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What Virginia’s congressional delegation has to say about U.S. military action in Venezuela
Democrats criticized the use of force without congressional authorization, while Republicans have supported it.
Politics
Then & Now politics: USAID cuts at Virginia Tech, transportation museum study, Appomattox polling places, food bank funding
Virginia Tech research jobs spared despite USAID shutdown. Study about converting transportation museum to state agency still in limbo. Appomattox closes 1 voting precinct, takes no action on second. Martinsville-area food pantries continue to weather federal storms.
Local
Henry County supervisors hold organizational meeting for 2026
The country board meets Friday afternoon to firm up its rules of procedure as it looks to a new year.
Culture
Then & Now: Work on Fishburn Park coffee shop picks up again following fire that destroyed owners’ van company
Keri and Justin VanBlaricom hope to open Fishburn Perk by the end of 2026.
education
Then & Now education: Roanoke’s Excel Center, SOL score changes, C.B. Claiborne documentary
Initial students at Goodwill high school for adults nearing graduation. SOL test cut score increases to phase in over 4 years. Mini-documentary about Duke’s first Black basketball player, C.B. Claiborne of Danville, continues screening; plans for full-length project still underway.
eCONOMY
Then & Now business and technology: Broadband vs. railroads, Carter Bank and the Justice family, missing Radford arsenal chemicals, Project VITAL funding
Courts disarm state law to speed broadband crossing railroads, but federal lawmakers propose bill to address the issue. Justices still paying down Carter Bank loans. More than a year after flooding from Hurricane Helene, three totes of chemicals from the Radford arsenal are still missing. Southwest Virginia tech concerns enact programs from $5 million Project…
OPinion
Should students have to pay fees to support intercollegiate sports? Here’s what readers have to say.
Some say “definitely.” Others say “idiotic.”
Health Care
Virginia set to receive $189.5 million from federal Rural Health Transformation Fund, but experts worry about rapid rollout, yearly reassessment and sustainability
Congress created the fund to offset cuts to Medicaid and other programs included in the federal spending bill passed in July.
news briefs
Headlines from across the state: Federally Qualified Health Centers in Virginia sue state for low Medicaid reimbursements; more …
From elsewhere: Influenza is spiking in Virginia, but other states have it worse. Virginia law limiting kids’ social media takes effect. VMI hires Carson-Newman’s Ingram as football coach.
Sports
Former Major Leaguer Bradley, Salem GM Lawrence lead inductees into Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame
Other inductees are former Christiansburg star Drew Bailey, former Salem High School coach Wes McMillan and former Liberty High School star Donald Minnick.
WEATHER
Lots of variable weather in 2025, but not nearly as destructive as the year before
The top 10 weather stories of 2025 begin with a February stretch that could have made up nearly half the list separated into its different inclement weather types.
Cardinal 250
Norfolk was burned, the only American city destroyed during the revolution; 250 years later, controversy remains over who ordered its destruction
The conflagration was a decisive propaganda victory for the Patriots, but there’s evidence, suppressed at the time, that they actually ordered the burning.
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