Virginia

Virginia budget leaders confirm Alexandria arena deal is out of the proposed spending plan

Published

2 years ago

March 7, 2024

Virginia budget leaders confirm Alexandria arena deal is out of the proposed spending plan

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Work on compromise budget legislation Virginia lawmakers will take up later this week is complete, and the bill does not include language enabling a proposed relocation by the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals to Alexandria, top lawmakers said Thursday.

The development does not necessarily mean the end of the road for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s plan to lure the teams across the Potomac River with a $2 billion development district featuring a new arena. But it deals yet another blow for the proposal, a top priority for Youngkin.

The governor said he believes lawmakers were set to make a huge mistake. He defended the outline of the proposal at a news conference in front of the Capitol.

“It could truly be a monumental opportunity,” Youngkin said, touting the project’s job and revenue creation potential, and saying he fears that the Senate’s handling of the discussions could damage the state’s business climate.

Sen. L. Louise Lucas, the top Senate negotiator, stood on the Capitol steps, looking on as he spoke. She told reporters earlier that she remains firmly opposed to a deal that relies on bonds backed by state and city governments.

Del. Luke Torian, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee and led negotiations for his chamber, confirmed that the arena-related provisions had been removed from the legislation, which lawmakers are expected to take up Saturday.

Torian, who had sponsored a standalone version of the legislation that was defeated earlier in the session, said he was “perhaps a little disappointed” the language didn’t make it into the budget.

“But that’s the nature of trying to govern here in the Commonwealth,” he said.

The budget had been the last remaining vehicle for the legislation underpinning the deal after other standalone versions failed earlier this session. The governor could pursue an amendment to the budget once lawmakers send it to him, restoring the project language, or he could call a special session on the issue.

Torian said the bill contained raises in each year for teachers and other public employees and important investments in core government services.

The text of the bill was not immediately available in the state’s online information system.

Youngkin and entrepreneur Ted Leonsis, the CEO of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, announced in December that they had reached an understanding on a deal to relocate the Capitals and Wizards.

The plan calls for the creation of a $2 billion development, partly financed by public money, in the Potomac Yard section of Alexandria that would include an arena, practice facility and corporate headquarters for Monumental, plus a separate performing arts venue, all just miles from Capital One Arena, where the teams currently play in Washington.

The AP sent an inquiry seeking comment to a representative for Monumental on the budget development.

Source link

Click to comment

Virginia

#17 Irish Fall at #4 Virginia, 4-1

Published

2 hours ago

April 3, 2026

Press Room

PDF Box

#17 Notre Dame (19-5, 8-3) – 1 | #4 Virginia (18-3, 10-1) – 4

DOUBLES – 3, 2
1. Dominko/Gregg (ND) vs. #5 Dahlberg/Dietrich (UVA), 2-4, 4-4, 5-4, 6-5, unfinished
2. Rice/Brockett (UVA) def. #47 Llorens Saracho/Nad (ND), 7-5
3. Santamarta/Kim (UVA) def. Lee/Patrick (ND), 6-0

SINGLES – 2, 4, 6
1. #2 Dylan Dietrich (UVA) def. #15 Sebastian Dominko (ND), 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
2. #14 Keegan Rice (UVA) def. #72 Perry Gregg (ND), 6-3, 6-3
3. #40 Andres Santamarta Roig (UVA) vs. Giuseppe Cerasuolo (ND), 6-3, 6-5, unfinished
4. Peter Nad (ND) def. #102 Jangjun Kim (UVA), 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
5. Kyran Magimay (ND) vs. Stiles Brockett (UVA), 6-1, 5-7, 1-1, unfinished
6. Douglas Yaffa (UVA) def. Luis Llorens Saracho (ND), 6-3, 0-6, 6-1

Source link

Virginia

Virginia sees 33,000 ACA enrollment drop since subsidies expired, more likely on the way

Published

14 hours ago

April 3, 2026

Press Room

Virginia sees 33,000 ACA enrollment drop since subsidies expired, more likely on the way

As Virginians, and Americans nationwide, face premium spikes in the Affordable Care Act marketplace after Congress failed to renew subsidies, many are weighing the cost of coverage against paying rent or mortgages, making car payments or paying for public transit, and buying groceries.

Source link

Virginia

The Virginia International Tattoo: Where 250 Years of Freedom Takes the Stage – VisitNorfolk

Published

1 day ago

April 2, 2026

Press Room

The Virginia International Tattoo: Where 250 Years of Freedom Takes the Stage – VisitNorfolk

If you’re uncertain what the words “Tattoo” and “Hullabaloo” mean in the context of Norfolk, Virginia’s largest annual event, Scott Jackson is happy to explain.

“About 15 years ago, I took a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, to see the Edinburgh tattoo, which is the biggest tattoo in the world and the most famous,” says Jackson, Producer/Director of the military-themed spectacle known as the Virginia International Tattoo. “My hotel was at the bottom of a road called the Royal Mile… and when you walk up this mile on the night of a tattoo performance, it’s totally vibrant. It’s so exciting. There’s music on every corner. There’s street performers. There’s food, there’s beer. When I got to the castle, I already felt great. I was already in a great mood.”

The annual Virginia International Tattoo runs April 16–19, 2026, and this year it carries the theme of America’s 250th anniversary. The timing is not lost on Jackson, a student of military history who discovered, in preparing for this year, that George Washington himself called for the first tattoo in American history.

“At that time, a tattoo was a small military ceremony,” Jackson explains. “It was basically a time each night when soldiers were called back to a base, and there was a roll call, and a military ceremony, sometimes called a beating retreat.”

From that origin story, Jackson has built a show that threads 1776 through every act. The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, performing in 1776 uniforms, will demonstrate how fifes, drums and bugles once served as battlefield communication, the original radio operators of the Continental Army. The French Navy Band and a Royal Air Force rifle display team called the King’s Color Squadron represent the allies who stood with the colonies.

“There’s a great line from the musical Hamilton,” Jackson says, “‘I want to be in the room where it happened.’ Well, these were the countries that were in the room where it happened.”

South Korea’s Army Band provides a “a giant umbrella of Korean culture,” with traditional dance and costumes, a taekwondo display team, and two K-pop stars currently serving their mandatory military service.

“In the U.S. in the ’50s, Elvis Presley was drafted into the Army, who felt like it was a distraction, so they actually staged him in Germany. He basically had a desk job,” Jackson says. “Well, the South Koreans said, ‘Oh, you’re a K-pop star, we’re drafting you. We’re sending you to Virginia Tattoo to represent.’”

More than 800 civilian and military performers from six nations will fill Scope’s arena floor. For those making the drive from the Richmond region and beyond, the experience begins well before curtain. According to Jackson, that is precisely what you don’t want to miss.

The festivities aren’t just inside the arena, Jackson notes. For several hours before each performance, the exterior Scope Plaza comes alive with brass quintets, traditional Celtic dancers, beer tastings, festival food and a market of makers selling Tattoo-related merchandise. This is the Hullabaloo, a free pre-show open to the public and Jackson’s answer to Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.

“When you can, come early and relax, because then when the show starts, you’re already in a great place,” he says. “If you haven’t gone yet, this is the year to go.”

Tickets are available at vafest.org or by calling (757) 282-2822. Show times are Thursday–Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Source link