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When Madi Tyree drives past the former Central Virginia Training Center, with its sprawling 350-acre campus and 95 vacant buildings, she hears its many voices. 

The Lynchburg-area native hears her grandmother, who cared for patients with developmental disabilities there in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

She hears the voices of inmates who lived there during the institution’s darkest period of eugenics and forced sterilization — the period she researched in 2022 for a capstone history project while she was a student at Randolph College. 

Tyree, now a history teacher at Nelson County High School, hears the voices of her students, who ask questions about the site as it stands today.

About this story

This is the first installment in a two-part series on the redevelopment of the former Central Virginia Training Center campus. Coming Wednesday: Local leaders’ plans to reimagine the site as a mixed-use neighborhood.

The training center in Madison Heights, just across the river from downtown Lynchburg, closed in 2020, after Virginia reached a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice to shut down four of its institutions for patients with developmental disabilities. The closure plan followed a multi-year investigation of the state’s institutions, prompted to ensure their compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, that concluded that Virginia fell short in providing “services in the most integrated settings” to people with disabilities, according to the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.

When plans for closing began in 2012, the Central Virginia Training Center was the largest facility of its kind in the state and was Amherst County’s largest employer.

Over the past six years, local government and business leaders have been planning to redevelop the site to tap into its economic potential — a project that is gaining momentum now that some buildings are slated for demolition and a plan for a new road into the property is in the works. 

Meanwhile, local educators, historians and community members are reflecting on the site’s complicated history, how it’s evolved since it opened in 1910 as an asylum, and how it should be preserved. 

In the first half of its history, the institution was a legal epicenter for eugenics, the now-discredited movement that sought to eliminate so-called social ills, such as intellectual disabilities, by controlling human reproduction through forced sterilization and other methods. 

Later in its history, the facility provided long-term medical care, education and rehabilitation for people with developmental disabilities that families across the region grew to trust and rely on. 

With a history that long and with so many lives touched, “people approach CVTC very differently,” said Jeremy Bryant, Amherst’s county administrator. There are those who want to see the campus preserved for its historical significance, those who’d like the site to provide needed medical care again, and those who say “the only way to do it right is to start over” and reimagine the vacant campus as an economic engine for Amherst County, he said. 

‘Ground zero’ for a dark history of eugenics

As redevelopment plans take shape at the site, some community members are wrestling with how to preserve the site’s stories. 

“I don’t want the history to be built over, forgotten,” Tyree said. “We need to be able to acknowledge the ugly parts of history and say, ‘This did not work. We’re not going to try this again. We’re not going to repeat the same cycle.’ If we just sit here and ignore it and cut out all the bad parts, then we’re unfortunately doomed to make those mistakes again.”

In 1911, the first patients were admitted to what’s commonly known as “the Colony.” The site was at first an institution for people with epilepsy and soon expanded to admit those with intellectual disabilities and mental illness.

It wasn’t long before the Colony became “ground zero” for the eugenics movement, said Ed Polloway, a leading researcher of the facility’s history and longtime professor in the University of Lynchburg’s special education program. Eugenics is a now scientifically discredited, but once widely accepted, theory that the human race can be improved through selective breeding, using methods such as involuntary sterilization, segregation and social exclusion to “rid society of individuals deemed to be unfit,” as described by the National Institutes of Health. 

In 1924, a Virginia statute was passed to establish a legal policy for the sexual sterilization of “inmates” of state institutions like the Colony. In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court tested that statute and ruled that the involuntary and forced sterilization of inmates at institutions was constitutional — in a case that stemmed from the Amherst campus.

The case revolved around a Colony inmate, Carrie Buck. Her mother, Emma, had previously been institutionalized at the Colony, and her daughter, Vivian, was purported to have intellectual disability. In the majority opinion for Buck v. Bell, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes concluded that “three generations of imbeciles are enough.” Carrie Buck then became the first person known to be involuntarily sterilized under Virginia’s 1924 statute.

The case lacked proof of the family members’ intellectual disability, and key witnesses in the case included prominent people in the eugenics movement who had not directly assessed Buck, according to Polloway’s research.

By 1938, 30 other states had passed sterilization laws, with many based on the Virginia model, according to Polloway’s research. About 4,000 people were sterilized at the Amherst site by the time the practice tapered off in the early 1970s, according to Polloway’s research — that’s about 50% of all people sterilized in Virginia and about 7% of those sterilized nationwide. 

The 1924 state statute remained on the books until 1974. Buck v. Bell has never been overturned. The state historic marker on the former training center’s campus makes no mention of the site’s history of eugenics.

The facility changed names five times throughout its history, eventually becoming the Central Virginia Training Center in 1983. At the time, it served as a “microcosm for the world of American institutions,” Polloway said, as it shifted to a model of providing both medical care and educational habilitation and created new residential spaces to replace the “existing large, virtual warehouse living arrangements.”

About 350 patients lived on the campus in 2012, when it was announced that four of Virginia’s five training centers would soon close, according to Polloway’s research. Over the facility’s 110 years of history, it had about 14,000 patients, with a peak census of about 3,700 in 1972.

The question of preservation

In 2022, a redevelopment master plan for the training center site was published after a multi-year study spearheaded by the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance and contributed to by Amherst County officials, state representatives, and other local and regional partners. The master plan proposes that the most feasible and best use for the vacant site is its transformation into a mixed-use, walkable neighborhood with a combination of residential, retail and office spaces, along with a set of light-industrial buildings. 

The master plan makes some arrangements for preservation of campus landmarks, including a plan for the site’s two cemeteries “to be preserved and honored as best feasible.” The Memorial Gardens cemetery would get an enhanced gateway and be more visible from neighborhood trails and green spaces, the plan states. 

The second cemetery, thought to be the resting place of some Black patients, is currently overgrown, and significant landscape cleanup is required, according to the plan. A memorial lawn space, gate and fenceline are planned to be added to the area.

There are at least 1,000 people buried on the campus, Polloway said: “They went to the institution and never left.”

The master plan also proposes that a monument be constructed from the cupola of the Bradford Building — the “centerpiece” of the campus, as Polloway describes it, that was designed by prominent local architect Stanhope Spencer Johnson. 

Regardless, the “site build out plan” section of the master plan calls for the demolition of buildings that are not feasible for reuse or preservation, “which can help overcome the complicated history of the Training Center site.” 

Local educators say the campus still has lots to teach the community. 

Tyree said the training center’s past is important to study today because “you can definitely see some parallels” between the practice of eugenics then and modern conversations about bodily autonomy and healthcare. She talks about the Colony in her classroom and said she “would love to see the site turned into some kind of a museum — something that they can use to walk through what the daily lives of these patients would have looked like and see the history outside the classroom.”

Alexander Sutton, an assistant professor of sociology at Washington and Lee University who teaches a disability studies class, sees Carrie Buck’s case as the “crescendo” of the history he covers in his syllabus — one that rings even louder when students realize that her story stemmed from the central Virginia region they’re learning in. 

“The Carrie Buck case, a Virginia case, is really at the heart of American understandings of disability and bodily autonomy,” he said. “Virginia is an important stop on the long historical journey of constructing what disability is and how it’s defined.”

Gerry Sherayko, a history professor at Randolph College, said he talks about the training center in his class about the Holocaust. At the Nuremberg trials that followed World War II, Nazis who had carried out forced sterilizations cited Buck v. Bell in defense of their actions. 

“That German story, long ago and far away, is very much local history that is 15 minutes from where we’re sitting, where I’m teaching,” he said. “Something of global significance happened here, and there should be a museum — not to rub negativity in people’s faces, but to acknowledge that this is one of the major centers in the world for this history.”

A changing landscape of disability care

Others say the site has meaning because of the quality care it provided in its later history.

For Martha Bryant, “home” is the word that comes to mind when she thinks of the training center. Her twin sons, Taylor and Tyler, were born prematurely with intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, airway difficulties, and other health challenges, and they lived at the training center for about 20 years. 

Bryant remembers feeling like her sons had everything they needed at the training center, from physical therapy to special education to a wheelchair clinic. She still remembers the teachers and nurses who worked with her sons the closest and keeps photos of them around the house.

The training center also feels like home, Bryant said, because of the jobs and sense of purpose it gave to her family of nurses: 10 of her family members, including her mother, sister and herself, worked at the training center. 

“I knew from that that it was good care, or I would have never taken my sons there,” she said.

Taylor and Tyler were moved to a care facility in Petersburg in 2017 as the Amherst site began to close. Tyler could not cope with the abrupt changes to medical care, Bryant said, and he passed away less than two months after leaving his home at the training center. 

Taylor, now 32, has lived at the Petersburg facility, called Hiram Davis Medical Center, since 2017 and gets the specialized care he needs, Bryant said. But his home is at risk again: in 2024, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services announced a process to close Hiram Davis, and today, an amendment in the state budget awaits approval to officially “proceed with the closure of Hiram Davis Medical Center by December 2027.”

Earlier this month, the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services presented an updated closure plan for Hiram Davis, and lawmakers on the Joint Commission on Health Care must cast an advisory vote by the end of July recommending whether the state should move forward with the plan. 

Bryant said she’s always seen her role as the parent of children with disabilities as also the role of an advocate, but “I’ve never had to fight as hard as I am now.”

“I feel like I need to have my elevator speech of about two sentences ready to go, always,” she said. “Right now, it’s: ‘Keep Hiram Davis open. This is life or death, and I don’t want to be the voice of another dead son.’”

Bryant said when she looks at the healthcare system in place for people with intellectual disabilities and mental health challenges, there has been “overall positive growth in certain areas,” particularly in crisis care that’s designed to deliver emergency treatment and get patients rehabilitated quickly. 

“But if you’re on the far end of the continuum, like Taylor is, you can get stuck,” she said. 

Bryant said she’d like to see the training center used as a medical facility again, especially for patients who don’t fit into normal models of long-term care, such as those with dementia or those with significant developmental disabilities like Taylor. 

“Corporate America leaves some populations behind, because they’re expensive to take care of,” Bryant said of her experience of trying to move Taylor to a skilled nursing facility closer to home, but getting rejected due to the complexity and cost of his care. “We need a regional approach for long-term care, and the common sense solution is in the Lynchburg area. It’s already bought and paid for.”

The post History remembered at former Amherst training center site as redevelopment plans take shape appeared first on Cardinal News.

Whatever you think of the Virginia Supreme Court ruling on redistricting, it did bring some finality to the state’s redistricting drama — at least for a while.

While we no longer get to write about the short-lived “lobster district,” there are plenty of other political questions swirling around Virginia. Here are 10 of them.

1. How is the relationship between Spanberger and the General Assembly going to shake out?

If redistricting hadn’t taken up so much oxygen, this is the story we’d have been talking about: Our Democratic governor and our Democratic General Assembly could be on a collision course on some key issues. Abigail Spanberger vetoed eight bills before last month’s reconvened session. That’s not many compared to the 201 that Glenn Youngkin sent back his third year or the 196 he nixed his fourth year. Youngkin, though, was a Republican dealing with a Democratic legislature, so nobody should have been surprised at how many vetoes he had. Here we have Democrats in control of both the governorship and the General Assembly, but that doesn’t always mean they agree. Still, the last time we had a Democratic trifecta, Ralph Northam vetoed four bills one year and none the next. Spanberger has already doubled that number and appears set to add more.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, has been trolling Spanberger mercilessly on social media, and Lucas has the power to complicate the governor’s life if she chooses to. In fact, she already has — by holding up the state budget in a dispute over how data centers should be taxed. Over the next month, we need to watch to see how each acts and reacts. Spoiler alert: Just because she’s governor doesn’t mean Spanberger has the upper hand.

2. How many bills will Spanberger veto, and which ones?

Besides vetoing eight bills before the reconvened session, Spanberger sent back some pretty extensive rewrites in the form of proposed amendments to bills. Remarkably, the legislature rejected about two dozen of those, leaving Spanberger in the position of having to decide whether to sign a bill she wanted revised — or veto the bill entirely, even though, in many cases, she’s endorsed the concept behind the bill. These bills include some high-priority items for Democrats: collective bargaining for public employees, legalizing cannabis sales, banning assault weapons. In each case, Spanberger has endorsed the idea, but has problems with the details of the bills before her. She made that clear when she vetoed the collective bargaining bill — veto No. 9, a move that Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County, called “disappointing and perplexing.”

This is where policy and politics intertwine. Politically, Spanberger has to veto some of these bills simply to make it clear she’s the one in charge. If the legislature thinks it can reject her amendments, and she acquiesces to the bill she wanted revised, the General Assembly won’t take her seriously for the rest of her term. However, there’s also a political risk of enraging some of her supporters who aren’t that focused on the details and thought that electing a Democratic governor meant they would get some of these proposals turned into law. This is what’s happening now on the collective bargaining bill and organized labor. If you think that’s a dilemma, read on.

3. When will we get a deal on data center taxation, and what will it look like?

Lucas wants to see more revenue and has been fixated on ending the state’s tax breaks for data centers eight years early — in 2027 rather than 2035. Some see these abatements as nothing more than a giveaway to tech companies; others see them as an incentive that forgoes $1.9 billion in revenue to get $9.1 billion in state GDP from data centers. I’ve dealt with that before, so if you want to delve into those arguments, check out my previous column. (By the way, that $9.1 billion came in a 2024 report from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, so is likely higher now. A report commissioned by the Data Center Coalition that was released Monday put the figure at $29.9 billion.)

The reality is the state budget for the next two years can’t be put together until budget negotiators know how much revenue the state should expect — so we won’t get a budget until there’s a resolution, one way or another, to the data center tax abatement issue.

4. Will a deal on data center tax abatements save or endanger a possible 2,500 jobs in Pittsylvania County?

Some warn that ending the data center tax abatements early runs the risk of giving Virginia the reputation of a state that doesn’t keep its word; others counter that these aren’t contracts, the state is free to change its policy. However, there’s another wrinkle to the data center tax debate. Secretary of Finance Mark Sickles has specifically warned that abolishing the abatements early would probably kill a deal for a data center complex in Pittsylvania County that would bring 2,500 permanent jobs over the next 30 years to a part of the state that sorely needs them. It’s unclear how seriously the legislators pushing for doing away with the tax center tax breaks take that threat — after all, Pittsylvania is nowhere near their districts. Some of their constituents clamoring to stick it to data centers may have never even heard of Pittsylvania. I’ve asked Lucas’ office about the Pittsylvania project and have never gotten a reply. However, the performance agreement that the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority took up Monday specifically includes a mention that the deal is predicated on the state tax abatements staying in place. (See the story by Cardinal’s Grace Mamon for more on that.)

5. When are we going to get a budget — and what will be in it?

There are other complications to the budget besides data centers — namely Lucas, the legislative process and the calendar. We should have had a budget passed before the General Assembly adjourned in early March. We didn’t, and we still don’t. In fact, no real negotiations have taken place. Legislators are waiting for two things: a) a deal on data center taxation and b) Spanberger’s May 23 deadline to act on those bills the legislature sent back to her. This is where power tips toward the legislature, especially the canny Lucas. If the governor vetoes some bills that legislators care deeply about, they could just write the legislation into the budget, a process known as “legislating through the budget.” That’s frowned upon, but still practiced. The legislature also is under no obligation to act quickly. There’s talk that legislators could hold onto the budget until late June, then pass a spending plan, leaving Spanberger with essentially no time to make the customary changes a governor does. Yes, you read that right: Lucas (and other legislators) could back the governor into a corner. Sign this budget that you may not like, or let the state enter the new fiscal year without one. These are some of the scenarios the governor needs to consider as she weighs whether to veto certain bills. Spanberger may have the fancy house and fancy title, but Lucas has the power to put the governor in an uncomfortable position.

6. Will Jones find a way to get involved with the Lynchburg Republican firehouse primary?

A recent state law — often known as “Helmer’s Law,” for its sponsor, Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax County — comes very close to requiring parties to hold state-run primaries to pick nominees for anything other than a special election. Republicans have never liked that law, and Lynchburg Republicans really haven’t liked it. They see that as an infringement on party business, and worry that, because Virginia doesn’t register voters by party, a Republican primary could be infiltrated by non-Republicans, be they independents or even Democrats.

To pick nominees for the city council this year, Lynchburg Republicans have devised a party-run process — commonly known as a firehouse primary — that they believe will satisfy the law. Will it? Technically, it will unless and until Attorney General Jay Jones finds a way to get it ruled otherwise. Helmer has requested a formal attorney general’s opinion, which Jones has yet to deliver. I explored the options available in a previous column. We’re now 11 days out from the Republican event. Those planning to participate in the event (which involves a “screening” by the party to determine if prospective voters really are Republicans) might like to know if their vote will count or not.

If it does, then Lynchburg Republicans will have created a precedent that other Republican units across Virginia can emulate. The argument for Jones trying to find a way to intervene: He wouldn’t want Republicans to establish what Democrats might see as a loophole. And after losing the redistricting case, he might be looking for an election-oriented victory. The argument against: It may be hard to construct a legal case against the Lynchburg Republican plan, especially if Jones can’t find a specific person who was injured by the plan — and what Republican is likely to complain to a Democratic attorney general? Democrats also may not be particularly concerned about what Lynchburg Republicans do, especially if they could just come back next year and revise the law to close what they see as a loophole.

In any case, we’ve already updated the Lynchburg page on our Voter Guide and sent questionnaires to the 10 Republican candidates in the May 30 firehouse primary. Seven have responded; you can find their answers here.

7. Who will make the ballot for congressional primaries?

Because of redistricting, filing deadlines are all over the place this year. The filing deadline for party nominations for U.S. Senate and local races has already passed; where there are multiple candidates, those nominations are now set for Aug. 4 primaries. Put another way, we know that on Aug. 4 we’ll have a statewide Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, as well as Democratic primaries for certain local offices, including Montgomery County sheriff and Roanoke city council. (You can find the lists of those candidates on the Montgomery County and Roanoke pages of our Voter Guide.)

What we don’t know yet is who will make the ballot for any congressional primaries. That deadline is May 26. We’ll have a lot more clarity after that.

8. Will the redistricting amendment come up again in 2027?

The key thing to remember about the Virginia case is that the court ruling wasn’t based on the map or the basic concept of redrawing lines, but simply on the timing of when the legislature first passed the amendment. By waiting until after early voting in 2025 was underway, the General Assembly didn’t adhere to the constitutional rules that require the legislature to pass an amendment twice, with a state election in between. By the court’s ruling, the legislature simply waited too long because the election was already underway. That means the concept of a new redistricting isn’t unconstitutional, only the timing was.

After the Virginia referendum was tossed out, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed a major push for Democratic state legislatures to redraw congressional lines for the 2028 elections. That sets up this potential sequence. Early 2027: The General Assembly — the same set of legislators that passed the amendment this year — could pass the amendment again. Fall 2027: legislative elections, which count as the intervening election. Early 2028: The new General Assembly passes the amendment again. April 2028: another special election. Fall 2028: The new congressional map goes into effect, so the “lobster district,” as that odd-looking 7th District was called, could be revived.

This sequence depends on two things.

First, Democrats still need to be enthusiastic about redistricting. If they win big this November, will they still be fired up about drawing new maps? If they lose, they will likely be even more inspired.

Second, Democrats need to win the General Assembly again in November 2027. If they lose even one chamber, redistricting won’t happen.

9. Will Democrats hand Republicans a campaign issue by booting a Supreme Court justice?

Virginia is one of just two states (South Carolina is the other) where Supreme Court justices are elected by the legislature. Those justices are also elected for specific terms, not for life the way federal judges are. The upshot of all that: The author of the majority opinion that invalidated the April 21 special election — on the grounds that the General Assembly didn’t follow the rules in placing the election on the ballot — will now face that same General Assembly when he comes up for reappointment in January 2027. A fellow justice, who joined in that opinion, will be up for reelection in 2028.

If Arthur Kelsey isn’t reelected in January, it will be seen as political retribution and hand Republicans a talking point for the fall elections. Are Democrats prepared to take that risk? One reason they might: So many districts are “safe” for one party or another; the real question is whether and how that issue would play in a handful of swing districts. That brings us to this:

10. How will redistricting play out in the 2027 legislative elections?

Redistricting didn’t come up early enough last fall to be a factor in the elections. Now it’s front and center — and both sides already know how the vote went. If Democrats pass another redistricting amendment in early 2027, that sets up redistricting as yet another election issue for the fall legislative races. For the same reason as above, that won’t be a problem for many legislators on either side, but it could be a complicating factor for some Democratic incumbents in potentially vulnerable districts. They’ll have to face a question they didn’t last year.

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The post Now that redistricting is dead for this year, these are the next 10 questions to ask about Virginia politics appeared first on Cardinal News.

Roanoke City Public Schools is reconsidering the division’s use of the online education platform Canvas after a massive data breach left the system offline and student information exposed earlier this month.

The division was one of hundreds of K-12 systems and colleges across the country impacted after hackers breached Instructure, the company behind Canvas, which schools use to manage assignments, track grades and deliver course content. 

The cyberattack left varying levels of access to Canvas after hackers gained initial unauthorized access April 25 through May 8, when Instructure restored access to most users.

Roanoke City Public Schools removed access to Canvas as soon as it was notified of the breach, spokesperson Claire Mitzel said, and didn’t restore access until May 13, when the division’s technology department felt it was safe for use. Some Virginia school divisions began reusing the platform once it was back online on May 8. 

The software remains disconnected from the district’s own student information system that houses student data like Social Security numbers, addresses and contact information, Mitzel said.

As soon as RCPS was notified of the cyberattack, schools “[discontinued] Canvas use until additional security controls, system reviews, and data-source disconnections were completed,” Mitzel said in an email. 

Roanoke City Public Schools began using Canvas in 2020, when, like many school divisions, students and teachers pivoted to online learning while schools were closed during the pandemic. The division has continued to use it in the years since.

Approximately 7,000 Roanoke middle and high school students use Canvas, though how the platform is used varies by teacher.

For some courses, students may take a quiz or upload assignments to be graded. Some teachers also house course materials in Canvas and use it to post assignments and communicate with students.

Students enrolled in any online course offered through Virtual Virginia, the state’s online platform, use Canvas primarily for accessing coursework, assignments and communicating. Students sometimes take online courses because their home school doesn’t offer a specific advanced course, or to make up a credit and to fulfill graduation requirements. The Virginia Department of Education requires high school students to successfully complete at least one virtual course to graduate.

Canvas is provided free to school divisions through the Virginia Department of Education, which negotiates with the vendor.

Officials with the Education Department did not respond to questions or provide information on how many Virginia school divisions use Canvas or how the platform was vetted or funded.

Students don’t have the option of whether to use Canvas for courses, but K-12 educators could often pivot more easily to alternative, in-person options when access was limited during the breach, compared to college settings, where some courses centered around access.

Mitzel said Roanoke students, some of whom might have been in the process of working on end-of-the-year assignments, won’t be penalized for any assignments due or affected during the period Canvas was offline.

RCPS is evaluating its use of Canvas as part of its own plan for maintaining continuity of learning when there are problems with a vendor, Mitzel said. 

A specific alternative hasn’t been identified, but any new vendor would be evaluated through the division’s standard purchasing and approval processes, Mitzel said. 

Since Canvas is a third-party vendor, RCPS is not involved in any investigations into the security breach and also was not able to tell families if or how many students and their information were affected. 

Some school divisions across the state have tried to reassure families.

In an email on May 8, Alleghany Highlands Public Schools notified families of the incident and said “there [was] no evidence that AHPS systems were impacted or that sensitive information such as passwords, financial data, or government identifiers was compromised.”

“The incident may have involved limited user information, including names, email addresses, student ID numbers and message history. AHPS is working with Instructure, the provider of Canvas, and is continuing to monitor the situation while reinforcing phishing awareness among students and staff,” the message continued.

The post Roanoke school division reconsidering online platform after recent data breach appeared first on Cardinal News.

Danville and Pittsylvania officials signed off on an AI data center project at the Berry Hill megasite that would be one of the largest industrial announcements in the U.S. — if the state does not end the data center tax exemption next year. 

At a called meeting Monday, the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facilities Authority unanimously approved a local performance agreement with Stack Infrastructure, the Colorado-based data center developer behind the project. 

The job creation and investment figures included in the local performance agreement are higher than previously announced. 

The final document outlines a $100 billion investment and the creation of 2,500 jobs with salaries of at least $80,500 over a 30-year span.

The initial performance agreement included $73 billion in investment and 2,050 jobs over that time period. Those figures would have already topped the 2024 announcement of Berry Hill’s first tenant, a Tennessee-based lithium-ion battery separator manufacturer called Microporous.

The deal with Microporous, which made history as the largest economic development announcement in Southside history about 18 months ago, promised 2,015 jobs and $1.3 billion in investment. 

The Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill is the largest industrial site in Virginia at 3,528 acres. In March, RIFA approved a sale of 2,990 acres to Stack Infrastructure — that is almost all of the remaining land at the megasite after Microporous claimed about 200 acres in 2024. 

The Stack Infrastructure project “would represent one of the most lucrative single economic development projects in the U.S. for the host locale,” said Matt Rowe, economic development director for Pittsylvania County, at the Monday meeting. 

The project also represents the largest private investment ever announced in Virginia, or at least since 1990, when the state began collecting this data. It would be the second-largest job creation project for non-office-related uses, and one of the top five industrial announcements ever made in the U.S., according to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. 

But all of that is contingent on Virginia’s data center tax exemption staying in place. 

“The project is dependent upon the state honoring its commitments to existing agreements, including the state’s current data center sales and use tax exemption expiration date,” Rowe said at the meeting. 

At the state level, a heated debate continues about whether to eliminate the tax exemption for data center projects earlier than planned. 

This exemption is set to expire in 2035, but a proposal to end it early, in 2027, has been a hot topic in the General Assembly. The House and Senate are diametrically opposed on this issue, and their disagreement has held up the General Assembly’s approval of a budget. 

Data centers that meet certain criteria in Virginia, like investing at least $150 million and creating at least 50 jobs, are exempt from paying state retail sales and use tax on computers and other equipment. In economically distressed localities, the criteria are at least $70 million in investment and at least 10 jobs.

With the local performance agreement now signed, the end of the tax exemption could be “detrimental” to the project, Rowe said. 

“This is speculation, but from what we’ve seen by looking at the industry, talking to the client, I think it would severely cause the project to be at a disadvantage,” he said.

Kevin Hughes, the chief external affairs officer for Stack Americas, said that the tax exemption has been “critical to the creation of the Virginia market and essential to the viability of Stack’s proposed data center campus at Berry Hill.”

Also included in the performance agreement are stipulations if the project does not meet the minimum expectations. 

“Job creation requirements are clearly defined and enforceable, with required monetary payments should [Stack] not meet them,” according to Rowe’s presentation. 

The company is also required to pay taxes to the locality, both on the land and on the equipment used. 

Stack would owe at least $16.25 million in taxes per year on the first 1,000 acres of the project, and an additional $16,250 per acre for every acre after that. Once all 2,990 acres are purchased, Stack would have a minimum requirement tax payment of about $48.5 million per year. 

The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors is expected to create a separate tax for data center equipment at a rate of $1.62 per $100 of assessed value. 

“This tax rate shall be static for the project, to provide long-term certainty as long as the company is performing and meeting the stated requirements,” according to the presentation. 

Several RIFA board members mentioned that the project could be a game-changer for the region. 

Board member and Danville City Council member Gary Miller pointed to Mecklenburg County and Henrico County, which have used data center revenue to lower taxes and build affordable housing, respectively. 

Board member and Danville City Council member Lee Vogler said the region should gather resident feedback on how to invest this “massively transformational” revenue.

“We’ve talked about what we’re able to do with the money from the casino. This blows that away,” Vogler said. “I mean, 10 years ago we couldn’t have fathomed that amount of money.”

Four residents spoke at the meeting, three in opposition to the project and one in favor. 

Those in opposition were concerned about water usage, other environmental impacts and transparency with the community. 

The resident in favor of the project said that he believes that southern Virginia has learned from the mistakes of places like Loudoun and Prince William counties, which have allowed data centers to infringe on residential areas. 

Rowe’s presentation addressed some common resident concerns. It was similar to a presentation he gave during a community outreach meeting in April. 

He said that the region has the water capacity to support this project, and that ratepayers will not see an increase to their electric bills as a result of the development. He also said that all 2,000-plus jobs will be permanent positions, and that Danville and Pittsylvania are providing no discretionary monetary incentives for the project. 

Stack Infrastructure has locations in North America, Asia and Europe, including data center campuses in large U.S. cities, like Dallas and Atlanta, and in Northern Virginia, which has more data centers than anywhere else in the world.

“Virginia continues to be a core market for Stack’s extensive digital infrastructure portfolio, and we are thrilled by the prospect of bringing meaningful, long-term investment to Southside,” the company said in a statement.

The project will be built out in three construction phases. The closing date on the first phase will be no later than June 2027, according to the agreement. The other phase closings should happen before June 2031.

The Berry Hill megasite was purchased jointly by Danville and Pittsylvania in 2008. Since then, more than $217 million in public and private funds have been invested in grading, infrastructure and other preparations to ready the site for development. The megasite is now “shovel-ready,” meaning it has all the resources necessary for development. 

The post Pittsylvania data center project approved with more investment and jobs than previously announced — as long as tax breaks remain in place appeared first on Cardinal News.

Hello Cardinal News readers. Welcome back to Cardinal Commerce Notes, our regular feature catching you up on various recent business news items.

If you missed last week’s edition, check it out here to learn more about Old Dominion Power’s proposed rate increase, two Roanoke businesses expanding, a new Roanoke Region Food & Farm Trail and an upcoming virtual public meeting about Virginia rail transportation.

I’m always on the lookout for news tips. Please email me at matt@cardinalnews.org or connect with me on LinkedIn and message me there.

New Mabry Mill restaurant operator chosen 

The Blue Ridge Parkway has chosen a new concessions operator to provide food, drink and retail services at the restaurant and gift shop next to the historic Mabry Mill on the parkway for 10 years. 

The operator — MM176 LLC, whose name is likely a nod to Mabry Mill’s location at milepost 176.2 on the parkway — plans interior renovations in 2026 and anticipates opening food and retail services to the public in spring 2027, according to a Thursday news release from the National Park Service. 

“We are excited to see food service return to this historic Parkway destination and look forward to working with the new operator over the next decade at Mabry Mill.” Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Tracy Swartout said in the release. 

Seated dining at the Mabry Mill restaurant stopped being available at the end of 2023 after the previous concessionaire chose not to renew its contract.

Mabry Mill features a historic blacksmith shop, gristmill and sawmill. 

“Most of the buildings at Mabry Mill were built shortly after the turn of the 20th century. While the mill building and blacksmith shop are original to the site, other buildings were moved closer to the mill from nearby areas to provide visitors a view of life in Appalachia during that period. A short trail connects these structures and provides informative exhibits and interpretive displays,” according to the release.

This year, park service staff and volunteers will host educational programs, music events, walking tours and other events. 

Danville, Tazewell airports to get federal money for projects

Two airports in Southside and Southwest Virginia will receive about $700,000 combined in federal funding for improvement projects.

The city of Danville will receive $439,850 to rehabilitate taxiway and runway lighting at the Danville Regional Airport, according to a news release from U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.

The Tazewell County Airport Authority will get $261,647 toward construction of a hangar at the county airport “to assist the airport in its mission to generate new revenue and be self-sustaining,” according to the release.

The two funding amounts are part of more than $21 million going to eight Virginia airports from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program, according to the release.

“Travelers deserve the comfort of knowing they can move safely and efficiently through Virginia airports,” Warner and Kaine said in the release. “We’re proud to announce this funding to modernize and improve our airport infrastructure and passenger experience.”

Roanoke law firm expands into Northern Virginia

A Roanoke-based law firm is expanding into Northern Virginia. 

Woods Rogers will operate a new office in Tysons, in Fairfax County, led by attorney Neal Seth, alongside James Kelley and Mary Sylvia, according to a news release from the firm.

Before this expansion, Woods Rogers had five offices in Virginia. It’s opening its newest location in a temporary space in Greensboro Station while the company looks for a permanent home.

“We have found that physical presence is increasingly important to our clients, particularly in service areas such as intellectual property, government contracting, and regulatory compliance,” Dan Summerlin, president of Woods Rogers, said in the release.

Home builders group debuts charitable organization

The New River Valley Home Builders Association has launched a charitable arm called the Building Futures Foundation. 

The nonprofit will “create opportunity in the New River Valley and surrounding areas by supporting charitable, educational, and community initiatives that expand access to safe and attainable housing, develop the workforce, and strengthen long-term community resilience,” according to a news release from the association.

The foundation was incorporated in March and announced earlier this month. It will support scholarships, grants, and workforce development efforts to raise awareness about careers in construction. It will also support partnerships to “strengthen the housing pipeline and create pathways into the building industry,” according to the release.

“The creation of this foundation allows us to deepen our impact on the community by growing current scholarship and grant programs, expanding hands-on activity initiatives that prepare the next generation for meaningful careers in the skilled trades, and strengthening the housing industry,” said Ian Friend, president of the New River Valley Home Builders Association. 

That’s a wrap for this week. Do you know of a new business expanding or relocating in your town? Excited about a restaurant opening up soon? Maybe you’ve got an update on a story we’ve reported before. Please send me your tips and suggestions: matt@cardinalnews.org or connect with me on LinkedIn.

The post Cardinal Commerce Notes: Mabry Mill restaurant set to reopen with new operator appeared first on Cardinal News.

The Roanoke City Council appointed Donna Littlepage and Derek Kaknes to the city school board during its Monday afternoon meeting. 

The vote was unanimous, with Terry McGuire and Vivian Sanchez-Jones abstaining due to conflicts of interest — both are employees of the school division.

The two open seats are currently held by Christopher Link, who was appointed to serve an unexpired remainder of a three-year term from February 2025 through June 30, 2026, and Eli Jamison, whose term also ends June 30. 

Link and Darlene Burcham also had sought the appointments. Burcham was a city manager in Roanoke for 10 years, and Link is a project manager for a fall protection design-build contractor and a current school board member.

The school board has seven members who are appointed by the city council for a three-year term. Roanoke is one of only a dozen localities in the state with an appointed school board. All four candidates were interviewed by the city council on April 20.

Kaknes is the principal of operations and finance at Foundry Realty, which is currently redeveloping the Walker Foundry site in Roanoke. 

According to Foundry Realty’s website, Kaknes specializes in operational and financial strategy and aligning project and community objectives with available funding. 

During his interview with the council, Kaknes spoke on the school division’s financial constraints and said in general, the school board needs to “fit into” the city’s priorities and is not “independent of them.”

“I’m grateful to the Councilmembers for this opportunity,” Kaknes said in an email Monday. “I look forward to working with new Trustee Littlepage and the rest of the School Board and Administration. I’m excited for the opportunity to contribute to this critical component of our community.”

Littlepage, who is now retired, was the founding chief financial officer for the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and was a business and finance professional with Carilion Clinic for 35 years. She has served on multiple boards, including Family Services of Roanoke Valley and DePaul Community Resources.

She unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for the House of Delegates 40th District seat last year against incumbent Joe McNamara, a Republican.

“This got my attention because all of a sudden it felt like we were litigating the budget through the newspaper,” Littlepage said during her interview. “That is one of the parts I would like to be involved with…how do we work closer together in a way that it’s not adversarial in the newspaper?”

The two new school board terms begin July 1 and end June 30, 2029.

The post City council names 2 to Roanoke school board appeared first on Cardinal News.

Editor’s note: This is one in a series of periodic commentaries by retired college presidents on the subject of civility. They are based on the book “Rules of Civility for a Modern Society,” by Jim Davis, the former president of Shenandoah University.

Jim Davis Civility Rule #4

The ability to treat others as equals when one is inherently in an advantageous position is a virtue to be cultivated. 

I carry this thought one step further: If you are able to encourage honest criticism, it is prudent to do so.

Don’t let me stray into Russian Air Space.

At my very first presentation at Lynchburg College to a combined faculty and staff meeting in the fall of 2001, I dedicated some time in making a request for our clear communication with each other. To make a point about its importance, I shared the following story:

It involved the case in September 1983 of Korean airliner KAL 007 that was bound for Seoul, Korea. At some point in the flight, this airliner strayed into Russian airspace over the Kamchatka Peninsula. The pilot of that aircraft obviously did not realize this imminent danger. A Russian radar operator noted the sudden existence of an unknown aircraft in Soviet airspace. Subsequently a Russian fighter aircraft was sent to investigate. Several times did the Russian fighter attempt to communicate with the Korean airliner but to no avail. Upon failing to get a response, the fighter pilot requested and eventually received permission to shoot down the Korean airliner. This action resulted in the death of 269 men, women and children including one member of the United States House of Representatives. 

But that is just a part of the story. KAL 015 also bound for Seoul departed Anchorage 15 minutes behind KAL 007 with both planes flying along the same path. At some point in this flight, the pilot of KAL 015 realized that although both planes were flying at the same airspeed, the two planes were only 5 minutes apart. He also noticed that the pilot of 007 was complaining about the terrible headwinds while at the same time, he was experiencing strong tail winds. The pilot in 015 twice contacted the 007 pilot asking if everything was all OK. In both cases the 007 pilot indicated that all was well but in so doing expressed displeasure about the second inquiry. Some later investigators stated that the 015 pilot was younger than the 007 pilot, and in the traditional Korean culture a younger individual would not question the judgment of an elder individual. In any case, the younger pilot initiated no more communication with flight 007.

Based upon this story, my words to others always have been “Don’t let me stray into Russian airspace!” Subsequently during my 19-year presidency at Lynchburg, I have received messages with the subject line “Russian Airspace: Some special topic.” In such cases, I would contact the message writer and discuss the topic contained in the warning message, reconsider my position, and then act accordingly. I do remember one instance in which I received such a message with the subject line of “Russian Airspace: His Topic” and eventually chose to ignore it. A week later I received another message from the same individual, this time with the subject line of “Missile Lock: His Topic.” This is one situation in which I reconsidered the direction I was taking, changed my course, and subsequently was forever grateful to the persistent (and younger) messenger.

Kenneth Garren is the former president of the University of Lynchburg.

The post Former University of Lynchburg president: Why we should encourage honest criticism appeared first on Cardinal News.

At its regular Tuesday meeting at 7 p.m., the Danville City Council will hold a public hearing on maintaining the current real estate tax rate. The council is expected to keep the existing rate of 83 cents per $100 of assessed value, though the assessed values are expected to rise. 

Danville reassesses property values every two years. A reassessment is now underway. 

During a reassessment, a locality reviews and adjusts property values so that they’re consistent with market values. Virginia law requires localities to perform reassessments on a regular basis. 

Projections for the current reassessment anticipate “an increase of not more than 6.5% in assessed values of existing properties as compared to the current assessment,” according to the staff report in the meeting’s agenda packet. 

This projection does not include anticipated increases from new construction. 

This item is a first reading on the council’s agenda, meaning council members will hear it for the first time and vote on it in a later meeting. Residents will be able to share their opinions on this item during a public hearing at the meeting. 

The maximum 6.5% average increase in property values would mean that a property currently assessed at $100,000 would be reassessed at $106,500. This would raise the annual real estate tax bill on that property from $830 to about $884.

Property taxes are paid in two installments every six months, so each installment would increase by about $28, and the total annual payment would increase by about $54. 

The proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year includes a figure below the 6.5% maximum, estimating that the average increase in assessed values will go up by 5.93%. 

“The estimated increase is an overall average, and individual properties may increase at a greater or lesser percentage,” the staff report said. 

A 5.93% increase, while maintaining the 83-cent property tax rate, would yield an additional $1.7 million in revenue for the city. 

That number is not set in stone because the assessment is not yet complete, the staff report said. 

“In previous years, the closer staff got to concluding the reassessment, the projected percentage increase in values declined,” according to the report.

Based on that anticipated increase and changes in other revenues, the total upcoming budget for the city is expected to be about 2.8% higher than last year’s.

City staff recommends that the city council maintain the existing real estate tax rate of 83 cents during this reassessment. The reassessed values will go into effect at the start of the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. 

The city council meeting will be followed by a work session. 

The post Danville council to hold public hearing on real estate tax rate appeared first on Cardinal News.

Brookfield’s Compass Datacenters announced last month that it was abandoning 800-plus acres of planned data-center campus in Prince William County. It was the lynchpin of a more than 2,100-acre data center campus that was planned.

A debate among Virginia politicians about the size of the tax breaks the data-center industry would receive “cemented executives’ resolve to walk away.”

Compass was a casualty of a broader political shift. A recent Washington Post poll found massive opposition among Virginians to data center expansion. This sentiment found a legislative champion in Richmond. 

Virginia Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas has proposed eliminating the state’s sales and use tax exemption for data centers entirely. It’s a policy reversal that would undo the very agreements that drew billions in investment to Virginia in the first place.

The House wants to preserve the exemption with added environmental standards. Gov. Spanberger, to her credit, is trying to make a deal work.

As co-chair of the AI Infrastructure Coalition, I know the backlash is real. But the backlash is built on myths. 

First, jobs. 

Data centers now employ more than 603,000 Americans — roughly 1.5 times more than all 15 of our domestic automakers combined. In Virginia alone, the industry contributes an estimated 113,000 jobs annually, according to a PwC study.

IBEW organizer Don Slaiman described the industry as creating “six-figure blue-collar jobs right in the center of Northern Virginia. That is unheard of.” In 2024, 10% of all commercial and industrial construction jobs in Virginia were tied directly to data centers.

Next, energy.

Data centers represent just 4% of America’s electricity demand — less than new space cooling systems, new heat pumps and new factories, according to the International Energy Agency. Virginia saw electricity bills rise just 3% last year. Maine — which has just a few data centers — saw a 36% increase. 

Recently, the major AI hyperscalers signed a pledge to “pay their fair share” of energy costs. And they’re putting it in writing: a DOE-commissioned Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory analysis documents how data center contracts now increasingly include binding financial guarantees — minimum revenue commitments, upfront infrastructure payments and long-term service terms — that ensure these companies bear the full cost of the grid built to serve them. Americans won’t be footing the bill for datacenters. 

Third, water. 

Thanks to advancements in technology, new facilities either recycle water through closed-loop cooling systems, using less water than traditional office buildings, or they use no water at all. 

The truth is that data centers improve everyday Americans’ lives.

In Loudoun County, Virginia, for example, data centers cover 3% of the land and generate nearly 45% of the county’s tax revenue. The county has cut homeowner property tax rates by 40% over the last decade. Statewide, data centers pay $26 in taxes and fees for every dollar of support they receive. Meanwhile, manufacturing plants pay $4. 

The sales tax exemption Virginia politicians want to eliminate is an investment in their state.

Research has shown that AI helps detect breast cancer. A study in the medical journal The Lancet found that AI helped radiologists detect 29% more cancer.

Waymo autonomous vehicles have now completed 170 million rider-only miles, with 92% fewer serious-injury crashes than average human drivers.

AI is making our lives better every day. Virginians benefit from a continued investment in our future, both at home and in the community. 

Kyrsten Sinema is a former U.S. Senator from Arizona (I-AZ) and co-chair of the AI Infrastructure Coalition.

The post Sinema: Virginia is chasing away the industry that built its economy appeared first on Cardinal News.

Here are some of the top headlines from other news outlets around Virginia. Some content may be behind a metered paywall:

Environment:

Virginia officials celebrate the bald eagle’s comeback and centuries as national symbol. — Virginia Mercury.

Copperhead season is here: How to prepare and stay safe. — Richmond Times-Dispatch (paywall).

Education:

At Hollins commencement, speakers stress graduates’ ability to overcome in uncertain world. — The Roanoke Times (paywall).

HUD secretary urges Liberty University’s class of 2026 to reject fear. — The (Lynchburg) News & Advance (paywall).

Jim Ryan urges UVa class of 2026 to “do the right thing.” — The (Charlottesville) Daily Progress (paywall).

Weather:

For more weather news, follow weather journalist Kevin Myatt on Twitter / X at @kevinmyattwx and sign up for his free weather email newsletter. His weekly column appears in Cardinal News each Wednesday afternoon.

The post Headlines from across the state: Virginia officials celebrate the bald eagle’s comeback and centuries as national symbol; more … appeared first on Cardinal News.

Dominion Energy and Florida-based NextEra Energy intend to combine companies to create what they said would be the largest regulated electric utility business in the world.

The companies said Monday that they expect the deal to close within a year to 18 months. It will require state and federal regulatory approval, including from Virginia’s State Corporation Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

If the merger is approved, Dominion customers in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina would receive $2.25 billion in bill credits over two years after the deal closes “from the scale, operating and capital efficiencies this combination unlocks,” John Ketchum, chairman, president and CEO of NextEra Energy, said in a news release.

“We are bringing NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy together because scale matters more than ever — not for the sake of size, but because scale translates into capital and operating efficiencies,” Ketchum said. “It enables us to buy, build, finance and operate more efficiently, which translates into more affordable electricity for our customers in the long run.”

[Disclosure: Dominion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]  

The combined company would operate under the NextEra Energy name while maintaining headquarters in both Virginia and Florida and operational headquarters in South Carolina, according to the release.

It would have approximately 10 million customer accounts, own 110 gigawatts of power generation and have more than 130 gigawatts of “large-load opportunities” in its pipeline.

Dominion serves the largest data center market in the world in Northern Virginia. Company officials said on an earnings call earlier this month that Dominion has about 51 gigawatts of data center capacity in some stage of contracting.

Under the terms of the proposed all-stock transaction, said to be valued at approximately $67 billion, shareholders of Dominion Energy (NYSE:D) would get 0.8138 shares of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) for each Dominion share they own. 

Clean Virginia, a Charlottesville-based nonprofit created to oppose electric utility monopolies in Virginia, said in a statement Monday that regulators should proceed with “extreme caution” and ensure that the merger won’t result in higher bills for customers.

“Virginians don’t choose their electric utility,” Clean Virginia Executive Director Brennan Gilmore said in a statement. “That’s why the law requires utilities to serve the public interest — and precisely why any merger must be judged by one standard: does it make life better for the people who have no other option?” 

Richmond-based Dominion Energy has more than 3.6 million customers in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Of those, more than 2.5 million are in Virginia, including in Central and Southside Virginia and the Alleghany Highlands.

Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy is a Fortune 200 company that owns Florida Power & Light. A subsidiary, NextEra Energy Resources, owns approximately one-third of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 303-mile natural gas pipeline that runs from Western Virginia to southern Virginia.

The post Dominion, NextEra announce merger plan appeared first on Cardinal News.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the document whose words about “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” inspired not just Americans of 1776 but generations since from around the globe.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of another important piece of writing that, dare I say, has even more impact. This year marks the anniversary of the publication of “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” by the Scottish philosopher Adam Smith, who basically invented economic theory as we understand it today. Smith’s observations on market economies, inspired by watching the comings and goings of ships in his native Glasgow, remain as relevant today as when he first put pen to paper. No discussion of tariffs and trade policy, for instance, can avoid dealing with Smith’s views on how it’s more economically efficient for countries to specialize. If Smith were around today, he’d likely be a regular guest on CNBC and other cable news shows whenever international trade came up for discussion.

One of Smith’s key observations, about supply and demand, was demonstrated last week in Bristol — although there the “invisible hand” of the marketplace as he described it came into conflict with the heavy hand of the law.

Virginia State Police, the Holston River Regional Drug Task Force and the Bristol Police Department raided four locations in Bristol and seized more than 300 pounds of marijuana, with what state police said had “a street value of more than $1 million.”

What makes this particularly noteworthy is that three of those four locations are businesses that have been openly operating — doing business as The Mile High Club, CannaBoyz and Space Apes. These establishments, through their names and logos, have not exactly been shy about what wares might be available inside. The fourth location raided was described in police reports as a warehouse but which was, at one time, the offices of the Bristol Herald Courier. The paper’s owner, Lee Enterprises, reported a net loss of $36 million for the last fiscal year, but one of its former properties has apparently been turned into quite the moneymaker. State police said that at the warehouse they seized “250 pounds of marijuana (street value of $1,135,000), 192 marijuana plants ($576,000), 50 pounds of THC edibles ($22,700).” That’s a lot of inventory for somebody.

Police have been busting people for buying and selling marijuana for a long time, long before we started calling weed “cannabis,” which is the preferred industry term these days. By industry, I don’t mean shady guys in raincoats in back alleys, but cannabis companies that are nowadays traded on Wall Street.

Here is where we really need to interview our old friend Adam Smith, although some state officials may have to do.

On the one hand, what happened last week in Bristol was a standard law enforcement action — police learned of suspected criminal activity and executed search warrants to seize evidence.

On the other hand, what we saw might also be described in business schools as “the cost of doing business.”

In a statement, Bristol Police Chief Byron Ashbrook said: “Last summer, I personally visited a number of these establishments, including CannaBoyz and Space Apes, and provided them with copies of the rules and regulations from the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. At that time, they were advised that as long as they complied with the law, enforcement action would not be necessary. Evidence gathered during this investigation indicates that these businesses failed to comply with those requirements.”

CannaBoyz posted this statement on social media: “We are confident that our business follows all applicable laws, regulations, and industry standards. Our team takes compliance seriously and works diligently to ensure that every aspect of our operations meets required guidelines.”

• 

• 

• 

The law that Ashbrook refers to is an unusual one. Virginia is the only state where it’s legal to possess small amounts of cannabis but illegal to buy it or sell it, which, of course, raises the question of how you’re supposed to obtain this legal product. You can grow your own, you can give some as a gift to a friend, which all sounds fine until you think about tomatoes instead of jazz cabbage. We can all grow our own tomatoes if we have the inclination, and if our crop is bountiful, we can give some away. Most of us, though, wind up buying tomatoes somewhere — a store, a farmers market, a roadside stand. Why? It’s a hassle to grow tomatoes. They’re susceptible to drought and deer, and a homegrown tomato is a fine thing in the summer and early fall, but not many of us want to fool with the hydroponics of growing them indoors in the winter — so we willingly pay somebody else to do that. Adam Smith would log this in his notebook as a key example of the division of labor.

The same principle applies to cannabis. Some people want it, and are willing to pay for it — which means some people are willing to grow it and sell it. This demand and supply existed back in the days when cannabis was fully illegal; it still exists today when cannabis exists in a gray area of the law in Virginia.

The reason for that gray area is rooted in the blue and red of politics. Democrats legalized possession of small amounts of the green goddess, as some call it, in 2021 on the theory that they’d come back the next year and set up a retail market but didn’t want people getting busted in the meantime for something they intended to legalize. What they didn’t count on was that the 2021 election would install a Republican House of Delegates and a Republican governor, neither of whom had any interest in legalizing weed sales — so here we are. There’s now a fully Democratic General Assembly, which this year passed a bill to set up a retail market for cannabis, and there’s a Democratic governor, who said she was in favor of such a market — but who has reservations about the particular bill on her desk. She sent it back to the legislature with amendments, the legislature rejected them, and now Gov. Abigail Spanberger must decide whether to sign a bill she has concerns about, or veto the bill and wait another year to try again. The devil in the devil’s lettuce is not just in the chemistry but also in the details. The current mood among legislators is that the governor will veto the bill, but the only person who really knows is our 75th governor and she may not know herself yet. She has until 11:59 p.m. Saturday to decide.

In the meantime, the invisible hand of the marketplace is really what governs us, not the written law. We at Cardinal have documented multiple times that there are stores throughout Southwest Virginia that are openly selling cannabis. Sometimes they go through pretenses of being “membership clubs” but those memberships can be obtained simply by walking in — I’ve written about how I’ve done that and shipped the merchandise off to be tested. Each time, it was marijuana, often with strong potencies.

A little more than a year ago, I interviewed then-Attorney General Jason Miyares on the subject. At the time, we were in Wytheville and I invited him to accompany me to the local weed store on Main Street. He politely declined. He also pointed out that, under Virginia law, the attorney general has no real authority over enforcement of cannabis laws. He didn’t have the power to shut down these weed stores. It was up to local law enforcement to deal with them — and many local sheriffs and police chiefs have simply looked the other way because, to use another business term, the cost/benefit ratio didn’t work out. They’d have to invest a lot of investigatory time to do what — bust some minimum wage clerk? Police here have apparently put in that investigatory time and, based on the amounts seized, have made a big score.

In my younger days in journalism, I was always schooled by editors that I should be skeptical of police estimates about the street value of a certain drug seizure — that police liked to overestimate the value. It’s possible here, though, that the police have underestimated the street value of the marijuana they’ve seized — 250 pounds at the newspaper-turned-warehouse, 30 pounds at one store, 25 pounds at another store, a mere 3 pounds at another. That’s 308 pounds in all, or 4,928 ounces.

I have no personal knowledge about the market price for weed, so I’m in no position to question the police estimates. However, American Addiction Centers say the average going rate for cannabis in Virginia is $311 per ounce. If they’re right, that’s $1,532,608 of weed that police just confiscated in Bristol.

Now, here’s the thing: American Addiction Centers say Virginia has some of the highest-price jazz cabbage in the country, with only three other states where prices for “high quality” weed are more expensive (South Dakota at $335 per ounce, Minnesota at $331 per ounce, North Dakota at $330 per ounce).

If you just want to buy a single joint, but want a “high-quality” one, then Virginia’s prices ($8.49) are the second-highest in the county, surpassed only by North Dakota, the American Addiction Centers say.

The size of joints varies — I’m currently listening to bluesman Albert Castiglia, who sings that “I’ve been up night, baby, drinking stone black coffee, rolling joints as big and round as my thumb.” However, that’s not very precise, so let’s look for more professional guidance. The multistate cannabis company Kush21 estimates 56 joints per ounce. At that rate, the 4,928 ounces of weed seized in Bristol would equal 275,968 joints and, at the price quoted above, sell for $2,342,968. The Ohio-based Recovery Center envisions smaller joints, so estimates 84 joints per ounce, which works out to 413,952 joints, and a market value of $3,514,452. (This math also proves another business principle: It’s cheaper to buy in bulk.)

There’s a general trend, the Addiction Recovery Centers say, and it’s one Adam Smith could have predicted: Prices are higher where weed is illegal or restricted; they’re lowest in places where the product is legal. If I could get Smith’s ghost on the phone, he’d say that those states’ decision to legalize weed have lowered the risk and therefore lowered the cost of doing business, and ultimately lowered the cost to the consumer. Virginia’s decision to keep retail sales of cannabis illegal has made it more risky to engage in cannabis sales, and therefore driven up the cost. Right now all that money changing hands is going into the black market, benefiting who knows who, but certainly not benefiting taxpayers because not a single penny of tax is getting paid on black-market weed. Police can make raids, but as long as the demand is there, decades of experience tell us that this isn’t a problem we can solve through more arrests. Smith would tell us that if we want to reduce the black market for cannabis, then we need to make weed more widely available — through legal sales, which will reduce the price, which in turn will lower the incentive for black market operators.

Smith, though, isn’t available, so I had to make do with Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax County, who sponsored the House version of the legalization bill on the governor’s desk. “Smith would recognize this as a market responding to demand when lawful institutions refuse to supply,” he told me. “All the more reason for the legislation.”

Now we’ll see whether the governor agrees.

Bristol police provided this handout on Virginia cannabis laws.

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The post Police make a big weed bust in Bristol. Here’s what that tells us about Virginia’s unique cannabis laws and the economy. appeared first on Cardinal News.

Welcome back to Extra Credit, a weekly roundup of education-related news from across Southwest and Southside Virginia.

Have a story idea, tip or think there’s something I missed? Email me at meghan@cardinalnews.org.

Thanks for reading!

Governor gives commencement speech at Virginia Tech

Gov. Abigail Spanberger praised outgoing Virginia Tech President Tim Sands in a commencement speech Friday morning. Her address continued the university’s tradition of inviting new governors to deliver a speech.

In her approximately 15-minute speech, Spanberger also praised Virginia Tech alumni and called on students to look to Sands for inspiration.

“President Sands has led Virginia Tech for over a decade with a vision and an unwavering commitment to the students at this university,” she said. “Under his leadership, Virginia Tech has enhanced research innovation, has grown enrollment, and expanded the university’s footprint throughout the commonwealth.”

She also encouraged the more than 6,500 graduates to consider careers in public service and to remain open to what their futures hold while staying true to the values, or internal compass, that drive them.

“The Class of 2026, you get to choose what the words on your diploma mean for you, that mark of success and of the hardships and challenges you’ve overcome on the path that you are on,” she said. “And when the path gets hard, remember the lessons that you learned here, the challenges you faced, the success that you earned and trust your compass. Never ever stop looking for ways to do good in your community, in your Commonwealth and in your country.”

School divisions awarded funding to upgrade CTE equipment

Several school divisions in Southwest and Southside Virginia were among 16 awarded funding to upgrade their career and technical equipment.

The state funding was part of $600,000 in competitive grants through the Virginia Department of Education meant to “[deepen] partnerships with school divisions to provide robust CTE experiences for Virginia’s learners,” according to Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Jenna Conway.

Each division will receive $37,500 to purchase new equipment and make other improvements.

The divisions receiving funds include: 

• Alleghany Highland Public Schools for its emergency medical telecommunications and public safety simulation lab 
• Appomattox County Public Schools to expand its agricultural fabrication programs
• Amherst County to provide immersive career exploration through virtual reality for students at Amherst and Monelison Middle schools and Amherst Elementary School
• Bath County for the hybrid and electric vehicle systems programs at Mertz Career and Technical Center
• Danville City Schools for its hybrid repair systems program at George Washington High School 
• Giles County for its aerospace program at the Giles County Technology Center
• Prince Edward County to provide industry-standard automotive and culinary training equipment at Prince Edward County High School
• Wythe County for its agricultural mechanics and precision manufacturing programs at the Wythe County Technology Center

“A student in a Virginia CTE program deserves better than training on yesterday’s tools for tomorrow’s jobs,” Conway said in a statement. “These investments in modern equipment close that gap by putting real, industry-grade technology in the hands of every learner and turning our schools into the front line of Virginia’s workforce future.”

The Virginia General Assembly first established the CTE equipment grant program in 2016, and the state has since awarded about $6 million to schools and technical centers.

Roanoke City Public Schools highlights career and technical education 

Roanoke City Public Schools leaders are celebrating student achievements and the division’s career and technical education efforts.

Superintendent Verletta White recently represented superintendents statewide as president-elect of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents on a panel discussing the launch of the Virginia Business-K12 Partnership.

The group, modeled after the long-established Virginia Higher Education Business Council, announced its launch in Richmond Wednesday.

Its 21-member board includes leaders from across Virginia’s business and education communities, and its mission centers on raising awareness of the connection between K-12 education, economic growth and workforce development, or as White called it in a news release, “ensuring students graduate with both a diploma and resume of rich skills and experiences that will benefit them for a lifetime.” 

During Wednesday’s panel, White highlighted Roanoke Valley school divisions’ approaches to workforce development programs, including the area’s growing network of business and community partnerships and expansion of work-based learning opportunities.

On Thursday, the school division will also celebrate more than two dozen CTE students who are completing career and technical education pathways.

Students will receive awards, scholarships and even tools and equipment. The event will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Charles W. Day Technical Education Center, 3605 Ferncliff Ave. N.W. Go here for more information. 

Lynchburg Bonner Leaders recognized for community service

The University of Lynchburg graduated its 20th class of Bonner Leaders earlier this month.

Five students graduated from the program, which is supported by the Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Foundation across 70 schools nationwide, according to a news release.

The program emphasizes community service and civic engagement. During the academic year, Bonner Leaders serve at least 10 hours a week in work-study roles at area nonprofits, schools or agencies. 

“It’s a cohort-based, community-engagement program, where our students are responding to pressing social issues of our time through service and community-based learning,” said Tasha Gillum, the University of Lynchburg’s assistant director of service learning and civic engagement, in a statement.

Program participants also complete a capstone project as a “culminating experience.” 

According to the Bonner Foundation, this project “serves a civic purpose” and “can allow the student to do something that builds the capacity of a local community or promotes awareness and action on a social issue.”

This year’s graduates include:

• Elizabeth Johnson of King George, who completed her service at the Free Clinic of Central Virginia.
• Lydia Nelson of Springfield, who served at Brook Hill Farm, a therapeutic riding facility in Bedford County.
• Jack Pitts of Lynchburg, who served at the Free Clinic of Central Virginia.
• Destin Stringer of Lynchburg, who served at the Free Clinic of Central Virginia’s dental clinic.
• Kaitlyn Regan of Lynchburg, who will graduate from the university in December and served with the Lynchburg Fire Department.

The post Extra Credit: Gov. Spanberger praises outgoing Virginia Tech president at commencement appeared first on Cardinal News.

This week in the Roanoke Valley, the Roanoke City Council will consider changes to zoning and its plan for Evans Spring, a greenway ribbon-cutting will be held in Roanoke County, and the final public webinar will be held for a housing study in the county. 

Here are some details on each of those items:

Roanoke City Council

On Monday, the Roanoke City Council will revisit its controversial 2024 citywide zoning amendments for the third time, as well as minor changes to the Evans Spring plan. 

During its April 13 meeting, the Roanoke City Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of a list of proposed zoning amendments, while adding one amendment during the hearing regarding parking off alleys. 

This is the second package of amendments to the first citywide rezoning change in 2024, which allowed for higher-density housing in all parts of the city. 

This new set of amendments would reduce the density of dwelling units permitted in certain residential districts; add clarification and supplemental regulations for vape and tobacco establishments, data centers, data processing facilities, and inpatient mental health and substance abuse clinics; add parking requirements for parcels with apartment buildings and townhomes; increase the minimum lot area per dwelling; limit self-storage uses; and clarify other items in the zoning code.

The planning commission also addressed changes to the Evans Spring Plan, the largest open plot of land left in the city, at its last meeting. In February, the city council passed a resolution that kickstarted the process of rewriting the plan for the 150-acre site near Valley View based on community input and recommendations from planning staff. The development guide adopted by the council in 2024 faced opposition from community members who had hoped for smaller-scale development and more community feedback to be included.

During its last meeting, the planning commission recommended adopting minor amendments to the plan, including relabeling the two most developed plans from “recommended” and “optional” to “Option 1” and “Option 2,” extending residential or natural buffers along all developed residentially zoned parcels that abut the site, and removing language in the plan that appears to commit the city to infrastructure investments.

On Monday, the city council will review and consider adoption of these changes to the Evans Spring plan and to the zoning code.

The council will also appoint two new members to the Roanoke City School Board on Monday. The council last month interviewed four candidates: Christopher Link, Darlene Burcham, Derek Kaknes and Donna Littlepage.

The full agenda for Monday’s 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. meetings is here. 

Roanoke County greenway ribbon-cutting

On Monday afternoon, Roanoke County will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the official opening of a new 4-mile section of the Roanoke River Greenway at Explore Park. 

The new mileage, in four new contiguous segments, extends the greenway from just west of the Blue Ridge Parkway to the end of Rutrough Road on the eastern side of the greenway, according to a press release.

Construction on these segments began in November 2022 and wrapped up in December 2025.

In November, the county held a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the opening of a 0.6-mile stretch of the greenway that connected the West Riverside Drive trailhead to Kingsmill Drive in Salem.

Megan Cronise, assistant director of planning for the county, said in an email that the Roanoke Valley Transportation Planning Organization approved funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation to design a greenway section between that new trailhead parking lot and Green Hill Park. 

The new greenway segments advance “long-term plans for a contiguous 26-mile regional greenway corridor stretching from Roanoke County’s Green Hill Park to Explore Park,” the press release states. Before that 26-mile stretch is complete, one more gap on the eastern side must be completed; the county has received funds from the planning organization for VDOT to start designing that segment, Cronise said.

The event will be held at 2 p.m. at 56 Roanoke River Parkway Road. 

Roanoke County final housing webinar 

On Thursday, Roanoke County will hold its fourth and final public webinar for its housing market analysis study. 

RKG Associates, the county’s consultant, will present recommendations for the county to address needs in the housing market. 

In February, RKG Associates briefed the Roanoke County Planning Commission on its findings, which showed that demand exists in the county for rentals. 

According to a RKG presentation from that work session, the number of families with children is declining in the county, and an increase of young adults is driving demand for smaller homes. The presentation also noted a need for diversity in housing types and prices, and said that the current housing stock faces issues with conditions and needed maintenance. The entire presentation can be seen here.

Those who wish to join the webinar, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, can join here.

The post In the Roanoke Valley: Roanoke City Council to vote on rezoning and Evans Spring; Roanoke County to hold greenway ribbon-cutting and final housing study webinar appeared first on Cardinal News.

Virginia’s budget is now more than 60 days late. Millions of taxpayers’ dollars have been wasted and immeasurable political animus has been generated while pursuing a redistricting proposal that was fatally flawed from the start, leaving the General Assembly’s primary responsibility neglected.

While the budget remains neglected, the different legislative avenues pursued by Virginia Democrats to amend the Virginia Constitution tells the story. This November, Virginians will be asked to vote on three constitutional amendments regarding abortion, same-sex unions, and the restoration of voting rights for those convicted of felonies. All three proposed amendments first passed the General Assembly in 2025, passed the General Assembly again in identical form in 2026, and now will be voted on in a November 2026 referendum. Virginia Democrats advanced these three amendments through this process because it was the only way to ensure the amendments were legally sound. It is what our Virginia Constitution requires. Democrats did not want to risk these significant policy proposals by taking a dubious legal shortcut.

In between the two-year process for the three proposed amendments up this November, national Democrats urged Virginia Democrats to ram through a fourth amendment between late October 2025 in the midst of an already ongoing House of Delegates election and a special referendum in April 2026. They ignored warnings and the obvious signs that this “legal shortcut” was a road to nowhere.

On a series of party-line votes, General Assembly Democrats attempted to suspend the Bipartisan Redistricting Commission that was created by 2.8 million voters at the same November 2020 that elected President Joe Biden. Throughout the process, candidate Abigail Spanberger showed well placed apprehension but ultimately relented to national party pressure. On January 27, 2026, a Tazewell Circuit Court ruled the shortcut process illegal, but newly installed Democratic Attorney General Jay Jones immediately appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court and the effort pushed on.

Over the strenuous objections of the Republican legal team, Attorney General Jay Jones’ team successfully argued that the Virginia Supreme Court should delay intervening until after the referendum was completed and “legislative process” had finished based on a 1912 precedent. The Virginia Supreme Court then said, “While we decline to intervene in the legislative process at this juncture based on the principles established in Scott v. James (1912), the Court maintains significant concerns regarding the procedural integrity of the abbreviated amendment process utilized in this instance.”

Despite all the warnings, the Democratic leadership pushed through the legally dubious referendum on April 21, 2026, which asked voters to “temporarily” amend the Constitution to “restore fairness” by suspending the Bipartisan Redistricting Commission. Their Yes position barely squeaked through with 1.4 million fewer voters than the November 2020 election that created the Bipartisan Redistricting Commission. Attorney General Jay Jones’ team then suggested the referendum results cured any errors in the process. It was not surprising the Supreme Court that had “significant concerns” to begin with ultimately did not agree with Attorney General Jay Jones here either.

Writing for the majority, Justice D. Arthur Kelsey, who was first appointed to the judicial bench by Governor Mark Warner (D) and later elected to the Virginia Supreme Court with a unanimous, bipartisan vote, addressed the argument that the referendum results should override the fatal constitutional flaws. Justice Kelsey noted that the redistricting proponents “suggest that the intervening referendum of April 21 has rendered any procedural defects in the proposal of this amendment moot, effectively arguing that the voice of the electorate operates as a curative for constitutional non-compliance. We disagree. To hold that a majority vote can validate an unconstitutional process would be to hold that the Constitution is a mere suggestion, subject to suspension by a simple majority at any given moment…. Our Constitution does not merely provide a destination; it provides a map. The requirements of Article XII, Section 1 —specifically the requirement for deliberation across two distinct sessions of the General Assembly with an intervening election—are not ‘technicalities’ to be bypassed in times of perceived urgency. They are structural safeguards designed to prevent the very partisan volatility that has characterized this current effort.”

Now, having taken the unconstitutional shortcut to a dead end, redistricting proponents ask how the Court could “ignore the will of the voters.” Some of these proponents including a U.S. congressman even suggested a new foolish shortcut to their dream: simply dismiss the entire Virginia Supreme Court with a new ex post facto law that throws them all out of office. Thankfully cooler heads prevailed, but the anger continues.

Many of the exact same people decrying the Virginia Supreme Court’s invalidation of the April 2026 redistricting referendum praised the U.S. Supreme Court when it invalidated the November 2006 referendum where 57% of Virginia voters sought to ban same sex unions. A referendum this November seeks to remove the constitutional language banning same sex unions that was placed there twenty years ago, but it has been without effect since 2014 because the U.S. Supreme Court exercised its responsibility of judicial review. Attorney General Jay Jones knows judicial review is a critical part of America’s system of checks and balances but is again allowing partisan impulses to cloud his thinking when he does not like the outcome.

The fact that the proper two-year process is being used for this November’s three proposed amendments is a silent but powerful admission that the redistricting proponents always knew the shortcut would not get to their desired destination. Unfortunately, they are all too happy though to fan the partisan flames of the legislative wreckage in the hopes that it motivates their political base.

With the Virginia redistricting fight over for now, the people of Virginia are still left waiting for the budget that should have passed on March 14. The General Assembly must get back to work and pass a budget that funds local public schools, supports our law enforcement, and provides much-needed tax relief to working Virginians. It is time to escape the hyperpartisan national highway to nowhere and finally work to deliver the budget for the people of Virginia.

Sen. David Suetterlein represents the Roanoke and New River Valleys in the Virginia Senate. He works at MKB, REALTORS and lives in Roanoke with his wife and their children who attend local public schools. 

The post Suetterlein: The high cost of the redistricting shortcut to nowhere appeared first on Cardinal News.

Wise County’s prospects for developing small nuclear power projects will be the subject of two information meetings being held this week.

A Tuesday meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in Mountain Empire Community College’s Goodloe Center, in Big Stone Gap, while a Wednesday session will be at 10 a.m. in Cantrell Hall at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.

The sessions are open to county residents and others who are interested. They are part of a study of whether a microreactor would be feasible for the county.

The events are being organized with support from the Virginia Department of Energy and the GO Virginia economic development program.

The feasibility study will “guide the development of a framework for potential future decisions related to advanced nuclear energy development in Southwest Virginia,” the county said in its announcement of the meetings. “This initiative does not represent approval of a specific project, site, or reactor design. Instead, it is focused on identifying and prioritizing the criteria that would be used to evaluate potential future projects for consideration.

The information sessions will “provide additional information related to the project, project deliverables, and to garner input from attendees,” the announcement states.

The presenters will be Bob Bailey, project manager, Jeff Whitt, executive director of the Virginia Innovative Nuclear (VIN) Hub, and Wise County Director of Economic Development Brian Falin, according to Karen Mullins, county attorney and interim county administrator.

In January 2025, the GO Virginia Region 1 Council approved a $100,000 grant to fund the feasibility study.

The LENOWISCO Planning District Commission, which provides planning support and services to Wise, Lee and Scott counties and the city of Norton, is assisting Wise County with the study.

Thomas Lawson, a regional planner with LENOWISCO, said Friday that the study is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Microreactors are compact nuclear reactors small enough to be transported by truck. Most would produce up to 20 megawatts of thermal energy that could be used directly as heat or converted to electric power, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. A small modular nuclear reactor, or SMR, which has also been discussed as a potential project in the coalfields area, ranges from 50 to 300 megawatts. 

LENOWISCO Executive Director Duane Miller has said that microreactors could provide a stable and consistent power supply to rural areas, which would reduce dependence on “intermittent” sources like solar or wind while acting as a recruitment tool for economic sectors that use a lot of energy.

The study aims to identify and analyze a prospective site for a microreactor and the infrastructure that would be required, according to the grant application. It would also determine the baseload power capabilities and help identify customers such as data centers.

In December 2025, then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office announced that UVa-Wise would purchase a nuclear control room simulator to support workforce development and professional training. The college received a $275,000 grant from the Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank for the project.

Wise County was one of the localities in the running for a small modular nuclear reactor announced by Youngkin in October 2022 as part of his energy plan. The former governor wanted to deploy the nation’s first SMR in the coalfields region, which has been affected by the downturn of the coal industry.

SMRs are smaller, simpler versions of traditional nuclear reactors that produce about a third of the power and can be built in a factory and shipped to a site.

In 2023, LENOWISCO released a study naming seven potential sites that could accommodate SMRs, including the former Bullitt mine complex in the town of Appalachia; the Limestone mine area near Duffield in Scott County; an abandoned mine land site at the border of Lee and Wise counties; the Lonesome Pine Regional Business and Technology Park near Wise; the Project Intersection property in Norton; the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center area near St. Paul; and the Red Onion industrial property in Dickenson County.

Community advocacy groups, including The Clinch Coalition and Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, raised concerns about local efforts to explore SMR projects, saying there was no opportunity for public feedback on the sites named in the LENOWISCO study.

Those efforts led to the creation of Southwest Virginia Nuclear Watch, which continues to monitor discussion of nuclear energy projects in the region.

The post Small nuclear power projects will be subject of 2 public meetings in Wise County appeared first on Cardinal News.

Here are some of the top headlines from other news outlets around Virginia. Some content may be behind a metered paywall:

Politics:

Sen. Lucas says she still doesn’t know why the feds raided her businesses. — The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot (paywall).

Virginia inches closer to allowing single-stairwell multiunit buildings. — Virginia Mercury.

Smyth County commonwealth’s attorney calls assault weapon ban “unconstitutional.” — WCYB-TV.

Sports:

Dan Snyder to list Northern Virginia estate again, this time for $49.9 million. — Virginia Business (paywall).

Courts:

State contractor sentenced for embezzling from charity drive. — Richmond Times-Dispatch (paywall).

Economy:

Hilex Poly to close Henrico plant. — Richmond Times-Dispatch (paywall).

Weather:

For more weather news, follow weather journalist Kevin Myatt on Twitter / X at @kevinmyattwx and sign up for his free weather email newsletter. His weekly column appears in Cardinal News each Wednesday afternoon.

The post Headlines from across the state: Sen. Lucas says she still doesn’t know why the feds raided her businesses; more … appeared first on Cardinal News.

It’s over.

It’s been over for a while, but now it’s really over. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a single sentence, has put an end to Democrats’ drive to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts in time for the November elections.

The Virginia Supreme Court killed the plan last week but state Attorney General Jay Jones appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. There was no realistic expectation on either side that the U.S. Supreme Court would take the case — which turned entirely on an interpretation of the state constitution; there was no federal question involved — but Jones had to be seen doing something. So he did, throwing the legal equivalent of a Hail Mary pass in football.

Late Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court posted on its website: “Application (25A1240) for stay presented to The Chief Justice and by him referred to the Court is denied.” The court spent more keystrokes listing the name of the case than it did spelling out the action.

The news broke about dinner time on Friday. Somewhere, some Republican ought to be ordering lobster — a nod toward the demise of the crustacean-shaped 7th District that Democrats had tried to draw and which was promptly dubbed “the lobster district.”

Nothing has really changed since my prior analysis of the Virginia Supreme Court ruling, except now we have finality. This is akin to going to the movie and staying until after the credits to see if there’s any post-credit scene. This is that post-credit scene. The main character — a hero to some, a villain to others — really is dead.

At least for this election cycle.

Those may be the key words. U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has vowed a major push in Democratic legislatures to redraw lines for the 2028 elections, so Virginia may see all this come back again. The sequence for that would need to start in next year’s General Assembly to pass the amendment again, then wait until after the fall 2027 elections to pass it again in early 2028, to set up another special election in spring 2028. That sequence depends on two assumptions: that Democrats still have an appetite for redistricting after this fall’s election (if they win big, do they really need it?), and that Democrats still control the General Assembly come 2028. Democrats have handed Republicans an issue for the 2027 General Assembly elections: Do you want to see redistricting come back or not?

All those are questions for another day — likely lots of other days.

For now, for those of you just joining us in progress, let’s recap some key points.

Democrats messed up.

Those who say the Virginia Supreme Court ruled on political grounds are correct to the extent that conservatives voted one way and liberals another, and there were more of the former than the latter. However, keep in mind that the decision before them was not whether this was a good map or whether redistricting was a good idea, but instead was a procedural question that ought to be nonideological: When does an election begin?

Democrats argued that the election was solely Election Day, so the legislature passing the amendment the first time a week before last fall’s gubernatorial vote met the constitutional requirement of an intervening election. Republicans argued that the entire voting process, from the first day of early voting until Election Day, counted. The court agreed with the latter.

The irony is that the Virginia Supreme Court delivered an opinion that essentially detailed how early voting is not some new-fangled liberal innovation but is part of an American tradition that predates the U.S. Constitution. In any other context, this would be a ruling that Democrats — who have always been more pro-early voting than Republicans — would celebrate. (See more on that here.)

The problem is that Democrats messed up. They discounted the legal jeopardy of waiting until late October to pass redistricting. To be fair, Texas didn’t complete its redistricting until late August 2025, and that’s what triggered this whole round of mid-decade redistricting. Democrats would have had to act exceptionally fast to convene the legislature before early voting began last Sept. 18. Still, they could have. They didn’t, and didn’t take the prospect of the Republican arguments about early voting seriously enough.

Instead of blaming the Virginia Supreme Court, Democrats ought to be blaming Jeffries — he was the one pushing for Virginia to redraw its lines. Did he have no attorneys who could have raised this concern? This was not some obscure, after-the-fact argument Republicans came up with; it was a question all along and Democrats ignored it. If a doctor dismissed a warning sign on a patient’s chart as no big deal and several months later the patient died, the family might be ringing up a malpractice attorney. This seems akin to political malpractice but no Democrats are demanding to know what went wrong.

Republicans may not have tilted the national playing field as much as some think

Democrats argued that they had to counter the Republican states that were redrawing their districts to squeeze out Democrats and create more Republican districts. For all the commotion, the Republican gains may not be that significant.

After the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that Virginia’s election had been unconstitutionally placed on the ballot, The New York Times analyzed the national advantage for Republicans at six to eight seats. Republicans will pick up more as Southern states move to eliminate Black-majority districts — held by Democrats — in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the Voting Rights Act. It’s unclear how many more seats that will net Republicans — some estimates run as high as 15, but not all Southern states will redraw lines this year.

Those are all bad numbers for Democrats, but these are bad numbers for Republicans: The average seat change in midterms over the past five cycles has been for the president’s party to lose an average of 31 seats. Republicans have undoubtedly advantaged themselves through redistricting, but have they advantaged themselves enough? Political analyst Kyle Kondik of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics wrote this week that while Republicans have created more seats for themselves, “This is a redistricting deficit that we favor Democrats to overcome, but it’s also enough of a Republican edge that it could allow them to save their House majority this November under the right circumstances.”

Will those circumstances be right, though?

President Donald Trump’s approval ratings remain terrible. G. Elliot Morris, who analyzes election data in his Strength in Numbers newsletter, wrote this week: “You can’t gerrymander a bad approval rating.” He went on to note: “Trump’s net approval is historically weak for this point in a presidency — and his approval on handling prices and the economy is even worse than Joe Biden’s low.”

We still aren’t sure who’s running for Congress

We think we know — we know who’s announced, at least. However, in every election cycle there are always some candidates who turn out to be more noise than action, and fail to collect enough signatures to make the ballot. Redistricting has pushed all the usual schedules later than usual. May 26 is the deadline for congressional candidates to file, so we won’t know until sometime after that who has actually qualified for the ballot.

After that, the next election comes up fast: Early voting for the Aug. 4 primaries begins June 18.

We’ve begun the process of updating our Voter Guide but we won’t have a complete revamp until after the Department of Elections tells us who is really on the ballot. For instance, the assumption is that the 5th District race this fall will feature former Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Albemarle County, against Rep. John McGuire, R-Goochland County. However, there are other, lightly funded, candidates in both parties. Will we see both Democratic and Republican primaries there before the main event? We’ll let you know when we know.

For now, the operative quote is one from Winston Churchill after the British victory at El Alamein in 1942: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

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The post Millions of dollars later, Virginia’s redistricting drama ends with a single, bland sentence from the U.S. Supreme Court appeared first on Cardinal News.

The U.S. Supreme Court late Friday turned down Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones’ appeal on redistricting.

The action marks the end of Virginia Democrats’ attempt to redraw congressional district lines in time for the November election.

The Supreme Court offered no comment on why it would not hear the appeal, although the denial was widely expected by both parties.

The Virginia Supreme Court, in a 4-3 ruling last week, had ruled that the redistricting amendment was unlawfully placed on the ballot because the General Assembly’s first vote on the amendment came after early voting had begun last year. The state constitution requires the legislature to pass a constitutional amendment twice before it goes to voters; the court ruled the early voting meant the election was already underway when the amendment passed the first time.

Republicans were jubilant. “The Supreme Court of the United States has affirmed what we always knew: you cannot violate the Constitution to change the Constitution,” said Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover County.

State Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, was one of the plaintiffs in the case that that began with a victory in Tazewell County Circuit Court that was then upheld in the Virginia Supreme Court. He said in a statement: “The U.S. Supreme Court tonight just reaffirmed what we in Virginia already knew: that our circuit court and state Supreme Court were absolutely correct in rejecting the Democrats’ attempt to violate our constitution, and silence millions of Virginians’ voices in the congressional political process. We all need to remember this when voters go to the polls, both during the upcoming election this November, and in our subsequent state elections for years to come.”

Jones issued a lengthy statement in which he blasted the court’s decision as “another profoundly troubling example of the continued national attack on voting rights and the rule of law by Donald Trump, Republican state legislatures, and conservative courts.” (See his full statement below.) He said he will now be “working tirelessly” to help Democratic candidates win this fall.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger, in a more reserved statement, simply acknowledge the court ruling “to nullify to nullify an election and the votes of more than three million Virginians” and said she would “make sure voters know when and how to cast their votes this year.”

Governor Abigail Spanberger (D):

The Supreme Court of the United States has now joined the Supreme Court of Virginia in choosing to nullify an election and the votes of more than three million Virginians. These Virginians made their voices heard — casting their ballots in good faith to push back against a President who said he’s “entitled” to more seats in Congress before voters go to the polls. As Governor, I will make sure voters know when and how to cast their votes this year. Because our votes are how we choose the representation we deserve.

Attorney General Jay Jones (D):

Today’s one-sentence denial from the Supreme Court of the United States is yet another profoundly troubling example of the continued national attack on voting rights and the rule of law by Donald Trump, Republican state legislatures, and conservative courts. It leaves in place the deeply flawed ruling from the Supreme Court of Virginia, which overturned the results of a lawful election and erased the will of millions of Virginia voters. 

Let’s be clear about what is happening. Donald Trump, Republican state legislatures, and conservative courts are systematically and unabashedly tilting power away from the people for Trump’s political gain. Just this past month in Louisiana, Tennessee, and South Carolina, they have redrawn their maps and diluted Black political representation because it threatens their hold on power. 

This attack is not subtle. It is a coordinated effort to stack the deck in the Republican’s favor before the midterms, lock in political advantage, and make it harder for voters, especially Black voters and communities of color, to hold Trump and his allies accountable. There can be no doubt: Trump and his allies want only their most politically extreme supporters to have their voices heard in Washington. The Supreme Court of Virginia’s previous decision and today’s refusal by the United States Supreme Court to act are only bolstering these extreme MAGA voices. 

Virginians demanded elected leaders who would fight back against these attacks on our democracy and on our freedoms. Those elected leaders followed the law and constitutional process, ultimately giving Virginia voters the choice to join the fight on redistricting and choose representatives who reflect their values in Congress. More than three million Virginians made their voices heard at the ballot box, and a majority voted “yes.” 

The Supreme Court of Virginia contorted the plain language of our Constitution and our laws to undermine their will. Now the Supreme Court of the United States has allowed that injustice to stand. 

This fight is far from over, and I am committed to fighting alongside you. I will be on the campaign trail, working tirelessly to support our Democratic candidates so we can win control of the House in spite of Republicans putting their thumbs on the scale.

Former Attorney General Jason Miyares (R)

He reposted a February statement from Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, in which she bragged about how Republicans started redistricting but Democrats finished it. To that, he said:

WRONG – Now it’s finished. SCOTUS unanimously just slammed the door on your desperate appeal. Virginia Supreme Court killed your gerrymander, and the highest court in the land said “nope.” Checkmate.

Rep. Jen Kiggans (R)

The Supreme Court of the United States has thrown out the appeal to rehear the gerrymandering case in Virginia. This is a victory for Virginians and a clear-cut example that Virginia Democrats, under Abigail Spanberger’s leadership, violated the Virginia Constitution and our laws every step of the way to deprive Virginians of their voices in government and damage our democracy. I want to thank the United States Supreme Court for making the right decision in standing up for democracy and the rule of law.

Elizabeth Beyer has contributed to this report.

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Appalachian Power will hold an open house next month to provide information about electric grid upgrades designed to accommodate Google’s data center project in Botetourt County, among other goals.

The open house will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. June 3 at Read Mountain Middle School, 182 Orchard Hill Drive in Cloverdale. No formal presentation is planned; attendees are encouraged to come and go any time during the event. The company also has a virtual open house feature on its website.

Appalachian Power’s Daleville Area Transmission Improvements Project aims to upgrade or rebuild 17 miles of 138-kilovolt transmission line; build another tenth of a mile of new 138-kilovolt transmission line; upgrade the Botetourt, Cloverdale, Mount Union and Trinity electric substations; and build a new substation.

The utility said on Friday that the project will support increasing power demand, enhance service reliability and provide power to a new customer, which spokesperson George Porter confirmed is Google. The Mountain View, California-based tech giant plans to build data centers in the Botetourt Center at Greenfield business park.

“Appalachian Power is committed to working closely with landowners and the community as we complete these improvements,” Porter said in a news release. “As always, we’ll work to minimize construction impacts and keep neighbors informed throughout the process.”

In June, Google paid $14 million for 312 acres in the business park. Plans call for three data center buildings of about 300,000 square feet each, three electric substations, a 28,000-square-foot office building and associated roads and parking, according to a public notice from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Google plans to invest at least $3 billion in the data centers, creating at least 150 full-time jobs with a median annual salary of $86,000, according to a performance agreement between Google and the county. County officials have said they anticipate the project will generate millions of dollars in annual tax revenue.

The plan has raised questions about cost, tax revenue allocation and environmental impacts, including regarding Google’s potential anticipated use of millions of gallons of water per day from the nearby Carvins Cove reservoir.

[Disclosure: Google is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]

Appalachian Power said it will file an application for its transmission upgrade project with Virginia’s State Corporation Commission, which regulates public utilities in the commonwealth, in fall 2027 and finish construction in late 2029.

Google spokesperson Leslie Schuman said on Friday that the company will pay for the transmission upgrades needed for its data centers.

Schuman referenced Google’s support of the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge, aimed at protecting consumers from rising power costs tied to data centers. The company has published a statement that reads in part, “Google is committed to paying for 100% of the power our data centers use and any new infrastructure costs directly driven by our growth.”

Google has not specified how much power capacity the data center campus will require. Neither Schuman nor Porter provided that figure on Friday; Porter cited a nondisclosure agreement.

In 2024, Google said it would buy all of the power generated by the 79-megawatt Rocky Forge wind farm in Botetourt County, but the company said in late March that the wind farm’s output will not fully cover the data center complex’s needs.Virginia’s status as the world’s largest data center market is contributing to rising electricity consumption. A 2024 state report said the commonwealth’s power usage could nearly triple by 2040 if data center growth continues unconstrained.

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Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill to effectively ban the manufacture, sale and transfer of assault weapons in the commonwealth late Thursday with little fanfare and lawsuits brought by the National Rifle Association and others immediately followed. 

The governor said in a statement that she signed the legislation, after it was sent back to her by the General Assembly without her amendment, because firearms “designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets.”

“We are taking this step to protect families and support the law enforcement officers who work every day to keep our communities safe,” she said. “While the General Assembly chose not to adopt my amendment that specifically carves out certain firearms frequently used for hunting, I will work with the patrons to clarify this language.”

The legislation prohibits the future sale, manufacture and transfer of assault firearms and the sale of magazines with a capacity of more than 15 rounds. The law does not require gun owners to relinquish assault firearms that they already own. The law is slated to go into effect on July 1.

Spanberger, a former federal law enforcement officer, has long championed this measure as a critical step toward protecting families, communities, and the law enforcement officers who serve them, her office said. 

State Sen. Saddam Salim, D-Falls Church, and Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax County, patroned the bills in their respective chambers. 

Salim called Spanberger’s approval of the bill a “monumental victory for public safety in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” in a statement late Thursday. 

“When I ran for State Senate against an incumbent who voted against prior versions of an assault weapons ban, the people who believed in this vision stood with me to make the impossible possible,” he said. “This law saves lives, and together, we prove that people-powered progress prevails.”

The NRA was quick to file a lawsuit against the legislation after it was signed Thursday evening in a federal district court in Alexandria. In the lawsuit, the NRA argued that the “blanket” prohibition of the manufacture, sale or transfer of assault weapons and the sale of magazines with a capacity of 15 or more rounds infringes on the right granted by the U.S. Constitution of law-abiding and “peaceable” Virginians to “keep and bear common arms.”

An injunction that seeks to halt enforcement of the law was filed in Washington County Circuit Court on Friday. The complaint, filed by Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, on behalf of a number of residents and organizations in Virginia, argues that the law also infringes on the right granted by the state constitution that allows law-abiding residents to keep and bear arms. It also argues that the ban is not consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.

“To be outside of that historical tradition, those firearms have to be unusual and dangerous,” Stanley said.

“Unusual in the sense that they’re not usual or common use firearms and an AR-15 is the common use rifle, and a semi-automatic hand gun is a common use firearm, and so they’re part of the common use and have been part of the historical tradition and they’re not dangerous. Dangerous means inherently – not just because they’re a firearm but inherently dangerous because of the type of firearm that they are – and these are not inherently dangerous,” he added.

Stanley argued that, while the prohibition of the manufacture, sale or transfer of the firearms is not an immediate ban, it could be considered a “slow ban.”

Attorney General Jay Jones said his team looks forward to defending the new law, and all other gun violence prevention laws, against these and other lawsuits in a statement on Friday. 

“Gun violence remains a national epidemic, devastating families, and destabilizing communities across the country, especially here in Virginia. Too many people, especially young people, have grown up with the fear, trauma, and loss that follow in its wake,” he said. “Accountability matters. Every community deserves protection from violence. We will use every tool available to uphold the law fairly, responsibly, and with an unwavering commitment to public safety.”

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A circuit judge on Friday dismissed the case to remove Martinsville Mayor L.C. Jones from office, ruling that a citizens’ petition filed against Jones did not include the legally required percentage of signatures.

Judge Marcus Brinks, after ruling in Jones’ favor, awarded $40,000 in attorneys’ fees to Jones’ lawyers and to the special prosecutor, Colonial Heights Commonwealth’s Attorney Alfred Gray Collins III.

The city is liable for those fees.

There were 401 valid signatures in a petition that Martinsville resident Patti Covington filed in January, lawyers on both sides agreed. According to state law, such petitions require signatures from 10% of those who voted in the most recent election for a position. Mark Krudys, one of Jones’ representatives, argued in court on Friday that 6,818 votes were cast in November 2022, when Jones won his seat.

The signatures on the petition were 280 short of the 681 the law required, Krudys argued, citing the Virginia Elections Database.

Special prosecutor Gray Collins conceded that point with a billiards reference.

“We’re behind the eight ball here,” Collins told the court.

Covington said after the hearing that the city registrar had told her that she needed 375 signatures.

A Virginia State Police investigation into city spending during the tenure of Martinsville’s former city manager, Aretha Ferrell-Benavides, is ongoing. Martinsville City Attorney Patrick Flinn has said that the investigation was tied to the removal case against the mayor.

The petition to recall Jones accused the mayor of bribery, failure to disqualify himself from certain transactions, failure to disclose an alleged conflict of interest, and neglect of ministerial duties and incompetence under Virginia law. 

Jones, who has not been charged criminally, has denied any wrongdoing.

Standing outside the Martinsville Municipal Building with his lawyers and some supporters afterward, Jones said he was not worried about the state police investigation. He declined to comment on whether he might pursue his own civil remedy related to the petition.

“Today was a good day for me, and it’s been a long time coming,” Jones said. “I’m going on vacation. My focus is on turning the page.” 

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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Robbie Price, a Centra Health nurse practitioner based in Bedford County, has seen a lot of ways to take notes during his two decades of work in healthcare.

Simple handwriting. Microrecorders. Voice recognition software.

Now there’s something new: an artificial intelligence-powered “ambient digital scribe.” Price said it’s been “transformational on the clinical end.”

The so-called scribe is software on a medical provider’s phone that listens as the provider speaks with a patient. It then turns their conversation into a fully formed clinical note. Centra, based in Lynchburg, began using it in July.

The app allows a provider to focus more fully on the patient instead of taking notes. It automatically filters out non-clinical conversation topics, such as how someone’s dog or favorite baseball team is doing.

A few minutes after the visit ends, the app produces a complete clinical note, said Price, who also serves as Centra’s director of advanced practice provider operations.

“So really, it’s kind of turned the providers from more creators of the note to more editors,” he said.

Roanoke-based Carilion Clinic began integrating AI-powered documentation, such as digital scribes, into clinical workflows around 2023, with use expanding across care teams since then.

[Disclosure: Carilion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]

Dr. Maruf Haider, associate chief medical information officer at Carilion, said that being more present during appointments can also help clinicians recall details more accurately when reviewing and finalizing notes later.

Patients can view notes during their appointments if they choose, Haider added.

“It’s a more thorough note that, in some cases, it picked up things that I would have not thought about putting in that was pertinent,” he said.

The benefits of such a tool are obvious. Many providers already spend what Price called “pajama time” — after hours, such as on evenings and weekends — working on notes and records. Automation helps providers finish their records earlier and get home sooner.

It’s one example of the rapidly expanding presence of artificial intelligence in healthcare, alongside technology that speeds up imaging when diagnosing strokes, helps providers respond to patient messages and improves efficiency for clinicians.

But with this expansion comes caution about data security, patient privacy and the changing roles of human professionals in tandem with increasingly advanced technology.

Dr. Maxim Topaz, who develops artificial intelligence technologies to improve patient-clinician interactions at the Columbia School of Nursing, said AI accuracy varies widely between clinical settings. Legal and ethical frameworks have not kept pace with adoption, either, which may discourage transparency about how the tools are used, Topaz said. 

About 81% of physicians report using AI for tasks such as searching medical research, triaging and communicating with patients, generating discharge instructions and documenting visits, according to a 2026 survey by the American Medical Association.

Healthcare leaders largely view this shift as a positive development. AI can improve efficiency, reduce administrative burdens and help address clinician burnout, said Beth Bortz, president and CEO of the Virginia Center for Health Innovation.

At the same time, some patients — particularly those of younger generations — are more hesitant. Bortz said many ask questions about how their personal information is stored and used.

That concern often centers on the role of the third-party vendors that provide the AI services.

Many AI tools are developed and implemented by outside companies, introducing additional layers of data access, responsibility and risk, said Gurkan Akalin, executive director of the Institute for Applied Data Analytics at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Those vendors must maintain strong cybersecurity practices and handle patient data appropriately.

Data security, patient privacy among top concerns

Relying on third-party vendors can increase exposure to security breaches and data loss, making transparency between health systems and vendors critical for protecting patient information.

Hospitals are required to comply with HIPAA security rules, which govern how protected health information is stored and transmitted electronically. The law, enacted in 2003, requires administrative, physical and technical safeguards to protect patient privacy. 

Federal guidance is designed to be flexible and technology-neutral, allowing health systems to adopt new tools while maintaining compliance, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

At LewisGale Medical Center in Salem, support from its parent, HCA Healthcare, has shaped how new technology is implemented. The system’s electronic health records platform, built with MEDITECH Expanse, was developed specifically for HCA.

Carilion has taken a different approach, often building on relationships with existing vendors as it adopts new AI tools.

For example, Carilion integrates some of its AI tools through Epic, the company behind its MyChart patient portal.

Carilion receives hundreds of proposals from vendors every year pitching new AI technology, said Dr. Stephen Morgan, the health system’s senior vice president and chief medical information officer.

“Buyer beware in these cases,” Morgan said. “Some of them have very good data. I’ve worked with some that are very good and talk with their clients. Some do not have peer review data or data that we would really trust.”

Hospital leaders say that any new technology, whether it’s considered AI or not, needs to be vetted for security and patient privacy concerns before it’s adopted.

That might mean that the technology comes on board more slowly than some AI enthusiasts within Centra might like, said Jen Halikman, Centra’s vice president of applications information technology.

“I am proud of that process, as much as it can be viewed as sort of onerous, or a bottleneck at times. … I’m sort of the IT governance grim reaper,” she said.

For those concerned about privacy, Carilion’s Haider noted that many people already share significant personal information through everyday technology.

“The question about the general public, their concern, I think that concern probably should be across the board,” Haider said. “We all use smartphones and get on the internet and things like that.”

Centra obtains patients’ consent to use AI and renews that permission annually. Providers are instructed to tell patients when they’re being recorded by the digital scribe, and patients can revoke their consent at any time.

If a patient doesn’t consent to the use of AI, the provider can still conduct the visit the traditional way, said Price, the Centra nurse practitioner. 

“There is still a fair amount of hesitation around AI, particularly when it comes to being in the room with a provider. That’s somewhat of a safer space for a lot of people,” Price said.

Not every health system is as transparent about its use of AI tools, according to Topaz. 

There is no federal mandate requiring disclosure, and health system policies vary widely, he said. Patients should have the right to know, and in many cases, to opt out. 

“The analogy I use: We require informed consent when a medical student participates in a patient’s care. AI is at least as consequential,” Topaz said.

AI accuracy improving, but human oversight remains critical

With any software, there can be errors. When it comes to using tools such as the digital scribe in a healthcare space, it’s up to the provider to catch those errors, Price said.

“The provider, at the end of the day, is still responsible for the note they signed because their name was on it,” he said. “But, you know, if you take having to create a note from scratch versus having to go through and edit a few paragraphs, it really does decrease the burden on the provider.”

Halikman said that providers have reported few errors to Centra’s information technology department about the AI digital scribe.

As Centra’s providers use it, the AI model improves based on the data it gets from those providers.

And while AI is a useful tool, human providers still retain the responsibility of making important medical decisions, hospital leaders say.

Patient advocacy organizations are also examining how AI intersects with care, said Gwen Darien, executive vice president of advocacy and education with the Patient Advocate Foundation, a nonprofit based in Hampton that focuses on health equity issues in the U.S.

As health systems adopt more AI tools, both patients and clinicians have widely varying levels of understanding about how the technology works, Darien said. 

Some of that oversight may also fall to patients. Darien said patients should feel empowered to ask providers how they use generative AI — technology that creates new content, including text — and how they verify the accuracy of AI-generated medical notes.

Darien said reducing administrative burdens for healthcare workers could ultimately improve the patient experience, but she emphasized that AI should be viewed as a tool — not a solution.

Since 2023, Centra has been using an AI-powered platform to speed up stroke diagnosis, said Mandi Zemaiduk, director of practice operations at Centra Medical Group Neurology.

In stroke care, there’s a popular mantra: “Time is brain.” It means that the longer a patient waits for treatment, the more brain tissue can be lost. 

The platform cuts the time from “door to read” — from when the patient enters the hospital to when their brain scan images are read — in half by analyzing the images and sending them directly to a provider’s phone or computer. 

Nonetheless, the final word on the patient’s situation — “bleed or no bleed,” or whether the patient’s brain has a hemorrhage — comes from a human radiologist. 

“We still need humans to be able to look at these images and really give us the right call. It’s just only partnering with us to make the efficiency of how we treat stroke even better,” Zemaiduk said.

As these tools evolve, hospital leaders are beginning to consider a key question: How autonomous should these systems become?

Haider said that shift could change how future clinicians are trained.

“Soon, we’ll have medical students who grew up with this. And so maybe knowledge recollection is not as important as the decision-making and verifying,” Haider said. 

Dr. Zachary Williams, the emergency department medical director at LewisGale, said medical educators now face a balancing act. 

Young doctors need to understand how AI tools function, but they also must develop strong independent note-taking and clinical reasoning skills.

Williams said providers are already discussing broader questions about the future role of medical documentation and what matters most in a patient note.

AI tools serve a variety of functions

Another area where AI is saving time at Carilion is within its patient portal, MyChart, where patients can send questions to their care teams.

These messages have traditionally been monitored by nurses, but AI now helps triage them, Morgan said. 

When a patient submits a message, the system can generate a draft response for the provider to review and edit. Morgan said the AI-generated suggestions are designed to reflect a clear and empathetic tone. 

AI can conduct an initial review of incoming messages and flag them based on urgency, according to Bortz.

As in other aspects of AI-assisted healthcare, Bortz emphasized that clinicians remain involved in the process and that AI does not make final decisions.

“They [clinicians] were getting just dozens and dozens of messages through the portal and feeling like, my God, how do we keep up with this?” Bortz said. “And now they use AI to help with kind of reviewing those messages and triaging the messages.”

Hospitals are also using AI tools to search clinical trials and analyze recent research, Bortz said.

These tools can help smaller practices identify treatment options or refer patients for more specialized care.

LewisGale, which rolled out a new electronic health records system with AI capabilities in March, uses similar research tools.

As part of HCA Healthcare, one of the largest health systems in the country, LewisGale has access to large datasets that help inform care and guide patient management, said Sean Pressman, CEO of LewisGale Hospital Pulaski.

“AI has the ability to pull those important elements from all that research that’s been done, and to help make sure that we don’t miss something,” Pressman said. 

What will the future bring?

Some experts say AI could eventually take on more direct interactions with patients.

Xuan Wang is an assistant professor in the Virginia Tech Department of Computer Science and faculty member of the university’s Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics.

For several years, Wang has been working with hospitals in Washington, D.C., and Seattle to study whether AI can improve how patients are triaged, or prioritized based on their symptoms when they come to an emergency department.

For example, patients with life-threatening injuries such as gunshot wounds are given higher priority than patients with minor injuries whose care can wait.

The triage process typically begins with a conversation between the patient and a nurse. Wang believes AI can improve it, and one day, the patient might speak with the AI agent for triage, reducing workload for nurses and doctors.

“It’s very time-consuming for the nurse and sometimes they may not accurately prioritize the patient. But this is something language model agents can do well. It’s mostly about conversations — understanding how severe the case is,” she said.

For the time being, though, AI agents’ abilities are limited in this area.

“They can provide knowledge but they do not act like doctors. Doctors usually ask follow-up questions. The models are not really that doctor-like,” she said.

As the technology continues to advance, research will focus on what Wang called “multimodal” artificial intelligence — when an AI system pulls together not just text documents and conversations with patients but also images, blood tests or even DNA samples.

Different tools could analyze those different types of data and send them to an AI “brain” for final analysis, Wang said.

Wang is also researching whether AI can help reduce bias in patient care.

Well before the introduction of AI, researchers have been examining the extent of bias — conscious or unconscious — that healthcare providers display toward women, people of color and people with disabilities.

“My own hypothesis is they probably help reduce the bias because the models only see the conversation, basically. They don’t have the personal information, they don’t know who they are talking about,” Wang said.

Meanwhile, regional hospital systems are preparing to expand their use of AI technologies.

Centra is looking at AI-generated patient summaries beyond the clinical notes produced by digital scribes.

For example, a provider could ask an app for the last two years of a patient’s complete blood count test results. 

Another technology focuses on putting in patient orders. 

Another would work similarly to the system that Carilion uses in MyChart, summarizing messages that patients send to providers and helping providers prepare responses. 

“In the clinical space, there are a lot of AI agents that we plan to roll out starting in 2026,” Halikman said.

Carilion plans to introduce similar AI agents into the nursing workflow. As the largest segment of the clinical workforce, nurses form the backbone of the hospital operations, and integrating AI into their day-to-day tasks could significantly improve efficiency, Morgan said. 

AI could also help streamline scheduling, Morgan said. By analyzing a patient’s medical history and the reason for the visit, an AI agent could recommend a 15-minute appointment or allocate an hour, depending on the patient’s needs.

In the future, patients can expect to see more autonomous AI systems that act independently to identify and carry out tasks without direct human oversight. While that shift may still be some time away, Morgan said these tools could support decision-making. 

“It’s really about how to improve that efficiency,” Morgan said.

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When surveyors from Virginia and North Carolina set out in 1728 to determine just where the border between them lay, the assignment seemed simple enough: Draw a straight line.

The work turned out not to be so straightforward. They set out on March 27 but the weather soon turned warm enough “to give life and vigor to the rattlesnakes,” so they stopped after just a few weeks. When they resumed their work in the fall, the Virginians and the North Carolinians argued over how far west they should go. Virginians wanted to go all the way to the Blue Ridge, the North Carolinians thought that was a waste of time because nobody was going to live there for a long time yet. William Byrd II, one of the three Virginia surveyors, blamed another reason. He claimed that the four North Carolinians wanted to leave as soon as the “good liquor” ran out and then had the audacity to drink a farewell toast with “the last bottle we had left.”

After that, the Virginians argued amongst themselves. Byrd alleged that one of his fellow Virginia surveyors left early because he was also a judge in Williamsburg and wanted to collect double pay by presiding over court.

Despite all those problems — the snakes, the swamps, the squabbles — the surveyors succeeded in establishing a border that runs in a straight line from the Atlantic to the Blue Ridge. Or, if you want to be technical, a straight line from a cedar post the surveyors pounded into the ground as their starting point on the north shore of the Currituck Inlet. near the Atlantic Ocean. In doing so, they prized geometry over geography: No natural barrier would interrupt their dividing line.

When you cross from Virginia into Maryland, you’re crossing a physical barrier — the Potomac River. Cross into West Virginia or Kentucky and you have to cross a mountain (except the West Virginia Panhandle, but let’s not get distracted). The point is, when you cross from Virginia into North Carolina, there’s no way to tell except for the state line sign.

Or, perhaps, economic statistics.

The Brookings Institution recently released a report on the economy of the Washington metro area to see what impact President Donald Trump’s downsizing of the federal government has had on the region. The first finding: The D.C. area has lost jobs. But there was another that’s more important: Brookings looked at all the metro areas in the country with a population of 1 million or more to see how the D.C. area’s job losses compared, as a percentage of total jobs. The result: On a percentage basis, the Washington area had lost a higher percentage of jobs than any other large metro. The Washington area was down 1.7%. However, the metro area with the next biggest job losses was Hampton Roads, where jobs were down 1.4%. Those losses can’t be blamed so much on Trump (although tariffs may well be a factor), but that’s not the point. This is: The two largest metros with the most job losses, on a percentage basis, in the country are also Virginia’s two biggest metros.

I wrote about that in a previous column. Now for the rest: The metro area with the biggest job growth, on a percentage basis, is just south of us in North Carolina: Charlotte saw its jobs grow by 2.8% from December 2024 to December 2025. In fourth place was another North Carolina metro — Raleigh’s jobs have grown 1.3%.

Nowhere else in the country do we have this kind of contrast, where one state is seeing its two biggest metros lose jobs while next door a neighboring state is seeing its two biggest metros gain jobs.

This isn’t simply a case of four different metros, two growing jobs, two losing jobs. It’s more broadly a case study of two different states. From December 2024 to December 2025 (the same time period as that Brookings study), North Carolina had the second-fastest job growth in the country on a percentage basis: 1.54%. Virginia ranked 40th, posting a loss of 0.18%

Why is this happening when the only difference between the two states is a political border, not a natural barrier?

Virginia’s two biggest metros face economic challenges; North Carolina’s don’t

Let’s deal with the easy answers first. To start with, Virginia is being pulled down by Northern Virginia, which has a unique economy. Only two states — us and Maryland — have major metros dependent on the nation’s capital, which once was a plus but now is a minus. North Carolina doesn’t have that problem. Even before Trump’s federal cutbacks, the largest locality in Northern Virginia — Fairfax County — was facing demographic challenges. It’s consistently seen so many people moving out that the county is now losing population. The reasons for that out-migration are complicated — older people retiring and moving out, younger adults unable to move in because of high housing prices — but they do pre-date Trump.

Virginia is also being pulled down by Hampton Roads, which has a unique economy, being so tied to the military. The reasons for Hampton Roads’ job losses may be a topic for another day, but for our purposes here today, we can simply say this: Our two biggest metros are both facing economic and demographic challenges, something that North Carolina’s two biggest metros (Charlotte and Raleigh) aren’t facing.

That explains a lot of the differences between the two state figures, but not all of them. Let’s keep going.

North Carolina is attracting more than 13 times as many new residents as Virginia

North Carolina isn’t that much bigger than Virginia, population-wise — 11.1 million vs. 8.8 million. However, North Carolina’s population is growing more quickly than Virginia’s (7.2% since 2000 for North Carolina; 2.7% since then for us).

Why such a big difference?

It’s not because North Carolinians are procreating more or Virginians are dying more. Our numbers of what demographers call “natural change” — births vs. deaths — are about the same. Most years since 2020, Virginia has added more people than North Carolina through natural change.

It’s not because of immigration, either. Virginia far outpaces North Carolina when it comes to attracting immigrants. Those numbers have always been roughly the same.

The big change has been other Americans moving into North Carolina and not Virginia. The Internal Revenue Service started tracking such data in 1978 and consistently saw more people moving out of Virginia than into the state — until the past two years. Meanwhile, North Carolina has consistently posted net in-migration — and large amounts of net in-migration that that.

The most recent figures show that for the year ending July 1, 2025, Virginia saw a net gain of 6,268 residents through domestic migration, aka, the moving van. By contrast, North Carolina saw a gain that year of 84,064. And that wasn’t even North Carolina’s biggest year lately. Some years it’s seen a net gain of 100,000 or more new residents per year move in, while Virginia until recently was seeing people move out.

I’m wary of emphasizing population growth too much because some communities don’t want a lot of population growth. Still, population growth is tied, at some level, to job growth. People move to where the jobs are. And sometimes jobs move to where the people are.

In any case, there’s a manmade line from the Currituck Inlet to the Iron Mountains (a sub-range of the Blue Ridge) that would appear to have some influence over human behavior. What’s causing this?

Beware! We now wade into terrain as fraught with peril as the Great Dismal Swamp was for those 18th-century surveyors: politics.

Some of the reasons why North Carolina is attracting more jobs than Virginia

North Carolina Gov. Luther Hodges was helping to launch the Research Triangle in the late 1950s when Virginia’s political class was still busy pushing Massive Resistance. Instead of U.S. Sen. Harry Byrd Sr. telling Gov. Lindsay Almond he needed to risk going to jail instead of integrating schools, what if Byrd had told Almond to go out into the pine scrub outside Richmond and build a research park? In many ways we are still living with the consequences of decisions made almost seven decades ago.

More recently, we’ve seen North Carolina invest more money in site development than Virginia has; it’s only been since the tail end of the Ralph Northam administration that Virginia has made site development a priority on the scale North Carolina has. In many ways, we are still playing catch-up.

We also need to point out different tax rates: North Carolina’s corporate tax rate is 2%, Virginia’s is 6%, according to the Tax Foundation. North Carolina has a flat income tax, with a tax rate of 4.25%. Virginia has a tiered tax system, with the top rate of 5.75% — and there were efforts in this year’s General Assembly to raise the top rate for high-income earners. If you’re a business making location decisions, is it possible that these rates come into play? Logically, we’d think so, right?

There are lots of other comparison points available — an economic development group in Virginia once told me it had received a questionnaire from a site selector with about 100 questions — so this is by no means a comprehensive list. Different companies will rank different things higher or lower, so some factors may make up for Virginia’s higher tax rate, others won’t.

Still, two things aren’t debatable. North Carolina is one of our main economic competitors, so we ought to pay attention to what’s happening there. And then there’s this: The part of Virginia that’s in the most direct competition with North Carolina, along the southern part of the state, is one of the parts of Virginia with the least political power.

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The post Virginia’s biggest metros and North Carolina’s biggest metros are headed in different directions economically. Why? appeared first on Cardinal News.

At least 12 people in Buckingham County have contracted measles, marking Virginia’s first confirmed outbreak this year, according to a May 13 letter to doctors from the Virginia Department of Health. 

An outbreak is defined as three or more related cases among non-household members, according to the Health Department website.

Health officials confirmed the first case May 8 in a school-age child in Buckingham County. The child had not traveled recently and was exposed locally, indicating that the virus was already circulating in the community. None of the 12 confirmed patients reported recent travel.

The department did not release any details about the ages of the patients or their vaccination status. 

State health officials said the actual number of infections is likely higher than the number confirmed so far. 

The Health Department is working with the local healthcare workforce to arrange measles testing at the state laboratory for all symptomatic patients and provide post-exposure prophylaxis, which are vaccines or medications administered within days after exposure to minimize symptoms, according to a spokesperson from the health department. 

People older than 6 months who are exposed but not vaccinated can get the vaccine for up to three days after contact with the virus.

Measles is highly contagious and can spread before symptoms begin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Initial symptoms include a cough, fever and runny nose. It takes a few more days before a rash appears on the skin. 

There are no antiviral treatments for measles. 

State health officials are also working to educate and encourage unvaccinated people in the community to receive two doses of the vaccine. 

“We believe declining childhood immunization rates is one factor contributing to the spread of measles,” said Logan Anderson, public information officer with the Health Department.

Most daycare centers and public and private schools require a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine series, administered between the ages of 12 to 15 months and a second dose at 4 to 6 years old. 

Virginia allows two possible vaccination exemptions: medical exemptions signed by a doctor and religious exemptions. 

About 86% of Buckingham County residents are vaccinated against measles compared to a statewide vaccination rate of 95.6%, according to data on the health department website. Public health experts say vaccination rates generally need to reach about 95% to prevent outbreaks. 

MMR vaccine coverage has declined since the COVID-19 pandemic. Coverage rates vary by geographic region. Areas with low vaccination rates are vulnerable to the virus spreading quickly, Anderson said.

As of May 13, Virginia has confirmed 35 measles cases in 2026. By comparison, the state reported only five cases throughout all of 2025.

Most infections this year have occurred in children aged 4 and younger.

Measles cases began rising nationally in early 2025 after several years of relatively low infection rates. Experts say rising anti-vaccination rhetoric at the federal level has resulted in a wave of vaccine resistance. Some younger parents who are unaware of the risks associated with measles infections have also become less likely to vaccinate their children.

The United States declared measles eliminated in 2000, meaning the virus no longer spread continuously within the country because of widespread vaccination, though isolated cases still occurred.

So far this year, the United States has confirmed 1,842 measles cases nationwide.

The post 12 cases of measles confirmed in Buckingham County, health officials say appeared first on Cardinal News.

Here are some of the top headlines from other news outlets around Virginia. Some content may be behind a metered paywall:

Politics:

NAACP asks U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Virginia redistricting decision. — Virginia Mercury.

Fairfax prosecutor Descano lambasted by Republicans in Congressional hearing. — WVTF/RadioIQ.

Economy:

Dominion proposes slight decrease in offshore wind cost on monthly bills. — Virginia Mercury.

Education:

After 123 years, Virginia Tech student newspaper reduces print to embrace online. — The Roanoke Times (paywall).

Local:

“Chill” bear tranquilized after journey into Richmond’s Oregon Hill neighborhood. — The Richmonder.

Weather:

For more weather news, follow weather journalist Kevin Myatt on Twitter / X at @kevinmyattwx and sign up for his free weather email newsletter. His weekly column appears in Cardinal News each Wednesday afternoon.

The post Headlines from across the state: NAACP asks U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Virginia redistricting decision; more … appeared first on Cardinal News.

Nathan Wheat, owner of Roanoke Homes and Renovations, said he built 12 houses in the city last year — but only two so far in 2026.

That’s because of significant delays for permit approvals from the city’s Planning, Building and Development Department, he said. The delays have never been this long in his two decades as a Roanoke Valley builder, Wheat said. 

Wheat said he just recently received a permit that he submitted eight months ago for a multifamily duplex in Northeast Roanoke. In Roanoke County, Salem or Botetourt, he could have a permit one or two weeks after submission, he said.

Roanoke City is issuing permits on such a delay due to major understaffing in the planning department, during a housing crisis that requires more housing stock to be built within the city. The department is currently 20 positions short — representing about one-third of its total staffing — according to a FOIA request from the city from late April. These vacancies include city planners, codes compliance inspectors, plan examiners, technicians and other positions.

The planning department has also seen turnover in leadership over the last couple of years. Chris Chittum, the former director of planning, building and development, left last year and was replaced by Jillian Papa, who exited the role in March. Mayor Joe Cobb said in an interview on Monday that the city will soon be working with an interim director, and City Manager Valmarie Turner said she’s hired a consultant to assess the department. 

The understaffing within that department isn’t new, and it isn’t something that only the planning department is facing. The finance department is also facing short staffing, and the city is struggling with vacancies for CDL drivers, which caused a delay in recycling pick-ups this month. In late March, a city spokesperson said in an email that the city was facing 201 vacancies across the board.

In December, Steve Fowler of Lost Art Construction spoke before the council to address the permit delays.

Fowler, who said he mostly remodels and repairs old homes, said that it’s taking about six weeks for him to get approvals on a deck addition, or months for other additions to homes.

“This should not be like this for someone who has spent half their life as a professional builder,” Fowler said. Fowler has lived in the city for three years and said he began building here because there was little competition. He said in an interview in December that he thinks other contractors don’t want to work in the city “because it’s not worth their time.” Fowler said via text in late April that he had no updates on improvements.

Cobb said that before the coronavirus pandemic, builders said it might take three weeks to get a permit approval from the city.

“Now it’s taking three to six months,” Cobb said, “and none of us wants that. And that’s why we’re paying close attention to this.”

Isabel Thornton, executive director of Restoration Housing in Roanoke, said the group has had good experiences with the people they’ve worked with in the planning department, but that they did wait throughout the winter and spring of last year for a permit for their Trinity Commons project, which transformed the former Trinity United Methodist Church into affordable rental apartments for seniors. The group was able to stay close to its original timeline through a demolition permit, Thornton said.

Since January, the city has only reduced its vacancies in the planning department by one position.

Cobb said staffing is difficult because the city is looking for “people with specific experience to do specific jobs,” and once the city finds a qualified candidate, their salary range is often outside of the range that the city is able to pay.

“I think our salary levels are realistic,” Cobb said, but that “it’s hard to erase that gap” between higher private sector salaries and municipal salaries. 

Effects on housing affordability and stock

Alexander Boone owns ABoone Real Estate, which develops homes across the Roanoke Valley. While he said he’s been affected by the lag in permit approvals, he hasn’t seen builders taking their work elsewhere.

“At the end of the day, there’s good and viable business for them in the city,” he said. “You just have to plan for the permitting process right now.”

Generally, demand is higher for housing in the city because of a shortage of it.

A 2021 Virginia Tech study found a lack of 4,500 housing units in the city and that over half of Roanoke’s residents are putting at least 30% of their income toward paying for rent or their mortgage — meaning Roanoke needs more housing overall, but especially more affordable housing. The Council of Community Services’ Winter 2026 Point in Time Count shows that homelessness in the Roanoke region increased by 3.1% in 2026 thus far and cites a lack of affordable housing as a primary challenge.

This is one of the factors that led to controversial citywide zoning changes that were passed twice in 2024, permitting a range of housing options in each neighborhood — changes which are scheduled to be in front of council again on May 18 for minor recommended changes from the planning commission.

Cobb, who has voted in support of the original citywide rezoning since its introduction to the city, said he’s heard from builders that restricting or “pulling back” on those original zoning amendments “isn’t helpful to them.”

“The sky hasn’t fallen,” Cobb said, on the impact of the zoning amendments that have been in place for almost two years. During a February city council meeting, Wayne Leftwich, the city’s former planning manager who left earlier this year, told the council that as of June 2025, the zoning changes resulted in 26-40 new housing units.

City planning commission member James Settle said all the city can do to help increase housing is to adopt zoning amendments, which they’ve already done.

Settle said these kinds of policies can take years before results are visible. “It’s like steering the Titanic,” he said.

Cobb said the timing issues in the planning department also affect the city’s revenues. When less housing is built, the city doesn’t make as much real estate tax revenue. He also noted that builders often have timeframes they must meet as a part of their financing. 

Wheat said the interest on those loans also adds up – “I’m paying interest on this money when I could have had a house done.” 

Until this year, the city’s lower housing stock helped contribute to higher property assessments and an increase in taxes — the assessed value percentage change dropped slightly this year to 6.55%, according to a March budget presentation. 

The city council voted Monday to keep the real estate tax rate at $1.22 per $100 of valuation. The rate has not changed since 2015. Cobb said the council has kept the rate steady to “ride the wave” of the high valuations.

The city’s approach to fixing the problem

Boone said in an email that he had a meeting with city officials on April 23 and said the city is “highly focused on resolving the issues” within the planning department.

Taylor Stone, another local builder, said he had a separate meeting with other builders and Cobb last week. 

“It was helpful for the mayor to hear that what is going on in the city is not normal,” Stone said via text this week. 

Stone said he previously had a conversation with Catherine Gray, the city’s land use and urban design planner, and he suggested an “open house” for builders to come to the planning department with their documents for quicker approvals.

“If we were sitting right there together, we could start to expedite things because questions could be asked, answers could be given, and details could be worked out,” Stone said. 

The city used to have a similar walk-in station for builders with simple remodel jobs that don’t require as many permits as larger projects, Cobb said.

Turner said Municipal Insights, an Ontario-based consultant that works with municipalities on tax policy, is doing a complete assessment of the planning department. She said the firm is conducting interviews and meeting with staff, council members, developers, architects and attorneys, and will make recommendations to city staff based on their assessment. 

The city will pay Municipal Insights an estimated $25,000 for work from April until June, according to a contract that Cardinal News obtained through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

On staffing, Turner said the city will need to start “training up,” or hiring individuals without robust experience and training them more extensively. She said in the meantime, at least two extra staffers from other areas — but more depending on the workload — are being made available to supplement the planning staff.

Cobb said the city is looking to streamline the process for smaller projects, like home remodels, so that those projects take “an appropriate amount of time.”

Turner said once the department is fully staffed, the city will hold more open houses for builders. 

“We want our builders to understand that they are true partners, and we don’t want to be a hindrance,” Turner said in an interview last week. “We want to be a partner and support them. I know that there are some changes that need to be made, and I’m looking to do exactly that.”

The post Roanoke permit delays are holding up builders, with about a third of planning department jobs still open appeared first on Cardinal News.

Back in 1952, if you knew the right people and the right places, you could have quite the time at Virginia Beach.

At one particular trial, the prosecutor paraded 27 people through the witness stand, all of whom testified that in the summer of ’52 they “visited one or more of the twelve establishments” and “observed flagrant violations of the gambling laws and the illegal sale of intoxicants.” More specifically, they saw “ten to fifty persons, in various rooms participating in, or observing others playing roulette, dice, bingo, skillo or fortune.”

These seaside gambling dens were both well-known and yet hard to find, at least if you were in law enforcement. Roger Malbon, the sheriff of Princess Anne County (a county now subsumed into the city of Virginia Beach), testified that “neither he nor the other officers received any cooperation or help from the parties who frequented gambling places and nip joints.” These usually employed “spotters” to keep a look-out for the law, “so that frequently when the police entered, the whiskey had been destroyed and gambling paraphernalia had been removed or hidden.”

Despite these obstacles, some in Princess Anne thought the sheriff was simply ignoring the drinking and gambling. They turned to a little-used section of state law that lays out a judicial way to remove a local office; they collected enough petition signatures to force a removal trial in October 1952. To their dismay, the jury declined to remove the sheriff. A year later, the Virginia Supreme Court looked at the case and decided not to disturb the verdict.

Until the recent case of a town council member in Purcellville in Loudoun County, that 1952 trial of Sheriff Malbon was apparently the last time a removal trial in Virginia had gone to conclusion. (In 2013, a trial aimed at removing Sussex County Supervisor Rufus Tyler Sr. started, but he resigned after some procedural rulings went against him.) Like that Princess Anne County jury did in ’52, the jury in Loudoun County recently decided not to remove Ben Nett from office — even though he’s been indicted on six felony charges, including allegations of bid-rigging.

Another removal case is now sitting in the court system — the one against Martinsville Mayor L.C. Jones, which is awaiting review by a special prosecutor (the third prosecutor to handle this tangled case).

I’ve written two previous columns on this. The first pointed out how the state’s removal law is so broad that it has allowed for two very different processes to play out in Purcellville and Martinsville: a town councilmember under indictment allowed to stay in office pending trial in the former, a mayor facing no criminal charges suspended for two months in the latter. The second pointed out how, in Martinsville, one of the three allegations against the mayor is that he committed a crime — accepting a bribe — yet there’s no criminal charge.

I offer no special insight into either case; my questions are simply about the law — which has been used so little that not until now, with two cases unfolding at the same time, do we get to see how unevenly it can be applied. With that in mind, here are some questions that legislators might want to consider if they revisit this section of the code.

1. Should removal petitions be able to allege crimes?

The petition against Jones lays out three things, the first of which is “acceptance of a bribe.” That’s a felony, yet Jones faces no criminal charge. There are two other points in the petition, so Jones isn’t facing a removal trial for the bribery allegation alone. Still, do we want a system where ordinary people can circulate a petition accusing an elected official of a crime — and, if it’s deemed serious enough, forcing a trial? We have a criminal justice system to deal with crimes. Should we require that allegations of a crime go there? Otherwise, what are we opening ourselves up to? We live in contentious times. I invite readers to imagine the worst elements on “the other side” — however you envision the other side — circulating a petition to charge someone on your side with a crime. That ability seems ripe for misuse.

2. Should the conditions for suspending an elected official be clarified?

The law currently gives the court broad discretion in whether to suspend an elected official who is facing the removal process. That led to the situation we recently had, where a white vice mayor in Northern Virginia, who is under indictment, was allowed to stay on his council, while the Black mayor in a Southside city, who faced no criminal charges, was suspended for two months. As I wrote before, there’s nothing to suggest the Martinsville case is racially motivated, but the appearances here are not flattering. It looks like unequal justice.

Meanwhile, the General Assembly in the most recent session passed a bill aimed specifically at Purcellville to mandate that a council member facing indictment for a felony should be suspended. If that rule is good enough for Purcellville, should it be good enough to apply statewide? Of note: A removal hearing based on that law (which has already gone into effect) was heard last week, but then postponed until May 28 after Nett challenged the constitutionality of the law, so he remains in office.

Taken together, these two cases raise these questions: Should elected officials who aren’t facing indictment be eligible for suspension, as the law now allows? Or should there be more specifics written into the law about what can prompt a suspension before a trial even happens?

3. Should there be more requirements for petition signers?

When we mapped the signers of the Martinsville petition, we found that more than three-fourths of them came from a single part of town.

This can be read three ways.

On the plus side: This can be empowering for a neighborhood to be able to exert that kind of influence. It reminds elected officials that they need to take into account the needs of their entire community.

On the negative side: Maybe this gives too much power to a small group of people.

Somewhere in between: Maybe this means nothing at all.

Candidates who want to get on a statewide ballot have to collect a certain number of signatures from each congressional district. This sets a barrier for some candidates who just aren’t well-organized. Should removal petitions in communities of multiple precincts be required to have a certain number from each precinct as a way to show the widespread nature of whatever problem is being alleged? Or is that too onerous a bar to set?

4. Instead of a judicial process, should we have recall elections instead?

I think this is a fundamentally bad idea, but I also think baseball’s new rule of putting a runner on second base in extra innings is fundamentally bad, too, but the commissioner didn’t listen to me. If we’re going to ask questions about the law, we may as well ask them all. The upside of recall elections: Well, I have a hard time thinking of any, but the theory is they give people a say. The downside is that many of these are launched simply because some office-holder is unpopular. We ought to allow office-holders to make unpopular decisions because they may turn out to be wise over time. At least Virginia’s current judicial-based process sets some threshold for removing an elected official other than “we just don’t like him anymore.”

That’s four questions — which appears to be four times as many as the number of elected officials who have been removed via the trial process in Virginia, that one being Roanoke Mayor Joel Cutchins in 1911. He was accused of allowing brothels to operate openly.

Virginia officials who have faced removal from office through a judicial process*

*At least four cities have recall elections in their charter. Portsmouth removed Joseph Holley as mayor through recall elections twice, 1987 and 2010. (He was elected again after the first removal.) The following are officials who faced removal through the courts.

Roanoke Mayor Joel Cutchin, 1911. Removed.

Hopewell Commissioner of the Revenue I.M. Warren, 1923. Not removed.

Princess Anne County Sheriff Roger Malbon, 1952. Not removed.

Sussex County Supervisor Rufus Tyler Sr., 2013. Resigned before trial completed, so not removed.

Purcellville Town Council member Ben Nett, 2026. Not removed.

Martinsville Mayor L.C. Jones, 2026. Suspended, then reinstated, trial has yet to happen.

Note: There’s no official list of removals. This list has been compiled from news accounts and legal documents. If there are others that have happened, let us know!

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The post Martinsville and Purcellville cases highlight how Virginia’s law to remove elected officials can be applied quite differently. Is that good or bad? appeared first on Cardinal News.

Welcome to The Pulse, a weekly roundup of health-focused news. Each Thursday, we bring you updates on health policy, community surveys, new clinical studies, programs and services in Southwest and Southside Virginia.

Got a tip or story idea? Email me at emily@cardinalnews.org.

Free lung cancer screenings available

Ballad Health is offering free, noninvasive CT scans for people at risk of lung cancer. 

Southwest Virginia faces significant gaps in lung cancer screening services despite high rates of respiratory disease linked to coal mining and smoking, according to a 2020 study published in the National Library of Medicine.

In the Appalachian Highlands, providers often diagnose lung cancer at later stages, making treatment more difficult, according to a press release from Ballad. Residents in the region are nearly three times more likely to die from chronic respiratory disease than people living elsewhere in the state.

Ballad Health will offer the free screenings through June 30 to individuals eligible for their first scan. In order to access the service for free, the scan must be completed by June 30.

The scan does not require needles, sedation or recovery time, according to the press release. 

The service is available to anyone who meets the eligibility criteria with a doctor’s order and can travel to a lung cancer screening location, listed here: https://www.balladhealth.org/medical-services/screenings/low-dose-ct.

To qualify for a free low-dose CT screening, patients must:

• Be between the ages of 50 and 80, in accordance with clinical guidelines.
• Have no previous lung cancer diagnosis.
• Have a smoking history equivalent to smoking one pack of cigarettes per day for 20 years. 
• Be a current smoker or have quit within the last 15 years.
• Have not had any prior low-dose CT scans.
• Have not had a chest CT scan within the last 12 months.

Eligible individuals should contact their physician’s office and ask for a low-dose CT imaging order, or visit www.balladhealth.org/medical-services/screenings/low-dose-ct or call 833-822-5523 (833-8-BALLAD).

Hormone levels may increase risk of cardiovascular disease

Increased risk of cardiovascular disease after menopause may be tied to gene activity following declining hormone levels, according to Virginia Tech scientists at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC in Roanoke. 

Growing evidence suggests that declining estrogen levels can alter the systems in the body that control when genes turn on and off. These changes may help explain why rates of heart disease, diabetes and other metabolic conditions rise sharply in women after menopause.

“For years, we’ve focused on estrogen loss as the primary driver of increased heart disease risk after menopause,” Sumita Mishra, senior author of the study and an assistant professor at the biomedical research institute, said in a press release. “What’s becoming clear is that the story is more complex. By reframing menopause-related health risks around gene regulation, this work points to new directions for future treatments that may extend beyond hormone therapy to more directly target these regulatory pathways.”

Researchers say genetics and environmental influences, such as diet, exercise and metabolic conditions, also contribute to cardiovascular risk after menopause. But the results of this study offer a new way of understanding the problem by connecting hormone loss to longer-term changes in how the body regulates interconnected systems involved in cardiovascular and metabolic health, according to the press release. 

The study also suggests that many treatments used to manage cardiometabolic disease, including cholesterol-lowering medications, diabetes drugs such as GLP-1 receptor agonists and SGLT2 inhibitors, may affect the same gene-regulating pathways influenced by estrogen. 

New federal grants total $1.2 million for Virginia Tech

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded more than $1.2 million in research grants to Virginia Tech, according to a release from U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem.

The funding includes $818,500 for cardiovascular disease research and $393,082 for biomedical research and research training.

Griffith said the grants support scientific research and help drive economic activity in Virginia’s 9th Congressional District.

The post The Pulse: Free lung cancer screenings, discoveries in cardiovascular disease and federal grants for local research appeared first on Cardinal News.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger has told state Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell that she plans to veto a bill that would allow state and local employees to collectively bargain. 

Surovell confirmed Wednesday that Spanberger had told him of her plan to kill the bill. House of Delegates Majority Leader Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax County, who patroned the House version of the bill, did not respond to a request for comment. 

Surovell, D-Fairfax County, told Cardinal News that he is “disappointed and perplexed” at the governor’s veto. He added that amendments Spanberger made to the legislation created an “entirely new bill.”

“That’s not really how the legislative process works. If [the governor] had issues she needed to make them known while we were legislating rather than blindside us with gubernatorial amendments,” he said. 

The governor’s amendments to the state Senate and House bills that would have allowed public sector workers to collectively bargain were passed by for the day in the General Assembly during the April 22 reconvene session. That meant the governor’s amendments failed and the bill went back to Spanberger in the form in which it passed the legislature. 

Spanberger told Michael O’Connor, a reporter with the left-leaning outlet The Dogwood, that she has been clear in her desire to sign a bill to allow public sector collective bargaining into law. But, she said, she has also been clear in what she considers her mandate. 

“Which is to get it right,” she said during an impromptu press conference after an event on Wednesday. 

The Virginia Public Sector Labor Coalition, which represents hundreds of thousands of workers across Virginia, issued a strong rebuke against the news in a joint statement Wednesday. 

“It is Orwellian for the governor to suggest that she supports collective bargaining rights while introducing a version of the bill that delayed extending those rights to local workers until the next decade, inserted a killswitch into the bill that would have effectively allowed a future governor to end collective bargaining without a single vote from the General Assembly, and took workers’ rights in Virginia backwards by weakening existing collective bargaining agreements and reducing worker protections across the commonwealth,” the statement read. 

“To then hide behind local politicians who are scared to sit down with their own workers, instead of acknowledging the many local elected officials who called on her to sign the bill and the half a million public service workers whose lives could have been made better by this bill, is cowardly.”

Republican lawmakers welcomed the governor’s veto. 

“I am thankful Governor Spanberger decided to listen to the bipartisan concerns over this legislation,” said House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, in a statement. “As our caucus made repeatedly clear, this bill would have driven up local taxes unsustainably. This veto doesn’t make life more affordable for Virginians, but it keeps the situation from getting worse.”

State Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, called the veto “great news for local taxpayers.” 

“While some were driven by rigid ideology, more Democratic, Republican, and Independent local officials knew mandated collective bargaining was a recipe for higher car taxes, higher home taxes, and less accountability,” he said in a statement. 

The fate of the cannabis retail framework bill is still undecided

A pair of bills by Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax County, and Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, that would legalize and create the retail framework for cannabis sales are still awaiting action by the governor. 

Lawmakers opposed Spanberger’s amendments to the bills, saying that they were a departure from the original intent of the legislation. The legislature had wanted to start retail sales Jan. 1, 2027, with 350 licensed stores; the governor had wanted to delay the start until July with 200 stores, among other changes. 

The governor’s amendments were passed by for the day in the General Assembly during the April 22 reconvene session. That meant the governor’s amendments failed and the bill went back to Spanberger who could either sign or veto it in the form it initially passed the legislature. The governor has until 11:59 p.m. May 23 to act. If she does nothing, the bills will become law after that deadline.

Krizek said via text message on Wednesday that he does not expect a decision on the legislation soon, but that he is still cautiously optimistic. Jameson Babb, chief of staff for Aird, said that he hasn’t heard from the senator regarding updates on the legislation. 

With 10 days left for the governor to act on bills sent back to her by the General Assembly, here’s where some key bills stand: 

Animals

SB 344, by Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax County
HB 112, by Del. Amy Laufer, D-Albemarle County

Bills aimed at roadside zoos and others that are trading captive wildlife would ban separating baby wild mammals from their mothers before 4 months of age, unless medically necessary, with exceptions, including agricultural animals and noncommercial trades between accredited zoological facilities. Also prohibited would be so-called hybridization, or intentionally breeding wild mammals of different species.

Status: Both bills were approved by Spanberger and will be enacted effective July 1. 

Education

HB 1385, by Del. Lily Franklin, D-Montgomery County

This bill would change the appointment process to make it clear that gubernatorial appointees do not take office until they are confirmed by the General Assembly. Previously, they took office immediately.

Status: The governor’s amendments to HB 1385 were passed by for the day in the General Assembly on April 22, which means the amendments failed and the bill went back to the governor in the form in which it initially passed the legislature. The governor can either sign or veto the bill, and she has until 11:59 p.m. May 23 to act. If the governor does nothing, the bill will become law after that deadline.

Virginia Military Institute study

HB 1377, by Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax County

This bill would initiate a study “to determine VMI’s responsiveness to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s 2021 report on the institution and to explore changes to be made to distance VMI from the Lost Cause.” Initially, the bill directed the task force to examine whether VMI should receive state funding, but that provision was removed, and VMI later endorsed the bill.

Status: Approved by Spanberger and will be enacted effective July 1.

Electricity

Balcony solar

HB 395, by Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax County
SB 250, by Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County

These bills would allow Virginians to use small portable solar generation devices that plug into a standard electric outlet, potentially saving money on electric bills, without entering into a contract with an electric utility. The devices are commonly called “balcony solar” because, rather than requiring solar panels to be installed on a roof or mounted on the ground, their relatively small size allows them to be used in many locations, such as an apartment balcony.

Status: Approved by Spanberger and certain provisions will be enacted effective Jan. 1, 2027. 

Battery energy storage systems on solar farms

HB 891, by Del. Irene Shin, D-Fairfax County
SB 443, by Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William County

These bills fast-track adding battery energy storage systems, which store excess energy to be deployed as needed, to existing utility-scale solar facilities by saying battery storage is allowed as an accessory use wherever solar farms have already been approved.

Status: Approved by Spanberger and will be enacted effective July 1.

Dominion Energy’s largest customers pay certain costs

SB 253, by Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth
HB 1393, by Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling, D-Henrico County

The bills would have directed state regulators to decide whether Dominion Energy’s largest category of customers, most of which are data centers, should pay certain costs related to ensuring that power is available even during peak demand times and related to infrastructure needed to connect those customers to the electric grid. They would also expand Dominion’s and Appalachian Power’s energy assistance and weatherization programs and extend the timeline for a Dominion program that buries vulnerable overhead power lines. Critics had argued that the rising cost of the undergrounding program would eventually negate savings from the cost shift to data centers.

[Disclosure: Dominion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]

Status: Most of the governor’s amendments to SB 253 and HB1393 were rejected by the General Assembly, but a handful were accepted. The governor can either sign or veto the bills with the accepted amendments; she has until 11:59 p.m. May 23 to act. If the governor does nothing, the bills will become law after that deadline.

The amendments accepted by the General Assembly include one to remove a requirement for Dominion to present a proposal to the State Corporation Commission to shift certain data center costs to the customer class made up primarily of large data centers; one that would remove the original bill’s provision allowing certain customers under construction as of July to qualify for exemption from that largest class of electricity customers and remove the requirement that Dominion include a proposal to revise its tariff for service to customers that own power plants; and one to add that the SCC should determine whether a financing order for Dominion’s deferred fuel costs is in the public interest.

Energy efficiency upgrades

HB 2, by Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax County (now secretary of finance)
SB 72, by Sen. Kannan Srinivasan, D-Loudoun County

The bills would require Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power to help some low-income residents who use oil and propane heat transition to energy-efficient electric heat pumps.

Status: Approved by Spanberger and will be enacted effective July 1.

Guns

Assault weapons ban 

HB 217, by Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax County
SB 749, by Sen. Saddam Salim, D-Falls Church

These bills would make it a misdemeanor to import, sell, manufacture, purchase or transfer an assault firearm.

Status: HB 217 and SB 749 were passed by for the day by the General Assembly, which means the amendment failed and the bill went back to the governor without the amendment. The governor can either sign or veto the bills; she has until 11:59 p.m. May 23 to act. If the governor does nothing, the bill will become law after that deadline.

Health care

Prescription drug affordability board

SB 271 by Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville
HB 483, by Del. Karrie Delaney, D-Fairfax County

This bill would create a state-run prescription drug affordability board that would review the pricing of high-cost prescription drugs and, in some cases, set upper payment limits. This is the fourth attempt to create such a board; Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed similar legislation in 2024 and 2025.

Status: HB 483 and SB 271 were passed by for the day by the General Assembly, which means the amendment failed and the bill went back to the governor without the amendment. The governor can either sign or veto the bills; she has until 11:59 p.m. May 23 to act. If the governor does nothing, the bill will become law after that deadline.

Labor

Paid family medical leave

HB 1207, by Del. Briana Sewell, D-Prince William County
SB 2, by Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax County

These bills would create a paid family medical leave program, including a tax on employers and employees.

Status: Approved by Spanberger and will be enacted effective July 1. Benefits are slated to begin in April 2028. 

Face coverings

HB 1482, by Del. Charlie Schmidt, D-Richmond
SB 352, by Sen. Saddam Salim, D-Falls Church

The House bill would ban state and local police officers from wearing face coverings. The Senate bill applies to federal officers operating in Virginia.

Status: SB 352 and HB 1482 were passed by for the day by the General Assembly, which means the amendments failed and the bills went back to the governor without the amendments. The governor can either sign or veto the bills; she has until 11:59 p.m. May 23 to act. If the governor does nothing, the bill will become law after that deadline.

The post Spanberger will veto collective bargaining bill, future of cannabis legislation uncertain appeared first on Cardinal News.

Americana rockers American Aquarium, bluegrass stalwart Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Cajun country dance-sparkers The Revelers and a pack of honky-tonk all-stars will take the Lineberry Park stage on summer Thursdays in Floyd.

The town on Wednesday announced the 2026 lineup for its Small Town Summer series. The free, family-friendly series starts June 4, with Southwest Virginia bluesy favorites Hoppie Vaughan & The Ministers of Soul. Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast acoustic duo will open the show. After the music, it’s movie time, with “Zootopia 2.”

Louisiana-based The Revelers headline on June 18, with North Carolina country act The Kelley Breiding Band opening.

Singer and mandolinist Vincent, a top bluegrass performer for decades, returns to the region with The Rage on July 2. Denim & Plaid and student performers from Floyd’s Handmade Music School are the warmup acts.

JStop Latin Soul, a band of strong musicians with danceable grooves, headlines July 16, with jazz drummer Robert Jospe leading his Charlottesville-based quartet in an opening set. “How To Train Your Dragon” will play after the music ends.

A July 30 double-bill features country-rock jammers The Willie Williams Band, with eclectic bluegrassers DownRiver Collective. 

Singer/songwriter B.J. Barham’s band, American Aquarium, is set for an Aug. 13 headlining slot, with Floyd County-based Americana-country quintet The Deer Run Drifters opening.

Redd Volkaert — from Galax by way of Austin, Texas; Nashville; California; and Vancouver, Canada — is a veteran of Merle Haggard and The Strangers and long in demand for hot country music and western swing guitar chops. He and a regional all-star band that will include singer Rachel Hester will headline the series’ closing night Aug. 27, with opening act Jesse Smathers (The Lonesome River Band) & Nick Goad.

Each event begins at 6 p.m. with rain locations at The Floyd Country Store and Dogtown Roadhouse, each of which flanks the Lineberry amphitheater. Follow the series online at floydsmalltownsummer.com or facebook.com/floydsmalltownsummer.

The post American Aquarium, Rhonda Vincent among headliners for this year’s Floyd Small Town Summer series appeared first on Cardinal News.

Here are some of the top headlines from other news outlets around Virginia. Some content may be behind a metered paywall:

Local:

New cameras on I-81 will fine speeders in Roanoke, Botetourt counties. — The Roanoke Times (paywall).

Economy:

Central Virginia nonprofit granted 60 acres in Henrico where BIPOC farmers can live and work. — Virginia Mercury.

Politics:

Virginia one step closer to requiring diaper-changing stations in new buildings’ public bathrooms. — Virginia Mercury.

Virginia GOP lawmaker criticized after racist on‑air remark. — USA Today.

Weather:

For more weather news, follow weather journalist Kevin Myatt on Twitter / X at @kevinmyattwx and sign up for his free weather email newsletter. His weekly column appears in Cardinal News each Wednesday afternoon.

The post Headlines from across the state: New cameras on I-81 will fine speeders in Roanoke, Botetourt counties; more … appeared first on Cardinal News.

You may have already heard some buzz about a “super El Niño” developing over the next several months, with some possibly dire consequences in global weather patterns.

The reality of how “super” it gets remains to be seen, but the potential for the equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures to warm to a level sustaining an El Niño episode by summer or fall extending into next winter appears to be quite strong. And that could result in some dramatically different weather than what we’ve been having the past few months.

What we have now is severe to extreme drought — though Monday brought somewhat more widespread and voluminous rain than expected, with many locations in Cardinal News’ Southwest and Southside Virginia coverage area getting ½ to 1 inch. More showers and perhaps a few thunderstorms are expected on Wednesday.

Monday’s rain was the kind of rain that would be really beneficial for the dryness if we could get two or three of those each week for the next three months, but rain usually isn’t that evenly distributed on such a timescale. There are already signs of a hotter, drier pattern returning by next week after a cool, occasionally showery start to May that followed a historically hot and very dry April.

The more likely avenue for eventually ending our drought is a couple of months of frequent heavy rain, and an El Niño-influenced atmospheric pattern over North America could be a conduit for such a sequence.

Shift from La Niña to El Niño

La Niña conditions, or the cooling of sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, have been present most of the time since mid-2020. The one significant exception was mid-2023 through spring 2024, when a moderate El Niño developed for a few months.

The almost continuous La Niña from mid-2024 to early this spring correlates strongly with a tilt to dryness that has now fully manifested in the development of severe to extreme drought across our region and much of the Southern and Eastern U.S.

This is very reminiscent of where we stood in 2001 and 2002 with an even more intense drought, following almost three full years of La Niña.

La Niña historically has edged toward long-fused drier patterns for our region, as the moisture-bearing subtropical branch of the jet stream is weak or non-existent and high pressure over the southeast U.S. often deflects wet storm systems to the west and north.

El Niño, by contrast, more often influences the development of a strong subtropical branch of the jet stream over the southern tier of the U.S. that can — often but not always — swing in multiple wet storm systems that affect our region.

El Niño episodes not all the same

When discussing the role of El Niño and La Niña in our regional weather, it is always important to remember that these phenomena do not act alone, but rather in combination with myriad other climatic oscillations, such as the North Atlantic and Arctic oscillations.

Variations in the strength of El Niño and La Niña, the location of the core of the more extreme sea surface temperatures, interactions with other climatic factors, and other sometimes subtle influences can create different weather outcomes for a given location when compared with similar historic episodes. There are discernible trends in observed weather with El Niño or La Niña but not certain outcomes for particular seasons or years.

Sometimes El Niño and La Niña get a little too much credit as the end-all and be-all of weather trends.

That said, they are important drivers for a series of patterns that often occur around the world. What is projected in months ahead is getting extra attention because many computer forecast models project it to be a “super El Niño” or at least a strong one, intensified by the overall state of warming global climate and hotter oceans.

One extreme El Niño that has been mentioned as a possible comparison occurred in 1877-78 and is blamed for drought and famine in Asia and South America that may have killed as many as 50 million people.

Very strong El Niños have occurred more recently in 1982-83, 1997-98, and 2015-16, years that brought notable periods of extremely wet and sometimes stormy weather across the southern tier of the U.S. into our region.

The parallels in our region between winters in 1982-83 and 2015-16 — unseasonably warm Christmas, big snowstorm a few weeks later — are almost eerie, and 1997-98 was the wettest winter on record at Roanoke and among the few wettest at several other locations in our region. The 2015-16 winter also included the deadly Feb. 24 tornado in Appomattox County, spinning out of exactly the kind of strong southern stream storm system common during an El Niño.

Winters more affected than summers

Winter is when the state of the equatorial Pacific gets the most attention, generally has the most influence, and often, carries the most misconceptions.

One idea that has often planted itself for many in the Eastern U.S. is that El Niño means it will be snowy and La Niña means it won’t be. The truth, of course, is more complicated than that. We will revisit that when it is more seasonally relevant. Short answer specific to our region: Expecting a wet winter with El Niño is reasonable, though not certain, but snow fortunes can be feast or famine.

El Niño and La Niña correlations to summer weather are weaker than those in colder months, but it can generally be said that summers with an El Niño or are transitioning to El Niño are typically not among our region’s hottest. There may be just enough influence on a more vigorous west-to-east flow to stymie the stagnant highs that need to park over us a while to really sizzle.

In the fall, it is often noted that El Niño patterns focus tropical activity in the Pacific Ocean while there tend to be fewer hurricanes in the Atlantic basin. Tropical systems feed off the ocean warmth in the Pacific, while the increase in upper-level winds over the Atlantic can rip the tops off developing tropical systems.

There is always a degree of speculation with equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature projections and even more so in the potential effects, but with warming oceans in that region since February and large consensus in computer projections, it appears very likely an El Niño will develop, possibly as early as mid-summer.

Be that “super” or even something more moderate, we probably won’t be talking about drought a year from now, and could even be begging for some dry weeks.

Journalist Kevin Myatt has been writing about weather for 20 years. His weekly column, appearing on Wednesdays, is sponsored by Oakey’s, a family-run, locally-owned funeral home with locations throughout the Roanoke Valley.  

To submit a photo, send it to weather@cardinalnews.org or tweet it to @CardinalNewsVa or @KevinMyattWx. Please identify the location and date of the photo with each submission.

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The post El Niño could be our drought buster, but might turn into too much of a good thing appeared first on Cardinal News.

A dispute over the cost of utility pole replacement continues, with Comcast and Appalachian Power at odds over a crucial aspect of broadband deployment.

The Federal Communications Commission ruled in February that Appalachian cannot charge full price to replace poles that are not suitable for stringing new cable. Comcast said in a Monday filing with the FCC that the electric utility continues to charge between 20% and 100% of the full cost, which is about $8,000 average per pole.

Most of that expense pays the workers that Appalachian hires to replace poles, the document states, but Comcast says that it should be paying no more than $100 each, for the cost of the poles only. Appalachian, in a Tuesday statement, said that the difference between $100 and $8,000 would leave “electric customers to cover roughly 99% of the cost for work that does not benefit electric service.”

The disagreement between the United States’ largest broadband provider and a utility that provides power in multiple states dates to November 2025. Comcast claimed in an FCC complaint then that Appalachian was charging full price up front to replace poles that couldn’t be modified to carry new broadband cable to Virginians who lack access. 

Comcast received $146.4 million from the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program to connect 24,343 locations in Virginia, including 2,080 locations in Montgomery County and 930 in Lynchburg.

Across the commonwealth, the condition of old poles or the lack thereof has stymied deployment, particularly in the post-pandemic years, when hundreds of millions of dollars in federal, state and private money have flowed, particularly in the post-pandemic era, when localities discovered they needed to connect residents in remote locations. 

Comcast is among multiple ISPs in the commonwealth receiving federal dollars in that effort. Millions from the American Rescue Plan Act must be spent by the end of the year, or Washington will reclaim the funds. 

The FCC, in its February order, said that both the Communications Act of 1934 and FCC rules prevent utilities from charging the full replacement price “when a pole already fails to comply with existing safety or engineering standards.”

However, Comcast argued in its Monday filing, “APCo continues to apply the methodology rejected by the Commission by charging Comcast a minimum of 20% of all pole replacement costs — and possibly much more, including up to 100% of the full cost of such pole replacement — which is squarely at odds with the express holdings of the Order and far in excess of the incremental costs permitted under the Commission’s rules and Order.”

The provider added: “More generally, if this issue is not resolved soon and other pole owners follow APCo’s lead, APCo’s policy will significantly increase the costs of, and delays to, broadband deployment across the country.”

Appalachian Power, in its statement, said it supports broadband expansion but “must ensure pole replacement costs are allocated fairly and consistent with FCC requirements. … APCo is reviewing the filing and will continue to advocate for a reasonable, balanced approach that supports broadband deployment without placing undue costs on electric customers for work that does not benefit electric service.”

Comcast’s document states that Appalachian Power provided Comcast with form letters that the utility’s contractors will use to send estimates for new poles, imposing “at least 20% of the entire cost,” about $1,600 per pole, on the provider. The utility later notified the ISP that its proposal is not a ceiling on Comcast’s responsibility, according to the filing.

The internet provider asked the FCC’s Rapid Broadband Assessment Team — established in 2024 to manage pole attachment complaint reviews, thereby speeding deployment — to schedule a status conference “as soon as possible” regarding the Feb. 5, 2025, order, the first of its kind.

“Comcast … has made significant attempts to negotiate resolution of the dispute with APCo and remains open to such resolution,” the filing reads. “However, APCo has rejected every reasonable effort to resolve this dispute.”

Comcast has agreed to pay the 20% allocation demand under protest and maintains the right to seek refunds under the FCC’s rules, to assure the work is done.

The post Comcast, Appalachian Power continue wrangling over broadband expansion appeared first on Cardinal News.

The Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling to invalidate the April 21 special election on the grounds that the General Assembly didn’t follow the rules in placing the question on the ballot is unprecedented: While the court has held since 1912 that it has the power to rule that an election question was unlawfully placed on the ballot, it’s never actually said one was.

In 1958, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that Arlington voters had two years earlier approved a referendum question that was unconstitutional — but that ruling was on the substance of what Arlington voters passed (an ordinance to limit who could vote on bond issues), not the legality of the election itself. Here, the question was reversed — the court wasn’t looking at whether the new congressional map was lawful, but whether the election that enacted it was.

The ruling scrambled a lot of political dynamics just 41 days before early voting is set to begin in congressional primaries, although at least now candidates have clarity about which district they’re running in (or if the district they wanted to run in still exists).

However, this isn’t the first time the state Supreme Court has upended a congressional election in Virginia. The most famous time was in 1932 when, three weeks before the election, the justices ruled that the map Virginia was using violated the state constitution. Since there wasn’t time to draw a new map in time, the solution was an oddity in state political history: That year, and that year only, all the state’s U.S. House members were elected statewide, rather than from individual districts.

This isn’t something that could happen today: There’s now a federal law that requires one representative per district, so no at-large elections. Still, the election of 1932 stands as a curiosity in Virginia political history — and one that offers much insight into the politics of the time.

To understand what happened that year, we must go back further in time, back 98 years to 1928, when the South was still the Solid South — solid for Democrats, that is, preferably conservative ones. That year, Republican Herbert Hoover swept to the presidency over Democrat Al Smith. Smith was a problematic candidate for many Southern Democrats — he was Catholic, and they were quite prejudiced; he was “wet,” and many of them were politically “dry” on Prohibition, regardless of what they might have kept in their cabinets. Smith was so problematic that Virginia, along with some other Southern states, did something previously unthinkable: It voted Republican that year.

The vote for Hoover came with a price in Virginia: His victory swept in three Republican congressmen where previously there had been none. Two of those Republicans — Jacob Garber of Harrisonburg in the 7th and Joseph Shaffer of Wytheville in the 9th — lasted just a single term before Democrats reasserted themselves. The third Republican, though, proved to be more tenacious. Menalcus Lankford — his name came from the work of the Roman poet Virgil, but he usually went simply by “Mack” — won reelection in the 2nd District in Hampton Roads in 1930 by almost the same margin he’d won by two years before. This unexpected victory came despite 1930 being a bad year for Republicans, what with the Great Depression and the usual midterm reaction to whoever was in the White House. That win meant Lankford was now the only Republican congressman in the South. As such, his presence was a great irritant to Virginia Democrats.

Before Virginia Democrats could focus on ousting Lankford, though, they had another problem: The 1930 census showed slow population growth in Virginia, while other states had grown faster. The state had to give up a congressional seat, which further complicated the required redistricting. This was long before the days of “one person, one vote,” so there were no federal requirements that districts be the same size, population-wise. However, Virginia’s constitution did include a pesky state requirement that districts be roughly the same size. Jeff Schapiro, writing for the Richmond Times-Dispatch some years ago about this election, wrote that legislators simply ignored that directive. They were more concerned about achieving other political aims, drawing districts that suited favored politicians. The result was districts that ranged from 184,000 people to 337,000 people, when the ideal that year was 269,000.

The governor, John Garland Pollard, found the map so distasteful that he refused to sign the legislation and simply allowed it to become law without his signature. Meanwhile, two Republicans decided to go to court to challenge the constitutionality of the new map. One of those was William Moseley Brown, a former professor at Washington and Lee University, who had been the sacrificial Republican candidate for governor in 1929 and by 1932 was president of the short-lived Atlantic University in Virginia Beach (a project of the psychic healer Edward Cayce). The other was Charles Berkeley of Newport News, who had been the Republican candidate for attorney general in 1929.

To make sure their case didn’t languish in the court system, Brown and Berkeley took an unconventional approach: They organized a slate of at-large candidates who filed for the House. Since there were no at-large seats available, the electoral board rejected their paperwork. That gave Brown and Berkeley the opportunity to sue and fast-track their case to the Virginia Supreme Court.

What happened next falls into the category of “be careful what you wish for.” Conventional wisdom at the time predicted that the Republican suit was bound to fail before a court of justices elevated to the bench by Democrats. It did not. The justices ruled that the Republicans were right — the congressional districts, as drawn, violated the constitutional requirement of being approximately the same size: “There can be no uncertainty in the conclusion to be reached in the case under consideration,” the court wrote. “The inequality is obvious, indisputable and excessive. No argument is needed.”

However, by then it was early October, too late for the legislature to draw new lines before the election.

“Under the circumstances, we are forced to the conclusion … that it will be necessary for the electors in the State at large to select the nine members to represent the State in the national legislature.”

The justices did not seem to like this solution, but saw it was the only one available: “It is our duty, as it is the duty of all others, to obey the mandate of the fundamental law,” they wrote. Given the facts before them, “we are forced to the conclusion reached in this case.”

Brown and Berkeley had only filed as at-large candidates as a legal ruse to create a case. They did not actually want at-large elections, but that’s what they got. Suddenly, every congressional candidate in the state — all 24 of them — was running for nine at-large seats.

The Republican legal ploy, and the subsequent Virginia Supreme Court decision, doomed the state’s only Republican congressman.

Lankford knew there was no way he could win a statewide election, not in those days when conservative Democrats ruled the state and Republicans were an exotic species. As Schapiro told the story: “Lankford put on a brave face, saying that if he received the majority of the vote in the 2nd District, he would ask Congress to seat him. But he seemed to grasp that his was an uphill battle: ‘I do not have the time or the money to engage in a statewide canvass.’”

On Election Day, he didn’t even come close, not even in the 2nd District and certainly not statewide.

The nine winning Democrats all received about the same number of votes — from 206,631 for first place to 201,474 for the ninth-place winner. Lankford got more votes than any of his fellow Republicans, but his tally was just 92,586 votes. Based on the vote totals, Lankford would have lost a straight-up race for the 2nd District seat anyway, but the Republican lawsuit intended to force evenly drawn districts definitely put him on the losing end.

Lankford never ran for office again. Hoover named him a federal bankruptcy referee, a position he held until an early death five years later, at age 54.

The Democrat from Hampton Roads who won what would have been the 2nd District, but temporarily became an at-large seat, was Colgate Darden, who went on to become governor in the 1940s and later president of the University of Virginia.

In a sign of how different things were back then, the leading vote-getter statewide that year was the Democratic congressman from Roanoke: Clifton Woodrum.

Meanwhile, two decades would go by before another Republican was elected to Congress from Virginia. 

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The post In 1932, Republicans challenged redistricting and won in court. What happened next was an election that wouldn’t be allowed today. appeared first on Cardinal News.

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.

More than 40 years ago, on a Friday night whim, Vonda and John Robinson decided to get married in a minister’s basement. She wore jeans and sandals. He wore a grin.

Later, with two young daughters darting through the small trailer he’d purchased, John took a job he had sworn he would never do. He went into the coal mines. 

Vonda didn’t want him to go, but few jobs in Southwest Virginia paid enough for an “American dream.” It was the life he wanted to build for the women he loved.

Twenty-eight years later, that dream vanished.

John, once broad-shouldered and strong as the granite he smashed, emerged from the mines with a broken body and failing lungs. He was diagnosed with black lung disease in 2014, which left him with about 60% of normal capacity. His days in the deep dark were done.

Today, a beeping oxygen tank is a new appendage.

He is slowly suffocating — the cost of cutting through the rock that has powered lives far beyond these hills.

While John, 60, has slowed, Vonda has not.

Since his diagnosis, Vonda, 64, has become a relentless advocate for miners and their families.

Today, she is the vice president of the National Black Lung Association, an advocacy group that pushes for safer workplaces and financial protections. The work is as hard emotionally as the rock beneath her feet. Her phone rings constantly.

In the last year, those calls have taken on new urgency.

Beautiful clean coal

During a ceremony at the White House on Feb. 11, President Donald Trump was presented with a metal sculpture of a coal miner by industry representatives. Etched into the base were the words “Undisputed Champion of Coal.”

The event was capped by his signing of an executive order directing the Pentagon to increase coal power usage at military bases across the United States, to the applause of coal operators and miners standing behind him.

“I know you well,” Trump said during the media event. “I think I got about 97% of your vote.” 

John’s was one of them.

Four months earlier, coal miners, members of the National Black Lung Association, and their supporters had rallied in front of the U.S. Department of Labor. They pleaded with the Trump administration to enforce a rule meant to protect miners from silica dust — a toxin released as workers cut through rock to reach thinning coal seams.

Federal health officials warned as early as 1974 that silica dust could cause severe and irreversible lung disease. Yet coal miners have long been allowed exposure levels roughly twice those permitted in most other industries.

Under the Biden administration, the Mine Safety and Health Administration finalized a new rule setting stricter limits on miners’ exposure to silica dust. Federal courts stayed the rule in April 2025, days before it was to take effect. The Trump administration has not provided a timeline for enforcement or indicated whether it plans to enforce it.

“We’re seeing miners born in the 1980s, even the 1990s. They’re getting exposed to a lot more coal dust and other dust factors, silica being one,” said Brad Johnson, a lay representative who has spent more than 20 years working in the black lung program at Stone Mountain Health Services in Southwest Virginia.

At the miners’ rally in Washington last October, John leaned hard on his wooden walking stick, wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with an image of a skeleton in a miner’s hat and the words Black Lung Kills. Vonda, who organized the event that brought more than 100 miners from across the East Coast to D.C., stepped to the microphone.

“We’re tired of seeing 28-year-olds with complicated black lung. We saw a 35-year-old die last week. These people are not going to see their children grow up,” she told the crowd. ”They deserve to be able to breathe, they deserve to be able to go home to their families. We’re here to make America healthy again, too.”

Political leaders back coal companies, she said, but without miners, there is no industry.

“We’re asking President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Congressman Griffith to get this done. We need your Republican support to get this passed because, without this, it’s an early death sentence for our miners.”

“Beautiful clean coal” has become a recurring phrase in Trump’s push to expand coal production. In a March 2025 executive order, Trump elevated coal to mineral status, trying to clear the way to mine federal lands and eliminate environmental roadblocks. 

Ramping up production and prioritizing coal comes with a cost, Vonda says.

“I want them to be accountable for the health and safety of our coal miners. Somebody has got to listen.”

‘As long as I have breath in me’

Vonda and John pulled their silver Suburban up to a modest brick and vinyl house sitting atop a hill in St. Paul. Danny Hicks met them at the door with a smile.

In his working days, Hicks cleared coal and rock dust from his goggles so he could drill roof bolts into the mine ceilings, stabilizing the shafts.

A shelf beneath the family’s television held his memories — photos of his son, whom he helped keep out of the mines by buying him rental property, and his father, who died of black lung.

He wiped away tears, grateful his son won’t relive his fate, and fearful as he realizes what’s ahead for him.

“We’re here to fight with you. Danny, I ain’t letting you give up,” Vonda said, gently touching his arm.

Danny and his wife, Thersea, dreamed of traveling the country after he retired from his 38-year career in the mines. But soon after, he knew something wasn’t right. He went to the Stone Mountain clinic for breath tests, X-rays and CT scans. The diagnosis: complicated black lung.

On paper, Danny believed he qualified for the U.S. Department of Labor’s 15-year presumption rule. If a miner has worked at least 15 years underground and develops a respiratory or pulmonary disease, it is presumed to be black lung. But when Danny went to court a decade ago, coal company lawyers challenged his medical assessments. Two years later, a judge denied his claim.

Danny’s appeal goes before the courts again in July. Vonda and John have supported him through the process, but Danny doesn’t believe the outcome will be different this time.

“These judges that come down here to hear these cases — they absolutely know zero about coal. Nothing,” Danny said, his voice fading.

Danny’s wife returned to work at a grocery store pharmacy about 30 minutes away, coming out of retirement to pay for his medications — prescriptions that would be covered under the black lung benefits program.

The next day, Vonda and John traveled the winding roads of Southwest Virginia to meet Pam Stacy in Coeburn.

Pam and Herbert were high school sweethearts. Before the oxygen tanks and hospital stays, he was the kind of man who didn’t know a stranger, who called everyone “honey,” who worked long hours underground and carried it as a point of pride. He was affectionately known as Frog.

Frog died in 2020 from complications with black lung. If he were still alive, the couple would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last year. Like so many miners, Frog did the work because he loved his family and wanted the best for them, Pam said.

After leaving the mines, Frog was initially granted black lung benefits through the Department of Labor. But years later, after numerous doctor visits, rehab, oxygen tanks and countless nights spent changing the blackened filters in his ventilator, he lost those benefits after the coal company appealed.

The DOL told them to repay the benefits they had received. The ruling also meant that future medical treatment would no longer be covered. His health quickly deteriorated.

Vonda and Pam shuffled through the mounds of paperwork spread across the dining room table, each stack carefully organized. Pam is preparing her appeal for widow’s benefits, a process that has taken years, requiring her to track down every receipt related to her husband’s illness and spend thousands on an autopsy.

Vonda knows that she, too, will one day face the challenges brought on by John’s eventual death. 

Her work helped lead to legislation last December by Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Democrats, along with U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Ky. The Relief for Survivors of Miners Act would ensure that families of miners who died from black lung are properly compensated. The bill has yet to reach committee.

“I visited a coal mine and handed out my cards,” Vonda told the audience. “I asked them, ‘Have you been checked?’ And the first thing they said was, ‘No, I’m scared. I’m afraid I’ll lose my job.’”

She said she didn’t know what it would take to make politicians in Washington react.

“They’re saying, ‘Dig, baby, dig.’ Okay — then let’s make our miners healthy again. Let’s make them safe again. I’m telling you, these miners need to be protected.”

The room broke into applause.

In the waning afternoon, Warner wrapped up his appearance at the union hall, acknowledging the difficulty of passing legislation in the current political climate.

He pointed to small steps his office might take, but also alluded to the political reality of the region that voted overwhelmingly for Trump.

At their home in Nickelsville, a dull gray of evening falls over the Appalachian hills, casting John’s old mining helmet and lunch pail on a small table outside in a cold, bluish light. 

Beneath the mountains beyond their porch, the seams run thin.

Inside, the house is quiet. The hum of John’s oxygen tank sets a steady rhythm as they sit together on their leather love seat.

Vonda’s phone breaks the silence.

Another widow.

She wants to know where to begin.

Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO
Reach Christopher Tyree at chris.tyree@vcij.org. Reach Karen Kasmauskiat kkasmauski7@gmail.com

The post Living for coal, dying for breath appeared first on Cardinal News.

Hi, Cardinal readers, and welcome to the latest edition of Tech Briefs, a weekly batch of items covering the digital and life sciences landscapes. It goes live every Wednesday in Cardinal News.

If you have tips, questions or suggestions, reach out to me via tad@cardinalnews.org.

Unmanned aerial threats the target for Virginia Tech student group, Secret Service

Students from Virginia Tech’s Institute for Advanced Computing wrapped up their semester with some high-level drone fighting experience.

Arlington-based graduate students spent the school year working with the U.S. Secret Service to develop an audio/video detection system, and are following up with efforts to mitigate drone activity in Washington, D.C., and its surrounding region, according to a Virginia Tech news release.

The advanced computing students’ new academic home and the Secret Service’s relatively new  Advanced Research Capabilities Division gave the groups proximity to cooperate. It’s timely, given unmanned fliers’ proliferation in the Russia-Ukraine war, Israel and the United States’ war on Iran, and multiple reports of drone activity in the Eastern and Southern U.S., including military bases.

Secret Service officers are not military, though, but a federal law enforcement arm founded months after President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Their role has been highly publicized in recent years, given three reported attempts at President Donald Trump’s life.

Officials at the Institute for Advanced Computing’s project-based learning program had several technologies they were interested in collaborating on, said Secret Service Lt. Matt Davis, who has worked with five groups of Virginia Tech students. Precision in both detection and mitigation was key, he said.

“This is really the first time where we have collaborated on a technology level with a university,” Davis said.

An experiment at the Secret Service’s test bed featured an array of cameras and microphones aimed at a drone rising during a scene of simulated chaos. The sensors transmitted information to multiple laptops running off a single generator, in a system the students designed to locate and identify possible threats in the air.

“It definitely hit me that this is genuinely needed,” said Ryan Ernest, a graduate student in computer science, who is focused on networking and integration.

The project is promising due to its scalability and the fact that it doesn’t have to rely on detecting radio frequencies, Davis said.

“We’re excited to continue this partnership,” he said. “Whether we do drone technology or vehicle cybersecurity, we have access to all the students, and that’s huge for us.”

Sands’ message to Virginia Tech community includes tech notes

The Institute for Advanced Computing is part of Academic Building One, at the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, in Arlington. Virginia Tech President Tim Sands, who spearheaded the innovation campus, touted the institute’s launch in a recent message to the university community.

The Arlington campus hosted the Times Higher Education Innovation and Impact Summit in November, marking the first time that event was held in North America, Sands wrote. 

Virginia Tech and the Southeastern Universities Research Association will team to run the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, he wrote. The U.S. Department of Energy selected the management group, dubbed SURATech, which Sands wrote will soon break ground on a new high-performance data facility.

Sands’ message went live at Virginia Tech’s website on Thursday. Later that day, Sands, who has announced his intention to step down soon, visited the Hotel Roanoke, where the Roanoke Blacksburg Technology Council inducted him into its Hall of Fame.

The post Tech Briefs: Virginia Tech grad students conduct drone research with Secret Service appeared first on Cardinal News.

A high-powered coalition of Virginia business leaders is launching a group to push for more school funding — and closer ties between schools and employers.

The Virginia Business-K12 Partnership is modeled after the long-established Virginia Higher Education Business Council, which, since its founding 1994, has served as a way for the business community to push for more state support of higher education. In recent years, that higher education council — now led by former House Speaker Kirk Cox — has been particularly focused on pushing for state funding to help grow the number of internships available as a way to grow the state’s talent pool.

The Virginia Business-K12 Partnership is intended to do much the same, just at the kindergarten through 12th grade level.

Virginia already has groups pushing for more support for early childhood education and higher education but until now has lacked a similar group to do so for K-12 education, says the partnership’s chair, Stewart Robeson, a Patrick County native and former school superintendent who is now a senior adviser with the Richmond-based McGuireWoods Consulting.

The formal announcement of the group will come Wednesday in Richmond, with Gov. Abigail Spanberger and other state leaders — including both Democratic and Republican legislators — on the speaking program. The group’s 21-member board reads like a who’s who of Virginia’s current business landscape. Among those on the board are Dominion Energy President Robert Blue, Virginia Chamber of Commerce Interim President Keith Martin, as well as representatives from Carilion Clinic, Google, Sentara, Micron and Towne Bank. From the education side are Virginia Community College System Chancellor David Doré, and representatives from the Virginia Association of School Boards and Virginia Association of School Superintendents.

In an interview with Cardinal, Robeson said the group’s primary focus will be promoting workforce development. “How do we develop the talent Virginia needs for the economy Virginia wants?” Robeson said. “That’s not theoretical, that’s not abstract. That’s being asked every day in board rooms and classrooms.”

He said the challenge is not that Virginia lacks talent, but that “too often there’s a lack of opportunity for that talent to be discovered.”

“Are students being exposed early enough to careers they may not even know exist?” Robeson asked. “We need to talk to employers about skills they need and we need to be listening carefully to schools about what they need. These are not questions any one sector can answer alone.”

In the presentation audience members will see Wednesday, the group lays out four near-term policy goals: “math and reading initiatives,” “internships and apprenticeships,” “expanded dual enrollment,” “school construction and technology.”

Robeson said the math and reading initiatives stem from Virginia’s lagging test scores. “Virginia’s post-pandemic performance in math and reading lags many other states,” he said. “We’d like to delve more deeply into that. That is startling. From a business perspective, that is not something you ignore.”

He said to support the other initiatives, “we are going to be in the business of advocating for greater revenue.”

One place where Virginians could see that in action is at the local level. There’s a proposal currently in the Senate version of the state’s unfinished budget that would give localities the authority to hold referendums on whether to raise the local sales tax to help fund school construction and maintenance. Local referendums are a rarity in some places; Robeson cited Southside and the Shenandoah Valley and said “there will be a need for the partnership to offer counsel” on how to craft a winning message.

Cox, the former Republican legislator who heads the higher education partnership, said that “I was frequently asked why we didn’t also get into the k-12 arena. I would have
to respond that would be wonderful, but our plate was completely full just working on
higher education issues. Imagine my delight when I heard about the launch of the Virginia Business-K12 Partnership. Now both organizations can explore joint advocacy of talent pipeline policies to include internships and apprenticeships. The business education partnerships
we can work on together are endless and have the potential to be a game changer in
preparing students for high opportunity careers.”

Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke and chair of the House Education Committee, welcomed the group’s formation. “Having a concerted business coalition focused on our K-12 needs will bring a new emphasis on supporting a well-rounded student,” he said.

Among those participating in the announcement program is Del. Mike Cherry, R-Colonial Heights. “I am a big believer in the idea that a child’s early years greatly impact their success in life,” he said in a statement. “That includes K12 education. It is always beneficial when we have conversations that help us to break out of the status quo and ensure we are doing everything possible to make available a pathway to success. I really hope to focus in on that idea of breaking out of the status quo, because our students deserve nothing but the best.”

State Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico County and a high school teacher, has filmed a promotion video for the group. “We need as many entities as possible who advocate for student achievement and not culture wars,” he said.

The post Business and education leaders form group to advocate for Virginia’s K-12 schools appeared first on Cardinal News.

Every day, George Orwell’s “1984” becomes more and more of a reality. Nationwide, Flock, the multi-billion-dollar venture-capital-backed data surveillance company, is building a dangerous nationwide mass-surveillance network — and they’re doing it one community at a time.

Flock’s surveillance tools use cameras to capture images of the vehicles driving on our roads and microphones to capture the words we speak outside in our neighborhoods. Then this private company uses AI-powered analytics to identify us and monitor our activities, and gives all that data to the government, even when nobody in the footage has been suspected of a crime. 

Roanoke City Council has already approved more than 300 Flock surveillance devices to be deployed on our roadways. And recently, the council moved to pay even more money to Flock for a network of acoustic sensors that the company claims will detect gunshots.

How? Through tiny microphones, and just like cameras that track residents’ cars, microphones that constantly record sound are ripe for abuse. 

Debates about how to protect public safety while respecting everyone’s fundamental freedoms are not new. Just think about the Patriot Act that Congress passed after 9/11, which opened the door to spying on American citizens and led to widespread racial profiling. 

Today, the stakes of rapidly expanding domestic surveillance are still incredibly high. Flock technology hurts everyone because it tracks everyone. 

It’s especially dangerous for people who are already being targeted by the government, like immigrants. The Trump administration has unconstitutionally targeted people who have never committed a crime, and even people who are on their way to becoming, or are already, American citizens. And authorities in other states have used or tried to use Flock surveillance to track people they suspect of nothing more than accessing lawful healthcare, like abortion. 

Opposition to mass surveillance is not a left-right issue, as conservatives and libertarians have raised the same alarm. The right-leaning Cato Institute, as well as Republican legislators in states like Kentucky and Colorado, have raised the same concern: government should not be able to build a warrantless database of law-abiding citizens’ movements and later search it at will. This is a direct assault on our constitutional rights. 

The technology our community approves today may look completely different in a year. Mass surveillance technologies are constantly adding new products or features, and the companies that make them can update their own tools without giving us public notice or letting communities engage in democratic debate.

For example, Flock announced last year that it will connect its system with commercial data brokers that maintain volumes of sensitive information about all of us. Combined with AI-powered analytics, Flock boasts that its system will allow police to seamlessly “jump from [license plate] to person.”

But license plate readers aren’t the only tool Flock wants to deploy on our streets. Now, Roanoke is considering expanding its contract with Flock for a system of acoustic sensors that will record human voices. 

That means Roanoke residents’ First Amendment-protected speech will be monitored and recorded by both the government and a multi-billion-dollar corporation. Similar systems have been shown for years to be unreliable. Chicago police actually fired on a child who was setting off fireworks because a “gunshot detection system” indicated he had fired a gun. 

We can’t let that happen in Roanoke.

Of course, we all agree that public safety is vital, and city council’s adoption of new technology is a well-intended effort to make sure our police have the resources they need to prevent and deter violence.

Companies like Flock know how important safety is to our communities: that’s why they make big promises about making us safe. The problem is, there’s just no evidence that these technologies reduce crime — and there is evidence that they record private information and abuse it. 

Just look at Mecklenburg County, where WRIC reported that a police officer used law enforcement technology to spy on where his ex’s new boyfriend had been driving. Roanoke can only control what happens in Roanoke. But our rights and freedoms are eroding more quickly than many realize — one community like ours at a time.

We can’t afford to write a for-profit company like Flock a blank check. This surveillance company has already made billions of dollars off private citizens’ private data. We can’t let it add our residents’ data to its spoils. 

Flock cameras are already on Roanoke roads. Council members shouldn’t add microphones to our communities. Roanoke can’t sign off on Flock’s vision of a sprawling, for-profit surveillance state that lets it profit off our data — data it should never have had access to in the first place. Roanoke City Council has an opportunity now to hit the brakes on more surveillance expansion, and it should take that opportunity, because where we drive and what we say is no one’s business but our own.

Sam Rasoul represents most of Roanoke in the House of Delegates. He is a Democrat.

The post Rasoul: Mass surveillance is bad for Roanoke  appeared first on Cardinal News.

Here are some of the top headlines from other news outlets around Virginia. Some content may be behind a metered paywall:

Politics:

Virginia becomes first Southern state to mandate paid family and medical leave for workers. — Virginia Mercury.

Local:

Former Richmond Free Press building sold to apartment developer for $2 million. — Richmond Times-Dispatch (paywall).

Cavalier Hotel property could be sold to real estate investment firm. — The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot (paywall).

Richmond judges take legal action against city government over courthouse conditions. — The Richmonder.

Sports:

Ex-Virginia Tech basketball coach Johnson agrees to become Ferrum coach. — The Roanoke Times (paywall).

Weather:

For more weather news, follow weather journalist Kevin Myatt on Twitter / X at @kevinmyattwx and sign up for his free weather email newsletter. His weekly column appears in Cardinal News each Wednesday afternoon.

The post Headlines from across the state: Virginia becomes first Southern state to mandate paid family and medical leave for workers; more … appeared first on Cardinal News.

The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Cardinal News has embarked on a project to tell the little-known stories of Virginia’s role in the march to independence. This project is supported, in part, by a grant from the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission. Find all our stories from this project on the Cardinal 250 page. You can sign up for our monthly newsletter:

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Captain John Sinclair could hold a grudge. Mostly, it was the English he despised, but he wasn’t picky; even family was fair game for his cold shoulder.

It was this long memory that in a way made Sinclair an unsung hero of the American Revolution — and almost cost him his personal freedom in the early days of the republic. Sinclair’s story is one of talent and daring, accusations and betrayal. He was a seemingly fearless seafarer who contributed unconventionally to American independence while forging a personal and professional life of moral complexity. The memory of Sinclair has largely been obscured by time, yet in all his eccentric glory, he is emblematic of the country the war for independence established: passionate, bohemian, resolute.

It’s an odd turn of fate that Sinclair’s story is not well known. His descendants number in the thousands. You might have met one without knowing it. You certainly know of one: Award-winning actress Glenn Close traces her lineage back to Sinclair.

His ample progeny starts with a humble Virginia upbringing. He was a scrappy lad, born in 1755 in Hampton to a father who had been kidnapped from Scotland and raised in the Old Dominion. Evidently Sinclair’s father, Henry Sinclair, had no love for British nobility; the death of a couple elders in Scotland meant that Henry became the rightful Earl of Caithness, but he refused to return to accept the title.

John Sinclair grew up as a merchant seaman, learning the trade from his father. Tall and comfortable in the rigging of ocean-going ships, Sinclair was known to have a temper and developed the sort of extravagant cockiness that often washes over young sailors. His hubris might have been well deserved; by his late teens, he was commanding his own merchant vessel.

Carter Sinclair is a Virginia Beach resident and the fourth-great-grandson of John Sinclair who has heard family lore about the captain his whole life. “He was a self-made man,” he says. “His father was kidnapped from Scotland, he probably didn’t have much and wasn’t a member of the gentry. He was very successful, but also very strong-willed and opinionated.”

As for why Captain Sinclair detested the English, it could stem from negative interactions with British merchants or naval forces in Hampton as the Colonies careened toward war. Truth be told, we’ll never know. Sinclair’s life is only modestly documented, according to Thomas Wiatt, author of “Alleged Pirate: The Legend of Captain John Sinclair of Smithfield and Gloucester, Virginia.”

“Some of the stories are probably not 100% true,” Wiatt said.

Wiatt is also a descendant of Sinclair. The family connection compelled Wiatt to write a book about him, but so, too, did the captain’s relative obscurity. “I try to write about people in history who haven’t gotten as much publicity,” he said.

Wiatt, who lives in Newport News, said Sinclair is often known among descendants as “Captain John.” Stories were told and retold through generations, and like the game telephone, likely took on new details with each recounting. But the outlines of solid oral tradition have filtered through time, and there’s enough historical documentation to recount Sinclair’s remarkable story. 

The seawater that coursed through Sinclair’s veins was a valuable asset as the nation stood on the cusp of revolution. In 1774, he moved to Smithfield, a small port town on the southern bank of the upper James River, and there he married Anne Wilson. Their home still stands on South Church Street today. In Smithfield, Sinclair purchased the St. Andrew, the first of many vessels he would eventually own.

Two years later and just months before the Declaration of Independence, Sinclair put the St. Andrew and two other vessels he owned into the service of the Virginia State Navy. The Royal Navy at the time was the most fearsome maritime force in the world. Congress authorized the creation of the Continental Navy, but against such a well-armed adversary, American sailors didn’t have a prayer. So, Virginia, along with ten other Colonies, formed their own navies to help wage war at sea.

Because Virginia State Navy vessels were comparatively small, going head-to-head against a Royal Navy warship was out of the question. Instead, the commonwealth’s vessels were used to slip valuable military supplies through British blockades and harass merchant ships.

Sinclair excelled at these tasks. As a captain in the Virginia State Navy, he was known for an uncanny ability to outmaneuver British chase boats meant to enforce blockades. Sinclair successfully delivered cargoes of supplies and information. These skills also came in handy for privateering. 

Privateers were an important component of the American war effort. They were something akin to government-sanctioned pirates — armed vessels that chased down and confiscated the cargo of civilian enemy merchant ships. The techniques privateers employed wouldn’t pass muster today. They’d often approach a ship under a false flag and captain and crew would get a large cut of the captured loot. Hundreds of American vessels engaged in privateering, all with official government sanction.

Much like his expertise as a blockade runner, Sinclair excelled at privateering. He received the official go-ahead — called a Letter of Marque — from the Continental Congress in October 1776 and soon found success.

Sinclair biographer and descendant, the late Claude Lanciano, wrote in “Captain John Sinclair of Virginia: Patriot, Privateer, and Alleged Pirate,” that Sinclair never applied for government compensation for serving in the war because his profits from privateering were so substantial. “He took prizes both early and consistently over the war’s duration,” Lanciano wrote.

Carter Sinclair grew up hearing that his great-great-great-great-grandfather was a pirate, which he said is not really true, even if family lore sometimes embellished the role he actually played as a privateer. What was undoubtedly the case was his prowess at the helm. Carter Sinclair has sailed into Caribbean ports just as his ancestor did. “He was a seaman who was a really great sailor,” he said. “I feel a strong connection to him with my love of the water.” 

So masterful was Captain Sinclair’s skill at evading enemy ships during the American Revolution that the Marquis de Lafayette tasked him with delivering a crucial message to naval forces of France, which joined the war in 1778. Sinclair slipped through a British blockade of Hampton Roads twice, a feat for which the French Navy presented him a ceremonial sword as a token of appreciation.

Sinclair’s affinity for seafaring — and for privateering — continued after Americans won independence. Not even seaborne tragedy could squelch his yearning for the chase. In 1790, Sinclair, by then the father of two sons and two daughters, took his six-year-old, William, along on a trading voyage to the West Indies. When the vessel started taking on water during bad weather, Sinclair ordered the crew to abandon ship. William did not survive the ordeal. As if that didn’t cut deeply enough, Sinclair returned home to Smithfield only to find out that his wife, Anne, had died while he was at sea.

In 1793, France and Britain were at war, and Sinclair, newly remarried, sensed an opportunity to resume the skill he had honed so well during the American Revolution. The following year, Sinclair began outfitting a merchant ship he owned, the Unicorn, with the accoutrements of privateering, apparently with the idea that he’d confiscate British merchant ships on behalf of France, once again stoking his enduring hatred of all things English. 

But there was a glaring issue: The government of the United States had passed the Neutrality Act, which outlawed American citizens’ involvement in foreign wars. State and federal officials went to Smithfield to see for themselves. What ensued was a game of cat and mouse. Sinclair removed guns and ammunition. He made an excuse when asked why the decks were being modified. The U.S. Army seized the Unicorn and arrested Sinclair.

In the end, Sinclair came out ahead. On the charge of outfitting the Unicorn for privateering, a jury in Williamsburg acquitted him, with historians suggesting his status as a war hero playing a part in the decision. The government returned the ship to him. Nevertheless, the whole ordeal caused a rift that cleaved the Sinclair family forever. 

Prior to the Unicorn affair, Copeland Parker, a local government official, had asked Sinclair for his daughter Elizabeth’s hand in marriage, and he concurred. But it was Parker in 1794 whom state officials tasked with investigating the illicit transformation of the Unicorn, which he reported truthfully as duty demanded. 

Sinclair was enraged. He forbade Elizabeth from ever speaking to Parker again, but the forbidden fruit was too tempting a prize, and when Sinclair sailed for the West Indies on a trading voyage, the young couple eloped. Sinclair never spoke to his daughter again and demanded his family stop communicating with them. At his death, he bequeathed his daughter’s family one dollar.

“Forgiveness and forgetfulness were not among his traits,” said Ben Rhodes, Sinclair’s fifth-great-grandson.

• 

• 

Just weeks after excommunicating his daughter, Sinclair moved to a sprawling riverfront property in Gloucester County he named Lands End and built a brick dwelling which still stands today.

Rhodes lives in a home called Bay Cottage on Sinclair’s onetime property. He said it’s important to note that for all Sinclair’s eccentricities, he was a hero of the American Revolution and the patriarch of a family that would go on to accomplish great things in the nation he helped to found. 

“I would hope he is remembered most as a patriot and a privateer,” Rhodes said. “A lot of the Sinclairs are entrepreneurs. The family includes civil engineers and doctors. A lot have gone on to do extraordinary things. I will always remember him as being a patriot and leading a successful family.”

The post One of Virginia’s most eccentric patriots was John Sinclair, a government-sanctioned pirate appeared first on Cardinal News.

The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Cardinal News has embarked on a project to tell the little-known stories of Virginia’s role in the march to independence. This project is supported, in part, by a grant from the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission. Find all our stories from this project on the Cardinal 250 page. You can sign up for our monthly newsletter:

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When Bill McDaniel decided to start a brewery, he didn’t know that his direct ancestor, William McDaniel, had made a living serving food and drink.

McDaniel, a native of the Buffalo Mountain area of Floyd County, was stationed at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, D.C. As his Air Force retirement neared, McDaniel made plans to start a brewery in Floyd. While researching the brewery business, around 2012, he heard about a 1700s-era tavern in Dumfries, Va., run by a William McDaniel.

There were no family stories about a tavern-keeping ancestor, but McDaniel did a little research and connected the dots. The McDaniel who served up alcohol in late 18th-century Dumfries was indeed his forebear, and probably a military veteran as well. A muster roll from 1777 lists a William McDaniel as a private in the 7th Virginia Regiment. 

William McDaniel was born around 1745. It’s not known whether he inherited the tavern building, bought it or built it. The location may have been where present-day U.S. 1 crosses Powells Creek, two miles north of Dumfries.

He was in business sometime before Sept. 12, 1786, the date the building burned. Two months later he placed a notice in the Virginia Journal & Alexandria Advertiser: “SINCE the burning of my tavern on the 12th of September, I have fitted another house for that purpose, where any gentleman traveling through this place may again be well accommodated; and as for my stables they are equal if not superior to any in the State. Any gentleman that will favor me with their custom may rely on a faithful acknowledgement, by their humble servant.”  

Around the same time, a brick building was built in Dumfries, on present-day U.S. 1. That building, now called Williams Ordinary, still stands, and houses the Prince William County Office of Historic Preservation. 

Many of Prince William’s records were burned in the Civil War, but “it does seem like William McDaniel is either the person who builds Williams Ordinary or within a year is running Williams Ordinary,” said Bill Backus, a preservationist with Prince William County. Williams Ordinary was named for George Williams, one of the people who ran it after McDaniel. 

A traveler who visited Williamsburg in 1765, quoted in a study produced by Colonial Williamsburg, said “there is no distinction here between inns, taverns, ordinaries and public houses; they are all in one and are known by the appelation [sic] of taverns, public house or ordinary…” He observed that “they are all very indifferent [i.e., mediocre] indeed compared to the inns in England.” 

Indifferent or not, Williams Ordinary was apparently good enough for the cream of Virginia society. “When Dumfries was a busy seaport, the inn undoubtedly housed many notables, among them George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, the Comte de Rochambeau, and the Marquis de Lafayette,” according to “Prince William: A Past To Preserve,” published by the county historical commission. (French nobleman Count Rochambeau helped Washington and Lafayette force Cornwallis to surrender at Yorktown.)

Williams Ordinary was originally thought to have been constructed c. 1765, and when Bill McDaniel toured the building he was shown graffiti believed to date from the Revolutionary period. That was disproved when a mid-2010s study dated the building’s timbers to the mid-1780s.

William McDaniel died in 1800. His son Alfred moved to Bedford County and later to Floyd County. 

Though overshadowed by neighboring Franklin County in moonshine fame, Floyd was a big producer of white lightning. Bill McDaniel, however, always preferred beer.

“My father was an old moonshiner,” McDaniel said. “He was, ‘why don’t you make whiskey, boy?’ Whiskey wasn’t my thing.”

McDaniel converted a house on Webbs Mill Road (Virginia 8), north of the town of Floyd, to a brewpub, Buffalo Mountain Brewery & McDaniel’s Tavern. It opened in 2018. The menu includes items that probably weren’t served in the 18th century, such as lemony herb tavern hummus and spinach and artichoke dip. But the human element of the tavern business hasn’t changed much since his ancestor’s day. 

“I love people,” McDaniel said. “Beer is a social lubricant. If you put 100 people in a room and no beer, and they don’t know one another, they don’t do a lot of talking. We have music back here, it’s like an old Irish or Scottish pub. The Ruritan Club meets here. Lots of different things will use this as a community space. That’s really what I love about it the most.”

The post Floyd tavern-keeper follows in footsteps of Revolutionary ancestor appeared first on Cardinal News.

The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Cardinal News has embarked on a project to tell the little-known stories of Virginia’s role in the march to independence. As part of this, I’m writing monthly columns about the politics of the era, written the same way I’d write them today. The events described here took place in May 1776. You can sign up for our monthly newsletter here:

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A new flag flies today over the Capitol in Williamsburg, the flag of a new nation being born.

May 15, 1776, is surely a day that will be engraved in history for centuries yet to come — assuming, of course, that this new nation is not strangled in its crib.

For those who have heard the rumors in taverns, allow me to confirm them — and clarify them, if necessary. Virginia has not declared independence. However, it has declared itself for independence — a subtle distinction that did not seem to make a difference to the townspeople of Williamsburg, who fired off a cannon to celebrate the news, hoisted down the Union Jack and instead ran up a new flag designed earlier this year to represent a union of American states.

Technically, it will be up to the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, to make that formal declaration of independence. However, our independence from Great Britain seems to already be a practical fact that merely awaits some legal confirmation.

In some ways, Virginia has been independent since the night last June when our royal governor, Lord Dunmore, slipped out of Williamsburg and boarded a British naval vessel. He has exerted no power over Virginia since then, except perhaps in whatever port he’s anchored at the time.

One by one, nine other royal governors have left their posts, leaving many Colonies to their own devices. King George III himself made that official last August when he declared the Colonies to be in rebellion; Parliament underscored it in December when it passed the Prohibitory Act that cut off all trade with the Colonies. The American Colonies may not need to declare themselves independent; the king and Parliament have effectively made us so.

All around us, the world is changing.

Our House of Burgesses may never meet again. The last time it attempted to assemble, on May 6, there weren’t enough legislators for a quorum. Instead, all authority seems to have passed to the Fifth Virginia Convention, which was elected in April and now meets in Williamsburg.

In doing so, Virginia has gotten out in front of a directive from the Continental Congress, issued May 10, that if Colonies don’t have a government inclined toward independence, then they should form one.

Five days later, on May 15, both the Fifth Virginia Convention and the Continental Congress — acting separately and nearly 300 miles apart — took actions to accelerate this hurtle toward independence.

In Philadelphia, that noted Massachusetts delegate, John Adams, introduced a resolution that declares American differences with Britain “absolutely irreconcilable” and therefore it was “necessary that the exercise of every kind of authority under the said crown should be totally suppressed.” Adams told the president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress that this was “the most important Resolution that ever was taken in America.”

In Williamsburg, the Fifth Virginia Convention voted to instruct its delegates to the Continental Congress to pursue independence. This seems to guarantee that a resolution for independence will be introduced soon, and the vote in Philadelphia seems to suggest there’s a majority waiting to support it.

This is not so simple as just saying “we’re independent.” If we’re to be truly independent, we need some system of government. Since the collapse of royal authority, we’ve essentially improvised, which has worked for the short term but won’t work forever. During the recent elections, Richard Henry Lee wrote to Patrick Henry about the necessity of setting up a more formal government than we have now. Parliament, Lee wrote, has “to every legal intent and purpose dissolved our Government, uncommissioned every magistrate, and placed us in the high road to Anarchy. In Virginia we have certainly no Magistrate lawfully qualified to hang a murderer, or any other villain offending ever so atrociously against the state. We cannot be Rebels excluded from the King’s protection and Magistrates acting under his authority at the same time. This proves the indispensable necessity of our taking up government immediately, for the preservation of Society.”

While the Fifth Virginia Convention’s resolution in favor of independence is what’s set tongues wagging, the other action the convention took is equally, if not more, important. The convention has directed a committee of delegates “to prepare a Declaration of Rights and such a plan of government as will be most likely to maintain peace and order in this colony, and secure substantial and equal liberty to the people.”

We cannot very well complain that the king and Parliament have violated our rights if we don’t lay out what we think those rights are — and it does no good to create a government of our own that doesn’t respect them, either.

Edmund Pendleton, the convention’s president, has named a 28-member committee headed by Archibald Cary to oversee these arrangements. This committee includes the most senior members of Virginia’s legislature over the years, but curiously includes at least one freshman lawmaker — newcomer James Madison of Orange County.

Of course, none of this matters if we don’t prevail militarily. The latest word we’ve heard is that our troops are now retreating through Quebec, a military adventure that appears now to have been quite unsuccessful in rallying the French colonists there to our side, while General George Washington is busy securing New York before the expected British assault.

None of our declarations will matter if Washington fails.

The post Dispatch from 1776: Virginia declares itself for independence, hauls down the British flag appeared first on Cardinal News.

In this special and very fun episode of “The Cardinal: News of Virginia,” host Dutchie Jessee puts Dwayne’s knowledge to the test with questions pulled straight from Cardinal News 250 trivia nights happening at breweries across Southwest and Southside Virginia. From overlooked Virginia heroes to surprising Revolutionary War stories you probably never learned in school, this episode dives into the people and moments that helped shape America’s founding.

Will Dwayne dominate the quiz… or get stumped? Play along and see how much you know about Virginia’s role in the Revolution while getting a taste of the lively trivia events bringing history to life across the region.

Grab a drink, test your knowledge and prepare for a few surprises along the way.

 

The video version is here.

The post Podcast: The Cardinal 250 trivia challenge, part 1 appeared first on Cardinal News.

Virginia Tech’s search for its 17th president will likely take at least six to eight months — far longer than the timeline initially proposed by the board’s rector.

The university has hired the Boston-based firm Isaacson, Miller to lead the search, and Rector John Rocovich appointed a 23-member search committee to find a replacement for longtime President Tim Sands, who said last month he would step down. Nancy Dye, who was appointed to the university’s board of visitors by former Gov. Glenn Youngkin, will head the committee. 

The search committee — which includes all members of the board of visitors, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s recent appointees and members of the alumni association — met officially for the first time on Monday.

At the board of visitors’ April meeting, Rocovich said that he believed the hiring of a new university president could be done by July 1. But Greg Esposito of Isaacson, Miller on Monday advised members of the committee that the search could take six to eight months.

Board member Jeanne Stosser pushed back, questioning why the process would take so long and whether a long search could push interested candidates away.

“Sooner than later in our world is a better result than if something’s being dragged out for a year. You lose all kinds of people. You lose all kinds of forward movement, people’s interest. They take other jobs, they do all kinds of things,” she said. “So my question is, why on earth would it take eight months to do anything? Is that an administrative direction?”

Esposito said the firm needs time to talk with the committee and understand its directives and what the university is looking for, to learn about the position, to recruit candidates and to ensure that the Virginia Tech community, including alumni and regions across the state — not just in Blacksburg — feel heard.

Last year, Isaacson, Miller assisted in the University of Virginia’s search to replace President Jim Ryan, who resigned in June after the Trump administration demanded he step down amid a Justice Department investigation into whether he and the school had complied with a presidential executive order to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

In December, UVa appointed Scott Beardsey, who was previously dean of the Darden School of Business, as president amid some concerns among faculty that board members had engaged improperly with Youngkin, caved to political pressure and rushed the presidential search, The Cavalier Daily, the student newspaper, reported.

The timing of Sands’ announcement also raised concerns among some observers.

In April, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and state Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, said that they were shocked by Sands’ impending departure, and Kaine hinted at political motivations for a quick search.

“This action has the earmarks of previous well-publicized efforts to oust Presidents at other Virginia public universities — VMI, UVA and George Mason,” Kaine said in an April 9 statement. “I urge Governor Spanberger to get to the bottom of this latest attack on Virginia higher education and take all necessary action to insulate university leadership from politically-motivated schemes.”

Nearly all the members of the current 13-person board of visitors were appointed by Youngkin, a Republican. Last month, Spanberger made her first appointments to the board ahead of the July 1 start of their terms, and Rocovich agreed they would be part of the search committee.

Bridget Ryan Berman, vice president of the Virginia Tech Alumni association board and a member of the search committee, said at Monday’s meeting she has been involved in several leadership searches over the past few years, and some have taken up to a year. 

“We’ve had situations where we haven’t found the right candidates and we’ve gone back to the drawing board again. It was really about getting the right person. I think the most important thing is that we’re very deliberate,” Berman said. 

“It had … raised some concern about whether or not we were looking to rush it and not really create the right architecture. But from everything that’s been discussed and outlined today, it feels like there is a desire to make sure that we have a very comprehensive, inclusive and deliberate process, and I think that’s certainly what we owe the university.” 

Many faculty members who attended a listening session hosted by the search committee Monday evening also raised concerns about the timeline of the search and the makeup of the search committee.

“It strikes me that the faculty are not as well represented on this committee,” said Ann-Marie Knoblauch, director of Virginia Tech’s School of Visual Arts. 

She also noted that she thought the process seemed “sped up a bit” compared to the process that ultimately led to Sands’ appointment in 2014. Sands’ predecessor, Charles Steger, announced in May 2013 he would step down, and Sands’ appointment was announced that December, before he took office the following June.

Faculty members questioned Rocovich on whether outgoing board members will remain on the search committee — they will — and how faculty can provide more input. They will be surveyed, Rocovich and Dye confirmed. 

They also shared hopes for continued support for graduate programs and the need for a president who understands the role of land-grant research universities. 

What students want

The search committee has held two listening sessions so far to hear from faculty and students, the first in what search firm representatives say could be many engagement sessions.

The committee hasn’t yet released a framework for the search or agreed upon a process, but students are already weighing in on what they’d like to see in the university’s next president.

At last week’s student listening session, several of the 19 people who spoke said they want a president who will advocate for students and stand firm against political influence, be transparent, and continue to drive innovation and research. Sands has been widely credited with helping to strengthen the region’s biomedical sector and to bring Amazon’s HQ2 to Virginia.  

Jules Nind, a sophomore and student activist, criticized Sands for not taking a stance on issues related to international students and immigration.

“I’d like to see someone communicative, someone who really has the best interest of the students at heart. I wouldn’t exactly say that [Sands] doesn’t care about the students, but I feel like he hasn’t been as communicative with us as I feel like he should have been,” Nind said. 

“I’d just like to see a president who’s more willing to have open dialogues with the students and make statements clearly rather than sort of just sweeping things under the rug and ignoring things.”

Search firm representatives presented committee members a draft timeline of the search; it  could include more listening sessions and a survey before the firm would begin helping the committee vet nominations and potential applicants.

The position description and desired characteristics would be updated following that feedback, according to Esposito, and the firm will ultimately help vet candidates according to the committee’s priorities.

“This is going to be a search, I believe, with many, many people raising their hands for it,” Esposito said. “This is a big decision. Virginia Tech doesn’t do a lot of presidential searches and that is a good thing; we want to leave it that way.”

Sands took the helm of Virginia Tech in June 2014. As recently as August 2022, the board of visitors extended his contract through June 2027 with an annual base salary of $778,380, according to the contract, which was obtained through a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request.

Sands has said he would stay in his position until his successor is found.

The committee’s next meeting could take place this summer.

Esposito said it was unlikely the firm would have a list of candidates for the committee by June or July. Rushing the process could create the perception that there is already someone in mind for the position, he noted to committee members.

In addition to assisting in UVa’s recent presidential search, Isaacson, Miller is also working with the University of Lynchburg to find a successor for President Alison Morrison-Shetlar as well as with the Washington and Lee University presidential search committee.

The firm is also working with Texas A&M, West Virginia University, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the University of Northern Colorado to find those institutions’ next presidents.

Erick Solorzano, Abby Steketee and Elizabeth Beyer contributed information to this report.

The post Hiring new Virginia Tech president likely to take 6 to 8 months, search firm says appeared first on Cardinal News.

The Virginia Supreme Court ruling that invalidated the April 21 special election on redistricting has left Democrats despondent (and angry) while Republicans are jubilant (and relieved).

It’s certainly true that the 4-3 ruling is a profound setback for Democrats in terms of trying to redraw congressional lines this year to produce more seats for their party. However, the ruling can also be read as a long-term Democratic victory in the sense that it provides a judicially embraced historical justification for early voting, a practice that some Republicans are still uneasy about.

In the most recent General Assembly session, Del. Tim Griffin, R-Bedford County, introduced a bill to restrict early voting by requiring early voters to supply a reason for voting early. (It failed, just as a similar bill he introduced did two years ago.) President Donald Trump has been vocal in his belief that voting should be limited to a single day.

The Virginia Supreme Court’s opinion in the redistricting case came from a conservative majority but provides a fascinating historical account of how elections in America have long been multiday affairs — and it was that history that underpinned the decision to void the April 21 election. In any other context, that historical background could be read as a liberal opinion, not a conservative one, because it validates a lot of Democratic arguments, just not the one they were making in this particular case.

(A brief refresher: The Virginia constitution requires that the legislature pass an amendment twice, with a state election in between, before it can go to voters. The General Assembly passed the redistricting amendment for the first time last October, before the November Election Day. Democrats argued that it met the constitutional requirement. Republicans argued it didn’t, because early voting was already underway and more than 1 million ballots had already been cast. Those arguments put Democrats on the side of arguing that early voting wasn’t really part of the election, while Republicans said it was. Those were convenient legal positions for their political positions. However, it was a conservative ruling, authored by Justice Arthur Kelsey, that devoted pages to what ultimately is a Democratic point of view: that early voting is not some new-fangled liberal invention, it has roots that go back to the Colonial era and should therefore be respected as an American tradition.)

The ruling turned solely on the definition of an election — of the Republicans’ three legal objections to the redistricting election, that was the only one the court’s majority addressed.

Kelsey’s opinion has a simple-to-understand explanation for the non-lawyers among us:

“… imagine one of the over one million Virginians who had voted in person before Election Day in 2025 walking into a polling place. The voter says to the officer of election, “I am here to vote in the election.” The officer of election responds, “we are not conducting an election here.” “But that’s why I am here,” the voter replies. “Maybe so, but let me explain,” the officer of election insists, “you can vote in the election, but we are not conducting an election today. Elections are only conducted on Election Day.”

He then engages in a history lesson that should chastise those who want to restrict early voting. He goes back to pre-revolutionary times: “Beginning in colonial days, it was common in Virginia and other colonies for elections to last for days as election officials (usually sheriffs) canvassed the countryside to collect votes during elections,” he writes.

Kelsey quotes from multiple studies on voting practices around the world. One from 1918 reads: “In the royal colonies alone was the English system of taking the poll adopted … that called for an oral vote or a show of hands to decide the result. If any candidate or voter demanded it, a poll must be taken, which might last for days. So great was the solicitude for the voter’s convenience, that in Virginia the sheriff appeared at the planter’s gate and wrote down his vote, without calling him from his plow or his tobacco shed.”

He cites another study of our original voting practices: “There were also differences in the length of elections. States allowed anywhere from one to five days for elections, and Virginia held elections on a different date in each county so that even within a single district the election was held on different dates.”

It was not until nearly a century after the republic’s founding that we settled on having a single day designated as “election day.” Since 2000, we’ve seen a dramatic expansion in what we call “early voting.” Before 2000, this was a custom primarily only in the West. Now 46 states have some kind of early voting period, according to the Center for Election Innovation and Research. Virginia has one of the longest early voting periods in the country — 45 days. Only South Dakota, a ruby-red state politically that has 46 days of early voting, is longer.

It’s that early voting — something Virginia Democrats had pushed for — that undid the Democrats’ victory in the special election. Democrats were forced by circumstances into arguing that the election was legally on just a single day, even though voting takes place for weeks. Kelsey’s opinion concludes that, no, early voting means the election starts the day early voting begins and ends at 7 p.m. on the designated Election Day — which meant that if Democrats wanted the constitutional amendment to count, they should have passed it the first time before Sept. 18, 2025, not the last week of October, by which time more than 1 million votes had been cast.

While Democrats don’t like what that means — the referendum didn’t count because it was unlawfully put on the ballot — they ought to embrace this opinion for the long-term precedents it creates. This opinion, and its historical examples, establish that early voting is rooted in American tradition. Earlier this spring, the U.S. Justice Department argued to the U.S. Supreme Court that Mississippi’s practice of counting mail ballots that are postmarked in time but don’t arrive until after Election Day should be ruled unconstitutional. The court hasn’t ruled, but based on how justices reacted to those arguments, it seems likely the high court will agree. If so, that ruling would impact Virginia, as well, because Virginia does the same thing. (The theory is much like your tax return: It doesn’t have to be at the Internal Revenue Service by April 15; it just has to be postmarked by then.) At the time, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon posted on social media: “Election Day means Election DAY!”

This Virginia Supreme Court decision plainly says otherwise — that in Virginia, elections do last for weeks, and our founders would not have seen anything wrong with that, because that’s how things were often done back then.

The U.S. Supreme Court may well say that, at least in federal elections, no votes can be accepted after whatever time the polls close. If they do, the practical consequences in Virginia will be slight. In last year’s governor’s race, those mail ballots that arrived after Election Day accounted for just 0.8% of the total votes cast. In the recent special election, they accounted for an even smaller share — 0.6%.

What’s of far more importance are the “early votes,” cast either in person (the main way) or by mail (a distinctly smaller number). Americans like convenience, and that’s what is winning in elections — convenience. In the 2024 presidential election, most voters in Virginia never went to a traditional Election Day polling booth — only 45.6% of the votes were cast the old-fashioned way. Meanwhile, 40.7% were cast early but in person, while 9.9% came in the mail (and before Election Day). If you add in the post-election mail arrivals, then the percentage moves up to 10.7% of the total.

Trump is against mail voting altogether, but Kelsey’s opinion points out that it, too, has roots that go back to America’s founding and beyond. “In other American colonies,” he writes, citing previous legal cases, “eligible voters sent their votes by proxy to prevent the danger and damage that might result from them leaving their land to vote in the election or to save them ‘the inconvenience and trouble required by a journey to the capital town.’” Kelsey specifically describes these proxy votes as “the precursor to today’s absentee mail ballots.” Put another way, by this opinion that conservatives are now celebrating, early voting (and in particular mail voting) isn’t un-American, it’s very American.

If Democrats wanted to redraw congressional lines, they should have done a better job anticipating the legal challenges and held their special session before early voting began. However, if Democrats wanted to establish a legal precedent in Virginia that early voting fits squarely within the traditions of our state and nation, they just did.

Want more political news and analysis? We’ve got it each Friday in West of the Capital, our weekly political newsletter. Among other things, this Friday’s edition will catch up on who’s in, who’s out and who has endorsed whom in congressional races.

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The post Democrats have missed a key point in Supreme Court ruling: It lays out how early voting is an American tradition appeared first on Cardinal News.

The Roanoke City Council approved the 2026-27 municipal budget during a meeting that ended in about 30 minutes on Monday afternoon, after months of long discussions about the implications of proposed cuts.

The budget included several cost-cutting measures to close an $18 million deficit, including cutting about 30 positions and reducing $50.4 million in projects from the capital improvement program.

The council voted 5-2 to approve the $421.5 million budget, with Vice Mayor Terry McGuire and Councilman Nick Hagen voting no. Hagen also voted no on the real estate tax rate, which will remain at $1.22 per $100 of assessed value.

Hagen said after the meeting that his opposition came from a “moral” standpoint — he said he’s opposed to the council salary raises that started last year, which is why he said he voted no on the budget. On the city’s tax rate, Hagen said it’s relatively high compared to other localities in the region. 

McGuire, who also voted no on the capital improvement program and the payment plan for employees, said Monday evening that he has concerns about the city’s ability to “stay on top of and manage this budget.” He said he doesn’t feel like he had enough information throughout the budget process, and that the council and city manager should not have taken pay raises this year.

“I think that it is up to all of the council to demand accountability from ourselves and the city manager,” he said. “We don’t run the day to day operations. I’m looking to see greater accountability across the organization.”

What was cut?

Finance staff told the city during previous budget presentations that fiscal year 2027 would be the first in recent history when expenditures are expected to outpace revenues. The city is also expecting its smallest revenue increase in the last six years, at $6.9 million.

Another consideration in the approved budget is that the city will issue about three years’ worth of debt — $79 million — in the next year, to convert short-term financing to long-term financing for capital projects. That debt was supposed to be issued previously, but due to staff turnover, that never happened, said Tanya Catron, the city’s capital improvement finance manager, during a council meeting in late March.

Of more than 1,600 total jobs, there were 201 vacant positions across municipal departments, according to an email from the city’s communications staff in late March. Of those, 29 jobs are being eliminated in the new budget, 80 to 95 will be frozen and 70 to 85 will be reassessed during the fiscal year. The city will also bring average salary increases from 3% down to 2%.

More than $50 million was cut from the capital improvement program for projects, including upgrading Fire Station #2 on Williamson Road, renovating the Fallon Park Pool and expanding the Belmont Branch Library.

A number of other requests went unfunded and cuts were made in the upcoming year’s budget, including public safety departments and parks and recreation, which will have no funds for maintenance after fiscal year 2027.

At least $21 million remains available

At a budget study session last week, City Manager Valmarie Turner told the council it has about $21 million in funding available to use on a number of capital improvement projects, and the city discussed using those funds on Fire Station #2, the Belmont Branch Library, and various parks projects. 

Mayor Joe Cobb told reporters after the budget adoption that the council is still considering how best to use those millions. He said a decision could potentially be made in June. 

The city also has millions in American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funding that it must use before December, but Turner told the council during the budget study that staff was working out exactly how much is available. Cobb said Monday that information has not been shared with the council yet.

Cobb said after the meeting that this budget was the toughest one he’s dealt with in eight years on the council, and he’s seen the most community engagement this time around. 

Much of that engagement has come from advocates for school funding and the Roanoke City Council of PTAs/PTSAs. The city changed its longstanding funding formula with the schools in 2025 and required the division to return its fund balance to the city, which it is now considering using for the city’s needs.

Emily Casey, with the RCCPTA, said after the meeting that she did not expect the city to change anything in the budget with regard to the schools, but that continuing to show up to meetings is important, and that this is the most involved she’s ever been with the city’s budget process.

Rebekah Murphy, also with the RCCPTA, said she attended Monday’s meeting because she “personally wanted to look [the council] in the face” during the budget  vote.

The schools can ask to keep the $4.3 million that the city returned to the division for learning cottages at the city’s two high schools, Cobb said. The division decided not to go through with the cottages due to budget constraints.

Cobb said moving forward, the council will be looking to get more in-depth budget updates from departments to monitor spending. 

He said the major cuts from the last two years don’t necessarily mean that next year’s budget will be easier for the city. Proposed cuts on a federal level might lower the amount of Housing and Urban Development funding the city receives for permanent supportive housing and other housing-related programs, which Cobb said have “proven very effective” in Roanoke.

“If that money goes away, then we have to find that money somewhere, and that might be something we have to consider adding on, which means we would have to reduce other things in the budget or in the capital budget,” Cobb told reporters after the meeting. “That kind of feels like a moving target right now.”

The post Roanoke budget approved by 5-2 vote — the second consecutive year of significant cuts appeared first on Cardinal News.

Hello Cardinal News readers. Welcome back to Cardinal Commerce Notes, our regular feature catching you up on various recent business news items.

Last week, we covered a major Interstate 81 project, a new Virginia State Police regional headquarters in the works, the reopening of a restaurant and a brewery, and The Lester Group’s new chairman. Check it out here. 

I’m always on the lookout for news tips. Please email me at matt@cardinalnews.org or connect with me on LinkedIn and message me there.

Old Dominion Power rate hike would increase average home bill 23%

Old Dominion Power is asking state regulators for permission to raise the average residential customer’s monthly electric bill by about $43.

The company provides electric service to more than 28,000 Virginia customers in Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott and Wise counties. It is a subsidiary of Kentucky Utilities.

Old Dominion Power filed an application late last month with the Virginia State Corporation Commission for regulatory approval to earn about $19 million more in annual revenue.

The company seeks permission for its plan to take effect on June 1 and raise the monthly bill of a typical residential customer using 1,198 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month from $185.07 to $228.39, a 23% increase.

The electric utility’s last Virginia rate increase took effect Feb. 1, 2025, increasing the average residential bill by $17.63.

Old Dominion Power spokesperson Andrew Gardner said in an email that the company needs higher rates because it has made “significant investments to strengthen the grid, reduce outages, speed restoration and improve resilience during severe weather, while also deploying advanced metering infrastructure that helps customers better manage their energy use.”

“We understand that any change in rates impacts our customers, and our focus continues to be on providing safe, reliable and affordable service people can depend on, while continuing to invest in the system and the communities we’re proud to serve,” Gardner said.

Black Dog Salvage, Roanoke Mountain Adventures expand together

Black Dog Salvage, a Roanoke company that sells furniture and architectural pieces that might otherwise have gone to the landfill, will reopen its second warehouse later this year. 

That warehouse at 629 Ashlawn St. S.W. will house most of the company’s architectural salvage inventory, such as antique lumber and doors, while the main property will be focused on custom fabrication and a “distinctive mix” of furniture and other products, according to a recent news release.

Mike Whiteside, co-founder of Black Dog Salvage, said in the release that the second warehouse “gives our larger architectural pieces the room they deserve and allows people to experience the scale and possibilities of reclaimed materials firsthand.”

Meanwhile, this fall, Roanoke Mountain Adventures will relocate its retail space currently at The River House, 806 Wasena Ave. S.W., to Black Dog Salvage’s main property at 902 13th St. S.W., where it will expand its bicycle shop and outdoor gear offerings.

“This move will enable RMA to realize its full vision as a unique outdoor retail experience that makes it fun and affordable to get outside,” Jeff Todd, owner of Roanoke Mountain Adventures, said in the release.

The two businesses remain independently owned and operated.

Roanoke to debut ‘Food & Farm Trail’

A new initiative called the Roanoke Region Food & Farm Trail aims to “connect residents and visitors with the farms, food businesses, and people who shape the region’s vibrant local food system.”

That’s according to a news release from the Roanoke Foodshed Network, which formed in 2020 to help create an “equitable and resilient food and farm system that produces health and abundance in the Roanoke region,” according to its website.

The Roanoke Region Food & Farm Trail hopes to encourage people to support and engage with local food producers in the cities of Roanoke and Salem and the counties of Bedford, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Montgomery and Roanoke.

The organization plans community events this weekend, including a scavenger hunt bike ride and a farm-to-table dinner. For more information, visit the Food & Farm Trail’s website.

State rail department plans virtual public meeting

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation will host a virtual public meeting at 6:30 p.m. June 1 as it works to develop a statewide rail plan.

The plan sets out a vision for the future of Virginia rail with six-year and 20-year investment horizons, according to a news release.

“The June 1 public meeting will provide an overview of the rail planning process, share initial findings from early data collection efforts, and offer participants an opportunity to provide feedback on rail preferences, strategies, and travel habits,” the department said in the release.

Registration is available here. More information about the plan is available on the department’s website.

That’s a wrap for this week. Do you know of a new business expanding or relocating in your town? Excited about a restaurant opening up soon? Maybe you’ve got an update on a story we’ve reported before. Please send me your tips and suggestions: matt@cardinalnews.org or connect with me on LinkedIn.

The post Cardinal Commerce Notes: Old Dominion Power proposes rate hike, 2 Roanoke businesses expand, Food & Farm Trail debut, public meeting about rail appeared first on Cardinal News.

Columbia Gas of Virginia is asking state regulators for a revenue increase that would raise the average residential customer’s monthly bill by about $14 in two phases.

The company seeks an increase in its base rates, which make up about 60% of a customer’s bill and are separate from the cost of gas. By law, the Chester-based natural gas provider passes on the cost of natural gas to consumers directly without markup.

Columbia Gas wants regulatory approval to raise the average residential customer’s monthly bill by $10.81, or 11%, for natural gas service rendered on or after Oct. 4 of this year and another $3.03, or 3%, for service rendered on or after Oct. 4, 2027.

The company defines an average residential customer as one who uses 5.1 dekatherms of gas per month. The average residential monthly bill today stands at $97.28. It would rise to $111.12 if the increases are approved. 

Columbia Gas said on its website that it filed its case with the Virginia State Corporation Commission on May 7. While the regulatory process could take a year, the company anticipates enacting the higher rates on an interim basis in the fourth quarter of this year. If the SCC ultimately approves final rates lower than the interim rates, the company would have to refund the difference.

Columbia Gas said that its proposed two-part rate increase would provide $78.9 million in additional revenue to pay for new software to improve customer communications, advanced meters and pipes that are safer and more reliable, as well as other improvements. 

“Columbia Gas’ number one priority is safely operating and maintaining our pipeline system, meeting or exceeding all federal and state requirements. This base rate request incorporates expenses associated with continuing safety initiatives and technological enhancements,” the utility said.

The utility’s last rate case was decided in May 2025, when the SCC approved an increase that added about $6 to the average residential bill. Columbia Gas had asked for more, hoping for an increase of about $9 per month for the average residential customer.

Columbia Gas serves 293,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in 98 cities, towns and counties throughout Virginia, including in the Lynchburg region, Southside, and Alleghany and Giles counties.

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Editor’s note: This is one in a series of periodic commentaries by retired college presidents on the subject of civility. They are based on the book “Rules of Civility for a Modern Society,” by Jim Davis, the former president of Shenandoah University.

Jim Davis Civility Rule 14

The ability to treat others as equals when one is inherently in an advantageous position is a virtue to be cultured. 

When I was a high school junior, I acquired an evening job as an attendant at a gas station. This was before self-serve and during the time when attendants pumped the gas for customers. The company owner would come by every few days to check on the business, and the station manager would attend to his car, filling the gas tank, checking the oil pressure and tires, and cleaning the windshield.

After several weeks, the manager allowed me to service the owner’s car, and I was pleased to have the opportunity. Being young and energetic, I quickly and carefully completed each of the tasks. As the owner approached his car, I made it a point to stand straight, smile, and was ready to make eye contact and greet him with a firm handshake.

It didn’t happen. Without acknowledgement, the owner walked past me, got in his car and drove away. I stood there feeling so disappointed and let down. At 17, I was seeking identity outside of family, church and school in this new job and wanted to make a good impression.

I recently read Jennifer Breheny Wallace’s new book, “Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose.” It reminded me of that evening so many decades ago and how, in that moment, I wanted to matter. I recall telling myself then that if I were ever a boss, I would never treat someone that way, without any imagination that becoming a boss was a possibility.

Following that evening, I was able to have more positive encounters with the owner. Over time, I came to give a measure of grace to that first encounter, recognizing that the owner may simply have been preoccupied. 

All along my 35-year career in healthcare and academia, I have sought to honor that early lesson. I made it a priority to visit environmental services, maintenance, security and other essential departments. All across the organizations, I learned team members’ names and when I saw them throughout the buildings, acknowledged them with eye contact, a smile and a greeting.

In every role I have held, I sought to communicate a simple message: I see you. This practice reflects the quote everybody appreciates being appreciated, a belief I have carried throughout my career.

N.L. Bishop is the former president of the Jefferson College of Health Sciences.

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The Lynchburg City Council is set to move one step closer to approving the city’s 2027 fiscal year spending plan at its meeting Tuesday, after some budget tweaks were introduced to waive residents’ trash and motor vehicle license fees for another year. 

The city’s proposed budget is considered a “maintenance budget” designed to carry on the city’s current level of operations without making cuts, raising taxes or introducing new citywide initiatives. City departments were asked to absorb inflationary costs into their budgets to keep them flat.

Taking input from an April public hearing and city council work session, city staff adjusted the original budget proposal. The new version of the budget will go before the city council for a first reading at Tuesday’s meeting, which will be held in city hall at 7 p.m. and will be streamed. 

The original proposed budget included a plan to reintroduce the city’s $10 per month trash collection fee and approximately $30 per year motor vehicle license fee, both of which had been waived since the 2024 fiscal year. 

The new proposed budget extends the waivers for another year. Fees for additional waste containers and trash bags beyond a single waste container would remain in effect for the 2027 fiscal year. 

An increase in the use of the unassigned fund balance, a shift in fleet services funding offset by bond proceeds, and other adjustments were made to balance the budget without the originally expected fee revenue. 

The new proposed budget also involves a transfer of about $660,000 in school capital funding to become one-time funding in the school’s operations budget. “This realignment was provided by Lynchburg City Schools,” according to meeting agenda materials, after weeks of discussions of how to boost the city’s allocation to the school’s operating budget. 

The transfer does not fully close the gap of about $2.4 million between what Lynchburg City Schools requested and what they received in the city’s proposed budget.

The new proposed budget does not include changes to the Greater Lynchburg Transit Company’s funding allocation. The transit company, like the schools, asked for a larger city allocation than it received and has warned that service cuts could be on the horizon if more funding isn’t secured. 

Also during Tuesday’s meeting, four public hearings will allow residents to weigh in on proposed city developments. 

One public hearing will be held to authorize the sale of a downtown city building at 805 Court St., which served as the headquarters for the Lynchburg Police Department from 1997 until 2025 and is now vacant. Constructed in 1900 as First Presbyterian Church, the building is currently assessed at $1.3 million, according to meeting agenda materials. 

A condition assessment of the property found that more than $9 million would be required to rehabilitate the building to ensure stable future use, and “continued public ownership would require substantial capital investment without a defined long-term municipal use for the facility,” according to agenda materials. 

The city issued a request for proposals to redevelop the property and received one qualified proposal. The plan is from FYG Properties, LLC, to redevelop the property into an office building that would create about 80 technology-sector jobs. 

Developers plan to use state and federal historic tax credits, which would ensure that the historic integrity of the property is maintained. Redevelopment would be completed by summer 2028, according to agenda materials. 

The proposed agreement with FYG Properties outlines a purchase price of $500,000, with a $400,000 rehabilitation credit applied to address deferred maintenance and structural rehabilitation needs, with a net closing of $100,000.

The other three public hearings are called to change the zoning of a parcel on Graves Mill Road to allow a building to be used as an office space; to approve third quarter budget adjustments for the 2026 fiscal year; and to issue a conditional use permit for Liberty University to build two modular homes on Murray Place as housing for the resident directors of the adjacent dormitory housing on Odd Fellows Road.

All agenda materials are available online ahead of the city council meeting and the work session and physical development committee meeting preceding it.

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At its regular meeting at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Danville’s Industrial Development Authority is set to approve two agreements for work at the Coleman site, a city-owned industrial park.

First, the IDA will consider an agreement with Hurt & Profitt, a Lynchburg-based civil engineering and surveying firm, to provide bidding and construction administration services at the site. 

Hurt & Profitt has an existing contract with the IDA to provide consulting and geo-technical services for the site. 

This item is a change order agreement, which means it will modify the company’s scope of work to include bidding and construction administration services for the second phase of a grading project at the site. 

The added cost will not exceed $65,000, according to the staff report included in the meeting’s agenda packet.

A second item regarding the Coleman site is an agreement with professional engineer Kent Shelton for project management and inspection services for the 80-acre graded pad project. 

“The purpose is to have independent oversight of the current grading project,” the staff report said. 

The cost of that agreement will not exceed $48,750, according to the report. 

The IDA acquired the 158-acre Coleman site near the Goodyear plant in Danville in 2011. The ongoing grading project is preparing 80 acres for industrial development, including an access road and grading for a future rail extension. 

The site is already served by rail infrastructure, and its proximity to major highways and access to electric, water, gas, fiber and sewer systems “make it well-suited for large-scale industrial development,” the staff report said. 

The grading work will make it eligible for a Tier 5 certification from the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program, which is a Virginia Economic Development Partnership program that evaluates industrial site readiness. The Tier 5 classification is the highest level in this ranking system, indicating that a site is fully ready for industrial use. 

“This work will significantly improve the site’s marketability,” the staff report said. 

The city staff recommends approval of these two agreements, at the recommendation of the city’s public works department, according to the staff reports. 

Also meeting this week in Danville is the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facilities Authority at noon Monday; the planning commission at 2 p.m. Monday; the airport commission at 3 p.m. Tuesday; the public arts commission at 6 p.m. Tuesday; the building code board of appeals at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday; and the architectural review board at 10 a.m. Thursday.

In Pittsylvania County, the Staunton River Regional Industrial Facilities Authority will meet at 2 p.m. Monday, the library board will meet at 3 p.m. Monday and the board of zoning appeals will meet at 6 p.m. Monday.

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Martinsville residents can expect a combination of city government spending cuts, a real estate tax increase, a trash collection fee increase and an electrical service rate hike if the fiscal 2026-27 draft budget is approved.

The city council will review the budget and proposed tax increase Tuesday, aiming to schedule May 26 public hearings on them.

According to City Manager Robert Fincher’s planned budget presentation, this “is one of the most challenging financial plans this city has faced in recent years,” reflecting “not only rising costs and ongoing service demands, but also the difficult transition” created by the expiration of federal American Relief Plan Act funds allocated during the COVID pandemic.

According to Fincher, who became city manager in March after serving as a city police officer and police chief, the budget process was complicated by last year’s revenue being overestimated by $1 million, while spending was underestimated by $4 million.

Further, Fincher says, city revenue consistently drags behind rising costs. Since 2020, expenses have grown annually by 4.46% while annual tax increases have been 3.7%.

Fincher proposes a nearly $122 million budget, about $5.5 million less than the original current-year budget.

According to the presentation, spending cuts include:

• A city employee hiring freeze, affecting nine vacant positions and any future vacancies, but not affecting public safety agencies. However, administration intends to offer city workers a cost-of-living pay adjustment to match state workers’ raise. A state budget has yet to be passed. The House of Delegates has presented a 2% cost-of-living pay hike for public school employees and state workers, while the Senate presented a 3% raise.
• Reducing local school funding to the previous year’s level. The proposed schools budget is $33 million, an increase of about $1.22 million compared to the current-year budget, but that amount includes state-supported pay raises.
• Cutting departmental spending on items such as office supplies, travel and training, eliminating duplication of software costs, then asking each department to come up with additional cuts of 4%.
• Asking employees to absorb part of the cost of a 20% group health insurance rate increase.
• Eliminating funding to some non-city agencies and making 4% cuts to others.

Even with nearly $3 million in spending cuts, city government will still be $2 million short of meeting its needs, according to Fincher. He proposes raising the real estate tax from 75 cents to 84 cents per $100 of value to help close the gap.

Fincher notes that among Virginia cities, Martinsville’s real estate tax rate is and will remain below the average of $1.03. Currently, the only lower city rate is Williamsburg’s, at 62 cents.

If the tax is raised to 84 cents, the tax bill on a property worth $100,000 would increase by $90. The bill on a property worth $200,000 would increase by $180.

Fincher proposes no other tax rates, but residents and businesses could face utility rate hikes. The budget includes a $5 increase in each tier of garbage collection rates to restore that operation to paying for itself. Without a rate hike, he says, trash collection would lose the city more than $175,000 in the coming fiscal year. A household monthly bill for weekly trash pickups would increase from $20.60 to $25.60.

The city runs its own electric department, getting power from a combination of a local dam and purchasing from American Municipal Power Inc. Because of rising operational costs, Fincher proposes raising the power cost adjustment by 6%. A home using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month would see the monthly bill rise from $176.38 to $186.78.

Tuesday’s meeting will begin with a closed meeting at 6 p.m. The regular session will begin at 7 p.m. The council will meet at the municipal building, 55 W. Church St. Meeting documents are available online.

The post Martinsville residents likely to see tax and fee increases, as city works to balance its budget appeared first on Cardinal News.

Here are some of the top headlines from other news outlets around Virginia. Some content may be behind a metered paywall:

Politics:

After U.S. Supreme Court voting rights ruling, Virginia leaders warn minority representation could erode. — Virginia Mercury.

Governor to 8.8 million, but she’s “Mom” in the mansion. — Richmond Times-Dispatch (paywall).

Questions linger in wake of FBI raid of Sen. Lucas, Norfolk CBD shop. — The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot (paywall).

Economy:

Dominion plans $1.1 billion in grid upgrades. — Richmond Times-Dispatch (paywall).

Local:

Richmond expands cameras after nearly 16,000 red-light runs. — Axios Richmond.

Weather:

For more weather news, follow weather journalist Kevin Myatt on Twitter / X at @kevinmyattwx and sign up for his free weather email newsletter. His weekly column appears in Cardinal News each Wednesday afternoon.

The post Headlines from across the state: After U.S. Supreme Court voting rights ruling, Virginia leaders warn minority representation could erode; more … appeared first on Cardinal News.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger issued her unequivocal opposition Monday to a suggestion floated by Democrats that the Supreme Court of Virginia bench be dissolved to resurrect a push to redraw the state’s congressional maps after the effort was struck down by the court Friday. 

When asked by a reporter if she supports “getting rid of the supreme court for redistricting,” she responded with a simple but firm “no,” while leaving an event on Monday. 

The idea began making its rounds among Democrats in Virginia and in Congress over the weekend after the state Supreme Court ruled in a split 4-3 decision Friday morning to nullify an effort to redraw Virginia’s congressional maps to favor Democrats in 10 of the commonwealth’s 11 districts. 

In the state supreme court opinion, written by Justice D. Arthur Kelsey, the court found that the legislative process employed to advance the redistricting referendum violated Article XII, Section 1, of the state constitution. It said that the constitutional violation “incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy.”

The court’s decision came weeks after voters approved the redistricting referendum by a 2.9-point margin. 

Supporters of the redistricting effort called it necessary, after President Donald Trump told conservative-led states to change their congressional maps in favor of GOP candidates ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. A number of Republican-led states, including Texas, North Carolina and Missouri, have redrawn their maps to give Republicans an advantage in picking up seats in the midterm elections. Democratic states, including California, have done the same for their party in response.

According to a report by The New York Times, some Virginia Democrats had floated “an audacious and possibly far-fetched idea,” in conversation with U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries after Friday’s ruling, to replace the Virginia Supreme Court justices and relitigate the case to get their preferred result. 

In order to do so, the General Assembly would need to convene, pass a law to lower the justices’ retirement age to 54 – which could clear out the court, persuade the governor to sign the bill, elect a bench of seven new justices, and rehear the case well before the August 4 primary. 

AG Jones requests a stay from SCOTUS

Attorney General Jay Jones filed on Monday an emergency application for a stay of the Virginia Supreme Court ruling to the Supreme Court of the United States, as he seeks to appeal the ruling to the federal court. 

Rae Pickett, spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, argued that the conservative majority on the Supreme Court of Virginia “contorted the law to fit their political agenda, and overturned an election where three million Virginians cast their votes.” 

“Meanwhile, Republican states around the nation are in the process of redrawing their maps, without any input from the electorate, to deliver on Donald Trump’s demand that he is ‘entitled’ to more seats in Congress. Virginians deserve better,” she said. 

Jones’ vowed after the ruling Friday that this office would evaluate “all legal pathways.”

In his application for a stay, Jones wrote that the state supreme court “overrode the will of the people who ratified the amendment by ordering the Commonwealth to conduct its election with the congressional districts that the people rejected.”

Jones argued that the stay be granted and the eventual appeal be taken up by the Supreme Court of the United States because the state court, he said, is “deeply mistaken on two critical issues of federal law with profound practical importance to the Nation.”

The first of those issues being, he said, that the state supreme court misinterpreted the Virginia Constitution on a “grave misreading of federal law,” which fixes a single day for the “election” of U.S. Representatives and Delegates to Congress. The second issue, he argued, is that the state supreme court rejected the Virginia Constitution’s definition of “election,” to adopt its own meaning. 

A constitutional amendment must pass the General Assembly twice, with an intervening election between those two votes, before it goes to the voters in a referendum. The state supreme court based its split 4-3 ruling on whether 45 days of early voting is considered part of the required intervening election. The four justices determined that 45 days of early voting does indeed count as part of the required intervening election. 

“The Supreme Court of Virginia has already ruled that Virginia Democrats violated the Virginia Constitution,” House of Delegates Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, said in response to Jones’ emergency application for a stay. “Now, rather than accept that ruling, they are running to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn it. It’s time to stop the legal games, pass a budget for Virginians, and focus on the November midterms.”

Kilgore was a plaintiff in the Tazewell Circuit Court Case against the redistricting effort. That court decision was appealed by Jones to the state Supreme Court, which handed down its ruling on Friday. 

The General Assembly first passed the constitutional amendment on Oct. 31 by gaveling in the 2024 special session, which had never been adjourned. That Oct. 31 passage took place amid early voting for the 2025 general election, which had begun in September. The second passage of the constitutional amendment took place Jan. 19. Both of the General Assembly votes were solidly along party lines.

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The Appalachian School of Law in Grundy is exploring a merger with a Kentucky university amid ongoing financial challenges and low enrollment.

The effort comes as Buchanan County has agreed to pump millions of dollars into the private law school in an effort to prevent the school from closing.

Jerry Kilgore, chair of the ASL board of trustees and a former state attorney general, said last week that he has appointed a committee to explore a partnership with the University of Pikeville, or UPike, in Kentucky. 

UPike President Burton Webb confirmed that his board of trustees has given him permission to explore what an acquisition could look like for both institutions.

The board hasn’t authorized any action yet, Webb said last week, but could decide on a path forward as soon as this fall. Kilgore said the ASL committee has met once with UPike representatives, but the law school will continue operating as-is this coming academic year.

Pikeville is just over 40 miles from Grundy in Kentucky. The small private college enrolls about 2,500 students across a range of graduate programs, dual enrollment and undergraduate degrees and last fall launched a $50 million fundraising campaign to expand and improve university academics and facilities.

In 2024, UPike brought in about $2.09 million in additional income, according to its 2024 tax filing, compared to a $3.55 million deficit recorded by the Appalachian School of Law that same year.

In February, Buchanan County supervisors agreed to provide $3.4 million to keep the law school afloat, following a request for as much as $6 million. 

The county’s investment came after news broke in December that the law school was considering a merger with Roanoke College, a move that could have drawn the school away from Grundy — a concern for many in the community.

Kilgore said last week that wasn’t something the majority of the ASL board is now interested in pursuing. In April, ASL released a statement committing to staying in Grundy. A spokesperson for Roanoke College declined to comment last week. 

“The law school has been such an economic driver in the Buchanan County area and Grundy in particular, and we want to continue to be supportive,” Kilgore said. “The board has voted in the past to make sure that as we’re looking at merger discussions, acquisition discussions that we make it clear that we want the law school to stay in Grundy.”

The Appalachian School of Law was founded in 1994 in part to boost Buchanan County’s economy.

A 1996 agreement between the law school and the county granted ASL its academic and library buildings, along with some renovation and operations funding, and supervisors have said a merger or relocation would require approval by both the board of supervisors and the county’s industrial development authority. 

In December, Buchanan supervisors discussed a possible merger with Roanoke College during an emergency meeting where ASL President and Dean David Western told supervisors that the school needed about $2.5 million to remain open through the spring. He said spending has outpaced revenue due to low enrollment and the costs of running an independent law school, of which there are just over a dozen nationwide.

Buchanan County Administrator Robert Craig Horn, commissioner of the revenue Ruth Horn, and Matthew Fields and Heather Street of the Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority did not respond to requests for comment for this story. County supervisors Trey Adkins, Roger Rife and Craig Stilner could not be reached.

A representative from the University of Pikeville attended that emergency December meeting via Zoom for a discussion about the possibility of Buchanan General Hospital partnering with the university on a medical school program, but ultimately did not speak on the issue.

Webb said last week that the university remains in preliminary talks with the hospital about it serving as a clinical placement site for some of the school’s nursing or medical students. 

A shared mission

Webb said his university isn’t ready to announce any official partnership or other move with ASL, but he noted the shared vision and similarities across the two institutions.

“We’re all about Appalachia,” Webb said. “We want to do things to strengthen Appalachia. I have no desire to start a program in Lexington or Louisville or Northern Kentucky. We want to take care of the kids in the mountains and the folks that businesses and others have in the mountains. And I think that matches well with what ASL and what ASL’s board wants to do.”

Webb envisions students living in Pikeville and commuting to Grundy or vice versa and said he sees no reason to move ASL out of Grundy

With the eventual completion of the Coalfields Expressway, Webb predicts there will be more traffic between the two localities.

“We think that we’ll see a lot more commerce between the two regions,” he said. “So we need to figure out, just as a region, how do we work together as Virginia, West Virginia and eastern Kentucky? Because all of us have one thing in common, and that is, the capitals of our states are a long way away.”

UPike’s current capital fundraising campaign, “Reaching New Heights,” aims to raise $50 million for the school’s new Tanner College of Dental Medicine, the development of an athletic complex and an increase in scholarships to “reshare the future of education, healthcare, athletics and student success in Central Appalachia.”

The school launched the Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1997 and has 10 other graduate programs.

“[Western] and I are starting a conversation now to get kind of into all the details of what any kind of partnership might look like moving forward,” Webb said. “We’re not ready to announce anything. We don’t know what it would look like, but we’ve committed to carrying out the conversation and doing all of the, for lack of a better term, due diligence to make sure that we understand everything about each other before we make any kind of a decision.”

Western said the institutions have a history of working together.

“We already have a long-standing working relationship,” he said. “We’re looking forward to any further partnership that we might be able to work out with the University of Pikeville.”

Last fall, the two institutions teamed up to offer a new online degree. The master’s of legal studies, or MLS, program is geared toward professionals who might not be interested in becoming attorneys, but are interested in the law. About a dozen students are already enrolled, Western said. 

About half of the courses for the program are taught by Pikeville political science and criminal justice professors, and the other half are taught by ASL law professors, Webb said. 

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Just when it seemed we’d seen everything, we see something new.

Last week, the Virginia Supreme Court threw out the April 21 special election on redistricting, the first time ever the court had ruled an election was unconstitutional (it had once ruled the issue a locality had approved in a referendum to be unconstitutional, but didn’t question the legality of the election). Then on Sunday, The New York Times reported that, in a conversation with U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, some Virginia Democrats had floated “an audacious and possibly far-fetched idea” to replace the Virginia Supreme Court justices and relitigate the case to get their preferred result.

This idea appears to have begun with a website called The Downballot — which argued “Democrats might prefer other solutions, but if they want to see the will of the voters respected in time for the November elections, there are virtually no other options — and none with as good a chance of success as this one.” It’s gained traction in the hothouse of social media. Now it’s made its way into a conversation with a prospective Speaker of the House and the reporting of one of the nation’s most important news organizations.

If the court ruling was a bombshell, then the notion that Democrats would fire the justices who ruled against them is another. We’re now measuring Virginia political news in megatons. We are deep into an era where, if either party suffers a political setback, they simply try to change the rules. My role is sometimes to make sense of nonsense, so here goes.

1. This is not a serious proposal.

Someone on that call with Jeffries may think it’s serious, but it’s not. That’s not me saying that, it’s the calendar. In court filings as part of the election litigation, the commissioner of the Virginia Department of Election identified May 12 as the deadline by which the state election bureaucracy needed to know what the map is so it could begin preparations for congressional primaries. Those primaries aren’t until Aug. 4, but early voting begins June 18 and the deadline for candidates to file is May 26. Because of the proposed amendment, all those dates are already later than usual. Set aside the politics of firing a court that delivered an unfavorable ruling, and just focus on all the procedural mechanisms that would have to be involved: To convene the General Assembly, pass a law lowering the justices’ retirement age to 54 (which could clear out the court), persuade the governor to sign such a bill, then get a bench of justices in place, and get a rehearing simply seems impossible — unless someone wants to undo the whole election process this year.

2. Democrats may be misdirecting their anger.

Democrats are mad at the court, but why aren’t they mad at their legislative leaders who miscalculated the legal risk they were taking by waiting until late October to pass the amendment the first time? Democrats complain that the court made a political decision, but many activists apparently haven’t read the decision. The ruling did not deal with whether the map was gerrymandered, or whether it was a good idea to redraw congressional lines mid-decade. The ruling turned entirely on the legal definition of the election — and whether the early voting last fall constituted part of the election process. The court didn’t even deal with two other Republican objections to the referendum; it focused entirely on the definition of an election.

Virginia’s constitution requires that the legislature pass an amendment twice, with a state election in between, before it is put before voters. Republicans argued that Democrats waited too late, that the election was already underway when the legislature met. Democrats contended that only Election Day itself counted as the intervening election.

There are arguments to be made on both sides — and obviously were — but the point is this was not some surprise argument that Republicans sprang on Democrats after the fact. Democrats always knew the intervening election question was a troublesome point, and they knew the makeup of the Supreme Court that would ultimately rule on it, and they misjudged the seriousness of that argument. If a doctor has a patient die because the doctor miscalculated the dosage, there’s a word for that. Why isn’t this political malpractice? Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, put herself forward as the most vocal champion of redistricting; why aren’t Democrats angry at her for not realizing how this whole redistricting project could come undone? If Democrats had convened the General Assembly in early September 2025 to pass the amendment the first time, right now they could be admiring the partisan contours of “the lobster district” instead of frantically trying to find some way to undo a court ruling that went against them. The court said Democrats didn’t follow the rules; why are Democrats mad at being called for not following those rules rather than mad at their leaders for botching the job?

3. There are two Virginia precedents for replacing the whole Supreme Court for partisan reasons.

The suggestion that Democrats should simply replace justices who didn’t rule their way may be something we’ve never seen before, but it’s not unprecedented. In 1883, when the short-lived Readjuster Party governed the state in the aftermath of Reconstruction, it replaced all the Supreme Court justices. The Readjusters were the reformist party of their day and they wanted to purge state government of the conservative establishment that had led Virginia into the Civil War. The Readjusters’ reign was short-lived; they provoked a backlash that installed conservative Democrats in their place. In 1895, when those Readjuster justices’ terms were up, the Democrats cleaned house and put their own men on the court. Since then, we’ve apparently had only two instances (with Archer Phlegar in 1901 and Jane Roush in 2015) where justices weren’t reelected for political reasons — both cases involved justices who had been appointed on an interim basis by governors; legislators had different ideas.

Arthur Kelsey, who authored the majority opinion in this case, is up for reelection in January. We’ll see then whether Democrats want to replace a justice because they don’t like his rulings. Some might see that as crass politics; others might point out that the Virginia constitution gives the legislature the power to elect (and reelect) justices for a reason. If we didn’t want politics involved in judicial selection, then the state constitution would give justices life terms, not 12-year terms subject to renewal at the legislature’s discretion.

4. Redistricting may not give Republicans as much of an advantage as Democrats think.

Democrats are right to be unhappy that Republicans are redrawing lines in other states to squeeze out Democratic seats and tilt the balance before the midterms. Gerrymandering of any sort seems bad for democracy. However, I must ask: How serious is this, in practical terms? It may not be as serious as some think. Before the Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling, The New York Times had estimated the national scorecard in these redistricting wars at somewhere between a gain of one Democratic seat or six Republican ones. If we take Virginia out, that might be a possible net gain of up to 10 Republican seats. In the context of the usual midterm swings we see, that might be a marginal figure. In the past five midterm elections, the average swing has been 31 seats.

Democrats are much more disadvantaged by the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act that has resulted in other Southern states moving to eliminate Black-majority (and Democratic) seats. All this gives Republicans an advantage — but only up to a point. Data journalist G. Elliot Morris, who runs the site Strength in Numbers, recently reported that President Donald Trump’s approval rating is below 50% in 134 Republican-held congressional seats nationwide. Even with the redistricting underway, it’s still entirely possible we’ll see a wave election that will return Democrats to power in the House. At some point, Democrats might need to ask whether they’re better off spending time, money and energy on fighting redistricting campaigns as opposed to funding actual election campaigns.

5. In Virginia, the redistricting fight may really just be about one or two seats, not four.

The whole point of the Democrats’ 10-1 map was to knock out four of the state’s five Republican House members: Rob Wittman in the 1st, Jen Kiggans in the 2nd, John McGuire in the 5th and Ben Cline in the 6th. However, under the current map, Democrats think they’re in a position to win in the 1st and 2nd anyway. The 2nd has long been a swing district, no matter who has held it. Last year, Democrat Abigail Spanberger narrowly won the 1st District. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee long ago designated the 1st as a targeted district that the party thinks it can win.

The same committee also designated the 5th as a targeted district. That’s more of a stretch for Democrats — Republicans carried it last year by 7.6 percentage points. However, Morris’ Strength in Numbers data shows that Trump’s approval rating in the 5th has sunk to just 41.8%, with a disapproval rate of 58.2%. McGuire has tied himself as close to Trump as he can; that allegiance, and the approval ratings, provide a “target-rich opportunity” for Perriello, a skillful campaigner who has experience running (and losing) in Southside before. If there’s a wave election — and I have no idea if there will be — it’s not impossible to see that wave washing across the 5th District.

That means Democrats might be able to win three seats in Virginia without redistricting, which means all this commotion might be just over whether Democrats can win one more — the 6th. It is hard for me to see any Democrat dislodging Cline, given the depth of the Republican vote in that district (Winsome Earle-Sears, a weak Republican candidate, carried it by 17.4 percentage points). However, Democrats have something there they’ve never had before: a well-funded and well-known challenger who comes from outside the world of politics. I refer, of course, to Roanoke author Beth Macy, which brings us to this next point.

6. The Democratic establishment seems to disregard Macy.

Party leaders drew a map that intentionally disadvantaged her, by putting her into the same district as Perriello. Macy recently told The New York Times she almost dropped out because she saw little chance of defeating Perriello in a primary. If Jeffries wants to take extreme measures to try to get around the Virginia Supreme Court ruling and get that 10-1 map, he’s essentially dooming Macy’s campaign. That may not matter to him; he may care more about numbers than people. Still, for a party that likes to talk up inclusiveness, its redistricting plans curiously excludes a female candidate who has raised more money than any other Democratic woman running for Congress in Virginia other than Elaine Luria in the 2nd, who previously served in the House. It’s also curious that Emily’s List, a political action committee specifically aimed at electing Democratic women, hasn’t endorsed Macy. It’s backed Luria in the 2nd and Shannon Taylor in the 1st — even though Macy has raised a comparable amount of money.

This may have nothing to do with Macy; it may be simply that Democrats nationally don’t see much chance of winning the 6th as currently configured (I suspect they’re right) and don’t want to waste their money. However, right now they have a candidate who has more money than the Republican incumbent. You’d think the Democratic establishment might take more interest in Macy. This goes back to a question I raised earlier: Democrats spent more than $60 million on the “yes” campaign that was intended to net them four seats. Could they have achieved the same result the old-fashioned way if they’d simply given $15 million apiece to the party’s nominees against the four Republicans they wanted to oust? In the case of the 6th District, that would be more than 15 times what Cline had to spend to win reelection two years ago. Democratic donors may want to ask if their money is being spent well.

7. This is an opportunity for Macy.

It’s hard for me to take this “replace the court” scheme seriously for the reasons I outlined at the beginning. Still, The New York Times story set the Virginia political world afire Sunday. This presents Macy with an opportunity. I thought she should have come out against the proposed amendment — it was bad for her politically but she could have also argued it was bad for the future constituents she hoped to have in the Shenandoah Valley. She didn’t, but now she’s got another opportunity — she could denounce this court-packing plan, however flimsy the notion might be. There would be some risk: Jeffries could turn off the financial spigot but, as I pointed out, the national Democratic establishment hasn’t done her any favors so far — and she’s done just fine with fundraising. Coming out against court-packing, and embracing the current 6th, could mark her as a different kind of Democrat, which is the kind of profile she’ll need if she’s going to have any hope of winning that district anyway. Voters seem to be in an anti-establishment mood: Macy could test the limits of how far that will go, even in her own party.

8. This is an opportunity for Spanberger, too.

The governor took a hit for backing redistricting; her disapproval rate went up (although there are now indications that’s coming down). More generally, redistricting has been a distraction that the new governor doesn’t need politically. She has three choices here:

A: She could ignore this and let it die a natural death in the new cycle (unless some Democrats keep pushing this). That may be the wisest course; never invite trouble.

B: She could endorse it, which seems politically unwise.

C: Or she could come out against it. There’s risk in that — some Democratic activists would be furious. However, that would be more in keeping with the image she presented during the campaign. Part of the role of a governor is to be “the adult in the room.” We seem to be in an area where a lot of juvenile antics are playing out in politics. This gives Spanberger an opportunity to assert herself as a no-nonsense governor.

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As the next Roanoke budget nears approval with job reductions proposed and projects being tossed aside, questions remain about millions in pandemic relief money and surplus school funds, which the city now controls.

About $19 million in former school money is available — and the city may have millions in unspent pandemic relief funds to also allocate. Key questions preceding a scheduled city council budget vote Monday: What is the exact amount of money available, and what will the council agree to do with it?

Roanoke received $64.5 million — the highest amount in the region — in pandemic relief, also known as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, or ARPA. As of March, more than $15 million of that money remained in a city account, according to municipal documentation. That includes about $6 million in interest earned on the ARPA money since the program began, according to city Treasurer Tasha Burkett.

Roanoke’s most recent available federal filing — covering the quarter ending in September — lists 34 projects that have funding committed, including Market at Melrose, Virginia Tech Carilion Labs, Blue Ridge Continuum of Care permanent supportive housing and Total Action for Progress.

The ARPA money must be spent and final documentation filed by the end of 2026. Any money that remains would be returned to the federal government.

The city is working to determine how much of the remaining ARPA money is committed and how much could be free to spend, City Manager Valmarie Turner told the city council during its May 4 meeting. Any available ARPA funds would need to be spent in areas already approved as part of the program in 2024, she said.

Trinity Kaseke, the city’s budget manager, told the city council at that same meeting that it has a total of about $21.5 million available for reallocation from the schools’ general fund balance, the schools’ capital project fund balance, funding set aside for the Riverdale redevelopment and funding from an E911 unit. ARPA funding was not included in this list, which makes up that $21.5 million.

The council discussed using those funds toward replacing some items removed from the city’s capital improvement program, including Fire Station #2 on Williamson Road and an expansion on the Belmont Branch Library, as well as several parks projects.

During the council’s conversation on May 4, Councilman Peter Volosin stressed that the city shouldn’t use all of the available funds in the upcoming year.

He suggested holding onto at least $5 million to “see what happens over this next year.”

The Downtown Ambassador Program, which is funded by an external agency, has been funded with $300,000 in ARPA funding for each year for the last four years, Mayor Joe Cobb said during the discussion. 

More on the ARPA situation

Instead of using its finance department — which had been handling quarterly ARPA reports required by the federal government — the city hired a consultant to complete the most recent one. 

The city paid Washington, D.C.-based Robert Bobb Group $30,000 to complete that filing. The contract was signed in February, the Bobb Group completed the report and it was sent to the U.S. Treasury Department, according to an emailed city statement.

The Bobb Group was hired because the city was dealing with reporting delays caused by a “transition to the Oracle Financial System and ongoing staffing limitations,” according to the statement. The city has cited the computer software switch for numerous problems over the past year, including the police department’s overspending of a state gun violence prevention grant by close to $100,000.

Heather Ness, a principal with the Bobb Group, declined to talk about specifics regarding Roanoke. But responding to general questions via email, she said the most significant ARPA-related issues localities across the country face right now are “officially closing out completed projects, ensuring all documentation is collected, and confirming all contracted services have been fulfilled.”

Some ARPA-funded projects remain unfinished. And many of those projects “involve politically connected individuals who assure the government they will meet the deadline,” Ness wrote. Governments should reclaim funds from grantees at risk of not completing their projects and reallocate them to initiatives that can be finished by the end of 2026, she wrote, adding that the Bobb Group’s advice to governments is that decisions about reallocating funds must be made by June 30.

Roanoke Councilwoman Evelyn Powers, the city’s former elected treasurer, has asked during numerous meetings about the ARPA issues, including spending on one-time projects versus those that could require funding after the ARPA program ends. She’s also asked if the city is sure ARPA money has been spent appropriately. Powers has not received answers to those questions during those public meetings.

At the May 4 meeting, Powers asked for an explanation of what ARPA funds are left to use. Turner said she is working through that now to ensure she has “at least six months to expend the funding” before the December 2026 deadline. 

“I’m still amazed that we’re at this point, this late in the game, and we don’t have things reconciled,” Powers said during a phone call Thursday. “That’s a problem for me.”

Jack Reagan is managing director at UHY Advisors Inc., which works with the Bobb Group. In an email, he wrote that oversight and monitoring requirements are based on whether a grantee of ARPA funding is a subrecipient or a vendor.

Subrecipients are generally nonprofits, other governments and tribal entities, he wrote. For subrecipients, a grantor such as the city of Roanoke must follow specific provisions of federal code.

However, for vendors, a grantor should monitor their performance — but only as a best practice, he wrote.

“I personally think they should do exactly the same thing” as for subrecipients, but that is not required, he wrote.

Roanoke’s breakdown of vendors and subrecipients was not immediately available. 

The Roanoke municipal auditor will likely analyze the city’s ARPA projects and spending once the program ends, according to discussions at several city meetings.

More on the school surplus

For the first time in more than a decade, the city council required the school system to return any unused revenue, or fund balance, from the 2024-25 budget year, as is required by law. That amounted to about $26 million.

For years, based on a situation that was driven by a funding formula between the city and the schools, the division kept its surplus and the city asked few, if any, questions.

The city reallocated some of that money to the schools, including $2.1 million as part of a $4.3 million funding allocation for trailers to be used at Patrick Henry and William Fleming high schools. After that, the school division decided not to use the money for that purpose due to budget constraints.

During last week’s city council meeting, members discussed potentially allowing the schools to keep the $4.3 million for other needs, including activity buses or the city’s PLATO program, which became prominent topics when cuts were discussed for the 2026-27 budget year.

The post During a tight budget year, millions in pandemic relief and former school money available in Roanoke budget appeared first on Cardinal News.

Welcome back to Extra Credit, a weekly roundup of education-related news from across Southwest and Southside Virginia.

Have a story idea, tip or think there’s something I missed? Email me at meghan@cardinalnews.org.

Thanks for reading!

Cybersecurity incident affects schools, students across Virginia

Several Virginia colleges, universities and K-12 school systems were among the victims of a cyberattack last week that left students locked out of assignments and resources.

Hackers breached Instructure, the company behind Canvas, a platform used by schools across the world to manage assignments, track grades and deliver course content, Higher Ed Dive reported.

The ed tech company confirmed the security incident Wednesday and even disabled access to the platform for a few hours Thursday.

Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University and branches of the Virginia Community College System are among the higher ed users of Canvas in the state. 

Roanoke City Public Schools, which uses Canvas primarily for submitting assignments, advised staff and students to stay off the platform Friday. Alleghany Highlands Public Schools also sent out a notice about the breach Friday, but said there was “no evidence that AHPS systems were impacted.”

As of Friday, the platform was up and running, and most users had regained access, but some school officials continued to warn users to be wary of suspicious activity, such as phishing attempts.

Information impacted by the data breach includes messages between users, names, email addresses and student ID numbers, according to Higher Ed Dive. Instructure is continuing to investigate the incident but has not disclosed how many school systems or users were affected.

Nottoway teacher is Virginia’s Teacher of the Year

Madeline Duffy, a special education teacher at Nottoway High School in Nottoway County, was named this week as the 2027 Virginia Teacher of the Year.

“Today, we celebrate an extraordinary educator who reflects the tremendous difference these public servants make in the lives of their students. Ms. Duffy’s incredible work in Nottoway County underscores the critical role educators play in shaping opportunities for students across our Commonwealth,” Gov. Abigail Spanberger said during the event Tuesday.

Last month, Duffy was selected as the Region 8 Teacher of the Year and a finalist for the statewide award.

She has taught for 7 years and works as a high school special education teacher and the dropout prevention coordinator for Nottoway High School, according to a news release.

Tuesday’s event also recognized the state’s other regional teachers of the year, which include Jonathan Marye, a world language teacher at Blacksburg High School, and Hunter Trivette, a physical education teacher at Oak Point Elementary in Smyth County.

Roanoke school division seeking feedback on school resource officers

Roanoke City Public Schools is seeking feedback about the division’s partnership with the Roanoke City Sheriff’s Office and the Roanoke Police Department.

Through the partnership, the law enforcement agencies provide school resource officers, or SROs, to all elementary and secondary schools. 

SROs focus on school safety, security and law enforcement activities and help develop emergency plans, but some communities have historically debated best practices regarding law enforcement in school settings.

The division is collecting public comment as part of a regular review of its agreement with the agencies. Families and community members can provide feedback here through 5 p.m. May 29.

Roanoke County teachers recognized

Anne Houston, an anatomy and physiology teacher at Cave Spring High School, was recently selected as the 2026 Roanoke County Public Schools Golden Apple Teacher of the Year.

The awards were presented April 29 by the Roanoke County Public Schools Education Foundation and Roanoke County Public Schools.

“I help my students experience learning that is engaging and purposeful by consistently connecting anatomy and physiology content to real-world applications that matter to their lives now and in the future,” Houston said in a statement. “I intentionally anchor each unit in the ‘why,’ emphasizing how understanding the human body supports informed health decisions and opens pathways to careers in healthcare, science, and related fields.”

As part of the recognition, Houston received a one-year lease of a new Hyundai Santa Fe and a $1,000 cash prize.

The division and the foundation also presented a new award, the Shining Apple Award, to the top support staff member. The inaugural honoree was Annalee Johnson, an instructional assistant at Northside Middle School.

Her nomination included this comment: “When she’s in the classroom, it is truly impossible to tell who the teacher is and who the IA is. She works tirelessly with our students to ensure they meet their IEP goals. Students feel supported and work hard to increase their academic abilities when they work with her. She is always willing to lend a hand, help a colleague, and goes above and beyond to help students.”

Superintendent Ken Nicely commended the educators recognized during the division’s annual awards.

“The educators we recognized have gone above and beyond in their classrooms, inspiring their students to reach their full potential and making a lasting impact on their lives,” he said in a statement.

Other honorees included:

• Kevin Lewis of William Byrd Middle School, the Green Apple Award for teachers with three years experience or less
• Cesilee Lineberry of Northside High School, top teacher, high school
• John Burton of Hidden Valley Middle School, top teacher, middle school
• Heather Milton of Burlington Elementary School, top teacher, elementary

Wytheville Minnick School students’ stories published 

Sixteen Wytheville students are now published authors.

The students are enrolled at Minnick Schools’ Wytheville campus, a private school that serves students with disabilities.

Stories the students wrote and submitted were recently selected for publication in the 2026 Young Writers book “Stranger Sagas.” 

The competition challenges students to write a 100-word story focused on mystery, suspense or fantasy. This forced students to pay close attention to editing, according to a news release.

Amanda Funkhouser, an English teacher at the school, said in the release that writing is a “sore spot” for most of her students, and that’s one of the reasons she is a proponent of the Young Writers Contest. 

She displays the books from previous years’ contests in the center of her classroom as a visual reminder of student successes. 

“We all need wins in our life,” Funkhouser said. “A lot of these students are not used to having their work chosen. It really matters to them.”

Rivermont Schools’ Danville campus is relocating, expanding

A Danville school that serves students with exceptional needs is expanding.

Rivermont Schools is relocating its Danville campus to a new 20,000-square-foot facility for the upcoming school year.

The school, which has served the community for 28 years, will move to 301 Lowes Drive in Danville at the end of this school year. The new location will allow the school to serve more students. 

The new location includes 14 classrooms, dedicated therapy rooms, a gym, a playground, a cafeteria and library, life skills rooms and a sensory room, according to a news release.

“We’ve outgrown our current space, and this new facility gives our team the resources to continue doing what we do best: meeting every student where they are and helping them grow. We are excited to expand our reach and continue to serve our community,” Tia Hairston, principal of the Rivermont Schools Danville, said in the release.

Families will receive updates about the change and can learn more here.

The post Extra Credit: Cybersecurity incident disrupts student learning, Wytheville students published, Danville school for students with special needs relocating and more appeared first on Cardinal News.

A month after Virginia Tech President Tim Sands announced his intention to step down from his position, the Roanoke Blacksburg Technology Council has inducted him into its Hall of Fame.

Sands is widely credited for solidifying the university’s connection to the Roanoke region’s burgeoning biomedical sector. Beyond the Roanoke and New River valleys, he was instrumental in bringing Amazon’s corporate headquarters project, HQ2, to Arlington, where its neighbors include the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, which Sands spearheaded.

During RBTC’s annual TechNite event, on Thursday at Hotel Roanoke, council co-chair Eddie Amos told the audience that Sands’ 12 years as Virginia Tech’s president have tracked with the region’s growth in healthcare, biotech, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, defense, data infrastructure and applied research, and with a more connected regional innovation economy tied to upticks in entrepreneurship and startup culture.

“But perhaps the most important contribution is culturally,” said Amos, a fellow RBTC Hall of Fame member. “This leader helps shift the conversation in our region from ‘What can one institution accomplish?’ to ‘What can we build together?’

“That’s the mindset that matters, because innovation ecosystems are not built overnight. They are built through long-lasting trust, long-term investments and collaboration.”

Sands said he was grateful to the people in the RBTC’s technology and life sciences “ecosystem” who were part of the past dozen years’ growth. That includes a $3.4 billion annual economic impact in Blacksburg and the New River Valley region, unsurprising for a main campus that’s more than 150 years old. In the Roanoke region, however, the university’s $475 million impact is more than double that of 2017, he said. 

The Roanoke numbers are due to expansion at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, which Sands championed. Sands also led the establishment of the Roanoke-based Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine as an academic college at the university.

“The really exciting news is I really believe you just scratch the surface of the potential,” Sands told the audience of about 500. “Just imagine. Take a moment to imagine where we will be a decade from now. … I look forward to seeing Virginia Tech and the region continue to grow together in the future.”

The other TechNite honorees were:

• Entrepreneur of the year: co-winners Narro Trucks Inc. and biotech innovator Webster Santos, a professor at Virginia Tech.
• Innovator of the year: Eli Vlaisavljevich, professor at Virginia Tech and founder of Helix Acoustics.
• Large leading tech company: co-winners Carilion Clinic and Novonesis.
• Small leading tech company: Tight Technologies.
• Regional leadership award: Don Halliwill, Carilion Clinic executive vice president and chief financial officer.
• Rising Star: Jenny Munson of Cairina.
• STEM-H educator in higher ed: Leah Thomas of Virginia Western Community College.
• STEM-H educator in K-12: Jason Suhr of Roanoke County Public Schools.
• Ruby Award (leadership): co-winners Angela Joyner, vice president for economic development and corporate education at Radford University, and Roanoke County Schools Superintendent Ken Nicely.
• Hart of the Entrepreneur: CJ Page of QlutchQMS.

The post Technology council inducts Virginia Tech President Tim Sands into its hall of fame appeared first on Cardinal News.

 Wise County school officials have a proposed budget of more than $93.8 million for the 2026-27 fiscal year — roughly $3.92 million more than in the current-year budget.

The school board will hold a public hearing on the spending plan at 5:30 p.m. Monday before its regular meeting at 6 p.m.

The big unknowns are what K-12 school funding will be approved in the next state budget and in Wise County’s budget, according to Superintendent Mike Goforth.

Failing to pass a two-year state budget during the regular 2026 General Assembly session, legislators convened a special session last month, but they walked away without a consensus on a spending plan. The legislature must pass a budget before the fiscal year ends June 30.

Wise County supervisors spent most of last Wednesday poring over details of the draft county budget, but they have yet to finalize the details. When they started detailed budget discussions in March, supervisors had to slash more than $400,000 from current-year spending and figure out how to cut about $5 million from the upcoming budget, following years of depending on reserve funds and the American Rescue Plan Act to make ends meet.

The school division’s budget draft includes a raise for employees based on tentative state budget provisions. The House of Delegates presented a 2% cost-of-living pay hike for public school employees and state workers, while the Senate presented a 3% raise.

School officials do not plan any changes to group health insurance or other employee benefits, according to Goforth.

The budget anticipates that the average daily number of students will be 5,129, according to Goforth. The most recent student count was 5,220, he said.

Based on tentative current numbers, the school division expects state funding of nearly $59.65 million, an increase of nearly $2.26 million. Anticipated federal funding is nearly $8.84 million, a decrease of almost $102,000.

The tentative county funding contribution is about $14.8 million, an increase of more than $678,000, while anticipated local sales tax funding is nearly $6.9 million, an increase of more than $157,000.

Both the anticipated state and local funding amounts could change, depending on the final state budget, Goforth said.

The division expects various other funding that totals $3.67 million, an increase of nearly $931,000. That amount includes a projected $497,000 increase in interest income and a $347,000 increase in school food revenue. However, school meal prices will not change, Goforth said.

The instructional budget is nearly $66.29 million, an increase of nearly $2.49 million. Of that, the biggest single cost is K-12 teachers at $29.7 million, an increase of nearly $673,000.

While there are no planned major changes in programs, Goforth said the state has ceased funding for the “ALL IN Va” intensive tutoring program and for after-school remediation, but Wise County aims to use existing staff and alternative funding to continue those initiatives.

The board will meet at the Education Center, 628 Lake Street NE, Wise.

The post A public hearing will be held Monday on Wise County schools budget totaling nearly $94 million appeared first on Cardinal News.

As budget processes near completion across the valley, multiple localities will adopt, or begin the process of adopting, their budgets during meetings this week. There is news, from another tight budget year in Roanoke, to a warning from Roanoke County’s administrator to a potential tax rate decrease in Salem. 

Here’s a look:

Roanoke County

The county board of supervisors will hold its second public hearing on its fiscal year 2027 budget on Tuesday and is set to take the first of two votes on the proposal. The county administrator said the county is at a “crossroads” — while it’s not in financial trouble yet, its current fiscal model is not sustainable long-term.

The proposed budget is about $285 million, an increase of about $13 million over the prior year.

The county is not recommending any changes to the real estate tax rate, which will remain at $1.03 per $100 of assessed value after being reduced each year for the prior three years.

The budget includes a 3% cost-of-living increase for all full- and part-time non-public safety employees and increases in public safety step plan salaries.

The county is recommending a $3 million reduction for the county’s schools in the upcoming year, which makes the total local funding for the schools almost $97 million in the coming year. 

County Administrator Richard Caywood said a reduction in the Local Composite Index, or the measure of what Virginia determines is the locality’s ability to pay for public education, resulted in an additional $2.6 million for the school division, which Caywood said almost offsets that reduction in the formula transfer that is recommended.

Caywood noted that school enrollment has decreased by 12.8% since 2008, while the county’s population has increased by 7.6%.

The county also recommended increasing the contingency fund by $71,000 due to “uncertainties in the economy,” Caywood said. “I’ve got a lot of concern over our revenue estimates, and so we definitely need to have that in the base budget this year.” 

Caywood said during that meeting that the county is at a “crossroads.” The county’s current financial trajectory is not sustainable in the future, he said, especially due to long-term capital and heavy fleet needs.

To maintain a fleet of the county’s size, Caywood said, the county should be investing $5 million annually. Currently, the county is investing less than $1 million per year, he said.

“What that means is that at some point in the future we won’t be able to collect all of our trash because we have too few trash trucks that we can put on the road,” Caywood said, and noted some other potential consequences. “We know for sure that day is coming.”

He presented four choices that the county may consider in the future: raising tax rates, reducing the county’s government and limiting services, modifying the county’s financial arrangement with its school division, or some combination of those choices.

Tuesday’s meeting starts at 2 p.m. at the county administration building, 5204 Bernard Drive S.W. The board is scheduled to take a final budget vote on May 26.   

Salem

The city council will hold a budget work session and consider the first reading of its fiscal year 2027 budget during afternoon and evening sessions on Monday.

The budget totals about $119 million, which is about a quarter of a percent decrease from the fiscal year 2026 budget.

Salem has proposed dropping its real estate tax rate by two cents. The current rate in Salem is $1.18 per $100 of assessed value. 

Salem also dropped its real estate tax rate by the same two pennies during its last budget cycle. City spokesman Mike Stevens said the council and staff felt another reduction was doable despite increasing expenses.

The budget also includes a cost of living adjustment of up to 4% for city employees who are eligible, according to Salem’s pay scale. 

Salem’s schools would receive an increase in funding of about $600,000 in local funds. Funding is also allocated for a number of capital projects, including stormwater projects, needs at the civic center, paving and reconstruction and purchases of garbage and dump trucks.

Monday’s 6:30 p.m. meeting will be held at city hall, 114 N. Broad St. The council is scheduled to approve its final budget on May 26.

Roanoke

The city council will approve its final budget Monday, which would be the second straight year of major cuts for city staff and projects. The proposed budget is $421.5 million, which is an increase of about 3% from the current fiscal year.

The city’s finance staff proposed removing $50.4 million in projects from the city’s capital improvement program, which include expanding the Belmont Branch Library, completing park projects, renovating the Fishburn Mansion and rehabilitating the Mill Mountain Star.

Raises for city employees would be dropped from 3% to 2%. Trinity Kaseke, the city’s budget manager, said last week during a budget study that all employees will be paid a minimum of $42,000 per year beginning July 1, which completes a phased effort that the city began last year. 

Some capital improvement projects removed from the budget may be added back, using a total of $21.5 million that is available to the city at this point, from a variety of sources: $12.5 million from the schools’ general fund balance, $6.2 million from the schools’ capital fund balance, $2 million set aside for the Riverdale redevelopment project payments, and $797,500 from an E-911 unit project. 

The council, during a budget study last week, discussed using that funding for the Fire Station #2 project on Williamson Road, the Belmont Library expansion or parks and recreation projects.

Kaseke said the city will also look into using ARPA funding for some of these items. Turner said during the budget study that the city is trying to work out exactly how much ARPA funding it has available at this point, in order to spend the money by the Dec. 31 deadline. All ARPA funding must remain within projects that the city committed the funding to in 2024.

Monday’s 2 p.m. meeting will be held at the municipal building, 215 Church Ave. S.W.

The post Roanoke Valley budgets: Warning in Roanoke County, cuts in Roanoke, possible Salem tax decrease appeared first on Cardinal News.

Here are some of the top headlines from other news outlets around Virginia. Some content may be behind a metered paywall:

Politics:

A private call reveals Democrats’ desperation over tossing of Virginia map. — The New York Times (paywall).

Economy:

ABC still turning a profit for state despite declining sales. — Richmond Times-Dispatch (paywall).

Portsmouth commemorates halfway point of casino hotel construction. — The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot (paywall).

Healthcare:

Public health officials warn of rise in measles, as Virginia hantavirus patient under monitor. —Virginia Mercury.

Weather:

Drought forces Appalachian Power to release less water from Smith Mountain Project. — The Roanoke Times (paywall).

For more weather news, follow weather journalist Kevin Myatt on Twitter / X at @kevinmyattwx and sign up for his free weather email newsletter. His weekly column appears in Cardinal News each Wednesday afternoon.

The post Headlines from across the state: A private call reveals Democrats’ desperation over tossing of Virginia map; more … appeared first on Cardinal News.

Here’s how political leaders from Virginia and outside of the commonwealth, on both sides of the referendum question, responded to Friday’s state Supreme Court ruling. 

The ‘yes’ side

Democratic Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi: “This [Supreme Court of Virginia] decision does not exist in isolation. It comes amid years of assaults on fundamental civil rights, the battles for voting rights, escalating hyperpartisanship, and coordinated efforts to erode public trust in democratic institutions. … In a time of growing national instability and political chaos, the Commonwealth has a responsibility to stand firmly in defense of democracy. Virginians understood this responsibility and made their voices heard loud and clear this past November as they elected Democrats who will fight for them into all three statewide offices and secured a strong majority in the House of Delegates. Democrats stood up and fought, as hard as possible, for every Virginian and for all Americans. Virginia must remain committed to an electoral system that puts people before politics and protects the fundamental right of every citizen to participate fully and fairly in the decisions that impact their lives. Our Commonwealth must remain a bulwark and stand on the sacred principle that voters choose their leaders, not the other way around.”

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.: “Unlike Republican-led states that have redrawn their maps through backroom deals, the Virginia General Assembly let the people decide for themselves in a free and fair election. If the Virginia Supreme Court had legitimate concerns about this referendum, the time to stop it would have been before three million Virginians cast their ballots. But the Court let the process move forward, and Virginians sent a message loud and clear: we see President Trump’s brazen power grab in states across the country, and we won’t stand for it. The timing of this ruling speaks volumes. The U.S. Supreme Court eviscerates the Voting Rights Act in a lawsuit brought by a January 6 extremist and Southern states race to craft backroom deals disenfranchising minority voters and candidates. Meanwhile Virginia voters choose to stand up against national disenfranchisement only to see their votes cast into the trash by a 4-3 ruling. A sad day indeed but I’m proud of Virginians’ willingness to stay true to our state’s motto after 250 years. That spirit is needed now more than ever.”

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.: “While I respect the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision, it’s impossible to ignore that more than three million Virginians already cast their ballots on the amendment and deserved to have their voices heard. Let’s be clear: this started because Republicans across the country decided to push mid-decade redistricting in states where they thought they could rig the map for partisan gain. Virginia’s effort was a response to that national power grab, not the cause of it. Donald Trump assumed he could tilt the playing field and lock in political advantage before a single ballot was cast. But Virginians are paying attention. … Democrats will still show up this November, we will still compete everywhere, and when the votes are counted, Virginians will send a strong message about the kind of leadership they want.”

Beth Macy, Democratic candidate for Virginia’s 6th Congressional District: “I’m not a lawyer, and I won’t pretend to have all the answers on what comes next legally. What I do know is this: the country is on fire, and decisions like this one represent another serious step backward. I got into this race because my neighbors urged me to help turn this country around — and that doesn’t change based on a court ruling. What this moment makes clear is that Ben Cline needs to be held accountable. Virginians deserve a representative who will fight for them — not a lapdog for the forces that are working to rig elections, undermine democracy, and enrich themselves. I intend to be that fighter, and this Supreme Court decision doesn’t change that.”

Tom Perriello, Democratic candidate for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District: “As we’ve said from the launch of the campaign, we will respect the will of the voters and the courts. In this case they were at odds with one another but we have the districts seemingly set at this point, so we remain committed to running in the 5th District as outlined by the supreme court today. We expect to be up against incumbent John McGuire and having done hundreds of listening sessions across central and southside Virginia over the last few months, I can say one thing that people on the right, left and center seem to agree on is that McGuire needs to be fired and replaced by somebody who actually cares about central and southside Virginia.”

State Sen. Lamont Bagby, D-Richmond and chair, Democratic Party of Virginia: “All across the south, by order of the President of the United States, and encouraged by the United States Supreme Court, MAGA governors are ripping up Black and Brown districts in an effort to tear control of our politics from the people and rest it in the hands of power-hungry politicians who seek to enrich themselves and strip us of our right to self determination at the ballot box. Today’s decision from the Virginia Supreme Court sees a supposed technicality preventing Virginia from pushing back on encroaching authoritarianism from our Federal government and will be seen for years to come as a landmark decision in the appeasement of the President. We will fight alongside our candidates in all 11 of Virginia’s congressional districts. We won at the ballot box in April and we will do it again in November, because it is the will of the people.”

The Rev. Cozy Bailey, president, NAACP Virginia State Conference: “In the face of adversity, we stand united. This ruling is not merely an attack on redistricting; it is an affront to our fundamental rights as citizens. We will not be silenced. We will rise and fight for our democracy.”

John Bisognano, president, National Democratic Redistricting Committee: “The people of Virginia—more than 3.1 million of them—voted to adopt a new Congressional map to thwart Donald Trump’s ongoing attempt to unfairly rig the 2026 midterm elections. The Virginia Supreme Court is wrong to take it upon itself to overrule the citizens of Virginia after they already voted.”

Suzan DelBene, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair: “Last month, millions of Virginians cast their ballots and stood up against the Republican power grab. Today, four unelected judges decided to cast aside the will of the voters. This is a setback that sends a terrible message to Americans – the powerful and elite will do everything they can to silence you. House Democrats will not let this happen. Our democracy was founded on the belief that the people have the final say. In November, they will, and they’ll power Democrats to the House majority.”

Eric Holder, chair, National Democratic Redistricting Committee: “The Virginia Supreme Court decision today is a baffling one. The Court — seized with the issue — could have expressed itself BEFORE the vote. Now that the people have spoken, it is hard to understand both the rationale of the Court-permitted process and the reasoning behind the Court’s opinion that silences the majority voice of Virginia voters. This is especially troubling given the reality that this nation faces with Republican efforts to steal the 2026 midterm election and given the Virginia Supreme Court’s laudable prior pro-democracy actions in this area.”

Virginians for Fair Elections: “Today is a deeply troubling moment for Virginia, the nation, and our entire democracy. Over three million Virginians participated in a free and fair election. They showed up in historic numbers, followed the rules, and made a clear decision at the ballot box. And today, the Supreme Court of Virginia decided these votes will not count. …Virginians did everything right. They participated. A majority voted YES to stop Trump’s power grab. And they deserve to be heard. This fight is not over. Because at its core, this is bigger than one election — it’s about whether voters decide our democracy, or whether that power can be taken away after the votes are cast.”

The ‘no’ side

Rep. Ben Cline, R-Botetourt County: “This is the correct decision, and it was always going to end up this way. Democrats broke laws that they helped write in the first place, blew through deadlines, wrote a biased and misleading ballot question, and lied to the voters in all of their advertising to support the referendum. The voters of Virginia banned gerrymandering six years ago, and that ban remains in effect today. This is a great day for fair elections and the rule of law, and it’s a great day for the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Rep. John McGuire, R-Goochland County: “The referendum’s narrow election results reinforced what Virginians decided six years ago, we don’t want partisan politicians drawing our maps. The Redistricting Commission was created to ensure all Virginians’ voices are heard, and thanks to the Virginia Supreme Court, that will not change. Virginia Democrats’ hasty, dishonest, and illegal attempts to redraw our maps proved how desperate they are to take away our representation. Democrat politicians in Virginia tried to cheat by violating our constitution, but thank God they didn’t get away with it. I commend the Virginia Supreme Court for upholding the constitution and standing up for the voices of every voter in our Commonwealth. I want to thank everyone who worked so hard to get out the NO vote. I look forward to continuing to work with President Trump and House leadership to win the midterms, so we can continue making America great again for all Americans.”

George Allen, former Republican governor of Virginia: “Thank goodness the rule of law and our Constitution were upheld by the Virginia Supreme Court. This is a great victory for the people of Virginia, who will decide who represents them in fair, honest, compact congressional districts of similar communities. Our bipartisan band fought for the principle that, in our Virginia Constitution, districts should be determined by a bipartisan, independent commission rather than conniving politicians trying to rig election results.”

Brian Cannon, head, No Gerrymandering Virginia: “Democracy won today in Virginia. The Court did exactly what Justice Kagan invited the states to do in Rucho — it stood up to partisan gerrymandering and said no. Gerrymandering is wrong no matter where it happens or which party does it. Now it is time for the Florida Supreme Court to uphold its own state constitution and strike down Florida’s gerrymandered map.”

William Fralin, former Republican state delegate from Roanoke: “The people of Virginia should be extremely grateful to have a courageous Supreme Court that will enforce the rule of law. Sic Semper Tyrannis.”

Joe Gruters, chair, Republican National Committee: “Democrats just learned that when you try to rig elections, you lose. Today, the Virginia Supreme Court sided with the rule of law and struck down Democrats’ unconstitutional maps. The RNC led the charge in court against this blatant power grab, where Virginia Democrats poured more than $66 million into an effort to lock in control and silence voters. We took them to court, and we won.”

Jason Miyares, former Republican attorney general of Virginia: “Virginians spoke loud and clear in 2020 that voters should pick their elected officials, not the other way around. Today, their voices were heard over the shamefully deceptive rhetoric and language of an unconstitutional effort by Richmond Democrats to carve up the state for themselves. We thank the Justices for their swift action to uphold the rights of our fellow Virginians all across the Commonwealth.”

Jeff Ryer, chair, Republican Party of Virginia: “Violating the Constitution while twisting and bending the clear provisions of the Code of Virginia to impose a cynically partisan outcome has, sadly, become the hallmark of the Spanberger Administration and the Democrat-controlled General Assembly. Now, it is time for the Governor and the General Assembly to fulfill their actual duties under the Constitution by approving a biennial budget. The focus on gaining partisan advantage by effectively disenfranchising half of Virginians needs to end today.”

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