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By MICKEY POWELL,
Winchester Star
(Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Acquiring safety improvements for the stretch of Va. 7 (Harry Byrd Highway) on Blue Ridge Mountain ultimately could be an issue of who has more political clout in Richmond. Is it Clarke County, a small agricultural community of roughly 15,000 residents? Or, is it Loudoun County, an affluent suburb of Washington, D.C., with a population of about 420,000? Clarke failed in its attempt, so county officials are letting Loudoun try.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By PETER CARY,
Piedmont Journalism Foundation
It seemed like a great deal when residents of rural northwest Prince William County decided in 2021 to sell their properties for a new data center alley known as the “Prince William Digital Gateway.”
With contracts to sell for up to $900,000 an acre, they expected to split their real estate tax bills with their data center buyers upon sale and walk away with big profits.
Now, however, that sweet dream has turned into a nightmare — at least, a tax nightmare. The supervisors rezoned the land for data centers, but two lawsuits have blocked the land sales, leaving landowners in limbo. Meanwhile, the land is now considered much more valuable and, therefore, their taxes due have spiked dramatically.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By DEAN MIRSHAHI,
WRIC-TV
The Supreme Court of Virginia has again ruled against the state and ordered the release of a man who said he earned credits to be let out from prison early but was wrongfully denied by the Department of Corrections.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia filed a petition for the release of Jose Garcia Vasquez, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, arguing he earned enough sentence credits to be released around November 2022 but an “erroneous interpretation” of a law by the corrections department kept him in prison.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By RALPH BERRIER JR.,
Roanoke Rambler
The Rev. Bill Lee believes it’s raining manna all over Roanoke.
Lee stood before a roomful of listeners and recounted the story from Exodus of the miracle food from heaven that sustained the Jewish people as they wandered in the wilderness after their escape from Egypt. He asked his audience, Black and white people, church-goers from congregations across the city, if they believed manna still covered the ground today.
“What sustains us?” he asked. “What is all the stuff that God has made available to us, the manna, that we are not picking up? God didn’t stop giving manna in 2024. It’s everywhere.”
Lee’s examples were not honey-flavored crackers from the Old Testament. Instead, he pointed to modern-day opportunities that seem like miracles to someone who grew up in a rural area in the 1950s and ’60s like he did, opportunities such as a community college system that’s available to anyone.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By NEAL AUGENSTEIN,
WTOP
A Loudoun County, Virginia, judge set a new trial date for fired school superintendent Scott Ziegler and made no reference to Ziegler’s attorneys claim that the judge erred in ordering a new trial after setting aside a previous misdemeanor conviction.
Thursday morning, Circuit Court Judge Douglas Fleming set Feb. 3, 2025, as the first of a possible five-day jury trial, six weeks after throwing out Ziegler’s conviction for the retaliatory firing of a teacher who reported that an elementary school student inappropriately touched her.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By JEREMY C. YOUNG AND SAM LAFRANCE,
published in
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Opponents of diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education argue that dismantling DEI offices and initiatives on campus won’t negatively impact the academic freedom of faculty to teach relevant subject matter in their classes. So how do they explain what happened recently in Virginia? Early this semester, in an apparent effort to thwart new diversity requirements in general education curricula at Virginia Commonwealth University and George Mason University, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration requested and received syllabi for 27 courses.
Young is the Freedom to Learn program director at PEN America. LaFrance is the editorial manager for free expression and education at PEN America.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By ERIC KOLENICH,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The demolition of Richmond’s Public Safety Building, a valuable piece of city-owned downtown real estate, is scheduled to begin in one to two weeks, according to a spokesperson for Virginia Commonwealth University Health.
The removal of the building, long considered an eyesore, is the first step toward its redevelopment. VCU Health agreed to pay for demolition as part of its failed redevelopment plan. It hired Henrico County-based DPR Construction for $5 million, according to city records.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By TYLER LAYNE,
WTVR-TV
The future of Monument Avenue in Richmond remains unclear four years after multiple Confederate statues were removed and Mayor Levar Stoney said he would embark on a planning process to develop a long-term vision for the historic district.
The Robert E. Lee statue, was once the largest Confederate statue in the United States, was removed from Monument Avenue in 2021. Mayor Stoney ordered the emergency removal of the street’s other Confederate monuments amid protests against racial injustice in 2020.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By ELIZABETH BEYER,
News Leader
(Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)
Four reproductive health care bills were sent back to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk for his signature or veto following the Wednesday General Assembly reconvene session, when lawmakers met to consider the governor’s action on legislation passed during the regular 2024 session.
The legislative body sent four bills that the governor had amended back to his desk in their original form after rejecting the amendments, for his veto or signature. He has 30 days to act on the bills.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By DWAYNE YANCEY,
Cardinal News
Shenandoah County is debating whether to change the names of two schools — by changing them back to Confederate names that were retired in 2020.
That would certainly put Shenandoah County in a unique category: Lots of places have taken the names of Confederate figures off of public buildings, but I’m hard pressed to find any who have then turned around and restored those names.
In Shenandoah County’s case, Stonewall Jackson High School became Mountain View High School and Ashby-Lee Elementary became Honey Run Elementary. A vote in 2022 to restore the original names failed on a 3-3 vote. However, the three school board members who wanted to keep the new names are now gone, and the three who wanted the Confederate names are still there — so the issue is live again.
VaNews April 19, 2024
