As federal immigration enforcement accelerated, police agencies outside of Virginia searched the Commonwealth’s network of Flock Safety cameras thousands of times over a 12-month period, according to an exclusive analysis by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO.

Surveillance network data obtained by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO shows how widely outside law enforcement agencies searched Flock Safety systems in Virginia for immigration-related offenses.

VCIJ at WHRO’s analysis of network data from Flock Safety’s Automatic License Plate Reader systems in Virginia was queried by more than 4,000 agencies across the U.S. About 3,000 of the searches conducted by those agencies appear related to immigration enforcement. – despite local agencies promising not to share or use the data for that purpose.

More research from Virginia’s Uprooting Commission will explore the use of eminent domain for campus expansions in majority-Black neighborhoods.

Thousands of Flock Safety surveillance cameras captured Virginia travelers in a small Shenandoah Valley town with an unblinking eye. Their data was shared and searched around the country millions of times.

The state’s milestone Clean Economy Act spurred impressive growth in renewable power. Now, that future is at risk.

The Trump administration's enforcement has targeted thousands of foreign nationals - most from Central and South America and without criminal records.

Renewable energy developers planned dozens of projects on property owned by The Nature Conservancy. Then President Donald Trump signed H.R. 1, upending an unprecedented effort to revitalize Appalachia.

NATO’s footprint in Hampton Roads is expected to expand in the coming years, despite President Donald Trump’s criticism of member nations' military spending levels.

Hundreds of Flock Safety cameras capturing images of motorists across Virginia weren’t supposed to be used for immigration enforcement. But they were.

A special education advisory committee wants Beach Schools to stop a controversial practice typically used on children with special needs

St. Paul , Virginia– a hamlet of 830 people in coal country - remade itself into a bustling spot for ecotourism and off-road trails.

Big bet: Can a $130M conservation deal in Virginia’s coal country curb climate change and lift Appalachia? 

The Nature Conservancy is halfway through its ambitious 10-year plan to preserve 253,000 acres and boost local economies across three Appalachian states. Backed by a loan from Virginia and private investors, it’s faced challenges and critics. The experiment could be the future of large-scale conservation – or not.

During the first three months of President Donald Trump’s administration, exports took their biggest first-quarter dip in at least a decade, while imports rose in anticipation of tariffs. Virginia’s trade deficit grew by about $2 billion.

After decades when few law enforcement officers in Virginia lost the right to serve in sworn positions, recent reforms have brought dramatic increases in decertifications.

The treatment of a fourth grader in a special education classroom prompts administrators to question tactics, policies following VCIJ at WHRO investigation.

As rental housing costs continue to rise, Virginia lawmakers passed a few modest measures this year to reduce fees, offer tenants more protections and boost housing for Navy sailors. More ambitious proposals, including potential rent controls, failed to win broad approval.

Just half of Virginia’s public and private kindergarten classes reported a 95% vaccination rate – the key threshold for herd immunity – at the start of the 2024-25 school year, according to an analysis of state health data by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO.

Nearly half of the commonwealth’s public and private kindergarten classes fail to meet an important vaccination threshold, an analysis of state health data by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO shows.

No one knows what caused 11-year-old Josh Sikes to die last November. But his final moments in a Virginia Beach classroom have led to investigations and renewed questioning over techniques used by Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs.

The General Services Administration (GSA) listed 28 properties in Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads as “excess real property” that could be put up for sale. The agency said removing the properties from the federal rolls would reduce maintenance costs, although it did not break down the accounting for the proposed savings.

On a Norfolk map, St. Paul’s Boulevard appears as a north-south arterial. But local urban geographer Johnny Finn views that same six-lane strip near Interstate 264 as a stark line of disparity.

Life expectancy is 85 years for people living downtown and in adjacent upscale, whiter west side neighborhoods, according to Finn’s research. It drops by more than two decades — to 61.5 — in poor majority-Black census tracts to the east dominated by three public housing complexes.

“This is the cumulative impact of a century of racist housing policies and practices,” said Finn, an associate professor at Christopher Newport University. He called the finding “one of the most shocking juxtapositions” in his study of southeastern Virginia, because it amounted to taking “literal years off of life.”

The historic Black neighborhood of Jackson Ward was intentionally split by highway development in the 1950s. Generations later, could a plan to reconnect the north and south sides renew a community?

For decades, Virginia has ranked poorly among states for providing financial support for kinship carers — grandparents, aunts, uncles and other family members raising children who are their relatives. And a critical state report found many social services departments in Virginia have failed to provide enough oversight and protection for children in the care of their relatives.  

Starting July 1, bipartisan legislation signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin tackles some of these problems by establishing an aid program and protective guidelines for kinship care families.

Federal and state records show that Dollar Tree has a higher percentage of safety inspections that flag violations than retailers of similar size.

OSHA has issued $22.7 million in penalties to Dollar Tree from federal inspections between 2017 and April 2024.

Spurred by a VCIJ at WHRO and ProPublica investigation, the recently approved Virginia budget includes nearly $60,000 over the next two years for a commission to study the disruption public college and university expansions have had on Black communities.