www.youtube.com – 13News Now – 2025-06-13 19:23:36
SUMMARY: Several area high schools competed in state semifinals across baseball, softball, and soccer. In Class 5 baseball, Cox edged Independence 2-1 with MJ Lemke closing the game, advancing to face Ocean Lakes in an all Beach District final. In softball, Great Bridge fell 1-0 to Mills Godwin despite strong pitching by Bailey Blevin. Gloucester, York, and Western Branch advanced to the finals. In boys’ Class 5 soccer, Hickory lost 2-0 to Lightridge, while Kellam beat Riverside to reach the finals. Northampton Boys and Kellam Girls won, but West Point Boys and Lafayette Girls were eliminated from title contention.
Several area high schools punched their ticket to the championship game that included the Cox Falcons baseball team.
www.youtube.com – WTVR CBS 6 – 2025-06-14 11:47:32
SUMMARY: A flood watch remains in effect through tonight for much of the area, with potential for torrential downpours, especially north and west of Richmond. Storms today may produce rainfall rates up to 2–3 inches per hour and gusts near 40 mph. Scattered storms are likely mid-to-late afternoon and into the evening. Sunday, Father’s Day, will be muggy with highs near 80 in Richmond, cooler to the north and east. A marginal risk of strong storms exists south of I-64. Rain chances ease midweek as temps rise to the 90s. A front Thursday brings brief relief before heat returns next weekend.
We’re tracking more scattered storms for Saturday. Showers and storms will increase from mid-afternoon into the evening. Due to the muggy air, torrential downpours will occur, and localized flooding is possible. Some spots could pick up multiple inches of rainfall. A few storms could have some gusts in excess of 40 mph.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Morgan Sweeney | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-06-13 18:44:00
Washington, D.C., is preparing for a military parade on Flag Day and President Trump’s birthday, costing $25-$45 million. In response, the ‘No Kings’ Day of Defiance movement, backed by over 100 organizations, is organizing protests in more than 2,000 U.S. cities, including dozens near D.C., opposing Trump’s “authoritarian overreach” and defending democracy. While no protests are planned in D.C. itself, heightened security has been enforced, with the parade designated a National Special Security Event. President Trump warned that protests in the capital would face strong force. No Kings emphasizes nonviolence, aiming to de-escalate conflicts. The main event will be held in Philadelphia.
(The Center Square) – As Washington, D.C., gears up for an historic military parade coinciding with Flag Day and President Donald Trump’s birthday, with projected costs between $25 million and $45 million, thecapitalregion is also mobilizing a protest response.
There are dozens of locations in Northern Virginia and Maryland within an hour’s drive of Washington where protesters can gather as part of the official nationwide ‘No Kings’ Day of Defiance.
No Kings is a movement supported by more than 100 partner organizations opposing Trump’s “authoritarian overreach” and gathering in “[defense] of democracy.”
There are over 2,000 cities and towns hosting No Kings events Saturday, where in some cases local or state leaders will speak, and “millions” that have RSVP’d, according to event communications.
Some events in thecapital regionwere at capacity as of Friday evening. One event in Kingstowne, Va., was expecting 250 people, according to an email from an organizer.
The group is not holding a protest in the district itself, however.
“Real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else,” its website reads. “Instead of allowing this birthday parade to be the center of gravity, we will make action everywhere else the story of America that day.”
However, the district is also in a state of heightened security, as the parade has been designated a National Special Security Event by the Department of Homeland Security. Extra security measures were installed throughout the week leading up to the event and some will be in place through the days immediately following the event, as well. The president also told reporters that any protests in D.C. during the parade would be met with “very big force.”
No Kings says it is committed to nonviolence.
“A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events,” its website says.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This article presents information on both the planned military parade and the associated protests without adopting an overt ideological stance. It accurately reports the logistical and security aspects of the parade and describes the protest movement’s messaging and scale. While the article references phrases like “authoritarian overreach” and “defense of democracy,” these are clearly attributed to the protest organizers rather than the article itself. The tone remains factual and avoids emotionally charged or opinionated language. The article provides balanced coverage of actions from both the Trump administration and its critics, maintaining journalistic neutrality throughout.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger released an energy plan focusing on demand-side management, efficiency programs, and pilot projects to manage peak energy consumption, including thermostat and appliance control during high-demand times. The plan aims to reduce energy waste and delay new power plants but faced criticism from Virginia House GOP members who argue that managing scarcity is a symptom of failure and advocate for expanding energy production instead. The GOP supports increased fossil fuel and nuclear energy development, accelerated permitting, and boosting local generation to reduce electricity imports. Spanberger’s plan also supports rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to fund efficiency projects amid rising energy costs.
After Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger released her energy plan for the state this week, Virginia House GOP members wasted no time bashing it. Her plan emphasizes fair cost share, efficiency projects, and supporting a pilot program to handle peak energy consumption times.
“Her plan leans heavily on demand-side management: programmable thermostats, weatherization programs, utility subsidies, and incentives to reduce consumption during peak hours. That might sound reasonable in theory, but here’s the problem: managing scarcity isn’t a solution — it’s a symptom of failure,” an op-ed penned by House GOP leaders and members read.
The demand-side management they referenced is a recently-passed pilot program that requires utility companies to petition the State Corporation Commission to consider how to optimize energy use during peak times, by using virtual power plants, peak-shaving, and other incentives. Dominion is set to go before the Commission on July 15 to present its electric distribution grid plans for the pilot program.
The pilot allows homes and businesses to opt in to have their thermostats, appliances and solar arrays controlled during high-demand times. Spanberger’s plan also emphasizes weatherization of homes to limit energy waste and aims to reduce the need for additional power plants and transmission lines. Republican House lawmakers pushed back against those measures.
“No one wants to sit through a July heatwave hoping their A/C unit is grid-compliant, or that their A/C won’t be the one that someone in Richmond decides that it needs to shut off to save the grid. No one should have to worry that peak-hour surcharges or remote-control thermostats are going to make their daily life harder and more expensive,” the Republican legislators’ letter read.
Ten of the GOP House members who signed on to the letter voted in favor of Senate Bill 1100 in this year’s legislative session, which allowed the pilot program to move forward. Dels. Michael Webert, R-Fauquier, Wren Williams, R-Patrick, Chris Obenshain, R-Montgomery, Ian Lovejoy, R-Prince William, Geary Higgins, R-Loudoun, Paul Milde, R-Stafford, Mark Earley, R-Chesterfield, Rob Bloxom, R-Accomack, Chad Green, R-York, and Anne Ferrell Tata, R-Virginia Beach, added their signatures to House GOP Leader Del. Terry Kilgore’s.
Kilgore, recently selected as House Republicans’ caucus leader, sponsored a bill in 2023 that capped Dominion’s profit margin, and this year, will allow the SCC to manage the profit margin rates. The General Assembly has also recently passed legislation aimed at expanding the state’s market for Small Modular Reactors, a nuclear energy source that’s still being developed and hasn’t yet been deployed anywhere in the United States.
A House GOP spokesperson said the members who voted in favor of SB 1011 are more interested in ramping up energy production in the state to meet increasing energy needs.
Spanberger’s plan doesn’t rule out new energy projects coming to the state to help meet demand, and touts the use of “advanced energy technologies” like “modular nuclear reactors, fusion, geothermal, and hydrogen.” The framework also states her administration will “ensure regulatory agencies in Virginia such as DEQ and VDOT are adequately staffed to deliver timely responses to permit applications.” The GOP letter said they are in favor of speeding up permitting for all energy sources, not just renewable ones.
Spanberger’s energy outline doesn’t go into details on plans to expand natural gas, nuclear, wind, or solar energy sources. It does lay out ideas to ensure the SCC works with stakeholders on efficiency methods to cut back on energy use – something the GOP members took issue with.
“You don’t solve an energy shortage by asking people to get used to less. You solve it by building more power,” the letter said.
Utility rates in the PJM markets have steadily increased in recent years as brownouts in the summer months have become a growing concern. Virginia was rated as the state that received the most electricity from other states in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. GOP House members want to shift away from this heavy import of energy and boost Virginia as a player in the energy production market.
In 2020, the General Assembly passed the Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act that put the commonwealth into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Participating states can buy allowances of carbon emissions, and the proceeds are returned to the state for flood and energy projects. Gov. Glenn Youngkin pulled Virginia from RGGI, framing the additional cost to consumers for the program as a hidden tax. The withdrawal was later found to be unlawful by the courts. The state’s inclusion in the program is on hold while appeals play out in the legal system.
Spanberger’s plan suggests negotiating a deal to get the state back in on RGGI and use funding for efficiency projects.
“Abigail consistently hears from Virginians who are facing high energy bills, and she knows affordable energy is essential for driving economic growth. That’s why her plan to make Virginians’ energy bills more affordable includes increasing local electricity generation and speeding up the timeline to bring new projects online,” a spokesperson for Spanberger said in a statement. “As Governor, Abigail will be focused on making Virginia more affordable — and she looks forward to working with both Democrats and Republicans alike to make it happen.”
Last week, Republican candidate for governor Winsome Earle-Sears said on the campaign trail that she wants to bolster the state’s energy profile through expanding fossil fuels and nuclear energy, according to the Prince William Times, to meet the state’s surging energy needs.
Data centers in Virginia have “substantially driven up energy demand in the state, and demand is forecast to continue growing for the foreseeable future,” a 2024 Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission report found. Earle-Sears didn’t mention data centers specifically, but acknowledged that Virginia’s electricity demands have led the commonwealth to import 40% of its electricity from other states. Her administration, she said, would push for an all-of-the-above energy approach, an echo of Youngkin’s energy platform.
Earle-Sears did not respond to the Mercury’s request to elaborate on her energy platform.
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Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This article primarily reports on the competing energy plans of Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger and Republican House members in Virginia, presenting both viewpoints with contextual background and quotes. The language is largely factual but shows a slight lean toward Democratic perspectives by emphasizing Spanberger’s focus on energy efficiency, affordability, and renewable technologies while framing GOP objections as resistance to managing scarcity rather than solutions. It highlights Democratic efforts to negotiate reentry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and references court rulings favoring environmental measures. Republican positions are presented mainly through critiques of demand-side management and a preference for increased energy production. Overall, the piece leans mildly toward Center-Left through its framing and choice of details, without being overtly partisan.
