Latest
- Virginia House Advances Bill Creating Education Advisory Board for African-American, Asian-American and Indigenous Students
House Bill 814 would establish a new state advisory board focused on African-American, Asian-American and Indigenous education issues in Virginia public schools.
- Virginia Senate Advances Bill for Regulated Adult-Use Cannabis Market
Senate Bill 542 moves forward with technical amendments to create a framework for recreational cannabis sales in the Commonwealth.
- Virginia education board approves new rules for local student assessments
Students in a classroom.
- Loudoun Votes: Democrat Board Ends Open By-Right Data Centers — After 9–0 Use Expansion and 5–4 Grandfathering
Ghiorzi hearing notes and Granicus timestamps show a 7–2 main motion, a failed 5–4 attempt to kill administrative grandfathering, a 9–0 add-data-center use on 1972–1993 lots, and Briskman’s 41M / 61M sq ft warning.
- Virginia School Board Examines Teacher Attire Standards
A school board discussion raises questions about professional dress expectations for educators alongside student policies.
- Loudoun County Updates Student Search Policy with New Notices
LCPS amends student search rules to include weapons detection systems and third-party drug screens for program enrollment.
- Spanberger’s energy plan keys in on clean energy to meet growing demand and VCEA goals
Gov. Abigail Spanberger unveils energy plan that models how the state can meet energy demands while meeting clean energy goals.
- Virginia Faces $1.7 Billion Highway Maintenance Funding Gap
Virginia transportation officials are confronting a projected $1.7 billion gap in highway maintenance as costs rise and older roads, bridges and drainage systems require more work.
- Spanberger presents slate of data center regulation proposals, puts first directives in motion
Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed Executive Order 22 on Friday, Sept. 18 to kick off her data center regulation package.
- Mike Turner 2026 Deck: Loudoun Data-Center Load Hit 5.33 GW — Planned Adds Still Short of 14–20 GW Path
Ashburn supervisor’s June 15, 2026 paradigm slides and strategy paper put 53M sq ft built, 60M in pipeline, and microgrid/SMR/HVDC scenarios against a Democrat-board boom that March 18 only partly closed.
- Data-Center Growth Adds Tens of Billions to Plan NPV vs “No Data Center Growth”
SCC-directed 2024 IRP supplement (PUR-2024-00184) shows portfolio NPVs about $100.2–$103.3 billion with data-center growth versus about $77.2–$80.9 billion when data-center load growth is frozen.
- Democrat Trust Policy Bars Arlington Police From Calling ICE — Even for Violent Felons, Gangs, and Terrorists
House Judiciary report: Democrat-run Arlington County Board Trust Policy blocks ACPD from contacting ICE for violent felons, gang members, traffickers, or terrorists; ACSO honored only 2 of 310 ICE detainers (0.65%).
- School Officials Review Dress Code Exceptions for Student Anxiety
A Virginia school board meeting examined how individualized plans can permit dress code adjustments to support students experiencing anxiety.
- Valley Link’s 765 kV Northern Line Is PATH Reborn — Aimed at Loudoun Data Centers, Critics Say
RICHMOND / LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — A roughly 260-mile, 765-kilovolt transmission line from West Virginia into Maryland — the northern spine of PJM’s Valley Link portfolio — is being pitched as new reliability steel.
- Virginia DMV wait times plummet to record lows after major reforms
The customer service center at the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Headquarters in Richmond.
- Kimley-Horn to Loudoun: Data-Center Pipeline Implies ~8,190 MW — More Transmission Than PJM Had Approved
County-commissioned September 2024 due diligence tallies ~117 pipeline buildings at ~70 MW each and urges corridor mapping, undergrounding, collocation, and reconductoring as Democrat-led Loudoun faces the grid gap it helped create.
- Western Loudoun Push: One Underground HVDC Instead of MARL and Valley Link North Overhead
LOVETTSVILLE, Va. — Theresa Ghiorzi and a JotForm petition urge Loudoun, Frederick, and Clarke officials to back a single underground HVDC alternative to FirstEnergy’s MARL/Gore–Doubs–Goose Creek 500 kV and Valley Link North 765 kV lines into Data Center Alley.
- CarMax Cuts About 145 Corporate Jobs, Including Roughly 60 in Richmond Area
Latest round hits tech, HR, product, accounting, and marketing as CEO Keith Barr’s tenure pushes a leaner headquarters model.
- Airport leaders in the region seek to expand service from Dulles airport to Asia
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority officials attended an event in Taipei (via MWAA).
- State Releases Draft Rules for Recreational Cannabis Market Opening in 2027
CCA outlines retail, microbusiness and cultivation fees; applications expected to open by Feb. 1 ahead of a July 1, 2027 launch.
- Jason Ballard House Bill 103 Seeks to Extend Vital Early Intervention Services for Virginia Infants and Toddlers
A bill introduced by Delegate Jason Ballard would extend Virginia’s Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers for children with disabilities.
- Loudoun Schools Advance Bus Driver Hiring Through Bonuses and Partnerships
Loudoun County Public Schools outlines recruitment incentives, partner outreach, and job challenges for bus drivers at a Finance and Operations Committee meeting.
- Fast-Track Large-Load Queue Is Not in the Public Interest — Preferential Power for Speculative Data Centers
RICHMOND — In a June 30, 2026 brief in PUR-2026-00011, Theresa Ghiorzi tells the SCC a paid ‘fast-track’ interconnection preference for large loads fails Virginia’s public-interest and public-use tests, citing Norfolk Southern (2025) and Dominion’s own ~70 GW speculative queue.
- Virginia Bill Creates High School Path to CNA Licensure
House Bill 413 proposes letting high school students graduate with certified nursing assistant credentials to ease workforce shortages across the Commonwealth.
- Virginia House Bill Extends Procurement Preference for Local Agricultural Products
House Bill 1086 grants Virginia producers of school nutrition goods an option to match out-of-state bids within 20 percent while extending related preference laws to 2028.
- Virginia Lawmakers Advance Tax on Fantasy Contest Revenues
House Bill 145 would place a 10 percent tax on fantasy contest operator revenue and direct portions to problem gaming treatment and the state general fund.
- Alexandria Schools Race Toward September 30 Decisions on Hazardous Walk Zones and Bus Routes
ACPS and City Hall are reviewing parent hazard claims at key Alexandria intersections before a Sept. 30 ParentSquare deadline on walk-zone bus exceptions amid driver shortages.
- Construction Cost Inflation Strains Virginia State Capital Projects
Post-COVID construction inflation has established a higher cost baseline for Virginia state projects, with further increases projected amid labor and market pressures.
- Loudoun Staff Member Details Equity Council Progress Toward Student Support
Cassidy Kavanaugh outlines the Loudoun County Equity Council shift to an advisory role focused on data-driven recommendations for LCPS students.
- Virginia Lawmakers Weigh Bill to End Common Law Suicide Crime
A measure discussed by Delegate Simon would abolish the common law crime of suicide to ease benefit denials and stigma for surviving families.
- Expert Testifies Against Virginia HB-43 Over Common Law and Insurance Concerns
Dr. Michael Huffman tells a criminal subcommittee that House Bill 43 would erode longstanding principles on suicide prevention and affect insurance frameworks.
- Virginia has a new law that regulates the use of license plate readers
The General Assembly has decided to take action to curb the use of automatic license plate readers by law enforcement.
- Warner, Kaine and Local Candidates Push to End NDAs on Data Center Deals
Senators urge voters to put officials on the record as secrecy surrounds projects like Wood Haven Technology Park.
- Theresa Ghiorzi Moves to Dismiss Golden-Mars, Citing Loudoun Route Rigging and Untallied Homeowner Takings
RICHMOND / LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — In PUR-2025-00056, Theresa Ghiorzi asks the SCC to dismiss Dominion’s Golden-Mars 500/230 kV application, restart siting de novo, finish Line #514 first, and stop connecting high-demand customers until Data Center Alley load drops below NERC-violation thresholds.
- Wittman and Taylor Clash in VA-01 as National Spotlight Hits Virginia Midterms
Healthcare votes, H.R. 1 fallout and data-center costs define a district Trump won in 2024 but Spanberger carried in 2025.
- Prince William Supervisors Unanimously Block $300M Vint Hill Switching Station
Board denies Dominion special use permit after residents and supervisors say the utility failed to clarify data-center loads near Braemar and Vint Hill housing.
- Virginia Beach schools, Civil Rights Office reach agreement over sexual misconduct investigations
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building pictured on Nov. 25, 2024.
- Franklin County Jury Awards $750,000 in Smith Mountain Lake Housing Discrimination Case
A Franklin County jury awarded $750,000 to two families that were evicted after the campground owner discovered one family member was Black.
- The battle over data centers isn’t just about data centers, but they’re the battleground we have.
Marvell data center in Culpeper County, Virginia.
- Culpeper Supervisors Approve Partial Easement Release for Battlefields State Park
The unanimous vote clears title issues on six Elkwood Downs parcels while keeping airport-related height limits in place.
- We must solve Virginia’s other health care workforce crisis: A lack of educators
America’s health care workforce shortage is a known crisis: Over 85% of health care facilities lack adequate staff.
- Ghiorzi Family Tells SCC to Reject Dominion’s IRP: Co-Locate Generation or Make Data Centers Pay for Underground HVDC
LOVETTSVILLE, Va. — In April 2025 comments on Dominion’s 2024 Integrated Resource Plan (PUR-2024-00184), Theresa Ghiorzi and relatives urge the SCC to reject the plan, require campus co-located baseload, and stop socializing ‘multi-driver’ 500/765 kV extension cords from West Virginia coal across 13 PJM states.
- Virginia’s Democratic Trifecta Passes 49 Election Bills as Felony Voting Rights Head to November Ballot
Ballotpedia counts a 250 percent jump in election measures; ranked-choice voting is now permanent, Virginia joined the National Popular Vote compact, and automatic rights restoration awaits voters November 3.
- Higher Standards of Learning Cut Scores Coming, but Not This Year, Virginia Board Says
Virginia Board of Education Members listening to Superintendent Emily Anne Gullickson at the board’s business meeting on Nov. 13, 2025.
- Attorney General Jones Says DHS May Have Violated Virginia Election Law
Letter to Homeland Security demands written confirmation and preservation of voter-lookup access logs after a whistleblower report.
- Opioid authority awards $12.3 million for prevention, treatment and recovery in Virginia
The Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority has awarded more than $12.3 million to support opioid prevention, treatment and recovery efforts across the commonwealth.
- Testimony Highlights Florida Dental Licensing Path as Warning on Access Gaps
A dental hygienist opposed Virginia HB1036 by detailing how Florida’s allowance for foreign-trained dentists to become hygienists failed to ease shortages.
- With United States House control hanging in the balance, Wittman faces Taylor in contentious Virginia-01 race
U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, left, is running for reelection in Virginia's 1st Congressional District, as Democratic challenger Shannon Taylor aims to unseat him.
- Leesburg Official Pushes for All-Ages Helmet Mandate Amid Community Safety Updates
Town Council member Kelly Burke calls for expanding bicycle helmet rules beyond age 14 while highlighting recent public safety and civic events in Leesburg.
- Virginia Bill Expands Dental Assistant Roles to Boost Patient Access
Delegate Marcia Price advances legislation allowing experienced dental assistants to perform basic functions in hygiene appointments under supervision to ease care backlogs.