The Associated Press | ARLnow

Virginia officials debate whether it’s time to scrap data center tax break amid AI boom

Published March 11, 2026 at 2:15PM

FILE - Cars drive past data centers that house computer servers and hardware required to support modern internet use, such as artificial intelligence, in Ashburn, Virginia, July 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Nearly two decades ago, Virginia gave tech companies a tax break on equipment and software, and they began to build. The state became a data center hub, and they kept building. Residents bemoaned the noise while they built some more. Artificial intelligence boomed, and the power grid strained — still, more building.

Now, amid a growing national pushback on data centers, Virginia senators have voted to end a projected $1.6 billion annual tax break, requiring the industry to resume paying a minimum 5.3% sales tax. The proposal has left some opponents warning that it would bring construction of data centers in Virginia to a screeching halt.

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Clocks spring forward Sunday as Virginia’s push to end daylight saving time stalls until 2027

By The Associated Press and ARLnow.com

Published March 6, 2026 at 12:45PM

Courthouse Plaza clock (courtesy Mnemosyne2009)

Clocks will skip ahead an hour at 2 a.m. Sunday for daylight saving time in most of the U.S., creating a 23-hour day that throws off sleep schedules, plunges early-morning dog walks into darkness and inspires millions of complaints.

In Virginia, the push to end the twice-a-year clock change has stalled. A Virginia House committee this week recommended dropping the issue until 2027. The state is one of half a dozen that have adopted bills to switch to permanent standard time in one legislative chamber in the last two years, though Virginia’s measure included a caveat: the change would only take effect if Maryland and Washington, D.C., also made the move.

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NEW: Virginia Supreme Court allows referendum on Democrat-led redistricting proposal

By The Associated Press

Published March 4, 2026 at 5:15PM | Updated March 4, 2026 at 5:58PM

Virginia Capitol in Richmond (staff photo)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — For the second time, Virginia’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that voters can cast ballots on a Democrat-led congressional redistricting plan that could help the party win four more U.S. House seats, as the justices review legal challenges to the effort.

The court ruled that a statewide referendum can be held on April 21 on whether to authorize mid-decade redistricting, upending a temporary restraining order put in place by a Tazewell County judge last month. It comes after the top court made a similar ruling last month in a related case.

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Virginia’s Democratic lawmakers denounce ‘illegal’ U.S. strikes on Iran

By ARLnow.com and The Associated Press

Published February 28, 2026 at 10:45AM

Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.(AP Photo)

Arlington’s congressman and both of Virginia’s U.S. senators condemned today’s military strikes on Iran, calling the attack unconstitutional and demanding that Congress reconvene.

The U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on Iran overnight, with strikes hitting areas across the country including around the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran. President Donald Trump, in a video announcing “major combat operations,” called on Iranians to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against their government.

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Biden flies commercial from Reagan National Airport and winds up stuck in delays like everyone else

By The Associated Press

Published February 27, 2026 at 2:05PM

President Joe Biden is seen on a plane before takeoff traveling from Washington to South Carolina, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A crowd gathered at a commuter gate at Reagan National Airport on Friday as fog-laden Washington skies caused an hourlong ground stop that backed up passengers hoping to head out from American Airlines’ Terminal D.

But soon the already densely packed area swelled even more, as word spread across nearby gates that, of the hundreds of air travelers coming and going, only one among them was accompanied by a U.S. Secret Service detail, along with uniformed local police officers: former President Joe Biden.

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Gov. Spanberger swings at Trump on affordability in State of the Union response

By Emily Leayman and The Associated Press

Published February 25, 2026 at 10:00AM

FILE - Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger delivers her State of the Commonwealth address before a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly at the Capitol, Jan. 19, 2026, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger delivered a Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address yesterday (Tuesday), questioning whether the president was improving affordability and keeping Americans safe.

Spanberger took aim at Trump’s policies including tariffs, the One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress, federal immigration enforcement tied to the deaths of two Americans, federal workforce reductions through DOGE, withholding of the Epstein files, and the threat of a war with Iran.

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House fails to pass bill requiring aircraft locator systems after deadly Potomac midair collision

By The Associated Press

Published February 24, 2026 at 3:00PM

Family members of the people who were killed in the midair collision near Washington Reagan National Airport watch a video before a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing at Capitol Hill, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

The House failed to approve a bill Tuesday that was crafted after last year’s tragic midair collision near Washington D.C. to require all aircraft flying around busy airports to have key locator systems to prevent such crashes. The collision of an airliner and an Army helicopter killed 67 people.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been recommending such Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast systems to be installed since 2008. The bill that already passed the Senate would have required aircraft to be equipped with a system that can receive data about the locations of other aircraft. The complementary ADS-B Out system that broadcasts an aircraft’s location is already required.

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DOJ swiftly fires lawyer chosen as top federal prosecutor for Northern Virginia office

By The Associated Press

Published February 21, 2026 at 11:00AM

The Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer picked by judges to serve as the top federal prosecutor for a Virginia office that pursued cases against foes of President Donald Trump was swiftly fired Friday by the Justice Department in the latest clash over the appointments of powerful U.S. attorneys.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the firing of James Hundley on social media shortly after he was unanimously chosen by judges to replace former Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. While the law says that the district court may choose U.S. attorneys when an initial appointment expires, the Trump administration has insisted that the power lies only in the hands of the executive branch.

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Beyer praises Supreme Court decision on tariffs

By ARLnow.com and The Associated Press

Published February 20, 2026 at 10:55AM

FILE - The Supreme Court is photographed, Feb. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)

Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) is celebrating a U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down tariffs imposed by President Trump.

Beyer, who chairs the New Democrat Coalition Trade & Tariffs Task Force, has been sharply critical of the tariffs and has called for the high court to find them illegal.

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UPDATED: Va. Dems pass redistricting map, despite ruling blocking referendum

By The Associated Press

Published February 19, 2026 at 10:30PM | Updated February 20, 2026 at 3:10PM

Virginia State Capitol on Feb. 1, 2023 (staff photo)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrats passed a new congressional map through the Virginia legislature on Friday that aims to help their party win four more seats in the national redistricting battle. It’s a flex of state Democrats’ political power, however hurdles remain before they can benefit from friendlier U.S. House district boundaries in this year’s midterm elections.

A judge in Tazewell, a conservative area in Southwest Virginia, has effectively blocked a voter referendum on the redrawn maps from happening on April 21 by granting a temporary restraining order, issued Thursday.

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Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger to give Democratic response to State of the Union address

By The Associated Press

Published February 19, 2026 at 3:15PM

FILE - Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger delivers her State of the Commonwealth address before a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly at the Capitol, Jan. 19, 2026, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address next week, just months after resoundingly winning an office previously held by a Republican.

The Democratic rebuttal will immediately follow Trump’s address to Congress next Tuesday, offering the party’s most high-profile opportunity to deliver a countermessage.

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Virginia Senate passes bill to restrict local cooperation with ICE as Democratic states push back on Trump

By The Associated Press and ARLnow.com

Published February 17, 2026 at 1:30PM

FILE - A federal agent wears a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge in New York, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

Democratic-led states are increasingly pushing back against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown — and Virginia is the latest to join in.

The Virginia Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would place hefty guardrails on any proposed 287(g) agreements allowing local law enforcement to carry out federal immigration functions. The bill still must go to the House.