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By DAVE RESS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The ship Dominion Energy needs to install 176 giant wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean, 27 miles off the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, has been launched, as the utility has won its 11th and final federal permit for the $9 billion project. The ship, called Charybdis, is a U.S. flag vessel. That means Dominion can stage all of the components for the more than 800-foot-tall turbines in Virginia port facilities ... The 472-foot Charybdis’ home port will be Hampton Roads, and it will have an American crew.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By DANIEL EGITTO,
ArlNow
In the wake of a recent veto of a Virginia recreational marijuana bill, proponents are still holding out hope for future change — but not for at least a couple years.
At an Arlington Committee of 100 meeting last week, State Sens. Adam Ebbin and Aaron Rouse said the chances of the Virginia General Assembly overriding Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s decision earlier this month are slim to none.
Legislation to legalize retail sale of cannabis passed the state House and Senate on thin margins before getting the ax from the governor, who cited public health concerns.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By JANE HARPER,
Virginian-Pilot
(Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Murder charges against one of two brothers accused of taking part in a 2017 fatal shooting were thrown out Monday after a judge ruled prosecutors had violated his right to a speedy trial.
Judge Brenda Spry issued her ruling at the end of a hearing in Portsmouth Circuit Court, during which attorneys for Alexander Weinschel pointed to repeated lapses in his case over the past six years, including a period of more than two years in which no scheduling or continuance orders were ever filed.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By CHARLOTTE RENE WOODS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Virginia’s chapter of the NAACP plans to take Gov. Glenn Youngkin to court over an alleged failure to respond to public records requests. The chapter’s president, the Rev. Cozy Bailey, said at a news conference outside the state Capitol on Monday that Youngkin was being served legal action that day. The pending legal back-and-forth stems from an initial August public records request by the NAACP to determine if the administration has been complying with state law regarding DEI work.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By STEVE ATKINSON,
published in
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
As the dust settles on the Virginia legislative session, one might say it was a decent year for the Chesapeake Bay. From protecting trees to restrictions on pavement sealants, lawmakers passed multiple bills. But once again there was no progress on efforts to fund a badly needed study of menhaden fish in the Chesapeake Bay.
Atkinson of Richmond is president of the Virginia Saltwater Sportfishing Association.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By ROBERT ZULLO,
Virginia Mercury
The nation’s largest public power company, the Tennessee Valley Authority, which serves 10 million people in Tennessee and parts of six neighboring states, has put forward plans for eight new natural gas plants since 2020.
In South Carolina, Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper are pushing the state legislature to pave the way for a 2,000-megawatt natural gas power plant. Farther north, Dominion also plans new gas generation in Virginia. In its most recent plan filed with state regulators, Georgia Power is looking to add new gas turbines. Likewise, Duke Energy in North Carolina is proposing new gas plants and delaying coal power retirements.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By ANDREW ROTHERHAM,
published in
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
It’s a question that keeps coming up: Does Virginia need to invest more in its schools? Or, does Virginia need a school accountability system that’s more transparent, honest and responsive to parents? The answer is: Yes. Somehow these two commonsense ideas for improving Virginia's schools continue to be pitted against each other when we have an opportunity to address both.
Rotherham is a member of the Virginia Board of Education. He is a cofounder and partner at Bellwether, a national not for profit consulting organization focused on underserved students.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By SAMANTHA WILLIS,
published in
Daily Progress
(Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently took action on a flurry of Virginia legislators’ measures related to reproductive health, mostly blocking bills designed to preserve the public’s access to abortions and birth control as these same issues roil national debates and as other states pass laws that restrict women’s bodily autonomy and roll back decades of abortion protections.
First, a surprising signoff: Youngkin, a Republican, signed a bill from Democratic Del. Vivian Watts of Fairfax that prevents electronic menstrual data — often collected in period-tracking digital apps — from being subject to search warrants, subpoenas or court orders.
Willis, a writer and journalist whose experience in digital, print and broadcast media spans 12 years, is editor-in-chief of the Virginia Mercury.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By PATRICK LARSEN,
VPM
The General Assembly will take another look at legislation that would allow the state’s two biggest electric utility companies to request ratepayer funds to cover costs of early development for small modular nuclear reactors.
SMRs are well-described by their name. They’re smaller than a traditional reactor — those are often rated at about 1,000 MW. An SMR would produce about one-third of that. They’re modular — meaning they can be built off-site and used in an array of one or more reactors.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office made some changes to the bills that supporters say would protect electric ratepayers against major bill impacts — opponents of the measures maintain the bills have ratepayers fronting the risk of an unproven technology.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By GRAHAM MOOMAW,
Virginia Mercury
At Krunal Patel’s convenience store outside Richmond, a row of Queen of Virginia skill games has been powered off and turned around against a wall. On Monday, in response to what he sees as unfair treatment in a state that’s embraced legalized gambling, Patel also turned off the Virginia Lottery machines in his store.
He posted signs on his front doors and above the checkout counter explaining the one-day shutdown of lottery sales was a protest against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed changes to a pending Virginia bill that would legalize, tax and regulate skill games instead of leaving them banned as a type of illegal gambling.
VaNews April 16, 2024
