Virginia On Demand for August 12, 2026

Welcome to Radio IQ's Virginia on demand for this Wednesday, a daily podcast from Radio IQ, featuring the top stories across Virginia. I'm Jeff Bossard. Is data center growth out of control in Virginia? Michael Pope tells us some people are calling for a pause. It's time for a moratorium on data centers in Virginia. That's the proposal from State Senator Glenn Sturtevin, a Republican from Colonial Heights. He says now that Northern Virginia is rejecting proposals, developers are moving toward his district in Central Virginia. Because many of them don't feel welcome and loud in Fairfax anymore, they're moving their way south down I-95, and they're barreling right towards the area that I represent. in the Richmond area, central Virginia. And so I'm calling for this moratorium because I don't want my area to become the next data center alley. Delegate Joshua Cole is a Democrat from Fredericksburg, who says he's not yet ready to call for a moratorium. But he says the dynamics might shift by the time the General Assembly gavels into session in January. Over the past couple of months, we have seen the approval rating of data center sour, not just in Prince William County. Not just in Fredericksburg, but all over the Commonwealth and the United States. And so I think the more and more we don't do something about it, the more and more the people are going to have an appetite for us to do something. So far, Governor Abigail Spanberger is not agreeing with calls for a moratorium like the one recently implemented in New York in a written statement. A spokesman for the governor says Virginia is showing what it looks like to be a national leader by implementing a new energy consumption tax while increasing standards for... environmental protection and noise pollution. I'm Michael Pope. Coming up in a little bit, we'll have part two of Sandy Houseman's series on possible changes within Virginia's prisons. Despite more training for guards and fewer inmate attacks on staff, there's a demand for more improvements. Her story's up shortly. The town of Pulaski in the New River Valley is declared a drought emergency. Officials there say current water levels at Gatewood Reservoir. The town's primary water source have dipped below an acceptable level, which will require mandatory conservation measures. That includes no watering of lawns and gardens, no washing your vehicle unless necessary for public health or safety, and no filling or refilling of swimming pools. The emergency order and mandatory restrictions will remain until levels at the reservoir improve. Some parts of western Virginia are still dealing with power outages stemming from Monday night's storms. Appalachian Power says there are still more than 800 without power this morning in Wise County and around 200 in Blan and Dickinson counties. The utilities still handling more than 13,000 outages in West Virginia. Dominion Energy, meanwhile, is still handling more than 500 outages, including in the southeast and Richmond metro areas. Montgomery County supervisors have rejected two proposals from Mountain Valley Pipeline aimed at improving a railroad crossing near a planned compressor station in Elliston. According to the Roanoke Times, the move keeps the station's state permit on hold after the county previously opposed the project over safety and environmental concerns. MVP is expected to return with another offer while supervisors seek new data from Norfolk Southern on the crossing and how often it is blocked.

It's currently the only access point to the area where the compressor station would be built. The Wildlife Center of Virginia is one of the nation's leading hospitals for wild animals, a place that cares for more than 4,500 of them each year and helps train an international workforce to treat sick or injured creatures. Spokesman Connor Gillespie explains that the high-tech veterinary hospital in Waynesboro is not usually open to the public. There are so many people that want to come and experience what we do and learn more about us. But just like you can't visit a human hospital and walk through, we can't generally have people coming and walking through our wildlife hospital. But this summer, you can sign up for a free tour on August 20th or 27th. And if you're feeling flush, you could also bid on spending an entire day behind the scenes at the center. to care for critters. You'll find links to both opportunities on our website, Radio IQ.org. Virginia tourism just set another record. Governor Abigail Spanberger says visitors spent $36.2 billion across the Commonwealth last year, a 3% increase in the fourth straight year of growth. Virginia, welcome more than 46 million overnight visitors. Officials say strong leisure travel and rising hotel demand or driving momentum into 2026. If you're able to get away from City Lights tonight, you just may get one of the best glimpses of the pear seed meteor shower of our lifetime. Roxy Todd has details. The Perseid meteor shower is visible every year, but this will be a great opportunity to try to see it in Virginia. This will be the best one for about another 28 years. Scott England is an aerospace professor at Virginia Tech and explains meteors are small pieces of dust and ice that look like shooting stars as they enter the Earth's atmosphere. It lasts for a couple of nights, but its peak will be Wednesday night to Thursday morning. As many as 100 shooting stars an hour will be visible if the conditions are right. Unfortunately, rain and clouds are in the forecast, which would make seen them tough. Still, stargazers have something to hope for because there won't be competing light from the moon. It's also happening during a new moon, which is going to make the night sky particularly dark. England says the meteors won't reach the Earth, so there isn't a danger to those watching. He recommends finding a place with scattered clouds or clear skies forecasted. Allow your eyes to adjust to total darkness. Don't look at your phone and don't use a flashlight. Just look up between midnight to early Thursday morning. And maybe you'll see some shooting stars. I'm Roxy Todd. If you're trying to see the meteor shower tonight, it'll likely be partly cloudy. Hopefully clouds will break long enough to see some of the show. This note of disclosure, Radio IQ is the service of Virginia Tech. Virginia's governor had little to say about problems in state prisons before the election, but Abigail Spanberger moved quickly to make changes once she took office. Guards have received additional training, and the use of force has dropped by 39%. Attacks on staff are also down by more than half, and there were 47% fewer drug overdoses in the first five months of this year. Still, Sandy Houseman reports that more reforms are urgently needed.

Doug Ankney is serving a life sentence at Lawrenceville, one of four facilities for those who've proven they can be trusted to follow prison rules. Many of the inmates there are over 60, but there aren't enough bottom bunks to go around. So half of all prisoners are assigned to a top bunk and risk falling. I was asleep, and I just rolled over and fell face first, and my face hit a foot locker in the concrete floor. I broke my jaw in three places. He needed surgery. was on a liquid diet for weeks and was miserable. The pain is almost like someone has just hit you in the face with a bat. It's just a horrible ache. In spite of the injury, he was not given a lower bunk and still has a challenging climb to reach his bed. There's no ladder or anything. You've got to stand on this little bar stool, and then you step on a table. And it's all very slick. Naturally, you take your shoes off to get in bed or whatever. More than once, my feet have slid out from under me. In other respects, he's happy at Lawrenceville, one of four model prisons promising access to recreation all day, many opportunities to study, more comfortable mattresses, and better food. That concerns prison reform advocate Taj Mahd, who feels all inmates should be fed better. They have in their budget to pay $2.68 per day for all three meals per man. There is no world in which you can tell me you are providing adequate food for somebody in 2026 for $2.68 a day. Some prisoners are happy with the new communications system that, for a price, allows them to watch movies and stream music. They can call friends and family from tablets and have free access to the law library. But many, like Shabree Dillon, have lost access to music they bought from the previous service provider. All the music that we purchased over the years that they've charged us $1.99 apiece for. I had upwards of 700 songs. Some people had thousands. All of that's gone. No money back, no nothing, just gone. Inmate Tim Wright agrees and says signing up for the new service is difficult. People who'd like to correspond with prisoners must take their own picture, then share it and a photo of their driver's license with a for-profit company called Viopath. Particularly your older folk are less technologically advanced people. find it impossible. So a lot of people lost their only way of communicating with family members and loved ones. Guards may also have reason to complain. The state still has a chronic shortage of officers. And inmates at some correctional centers still complain that their targets of verbal and physical abuse. Inmate Oskari Lamumba says some officers consider it their job to punish criminals, even at model prisons. You have a very conservative group here. that don't really believe in all of the progressive ideas that come with the model. You have a whole generation of staff that can't let it go. The state is anxious to retain officers with the vacancy rate for staff at 21%. There is a way to address that problem and to reduce the rising cost of medical care for an aging prison population. Here again is advocate Taj Mahath. You don't need more officers to fill those vacancies if you just let out 20% of people that you know are no risk, right? If you close three more prisons, your budget's under control and you have enough staff.

But how likely is the new administration to release eligible inmates and with cooperation from allies in the General Assembly to extend the chance for parole to all prisoners? That's a question we'll address in our next report. I'm Sandy Houseman. The flood watch remains in place for several localities along and west of the Blue Ridge. That includes most of the new river in Roanoke Valley's through Thursday morning. Pretty cloudy today, spotty showers and storms. Some of those storms could be strong to severe, a little breezy, highs in the low 80s to around 90 degrees. Rain gradually tapers off tonight, partly cloudy. It lows in the mid-60s and the mid-60s and low 70s, especially by the afternoon and evening, breezy, highs in the low 80s to around 95 for Danville. It'll feel close to or in the triple digits as you move east to the Blue Ridge. More of the same Friday, more showers and storms, a little breezy and still muggy. Highs in the low 80s to 95 for Danville, again feeling hotter as you move east of the Blue Ridge. Thanks for listening to Virginia on demand. A little reminder, subscribe and tell your friends about it. For Radio IQ, I'm Jeff Bonsor.