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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Valente, Gdovic drive to Modified victories at Langley Speedway; Music heads Virginia Racers field

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Valente, Gdovic drive to Modified victories at Langley Speedway; Music heads Virginia Racers field


The Ryley Music Show continued on a busy Saturday night of racing at Langley Speedway in Hampton, though DJ Valente and Rick Gdovic scored 30-lap Modified victories.

Music, one of the area’s best young drivers, made it look as easy as 1-2-3 on Mosquito Joe’s Night. He finished second and third in the Modified twin events and won the night’s longest race, a Virginia Racers 50-lapper.

Valente gained his second triumph of the young season, holding off Music by 0.343 of a second in a race with eight drivers. Gdovic, who placed sixth in the opener, bounced back in the nightcap as Peyton Ferree was the runner-up.

Virginia Racers: After almost 23 1/2 minutes, Music fended off Donovan Edwards by 1.057 seconds to emerge atop the field of 16 and score his second victory this season in the division.

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Grand Stock: Longtime Langley competitor Paul Lubno made it 2 for 2 this year in getting to Victory Lane, beating Tim Wilson by 496-thousandths of a second over almost 27 minutes. Eight drivers started the 40 laps.

UCAR: Christian Keller remained in charge of the division, beating nine foes and winning his third race in as many tries. It came by a whopping 8.700 seconds over Thomas Fontaine in a 25-lap event that took Keller just less than eight minutes.

Enduro: Ryan Vinson led the field of 18 in a 30-lap race that took less than 10 1/2 minutes. He held off Zachary Herdlein by 1.096 seconds for his first victory of the year. Alex Floroff, who won the division’s first two races, was third, 1.435 seconds off the pace.

Legends: Tommy Jackson motored to his second victory in two tries, easing past Cody Carlton by 3.262 seconds in a 25-lap race that took more than 12 minutes and began with 11 drivers.

Bandolero: Bryson Nichols earned his second victory in two starts this year, overcoming Nevaeh Edwards by 253-thousandths of a second as they took just more than 8 1/2 minutes to complete 15 laps.

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Saturday night’s results in Hampton (car numbers).

Modified 30 #1: (8 starters); 1. (18) DJ Valente; 2. (47) Ryley Music; 3. (3) Brad Adams; 4. (23) Peyton Ferree; 5. (11) Chris Roberts.

Modified 30 #2: (8 starters); 1. (64) Rick Gdovic; 2. (23) Peyton Ferree; 3. (47) Ryley Music; 4. (18) DJ Valente; 5. (3) Brad Adams.

Virginia Racers 50: (16 starters); 1. (47) Ryley Music; 2. (26) Donovan Edwards; 3. (9) Ayden Millette; 4. (45) Doug Warren; 5. (78) Atley Wiese.

Grand Stock 40: (8 starters); 1. (14) Paul Lubno; 2. (17) Tim Wilson; 3. (22) Bill Eaker; 4. (47) Nate Lundin; 5. (22) Mike Parker.

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UCAR 25: (10 starters); 1. (6) Christian Keller; 2. (64) Thomas Fontaine; 3. (3c) Mikey Chinn; 4. (3) Michael Walters; 5. (7) Dwight Nikles.

Enduro 30: (18 starters); 1. (25) Ryan Vinson; 2. (32) Zachary Herdlein; 3. (17) Alex Floroff; 4. (11) Phil Nelson; 5. (12) Charles Jarvis.

Legends 25: (11 starters); 1. (87) Tommy Jackson; 2. (11) Cody Carlton; 3. (5b) Charlie Beals; 4. (7) Spencer Saunders; 5. (16) Ryan Mycka.

Bandolero 15: (12 starters); 1. (80) Bryson Nichols; 2. (02) Nevaeh Edwards; 3. (11) Addison Schumann; 4. (18) Tristan Burnelli; 5. (1) Tuggie Case.



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Virginia Lacrosse Falls to No. 1 Notre Dame 11-9 in Regular Season Finale

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Virginia Lacrosse Falls to No. 1 Notre Dame 11-9 in Regular Season Finale


Notre Dame keeps the crown.

The top-ranked and defending national champion Fighting Irish came into Charlottesville on Saturday afternoon to wrap up the regular season and handed the Cavaliers a third-consecutive loss for the first time in a decade.

No. 1 Notre Dame (10-1, 4-0 ACC) completed its undefeated 4-0 run through the ACC with an 11-9 victory over No. 6 Virginia (10-4, 1-3 ACC) on Saturday afternoon at Klockner Stadium.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team leading by more than a goal until Virginia got goals from Jack Boyden and Payton Cormier to take a 6-4 lead into the halftime break. Cormier then scored again to start the third quarter to give UVA a 7-4 lead, but the Cavaliers would score only two more goals for the rest of the game in what was ultimately their quietest offensive performance of the season.

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Notre Dame scored the next four goals, with each coming from a different goal scorer, to take an 8-7 lead. McCabe Millon found Cormier on a man-up opportunity to tie things up heading into the fourth quarter. After Shellenberger assisted on a Ryan Colsey goal to give UVA a 9-8 lead, the Cavaliers proceeded to go scoreless for the final 12 minutes and 52 seconds of game time. Notre Dame scored the final three goals of the game, including two from Devon McLane, and went on to win 11-9.

The story of the game comes down to sloppiness and mistakes, as the Cavaliers won the faceoff battle 13-10, but were still outshot by Notre Dame 42-30. The explanation for that statistical anomaly is that the Fighting Irish dominated the groundball battle 50-26 and had six fewer turnovers than Virginia, who had 27 turnovers and eight failed clears.

That sloppy play and inability to win the 50-50 balls gave Notre Dame a possession edge that was too much for the Cavaliers to overcome, as they suffered their third-consecutive loss for the first time since the 2014 season.

Payton Cormier had four goals on 10 shots and was the only Cavalier to score multiple goals in the game. Connor Shellenberger had one goal and two assists, but also turned the ball over six times.

Matthew Nunes made 10 saves and allowed 11 goals for a .476 save percentage.

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Virginia concludes the regular season 10-4 overall and 1-3 in ACC play.

Up next is the ACC Tournament, which will be played next weekend for the first time since the 2019 season. UVA is the No. 4 seed in the tournament and will have a very quick rematch with No. 1 Notre Dame next Friday (time TBD) at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The other semifinal will be No. 2 Syracuse and No. 3 Duke. The winners of the two semifinals will play for the 2024 ACC Men’s Lacrosse Championship on Sunday in Charlotte.



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AT update: Hello Virginia! – The Trek

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AT update: Hello Virginia! – The Trek


Day 37: Today is gonna be a fun day. We woke up around 7, after a much better night of sleep than the night before. We’re only carrying our packs around 1.5 miles, so we weren’t in any particular rush. The first half mile was back along the highway, which is a less than ideal way to start the morning, but after that we hopped off into the woods again and started our way to the next hostel! …



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