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Latest news
Google to use electric cooling instead of water in at least 1 of 3 data centers on Botetourt campus
The Western Virginia Water Authority expects the company to use an annual average of 1.2 million gallons of water per day in the initial phase of the project.
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Politics
Suetterlein, McNamara want special session to extend time Virginia has to review Dominion-NextEra merger
The two Roanoke Valley legislators appealed to Gov. Spanberger to call for a special session. The current deadline doesn’t give Virginia much leverage, they said.
Local
Upper half of Virginia Creeper Trail, destroyed by Hurricane Helene, set to reopen March 31
The rebuilt trail, which is expected to be completed in December, will have three months over the winter to “settle.”
Culture
Growing gardens of happiness at FloydFest
Danielle Ward manages landscaping at the annual music festival, a job that includes mitigating rain’s effects on the site’s wetlands, keeping pollinators happy — and using goats to get rid of poison ivy.
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education
Youth rescue camp aims to inspire Virginia’s next generation of first responders
More than 40 kids attended last month’s camp, which is part of the Virginia Association of First Responders’ efforts to bolster fire and rescue recruitment efforts.
eCONOMY
Tech Briefs: Virginia Tech researchers’ AI model is meant to manage water use
Plus: #AppalachiaBuiltThis event scheduled in Abingdon bills itself as “a hands-on community build night” for AI.
OPinion
Economic development official: Why grid investment matters for all of Virginia’s future
Why the proposed Valley Link transmission line from Campbell County to Culpeper County matters in the Petersburg area.
HealthCare
The Pulse: Nonprofit raises more than $2 million to expand pediatric cancer treatments and resources in Southwest Virginia
Plus, more Virginians are paying out of pocket for emergency department visits and LewisGale Hospital Montgomery announces a new CEO.
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news briefs
Headlines from across the state: Congressional report says Virginians have paid $1.8 billion more for gas since Iran war started; more …
From elsewhere: Drugmaker Eli Lilly buys 227 acres in Goochland for pharmaceutical plant. Robert Burrus, who made Richmond law firm a powerhouse, dies at 91. Fighting to save Virginia’s rarest plant, the Peters Mountain Mallow.
Sports
VHSL 2026: With victory in girls tennis, Bland County wins its first team championship ever in any sport
Meanwhile, Ridgeview High won the Class 2 girls championship Thursday at Liberty University with a 5-2 victory over Bruton.
WEATHER
It has poured at my house four days this month. How are we still in drought?
Think beyond your backyard, much wider in space and time, to understand that drought is more than about what falls in your particular rain gauge.
Cardinal 250
Virginia’s royal governor made a grim last stand on a disease-ridden island by the Chesapeake Bay where corpses lay unburied
Lord Dunmore set up on Gwynn’s Island, but disease swept through his ranks. Then Andrew Lewis arrived with cannons.
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