Building up
Collaborative effort focuses on maritime job training
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Over the next several years, the Hampton Roads area will need about 8,000 more people ready to take skilled jobs in the maritime industry, officials at the Maritime Industrial Base Ecosystem estimate. Leaders from higher education and other organizations across the Hampton Roads area are stepping up to make sure those positions don’t go unfilled.
Larger shovel-ready sites key to success
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Workers with Franklin County-based Bowman Excavating Inc. have hauled off 250,000 cubic yards of dirt since beginning work last November on Wood Haven Technology Park in Roanoke County, according to Devin Bowman, company vice president. With 30 acres of trees cleared and load after load of dirt scooped away from the berm next to Interstate
Long Bridge expansion to speed up D.C.-Va. rail traffic
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Plans for constructing a $1.9 billion, two-track railroad bridge connecting Virginia to Washington, D.C. — doubling the number of tracks going across the Potomac River from the U.S. capital to the commonwealth — are chugging right along. “We’re now moving forward to advance the engineering design and that should be completed by 2023,” says Jennifer
Valley Health tells workers to get vaccinated
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Nicole Clark wants the nurses she supervises to do everything they can to keep themselves, their patients and co-workers safe from COVID-19. That means wearing personal protective equipment, social distancing, frequent hand washing — and getting vaccinated against the disease. Valley Health, a nonprofit health system that includes Winchester Medical Center and five other hospitals,
Theater project aims to put Wytheville in limelight
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Soon after Todd Wolford became executive director of community revitalization nonprofit Downtown Wytheville Inc. in 2015, he began seeking pictures of the Soda Shop, the Main Street hotspot his grandfather owned in the late ’50s and ’60s. After locating a couple photos of his grandfather’s packed establishment, Wolford had an epiphany: His job was to
State pushes broadband expansion into overdrive
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Early in his administration, Gov. Ralph Northam proposed an ambitious goal: achieving universal broadband connectivity statewide by 2028. In May and July, Northam and General Assembly leaders announced plans to speed up that timeline; instead, they aim to deliver broadband to most of Virginia in 18 months using $700 million from the $4.3 billion the
Clouds gathering over big solar farms in Va.?
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In recent years, many solar farms have been approved by local governments across the state, but the outlook in some areas isn’t so sunny anymore. In Frederick County, the Board of Supervisors’ rejection of a utility-scale solar project has led to a lawsuit. In April, Hollow Road Solar LLC and property owners National Fruit Orchards
G-Men headed for Springfield? Possibly.
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After being sidelined during the Trump administration, the plan to build a new FBI headquarters in the Washington, D.C., suburbs appears to be back on track. Earlier this year, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Democrats, and their Maryland counterparts wrote to President Joe Biden to request that the federal government choose one
Botetourt wind project hits resistance
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Apex Clean Energy Inc. continues working toward a day when wind turbines standing atop Botetourt County’s North Mountain might generate enough energy to power up to 21,000 homes each year. Dubbed Rocky Forge Wind, the proposed wind farm north of Eagle Rock would be Virginia’s first onshore wind project in operation. However, some residents have
Virginians bet $236M on sports for April
State government received $1.65 million in tax revenue
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Virginians bet $236 million on sports during April, the third full month for legal sports wagers in the commonwealth, according to data released Friday by the Virginia Lottery. Bettors made about $217 million between April 1-30. Virginians bet 22% less in April than in March when they wagered heavily on the NCAA Division I men’s