual step of returning Confederate names to public buildings.
Student safety is an obligation, and ignoring that invites consequences
Let no one underestimate the seriousness of the Clery Act, the federal law that requires institutions that participate in federal financial-aid programs to provide timely reporting of statistics about various types of crime and other information about campus safety. The U.S. Department of Education underscored its importance last month when it imposed a staggering $14 million fine on Liberty University in Lynchburg for what the department called a “systemic and persistent” failure to comply with that campus-safety law.
Data center project proposed for 120-acre site in Powhatan County
A large assemblage in Powhatan once eyed for a mixed-use project is now being pitched as the county’s first data center campus. California-based developer Province Group is seeking zoning approval for a 1.5 million-square-foot data center project on 120 acres on the Powhatan-Chesterfield line. The project site consists of three parcels, one of them being 1318 Page Road. The project would rise near Anderson Highway’s intersection with Page Road.
Shenandoah County School Board set to vote on school names Thursday
The Shenandoah County School Board will vote Thursday whether to restore the names of two schools in the southern end of the county that were once named after Confederate generals. … In 2020, the school board renamed Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School, both in Quicksburg, to Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School. The decision, the school board said at the time, was made in an effort to condemn racism and affirm the school division’s commitment to an inclusive environment for all.
Loudoun sheriff calls for school resource officers on elementary campuses
Loudoun County’s sheriff is renewing a push to add school resource officers to its 62 elementary schools. The call from Sheriff Mike Chapman (R) came in response to Loudoun County Public Schools releasing 11 safety recommendations from a months-long “Blue Ribbon Panel” on school security. Adding security personnel to elementary schools was among the ideas.