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Prince William planning commission rejects mid-county data center project
A move to expand data centers into the mid-county area has been dealt a blow by the Prince William County Planning Commission. Commission members recommended unanimously last week that the supervisors say no to an application to turn the Colchester Industrial Park on Dumfries Road into another data center complex. The area is few miles south of the former Parsons Farm, also on Dumfries Road, which was recently rezoned to allow for 85-foot data centers.
Loudoun County firefighters ratify collective bargaining agreement
Loudoun County firefighters voted to approve their first collective bargaining agreement after 16 months of negotiations with the county, the firefighters’ union announced this week. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the contract on May 7 to decide whether it can take effect. Represented by the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 3756, also known as the Loudoun Career Fire Fighters Association, the firefighters’ contract represents Loudoun County’s first ever collective bargaining agreement with public employees.
School: More than 80 protesters arrested at Virginia Tech
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations at colleges across the D.C. region intensified over the weekend and into Monday, including the arrest of dozens of students on Virginia campuses. Virginia Tech in Blacksburg reported that campus police arrested more than 80 people late Sunday and into the morning. Of those, 53 were current students. The university said in a statement that the demonstration was not compliant with policy on the use of campus facilities.
More Americans are working past 65 than ever before. Is it the new normal?
As a registered nurse unit coordinator and charge nurse at Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton, Andrea Samuel spends her days communicating with doctors and nurses in addition to administering direct bedside care. A Miami native, Samuel entered nursing school at age 19 and has worked for Sentara since 1991. She celebrated her 78th birthday in March and has no plans to slow down.
How Big Data Centers Are Slowing the Shift to Clean Energy
The cutting edge of technology is driving the power grid back to the 19th century. An explosion of so-called hyperscale data centers in places such as Northern Virginia has upended plans by electric utilities to cut the use of fossil fuels. In some areas, that means burning coal for longer than planned. These giant data centers will provide computing power needed for artificial intelligence. They are setting off a four-way battle among electric utilities trying to keep the lights on, tech companies that like to tout their climate credentials, consumers angry at rising electricity prices and regulators overseeing investments in the grid and trying to turn it green. Ground zero for the fight is Northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley.”
Virginia casinos attract promised out-of-state visitors
In 2019, a state study forecast that if the General Assembly allowed five casinos to operate in five economically disadvantaged Virginia cities — Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Richmond — that one-third of the revenue generated would stem from out-of-state visitors. In other words, if you build it, casino backers sang out to the commonwealth’s legislators, they will come.
Petersburg senator denies claim she interfered in city’s casino process
Sen. Laschrece Aird, D-Petersburg, says it’s “revisionist history” for city officials to accuse her of inappropriately meddling in the city-run process of picking a casino developer, but she hasn’t offered her own explanation for a casino letter Petersburg council members say the city manager was coerced into signing. Petersburg had been seeking General Assembly permission to pursue a casino project that would only move forward if city voters approve it in a ballot referendum. As the state legislature was about to take an April 17 vote on whether Petersburg should get that permission immediately, city officials claim they received a “demand” from Aird to sign a letter saying Petersburg intended to award the project to Bally’s Corporation, a national gambling company based in Rhode Island.
Police clear protest at Virginia Tech Graduate Life Center lawn; 82 arrested
Police late Sunday night and early Monday cleared from the lawn of the Virginia Tech Graduate Life Center and 82 people were arrested after a three-day protest of Israel’s war against Hamas. Police approached protesters in the so-called Gaza Liberation Encampment at 10:15 p.m. and told them they would be subject to arrest if they did not disperse within five minutes. The university had said since Friday that the encampment “was not a registered event consistent with university policy.”
Refreshed lawsuit aims to derail Charlottesville apartment project
In a second attempt to prevent construction of a seven-story apartment complex on Jefferson Park Avenue in Charlottesville, nine homeowners in the surrounding neighborhood are hoping a judge will side with them in a lawsuit. They claim that City Council “acted in an unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious manner,” when it approved a special use permit allowing a developer to construct a 119-unit complex on the 2000 block of Jefferson Park Avenue. ... The group’s first attempt at using the court to derail the student housing project was shot down when the city of Charlottesville, the defendant in the case, filed a demurrer, a pretrial defense challenge to the suit’s legal grounds.
Virginia water company just approved a 33% rate increase
A privately held water company that serves 107,000 people across Virginia and State Corporation Commission staff have agreed to rate increases averaging 32.88% for water service and 8.3% for sewer service. The agreement, which is subject to review by an SCC hearing examiner and the three SCC commissioners, is less than Aqua Virginia had asked for last year. ... Aqua operates 191 water systems and nine sewer systems across the state, including small facilities in Caroline, Charles City, Dinwiddie, Fluvanna, Goochland, Hanover, King William, New Kent, Powhatan and Sussex counties.