An old dairy barn greets visitors to Duck Run. (Credit: Sandy Hausman)

The National Funeral Directors Association reports a typical viewing and burial can cost more than seven-thousand dollars on average, and that doesn’t count the price of a spot in the cemetery.

That’s one factor feeding a growing trend toward cremation and natural burials.

Sandy Hausman stopped by Virginia’s first green cemetery and filed this report.

  Traffic on Interstate 81 near Salem (Credit: David Seidel)

The governor and state transportation officials are making a second run at funding improvements on Interstate 81.

David Seidel explains how.

U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen announces a plea deal. James Fields admits guilt in the Charlottesville car attack and will not be sentenced to death. (Credit: Sandy Hausman)

After a conviction in state court earlier this year, James Fields has pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with the death of Heather Heyer and the injury of 28 others after a racist rally in Charlottesville.

As Sandy Hausman reports, the U.S. Attorney and Heyer’s mother are both satisfied that Fields will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Governor Ralph Northam says he’s added language to the budget that would end the practice of taking away a driver’s license if someone is unable to pay court fees or fines. (Credit: Sandy Hausman)

More than 620,000 Virginians have lost their driver’s license, because they couldn’t afford to pay court fines or fees that had nothing to do with driving.

Tuesday, Governor Northam announced a plan to restore driving privileges as Sandy Hausman reports.

Two Virginia counties now know exactly where one of them ends and the other begins, something that hasn’t been clear for almost 200 years. And elementary school students in another county are getting a chance to make better use of their time on the bus.

Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link.

More now from Fred Echols.

Credit onnola/flickr.com/CC

Virginia’s air quality has been a topic of debate in recent years, as environmentalists have clashed with business interests.

Meanwhile, as Michael Pope reports the quality of Virginia’s air has suffered.

(Credit: Rog Cogswell/Creative Commons)

The Democratic Party seems to be moving to the left with most of its high-profile presidential candidates embracing proposals like Medicare for All.

But Virginia Democrats are resisting the trend, as correspondent Matt Laslo reports from Washington.  

More than a million Virginians were born in another country.

Those immigrants are just the latest in a long line of people who have shaped the state.

As Mallory Noe-Payne reports, their stories are being highlighted in an exhibit at the Library of Virginia.

Trees are big money in Virginia, generating some $21 billion each year, according to the state department of Forestry.

Another $6.6 billion is attributed to forest contribution to air and water quality.

Now, the city of Virginia Beach is looking at the value of the city’s forests as one solution to their flooding problems caused by climate change and the region’s sinking lands.

Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Credit: dcJohn / Flickr

Many school districts across the country remain largely segregated by race.

Nationally, nonwhite school districts get $23 billion less in funding than white districts do.

But as Mallory Noe-Payne tells us, Virginia actually bucks that trend.

  A Utah company hopes to cover about 3,500 acres in Spotsylvania County with solar panels like these.   (Credit National Renewable Energy Lab)

A group called Conservatives for Clean Energy recently surveyed 500 Virginia voters and found 72% want more emphasis on solar power here.

But as developers share plans with the public, they’re finding plenty of resistance.

Sandy Hausman reports on why some people object to solar arrays and whether their fears are founded.

  Carla Finkielstein and Xianlin Zou compare notes in the laboratory.
(Credit Virginia Tech)

A new discovery finds that timing is everything when it comes to preventing and treating cancer.

Scientists at Virginia Tech are the first to confirm the important role our body’s internal clocks play in whether we are more prone to develop the disease.

Robbie Harris reports.

Two more coal burning power plants have gone offline in Virginia as producers move toward other fuels…and passenger rail service is growing in the state thanks largely to public investment in private companies. 

Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link. 

More now from Fred Echols.

(Credit: John Brighenti / Flickr)

Washington gets a lot of bad publicity for partisan gridlock, and there’s certainly a lot of that.

But two freshman Virginia lawmakers from different parties are working together to crack down on financial crimes.

Michael Pope reports.

Richmond’s Mayor is proposing a hike in the city’s real estate tax. He says the money is needed for schools and infrastructure.

And as Mallory Noe-Payne reports, in recent years real estate taxes have risen across the state.

  Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church parishioner Luc DeWulf shows Bill Larme how the solar generator meter works.  The church recently installed solar panels on its roof.
(Credit Michael Pope)

Virginia hasn’t traditionally had a great reputation for renewable sources of energy.

But the solar industry is now booming in Virginia.

Michael Pope sheds some light on the numbers.

(Credit: Rog Cogswell/CC via flickr.com)

Virginia’s newly elected Democrats in Congress are hoping to re-write the rules for elections and campaign finance.

Michael Pope reports.

A map of at-risk sites in the James River watershed
(Credit: Center for Progressive Reform)

In Richmond late last month, the James River flooded to more than 16 feet, its highest since 2010.

A new report looks at another danger to communities when the James floods –contaminants from industrial areas along the river.
Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Rep. Bobby Scott

Lawmakers in Richmond rejected efforts to raise the minimum wage this year. But now Congress is considering raising the federal minimum wage.

And as Michael Pope, a Virginia congressman is leading the effort.

Gov. Ralph Northam

Governor Ralph Northam is slowly and quietly getting out and about.

Mallory Noe-Payne was at his latest public appearance in Richmond Tuesday and has this report.

Republicans have controlled Virginia’s House of Delegates for almost two decades.  At the height of their power they outnumbered Democrats two-to-one.

But shifting demographics and a fierce backlash to President Trump has put the party on defense.

Mallory Noe-Payne has this look at what Republicans did with what some predict may be their final year in the majority.

Attorney General Mark Herring (Credit: Commonwealth of Virginia)

Attorney General Mark Herring says he did not call on Governor Ralph Northam to resign because of blackface, but because the Governor flip-flopped on his story.

Mallory Noe-Payne has more.

There are two places in Virginia dealing with invasive outsiders this winter. One is being inundated by bears while legions of real estate speculators have come to the other.

Those have been among the most frequently read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link.

More now from Fred Echols.

Credit: justgrimes / Creative Commons

Don’t look now but another election is coming in just three months.

Michael Pope has this preview of the primary season.

Ethan Zuckerman, co-founder of Blue Ridge Bucha, in the brewery’s taproom (Credit: Sandy Hausman)

Virginia is for drinkers – or so it seems with all the wineries, breweries and cideries that have opened here.

And when you’re tired of those beverages, a company in Waynesboro is offering an award-winning alternative.

Sandy Hausman reports on Blue Ridge Bucha.