-
3 weeks ago | 
bayjournal.com | Lauren Hines-Acosta
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin finished reviewing more than 900 bills, including the state budget, on March 24. The state General Assembly will reconvene on April 2 to examine his decisions. Data centers, which house computers that enable internet use, were a focal point during this legislative session. Of the 30 introduced bills trying to regulate them, only two made it past the General Assembly and the governor.
-
4 weeks ago | 
bayjournal.com | Lauren Hines-Acosta
Ashley Ranalli’s favorite spot at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park was the cemetery. As a park ranger, she would dig through archives and learn about buried Union soldiers, like William Tinker, whose story she could share with visitors. But then she was laid off. “My connection with Tinker, my connection with the land, my service to that land was and is my most favorite thing that I’ve done with my life,” Ranalli said.
-
1 month ago | 
bayjournal.com | Lauren Hines-Acosta
Serina Wittyngham has spent countless hours in the muddy marshes of Virginia’s Eastern Shore studying purple marsh crabs and their favorite meal, smooth cordgrass — aka Spartina alterniflora. Early on, she wasn’t sure how the growing population of these one-inch-wide critters was influencing the coastal ecosystem, but she would soon have some answers. And it turns out they are more of a threat to the atmosphere than they are to the marshes they inhabit.
-
1 month ago | 
bayjournal.com | Lauren Hines-Acosta
About two miles east of the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond is a five-acre, grass-covered hill that some might see as a graveyard for years’ worth of trash. But Richmond officials see the former landfill site as an opportunity to bring solar energy to the city — at a time when citizens, towns and counties around the state have been opposing new solar projects.
-
1 month ago | 
bayjournal.com | Lauren Hines-Acosta
Virginia saw a busy 45-day session with lines of residents stretching out the door ready to speak with legislators at the General Assembly building. Now, the Capitol is quiet as everyone waits to hear what will make it past the governor’s desk. Lawmakers hotly debated how to meet the state’s increasing energy demand while achieving state clean energy goals. Meanwhile, many natural resource efforts, including state funds for environmental issues, found bipartisan support.
-
1 month ago | 
bayjournal.com | Lauren Hines-Acosta
Shelton Tucker spent his childhood in the community of Aberdeen Gardens in Hampton, VA, helping his father manage a garden on the family’s property. Fifty years later, Tucker’s hands rarely touch dirt, and flooding is encroaching on his neighbors’ backyards. But Tucker and other community members plan to change that by revitalizing both the community’s landscape and its culture. Aberdeen Gardens was created as one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal projects.
-
1 month ago | 
chesapeakebaymagazine.com | Lauren Hines-Acosta
The Patawomeck Indian Tribe recently acquired 870 acres of its ancestral homeland along the Rappahannock River in Spotsylvania and Caroline counties, in Virginia. The tribe will be permanent stewards of the property. This will be the second time the tribe has acquired land in the last six months. The state gave the tribe funding in November to acquire an initial 14 acres along the same river. The most recently acquired site has forests, wetlands and a river shoreline.
-
1 month ago | 
bayjournal.com | Lauren Hines-Acosta
The Patawomeck Indian Tribe acquired 870 acres of its ancestral homeland along the Rappahannock River in Spotsylvania and Caroline counties, VA, on Jan. 27. This will be the second time the tribe has acquired land in the last six months. The state gave the tribe funding in November to acquire 14 acres along the same river. The more recently acquired site has forests, wetlands and a river shoreline.
-
1 month ago | 
bayjournal.com | Lauren Hines-Acosta
A Virginia bill to fund a study of Atlantic menhaden in state waters was left in the House Committee on Rules on Feb. 4. The state’s legislative session ended Feb. 22, marking the official end to the bill. This was the second time the committee denied it. Menhaden are fatty fish that act as a food source for wildlife throughout the Chesapeake Bay, including osprey and striped bass. Anglers also use them for bait.
-
1 month ago | 
bayjournal.com | Lauren Hines-Acosta
The Virginia Department of Forestry is issuing more than $2.3 million in grants to help 60 localities support forested land in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The department gave each of the localities $35,000 on average. The awardees can use the funding for public education, outdoor recreation or forest conservation projects. “Maintaining land for forest use provides many natural resource and economic benefits,” Matthew Lohr, state secretary of agriculture and forestry, said in a statement.
