Gov. Signs Vape Shop Bill — “The governor on April 5 signed HB 947, a Lopez bill giving localities the power to regulate the location of vape shops and other venues that deal in nicotine products, including a prohibition of operating within 1,000 linear feet of a school or day-care facility. There are some exceptions: Existing facilities will have their previous approvals grandfathered in, and the measure does not apply to convenience stores or gas stations.” [Gazette Leader]
Preservation Bill Becoming Law — “The measure by Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) would mandate a 30-day cooling-off period before a locality issues a permit to raze or demolish any building that is, at the time, being considered for local historic status… Gov. Youngkin signed the measure yesterday. Its provisions will got into effect July 1.” [Gazette Leader]
Warmth Brings Out Workday Crowd — “It’s a nice day and the workday lunchtime in Ballston was the busiest we’ve observed since pre-pandemic years.” … “The Water Park in Crystal City today was the busiest I have seen since it opened. There were long lines, took me 30 minutes to get lunch.” [Twitter]
APS Mulls Longer Lunches — “School Board members are slated to shortly consider a change in policy-implementation procedures (known to school insiders as PIPs) that would mandate a 30-minute-or-more lunch period for students. Existing policy allows at least 20 minutes.” [Gazette Leader]
Local Political Operative Fined — “Two right-wing political operatives must pay up to $1.25 million in fines after they were found liable for launching a robocall campaign designed to keep Black New Yorkers from voting in the 2020 election, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday.” [Washington Post]
Funding Possible for Nature Centers — “Long Branch and Gulf Branch nature centers have seen restricted hours since reopening after the pandemic. Despite pleas from advocates, county staff seem immovable when it comes to agreeing to add hours back in. But there are indications that enough County Board members could step in and authorize funding to make that happen starting this summer.” [Gazette Leader]
Yet Another Pentagon City Crash — From Dave Statter: “The latest crash at Army Navy & Hayes in Pentagon City is a little different than most. It’s an east-west collision. But the reason it happened is pretty much the same.” [Twitter]
It’s Thursday — Expect showers mainly after noon, with patchy fog developing after 3pm and a high near 69. The southeast wind will blow at 9-13 mph, gusting up to 22 mph, and a 70% chance of precipitation. New precipitation amounts up to a quarter of an inch possible. Thursday night, showers and potential thunderstorms are expected. Patchy fog may occur before 2am, the low will be around 57, and southeast wind at 11-16 mph, gusting up to 25 mph. Precipitation chances are 100%, with rainfall amounts between a quarter and half an inch possible. [NWS]
Flickr pool photo by Jason Gooljar