Cover Story
Your 2022 guide to Virginia politics
General Assembly preview: The great divide Will split legislature lead to gridlock or compromise? Interview: The outsider Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin talks 2022 priorities Politics: A dramatic shift Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s tenure was progressive, eventful Interview: Looking Back Q&A with exiting Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam
Opinion
Media matters
Published
It’s hard to have a conversation about anything in the headlines, especially anything to do with technology or politics, without some blame being assigned to “the media,” as if there were one enormous unified communications cloud shaping all our collective thoughts. That would be enormous for certain, but the media is perhaps more consolidated than
From This Issue
Better together
Williamsburg, York, James City combine forces
Published
“Cooperation” is a word Jim Noel uses a lot these days when speaking about the Greater Williamsburg region, which encompasses the city of Williamsburg and York and James City counties. As York County’s economic development director, Noel has watched as one of the most historically significant areas of the nation has worked to revive and
UVA | NOVA plans signal major regional expansion
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The University of Virginia has big plans for continued expansion in Northern Virginia, with more details to come early this year on where U.Va. will be developing new programs within the region. Negotiations with prospective partners were ongoing as of early December 2021, school officials said. The university’s expanded presence for both degree and non-degree
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United Way launches child care initiative
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The gap between the need for child care and its availability and accessibility is nearly three times higher than the state average in Southwest Virginia, where parents lack child care services for more than 7,000 children under age 5, according to a 2019 report from the Bipartisan Policy Center. Child care is not cost-effective for
HRBT expansion boring? Yes and no
Published
Already the largest project ever tackled by the Virginia Department of Transportation, the $3.8 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion will kick into gear later this year when a $70 million custom-built tunnel boring machine (TBM) begins carving out an underwater path for twin two-lane tunnels. Construction on the HRBT expansion, which will increase tunnel and
Daikin dojos offer workforce training
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In the U.S., the Japanese word “dojo” generally refers to a martial arts training space, but in recent years, the term’s also been adopted in business for workforce development. In October 2021, Daikin Applied, a Minneapolis-based commercial HVAC equipment manufacturer, expanded the training dojo program at its Verona production facility, doubling the number of welding
Out & About
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The longest year
Despite pandemic, two hospitals get top marks from patients
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Amid some of the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia’s patient satisfaction rate fell slightly in an annual nationwide survey, and just two hospitals in the commonwealth received top marks from their patients. Overall, Virginia patient satisfaction lagged the national average by 3% in 2020. The patient satisfaction scores come from the annual Hospital
Bedford lays tracks for possible Amtrak stop
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Leigh Ann Ellis is all aboard for Amtrak to begin stopping in the town of Bedford. In the past, Ellis, a journalism teacher at Bedford County’s Staunton River High School, had her students board the train in Lynchburg for field trips to New York or Washington, D.C. For students who live in Goodview, on the
Need for speed
Developers race to build warehouses amid site shortage
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Geoff Poston likens the current market for building, buying and leasing warehouses and distribution centers to the mid-1800s California Gold Rush: Everybody wants in. Poston, vice president of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Hampton Roads industrial group, says demand has never been greater for industrial real estate, creating a tight market with low vacancy. “The
A dramatic shift
Gov. Ralph Northam’s tenure was progressive, eventful
Published
Four years ago, no one would have guessed Gov. Ralph Northam would lead the most progressive Virginia administration in modern memory. A native of Onancock on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, as well as a pediatric neurologist and Army veteran, Virginia’s 73rd governor was eyed by some Democrats with suspicion after acknowledging he’d voted twice for President