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Del. Orrock stresses bipartisanship as he kicks off bid for 19th term in 66th District
When state Sen. Tara Durant was in the Virginia House of Delegates, she recalled Saturday, she was fortunate that her Richmond office was right next to Del. Bobby Orrock’s. Whenever the brand-new delegate had a question, all she had to do was go next door, and Orrock would say, “Come on in, young lady,” and greet her with a hug and a big smile. “What a great way to have a good friend like that when you are trying to navigate and get your sea legs and understand how to do this,” Durant told a small crowd at Angela’s Italian Restaurant in Thornburg. Durant (R-Stafford) was among a group of elected officials and GOP members who came out to support the re-election campaign of Orrock, a Republican who is the longest-serving current delegate.
Russell County considers 3 small solar projects, as interest in Southwest Virginia grows among solar developers
Russell County officials are considering the county’s first three commercial solar energy developments, eight years after leaders there began working to position the locality to attract the projects. The projects, which would together produce up to 22 megawatts of power and cover a total of about 230 acres, would be developed on depleted farmland, one near the Russell County-Tazewell County line and the other two on rural sites outside the town of Lebanon.
Lawmakers hope to use community college's aviation program as model for others
Lawmakers from the Virginia General Assembly’s Aviation Caucus, which works to craft new legislation to support the Commonwealth’s aviation industry, packed into a crowded hangar at Shenandoah Regional Airport on Friday to learn more about a trailblazing educational program. About 10 legislators from across the state came to learn about Blue Ridge Community College’s aviation maintenance technician program. The program, which hosts classes at the local airport, helps students learn how to perform maintenance on the airframes and engines of airplanes.
State finds Henrico NICU violated state standards, failed to maintain medical records
A recent report from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) revealed a lack of training, repeated failure to report bruising and injuries in babies and a missing medical records system in Henrico Doctors’ Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), violating state standards for hospital care. The hospital failed to ensure that these nurses received the proper training before their shifts, as several babies have since been found with fractures and bruising between 2022 and 2024, with some dying.
Transit agency envisions bus rapid transit across Potomac
A new long-term “blueprint” to dramatically expand Northern Virginia’s bus rapid transit lines calls for significant investment along core Arlington routes. A draft Bus Rapid Transit Action Plan, unveiled yesterday (Wednesday) is meant to guide agencies throughout the region as they consider future transit investments. A proposed map of possible BRT lines envisions two routes connecting Columbia Pike to Crystal City and D.C., and another route running east from Falls Church into Rosslyn, across the Potomac River and into Georgetown. According to Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) estimates, all three of these routes would be some of the most heavily trafficked in the entire region.
Reid accuses Youngkin of ‘coup against a gay man,’ vows legal action
John Reid, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, said Sunday that Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s political team is extorting him and seeking “a coup against a gay man whom they didn’t want to be their nominee but didn’t have the guts to run against.” Reid — declaring “I’m not going anywhere”—made the comments in a video he posted to X on Sunday afternoon two days after Youngkin called and asked him to step down over explicit photos that Reid denies reposting.
Hitachi Energy to add 120 jobs in Bland, Smyth counties
A manufacturer of electrical transformers will invest $22.5 million to expand its Bland County facility and add a warehouse in Smyth County, creating 120 new jobs, the governor’s office said Friday. Hitachi Energy currently employs 450 people in Bland County, where it produces medium-voltage transformers that help regulate the flow of electricity on the U.S. power grid as well as in specialized industries such as data centers and renewable energy, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a news release.
Emory & Henry ‘unsigns’ national letter calling for dialogue with Trump administration on higher ed issues
While several hundred colleges and universities have added their names since Tuesday’s release of a statement opposing “unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education,” one school has reversed course — Emory & Henry University. A spokesperson for the school, Lois Williams, told News Channel 11 late Friday afternoon the reversal “was the result of the reaction to the news coverage that placed Emory & Henry at the center of a divisive political debate.”
The weekend that sent the Virginia Republican Party into a tailspin
In just 72 hours, the Republican Party of Virginia has gone from unity to open warfare. John Reid, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor and the first openly gay candidate on a statewide ticket, is refusing to withdraw from the race, accusing party leaders of attempted extortion and threatening lawsuits. Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee for governor, and Attorney General Jason Miyares have remained silent while Reid and Gov. Glenn Youngkin go to war. The conflict, which began Friday, has fractured a party that has historically opposed gay rights and dominated media coverage in an election year with all three statewide seats and the full House of Delegates on the ballot.
ICE promises bystanders who challenged Charlottesville raid will be prosecuted
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has broken its silence, conceding its agents were responsible for the arrest of two men during a raid on a downtown Charlottesville courthouse and promising that the bystanders who questioned those agents will be prosecuted. ICE also blasted the area’s top prosecutor, who has announced he will be investigating the raid, as “posturing for the media.”