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“Something has to give, because people just can’t sustain these costs.” — Christina Rivera, founder of the nonprofit Called to Justice
A bed in Lee County Community Hospital. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
By Markus Schmidt
Christina Rivera kept her health insurance this year because she needed major back surgery. But maintaining coverage meant absorbing a monthly premium that rose from $235 in 2025 to $1,336 in 2026 — with a higher deductible.
“That’s just not reasonable for anybody who is relying on the ACA for healthcare,” said Riviera, a Charlottesville-area resident and founder of the nonprofit Called to Justice. “I don’t have that sitting around. It’s not in the cushions of the couch.”
The proposed Valley Link Transmission Line's Route 2 option with variations, which Dominion Energy has shared with nine Virginia counties that the line could cross, if approved. (Photo courtesy Valley Link Transmission)
By Shannon Heckt
One of the proposed routes of the controversial Valley Link Transmission line, which will stretch 765 kilovolt lines 115-miles across Virginia from Lynchburg to Culpeper, has been altered by developers, as Dominion Energy, Transource and FirstEnergy narrow down which path they’d prefer to present to the State Corporation Commission.
Dominion has been meeting with communities in the nine counties the line could traverse: Campbell, Appomattox, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Louisa, Orange, Goochland, Spotsylvania, and Culpeper. Members of these communities confirmed that the utility shared the updated route options with them in recent days.
Signs in front of Granby High School in Norfolk warn motorists they may get a ticket if they're caught speeding by a camera. (Photo by Jim Morrison/WHRO)
By Jim Morrison/WHRO
New Kent County has been the state's poster child for speed camera citations, issuing more than 71,000 in work and school zones last year. At $100 per ticket, that adds up to more than $7.1 million for the county in just five months of a new work zone camera campaign.
For violators of speed zone cameras in New Kent and across the state, the infraction does not add points to their driver’s license, nor is their insurance company notified. But there's another statistic that's gotten little attention: 35,000 of New Kent’s citations -- which would account for $3.5 million in fines -- went unpaid, and the county didn't pursue the deadbeats in court.
By Jennifer Shutt
The three news organizations that President Donald Trump barred from entering the White House grounds earlier this month have asked a federal judge to ensure their reporters continue to have access after a temporary restraining order expires in early October.
Attorneys for CNN, MS Now and Politico filed paperwork late Monday requesting a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that without it the administration is likely to again revoke press passes for journalists at those news organizations and possibly others.
By Amanda Watford
For more than 35 years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has surveyed American high school students every two years about their health and behavior.
The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, established in 1991, draws a nationally representative sample of students in grades 9 through 12 at public and private schools. Over the years, it has tracked a broad range of issues affecting teenagers, from substance use and sexual behavior to violence, mental health and other health risks.
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