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A rendering of East Point Energy's proposed Mill Stone Energy Center in Chesapeake, Virginia. The company hopes to build an energy storage project that will connect to an existing transmission line near the Fentress Substation. Photo Courtesy East Point Energy
A proposed battery storage plant in Chesapeake meets the city’s requirements. Neighbors don’t see it that way.
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Former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced an expansion of DroneUp's headquarters on Newtown Road in Virginia Beach in 2022. It was expected to create more than 500 jobs. Photo by John-Henry Doucette // VCIJ
DroneUp, started by a Navy veteran, launched with high praise – and up to $6 million in incentives – from state and local leaders. But the commercial drone company has failed to rise to expectations.
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Marshall, Michigan - The Cereal City Solar project, a 100 MW solar farm. It is a project of NextEra Energy Resources, a major developer of renewable energy
The planned acquisition of Dominion Energy by NextEra Energy brings together two multi-billion-dollar utilities. Here’s how they compare, and what consumers might see ahead.
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In February 2025, Goodyear announced that 850 workers would be laid off from their Danville, Virginia, plant. The layoffs here were part of a larger trend across the state as manufacturing took a down turn. Photo by Christopher Tyree//VCIJ
In most years, the Commonwealth has gained federal civilian workers. The Trump administration’s cuts took away more than 20,000 government jobs last year.
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Tanna Price helped governments around the world build their economies and root out corruption. News of USAID cuts reached her in Sri Lanka. Almost a year later, Price and thousands of other professionals like her look toward an uncertain future.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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Contracted workers from Williams Forestry & Associates plant tiny hardwood trees in late March atop a former coal mine in Russell County, part of The Nature Conservancy’s Cumberland Forest Project. It marked TNC’s first forest restoration effort in Virginia, part of a tri-state conservation initiative that began more than five years ago.
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.
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Photo by Mariusz Bugno via Shutterstock. Shipping containers at the Port of Virginia in 2021.
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.
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Friendship Court, a low-income housing development in Charlottesville, Virginia. File Photo.
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.
Read moreFederal 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.
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Zenobia Wilson stands outside of her apartment in Norfolk, Virginia. Her life has been disrupted by plans to reconnect her old, isolated community with the city. Photo by Christopher Tyree. // VCIJ
A $1.6 million federal grant could unscramble the I-264 ramps in downtown Norfolk. But would it reopen an isolated, Black community?
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Urban CEO Alfred Liggins addresses supporters at a block party organized by his company and Churchill Downs, Richmond, Va., Sept. 30, 2023. The two companies are urging voters to approve a $562 million resort casino in Virginia's state capital. Photo by Jimmy Cloutier/VCIJ
Results of the Nov. 7 referendum may shape the future of gambling resorts in the commonwealth
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Illustration by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO.
Out-of-state developers have poured a record $8.1 million into a referendum campaign to allow the construction of a resort casino in Richmond, far-and-away the highest sum for a local election in Virginia.
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Original proposal for the Pamunkey casino on the left and the revised first phase version on the right. Renderings of the HeadWaters Resort & Casino. (Courtesy of HeadWaters Resort & Casino provided to the City of Norfolk)
A scaled-down Norfolk waterfront casino proposal is facing choppy waters from city leaders who have lost patience with the much-delayed project.
Norfolk City Council members in a recent closed session discussed options for scuttling the city’s agreement with the Pamunkey tribe, which submitted an application for a phased development with a $150 million initial investment, far shy of the upscale $500 million resort hotel, marina, entertainment space, and casino showcased to voters during a 2020 referendum.
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Ellie Jernigan, 27, and her dog Gracie at a home for sale in Henrico County. She and her husband, Zach, are first-time homebuyers and have been looking for months to purchase a home so they might start a family.
The hopes and dreams of young first-time buyers often crash into the waking horror of today’s real estate market. Driven by an influx of millennials, low interest rates and the scarcity of “for sale” signs planted in the suburbs and cities, Virginia housing prices rocketed during the pandemic. Supply has scraped record lows, driving bidding wars on properties even as interest rates have more than doubled in the past year.
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Hampton Roads has long had a reputation as an affordable alternative to Richmond or Northern Virginia. A WHRO data analysis shows the region is one of the most unaffordable in the state. Photo by Cameron Houck.
In a comparison of housing prices and local wages, Hampton Roads is less affordable than other major Virginia metros, similarly sized metro areas on the East Coast and even the Washington, D.C. area.
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