Welcome to the final edition of Notes from the Square, a roundup of state politics and policy news with a Southwest and Southside Virginia focus.
This column may be ending, but my coverage from the commonwealth’s capital city will continue! Got a tip or story idea? Email me at elizabeth@cardinalnews.org.
Governor says new owner will invest $7.4 million to reopen Henry County sawmill
Gov. Abigail Spanberger confirmed Thursday that the Oklahoma-based Twain Lumber Co. plans to reopen the shuttered Teal-Jones sawmill in Henry County with a $7.4 million investment.
Plans for the site were first reported in March, when Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said that it would be acquired by Mississippi-based Twain Capital with the help of a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan.
Once operational, the facility is expected to create 74 new jobs, and the company is expected to purchase more than $51.2 million of Virginia-grown forest products over the next three years, the governor’s office said.
“Since 2024, this facility has sat empty, representing an untapped opportunity to grow our forestry industry and create new opportunities for Virginians in the region. Today, I am proud to welcome Twain Lumber Company to Henry County and thank them for the significant commitment they’re making to our Commonwealth,” Spanberger said in a statement Thursday.
Twain Lumber plans to purchase new production machinery and upgrade equipment, which is expected to enable the sawmill to increase its operational capacity from 80 million board feet annually to 108 million board feet. This increased capacity will make it one of the largest Southern yellow pine sawmills in Virginia, the governor’s office said.
The plant has been idle since 2024.
“It is exciting to see this facility come back to life, creating new jobs, bringing millions of dollars in new investment to our community, and once again supporting Virginia’s forestry industry, one of the Commonwealth’s largest industries,” Del. Eric Phillips, R-Henry County, said in a statement.
Phillips is also a member of the Virginia Tobacco Regional Revitalization Commission, which was one of the entities that worked with the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corporation to secure the project. Also involved were the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Spanberger approved a $150,000 performance-based facility grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund and a $59,200 grant from the Virginia Jobs Investment Program to support workforce training. The tobacco commission approved a $150,000 grant.
“Twain Lumber’s investment and operation in Henry County is an economic boost for the locality, the region and Virginia’s forestry industry,” state Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, said in a statement. “This project transforms a raw regional resource and provides an opportunity for wealth generated from the land to stay in this community.”
Spanberger announces rollout of more secure EBT cards
The governor’s office announced Thursday that new, more secure EBT cards equipped with “chip-and-tap” technology will be rolled out across the commonwealth.
The new cards, the office said, are expected to help prevent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program fraud and to protect families from having their food assistance “skimmed.” Skimming is a type of theft where credit card information is captured at a point of sale and benefits are drained from EBT accounts before families can use them. Chip cards are expected to be more resistant to this type of theft.
Virginia is among the first five states to implement this new technology.
“At a time when many families are struggling to keep up with the rising price of groceries and Republicans in Washington are making the deepest cuts to SNAP in the program’s history, we are taking this step to make sure families have secure, accessible support — and are protected from bad actors,” Spanberger said in a statement Thursday.
Localities up first for the rollout of the new cards were identified as those that have experienced high levels of benefit theft, including the cities of Lynchburg, Radford and Roanoke, as well as Giles, Smyth, Washington and Wythe counties.
The second round of card rollouts is scheduled to begin at the end of October. All EBT cardholders in Virginia are expected to have their new cards in hand by the end of December, the governor’s office said. Households do not need to take any action to receive a new card, and benefits will continue without interruption throughout the transition.
The governor’s office asked recipients to make sure the mailing address on file with their local department of social services is current, so the new card reaches them without delay. Families should verify their information, activate the card and set a PIN by following the instructions mailed with the card.
The Virginia Department of Social Services encouraged cardholders to continue taking simple steps to protect their benefits, including locking the card when it is not in use through the ConnectEBT app, changing the PIN regularly and never sharing a card number or PIN in response to an unsolicited call, text or email.
More information about the chip card transition is available at virginiachipcard.com. Cardholders with questions can contact the EBT Call Center at 866-281-2448, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Millions in funding heading to airports to support new projects
The governor’s office announced last week that about $40 million from the Commonwealth Aviation Fund is expected to be invested in Virginia’s airports.
The funding, awarded by the Virginia Aviation Board, will support infrastructure and modernization projects, including a new terminal at Blue Ridge Regional Airport in Martinsville.
The investments will support the following projects at airports across Southwest and Southside:
- Lynchburg Regional Airport: More than $3 million for rescue and firefighting equipment and TSA terminal exit lane expansion;
- Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport: More than $1 million to assist in maintenance and repair projects;
- Blue Ridge Regional Airport in Martinsville: More than $5 million for terminal construction;
- Virginia Highlands Airport in Abingdon: $1.7 million for terminal building renovation;
- Crewe Municipal Airport: $1.6 million for runway pavement rehabilitation; and
- Farmville Regional Airport: More than $20,000 to match $500,000 in federal funding toward replacement of navigation aids for the runway.
Attorney General Jay Jones joins nationwide effort to pressure the FCC to limit spam robocalls
Tired of spam calls? It appears Virginia’s attorney general is, too.
Attorney General Jay Jones joined a coalition of 48 other states across the country on Thursday in an effort to pressure the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen its “Know Your Upstream Provider” requirements to prevent scammers from using the U.S. phone network to make illegal robocalls.
According to Jones’ office, calls get routed through a series of phone companies before they reach a person’s phone. The FCC requires all voice service providers to take reasonable measures to vet the phone companies that originate and route calls. However, some voice service providers fail to do so, allowing illegal robocalls onto the U.S. communications network. Last year, Americans received more than 29.6 billion scam robocalls and texts and lost nearly $2 billion to these scams, Jones’ office said.
Attorneys general across the country are asking the FCC to strengthen voice service providers’ obligation to vet their upstream provider customers and to require the same scrutiny and diligence of the entities involved in the implementation of a framework developed to prevent caller ID spoofing. “Spoofing” is a caller’s effort to falsify their number to appear legitimate on caller ID.
“The FCC must do its part to protect Virginians. When illegal robocalls and texts slip through the system and reach consumers, the cost is too high. We must build a stronger safety net, and that involves holding service providers accountable,” Jones said in a statement.
