Peake files resolution to study U.S. 29 eastern bypass in Charlottesville area

Daily Progress (01/25/18)

“State Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg, on Jan. 8 filed a resolution and a budget amendment to study building a U.S. 29 eastern bypass around Charlottesville. Peake said SJ32, which asks the Virginia Department of Transportation to research the feasibility of such a project, is the next step after the state killed the Western Bypass of U.S. 29.”

*NOTE: PEC’s Dan Holmes is quoted in this article.

Gardening events starting Jan. 23

Daily Progress (01/22/18)

“» Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards hosts a free class on Tree Pruning at 10 a.m. Saturday at Ivy Creek Natural Area. Advance registration is required; email education@charlottesvilleareatreestewards.org. » Montpelier holds a Working Woods Walk with Virginia Master Naturalists from 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday. $5. 11407 Constitution Highway in Montpelier Station. montpelier.org/visit. (540) 672-2728.”

Crozet Survey Finds Residents Enchanted with Area, Yet Worried about Growing Pains

Crozet Gazette (01/05/18)

“If there’s one broad, irrefutable conclusion to draw from the 2017 Crozet Community Survey it’s that the people who live in the Crozet area really, really like living here. . Yet the survey also reveals that local residents recognize, quite clearly, that the area is rapidly growing, and with that come both opportunities and challenges.”

Cell Tower Proposed for WAHS Site

Crozet Gazette (01/05/18)

“After it was approached by Shentel about providing a cell tower to remedy coverage weakness in the Crozet area, Milestone Communications of Reston has proposed to build a 145-foot tower on the northeast corner of the Western Albemarle High School football stadium”

VSU bringing Beginning Farmer program to Carver school in Culpeper

Culpeper Star-Exponent (01/19/18)

“Virginia State University wants to cultivate agriculture as a profession for the future through the establishment of the Beginning Farmer program on the George Washington Carver School campus on U.S. Route 15 in Culpeper County. The historically black college in Petersburg is partnering with the GWC Agricultural Institute here to implement the three-year program—with a projected starting date in the late spring – to train new, beginning, veteran and limited-resource farmers in the Northern Piedmont…”

Plans for sewage treatment plant in Catlett move forward

Fauquier Times (01/25/18)

“A special exception to allow placement of a sewage-treatment plant and dispersal fields on land off Catlett Road to serve properties in Catlett and Calverton was recommended for approval by the Fauquier County Planning Commission.”

Many in Remington supporting data centers

Fauquier Now (01/23/18)

“To the retired paralegal, the proposed billion-dollar-plus data center project just northeast of Remington seems made to order.”

*NOTE: PEC is taking a close look at this proposal, and our Fauquier field representative Julie Bolthouse is quoted in this article with some site specific recommendations.

Fauquier Habitat for Humanity invites families to apply for new home

Fauquier Times (01/21/18)

“Fauquier Habitat for Humanity is now planning construction of its 56th house to be built in Warrenton. Interested home applicants are invited to attend a homeowner information session on Feb. 15 from 7-8:30 p.m. at Warrenton Baptist Church, 123 Main St., Warrenton.”

Route 7 widening is a priority, but the costs are high

Loudoun Times Mirror (01/24/18)

“The county’s Route 7 corridor must be built out into a four-lane roadway by 2040 to be able to meet the demands of the continuing growth of the area, according to studies by the state Department of Transportation and Loudoun County. “

Loudoun supervisors address business community on top issues

Loudoun Times Mirror (01/22/18)

“With the start of a new year, Loudoun faces several challenges, but with every challenge, there is also progress, three Loudoun supervisors told the county business community at a Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Thursday.”

Loudoun to Launch Loan Program for Clean Energy Projects

Loudoun Now (01/22/18)

“The Loudoun government will develop a program to facilitate loans from private lenders to commercial property owners investing in clean energy projects. County supervisors voted unanimously Jan. 18 to moved ahead with the Property Assessed Clean Energy Program. “

County looks to capitalize on growing micro-brewery trend

Orange County Review (01/19/18)

“In an attempt to keep up with the growing craft beverage industry, the Orange County Planning Commission will consider text amendments that would allow “microbreweries” and “microdistilleries” as special uses in agriculturally zoned land, as well as a permitted uses in commercially zoned land. “

Ash Tree die-off focus of grant in Shenandoah National Park

Rappahannock News (01/21/18)

“Shenandoah National Park has awarded the 2018 Shenandoah National Park Trust Research Grant to a team from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. The project will look at forest changes related to the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB), which kills more than 99 percent of the ash trees it inhabits.”

Even the Dead Could Not Stay

City Lab (01/19/18)

“Last July, Martha Park wrote about the Dumas Hotel, a revered building in Roanoke, Virginia, with an uncertain future. The hotel appeared in the The Negro Motorist Green Book from 1936 to 1967 and survived the city’s sweeping urban renewal efforts from the same period.”

Lawmakers from both parties raise alarm about rush to redo Dominion oversight

Washington Post (01/25/18)

“A bipartisan group of delegates has called for a timeout on a massive effort to redraw the state’s oversight of its biggest electric utility, asking for more information to safeguard the interests of ratepayers. Three Republicans and three Democrats, including senior leaders, have asked the State Corporation Commission to review several pieces of legislation aimed at replacing a rate freeze that Dominion Energy has enjoyed since 2015.”

This time, our elected representatives must tell Dominion ‘No’

Richmond Times Dispatch (01/21/18)

“In a testament to the power that Dominion Energy, the state’s largest corporate political campaign donor, is accustomed to wielding in Richmond, the commonwealth has earned a dubious distinction: Goldman Sachs recently praised Virginia for having “one of the top state regulatory environments for utilities in the U.S.””

Big towers to rise near historic Jamestown: $90M in payouts

Washington Post (01/20/18)

” A big change is looming on the horizon near Jamestown Island, site of Britain’s first permanent settlement in North America: 17 transmission towers — four nearly as tall as the Statue of Liberty — are set to rise to help meet Virginia’s growing energy appetite.”

Legal challenges filed targeting Atlantic Coast Pipeline approvals

Augusta Free Press (01/19/18)

“The Southern Environmental Law Center and Appalachian Mountain Advocates, on behalf of a coalition of community and conservation groups, filed a legal challenge to the Virginia State Water Control Board’s approval of a water quality certification for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.”

State program is cleaning waterways across Virginia

Richmond Times Dispatch (01/18/18)

“Clean water is one topic that Virginians of all political stripes agree on. In fact, pollution in local rivers, streams, and lakes is an important issue for 98 percent of Virginia voters, according to a 2017 poll by the Wason Center for Public Policy and the Virginia Environmental Endowment. “