Virginia Public Radio

Two Virginia counties now know exactly where one of them ends and the other begins, something that hasn’t been clear for almost 200 years. And elementary school students in another county are getting a chance to make better use of their time on the bus.

Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link.

More now from Fred Echols.

Credit onnola/flickr.com/CC

Virginia’s air quality has been a topic of debate in recent years, as environmentalists have clashed with business interests.

Meanwhile, as Michael Pope reports the quality of Virginia’s air has suffered.

(Credit: Rog Cogswell/Creative Commons)

The Democratic Party seems to be moving to the left with most of its high-profile presidential candidates embracing proposals like Medicare for All.

But Virginia Democrats are resisting the trend, as correspondent Matt Laslo reports from Washington.  

More than a million Virginians were born in another country.

Those immigrants are just the latest in a long line of people who have shaped the state.

As Mallory Noe-Payne reports, their stories are being highlighted in an exhibit at the Library of Virginia.

Trees are big money in Virginia, generating some $21 billion each year, according to the state department of Forestry.

Another $6.6 billion is attributed to forest contribution to air and water quality.

Now, the city of Virginia Beach is looking at the value of the city’s forests as one solution to their flooding problems caused by climate change and the region’s sinking lands.

Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Credit: dcJohn / Flickr

Many school districts across the country remain largely segregated by race.

Nationally, nonwhite school districts get $23 billion less in funding than white districts do.

But as Mallory Noe-Payne tells us, Virginia actually bucks that trend.

  A Utah company hopes to cover about 3,500 acres in Spotsylvania County with solar panels like these.   (Credit National Renewable Energy Lab)

A group called Conservatives for Clean Energy recently surveyed 500 Virginia voters and found 72% want more emphasis on solar power here.

But as developers share plans with the public, they’re finding plenty of resistance.

Sandy Hausman reports on why some people object to solar arrays and whether their fears are founded.

  Carla Finkielstein and Xianlin Zou compare notes in the laboratory.
(Credit Virginia Tech)

A new discovery finds that timing is everything when it comes to preventing and treating cancer.

Scientists at Virginia Tech are the first to confirm the important role our body’s internal clocks play in whether we are more prone to develop the disease.

Robbie Harris reports.

Two more coal burning power plants have gone offline in Virginia as producers move toward other fuels…and passenger rail service is growing in the state thanks largely to public investment in private companies. 

Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link. 

More now from Fred Echols.

(Credit: John Brighenti / Flickr)

Washington gets a lot of bad publicity for partisan gridlock, and there’s certainly a lot of that.

But two freshman Virginia lawmakers from different parties are working together to crack down on financial crimes.

Michael Pope reports.

Richmond’s Mayor is proposing a hike in the city’s real estate tax. He says the money is needed for schools and infrastructure.

And as Mallory Noe-Payne reports, in recent years real estate taxes have risen across the state.

  Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church parishioner Luc DeWulf shows Bill Larme how the solar generator meter works.  The church recently installed solar panels on its roof.
(Credit Michael Pope)

Virginia hasn’t traditionally had a great reputation for renewable sources of energy.

But the solar industry is now booming in Virginia.

Michael Pope sheds some light on the numbers.

(Credit: Rog Cogswell/CC via flickr.com)

Virginia’s newly elected Democrats in Congress are hoping to re-write the rules for elections and campaign finance.

Michael Pope reports.

A map of at-risk sites in the James River watershed
(Credit: Center for Progressive Reform)

In Richmond late last month, the James River flooded to more than 16 feet, its highest since 2010.

A new report looks at another danger to communities when the James floods –contaminants from industrial areas along the river.
Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Rep. Bobby Scott

Lawmakers in Richmond rejected efforts to raise the minimum wage this year. But now Congress is considering raising the federal minimum wage.

And as Michael Pope, a Virginia congressman is leading the effort.

Gov. Ralph Northam

Governor Ralph Northam is slowly and quietly getting out and about.

Mallory Noe-Payne was at his latest public appearance in Richmond Tuesday and has this report.

Republicans have controlled Virginia’s House of Delegates for almost two decades.  At the height of their power they outnumbered Democrats two-to-one.

But shifting demographics and a fierce backlash to President Trump has put the party on defense.

Mallory Noe-Payne has this look at what Republicans did with what some predict may be their final year in the majority.

Attorney General Mark Herring (Credit: Commonwealth of Virginia)

Attorney General Mark Herring says he did not call on Governor Ralph Northam to resign because of blackface, but because the Governor flip-flopped on his story.

Mallory Noe-Payne has more.

There are two places in Virginia dealing with invasive outsiders this winter. One is being inundated by bears while legions of real estate speculators have come to the other.

Those have been among the most frequently read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link.

More now from Fred Echols.

Credit: justgrimes / Creative Commons

Don’t look now but another election is coming in just three months.

Michael Pope has this preview of the primary season.

Ethan Zuckerman, co-founder of Blue Ridge Bucha, in the brewery’s taproom (Credit: Sandy Hausman)

Virginia is for drinkers – or so it seems with all the wineries, breweries and cideries that have opened here.

And when you’re tired of those beverages, a company in Waynesboro is offering an award-winning alternative.

Sandy Hausman reports on Blue Ridge Bucha.

The end of the General Assembly session last weekend means the beginning of the campaign season.

Michael Pope has this preview.

Credit: alamosbasement / Flickr

School safety was at the top of everyone’s minds this legislative session.

Mallory Noe-Payne has this roundup of what passed and what didn’t.

Gov. Ralph Northam

We’ve heard from many voices about the racist photos on Governor Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page and his use of blackface.

Civil Rights advocates on the Eastern Shore, where Northam grew up, say the peninsula’s history and community shed light on what happened and how Northam might move forward.

Pamela D’Angelo talked with several leaders in the African American community there.

Partisan gerrymandering in Virginia politics may soon be a thing of the past.

But as Michael Pope reports, the long fight to get there still has at least another year to go.

It was a quiet end to anything but a quiet 2019 General Assembly session.

Mallory Noe-Payne reports.

New research indicates that at least one Chesapeake Bay species could benefit from warmer temperatures… and the school superintendent in Halifax County has seen more than enough student videos on social media.

Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link.

More now from Fred Echols.

Some of the Richmond 34 are honored on the floor of the House of Delegates.

In 1960 a group of teenagers from Virginia Union University staged a sit-in at a downtown Richmond department store. Thirty-four of them were arrested.

As Mallory Noe-Payne reports, the group was honored Friday and their records were finally expunged.

Lawmakers in Richmond are putting the final touches on a budget deal as the General Assembly session comes to an end this weekend.

Michael Pope reports.

  Kidaya with RISE for Youth speaks with Delegate Aird. (Credit Mallory Noe-Payne)

At Virginia’s state house, lobbyists are everywhere. They meet with lawmakers, help draft bills and testify in committees.

Reporter Mallory Noe-Payne spent one day this week with a surprising group of lobbyists: Teenagers who have successfully convinced lawmakers to close one of the state’s juvenile prisons.