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By JASON ARMESTO,
Daily Progress
(Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
The United States Congress is broken. So said L.F. Payne, a Virginia Democrat who represented Virginia’s 5th Congressional District in the House of Representatives from 1988 to 1997, during a special visit to Charlottesville Friday. “In the last Congress, I think there were over 500 pieces of legislation that were passed,” Payne said, adding that’s on track with recent history. “This Congress by comparison, now three-fourths of the way through, has passed 69 pieces of legislation. So it is clearly by many measurements dysfunctional.” ... Now serving as president of Former Members of Congress, or FMC, a bipartisan nonprofit group, part of Payne’s job is to help remedy that dysfunction.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By DAN RONAN,
WTOP
Thursday’s near collision at Reagan National Airport is raising concerns about plans to increase the number of flights at the airport.
Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said Thursday morning’s close call at Reagan National is another reason not to expand the number of flights at the airport as some other senators are attempting to do.
“It’s just plain crazy that some are pushing to add more flights to DCA’s overburdened runway,” Warner said to the Senate Friday.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By SUSAN CAMERON,
Cardinal News
Recently unsealed search warrants executed at cannabis-related stores as part of a sweeping law enforcement operation across Southwest Virginia last fall detail weeks of undercover buys and catalog the seizure of ATMs, thousands of dollars in cash and containers of plant materials bearing labels like “Grease Monkey” and “Stomp Purple.”
A spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, which helped coordinate the sweep, said there have been no charges or arrests in connection with the searches. The agency is “still working through the investigation” with the county commonwealth’s attorneys, Corinne Geller said Friday.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By CHARLIE PAULLIN,
Virginia Mercury
Almost 20,000 acres have been lit by flames that primarily torched the western and central parts of the state so far during Virginia’s 2024 spring fire season. With about a week left until the season ends, that is double the amount of acres affected annually in the state across its 10-year average.
There’s no question that the fires visibly caused an immediate loss of vegetation and wildlife habitat, but state and federal officials said in interviews with the Mercury last week the blazes provide some benefits and are a centuries-old resource management tool.
“It does play an important role in the ecosystem,” said Michael Downey, assistant director for wildfire mitigation and prevention at the Virginia Department of Forestry.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By PATRICK LARSEN,
VPM
The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority announced a new approach to lease enforcement amid public outcry over eviction cases it recently filed against residents.
CEO Steven Nesmith said the “Compassion Action Initiative” will focus on re-establishing relationships with residents, adhering to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations, strengthening data collection and sharing with stakeholders, and addressing a $3 million backlog of unpaid rent.
At least 14 pending cases were dismissed from Richmond General District Court on Wednesday in a pause that Nesmith said would extend for a minimum of 30 days.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By AVERY GOODSTINE,
The Breeze
The Board of Visitors (BoV) announced former Senior Vice President of Administration and Finance Charlie King as JMU’s interim president — the first in over 30 years — during its Friday morning meeting.
Both the proposed tuition increase and budget for the 2024-25 academic year were approved unanimously. The tuition proposal includes a 3% in-state and 1.5% out-of-state tuition increase.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By JOEY LOMONACO,
Fredericksburg Free Press
Lloyd Moss Jr. recalls his father’s trademark retort for whenever someone would make reference to his namesake health center.
“His comment was always, ‘It’s not my clinic.’” Moss Jr. said of the late Dr. Lloyd F. Moss, who helped found the Moss Free Clinic back in 1993. “It’s the Fredericksburg community’s, and it’s the volunteers’ clinic.”
On Sunday afternoon, nearly 100 people gathered in a Taco Bell parking lot less than a mile from the clinic’s doors with a shared aim: taking ownership of its now-precarious future.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By SCOTT SHENK,
Free Lance-Star
(Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
More traffic has been using the electronically tolled lanes on Interstate 95 since a 10-mile extension opened in Stafford County last year.
According to the toll lane operator Transurban’s March quarter financial update, released Thursday , the Australian-based company’s North American toll lanes “continued its recent strong performance with traffic increasing 4.9%,” equating to 147,000 trips, compared to the first quarter of 2023.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By PETER CARY,
Piedmont Journalism Foundation
Town officials Thursday cleared the way for the construction of an Amazon data center in Warrenton, reaching a milestone in the long and tumultuous saga that splintered the town’s council and its residents.
Warrenton’s planning and zoning staff signed off on the latest site plans for the data center, removing the last major administrative hurdle for the 220,000-square-foot project on Blackwell Road. Now that the site plan has been approved, Amazon will move on to obtaining routine permits for site work and building construction.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By GRACE SCHUMACHER,
Fauquier Now
Warrenton town staff has approved the site development plan for Amazon’s proposed 220,000-square-foot data center campus on the 42-acre plot of land at the intersection of Blackwell Road and Lee Highway off the Route 17 Spur in town.
The approval, which came after staff’s fourth review and was detailed in a letter released Thursday, comes with 27 conditions and requirements. The conditions of approval, written with the intent of governing the project’s development, cover various aspects including adherence to approved plans, compliance with the 25 special use permit conditions and environmental considerations.
VaNews April 22, 2024
