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By ANGELA WOOLSEY,
FFXnow
The cost of riding Metro trains and buses will go up, starting July 1, when the transit agency’s new budget takes effect.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) board of directors approved a $4.8 billion fiscal year 2025 budget yesterday (Thursday) that will increase fares by 12.5%, including by ending the flat $2 rate for weekend and late-night rides introduced in 2021 and expanded in 2022.
VaNews April 29, 2024
By MARTIN WEIL,
Washington Post
(Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Arrests were underway early Monday at a pro-Palestinian protest at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, the school said. “They are being made,” a school spokesman said in an email early Monday. The numbers of those arrested and of those demonstrating could not be learned immediately. Posts on X indicated that hundreds were demonstrating and that several had been arrested.
VaNews April 29, 2024
By JOSHUA BARLOW,
WTOP
Twelve people protesting the war in Gaza, including nine students, were arrested at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Saturday after those individuals refused to vacate an area around Jefferson Square, according to the university president.
In a message to the college community, UMW President Troy Paino said that after safety concerns arose during the afternoon on Friday, participants in the protest were told that encampments and tents would not be permitted as part of the demonstration.
VaNews April 29, 2024
By SAM SCHAFFER,
Virginian-Pilot
(Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
William & Mary will increase tuition for the second year in a row after years of the price remaining the same.
Tuition will increase by 2.5% for in-state undergraduate students and by 3.3% for out-of-state undergraduate students for fiscal years 2025 and 2026, according to a resolution passed by the W&M Board of Visitors on Friday.
VaNews April 29, 2024
By LUKE WEIR,
Roanoke Times
(Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Pro-Palestinian protesters linked arms to protect Muslim participants during late afternoon prayers at Virginia Tech, minutes after student organizers warned of a potential police crackdown during a third day of demonstrations on Sunday. Hundreds participated and more people watched as chants continued outside the Graduate Life Center on campus in Blacksburg. Around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, police were setting up a perimeter and warning anyone inside it to leave or be arrested, including media. Buses with police officers were arriving.
VaNews April 29, 2024
By LISA ROWAN,
Cardinal News
Three of seven Bedford County School Board members have spoken up in a Facebook group about a lawsuit filed last month against a parent, with two saying the school board didn’t sign off on the suit bearing its name as plaintiff.
The suit seeks $600,000 in damages from Moneta resident David Rife, alleging he used crude language and threatened police and legal action during repeated calls to the school district about his son.
VaNews April 29, 2024
By DWAYNE YANCEY,
Cardinal News
Y’all sure know how to make someone feel welcome.
Not me. I’m already here. I’m talking about the Arlington reader who contacted me recently, said he’d never been west of Roanoke and hoped soon to rectify that. He was writing in response to my column in defense of Southwest Virginia which, in turn, was a response to a story in Axios Richmond that made dismissive reference to “whatever the hell is west of Roanoke.”
I told our prospective visitor that I’d give him some recommendations on what to see and do and then promptly turned to the best source for that — you.
VaNews April 29, 2024
By PETER CARY,
Piedmont Journalism Foundation
The special Warrenton Town Council meeting was called to hear from Dominion Energy about how it will run power lines to the proposed Amazon data center on Blackwell Road. But when Dominion failed to supply any new information, it spun into something else.
Three council members tried to gain approval for one last check on noise the data center might emit, but the move clearly frustrated Mayor Carter Nevill, who launched into a nearly eight-minute speech, during which he defended the controversial Amazon project, the town council and staff — as well as the rigor of the town’s approval process.
VaNews April 29, 2024
By CHARLIE PAULLIN,
Virginia Mercury
Those puddles of water along highways and property that seem like swamps are wetlands, a natural resource with numerous environmental benefits ranging from wildlife habitat and protection from flooding.
How those wetlands are sited and how they are protected is determined by wetland delineators, who are professionally certified after rigorous training and years of experience.
But Virginia legislators this year rolled back one requirement for the job and are attempting further changes through a less public regulatory process. Current professional wetland delineators say those efforts could undermine the integrity of the state’s certification and efforts to preserve a natural resource that is already under threat.
VaNews April 29, 2024
By GRACE MAMON,
Cardinal News
As fire and rescue volunteerism declines across the state, many localities are changing the way they provide this service. Using paid crews is costly and sometimes controversial, but it’s already been an effective solution for several Southern Virginia counties, and likely will be for many more.
Some localities, like Henry County, have coupled paid staff and volunteers for decades. Others, like Franklin and Pittsylvania counties, are in earlier stages of the transition to what is called a combination model of rescue services.
VaNews April 29, 2024
