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No more outbreak details, Lynchburg sewage overflows, jail and prison visitation, and more headlines
NEWS TO KNOW Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. • Because of the expiration of Virginia’s declaration of emergency, the state Department of Health is no longer providing details on outbreaks in congregate settings. “During the emergency declaration there was more transparency; as that has expired we are no longer allowed to share any […]
Company pulls plug on proposed Charles City gas power plant
The company that had been pushing to build an 1,100-megawatt natural gas power plant in Charles City has announced it will abandon the project. “NOVI Energy cares deeply about the communities it serves and the affordable, reliable power facilities it helps build,” a communications firm representing the company told The Richmond Times-Dispatch, which reported the […]
Virginia is among 36 states accusing Google of anti-competitive practices
Virginia is among 36 states suing Google over allegations the tech firm is operating a monopoly with its app store and Google Billing. In the lawsuit, Utah v. Google, the states claim Google paid off competitors and used contracts to create a monopoly for its app store on Android phones and Google Billing. “Google has really become […]
Virginia Mercury wins honors in press competition
The Virginia Mercury took nine first-place awards and one of its journalists earned a top individual honor in the 2020 Virginia Press Association competition. Mercury reporter Ned Oliver was named the year’s outstanding journalist for his work covering how the COVID-19 pandemic affected Virginia’s most vulnerable people. That included stories about prisoners, workers who lost […]
After the insurrection, America’s far-right groups get more extreme, scholars say
As the U.S. grapples with domestic extremism in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, warnings about more violence are coming from the FBI Director Chris Wray and others. The Conversation asked Matthew Valasik, a sociologist at Louisiana State University, and Shannon E. Reid, a criminologist at the University of North […]
INBOX: 239,900 reasons to oppose new travel taxes in Virginia
To the Mercury: Midway through 2020, the United Nations announced that in just five short months, the global travel and tourism industry lost more than $320 billion — three times what was lost in 2009 at the height of the financial crisis. As we look to turn a corner in the pandemic, travel and tourism will […]
INBOX: The pandemic and poultry plants; Keeping out landfills
Poultry plants are protecting workers To the Mercury: Your recent article (Bill requiring public reporting of major outbreaks still alive, but Senate nixes emergency enactment) concerning a bill requiring the Virginia Department of Health to report COVID-19 “clusters” at Virginia worksites does not paint a complete picture of the poultry industry’s success in stopping the […]
Virginia votes: images from Election Day across the commonwealth
Virginia voters headed to the polls Tuesday for an Election Day shaped by a pandemic and fears of social unrest. As of late Tuesday afternoon, however, election officials were reporting a smooth process with few lines and no major malfunctions, incidents of voter intimidation or polling place conflict.
State regulators want conditions met before approving contentious gas project
In an order Friday, the Virginia State Corporation Commission imposed conditions that must be met before a contentious natural gas expansion project can proceed. Virginia Natural Gas has been seeking approval to expand its pipeline and compressor station infrastructure in Northern and Central Virginia, primarily to supply a natural gas-fired power plant proposed by C4GT, […]
Richmond’s largest Confederate statue is coming down. More could follow.
One of the Virginia’s largest memorials to the Confederacy is coming down, according to Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration. A senior administration official told the Associated Press that Northam will to announce plans Thursday to remove a state-owned, 60-foot tall statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Richmond’s Monument Avenue. Officials have not yet given […]
Major flooding in Roanoke, a strained state unemployment system, messages of hope from a NoVa hotel, and more headlines
NEWS TO KNOW Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. • After more than three days of constant rain, the Roanoke River was expected to swell to more than 16 feet early this morning, a level classified as a major flood. A pair of Roanoke neighborhoods and a motel have been evacuated and multiple […]
Virginia Mercury wins 11 first-place awards in press contest
The Virginia Mercury staff won 11 first-place awards in the 2019 Virginia Press Association contest, the first year the publication, launched in 2018, was eligible to compete. Reporters — including current staff writers Ned Oliver, Sarah Vogelsong and Graham Moomaw and former reporters Mechelle Hankerson and Katie O’Connor — won first-place awards for reporting on […]