Virginia
2024 ACC Media Days: Everything From Star Virginia Tech Cornerback Dorian Strong
We’re almost a month away from Virginia Tech’s season opener at Vanderbilt. Virginia Tech was one of the teams that addressed the media on Tuesday at the 2024 ACC Media Days ahead of their season. Dorian Strong should have a huge impact on the season, and the reporters and media know that.
Here’s everything that Dorian Strong had to say:
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Dorian.
Q. You were the second FBS cornerback since 2014 with 300-plus coverage snaps. What led to such an improvement in your game coming back from an injury?
DORIAN STRONG: That’s a great question.
Just my rehab process, talking to the coaches once going into spring ball and just making sure that I had a great off-season training-wise, putting more mass onto my body, getting stronger. Just talking to the coaches going into the season. They had a great plan. Just believing in them and believing in myself.
Q. You got to hear your teammates answer this, but what has it been like to have an off-season where everybody is loving on you? How do you tackle those expectations, make sure you live up to them?
DORIAN STRONG: It’s been good hearing everybody come give us great congratulations on our accomplishments last year. At the end of the day we know that we can be better. We know, shoot, we still have work to do going through all four phases this year, winter, spring, summer, now we’re going into fall camp. We still know we have a lot of work to do.
It’s a great thing to get the pats on the back, feels good, boost your ego, gives you confidence. I feel like my job in my corner back room is just trying to push confidence onto the guys, push competitive edge onto them. I feel like I’ve been doing a great job at that.
Regardless of the love or hate, which way it comes from, you take it and you just got to move past it. Can’t let it dwell on you.
Q. You played in all 11 games as a true freshman. That was the COVID season. That must feel like forever ago. What is it that you’ve learned about yourself through all of these experiences in the last four years?
DORIAN STRONG: That’s a great question.
What I learned about myself is how competitive I am. That’s always been in me, always been instilled in me. Just the coaches since they’ve gotten here, Coach Pry, Coach Jones, I’ve just grown into being a man, better football player.
Just from COVID, was a very interesting time. Wouldn’t change it. I loved the experience, the empty stadiums. Felt like high school. I was able to just, like, get my feet under me and calm down, gain my confidence back.
Q. We’re going to have a conversation that a lot of people are not going to understand. I’m from Peachy County, you’re from Peachy County, went to Wise High School. A lot of talent. What was it like growing up in Peachy up there? Talk about some of the talent that a lot of people don’t know about.
DORIAN STRONG: Yeah, man, definitely was an interesting time growing up. I feel like going to Wise, I played JV for two years, a lot of guys play JV, go straight to varsity. I played JV for two years. Broke my thumb my freshman year. My sophomore year I went crazy at receiver. All my life I thought I was going to be an offensive guy. My coach, he sat me down and had a conversation. I think you should be going to quarterback, doing seven-on-seven. I grinded through my high school years. I feel like I was a diamond in the rough type of player. Didn’t get a lot of recognition till my junior year.
Went to a spotlight camp, the O staff at Tech offered me. I feel grateful because I was talking to a lot of Power Five schools. They wasn’t trying to shoot their shot. When Virginia Tech shot their shot, I believe they believed in me, trusted me. Never looked back.
There is a lot of talent in Maryland. You’ve got me and you’ve got my man Mansoor. A lot of hidden talent in Maryland.
Q. You’ve had a lot of success throughout your entire time at Virginia Tech. Is there a personal accomplishment for what could be your final here at VT that you haven’t accomplished yet that you really want to accomplish?
DORIAN STRONG: Yes, I want to pick-six in Lane Stadium. I’ve been fortunate enough to catch a couple of picks in my career. I only thing I got, what, one in Lane Stadium. I felt that roar that first time when I was running. Now just to do that, to catch multiple pick-sixes in Lane Stadium.
Virginia
Honking on the highway: Family of geese escorted off I-66 in Virginia
Those honks you heard on I-66? They weren’t from cars.
Police officers in Northern Virginia herded a family of Canada geese off the highway Thursday afternoon, as lanes were shut down to keep everyone safe.
The geese were spotted on I-66 westbound near the exit for Sycamore Street. Metro Transit Police got to them first, and Arlington County officers and Virginia State Police also responded to help, acording to Arlington County Police.
Video shows police vehicles slowly following the geese — two adults with a cluster of fuzzy yellow goslings — as they waddled along the far right shoulder toward milemarker 69.6.
Lane closures were put into effect about 1:30 p.m., and police were able to escort the geese off the highway within about 15 minutes.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2693381161043880
County police quipped on Facebook: “What’s good for the goose…is probably to stay of I-66. 🪿 Virginia State Police , Metro Forward Police Department, Virginia Department of Transportation and ACPD officers worked together to assist a family of geese off a busy highway in a feat so great it gave us goosebumps!”
Virginia
More than 300 pounds of marijuana worth $1M seized in Bristol, Virginia State Police says
BRISTOL, Va. (WCYB) — More than 300 pounds of marijuana worth more than $1 million were seized this month in Bristol, according to the Virginia State Police.
Multiple search warrants were executed this month by VSP and the Holston River Regional Drug Task Force in at various areas across the city between May 1 and May 13.
On May 1, a search warrant was executed at a business on Euclid Avenue. Around three pounds of marijuana was seized with a street value of $13,500. The location was within a school zone and a childcare facility.
On May 6, another search warrant was executed at a warehouse in Bristol. Virginia State Police seized 250 pounds of marijuana (street value of $1,135,000), 192 marijuana plants ($576,000), 50 pounds of THC edibles ($22,700). Charges are forthcoming, police said.
Another search warrant was executed on May 13 at a business on West State Street. Around 25 pounds of marijuana was seized with a street value of $112,500. Additional evidence was also seized.
In addition, another search warrant was executed on May 13 at a business on Paulena Drive. About 30 pounds of marijuana was seized with a street value of $135,000. Additional evidence was also seized.
The Office of the Attorney General is reviewing the investigation for any possible applicable civil enforcement actions.
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The Holston River Regional Drug Task Force includes the Town of Abingdon Police Department, Bristol Police Department, the Russell County Sheriff’s Office, and the Town of Lebanon Police Department, as well as Virginia State Police.
Virginia
Va. governor concerned redistricting battle could make voters reluctant to cast ballot this fall – WTOP News
Days after Virginia Democrats filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court as part of their ongoing redistricting battle, Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she’s focused on the fall midterm elections and ensuring voters are motivated to turn out.
Days after Virginia Democrats filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court as part of their ongoing redistricting battle, Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she’s focused on the fall midterm elections and ensuring voters are motivated to turn out.
After a bill signing at Inova Schar Cancer Institute on Wednesday, Spanberger made her most extensive public comments about the state’s redistricting plan. She cited the state’s May 12 deadline for any map changes, and said as a result, this year’s elections will proceed under the current map.
Spanberger’s remarks came a few days after Virginia’s Supreme Court struck down the Democrat-led redistricting push. Primaries in the state are scheduled for Aug. 4, with the November general election to follow.
“What needs to happen is we need to focus on the task at hand, which is winning races in November,” Spanberger said.
“I believe, somewhat doggedly, that we will win two to four seats in the House of Representatives. … That is my goal. That is what I know is possible.”
The map Democrats proposed, experts said, could have resulted in a 10-1 Democratic majority representing Virginia in the U.S. House. But Republicans challenged the process Democrats in the General Assembly used to put the constitutional amendment before voters.
In a 4-3 opinion issued Friday morning, Virginia’s Supreme Court sided with the Republican challengers.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts gave Republicans until Thursday evening to respond to Democrats’ request for the emergency appeal.
Spanberger defended the process the General Assembly used, adding: “I think I certainly would have wanted to, and did want to, see a different outcome with the Supreme Court ruling.”
Over three million people participated in the rare April special election, and Spanberger said she’s concerned those voters “have had the experience of casting a ballot in an election that was very important to them, including those on both sides of the referendum vote, only to have it be overturned, essentially, by the Supreme Court of Virginia.”
Elected officials, she said, will have to work to ensure “that people know that their votes do matter, and that when it comes to the ballot they’re going to cast — whether it’s for a primary over the summer or for the general election into the fall — that they shouldn’t feel depleted or defeated, that their votes matter.”
Spanberger called the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court “important, but when it comes to the execution of elections, no matter the outcome in that case, we will be running our elections beginning next month with early voting on the current maps that we have.”
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