U.S. tariffs and immigration enforcement have challenged Virginia farmers as the harvest season ends. For one Virginia farmer growing soybeans and tobacco, the next season seems uncertain.
Read moreNew SNAP requirement raises worries of worsening hunger in Virginia
A sign noting the acceptance of electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards, which SNAP beneficiaries use to pay for food, is displayed at a grocery store. Photo by Justin Sullivan
The federal shutdown is over, but thousands of Virginians who rely on food stamps are now being told to reapply for SNAP — a process that could leave families without assistance for weeks.
Read moreFor Virginia foodbanks, growing demand amidst federal cuts
Pansy Frye and other volunteers load boxes of nonperishable goods for area seniors as part of a federal program at the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank distribution center in Charlottesville, Tuesday, November 12th. Photo by Christopher Tyree
The Trump administration canceled 94 million pounds of food aid in recent months. Here’s what didn’t make it to Virginia charities.
Read moreFederal cuts and shutdown heighten food insecurity across Virginia
SNAP beneficiaries will temporarily receive assistance through the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance as government shutdown locks up funding for the federal program. Photo by: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Federal actions hit hardest on needy families in small cities and rural, southwest counties, according to a VCIJ at WHRO analysis.
Read moreVirginia statewide races draw big national, out-of-state donors - again
First day of early voting in Virginia Beach on September 19, 2025. Photo by Zach D. Roberts.
Billionaires from outside Virginia and partisan groups are fueling campaigns in the final weeks before the Nov. 4 elections.
Read moreUnder Trump, a lifeline for young women in rural Virginia fights to survive
Since 1967, Job Corps has been a fixture in Marion, Va. The residential campus on Main Street has trained generations in health care skills. Despite bipartisan support under previous administrations, the Trump administration is trying to close it.
Read moreBig money flows to Virginia delegate candidates in Hampton Roads
Fundraising by Democrats and Republicans has pushed the cost of some Virginia House races over $2 million, according to public filings.
Read moreFor Virginia farmers, a bumper harvest amid growing uncertainty
Kenney Barnard, 75, oversees migrant workers at Hoot Owl Hollow Farm in Amelia Court House, Va. on August 4, 2025. Many of the seasonal employees, coming from Mexico on H-2A visas, have worked on Hoot Owl Farm for years.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs and aggressive immigration enforcement have shaken markets and migrant labor.
Read moreNew $100,000 H-1B visa fee could stun Virginia companies, universities
Virginia’s businesses, nonprofits and schools employ thousands of foreign professionals. President Trump’s proclamation raising the cost of H-1B visas to $100,000 could send shockwaves through tech companies, universities and even public schools
Read moreVirginia surveillance network tapped thousands of times for immigration cases
A Flock camera on South Main Street in Bridgwater, Virginia, captures the comings and goings of traffic. The town has five strategically placed Flock cameras. They capture images of nearly 60,000 vehicles every month. Photo by Christopher Tyree // VCIJ
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.
Read moreWho combed Virginia’s Flock surveillance data for immigration enforcement? Search here.
A Flock automatic license plate reading camera overlooks Colley Avenue in Norfolk, Va. on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. A federal lawsuit argues the city's 172 Flock cameras are an unconstitutional violation of privacy. File Photo: Cianna Morales/WHRO News
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.
Read moreVirginia universities report historic targeting of Black communities
Christopher Newport University in Newport News is one of three Virginia universities acknowledging “extensive acquisitions” in Black neighborhoods, sometimes through eminent domain, according to a state commission. Photo: VCIJ at WHRO
More research from Virginia’s Uprooting Commission will explore the use of eminent domain for campus expansions in majority-Black neighborhoods.
Read moreOne sleepy Virginia town. Nearly 7 million hits on its surveillance network.
A Flock camera on South Main Street in Bridgwater, Virginia, captures the comings and goings of traffic. The town has five strategically placed Flock cameras. They capture images of nearly 60,000 vehicles every month. Photo by Christopher Tyree // VCIJ
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.
Read moreTrump policies threaten Virginia’s clean energy gains
Greg Meade, who directs TNC’s overarching Cumberland Forest Project, visits the Knott Hollow site in Dickenson County, Virginia, last December. TerraForm Power has the solar lease option, but the development timeline is uncertain because of permitting issues. Photo by Elizabeth McGowan // VCIJ
The state’s milestone Clean Economy Act spurred impressive growth in renewable power. Now, that future is at risk.
Read moreICE arrests in Virginia soar under Trump crackdowns
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement assisted by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, apprehended three illegally present aliens during a routine enforcement operation in Arlington, Feb. 11, 2025. Source// US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Trump administration's enforcement has targeted thousands of foreign nationals - most from Central and South America and without criminal records.
Read moreIn Virginia’s coalfields, renewable projects hit a new roadblock – Trump
The Nature Conservancy is partnering with Charlottesville-based TerraForm Power to build a 10-megawatt solar array on a reclaimed surface mine near Pound in Wise County, Va. Wildcats Solar, scheduled to go online within two years, would be the first solar project to rise on TNC’s 253,000-acre, tri-state Cumberland Forest Project.
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.
Read moreAs international threats mount, Norfolk’s NATO commands play a key role
Vice Admiral James Morley, Deputy Commander Joint Force Command Norfolk, speaking to NATO personnel during NATO’s exercise Formidable Shield in Andoya, Norway May 22, 2025. Photos supplied by NATO JFC Norfolk.
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.
Read moreFed’s hidden immigration weapon – Virginia’s surveillance network
A car drives past an automatic license plate reader on Route 29 in Charlottesville on June 27, 2025. Photos by Christopher Tyree//VCIJ
Hundreds of Flock Safety cameras capturing images of motorists across Virginia weren’t supposed to be used for immigration enforcement. But they were.
Read moreKey panel endorses ban on secluding Virginia Beach students
Meghan Ashburn, chairperson of the Virginia Beach Special Education Advisory Committee, is seen during a committee meeting on May 12. The committee spoke with city schools officials and the executive director of Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs about seclusion and restraint policy during the meeting. File Photo by John-Henry Doucette.
A special education advisory committee wants Beach Schools to stop a controversial practice typically used on children with special needs
Read moreCan this tiny Appalachian town be a blueprint for the region’s rebirth?
All-terrain-vehicle trail enthusiasts line up outside a popular restaurant and a renovated boutique hotel St. Paul on an afternoon in late February. Turning trails and the once-neglected Clinch River into centerpieces has allowed this small town near the Wise-Russell County border to shine as a hub for eco-tourism.
St. Paul , Virginia– a hamlet of 830 people in coal country - remade itself into a bustling spot for ecotourism and off-road trails.
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