Last day to sign up for the third annual Cardinal Way: Civility Rules luncheon at 12 p.m. this Friday, April 3 featuring Virginia House leadership. Tickets are $25
Center in the Square: Institution to attraction?
Center in the Square opened in downtown Roanoke in the 1980s with a goal of providing nonprofits with rent-free space. That approach has shifted in recent years.
Politics
Republicans protested the number of tax bills introduced during the 2026 legislative session. Few passed the Democrat-controlled General Assembly.
Democrats hold a trifecta of power but axed most of the bills that could raise taxes or establish new taxes as they seek to alleviate the impact of the nationwide affordability crisis on Virginians.
Local
Volunteers plant over 2,400 trees in Blacksburg and Radford for the Big Plant
Planting trees has multigenerational benefits to a community’s well-being. The Big Plant has been planting trees to protect watersheds since 2019.
Culture
Beyond the cardinal numbers: Have you heard about the state bird?
A swooping survey of all things cardinal.
education
Roanoke City School Board approves preliminary budget in preparation of cuts
The school board’s budget is not final and does not yet detail cuts to programs or personnel that will need to be made in the upcoming fiscal year, but it did include 2% raises for RCPS employees.
eCONOMY
Google says it will break ground on Botetourt data center campus in coming months
The tech giant bought more than 300 acres at the county’s Greenfield industrial park for $14 million last June.
OPinion
Williams: Virginia doesn’t need a cabinet position on energy. It needs a different energy law.
An honest Chief Energy Officer would have to say what this administration is not positioned to say: the VCEA’s mandatory retirement of reliable generation on a fixed statutory timetable, against a backdrop of exploding data center demand, is structurally incompatible with affordable electricity.
news briefs
Headlines from across the state: Bill aims to reinforce ‘bell-to-bell’ cellphone ban in Virginia schools; more …
From elsewhere: Coal operator files for bankruptcy; owes millions to localities in Virginia, Kentucky. Martinsville removes gunshot detection system after grant ends. New details emerge in Hampton Roads heath care fraud investigation.
Sports
‘Martinsville Missile’ sets a new land speed record for a stock car
With a Henry County driver behind the wheel, the car designed and built in Martinsville broke the record of 244.9 mph with a top speed of 253 mph.
WEATHER
Summer beating out winter to make March one of warmest on record
Virginia’s heat has been more sporadic and less intense than that in the western U.S., but that may start moving our way to start April.
Cardinal 250
Freedom was paved with confiscation
Virginia eventually seized and sold off an estimated 53,000 acres, plus personal property, which in some cases included enslaved Africans.
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