Virginia

Winsome Earle-Sears, Abigail Spanberger will face off in key Virginia governor’s race

Published

1 year ago

April 9, 2025

Winsome Earle-Sears, Abigail Spanberger will face off in key Virginia governor’s race

In what could be a key 2025 bellwether, Virginia’s race for governor will also make history, all but guaranteeing the Commonwealth’s first female governor. Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman and CIA officer, will face Republican Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, a Marine veteran, after both state parties confirmed their nominees in recent days.

One of the only competitive races of the year, the Virginia gubernatorial contest will be closely watched by both parties — and is often treated as a referendum on the president’s party. Historically, Virginia has voted for a governor of the opposite political party, every time a new president has been elected since 1977.

The race is already breaking state records for fundraising, with Earle-Sears raising more than $3 million from January to March and Spanberger raising around $6.7 million during the same period, according to the campaigns.

In an interview with “America Decides,” Spanberger told CBS News she believes national issues will weigh heavily on the race, from the Trump administration’s mass layoffs of federal employees, more than 144,000 of whom live in Virginia, as well as what she called an “antagonistic trade war.”

“All of this impacts Virginia, and the stakes of this election reflect that,” said Spanberger.

When asked whether Earle-Sears supports President Trump’s tariff policy, her campaign deflected but said in a statement, “After leftists like Joe Biden and Abigail Spanberger devastated our economy and standing in the world—President Trump is doing the work to put America first again.”

Earle-Sears has attacked Spanberger for her votes in Congress supporting Biden administration policies including the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed in 2022 with no Republican support. Earle-Sears argues it has contributed to inflation.

“I think it’s a ridiculous assertion given that my opponent has been eager to claim credit for some of the funding that came through some of those federal dollars to Virginia’s Commonwealth,” Spanberger told CBS News. “But, the reality is that my opponent is endeavoring to distract, because she’s not talking about the fact that we’ve seen an absolute tanking of the stock market because of Donald Trump’s actions.”

In 2021, Earle-Sears became the first Black woman ever elected to statewide office in Virginia. She will have to appeal to moderates and independent voters in the blue-leaning state but has given mixed messages on her support for Mr. Trump in recent years.

In 2020, she co-chaired the group “Black Americans to re-elect President Trump,” but in 2022, following the midterms, she told FOX Business it was “time to move on.”

“A true leader understands when they have become a liability,” she said during the interview. “A true leader understands when it’s time to step off the stage.”

She went on to vote for Mr. Trump in 2024. A source close to the campaign says she sees the president as a federal partner. It remains to be seen if Mr. Trump offers Earle-Sears an endorsement given the high stakes of this year’s few marquee races.

While Mr. Trump made inroads in Virginia during the 2024 presidential election, the state comfortably went for Vice President Kamala Harris in November.

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is barred from serving back-to-back terms, endorsed his Lt. Governor early in the race.

Natalie Brand

Natalie Brand is a correspondent for CBS Newspath, based in Washington, D.C.

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Virginia

West Virginia embraces the data center boom

Published

8 hours ago

April 10, 2026

Press Room

West Virginia embraces the data center boom

A new West Virginia law aims to boost the state’s coal and natural gas sectors while more than tripling its electricity generation capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2050.

The measure, signed Thursday by Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey, is designed to turn West Virginia into an energy hub for the data center industry. By sending more electricity to the regional grid and leveraging his state’s relatively lax regulations, Morrisey and his allies are looking to lure data centers to the state, as well as power those beyond its borders.

“We know there’s virtually unlimited need for energy in our country,” Morrisey said at a bill signing of H.B. 5381. “PJM and our grid operators, they’re starving for states to step up and take the lead. And that’s what West Virginia is doing.”

The new law calls for the state’s Office of Energy to produce rolling five-year plans to keep the state’s existing coal-fired power plants operating through 2050, while also developing new “baseload” energy powered by gas, nuclear, geothermal and hydrogen.

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Virginia

Birdball Prepares to Host Virginia Tech – Boston College Athletics

Published

20 hours ago

April 9, 2026

Press Room

Birdball Prepares to Host Virginia Tech – Boston College Athletics

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — No. 23 Boston College Baseball will host Virginia Tech in a three-game series from April 10-12. On Friday and Sunday, the two teams will compete at Harrington Athletics Village with first pitch at 3:00 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively, and both games will be streamed on ACCNX. On Saturday, the game will be played at Fenway Park for the 14th annual ALS Awareness Game. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and broadcast on ACC Network.

The 2026 ALS Awareness Game

The 14th annual Boston College ALS Awareness Game is coming to Fenway Park on Saturday, April 11, at 2 p.m., when the Eagles will face Virginia Tech in the second of a three-game series. The game has been played annually in honor of former BC baseball captain Pete Frates since his ALS diagnosis in 2012. This year marks the seventh time it has been played at Fenway Park. Frates passed away in 2019 at the age of 34.

Record vs Virginia Tech

Boston College is 26-35 all-time against Virginia Tech, including a 14-13 record at home. The Eagles were swept when the two teams last met in 2024. Six current players saw action in that series, with Nick Wang, Kyle Wolff, and Owen DeShazo seeing at-bats. Wolff was a combined 4-11 with five RBI, a home run, two doubles, and a triple in the series. Kyle Kipp, A.J. Colarusso, and Tyler Mudd all pitched, with Colarusso starting and going six innings with six strikeouts.

Scouting the Hokies

Virginia Tech is 15-16 this season and 6-9 in conference so far. The Hokies dropped their lone midweek contest, 11-4, to Liberty and lost two of three over the weekend to Miami. They won the finale against the Hurricanes, 6-3. Virginia Tech is hitting .256 as a team this season, but has three hitters above .300, led by Ethan Ball at .310. Ball leads the Hokies in hits and home runs with 35 and six, respectively. Hudson Lutterman is the team RBI leader with 23. The Virginia Tech pitching staff has four arms with over 20 innings, including Griffin Stieg, who has thrown 37 innings with 33 strikeouts. Brett Renfrow is the Hokies’ strikeout leader with 49 so far this season. The staff has an ERA of 7.68, but two arms with sub-5.00 ERAs: Luke Craytor and Chase Swift, with 3.77 and 4.24 ERAs, respectively.

The Matchups

The first game of the series will feature A.J. Colarusso against Logan Eisenreich. Colarusso is 3-1 on the year with a 2.88 ERA in 40.2 innings of work to go with 37 strikeouts. In his last outing, Colarusso went six innings against No. 6 North Carolina, allowing just one unearned run while matching his season high of seven strikeouts. Eisenreich is 0-1 this season with a 6.60 ERA in 15 innings of work to go with 18 strikeouts. His last appearance was three innings in relief against Miami, where he allowed an earned run while striking out two.

On Saturday, Brady Miller and Brett Renfrow will face off. Miller has yet to earn a decision this season in 27 innings of work. He has posted a 2.33 ERA to go with 27 strikeouts. His last outing saw him throw five innings against No. 6 North Carolina, where he gave up five earned runs with two strikeouts. Renfrow is 1-4 this season in 34.1 innings with 49 strikeouts and a 6.82 ERA. His last start came against Miami, where he allowed seven earned runs in five innings of work while striking out six.

Sunday’s starters are still to be determined.

Last Time Out

Boston College won both of its midweek contests, defeating UMass 11-1 in the Beanpot semifinals before beating Dartmouth 13-3. Against the Minutemen, Cesar Gonzalez, Luke Gallo, and Carter Hendrickson all had two RBI, while four guys had two hits each. On Wednesday, Wang paced the offense with three RBI. Julio Solier, Ty Mainolfi, and Jack Toomey all had three hits in the win. Jacob Burnham earned the win against UMass, while Peter Schaefer won against Dartmouth.

Up Next

The Eagles will host two midweeks next week, beginning on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. with the championship game against Northeastern, followed by UConn at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. They will then host Duke for an ACC series.

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Virginia

Randolph-Macon College offers free stargazing through one of Virginia’s largest telescopes

Published

1 day ago

April 9, 2026

Press Room

Randolph-Macon College offers free stargazing through one of Virginia’s largest telescopes

ASHLAND, Va. — Eighth-grade students from Richmond Public Schools are getting a hands-on look at the stars at the Keeble Observatory at Randolph-Macon College.

The observatory, located on the campus in Ashland, is a research, outreach, and teaching telescope for the college’s Department of Physics, Engineering, and Astrophysics.

WTVR

It is the largest telescope of its kind between Washington, D.C., and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Earth Science teacher Chloe Tremper brought her class from Boushall Middle School to the observatory to learn about celestial objects.

“I think more people should know about it, especially when they have public nights on Thursdays. I’ll definitely be coming back with some folks,” Tremper said.

Randolph-Macon engineering and astrophysics students Brielle Baughman and Kamaya Wilson helped guide the middle schoolers during their visit.

“It never gets old. It’s beautiful looking at it every time. And then seeing others see how beautiful it is, and their reactions, it’s amazing,” Baughman said.

“We usually have something already up. Something cool, shocking. Typically, a planet. We can look at Saturn. That’s a really popular one. I personally think Saturn’s my favorite,” Wilson said.

Randolph-Macon engineering and astrophysics students Brielle Baughman and Kamaya Wilson.jpg — Randolph-Macon engineering and astrophysics students Brielle Baughman and Kamaya Wilson

The telescope and lab provide hands-on learning for students of all ages.

The campus hosts weekly public stargazing sessions on Thursdays during the academic semester, weather permitting.

Visitors can even play a form of cosmic bingo, marking off cards with everything they see.

Physics professor Michael Rodruck knows not all the middle school students will become astrophysicists, but he hopes they all find an interest in discovering new things.

“I hope they just get amazed by the night sky. Usually when kids look through that telescope, it’s always ‘Wow, that’s so cool!’ And seeing that spark of curiosity. Seeing that spark of interest, that really is making it worth it,” Rodruck said.

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