Virginia On Demand for August 14, 2026

Welcome to Radio IQ's Virginia on demand for this Friday. It's a daily podcast from Radio IQ featuring the top stories across Virginia. I'm Jeff Bossert. Last year, Democrats gained the trifecta of state government, the House, the Senate, and the governor's office. But then Democrats couldn't agree on a budget and talk stalled until a last-minute deal was struck two days before the deadline. Michael Pope tells us Democrats are hoping that won't happen again. Regrets, she's got a few. Governor Abigail Spanberger is telling local elected officials from across Virginia that the budget bringsmanship earlier this year was less than ideal. Speaking to the Virginia Association of Counties, the governor said this about the last minute budget agreement at the end of June. We got that budget through woefully late and created negative impacts and challenges for localities. I know that. I understand that. It was one of my biggest points of argument with some of my counterparts as we were working through this budget. And I welcome you to continue mentioning that into the future. My goal is to not have a repeat offense. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay says local government leaders across Virginia struggled to balance the books without knowing how much money was coming from Richmond. Let's be clear, this was not alone the governor's fault. I mean, this was a standoff between the General Assembly and Governor that I think all parties wish could have been handled more productively and more expeditiously. And, you know, frankly, at a local government level, we don't leave the boardroom until our work is done for that day. The governor's work is just starting now for the next round of budgeting. Amendments she'll present to the General Assembly in December. I'm Michael Pope. Dominion Energy has asked state regulators for permission to recover more than $920 million in fuel costs that's after winter storms rising gas prices and soaring energy demand that's far beyond the company's projections. The Virginia Mercury reports Dominion wants to spread those costs over a span of up to 10 years, lowering the initial hit on customers. But opponents to that idea say it's the second so-called fuel mortgage in just a few years. State regulators are considering the proposal and whether Dominion's planning failures contributed to the shortfall. Coming up in a few minutes, license plate reader cameras are all over Virginia in urban and rural areas alike. And one Virginia researcher says they often arrive quietly. And then people started to notice the cameras around their community and their neighborhood. And then they start learning about them and they go, wait, I'm not comfortable with this. This is something I want it. Mason Adams reports that's when they often become a community issue. We'll have his story up shortly.

A report has found that attending Virginia's public colleges and universities will cost students more this year. Ashley White Member Station, WHRO, has this story. The average cost to tuition and mandatory instructional fees rose about $320, according to the annual report from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. On average, in-state undergraduate students will pay about $10,000 this year, depending on whether they attend a two- or a four-year institution. Community college students will pay about $5,000 compared to a four-year school, which averages $16,000, not factoring in room and board. The report released earlier this month is a way for students to assess what's best for them, said Jessica Minnis-McLean, the manager of finance policy and innovation at Shev. Yes, students need you very well aware. This is an expensive endeavor, and it's incredibly important. And by looking at these kind of reports that can get an idea of how much college cost and what that would mean long term. Ashley White, W.HRO News. This month, scientists from NASA, the University of Virginia and the University of Buffalo gathered in Charlottesville to test technology that could revolutionize farming around the world. Sandy Hausman spoke with them and filed this report. On a sunny afternoon in August, a dozen scientists and students watched as a drone equipped with high-tech sensors from NASA rose above Morven Farm, a research center at the University of Virginia. From 165 feet above, it could measure the light and heat given off by plants below. Manuel Lurdow, a professor of environmental sciences and research director at Morven, says these measures reveal the health of crops. And detect water stress or temperature stress long before they can see it with their eye or they see the plant's wilt. By the time a plant wilts from water stress, it's already pretty late. In a matter of minutes, farmers could study their fields and produce a precise plan of action. The farmer can apply fertilizer when they need it. irrigate when they need it, and also looking at insect infestation. So knowing when to put pesticides on a field, not using them unnecessarily. The key, he says, is to gather data now to establish the accuracy of this aerial method and then to create inexpensive drones and sensors that could make this approach more affordable. Lerdao and colleagues at NASA have already designed a handheld device that's easily produced for just 200 bucks. This team is comparing data from that equipment with what it learns from the larger drone, valued at more than $100,000. I'm Sandy Hausman. Virginia saw some positive news in the latest update of the U.S. Drought Monitor. Through Tuesday of this week, there's now less than 1% of the state that's experiencing extreme drought, which is level 4 on the monitor's five-point scale. That figure was more than 25% three months ago. Still, about half of the Commonwealth is experiencing some level of drought. The hardest head areas remain in the Roanoke and Shenandoah Valleys in addition to Southside, Virginia.

More than 150 law enforcement agencies across Virginia use automated license plate readers, more popularly known under the brand name of flock safety. But two cities have now rejected the company's gunshot detectors, and there's growing pushback against the license plate readers. Mason Adams has this report. Last year, the Virginia State Crime Commission surveyed all Virginia law enforcement agencies on whether they use automated license plate readers, more well known as flock cameras. Although companies other than flock safety also make the devices. 70% of agencies responded, with nearly two-thirds reporting using license plate readers, mostly flock. That includes not just cities, but rural communities like Floyd County, home to fewer than 16,000 people. In late June, more than a dozen residents showed up at the Board of Supervisors' meeting to express their opposition, like Deanna Carr. I'm speaking regarding the flock cameras. In my opinion, they're not needed in Floyd County. And J.C. Clay. My concerns about flat cameras are outrooted in a fear of technology. They are rooted in a firm understanding of what modern data systems are capable of doing. Tonight I stand in opposition to the installation of flak cameras and the broader expansion of AI-powered surveillance systems in our community. Flack landed in Floyd through a 2023 grant application from the Floyd County Sheriff's Office and led to the installation of four devices throughout the county. But no longer. Sheriff Brian Craig told Radio IQ the cameras would be removed once the agreement ends this month. Down the mountain in Roanoke, the city also uses license plate readers, and for a while tried out flock safety's raven gunshot detectors. But last month, city manager Valmarie Turner reported the devices had been placed in locations that differed from the originally approved list. Unfortunately, a preventable. City process failure resulted in a rollout that fueled distrust about our use of public safety technology and entangled the city of Roanoke in the larger national privacy debate. As a result, they were abruptly removed and the contract canceled. Roanoke Police Chief Scott Booth says the city will still use license plate readers. I think it's an important tool and we'll continue to try to use that in our community, but we also understand that. We really have to safeguard and use it appropriately. Stephen Keener is a professor and director of the Center for Crime, Equity, and Justice Research and Policy at Christopher Newport University. He says both urban and rural communities are pushing back on license plate readers, but for different reasons. For example, his team's research on flat cameras in Hampton Roads. What our research found is these cameras are heavily deployed in predominantly black neighborhoods. The blacker the neighborhood, the higher the poverty rate, the more cameras there are. And so that really resonates with residents down there as they feel like, oh, this is.

the over-policing we've felt forever. Now it's just happening in this new tech-washed way. Whereas when we've shown up to more rural communities, and I think this probably speaks more in a place like Floyd, the concerns are really around privacy. What residents in both urban and rural communities are finding is these license plate readers were often approved behind closed doors. What seems to be happening is the contracts are done without public inputs. And then the cameras are put up. And then people started to notice the cameras around their community and their neighborhood. And then they start learning about them. And they go, wait, I'm not comfortable with this. This is something I want it. And so then they go and advocate at city councils and town councils. And what I think is the grossest part of all this is. I think this is very intentional from these private surveillance companies because if they put up the tech, then the assumption is, well, it's here now. So we're just going to have to live with it and regulate it. Keener is among those helping lead the charge to shift that attitude. He'll be in Roanoke this Saturday, leading a community info session titled Mass Surveillance in Roanoke. That's noon to two at South County Library. In Roanoke, I'm Mason Adams. We'll be pretty muggy and hot this weekend with daily rain chances, and there's still a flood watch in effect for Dickinson County through this evening. Today, pretty cloudy, scattered showers and storms. Stronger storms are possible, damaging wind gusts, heavy downpours of the main threats. Highs in the mid-80s to low 90s, feeling hotter especially for Southside. Pretty cloudy tonight, some lingering showers and rubbles of thunder, lows in the mid-60s and low 70s. Saturday, some cloud coverage, another chance for showers and storms, and highs in the mid-80s to around 90 degrees. Partly cloudy Sunday, spotty showers and storms, a little breezy and hot, and highs in the mid-80s to 93 for Danville. It'll feel close to or in the triple digits as you move east to the Blue Ridge. Thank you for listening to Virginia On Demand. A little reminder, subscribe and tell your friends about it. For Radio IQ, I'm Jeff Bonsor.