Thursday, January 23, 2025

Good morning! On this day in 1998, Pakistani citizen Mir Aimal Kasi was sentenced to die in Fairfax County for his 1993 attack outside CIA headquarters. The random shooting killed two men and wounded three others. The state of Virginia carried out his execution in 2002.

The Virginia Flyover can report today that our state is No. 1 in an important category. Scroll to the first story in Around Virginia to see one place we lead the nation.

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Back to Office Order Impacts Virginians

President Donald Trump ordered all federal workers to return to the office five days a week "as soon as practicable." Virginia residents who have been working from home at least some of the time will be commuting more often.

An estimated 20% of the federal workforce lives in the D.C. metro area, with roughly 133,000 federal workers living in Virginia.

Many of those workers live in Northern Virginia, but since the 2020 pandemic some have moved farther away. Nearly 6,000 fully remote workers live in the Richmond area, for example, a roughly two-hour commute from D.C.

In late 2023, Gov. Glenn Youngkin sent a letter to the federal government that encouraged it to end remote work, in part because commuting federal workers spend $100 million annually to ride mass transit.

One Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) leader said the system should be able to handle an influx of riders. “From an operations standpoint,” Paul Smedberg, a Virginian on Metro’s board of directors, said, “I think we’re confident.”

Humane Society Rescues 33 Dogs

Volunteers from the Old Dominion Humane Society rescued 33 dogs from a hoarding situation at a home in southwestern Virginia. They brought the animals to Fredericksburg to be treated and prepared for adoption.

The shelter won’t reveal where the animals came from in Virginia, but a spokesman said that 11 additional dogs would be taken in by that county’s animal control.

The dogs were reportedly frightened but friendly when volunteers arrived and discovered them either crammed inside the home or living outside in the freezing temperatures.

“Our community, once again, amazes me by stepping up so quickly to foster these dogs,” a volunteer at the humane society said. “All 33 babies were placed in foster homes immediately.”

New Safety Stickers Are Here

Virginia’s safety inspection stickers, which moved from the center of the windshield to the driver’s side a few years ago, are now going high-tech.

State Police unveiled the new annual sticker, redesigned for 2025, featuring a holographic state seal and two QR codes for scanning. Cars will receive the new sticker when they pass their annual inspection.

"These new features add an additional layer of security to ensure criminals are not circumventing the safety inspection system,” Lt. Colonel Matthew Hanley said.

The new sticker will be green this year, blue in 2026, red in 2027, and yellow in 2028. It will also feature the dogwood tree flower, a state symbol.

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Here’s How To Hack Your Metabolism

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*Commissioned by Pendulum, Talker Research surveyed 2,000 general population Americans between Dec. 10 and Dec. 16, 2024.

➤ Statewide: According to a federal report, the Commonwealth imports more electricity than any other state, topping even California. Virginia imports about 50 million megawatt-hours annually, which is expected to increase as the state adds more power-hungry data centers. (Details)

➤ Virginia Beach: Organizers of the struggling Something in the Water festival have until the weekend to fulfill the terms of their contract, or the city has said it will pull the plug. SITW leaders missed a Dec. 31 deadline to announce the festival's lineup and start selling tickets. (More)

➤ Alexandria: Erik Siebert was sworn in as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. He will lead the district’s staff of 300 prosecutors, civil litigators, and support personnel. (Details)

➤ Christiansburg: Former Virginia Tech communications professor Michael Horning was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison. The 51-year-old pleaded guilty last year to charges of possessing child pornography after agents found hundreds of images on his electronic devices. (Details)

➤ Richmond: A federal court judge ruled that the state is acting legally by imposing a ban on hemp products with a THC concentration higher than 0.3%. The judge also ruled that Virginia’s law does not violate the Constitution’s commerce clause. (More)

➤ Arlington: The county Board of Supervisors said it will review a report next week about the possibility of using ranked-choice voting in upcoming general elections. The format is already in place for board primary elections. (More)

➤ Philadelphia Eagles players praised Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels ahead of Sunday's NFC championship. “He can move, he can throw on the run, he’s got great accuracy down the field,” cornerback Darius Slay said. “He makes smart decisions, he’s a poised kid.” (More)

➤ UVA’s men’s tennis team, ranked No. 5 in the country, will host a four-team tournament this weekend, including No. 19 Alabama, Boise State, and VCU. The undefeated Cavaliers are coming off a 6-1 win over Old Dominion. (Details)

➤ The Highland boys basketball team of Warrenton downed the country’s top-ranked school, Prolific Prep of California, 61-57, at the Hoopball Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts. (More)

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➤ Press Glass of Rockingham County, North Carolina, will relocate operations and bring about 70 new jobs to Ridgeway. (Details)

➤ Capital One, based in McLean, was sued by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) over allegations that it cheated millions of consumers out of more than $2 billion in interest payments. “Banks should not be baiting people with promises they can’t live up to,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said. (More)

➤ JetBlue is coming to Norfolk. The airline will add a daily flight to and from Boston starting in April. (Details)

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➤ Shenandoah National Park employee Dale Meyerhoeffer earned a Director Award for Excellence in Natural Resource Management for saving 30,000 endangered hemlock trees. (Details)

➤ The Byrd Theatre in Richmond is in the process of replacing historic seats in its balcony. The original seats will be swapped out by the end of March and replaced with more modern, wider seating. (More)

➤ Virginians raised more than 110,000 oysters last year through a program run by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Volunteers spend a year caring for newborn oysters and then return them to waterways, where a single adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water daily. (Details)

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