Climbing child poverty rates and more Virginia headlines

• Child poverty rates are climbing in Virginia, according to recently released U.S. Census data.—WVTF

• Data centers have signed agreements with Dominion to use the equivalent of 35% of the peak electricity demand seen during last year’s Christmas cold snap, which used a record amount of the utility’s power.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• “The U.S. government has warned a Virginia judge that allowing an American Marine to keep an Afghan war orphan risks violating international law and could be viewed around the world as ‘endorsing an act of international child abduction,’ according to secret court records reviewed by The Associated Press.”—Associated Press

• Electric cooperatives and several Virginia lawmakers say that despite a state law passed during the last legislative session, railroads are still stalling broadband expansion by taking months to approve coop applications to pass fiber-optic cable across tracks.—Cardinal News

• Despite state law calling for defendants in criminal cases to be released on bail unless there’s cause to believe they will flee or pose a danger to themselves or others, defense attorneys say that in Hampton Roads, magistrates are denying many people bond even if their offense is minor and they have no criminal or violent history.—Virginian-Pilot