Photo: http://www.vims.edu

While farmed oysters are big business in Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay wild oyster is still struggling with bay pollution and two diseases, harmless to humans, but fatal to oysters. Since the late 1980s, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science has conducted annual surveys to check on how wild oysters are coping. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Last month, Dominion Power offered its annual report to the state – explaining how it intends to supply affordable and reliable energy over the next 15 years.  Sandy Hausman reports that the company may be leaning toward expanding its nuclear capacity.

Interest in the whole ‘farm to table’ movement is growing.  But one aspect of it continues to be controversial in Virginia; direct farm sales of unpasteurized milk, also known as raw milk.  Some say it should be a personal choice. And others warn, it’s a question of public safety. Robbie Harris has more.

Gov. McAuliffe shucking with his wife, Sec. of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore, and Rita McClenny, president and CEO of Virginia Tourism Corp.

Governor McAuliffe traveled to the Northern Neck this week to fire up the Virginia Oyster Trail.  That’s an initiative he announced last year that connects 250 miles of seafood producers, restaurants, wineries, craft breweries and artisans around the Chesapeake Bay’s rural communities. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Information on watermen  heritage tours,  as well as restaurants, hotels and vineyards on the trail can be found at virginiaoystertrail.com

Last week the U-S House was able to pass a long term transportation bill which has businesses across the commonwealth feeling optimistic.  Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo reports that people are hoping it marks a new day for a gridlocked Washington.

Dominion Power is starting a new project, one that will make its power lines safer to large birds. Crews have begun an effort across the state to slowly change the way power lines are structured. Mallory Noe-Payne reports.

Virginia’s election board is still crunching the numbers for 2015, but if you look at the last ten elections in non-presidential years, voter turnout has been under 40%.  That number could increase if Americans were allowed to do what Estonians have been doing for a decade – voting online.  Sandy Hausman reports on how it works, and how a country of 1-point-3 million people is pioneering all kinds of cyber services.

State and local election officials are hoping to see a lot of people at the polls Tuesday.  But must experts believe only about 23-to-29 percent of those registered will vote will show up. Some have already voted…they cast absentee ballots.  Joe Staniunas has more.
The State Board of Elections says it’s received more than 55,000 absentee ballots so far. That’s close to the same number that came in four years ago, in the last off-year election like this.

This Election Day voters are deciding which party will run the Virginia Senate for the next four years. Republicans hold a 21-to-19 majority but Democrats can take control by gaining one seat since they have the tiebreaking  vote in the person of Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam. With Republicans likely to maintain a large majority in the House of Delegates and Democrat Terry McAuliffe sitting in the governor’s mansion today’s outcome in the senate will have enormous implications for the direction of state government in the immediate future. More now from Fred Echols.

About 60 black students from middle schools and high schools throughout Central Virginia gathered recently for the second EMBODI conference in Charlottesville.  Jordy Yager was able to attend the day of workshops for this report on how local African-American leaders are striving to empower the next generation of young black men.

Spiders get their ‘fifteen minutes of fame’ every Halloween as one of the scary symbols of the holiday, but there’s nothing to be frightened of in this report. As Robbie Harris tells us, the webs they weave may hold the key to some new, environmentally safe products.

Virginia’s congressional delegation is divided over a bipartisan budget deal that greatly reduces any chance of a government shutdown for two years. Matt Laslo has this report from Washington on what’s dividing Virginia lawmakers.

Voters across Virginia will be heading to the polls next week. At stake? Each of the state’s 140 lawmakers that make up the General Assembly. You may not have heard much about it though, because many seats are uncontested and not generating much attention. But some state senate races are the exception. Who wins these races could determine the shape of Virginia politics for the next two years.

Opponents to natural gas pipelines in Virginia are calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to do a comprehensive review of all four of the proposed projects.  Robbie Harris has more.

The Virginia Department of Corrections has more than 30-thousand people locked up in state prisons, local and regional jails, each costing taxpayers an average of more than $32,000 a year.  Those who committed crimes after 1994 are not eligible for parole, but Governor Terry McAuliffe has appointed a commission to study that situation and make recommendations.  Sandy Hausman reports on the issues that group may tackle during its final meeting today.

If it’s been a while since you voted, you may notice some changes this Election Day.  Most precincts in Virginia on November 3rd will be using a mix of new machines-and one old tradition to count your ballot.  Joe Staniunas reports.

Last March Sweet Briar College’s then Board and President announced that due to insurmountable financial challenges the school was closing. The news not only shocked the small Amherst County liberal arts school but alumnae from across the country. They rallied, formed Saving Sweet Briar, and through legal action and a new board and president the school stayed open. Tab O’Neal reports that while the doors are open, the future holds a lot of challenges.

Doctors at the University of Virginia have developed a new test that can predict, at an early age, who is most likely to develop heart disease or diabetes, perhaps making it possible to head off those problems.  Sandy Hausman has that story.

VA NORML

Virginia’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws met this weekend to plot a strategy for decriminalizing the drug and legalizing it for medical use.  As Sandy Hausman reports, they hope to tip the balance in Virginia’s senate by targeting one lawmaker who opposes their cause.

Virginia Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte is pushing bipartisan legislation to overhaul the nation’s criminal justice system. Matt Laslo reports on the effort which has the support of the White House.

Charlottesville People’s Climate Action Rally, Virginia Cross

One year after a massive climate march in New York, thousands gathered in 170 cities across the nation – including Richmond, Roanoke, Warrenton and Charlottesville, where Sandy Hausman was listening.

Ann Butler of Edible Education fields questions from children at St. Andrew’s School, while also trying to control her chicken.

Virginia recently celebrated farm-to-school week, highlighting the connection between farmers around the state and what’s on the tray in the lunch line. But for one private school in Richmond, farm-to-table is more than just one week out of the year. Mallory Noe-Payne has the story of a lunch program that could be the model for something big.

Science plays a growing role in crime detection and prosecution, but experts at four universities say a lot can go wrong in the lab, and many people may be wrongly convicted based on bogus claims.  Now, the University of Virginia is joining three other schools to do research and share findings on the subject as Sandy Hausman reports.

For every 604 flights in this country, one will report a medical emergency. Credit blogs.nejm.org

The recent death of an American Airlines pilot on a flight from Phoenix to Boston made headlines. Medical emergencies on board commercial flights are rare, but when they occur, treatment can be difficult.  A University of Virginia physician thought it might be helpful to write an article on the subject.  Sandy Hausman looks at some key points he makes in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

Last week, Richmond County Board of Supervisors delayed their vote  on whether to grant Diatomite of America rezoning to build a commercial resort, championship golf course and more than 700 houses on 975 acres of pristine forests cliffs that overlook the Rappahannock River. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

The red line is the old route, the dotted blue line is the revised route.

There’s been strong public opposition to plans for a pipeline to carry natural gas 560 miles — from the fracking fields of West Virginia to customers in Virginia and North Carolina.  Now, Dominion Virginia Power says it will change the path of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline — a change that could affect property owners in Augusta County. Mallory Noe-Payne reports.

Bill Portlock/Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Fones Cliffs along the Rappahannock River in Richmond County is a favorite place for bald eagles to gather, to sleep, and to watch for their next meal in the river and marshes below. But a plan for a commercial development is pitting conservationists against entrepreneurs.

Virginia lawmakers say one topic that will again be discussed during the upcoming General Assembly session is improving healthcare in the Commonwealth. But that goal remains difficult when a large portion of the bright students who attend the state’s six medical schools are forced to move elsewhere due to a lack of residency slots. One critical point of discussion will be how to open up more slots AND pay for them.

With a changing of the guard afoot at the U-S Capitol, Speaker John Boehner’s sudden resignation is revealing deep disagreements within the Republican Party…and it’s on display in the Virginia congressional delegation. Matt Laslo reports.

In one month, Virginians will head to the polls to elect all 140 members of the House of Delegates and state Senate.  But according to a recent Christopher Newport University survey, only 34 percent of voters say they have followed news about the General Assembly candidates—even though partisan control of the closely divided Senate is at stake.  Although some of the seats are fiercely contested, a lack of competition throughout the state may be part of the problem.

Arlington recently opened a state-of-the-art homeless shelter. The facility occupies two floors of a county-owned building next to the courthouse. As Armando Trull with WAMU reports, the shelter reflects a compromise between Arlington’s goal to end homelessness and nearby property owners’ concerns about quality of life.

Associated Press

Virginia has begun distributing the funds from a $17.5 million federal grant to expand and enhance the Commonwealth’s early childhood education efforts.  Governor McAuliffe toured one of the schools that received money for its program and explained that the funds will be awarded to 11 high-need school divisions.

Virginia’s governor, attorney general, and public safety secretary marked the beginning of Domestic Violence Awareness Month by focusing on the number of homicides committed with guns. As Tommie McNeil reports, their message is that many of the Commonwealth’s domestic violence deaths last year—and many other fatalities—could have been prevented with several key gun control laws.

It’s rare these days for Republicans and Democrats in Congress to agree on anything, so it may come as a surprise to learn there is bi-partisan support for a bill to reclassify marijuana.  Matt Laslo explains why a Virginia Republican is leading that effort. 

Four Virginia colleges have hopped on board to try to streamline the college admissions process. University of Virginia, James Madison University, Virginia Tech and William & Mary will provide a new set of online application tools to high school students.  

This morning Governor McAuliffe, his chief of Environmental Quality, and the Secretary of Natural Resources traveled from Richmond to the northern tip of Virginia’s Eastern Shore to personally deliver a very special document, the first of its kind in the state. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Anyone working or living around Richmond can attest to the sizable impact of the UCI World Cycling Championships. But, beyond the road closures and massive crowds, some believe the race’s presence could leave a lasting impression on the region.

Children subjected to repeated trauma are significantly more likely to have high levels of chronic disease. That’s according to research findings presented to the Joint Commission on Health Care yesterday, which also looked at the effects of trauma on the young brain. The findings could result in a paradigm shift toward early diagnosis and treatment.

For the most part, the public knows the positions of each side in the battle over Medicaid expansion in Virginia—but what about the stakeholder organizations that provide services? They say they’re caught in the middle and would like to see some legislative movement before key services—and even hospitals themselves—become casualties in the battle over how to fund healthcare.

Although two federal cases have been on the front burner, the nonprofit organization, OneVirginia2021, has filed a lawsuit in STATE court that challenges 11 House of Delegates and state Senate districts as unconstitutionally gerrymandered.  Since the boundaries were drawn by the Democrat-led Senate and the GOP-dominated House, the group says both parties need to go back to the drawing board.

Some Virginia localities already use police body cameras at their own discretion. But as more consider utilizing the tool, the state’s Secure Commonwealth Panel is drafting recommendations to establish specific guidelines. However, the state ACLU has a little bit of a problem with how they’re going about it.

More than 500 people in Southside Virginia and northern North Carolina will be losing their jobs next September when MillerCoors Brewing shuts down beer production in Eden, North Carolina. In an announcement the company blamed loss of sales to craft brewers among other factors. Fred Echols reports.