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”Other communities have successfully utilized this financing mechanism to help nonprofit and mission-driven developers create homeownership opportunities, rehabilitate vacant properties, and support mixed-use development. These are approaches worth evaluating for Norfolk.” — Carlos Clanton, Norfolk City Council member
Hampton Roads Ventures, created by the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, is headquartered in this office building in Norfolk. (Photo by Jim Morrison for the Virginia Mercury)
By Jim Morrison
Hampton Roads Ventures backed a $12 million investment in a grocery store in rural Marion, $10 million for a farm equipment distribution center in Martinsville and $3 million for a supermarket in Louisiana in the past year.
And once again, none of its projects were in Norfolk.
More than four years ago, Norfolk’s City Council passed a resolution requiring the for-profit subsidiary of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority to seek projects in the city. Year after year, the annual report required by that resolution shows no progress supporting a project in the city.
An aerial view shows a data center situated near single-family homes in Northern Virginia. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
COMMENTARY
By Bob Lewis
If you’re alarmed about the proliferation of data centers — gargantuan, windowless megastructures that power social media, live-streaming, cloud storage, e-commerce, text messaging, cryptocurrency, online betting, artificial intelligence and near-universal security surveillance — you’re in good company this election year.
From sea to shining sea, Jane and John Q. Public have emerged from comfortable obscurity to pack marathon meetings of local zoning and governing boards, unified in full-throated opposition to locating data centers in their communities.
The dispute is alive and thriving in this midterm congressional election.
Dominion's Scott Solar pilot battery project in Powhatan. (Photo courtesy of Dominion Energy)
By Shannon Heckt
Dominion Energy plans to add more than 39 gigawatts of new power generation over the next 20 years as electricity demand surges across Virginia, according to the company’s latest filing with the State Corporation Commission.
Over that period, Dominion plans to build more than 21 gigawatts of new solar energy, 3.5 gigawatts of battery storage, 9 gigawatts of natural gas, 3.3 gigawatts of wind, and 2 gigawatts of small modular reactors.
By Andrew Kerley
Virginians on Saturday utilized the fourth major “No Kings” protest in Richmond to drive out support around local issues and in favor of three proposed amendments to Virginia’s constitution that voters will decide on in November.
It was one of dozens of anti-Trump demonstrations that were held in Virginia, and one of thousands held across the country — with only two weeks until the midterm elections that will decide who controls Congress.
The event, underscored by rainy weather, turned out about 400 people, far fewer than previous “No Kings” demonstrations in Richmond. A march on Capitol Square the same time last year drew over 10,000 people.
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