Matt Busse

Virginia officials on Tuesday announced that low-interest loans will be available to small agriculture and forestry businesses in certain localities impacted by the remnants of Hurricane Helene.

Unofficial election results as of early Wednesday showed Republicans winning three of the four Lynchburg City Council seats up for grabs while an incumbent Democrat was reelected to the fourth spot.

Lynchburg-based BWX Technologies said the acquisition will enhance its ability to develop and manufacture advanced materials for commercial, military and space uses.

The database, from the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, also shows a drop in local approvals of solar projects.

If a proposed compromise is approved, residential customers of the electric utility that serves five Southwest Virginia counties would see their bills go up an average of $17.65 starting Feb. 1.

State officials on Wednesday ordered the Mountain Valley Pipeline to pay $17,500 for violating environmental regulations over a three-month period, marking the fifth consecutive fine of its kind.

The electric utility said it will file an application with state regulators this spring to bring the project, which is designed to be smaller than a traditional nuclear reactor, to a company-owned property outside Lynchburg.

After Election Day, the Ward IV race remained close, with two candidates' vote totals less than 2% apart. With all votes now counted, that gap widened slightly and incumbent Republican Chris Faraldi won reelection.

In March, the electric utility asked regulators for permission to earn about $95 million more per year. The State Corporation Commission on Wednesday authorized about a tenth of that amount.

A spokesperson for Dominion Energy cited several reasons, including the project's $2 billion price tag and the utility's focus on wind, solar, nuclear and other forms of power generation.