Latest news with #VirginiaHall
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Renovation and expansion projects at 10 Va. colleges and universities put on pause
Virginia State University, a historically-Black school in Ettrick. (Photo courtesy of NBC 12) The College of William and Mary: Replace Law School Central Utility Plant University of Virginia: Construct Center for the Arts Virginia Tech: Expand VT-Carilion School of Medicine and Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Virginia State University: Renovate Virginia Hall Longwood University: Replace Roof, Windows, and External Doors Lankford Hall James Madison University: Renovate Johnston Hall Virginia Commonwealth University: Acquire Altria Building Virginia Community College System: Renovate Amherst/Campbell Hall, Central Virginia Virginia Institute of Marine Science: Construct Marine Operations Administration Complex Institute for Advanced Learning and Research: Expand Center for Manufacturing Advancement Source: House Bill 1600 (Reenrolled) Gov. Glenn Youngkin paused over $600 million in funding requests for 10 renovation and expansion projects at Virginia's higher education institutions to prepare for possible statewide repercussions stemming from uncertainty about the country's economic future. As President Donald Trump's administration continues slashing federal spending and programs and overhauling global trade policies, Youngkin and lawmakers are keeping a keen eye on the state's purse strings. On May 2, the governor announced that Virginia will retain $900.4 million from its budget, leaving a projected $3.2 billion surplus as a cushion. Of the $900 million removed from the state spending plan, $626 million would have been allocated to cover 10 one-time capital projects at Virginia's colleges and universities. Youngkin carves out $900 million as Virginia prepares for Trump-era uncertainty 'While the 10 new projects included in the 2025 Higher Education Capital Outlay Pool are each worthy investments, it would not be financially prudent for me to advance these projects to the construction phase with the current risks to our general fund forecast,' Youngkin wrote in his veto letter. 'As chief executive officer of the commonwealth, the conservative course of action is to delay appropriation for these projects.' The affected schools include Virginia State University, which plans to renovate Virginia Hall because of multiple infrastructure issues, and Virginia Commonwealth University, which plans to acquire the Altria research building to expand its lab space. 'The project remains of critical importance and we are hopeful it will be restored at the next opportunity,' a VCU spokesperson said in a statement to the Mercury. The governor said he plans to reintroduce the projects in his December budget proposal 'should the revenues required to support their construction continue to be available.' In his veto letter, Youngkin said the commonwealth has spent 17%, or $551 million, of its $3.2 billion in authorized capital outlay projects at Virginia's public institutions of higher education. The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is also among the institutions that now must wait for their projects to proceed. VCCS plans to renovate Amherst and Campbell Halls at Central Virginia Community College (CVCC) in Lynchburg, which are the core classroom spaces for the college. Amherst Hall was built in 1968 and Campbell Hall was completed in 1974. Neither has had a significant renovation since then. As federal funding and systems dwindle, states are left to decide how and whether to make up the difference. Susan Pollard, a VCCS spokeswoman, said in a statement that CVCC is currently in the planning and design phase for both buildings and is using a limited amount of other available resources to continue moving forward until state funds may become available. 'Virginia's Community Colleges are positioned well in the near term to navigate what we understand is a temporary postponement to the impacted higher education capital outlay budgets,' Pollard said in a statement to the Mercury. 'We understand that difficult decisions regarding the reallocation of budgets are necessary at times, and we are hopeful funding will be restored as the situation allows.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Recalling a titanic trio of secret weapons: Novelist will redirect attention to women highlighted in Lockport's WWII history exhibit
The novelist who brought three of the 'greatest heroines' of World War II to life in back-to-back gripping stories will lecture in Lockport as part of the Secret Weapons of World War II: Women, Books & Music immersive exhibit. In her 6:30 p.m. Wednesday presentation at the Kenan Center's Taylor Theater, Erika Robuck, author of 'The Invisible Woman' and 'Sisters of Night and Fog,' doesn't plan to talk about her writing process. She's much more interested in celebrating Virginia Hall, Violette Szabo and Virginia d'Albert-Lake, two secret agents and a member of the French resistance respectively who went above and beyond the call of duty to help bring down Nazi Germany. Robuck, a self-described boating enthusiast, amateur historian and teacher in Annapolis, Md., has written 10 novels since 2009, all but one classed as historical fiction. A woman is the sympathetic lead character in every story, but until 'The Invisible Woman' (2021), whoever she was, she lived in the shadow of a man. Upon an editor's encouragement to write about a woman who's 'remarkable' on her own, Robuck told Military Press, she discovered an article in Smithsonian magazine, 'about a woman who spied for the allies and helped the foundation for modern intelligence,' and was thunderstruck. Virginia Hall (1906-1982) 'is like a superhero,' Robuck said in a recent telephone interview. 'I don't know how I found her. She found me.' Many of Robuck's novels are set in the 1920s — early 1930s, a gold mine as eras go, given Prohibition / the Roaring Twenties and the rise of the 'Lost Generation' of writers. Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, his wife Zelda Fitzgerald and poet Edna St. Vincent Millay are central characters in her body of work, and Prohibition is the spark for 'The Last Twelve Miles,' her most recently published story of a cat-and-mouse game between a rum runner and a code breaker, both women. Robuck the historian is driven to write her characters as true-to-life as possible, which demands extensive research. When her children were young, she said, she relied on libraries, the internet and, because it was so close to home, the National Archives in Washington, D.C. She has since traveled all over the United States to explore the key locales in her stories and interview 'associates' of her subjects. While she couldn't visit France, where Virginia Hall was deployed — to train resistance fighters and arrange safe harbor for allies in jeopardy despite having one prosthetic leg — Robuck said she was able to get better acquainted with Hall through French history books (which she purchased and translated), by replicating on a treadmill Hall's hikes across the Pyrenees, and by locating Hall's niece, another Maryland native. Interviews with associates elicit 'interesting little details… that help bring characters to life,' she explained. Robuck's research for The Invisible Woman led her to flesh out the stories of Virginia d'Albert-Lake and Violette Szabo in Sisters of Night and Fog (2022). Then she had to switch gears, or eras at least, and returned to the '20s for The Last Twelve Miles. 'I needed a break from the horrors of World War II after two books,' she said. Still, Robuck was so moved by Virginia Hall's heroism that she ended up joining forces with Hall's family — and women working in the U.S. intelligence field today — to press for a Medal of Honor for Hall. The Medal of Honor is the highest U.S. military decoration, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said: No, that's for members of the military only. 'I wasn't surprised by that answer… but I was very frustrated,' Robuck said. 'There was no other way for Virginia Hall to serve (in the 1940s). Technically, no, she did not serve in the military, but yes she certainly did.' Robuck is coming to Lockport at the request of Secret Weapons co-curator Mary Brennan-Taylor, who has expressed similar frustration with the lack of recognition, not to mention compensatory benefits, for civilian women who risked their lives working in a war zone. 'Erika has brought three of the greatest heroines of World War II to life in two remarkable books,' she said. 'I read them both about a year ago. I was fascinated, and I went down the rabbit hole, reading up on these women… . While I was planning the exhibit I thought of (Robuck) and reached out to her directly. I was surprised she said 'yes.' She's so down-to-earth.' Robuck, who was named a Maryland Writer's Association Notable Writer of 2024, said she has been invited to speak with plenty of book groups, writers' groups and historical associations over the years, but never in tandem with an exhibit. This is different, and she's looking forward to it. 'I love the history, and for people who love history to engage this way is very thrilling to me,' she said. Admission to Robuck's talk at the Taylor Theater, 433 Locust St., is free. Robuck will sign copies of 'The Invisible Woman' and 'Sisters of Night and Fog' after her talk, inside Kenan House Gallery where the Secret Weapons exhibit is set up. Bring your own copies for signing. Exhibit partner Lock City Books, 8 Market St., still has copies of 'Sisters of Night and Fog' on hand. 'The Invisible Woman' is available through multiple online sources.
