Virginia

‘This is a really good day for commuters’: $40M in funding approved for Route 28 project in Va. – WTOP News

Published

3 hours ago

July 16, 2024

‘This is a really good day for commuters’: $40M in funding approved for Route 28 project in Va. – WTOP News

Transportation planners have approved a second round of funding in long-range plans to improve Virginia Route 28 commute between Manassas Park and Fairfax County.

Transportation planners have approved a second round of funding in long-range plans to improve the commute on Virginia Route 28 between Manassas Park and Fairfax County.

Virginia state Sen. Danica Roem (D-Prince William County) said the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority OK’d $40 million to fund road improvements that include innovative intersection designs, a raised median and a 1.75 mile-long sidewalk between Manassas in the Yorkshire area of Prince William County.

“We now have all the money we need to fully fund the innovative intersection design plan that I’ve been working on for six and a half years now, to fix Route 28 between Manassas Park and Yorkshire,” said Roem.

Construction work is estimated to begin in late 2027.

“What people should expect between now and 2027 is all the preliminary work getting done. … Pretty much what’s going to happen over the next three years is all the design work, utility movement ideas and the minimal amount of eminent domain,” said Roem.

No houses will be removed, but some buildings, housing and businesses will be taken by eminent domain for the road improvement project, according to Roem, who said she is pleased that the project is based on ideas from area residents, commuters and workers.

“Bottom line — this is a really good day for commuters, for Route 28, knowing that help is on the way. It’s going to take a little bit (of time), but we’ve got $64.5 million coming to make our commutes on Route 28 in the Greater Manassas area safer, quicker and greener,” said Roem.

WTOP’s Neal Augenstein contributed to this report.

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Virginia

NoVa Hospital Ranks Among Best Regional Hospitals: US News Rankings

Published

10 hours ago

July 16, 2024

Press Room

NoVa Hospital Ranks Among Best Regional Hospitals: US News Rankings

VIRGINIA — With expertise across multiple specialty areas, two Virginia hospitals ranked high nationally in several specialty areas, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2024-2025 Best Hospitals ranking released Tuesday.

In all, 15 Virginia hospitals were included in the list of the country’s best health-care facilities.

For its 35th annual report, U.S. News evaluated more than 5,000 hospitals based on their performance across 30 medical and surgical services.

Inova Fairfax Hospital ranked 36th in obstetrics and gynocology; and VCU Medical Center ranked 42nd in cardiology, heart and vascular surgery; 33rd in orthopedics, and 19th in rehabilitation.

These Are The Top-Ranked Hospitals In Virginia: U.S. News Ranking:

Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church
VCU Medical Center, Richmond
Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Norfolk
Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Roanoke
University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville
Virginia Hospital Center, Arlington
Mary Washington Hospital, Fredericksburg
Winchester Medical Center, Winchester
Henrico Doctors’ Hospitals, Richmond
Sentara Leigh Hospital, Norfolk
Chippenham and Johnston-Willis Hospitals, Richmond
Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, Fairfax
Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, Virginia Beach
Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, Chesapeake
Centra Lynchburg General Hospital, Lynchburg

Inova Fairfax Hospital was also among the top 466 Best Regional Hospitals in the country, according to U.S. News.

For the first time this year, U.S. News also identified 98 hospitals across the country for their success in caring for patients from historically underserved communities. Here are the top five hospitals by specialty:

Cancer

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City
Mayo Clinic-Rochester, Rochester, Minnesota
Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, Boston
City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California

Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Surgery

Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Ohio
NYU Langone Hospitals, New York City
Mayo Clinic-Rochester, Rochester, Minnesota
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City
New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, New York City

Neurology & Neurosurgery

NYU Langone Hospitals, New York City
Mayo Clinic-Rochester, Rochester, Minnesota
UCSF Health-UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco
New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, New York City
Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, MD)

Orthopedics

Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City
Mayo Clinic-Rochester, Rochester, Minnesota
NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, New York City
New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, New York City
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles

To calculate the 2024-2025 Best Hospitals for the Honor Roll, specialty and region, U.S. News evaluated each hospital’s performance using a variety of measures. Data came from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, American Hospital Association, professional organizations, and medical specialists. The Procedures & Conditions ratings are based entirely on objective patient care measures.

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Virginia

Three Central Virginia baseball players taken in first eight rounds of the 2024 MLB Draft

Published

17 hours ago

July 16, 2024

Press Room

Three Central Virginia baseball players taken in first eight rounds of the 2024 MLB Draft

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Three Central Virginia natives heard their names called in the first eight rounds of the 2024 MLB Draft. Griff O’Ferrall went in the first round 32nd overall to the Baltimore Orioles, Konnor Eaton went in the sixth Round 168th overall to the Colorado Rockies and Will Riley went in the eighth round 243rd overall to the Seattle Mariners.

Griff O’Ferrall who played high school baseball at St. Christopher’s School was drafted out of UVA where he was a Gold Glove winner at shortstop this past season. He went in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft to the Baltimore Orioles.

Konner Eaton who played high school baseball at Prince George High School was drafted out of George Mason where he was the team’s ace this past season starting 14 games and striking out 82 batters. He went in the sixth round of the 2024 MLB Draft to the Colorado Rockies.

Will Riley who played high school baseball at James River High School was drafted out of Virginia Military Institute where he started 14 games for the Keydets and struck out 84 batters in 78 innings pitched. He went in the eighth round of the 2024 MLB Draft to the Seattle Mariners.

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VCU poll shows Trump ahead in Virginia as support for Biden wanes

Published

24 hours ago

July 15, 2024

Press Room

VCU poll shows Trump ahead in Virginia as support for Biden wanes

RICHMOND — Former president Donald Trump leads President Biden in Virginia by three percentage points in a new Virginia Commonwealth University-Wilder School poll, but the numbers reflect an anemic showing for both candidates and a decline in Biden’s support instead of a surge in Trump’s.

The results, which are within the poll’s 4.8-point margin of error, show Biden dropping from the 42 percent support he enjoyed in the last VCU-Wilder poll, released in January, while Trump was unchanged at 39 percent. The new poll was conducted between June 24 and July 3, so some of the results followed the June 27 presidential debate, when Biden’s faltering performance raised questions about his age and ability to handle the demands of the job.

A New York Times-Siena College poll conducted in Virginia July 9-12 showed the opposite result, with Biden leading Trump by three percentage points — 48 to 45 — among likely voters, though that result is also within the poll’s margin of error. Both polls are in line with other recent Virginia surveys that suggest a significant decline in support for Biden, who beat Trump in the state by five points in 2016 and 10 points in 2020.

“Virginia is in play,” said former governor L. Douglas Wilder (D), whose namesake school of public policy sponsored the poll. “It is a close race. It’s a turnout election in Virginia.”

The VCU-Wilder poll also shows that Virginians support incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine (D) by double digits over Republican challenger Hung Cao, at 49 percent to 38 percent.

At the same time, the survey found a seven-point net decline in Virginians’ approval of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), with 50 percent approving of his performance as governor and 39 percent disapproving. The school’s January survey showed Youngkin’s approval was four points higher — 54 percent — and disapproval was three points lower, at 36 percent.

With Youngkin weakening and Kaine looking strong, Wilder said, “then why is there such a drop in support for Democrat Biden? I would not be the person to say that he should step down … but it’s very concerning for Democrats.” He suggested that Biden’s debate performance and his stumbles in a follow-up television interview with George Stephanopoulos weakened support for the president.

Respondents rated the “rising cost of living” as the top issue in the race, followed by women’s reproductive rights and immigration.

Biden got low marks for overall handling of his job: 36 percent approved of his performance as president while 58 percent disapproved.

The Democrat particularly lost support among Black voters; 46 percent said they would vote for Biden while 13.7 percent said they would vote for Trump, but Biden’s support from Black voters was down from 67 percent in the last VCU-Wilder poll.

The poll also found that 53 percent of Virginia voters said they were less likely to vote for Trump because of his conviction in New York on 34 felony counts related to hush money payments to an adult-film actress. Another 31 percent said they were more likely to vote for him after the convictions. Among independents, 45 percent said the convictions made them less likely to support Trump while 25 percent said they were more likely.

Wilder said the results mean Biden needs to spend time persuading Virginians to support him. “He needs to do something demonstrably in Virginia so people say, ‘We got to have this guy.’ It’s not a question of the lesser of two evils — no, no, tell us what it is that you are going to do,” Wilder said.

Trump has insisted he can win Virginia, aided by Youngkin, who had kept the controversial former president at arm’s length but finally appeared with him at a rally in Chesapeake, Va., late last month. Biden, meanwhile, has opened campaign offices across Virginia and appeared at an abortion rights rally in Manassas in January.

The VCU-Wilder poll consisted of telephone interviews with 809 Virginia adults, age 18 or older, with about a third conducted on landlines and the rest on cellphones.

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