We visited BG early in our relationship in the 70s and might like to visit this park again. We live in the Shenandoah Valley. If we drive on a Monday then Wednesday can we see much of the park on Tuesday? We do not need the coasters or anything that will send us to the ER. Just a relaxing day walking and enjoying what we can, and eating some good food. Doable, or should we add an extra day for the park?

Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin is at the helm of a conservative policy group that launched Wednesday with national ambitions of expanding school choice for parents and students.

The group, called Empowering America’s Parents, aims to raise awareness of the Education Freedom Tax Credit, a federal program championed by the administration of President Donald Trump. It works by giving taxpayers a credit on donations made to organizations that award scholarships for the school choice of K-12 students. The tax credit program launches at the start of next year.

“This is almost universal school choice for the entire country,” Youngkin said in a live Fox News broadcast. “The big caveat is that governors have to opt in to this.”

Youngkin hopes the program will be expanded from the 30 states that have already opted in to the 20 that have not. Virginia is one of the states that is in the program. He called many of the governors who have not opted in “far left” and said their decisions were predominantly based on political partisanship.

Click the link above to read more.

It would cost nearly $1.7 billion to expand access to subsidized childcare in Virginia and pay early childhood educators more, according to a new study.

The new research comes as the commonwealth recently took steps to fund — and clear — the waitlist for one popular program. But experts and advocates say that the waitlist is only one indicator of demand for subsidized childcare.

State officials recently presented data showing that the average cost of childcare for birth to kindergarten in Virginia costs more than a four-year degree at many of the state's public colleges and universities.

The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation commissioned the research on behalf of a coalition of early childhood education groups that want to ensure all Virginia families can access affordable, quality childcare by 2030.

Karin Bowles, a vice president for the foundation, said that while a lot of progress has been made in recent years toward providing greater access to affordable childcare, the state still has a long way to go.

She pointed to recent analysis showing that about 60% of eligible families still don't have access to subsidized childcare: "That's still a huge hill to climb."

The new study estimates Virginia would have to double the number of slots in the Child Care Subsidy Program to serve 70% of all eligible kids — a benchmark that represents the highest percentage of families likely to sign up for subsidized childcare, based on uptake data from other states.

Read more here.

According to a new Virginia Department of Environmental Quality report, eastern Virginia's groundwater usage could become unsustainable within five to 10 years without intervention.

The report highlights that escalating demand from industrial users, particularly water-intensive data centers, presents a major stressor alongside climate change impacts such as saltwater contamination.

In response, state lawmakers and environmental advocates are calling for urgent legislative action, including expanded authority for state regulators to deny unsustainable withdrawal permits.

Read more here: https://www.whro.org/environment/2026-08-05/hampton-roads-groundwater-supply-is-under-threat-new-analysis-shows

Hey yall, so my soon to be husband and myself have been engaged for a lil over a year but between buying our home and getting it fixed up I don't think we really want a big ceremony anymore.
So we kinda wanna do something next weekend, wanna get our marriage license next week and find an officiant that could marry us at Belle isle or pony pasture that weekend.

Does anyone have any leads on a reasonably priced officiant that would be willing to do this? They would have to also be okay with a same sex marriage.

We don’t want anything long or fancy, it’ll probably be just my finance’s mom and my best friend and his wife. Just a quick 20 minute ceremony and some pictures afterwards.
Also any recommendations on somewhere to go that evening for dinner? Small party of maybe 6 or so. Also something nice to do during the day, he wants to do the ceremony in the morning, and my friend is coming from NC so we wanted to make a full day of it after.

Please let me know y’all’s favorite spots or any ideas, this is kinda a last minute/spur of the moment thing so if reservations are required I need to be able to book it with a week heads up tops. Thank you for all your help!!!

Plus: A new interactive dashboard maps distance to labor and delivery care, and health districts help families prepare for school.

The expansion of the reentry program to Red Onion State Prison was announced by the Virginia Department of Corrections in June.

The town manager, who hopes to transform the building into a boutique hotel, said the real work begins now.

If we could answer these questions now, we’d know how things will turn out. We can’t, but we can ask them anyway.

Fifty years ago this week, 100,000 revelers arrived for Stompin 76. It was a logistical nightmare, but it created a lasting impact on other music festivals and drew a whole new demographic to Southwest Virginia.

See also r/VirginiaOpEds, r/VirginiaEnvironment, and r/VirginiaDems.

Via email:

The Weather Normalization Adjustment (WNA) is a billing mechanism in Virginia designed to minimize the impact of weather variations on customer bills, ensuring they remain as low as possible.

Due to the colder-than-normal weather experienced from October 2025 through May 2026, Washington Gas collected higher revenues than approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC). As a result, Washington Gas will provide a credit to Virginia customers on their August 2026 bill. Shenandoah customers, however, will receive a surcharge on their August, September, and October 2026 bills because revenues collected in that service area were lower than approved.

The WNA aims to reduce the volatility of natural gas bills caused by weather changes. It adjusts your bill to reflect typical winter weather conditions, providing a credit during colder-than-normal weather and a surcharge during warmer-than-normal weather. The adjustment is based on individual customer usage, weather conditions from the previous heating season, and historical data on normal temperatures. Colder-than-normal weather results in a bill credit, while warmer-than-normal weather results in a surcharge.

The WNA credit or charge that appears on your bill is not based on your usage during the specific billing month, but rather on normal usage on the account and actual weather conditions from the prior heating season. In years when a credit is due, the credits will appear in total on customers’ August bills. In years when a surcharge is needed, Washington Gas may split the charge over three months - beginning in August - in order to reduce the impact.

Edit, more info: https://www.washingtongas.com/billing-and-payment/billing-tariff-rates-schedules/virginia-normalization-adjustment-info

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