Virginia
Smoky skies are making Virginia’s sunsets a more vibrant orange than usual

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — You might have noticed the unusually orange sky in Virginia near sunset. The orange appearance is more pronounced in the late day, causing vibrant sunset skies with an eerie reddish tint over the lowering orb of the sun.
The color is due to the smoke from massive wildfires across Canada. 400+ wildfires have occurred or continue burning in the country to the North of the U.S., and upper level winds are bringing that smoky haze to our local skies.
SEE ALSO: No survivors found in Virginia plane crash, could take days to sort through wreckage
The air quality across Virginia has actually been in the “good” category despite the haze because the smoke is well above the ground.
Air quality is much worse closer to the fires, with “unhealthy” levels over Ohio, Michigan and New York.
Until the wildfires are extinguished, or the upper-level winds veer away from Virginia, you can expect more hazy skies in our future.

Virginia
Former US attorney for Eastern District of Virginia found dead at 43 – WTOP News

Jessica Aber, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia has died. She was 43.
Jessica Aber, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was found dead on Saturday. She was 43.
A statement from Alexandria Police said Aber was confirmed dead after officers responded to the 900 block of Beverly Drive in Alexandria, Virginia at approximately 9:18 a.m.
Officers were initially called to the scene in response to an unresponsive woman.
A cause of death has not yet been released by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia. An investigation is underway.
Local leaders are remembering her work as a public servant.
Erik Siebert, who serves as the current U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, remembered Aber as an “unmatched as a leader, mentor, and prosecutor.”
“She is simply irreplaceable as a human being. We remain in awe of how much she accomplished in her all too brief time in this world,” he said in a statement. “Jess was a proud Virginian from high school through college and throughout her career.”
Aber was nominated to serve as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia during former President Joe Biden’s term in office. She had been unanimously confirmed to serve in the posting.
During her time in that role, Aber led a staff of 300 prosecutors, civil litigators and support personnel across the state. Aber resigned from the position in January, when President Donald Trump came into office.
WTOP’s Gaby Arancibia contributed to this report.
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Virginia
Virginia hires Ryan Odom, who led 16-seed upset of Cavs, as basketball coach

Defending champs UConn vs No. 1 seed Florida leads Sunday slate
Mackenzie Salmon previews the best games during Sundays slate of games in the round of 32 including the defending champs UConn taking on Florida.
Sports Seriously
Virginia hired Ryan Odom, who once led UMBC to one of the NCAA Tournament’s greatest upsets, as its new men’s basketball coach, the school announced Saturday.
Odom spent the last two seasons at Virginia Commonwealth University, posting a 52-21 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament this year. The Rams lost to BYU 80-71 in the first round on Thursday.
The 50-year-old Odom replaces Tony Bennett, who retired in October, just weeks before the season. Ron Sanchez was named the interim coach and led the Cavaliers to a 15-17 record, missing the postseason, and it was announced he would not be retained as the next coach.
Odom, whose father Dave was a head coach at South Carolina, Wake Forest, and East Carolina and was an assistant at Virginia in the 1980s, has also coached at Charlotte and Utah State.
His biggest success was with UMBC, when the 16-seeded Retrievers upset No. 1-seed Virginia in the first round of the 2018 tournament.
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Virginia
Virginia Breaks Own NCAA Meet Record With 3:20.20 400 Medley Relay

2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships
Women’s 400 Medley Relay
- NCAA Record: 3:19.58 – Virginia (Curzan, Walsh, Walsh, Moesch), 2025
Championship Record: 3:21.01 – Virginia (Walsh, Nocentini, Walsh, Parker), 2024- American Record: 3:19.58 – Virginia (Curzan, Walsh, Walsh, Moesch), 2025
- U.S. Open Record: 3:19.58 – Virginia (Curzan, Walsh, Walsh, Moesch), 2025
- 2024 Champion: Virginia (Walsh, Nocentini, Walsh, Parker) – 3:21.01
TOP 8 FINISHERS:
- Virginia (Curzan, Walsh, Walsh, Moesch) – 3:20.20 (Meet Record)
- Tennessee (Fuller, McSharry, Stotler, Spink) – 3:24.99
- Florida (Sims, Bottazzo Peoples, Cronk) – 3:25.18
- Indiana (DeWitt, Crawford, Grana, Paegle) – 3:25.83
- Texas (Bray, Enge, Sticklen, Nesty) – 3:26.11
- Stanford (Parkhe, Thomas, Huske, Nordmann) – 3:26.34
- USC (Famous, Dobler, Sasseville, Abraham) – 3:26.82
- Louisville (Murray, Cheatwood, Welch, Dennis) – 3:27.76
The Virginia women’s 400 medley relay of Claire Curzan, Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh, and Anna Moesch swam to a new NCAA meet record posting a 3:20.20. The relay also swam the #2 performance of all-time sitting right behind their own NCAA and American Records of a 3:18.58 that they swam at ACCs last month.
Split Comparison
The biggest difference today was Gretchen Walsh as she split a 47.35 on the fly leg, faster than the 49.15 that sister Alex Walsh swam in the previous meet record.
Notably, Curzan and Gretchen Walsh were all slower in their relay swim tonight compared to their individual wins earlier in the session in their respective stroke 100s. Curzan won the 100 back in a 49.11 while Gretchen Walsh was off her winning time of a 46.97.
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