Coastal wetlands off the Eastern Shore of Virginia. (Sarah Vogelsong / Virginia Mercury) Those puddles of water along highways and property that seem like swamps are wetlands, a natural resource with numerous environmental benefits ranging from wildlife habitat and protection from flooding. How those wetlands are sited and how they are protected is determined by wetland delineators, who are professionally certified after rigorous training and years of experience. But Virginia legislators this year rolled back one requirement for the job and are attempting further changes through a less public ..read more

Dominion is moving forward with plans to build new methane gas generating units in Chesterfield.(Photo courtesy of Dominion Energy) Following the General Assembly’s failure either to rein in the explosive growth of power-hungry data centers or to remove obstacles to increasing the supply of renewable energy in Virginia, a lot of people are wondering where we go from here.   Dominion Energy Virginia’s answer, as described in its 2023 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), is “build more fossil fuels.” The utility is pushing forward plans to build new methane gas generating units in Chesterf ..read more

The state Capitol. (Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury) “UMW students continue peaceful protest in support of Palestine after removing tents.” — Free Lance-Star “Protesters set up encampment at Virginia Tech.” — Roanoke Times “Ousted Portsmouth assessor sues for wrongful termination, alleges firing over golf course taxes. ”— Virginian-Pilot “Google announces $1B for data center expansion in Loudoun, Prince William counties.” — InsideNoVa “Virginia agrees to spend up to $12 million to attract Pharrell biopic filmed in Richmond, Hampton Roads.” — Virginian-Pilot The post Protests on Virgin ..read more

A Los Angeles resident, left, sets a banner on her home fence reading “Squatting is not the Answer,” across the street of a formerly vacant home that had been recently taken over by a group of homeless mothers in 2020. Four years later, a controversial TikTok has ignited the issue of squatting, and some lawmakers want to crack down on the practice. Damian Dovarganes/The Associated Press Across various news channels and outlets, a visceral fear of some property owners — that an unwanted guest could move into their vacant home, refuse to leave, and then claim ownership — has been a trending sto ..read more

Christina Bobb, right, speaking with then Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, left, at a "Save America" rally in 2022 in Florence, Arizona. (Photo by Gage Skidmore / Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0) Less than a week after the Republican National Committee unveiled a “historic” new program to monitor the polls for fraud, a top lawyer with the committee was among those indicted for an alleged scheme to use false fraud claims to overturn the results of Arizona’s presidential election. Indeed, the lawyer, RNC senior counsel for election integrity Christina Bobb, was scheduled to appear April 25 at an ..read more

AES Indiana’s Petersburg Generating Station in Petersburg, Indiana, has been burning coal since the 1960s but will shutter all of its coal-firing units over the next few years. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday released a sweeping set of rules aimed at cutting air, water and land pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants. (Robert Zullo/States Newsroom) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday released a sweeping set of rules aimed at cutting air, water and land pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants. Environmental and clean energy groups celebrated th ..read more

File cabinets. (Getty) One of the less noticed features of the Virginia Way is the long-running tendency of the commonwealth’s leaders to conduct their decision-making behind closed doors. While the Virginia Freedom of Information Act presumes all government business is by default public and requires officials to justify why exceptions should be made, too many Virginia leaders in practice take the opposite stance, acting as if records are by default private and the public must prove they should be handled otherwise. In this feature, we aim to highlight the frequency with which officials aroun ..read more

The state Capitol. (Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury) “ACLU of Virginia demands Department of Corrections ‘recalculate’ prison sentences after court ruling.” — WRIC “Pulaski town councilman charged with ethics and conflict of interest violations.” — Cardinal News “Charlottesville socialite pleads guilty to child sex crimes.”—Daily Progress “General Assembly updates relationships with federal Virginia Indian tribes.” — VPM “Girl Scout who created banned book nooks thanks Hanover for ‘censored’ Gold Award.” — Richmond Times-Dispatch The post ACLU wants prison sentences recalculated and more Virgin ..read more

An anti-Trump "kangaroo court" posed outside the Supreme Court while Trump v. United States was argued inside. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court appeared skeptical Thursday of former President Donald Trump’s argument he is immune from criminal charges that he tried to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. But conservatives who dominate the court appeared open to returning key questions to a trial court, possibly delaying Trump’s prosecution beyond the November election — and essentially assisting the former president as he fights legal challenges on ..read more

A rendering shows the casino project Bally's envisioned for Petersburg. (Image courtesy of Bally's) A week before the Petersburg City Council voted unanimously to pick Cordish Companies to potentially build a casino, City Manager John Altman Jr. signed a letter saying the city council intended to pick a competing company, according to a copy of the document obtained by The Virginia Mercury. The April 17 letter of intent addressed to Bally’s, a national casino company that was one of five finalists for the Petersburg project, said the pending deal would still depend on outside factors. However ..read more