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Budget deal reached by Virginia governor and negotiators, chairman says
After an earlier breakdown in state budget negotiations, General Assembly budget negotiators and Gov. Glenn Youngkin reached a consensus on a two-year spending plan for Virginia that does not raise taxes. House Appropriations Committee Chair Luke Torian confirmed the budget conferees reached a deal Thursday, though he said the full details of the plan would not go public until this weekend. “It will not be released until Saturday; there are a lot of administrative things that need to be done,” Torian, D-Dumfries, said Thursday. “We just reached an agreement this afternoon.”
VCU Health planning massive redevelopment of campus
The Virginia Commonwealth University Health system is planning a significant reimagining of its campus in downtown Richmond, a preliminary plan that could take more than 15 years to implement and seemingly cost north of $1 billion. The vision includes a new dental school, an expansion to the inpatient hospital, more space for research, and removal of the 83-year-old West Hospital. With few formal plans made, the vision is considered a “roadmap,” and it’s possible not all projects will come to life, said Meredith Weiss, VCU’s vice president for administration and interim chief financial officer. She presented the plan to VCU’s board of visitors on Thursday.
Yancey: 37 years ago, one of the Republican Senate candidates tried to run in Roanoke. Here’s what happened.
None of the five candidates seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to run against Democrat Tim Kaine have ever held public office. In some quarters, that’s considered a plus. Some of them, though, have tried. One of them has tried more than any other. In 2010, Virginia Beach attorney Chuck Smith ran for the U.S. House of Representatives against Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News, in the 3rd District but lost, as Republicans typically do in that strongly Democratic district. In 2012, Smith ran for the Kempsville district seat on the Virginia Beach City Council, but finished fourth out of a field of four candidates. In 2017, he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for attorney general but failed to qualify for the ballot. In 2021, Smith did far, far better ...
In rural Virginia, sea-level rise swamps septic systems. A local partnership is testing a solution.
On Virginia’s rural Middle Peninsula, Jamie Miller is the guy you call when something goes wrong with the least glamorous part of your home. “‘I can’t flush my toilet. I have sewage backing up in my house,’” Miller said, listing off some of the typical calls he receives. … A lifelong resident of Gloucester, Miller was born into the sewage business. He owns Miller’s Services, a plumbing company first started by his grandparents in the 1970s. But in recent years, the nature of the work has changed. Many homes in rural regions of Virginia rely on standalone septic tanks to handle wastewater because they aren’t connected to a municipal sewer system. When he took over in 2001, Miller said, the business was usually called to maintain working septic systems. Now, more and more septic systems are failing altogether, Miller said, flooding homes and yards with sewage that can threaten residents’ health and the local environment. The problem lies underground.
Shenandoah County Fair pig scramble called ‘unfair and unjust’
The Shenandoah County Fair pig scramble was scrutinized during Woodstock’s Town Council’s meeting Tuesday night after a Lorton resident made the 90-minute drive to speak against the popular event. The pig scramble is held annually, with over 300 local children participating in last summer’s rendition. Children from 3 to 8 years old, their hands covered in lard, are tasked to catch one of a group of running pigs. If a child manages to capture one of the 3-month-old pigs up for grabs, it is theirs to take home.
Google’s $1 billion data center investment could be good news for tech in Arlington
As Google plans to funnel $1 billion into Northern Virginia data centers, places such as Arlington may have renewed opportunities to attract tech investment. Although the data center expansions announced last week are based in Loudoun County and Prince William County, they impact the entire area, said Terry Clower, director of George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis. With a torrent of funds for similar infrastructure flowing into the D.C. area, and Amazon still planning its HQ2 expansion in Arlington, the region could be primed to solidify its status as a “cluster of activity” for big tech.
Powhatan school leaders address racism concerns with policy change
Ripped papers and a mother’s desperate tears for change flooded the room at Tuesday night’s Powhatan County School Board meeting. Parents and students pleaded with the board to take more drastic measures towards fighting ongoing racism they say they’ve continued to witness in Powhatan schools.
Dominion expects to connect 15 new data centers in Northern Virginia this year
After connecting 15 data centers totaling 933 megawatts of capacity last year, Dominion Energy Virginia expects to connect 15 more data centers in Northern Virginia to the power grid in 2024, according to its quarterly earnings report. Since 2019, Dominion has connected 94 data centers with greater than 4 gigawatts of capacity, the report said. This reflects a trend of both growing data center buildings and campuses as a whole — the power demand of individual data centers has increased from 30 MW to 60-90 MW, and data center campuses are ranging anywhere from 300 MW to “several GWs.”
Louisa Co. supervisors reverse decision to cut Piedmont Virginia Community College funding over Jewish film
What exactly Piedmont Virginia Community College President Jean Runyon said to convince the Louisa County Board of Supervisors that a documentary called “Israelism” by two Jewish filmmakers wasn’t antisemitic remains unclear. Though it must have done the trick, as the board unanimously voted Monday night to overturn the resolution it had passed just one week prior that cut off the county’s funding to the school, a sum of $6,000 this year.
Loudoun in preliminary ‘priority’ corridor for new electricity transmission lines
The U.S. Department of Energy released May 8 a list of potential “priority” corridors for new transmission infrastructure that would give a federal commission the authority to overrule state agencies when ruling on transmission projects. One possible corridor includes existing transmission rights-of-way across Loudoun County along with a new path through western Loudoun. The maps of the possible new transmission line corridors are “rough approximations,” according to the department, and provide little detail. The department did not respond May 8 to a request for the detailed mapping data used to create the high-level maps ...