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Lawmaker proposes casino complex in northern Virginia amid statewide gambling expansion

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Lawmaker proposes casino complex in northern Virginia amid statewide gambling expansion


  • Virginia State Sen. David Marsden plans to reintroduce legislation allowing Fairfax County to hold a referendum on building a casino, with Tysons Corner as the preferred location.
  • The proposed legislation allows the county to select a site near Silver Line Metro stations, including Reston.
  • Marsden believes placing a casino on the Silver Line will benefit Dulles Airport, create union jobs and generate revenue for the county.

With casinos popping up on Virginia’s southern border, some lawmakers now want to explore whether wealthy northern Virginia should get in on the action.

State Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax, is planning to re-introduce legislation that would allow Fairfax County to hold a referendum on building a casino. He introduced similar legislation last year that went nowhere. This year, though, his proposal envisions far more than a casino and includes a convention center, concert hall, hotel, and other amenities.

Marsden’s preferred location is Tysons Corner, a suburb of the nation’s capital just a few miles from the Maryland border and a center of wealth that’s already home to successful high-end shopping malls and retail. While that area makes the most sense to Marsden, the legislation would allow the county to pick a site anywhere near one of the Silver Line Metro stations, including Reston.

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Placing a casino and entertainment on the Silver Line will be a boon to Dulles Airport, which got its own Silver Line station last year, Marsden said. It would also bring union jobs and the labor lobby is expected to be on board, he added.

The Rivers Casino in Portsmouth, Va., hosts its grand opening, on Jan. 23, 2023. With casinos popping up on Virginia’s southern border, some lawmakers now want to explore whether wealthy northern Virginia should get in on the action. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

Fairfax County has been the state’s economic engine for decades. But it’s facing a crunch in its commercial tax base as demand for office space has diminished post-pandemic. The county needs to be realistic about the need for change and the revenue potential that casino gambling could bring, said Marsden.

“I don’t like the lottery. I don’t like any of it. But we have to be practical, not naive,” he said, adding that Virginia should not leave its wealthiest region out of the equation when it comes to gaming revenue.

The push for a northern Virginia casino comes at a time when voters have been skeptical. Referenda for a casino in Richmond and a slots parlor in Manassas Park failed in November with roughly 58 percent of voters saying no in both cities.

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Marsden, though, said Richmond’s rejection of a casino creates an opportunity for Fairfax County to fill the void.

Casino opponents are unmoved. Fairfax County Supervisor Walter Alcorn, who represents the Reston area, said putting a casino along the Silver Line is a waste of the region’s most valuable real estate.

It’s the rare constituent who tells him they want a casino in the county, said Alcorn. Simply allowing a referendum is also problematic, he said, because the amount of money pro-casino interests can throw at a ballot measure..

“It’s bad politics,” he said.

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Casino supporters appear to be mounting a well-financed lobbying effort, he said. Corporate officers with Comstock, a developer with whom Marsden has been working on the casino effort, have formed a political action committee, Building a Remarkable Virginia, that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent months.

Calls and emails to Comstock and the political action committee seeking comment were not returned.

Casinos have been approved and opened in Danville, Bristol and Portsmouth after legislation authorizing them, subject to local voter approval, authorized them in 2020. Voters in Norfolk also approved a casino but the project is still going through the approval process.

A study commissioned in 2019 by the the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee found that a northern Virginia casino could generate $155 million annually in tax revenue, nearly double the revenue projected for a Richmond casino.

Marsden’s bill has support at the state and local level.

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Incoming Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell said it’s frustrating that Maryland generates tax revenue to pay for its schools with casinos that draw heavily on Virginia for their customer base.

He acknowledged that views are divided in the General Assembly and some are opposed to casinos but said that traditionally lawmakers have shown willingness to pass bills that let local jurisdictions make the decision for themselves.

At a local level, several members of the county board of supervisors expressed willingness to support a referendum.

Pat Herrity, the board’s lone Republican, said that legislation pairing a casino with a badly needed convention center merits real consideration. He said several developers have expressed interest in bidding on a project.

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Dalia Palchik, who represents Tysons Corner, said nobody has approached her about supporting a casino project in her district. But she said she loves the idea of drawing a convention center to Tysons, and is open to legislation that would allow citizen input through a referendum and the regular county approval process.

“Definitely the devil is in the details with this one,” she said.

The board’s chairman, Jeff McKay, was noncommittal. He said that there was nothing to take a position on, because no legislation has been formally introduced yet.

That didn’t stop the Vienna Town Council, though, from issuing a resolution earlier this month making opposition to a casino a top priority. Councilmembers said the town, which abuts Tysons Corner, could suffer negative traffic and other unintended consequences. One councilman, Howard Springsteen, said casinos bring “an unwholesome community.”

Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office declined comment on whether he would sign a casino bill.

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Virginia Basketball Holds Off Manhattan 74-65 | Key Takeaways

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Virginia Basketball Holds Off Manhattan 74-65 | Key Takeaways


Virginia (4-2) got back in the win column with a 74-65 victory over Manhattan (3-3) on Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena. Here are our five quick takeaways from the Cavaliers’ win over the Jaspers.

Virginia was in serious need of a win after suffering those two humbling losses to Tennessee and St. John’s in The Bahamas. But a convincing and comfortable victory would have been even better and for a while, it seemed like the Cavaliers were on their way to doing just that. UVA led by as many as 15 points in the first half and opened up a 16-point advantage midway through the second half. But rather than putting the game away, Virginia let Manhattan hang around and the visiting Jaspers were in a situation where they were fouling to stop the clock in the final minutes, narrowing the deficit to as little as six points. A win is a win, but this was far from a confidence-boosting performance.

Virginia went with a new starting lineup on Tuesday night, as Andrew Rohde replaced TJ Power. Rohde has been playing very well recently, particularly with his resurgent outside shot, while Power came into this game shooting 25% from beyond the arc this season.

Power initially responded well to the benching, swishing a corner three shortly after he first entered the game, hitting the deck for a loose ball, and coming up with a steal to stop a Manhattan fastbreak. But he wound up playing only six minutes, fewest among Cavaliers who saw the floor in the game. That does not bode well for the Duke transfer.

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Read Val’s Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.

Rohde, on the other hand, had another solid game and was perhaps the top performer for the Hoos on Tuesday night. Though he missed his only three-pointer, which was a desperation off-balanced heave at the end of the shot clock, Rohde finished with a season-high 14 points, two assists (with one turnover), two rebounds, and four steals. Rohde showed excellent feel for the game, getting exactly where he wanted to go and exhibiting some nice touch on a couple of floaters plus a short jumper off the glass. If Rohde is playing like this and his three-point shot continues to be there, this could be a big season for the former St. Thomas transfer.

The main reason why this game continued to be close deep into the second half is because UVA’s defense frequently broke down and gave up open shots to Manhattan, particularly from the perimeter. The Jaspers shot 11/26 (42.3%) from beyond the arc and and seven different players knocked down a three. A couple of those Manhattan triples were well-contested, but the vast majority of them were wide-open. That’s very concerning and shows that this Virginia defense, with its many new faces, is still very much a work in progress.

Virginia’s offense was pretty well neutralized by Tennessee and St. John’s in The Bahamas. Tuesday night against Manhattan was a small step in the right direction, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.

Let’s start with the good. Five different Cavaliers scored in double figures, including a game-high 18 points from Isaac McKneely, who hit three of his four three-point attempts and went 5/6 from the free throw line. We still think McKneely needs to shoot way more, but we’ll leave that alone for now. Dai Dai Ames scored 10 points and dished out five assists, but fouled out of the game. Blake Buchanan made his first four shots and finished with 11 points and five boards. Cofie made five of his seven shots and finished with 10 points and five boards. The best part of the game was that Virginia had 15 assists on 29 made baskets and turned the ball over only eight times, a vast improvement over the team’s turnover issues in The Bahamas.

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Virginia outscored Manhattan 42-22 in the paint. That looks like a good stat, but it’s also an inevitable stat because of UVA’s size advantage over the Jaspers, whose tallest player in the rotation is 6’8″. Still, Manhattan snared 10 offensive rebounds and scored 11 second-chance points. In The Bahamas, UVA was dominated on the glass and was simply outmatched from a physicality and athleticism standpoint. Nothing we saw from the Cavaliers on Tuesday night did anything to alleviate those concerns.

Up next, Virginia remains at home for another (supposed) tune-up game against Holy Cross on Friday at 4pm at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia vs. Manhattan Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball

UVA Basketball: Ten Things We Learned About Virginia in The Bahamas

Virginia Basketball Falls to St. John’s 80-55 | Key Takeaways

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Virginia vs. Manhattan Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball

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Virginia vs. Manhattan Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball


Virginia (3-2) is set to host Manhattan (3-2) on Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. Follow along with score updates, play-by-play, and live analysis for the game in the thread below. Updates will be posted at each timeout in reverse chronological order with the most recent updates at the top of the article. Refresh the page for updates.

As we await our 7pm tip between Virginia and Manhattan on the ACC Network, read a full preview of the game here: Virginia Basketball vs. Manhattan Game Preview, Score Prediction

Virginia has posted its starting five for tonight’s game:
– Dai Dai Ames
– Isaac McKneely
– Andrew Rohde
– Elijah Saunders
– Blake Buchanan

Notably, TJ Power has been replaced by Andrew Rohde in the starting lineup after starting the first five games of the season. Power is shooting 25% from three (4/16), while Rohde is currently shooting 50% from beyond the arc (7/14).

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  • Virginia and Manhattan will meet on Tuesday night for just the second time ever and first time since March 19th, 1993, when the Cavaliers defeated the Jaspers 78-66 in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament.
  • UVA is 9-0 against current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
  • Virginia’s last game against a MAAC team was back in 2012, when the Cavaliers defeated Fairfield 54-45 at John Paul Jones Arena.
  • UVA is 2-0 at John Paul Jones Arena this season and 3-0 against unranked opponents this season.

Read more Virginia men’s basketball news and content in the links below:

UVA Basketball: Ten Things We Learned About Virginia in The Bahamas

Virginia Basketball Falls to St. John’s 80-55 | Key Takeaways

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Gets Skunked by Tennessee in The Bahamas

Virginia Basketball Falls to Tennessee 64-42 | Key Takeaways



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Suspect steals property from store, assaults employee in Virginia

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Suspect steals property from store, assaults employee in Virginia


A man has been arrested after entering a store in McLean, stealing merchandise and assaulting an employee. 

The suspect has been identified as Calvin Hughes Jr, of Washington D.C.

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Leesburg Pike robbery suspect 

Police responded to the 8300 block of Leesburg Pike in McLean for a commercial robbery on November 21 around 11:00 a.m. According to police, the suspect entered the store, stole merchandise, and assaulted an employee. 

Hughes Jr. was identified and arrested nearby for robbery and is being held without bond. 



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