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Hundreds of stores to stop Virginia Lottery sales until path forward for skill games added to budget
Virginia residents with plans on playing a lottery ticket anytime soon may have just run out of luck — at least for the foreseeable future. Hundreds of stores across the state stopped selling lottery tickets at 5 p.m. on Thursday May 9, and it’s unclear when they will start sales back up again. Convenience store owners like Munir Rassiwala are hoping that their halt of lottery ticket sales will prompt law makers to lift the restrictions against skill games, allowing the money-making machines to start operating again.
Portsmouth casino exceeds projections in first year
Fourteen months after opening, the Rivers Casino Portsmouth has generated more than $86 million in state and local tax revenues and about $340 million in total revenues, a new report shows. Virginia’s first permanent casino reported $329 million in adjusted gaming revenues and $11.2 million in food and beverage revenues during the period from its opening in late January 2023 through March 31, 2024, according to a report filed with the Virginia Lottery Board.
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.”
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.”
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.
Tazewell Co. officials want to tap into major gas pipeline to help industries dealing with soaring electricity costs
Although Tazewell County produces the third highest amount of natural gas in the state — and a major gas pipeline runs right through the county — businesses and residents there have little access to it. County officials have long dreamed of changing that, and as electric rates continue to increase across Southwest Virginia, they are finally hoping to move forward with plans to tap into the line. “There’s a long history here of resources leaving our part of the state and we don’t really get a whole lot of benefit out of it,” said Tazewell County Administrator Eric Young. “If we could just tap into that line, then our businesses can get that advantage on the energy costs and hopefully keep and gain some jobs.”
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 ...