Virginia Public Radio

The University of Virginia outlasted Texas Tech in overtime, 85-77, Monday night in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game.

Greg Echlin has more from Minneapolis where UVA made team history with its first men’s hoops title.

After a bizarre finish to the first national semifinal game on Saturday night, the Virginia Cavaliers are in their first men’s basketball title game Monday night against Texas Tech.

Greg Echlin has more from Minneapolis.

The Port of Virginia says many of the containers it’s shipping out are empty. That’s not a good sign for the U.S. balance of trade.  And Pulaski County leaders say one person is using the Freedom of Information Act to tie up months of staff time.

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.

Women across Virginia are about to get a tax break on feminine hygiene products.

Michael Pope reports.

The University of Virginia men’s basketball team is getting ready to play Auburn in the Final Four Saturday night.

Greg Echlin  has more from Minneapolis.

UVA coach Tony Bennett isn’t far from his roots at the Men’s Final Four in Minneapolis.

Greg Echlin explains why.

Credit: Patrick Feller via flickr.com / CC

More than half a million people in Virginia with outstanding court fines are about to get their driver’s licenses back.

That’s thanks to a budget amendment from Democratic Governor Ralph Northam that was approved yesterday by a Republican-led General Assembly.

Michael Pope reports.

Rental property owners are bringing 21st-Century technology into the battle against dog poop…and we take a look back at the time the Virginia State Lottery was at the center of an intercontinental controversy. 

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.

Source: Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service

Manufacturing in Virginia is suffering, according to data from the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.

Michael Pope looked into the numbers.

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.