VIRGINIA HAS $3.7 BILLION DEAL TO EXPAND RAIL SERVICE BETWEEN RICHMOND AND WASHINGTON

Trains will run almost every hour between Washington and Richmond — including Main Street Station downtown — within 10 years under a deal between Virginia and CSX Corp. that will open the gateway for expanded rail service in the region and other parts of the state. The blockbuster $3.7 billion agreement that Gov. Ralph Northam and CSX announced Thursday will give Virginia control over hundreds of miles of railroad track

VIRGINIA TO BUILD LONG BRIDGE AND ACQUIRE CSX RIGHT OF WAY TO EXPAND PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE

Virginia will build a new rail bridge over the Potomac River connecting Arlington and the District to significantly expand commuter and passenger train service over the next decade, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced Thursday. The state will own the new two-track span, to be constructed alongside the aged and overburdened Long Bridge. It will allow a 75 percent increase in frequency of Virginia Rail Express commuter trains and a doubling of Amtrak service between the District and Richmond, officials said.

NORTHAM PROMISES MORE VRE, AMTRAK TRAINS WITH $3.7B DEAL

Gov. Ralph Northam announced a $3.7 billion public-private agreement Thursday to build a new passenger-only Long Bridge that would separate Amtrak, Virginia Railway Express and CSX freight trains that currently share a busy crossing over the Potomac River. The deal is expected to vastly increase the number of trains VRE will be able to offer commuters, including the addition of weekend service.

VIRGINIA TO BOOST PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE TO DC

Virginia is planning a $3.7 billion effort to boost passenger rail service between the state and Washington, D.C. as part of an effort to lessen congestion in one of the country's worst areas for traffic. Gov. Ralph Northam announced a plan Thursday that includes building a new bridge across the Potomac River into Washington and acquiring track from freight train operator CSX. He said the investment would remove 5 million cars and 1 million trucks from highways and lessen gridlock in the northern suburbs and Interstate 95.

OUT OF 8.2 MILLION VEHICLES INSPECTED IN VA. LAST YEAR, NEARLY 20% HAD DEFECTS

Almost one out of every five vehicles inspected in Virginia last year had defects that required immediate repairs or a rejection sticker, according to Virginia State Police data. This week, Gov. Ralph Northam proposed scrapping state-mandated vehicle safety inspections, drawing new focus to a decades-old program meant to ensure cars travelling Virginia roads are in reliable condition.

GOV. NORTHAM PROPOSES ELIMINATING STATE VEHICLE INSPECTIONS, BUT CRITICS SAY ROADS WILL BE LESS SAFE

Drivers may be able to pump the breaks on their next vehicle inspection. Governor Ralph Northam is proposing to eliminate vehicle safety inspections in the 2020-2022 budget. He says it will save Virginians about $150 million each year.

INCOMING VA. HOUSE SPEAKER SAYS DEMOCRATS ARE CONSIDERING A CAPITOL GUN BAN FOR 2020 SESSION

Gun-rights advocates are planning what they hope will be a historic rally at the Virginia Capitol next month. But they may have to leave their guns at home. Incoming House of Delegates Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn confirmed Thursday that Democrats have discussed the possibility of banning guns on Capitol Square through the rules resolutions that will be one of the first orders of business when new Democratic majorities convene in Richmond.

LAWMAKER HOPEFUL FOR FULL REPEAL OF LICENSE LAW

Melissa Adams is behind the wheel of her car again six years after having her driver’s license suspended because of unpaid court debt. “It makes all the difference in the world that I can actually get to work and back, take my son somewhere,

LEGISLATORS TALK INITIATIVES FOR 2020 SESSION AT UVA

Three Central Virginia legislators met with constituents on Thursday to outline some of the initiatives they plan to tackle in the upcoming General Assembly session. Del.-elect Sally Hudson, D-Charlottesville, and Sens. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, and Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, spoke at a legislative session at the University of Virginia.

RUNION SPONSORS BILL PROTECTING DISABLED FROM SEXUAL ABUSE

The first bill by Delegate-elect Chris Runion, R-Bridgewater, has made it through the Virginia Legislative Information System. The Arc of Virginia promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and development disabilities while actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetime, according to its website.

CRUZ ENDORSES FREITAS TO FACE SPANBERGER IN 7TH

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has endorsed Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, who is seeking the Republican nomination to run for Congress next year in the 7th District. Freitas is one of seven Republicans seeking the chance to run against Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th.

VIRGINIA PRISON THREATENS TO PERMANENTLY BAN WOMEN FROM VISITING LOVED ONES IF THEY DON’T CONSENT TO STRIP SEARCHES

Four women say officials at Buckingham Correctional Institution told them they had to consent to a strip search immediately after detection dogs alerted guards to the presence of drugs or they would lose all visitation rights.

VIRGINIA VOTERS ALMOST EVENLY SPLIT ON TRUMP IMPEACHMENT ACCORDING TO NEW POLL

Virginia voters are nearly evenly split on whether President Donald Trump should be impeached and removed from office, but more disapprove of his job performance than approve of it, according to a new poll. While 49% of respondents statewide support Trump’s impeachment, 48% oppose it and 3% are unsure, according to the survey from Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy.

VIRGINIA’S SENATORS AIM TO ENSURE ‘FAIR AND HONEST’ IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

President Donald Trump became just the third president in history to be impeached by Congress this week. The House of Representatives passed two articles of impeachment late Wednesday night, almost strictly along party-lines: Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress. What comes next is somewhat up in the air.

PRINCE WILLIAM’S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION DIVIDED ON TRUMP’S IMPEACHMENT

Prince William County’s congressional delegation voted along party lines on Wednesday’s historic vote to impeach President Donald J. Trump on articles accusing the president of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Reps. Gerald Connolly and Jennifer Wexton, both Democrats, voted in favor of both articles of impeachment while Rep. Rob Wittman, a Republican, voted against them.

MENHADEN FISHERY TO BE SHUT DOWN IN VIRGINIA IF COMPANY CONTINUES OVERFISHING, SECRETARY OF COMMERCE SAYS

The nation’s secretary of commerce on Thursday said he will shut down Virginia’s menhaden fishery if Omega Protein doesn’t comply with federal quotas by June 17. Federal fisheries managers recently found the commonwealth “out of compliance” for allowing the company to surpass the bay quota.

FISH OIL FIRM MAY BE BARRED FROM FISHING IN CHESAPEAKE BAY

The Trump Administration is threatening to effectively ban a company that makes fish oil pills from fishing in the Chesapeake Bay over mounting concerns from regulators, governors and environmental groups about overfishing. Earlier this year, the company Omega Protein exceeded harvest limits in the bay by more than 30% on a bony and oily fish called Atlantic menhaden.

MASSIVE GAINESVILLE DATA CENTER LATEST SIGN OF GROWING NICHE IN PRINCE WILLIAM DEVELOPMENT

Although data centers are well established in Prince William County, several new centers have been approved in recent weeks, and one planned in Gainesville could increase the industry’s square feet in the county by well over 50%. Gainesville Crossing is expected to build a data center with up to 3 million square feet of space north of Interstate 66 and south of U.S. Route 29. The county recently put the total size of existing data centers at 5.2 million square feet.

ATLANTIC BROADBAND BRINGS INTERNET TO THE REGION

Local, state and federal government representatives met in King William Thursday to celebrate the long-awaited activations giving citizens access to high-speed internet, phone and cable services in parts of King William, King and Queen and Caroline counties.

EX-BLACKJEWEL CEO SEEKS REPAYMENT FOR FLIGHT, LOANS

With his coal mining business low on cash and days from bankruptcy, Blackjewel LLC founder and former Chief Executive Jeff Hoops Sr. flew his private plane to Wyoming to deliver hundreds of cashiers checks to workers there after a bank halted payroll.

METRO AND VIRGINIA KICK OFF MAJOR CONSTRUCTION ON POTOMAC YARD METRO STATION

Major construction on the Potomac Yard Metro is officially underway and the station is on track for a spring 2022 opening, officials said. Metro and the City of Alexandria are celebrating a groundbreaking for the $320 million station Thursday, kicking off two more years of construction on a project officials hope will turn the area around it into a vibrant community with offices, housing and retail.

LIVE ANIMAL USE FOR MEDICAL TRAINING AT U.VA. DRAWS COMPLAINTS FROM PHYSICIANS GROUP

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine — a national nonprofit with more than 12,000 doctors — filed a federal complaint last week against the University for their use of live animals in general surgery resident training. Following a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, PCRM obtained documents that reveal the University’s “Surgical Training for General Surgery Residents” lab is approved to use 32 live pigs per year.

PETERSBURG BOND RATING INCREASES

The city’s leadership announced a financial milestone, something that has been hard to come by for the city, just four years after a complete financial meltdown. Petersburg’s bond credit rating has increased from BB+ to BBB- under S&P Global credit agency.

LAWSUIT HALTS REMOVAL OF FREDERICKSBURG'S SLAVE AUCTION BLOCK

Two local companies have filed a petition in Fredericksburg Circuit Court to stop the removal of the controversial slave auction block from the corner of Charles and William streets.

EMBEZZLEMENT SCANDAL LEAVES DARK CLOUD OVER 2019

A lot can happen in 365 days. A year ago today, Jennifer McDonald resigned as the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority’s executive director after a decade on the job. ... Ron Llewellyn, who served on the EDA board for nearly a decade, said that letter “was the thing that rang everyone’s bell, at least it rang mine.”

CONTROVERSIAL WIND FARM TAKES SMALL TURN FORWARD

Defenders and detractors filled the auditorium Thursday as the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors prepared to consider moving forward a tiny step in the complex process of allowing a company to construct a wind farm atop North Mountain.

IN CONTRADICTORY MOVE, ZONING BOARD APPROVES THREE GAMING MACHINE APPLICATIONS IN DANVILLE

Some Danville convenience stores seeking to resume operating skilled gaming machines are taking a different legal approach than their counterparts, and it seems to be working. While more than a dozen applications for special use permits to operate the machines have bounced back and forth between the Danville Planning Commission and city council, five convenience stores went to the board of zoning appeals

PRINCE EDWARD DECLARED A SECOND AMENDMENT SANCTUARY

At its Dec. 17 meeting the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of declaring Prince Edward County as a Second Amendment sanctuary, meaning that the board expressed its intent to uphold the Second Amendment rights of the citizens of the county and declared its intent to oppose any infringement on the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.

RICHMOND COUNTY: SECOND AMENDMENT SANCTUARY

Gun rights supporters turned out to hear the Board of Supervisors declare Richmond County a Second Amendment Sanctuary. It was standing room only in the Public Meeting Room, and the crowd spilled into the corridor of the County Office Building.

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY DECLARED A SECOND AMENDMENT SANCTUARY

Bearing orange “Guns Save Lives” stickers proudly on their chests, over 150 members of the community filled the Northumberland courthouse last Thursday for a public hearing on a resolution to make the county a Second Amendment sanctuary.

LANCASTER COUNTY ADOPTS RESOLUTION TO PROTECT SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS

With residents overflowing the board meeting room, the Lancaster board of supervisors on December 12 voted 5-0 to pass a resolution affirming the board’s support of the “rights ensured and protected by the Constitutions of the U.S. and Virginia, including the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.”

ISLE OF WIGHT CONSTITUTIONAL COUNTY

As of Thursday, Isle of Wight became the latest Virginia county to adopt an official resolution declaring its opposition to a series of proposed gun laws that may be passed when the now Democratic-majority General Assembly convenes in 2020. ... Isle of Wight's Board of Supervisors, however, chose not to use the phrase “Second Amendment sanctuary,” when passing their own resolution, instead proclaiming the locality to be a “Constitutional County.”

ACCOMACK STOPS SHORT OF SECOND AMENDMENT SANCTUARY STATUS

Accomack officials on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve a resolution in support of gun rights — but the resolution did not name the county as a Second Amendment sanctuary, as some speakers at a meeting requested.

STATE SHOULD IMPROVE COMPENSATION FOR SAFETY PERSONNEL

The state’s workers’ compensation system is both unusually strict in its requirements and often unresponsive to claims even after employees have met the requirements, a state study has found. Now it’s up to the General Assembly to correct these deficiencies by statute.

PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO KNOW

An incident at Maury High School in Norfolk last week should alarm residents of the region, not only because of what happened but because of the haphazard manner in which information was released to the public.

WHY APPOMATTOX COUNTY IS WRONG ON REFUGEES

Appomattox County, whose Board of Supervisors had previously declared the county a “Second Amendment sanctuary,” has now voted not to become a “refugee sanctuary.” This is a curious decision, seeing as how Appomattox has never been a big destination for refugees nor shows any signs of becoming one in the future.

RED, BLUE, OR PURPLE

Not since 2009 when the McDonnell ticket -- Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli -- swept the three statewide offices has the Republican Party shown electoral strength across the Old Dominion. True, not until this year, when Democrats seized control of both houses of the General Assembly, had the Republicans surrendered dominance in the Legislature. Thus, a debate could still rage as to whether Virginia was a "red" state, a "blue" state, or, more likely, a "purple" state. The debate is, to all intents and purposes, over. The Commonwealth, with its two Democratic senators, a Democratic majority in its House delegation, and party control of the state executive and legislative branches, has now been branded a "blue" state. With good and perhaps, indisputable reason.

KAINE: TOBACCO AGE BILL SAVES LIVES

223,000. That’s how many lives will likely be saved because Congress raised the nationwide age to buy tobacco products this week. The National Academy of Medicine studied the matter in 2015 and reached that conclusion,

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, has served since 2013.

‘MISS AMERICA CAN BE A SCIENTIST’: CAMILLE SCHRIER OF VIRGINIA WINS AFTER ONSTAGE CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT

The Miss America competition has had a rocky couple of years, public relations-wise, but the annual show returned to NBC on Thursday night and doubled down on its new message: This is Miss America 2.0. In other words: Instead of bikinis or evening gowns, the focus is on interviews and social impact initiatives. For the second year in a row, the competition stayed away from even alluding to physical appearance. So it was quite fitting for this revamped show that the winner (of the crown and $50,000 scholarship) was Miss Virginia Camille Schrier, a 24-year-old scientist studying to earn a doctor of pharmacy degree at Virginia Commonwealth University. She certainly stole the show during the talent portion — as the other four finalists performed jazz dances, twirled batons and sang songs, Schrier put on a chemistry demonstration.