By: Emily Southern, Eli Lamport, and Sage Mayhew, science reporters
In this episode of the News Feed NRV podcast, we discuss how journalism has been impacted by the proliferation of AI. Includes analysis from Robin Reed, an icon of local media in Southwest Virginia.
By Zoe Santos, arts, culture, and sports reporter
BLACKSBURG, Va. (Sept. 11, 2025)– Artists Clare Grill and Margaux Ogden converse in front of one of Grill’s paintings. (Zoe Santos, Newsfeed NRV)
Visitors gathered Sept. 12 at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech for Beyond the Frame, a monthly tour series that gives audiences a closer look at current exhibitions. September’s tour focused on “Things I Had No Words For”, featuring the paintings of Clare Grill and Margaux Ogden.
Beyond the Frame takes place on the second Thursday of each month at noon. The program invites audiences into the galleries for informal conversations about the art on display. This fall’s exhibitions, which opened Sept. 4 and run through Nov. 22, include Grill and Ogden’s “Things I Had No Words For” on the first floor and “Seeing and Reading” featuring Dana Frankfurt and Josephine Halberstam, upstairs.
The exhibition is part of CFA’s rotating series of gallery shows, which change out each semester. Visitors can view the works during regular gallery hours, Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.
BLACKSBURG, Va. (Sept. 11, 2025)– Margaux Ogden, Clare Grill, and Brian Holcombe discuss one of Ogden’s pieces on display. (Zoe Santos, Newsfeed NRV)
Curated by Brian Holcombe, director of the visual arts program, “Things I Had No Words For” pairs Grill’s contemplative canvases with Ogden’s energetic, color-driven abstractions. Holcombe said he was first introduced to the two artists in 2014 through a mutual friend and immediately saw their work as complementary. “It struck me that they would have a wonderful conversation together,” Holcombe said during the gallery tour.
Clare Grill, lives and works in New York, received her Master’s of Fine Arts from the Pratt Institute in 2005, according to her biography on M + B’s website. She builds her work from a personal archive of images, memories, and textures. Her paintings often incorporate faint outlines and muted tones that evoke a sense of layers of history. She told the group that she begins with fragments from the past, mostly from antique embroidery, and allows them to inspire her to create something new on the canvas.
“I really think of painting as an excavation,” Grill said, “I’m looking for something, and I’m not exactly sure what it’s going to be until I’m there.”
BLACKSBURG, Va. (Sept. 11, 2025)– Artist Margaux Ogden poses for a photo in front of one of her pieces on display titled “Bathers.” (Zoe Santos, Newsfeed NRV)
Ogden, who is based in Brooklyn, uses a very different process. Her works are full of bright colors and geometric shapes, and she paints without sketches or strict plans. She explained that her studio workflow thrives on risk and spontaneity. All of her pieces are seemingly perfectly symmetrical, but she shared with the group that she only measures the first four lines of a painting and then relies on her judgment for the rest. “The way I work is improvised,” Ogden said. “It’s not predetermined. It’s about responding in the moment.” View more of Ogden’s works here.
Holcombe said bringing both artists into the same gallery space emphasizes the contrasts while also showing how abstraction can take multiple forms. “Clare is often working from history, while Margaux is responding to the present moment,” he said. “That tension is what makes this exhibition really exciting.”
The gallery tour drew a mix of students, community members, and regional art enthusiasts. Among them was an older couple who had travelled from Roanoke specifically for the event.
As Holcombe guided visitors through the space, the group moved slowly between large canvases that filled the white-walled gallery. Grill’s pieces provoke close looking, with texture and subtle brushstrokes that reveal themselves the longer you look at the piece. Ogden’s paintings, in contrast, catch viewers’ attention immediately with bright bursts of pink, green, and orange.
Standing in front of one of Ogden’s pieces, Holcombe described the effect of viewing both artists side by side, “There’s an energy in the room when you put these two bodies of work together,” he said. “You start to notice connections you wouldn’t see otherwise.”
Beyond the Frame and “Things I Had No Words For” continues CFA’s mission to showcase contemporary art while engaging both the campus and surrounding communities. Previous exhibitions have included national and international artists, but Holcombe emphasized the importance of highlighting painters like Grill and Ogden, who are contributing to ongoing conversations in abstract art today.
Both artists spoke about the balance between personal meaning and public reception in their work. Grill said she hopes viewers bring their own experiences to her paintings rather than looking for a single interpretation. “I want the work to feel open, like there’s room for the viewer to enter,” she said.
Ogden shared that thought, noting that the intensity of the color often provokes strong reactions. “People might see joy, chaos, or even confusion,” she said. “All of that is valid. It’s about how the painting meets you.”
For visitors, the tour was not only about viewing paintings but also about connecting with artists and ideas. Some lingered after the formal program ended, continuing to talk with Grill and Ogden about their processes. A few students took notes, while others snapped photos to remember specific works.
The CFA hopes that kind of engagement continues throughout the fall. With the exhibition open until Nov. 22, Holcombe encouraged visitors to come back more than once, noting that abstraction often rewards repeat viewings.
“You can walk into this show on different days and notice new things each time,” he said. “That’s the beauty of work that resists easy answers.”
“Clare Grill and Margaux Ogden: Things I Had No Words For” is on display at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech through Nov. 22. Admission is free. More information is available on the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech’s website.
By Eli Lamport, science reporter
At Virginia Tech’s Nature Inspired Fluids and Interfaces (NIFI) lab, a team of student researchers are studying how jumping water droplets can be used to keep crops healthy, and improve energy efficiency.
The NIFI lab is the brainchild of Dr. Jonathan Boreyko, an associate professor in Mechanical Engineering. Boreyko’s research synthesizes environmental and life sciences concepts with his engineering background. A common thread in Boreyko’s work is biomimicry. Biomimicry is when natural phenomena are used as inspiration for systems or products that solve human problems. “Why be radically creative and think of completely new things when you can look around at how creative nature already is” says Borekyo.
Sept. 12, 2025, Blacksburg Va. – Jonathan Boreyko leads the Nature Inspired Fluids and Interfaces Lab, located in Norris Hall at Virginia Tech. (Eli Lamport, News Feed NRV)
Currently, a dozen Virginia Tech students work in the NIFI lab on a variety of projects. One of these students is Grant Helm, a senior studying Mechanical Engineering. Helm started researching at NIFI earlier this summer. One project that Helm has been working on is using high speed videography to analyze how disease spores spread between barley plants. Helm explains how “when water droplets coalesce on a hydrophobic surface like a plant leaf, they release a little bit of kinetic energy and jump off the surface.” If a plant is sick, fungal spores on its leaves can hitch a ride on these jumping water droplets. Once the water droplets clear the “boundary layer” immediately around the leaf, the spores can be blown downwind, quickly spreading to nearby plants.
Jumping droplets were first discovered by Boreyko in 2012, who was studying the phenomena in wheat plants. Helm is trying to identify any differences in the behavior of jumping droplets on Barley leaves. Something new that Helm has observed is a “billiard ball” effect where all of the energy created by droplets fusing together is transferred directly into a spore, launching it into the air. All of this research is made possible by the NIFI lab’s Phantom high speed camera, which can capture up to 1 million frames per second. “The imaging is something that I didn’t expect to do in the lab, and it’s been really fun,” says Helm.
Another project that Helm is working on at NIFI involves figuring out how to improve the efficiency of heat transfer in boiling processes. Every liquid has a critical heat flux, which is the rate of heating at which a vapor barrier forms between the liquid and the heating element. At that point, the heat is no longer being transferred effectively into the liquid. “You aren’t heating the water anymore, you’re just melting the pot,” Helm explains. It’s been established that the best way to improve the efficiency of boiling is to raise the critical heat flux, which can be achieved by shrinking the size of the bubbles in the liquid.
What researchers at the NIFI lab are trying to do is get these small bubbles to leave the surface of the liquid prematurely, which would further improve efficiency. What they have found is that when the bubbles are small enough, they begin to act similarly to the jumping water droplets on a leaf. They merge together and jump off the surface, preventing a vapor barrier from forming and allowing for more heat to be transferred to the liquid.
Sept. 12, 2025, Blacksburg, Va. – Boreyko and a research student using the Phantom high speed video camera in the lab. (Eli Lamport, News Feed NRV)
A major practical application of this concept is in power generation. Most power plants, conventional and nuclear, use boilers to create steam to spin turbines. Improving the energy efficiency of this process at the source could have significant positive effects, including a reduced carbon footprint to cheaper energy costs for consumers.
Boreyko and his team are also interested in applying these same principles to cooling processes. Data centers are a particularly compelling use case because they are putting an increasingly significant strain on the power grid. “Currently we are just blowing chilled air across these entire facilities, so it’s not very efficient,” says Boreyko. As condensation forms on cooling equipment, it becomes less efficient. If this equipment was coated in a hydrophobic material those droplets could jump off the surface and evaporate, allowing for more heat to be absorbed.
The NIFI lab not only offers students the opportunity to work hands-on on a variety of projects, it also fulfills a longtime personal goal of Boreyko. “I didn’t do any research as an undergraduate, I didn’t have those experiential learning moments,” Boreyko explains. Running the NIFI lab allows Boreyko to provide the experience that he wishes he had gotten as a student. “I’ve published over 80 papers now, so that’s not necessarily going to blow my socks off anymore. But it never gets old seeing a student run up to my office to show me something they just discovered.” says Borekyo. Grant Helm says that “looking at things experimentally is a really great way to learn about how things work in the real world.” Helm is looking forward to the next breakthrough moment in the lab. “That’s going to be really really satisfying.” For more information on the NIFI lab at Virginia Tech, visit their website.
By Sage Mayhew, Health and Wellness Reporter
In a town known for its fast pace and high expectations, yoga is helping Blacksburg residents and Virginia Tech students slow down — and breathe. During National Yoga Awareness Month, both professors and students say the practice is reshaping how they navigate life.
Yoga has been praised for its physical benefits for decades, but in Blacksburg, it’s receiving attention for something deeper: its power to transform how people show up, carry themselves and connect with each other. With the spotlight on this September, local voices are highlighting yoga’s unique impact on both mind and body.
From student-led classes at Virginia Tech Recreational Sports to seasoned professionals teaching at In Balance Yoga Studio, the message is the same: yoga isn’t just a workout. It’s a way of life, and one that many say they didn’t know they needed until they found it.
For Virginia Tech senior Emma Roland, the weight of pursuing majors in both biological sciences and human nutrition, foods and exercise can pile up quickly. Roland always thought that yoga was just about stretching, but when she was introduced to it through one of her courses, she not only found a way to slow down the pace of her own life and catch her breath, but a way to give back to others as well. Roland was hooked and earned her 200-hour yoga instructor certification from In Balance Yoga studio in Blacksburg. Now she teaches weekly classes with Virginia Tech’s Rec Sports. Her classes focus on being present in the moment, setting goals and finding an outlet in all the chaos of life. She emphasizes the importance of letting go of everything exterior and taking time to relax your body and mind. When talking about her classes and participants, Roland says, “We’ve all had a long day and it’s like, okay, the next 45 minutes we can just worry about what’s going on within these four walls.”
The impact of yoga extends beyond just helping students. “Yoga saved my life, and I think it’s going to help me help others,” said Dr. Samantha Harden, a 500-hour registered yoga instructor at In Balance Yoga Studio, dissemination and implementation science researcher and professor. Like many, Harden was constantly chasing success, climbing the ladder, and reaching for career excellence. However, she found that her best self isn’t rooted in professional success, but in authentic moments where she can breathe, process, and slow down. Once she started, the shift was undeniable. Colleagues began to ask what had changed, how did she become more professional, more present, more positive? Her answer? Yoga.
When Harden first discovered yoga, she thought it was superficial and more about the look than anything else. However what she found couldn’t have been more different. “It’s just other people trying to breathe, and use story, and posture and community to heal.” She shared, “You can learn so much about yourself – your level of surrender, your discipline, your grit. There’s a lot more to it than postures…It’s your interaction with someone on the sidewalk, or behind the wheel, or in a class. Your ability to create union goes way beyond the mat…being present with others is how yoga can change Blacksburg and how we can be a bright light in the darkness.” That’s exactly what yoga is doing, creating change.
Both Roland and Harden, grateful for what yoga has done for them, agree that it’s about more than just personal improvements, but a way to give back and to build community. Harden shared that “The United States is facing a social isolation and loneliness pandemic, and yoga is an opportunity to improve your social health as much as it is your mental and physical health.” The benefit of entering a studio, seeing familiar faces, learning and growing together, builds community, consistency, and connection in a time when it’s needed most.
When it comes to yoga, “The doors are always open,” says Harden. Both student and professor urge more people to make the first stretch, and try yoga. “Just come and see the impact just one class can have, how it leaves the body and the mind in a more relaxed and present state.” , says Roland. With two separate locations in Blacksburg, and classes online, In Balance Yoga Studio offers over 40 classes weekly for all ages and experience levels. For students looking to get involved and stay on campus, Virginia Tech Rec Sports also offers various types of yoga classes every week for anyone to join.
Yoga isn’t just a practice for super fit people or people that seem to have all the money and time in the world. It’s for anyone needing to breathe, find an outlet and give their mind and body rest. “No matter what time of day or who you are there’s a class that can meet you where you are,” says Harden.
By Emily Dorsey, politics and government reporter
“Our board has historically been reactive instead of proactive in terms of establishing satellite voter facilities,” Board of Supervisors Chair April DeMotts (District G) said.
On Aug. 11, 2025, Montgomery County’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a draft ordinance for three voter satellite offices for the General Election. Those locations were the Blacksburg Community Center, Shawsville Middle School cafeteria and Auburn High School cafeteria. This proposed ordinance provided in-person voting locations for those living in eastern and southern Montgomery County.
On Aug. 25, 2025, the Board of Supervisors adopted one location as a voter satellite office. Four out of seven supervisors were in favor of this ordinance. Supervisor Anthony Grafsky (District E), Vice Chair Steve Fijalkowski (District C) and Supervisor Todd King (District D) opposed the ordinance.
From the conversations between supervisors regarding the ordinance, comments from citizens, the concept of equitable voting, previous changes in voting and more, voter accessibility in Montgomery County is not a topic to ignore.
The state of Virginia has witnessed a lot of change over the past decade regarding voting. Taking effect July 1, 2020, Virginia required a 45-day early voting period. The Voting Rights Act of Virginia was passed in 2021 which brought about various changes with absentee ballot handling and voter discrimination. Other implementations include same-day registration at a citizen’s precinct and shortening the registration deadline from 21 to 10 days before a general or primary election.
Sept. 19, 2025, Christiansburg, Va. – Campaigns for various offices fill the parking lot at the Office of Elections as early voting begins. (photo by Emily Dorsey, TheNewsFeedNRV.com)
Providing satellite locations alongside mail-in ballots and early voting options is an extra guarantee that all citizens of Montgomery County have the necessary means to vote.
The Board of Supervisors selected the Blacksburg Community Center as the singular satellite location. This site will provide in-person, early voting Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, in addition to Election Day on Nov. 4.
The Blacksburg location was chosen for four main reasons: Blacksburg Transit’s (BT) accessibility, statistics from previous years, citizen opinion and staffing concerns.
“We have numbers that we were able to look at from the last time we did satellite voting in Blacksburg,” DeMotts said. “Twenty-five percent of the early votes came from the Blacksburg satellite location.”
There is a correlation between a satellite location in Blacksburg and the routes BT provides. The free, public bus runs along popular streets for commuters to easily access grocery stores, Virginia Tech (VT) campus or popular Christiansburg locations like the Office of Elections.
Sept. 19, 2025, Christiansburg, Va. – Office of Elections officially open for early voting; conveniently located next to Food Lion and the Christiansburg Recreation Center. (photo by Emily Dorsey, TheNewsFeedNRV.com)
Traveling to the Office of Elections from Virginia Tech or Blacksburg via the BT takes about 80 minutes round trip. This option may not be feasible for voters who have busy schedules, full-time jobs, extracurriculars and other responsibilities. Also, the BT doesn’t reach all parts of Montgomery County like Shawsville and Riner.
Multiple citizens of Montgomery County spoke at the Aug. 25 Board of Supervisors meeting.
“This is your opportunity, as a board, to again show that you care about excessive and unnecessary spending of our tax dollars,” Wayman Pack, resident of Riner, said. “Let us all use the resources already available to us instead of spending taxpayers’ money on something that is not needed.”
“We need to not be afraid of who people are gonna vote for but give everybody ample opportunity to voice their vote,” Cindy Barton, resident of Montgomery County, said. “I think we can spend money on way worse things than making sure everybody has access to cast their vote.”
DeMotts explained why there are no satellite locations in other parts of Montgomery County.
“There was absolutely no demand,” DeMotts said. “Nobody from those areas emailed, called or came to the board and requested it. The two supervisors from those districts were also very clear they did not want satellite voting location in their district.”
Below are direct quotes from the Aug. 25 Board of Supervisors meeting:
“Voting couldn’t be easier than it is right now,” Fijalkowski said. “This proposal is unnecessary. I think it is a waste of tax payers dollars. It’s a burden on the registrar’s office and employees. Even if Shawsville had remained on the list, that doesn’t make it equitable.”
“I’m a big advocate for making sure [residents of Montgomery County] have access, but the flipside of that is how hard we worked our registrar’s office,” Supervisor Derek Kitts (District B) said. “I think it was 250, 260 hours of overtime … There are two sets of facts in this one. One is the workload, one is the access … Just cause one area of the county asked for it, and the other rest of the county doesn’t, we’ve got to be able to weigh that in.”
According to Connie Viar, director of elections and general registrar, this election was different because Viar’s electoral board was under the opinion, Montgomery County did not need a satellite location. Hence, the decision fell to the Board of Supervisors.
Viar’s team tested the potential sites in Shawsville and Auburn – primarily for internet connectivity. Shawsville did not pass the test, which meant there was no reliable internet to run poll books.
“Auburn tested perfect, but Supervisor King felt like it was not something his locality would be interested in,” Viar said. “The stats show that [voters] come [to the Christiansburg location].”
In previous years, the Office of Elections has been overworked because of the large voter turnout.
“When same day registration came about in 2020, that killed us,” Viar said. “Same day registration in 2023, it was horrible. Last year was worse. Last year we received 4,340 same day registrations. Counting myself, there are six of us here. For five people there were 756 hours of comp time last election cycle. Over and above your normal working hours…There’s never enough hands-on, so we work around the clock to meet the state’s deadline.”
In past elections, the registrar staff received comp-time. For this election, the Board of Supervisors gave the staff the choice between comp-time or overtime pay. In the future, the board will allocate money in their budget for temporary election staff.
There are many factors to consider when planning early voting options. DeMotts said it may be “possibly something the board will kind of have to deal with every election cycle.”
“Coming out of it this year, we have some pretty good direction for our staff,” DeMotts said. “What we want to do is proactively budget for future satellite voting locations as part of an early in the year process.”
Early, in-person voting at the Montgomery County Office of Elections in Christiansburg runs from Sept. 19 through Oct. 31, with one closure on Oct. 13. For more information, visit montva.com.
By Emily Southern, science writer
After nearly four decades of dedicated service to the Roanoke Valley, WDBJ7’s Chief Meteorologist Brent Watts has announced his retirement from broadcasting. His final day will be Sept. 19.
Watts, a familiar and trusted face to viewers across Southwest Virginia, is not stepping away from public service entirely. He has accepted a new role as director of communications for Botetourt County, where he has already begun the onboarding process.
Watts first came to WDBJ7 as a news photographer. He then transitioned years later into a meteorologist and then finally as chief meteorologist as he developed a love for the forecast.
Throughout his career, Watts has been known not only for his accurate forecasting and calm presence during severe weather events. As Watts steps into his new chapter, WDBJ7 announced that meteorologist Justin Povick has been named the station’s next chief meteorologist.
Coverage in 2004 of tornadoes during Hurricane Ivan, one of Watts’ first severe storms with Meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner on the left and Watts on the right.
As director of communications, Watts will be the interface between government sectors, various emergency departments and the people of Botetourt County, using his emergency protocol skills he developed at WDBJ7.
Watts is excited for his new position, exclaiming that he’s ready for a change after decades in broadcasting.
“I am looking for something more of a challenge, something that would give me more skills and meet people that that I haven’t met before,” Watts said. “I still wanted to use some of the same skills that I had when it came to weather and media, public relations and crisis management.”
During his time at WDBJ7, Watts’ most memorable moment was when a Roanoke resident, Sharanda Totty, told him that one of his weather alerts saved her and her baby’s life during an EF3 tornado.
“She got a weather alert, and she took her baby into the basement, which literally was just some cinder blocks,” Watts said. “She got under an old mattress that was down there and when she got out, the entire structure was gone. Her home was gone; everything was missing. It kind of got me thinking like, ‘What would have happened if she had not gotten that warning?’”
WDBJ7 interviewing Sharanda Totty, covering an EF3 tornado that hit Sharanda Totty’s house.
Viewers of WDBJ7 who have watched and trusted Watts’ forecast for many years are sad to see him go. Jordan McDaniels, an avid WDBJ7 viewer has enjoyed watching Watts over the years.
“Watts is a great meteorologist,” McDaniels said. “When you watched, you could tell he really cared about his work and that’s why I loved watching him. I’m sad to see him leave for sure.”
Watts appreciates the support he has received from viewers since his departure was announced.
“After the announcement that I was going to be leaving WDBJ7, there was a huge outpour from people I’d never even met before,” Watts said. “It truly means the world to me that everyone trusted me with their forecast over the years and that I did a better job than I thought I did, actually, of getting the word out and giving them comfort during times when the weather was threatening or when they were scared.”
As chief meteorologist, it was Watts’ job to cover the newsroom if they were short-staffed or if someone had to stay overnight if the weather permitted. Watts is looking forward to a better work-life balance.
“I love traveling,” Watts said. “My wife and I love to travel, and I want to travel more locally as well. I love music, so getting out and hearing some local bands and being able to visit family more is going to be really nice.”
While he is stepping away from the green screen, Watts says that his curiosity and passion for learning will continue to serve him.
“I think the biggest thing over the years that I’ve learned is to never stop learning,” Watts said. “I’ve never wanted to be one of those people because I always feel like there’s something more that I can learn.
One of the most meaningful aspects of his job, Watts says, was sharing that knowledge with the next generation.
“The biggest thing that I have enjoyed over the years is teaching kids and being able to go visit schools over the years,” Watts said. “I’ve visited probably hundreds of schools during my time and met with thousands of kids of all ages. To be able to see their eyes light up when we do a really cool weather experiment or that moment where they understand something that they learned in class has been the most rewarding.”
Watts plans to continue to watch the weather but on his own time and as a hobby.
“I’ll be able to go watch storms more and observe them outside instead of being in the studio, which is going to be really cool,” Watts said. “While my main position is no longer a meteorologist on television, it’s one of those skills that you really nobody can take away from you.”
by Jonathan Mususa, politics and government reporter
Democratic challenger Lily Franklin and Republican Delegate Chris Obenshain at the Cardinal News candidate forum for the 41st House of Delegates district, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.
(Jonathan Mususa, The News Feed)
BLACKSBURG, Va. – On Monday, Sept. 15 at 6:30 p.m., Blacksburg residents and potential voters crowded into the meeting room at the Blacksburg Public Library to hear Republican Delegate Chris Obenshain and Democratic challenger Lily Franklin speak at a candidate forum for the 41st House of Delegates district organized by Cardinal News.
Running in a rematch of the 2023 race which saw Obenshain win by 183 votes, the two candidates answered questions submitted by audience members ahead of time in a conversation moderated by Roanoke College political science professor Jeff Vick.
This forum was held as a part of Cardinal News’ “The Cardinal Way: Civility Rules” project, centered on promoting productive discourse across party lines.
Note the word civility. Likely with the bouts of heckling at the Buena Vista Labor Fest and an earlier forum in the 40th House district on her mind, Cardinal News executive director Luanne Rife made things rather clear to the audience.
“The moderator, Jeff Vick, will give a warning if anyone’s out of line and, if there’s a second incident, we’re just going to quit,” Rife said. “We’re going to just close it down.”
“We’re also livestreaming this on our Facebook page and it’ll be archived on YouTube, so that’s another reason you don’t want to be that person or anything.”
Fortunately, things went ahead fairly smoothly.
Virginia Tech and what students want
With Virginia Tech students having broken overwhelmingly for Franklin back in 2023, it perhaps comes as no surprise that her campaign has reached out to students, with Franklin echoing some of the concerns she heard.
“How are we going to make sure young people can afford homes?” she asked the audience. “How are we going to ensure they have access to good jobs that they can grow after they leave the university, that they have internships, and that we’re also protecting their rights?”
Obenshain cited work he had done to benefit the Virginia Tech community – co-sponsoring legislation to improve access to sexual assault response kits and budget amendments for increased funding for the university – before addressing the state of the region’s economy.
“I’ve talked to a lot of folks who have graduated from Virginia Tech and wanted to stay here in the New River Valley, but they couldn’t find a job,” he said. “They couldn’t find the right job for them that would keep them here, and that’s why I think economic development and prosperity is such an important part of what we do in Richmond and in the General Assembly.”
The Virginia Clean Economy Act of 2020 and phasing out fossil fuels by 2050
Franklin staked out a position as “one of the most vocal opponents of the legislation” for its supposed failure to “protect ratepayers” against rising energy prices, the blame for which she placed on, among other things, increasing energy demand from data centers and insufficient regulation of Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power – corporations that Franklin is not accepting campaign contributions from.
“I think, as we head to Richmond, this is going to be the biggest fight in 2026,” she said, referring to debates about the future of the Commonwealth’s electric grid.
In one of the tenser moments of the evening, Obenshain began his response by casting doubts on the nature of Franklin’s opposition to the VCEA, going on to say that she “supports the goals of the VCEA, and it’s the goals of the VCEA that are the problem.”
Obenshain went on to lament increases in electricity rates in the Commonwealth since the VCEA’s passage, as well as Virginia’s status as one of the nation’s top energy importers.
Healing the partisan divide
Drawing upon his work with Democrats on protections against anti-Semitic violence and increased funding for the Marcus alert system for mental health emergencies, Obenshain called for people to “rediscover our sense of civic engagement.”
“Getting off of our phones and getting out into our communities is something that’s going to be really important for us moving forward,” he said, before touching on the recent cellphone bans that have gone into effect in school districts across the Commonwealth.
“Teachers are talking about it being noisy in the lunchroom again. Those are good things and that helps us as a country.”
Franklin confessed to doing more to the end of pursuing unity than many of her fellow Democrats thought prudent, but her work supposedly was not in vain.
“I have had people who voted for Donald Trump, people who are big supporters of Marjorie Taylor Greene, all tell me how they will be supporting me this election,” she said. “And that’s because we’re able to talk about how we have shared community values.”
She also called for a less partisan and more realistic view of the legislative process.
“Almost every piece of legislation that comes out of Richmond – and Chris can attest to this – is bipartisan … When we talk about legislation, we do need to talk about a lot of the things that we’re doing together, because most of it is together.”
Audience members watch as Democratic challenger Lily Franklin responds to a question.
(Jonathan Mususa, The News Feed)
At the evening’s end, Obenshain thanked his family and constituents for their support and touted his accomplishments anew. The impending arrival of passenger rail to Christiansburg, increased funding for education, and Virginia’s nation-leading decline in overdose deaths are, he assured the audience, among the results of “what happens when you put experienced leadership with common-sense solutions.”
Franklin focused more on the difficulties being faced by people of all generations in the 41st and how her background as a working-class native of Southwest Virginia allowed her to relate to them.
“Five generations of my family’s from here, from two all the way to 92,” she said. “So, when I look at policy, I think about how you can thrive at every stage of your life.”
Afterwards, Cardinal News executive editor Jeff Schwaner thanked those in attendance for their cooperation and sent them back out into their communities with the knowledge that “this is the best of politics.”
By Landon Swanson, Arts, Culture and Sports reporter
Tim Miller, middle, Director of Pulaski’s Sports Tourism and Entertainment Authority
This story highlights Pulaski County’s goals to build a new sports complex that features the new director of Pulaski’s new Sports Tourism and Entertainment authority created within this past year. The complex is looking to boost the economic and social state of where the county is now.
Sports tourism has become one of the fastest growing industries in the United States recently with families travelling across the country for tournaments and other numerous events. Many communities are now investing in modernized facilities to host teams from everywhere, influencing the community by seeing many new visitors they previously would not have seen. The goal of this complex is to strengthen the image of Pulaski County and bringing new people in their effort to transform the future.
What is your vision for the sports complex, and why is now the time?
My vision is to build a new top-of-the-line sports center that mainly gives Pulaski a new meaning where the people of this place have a sense of pride, giving them new opportunities as well. I want this to be a destination where people across Virginia and even the country come to play. I want Pulaski to be a place where families come to spend weekends with their kids as they play ball.
I felt as if now was the right time because youth sports have been growing significantly over the past few years. Many families are willing to travel longer distances for tournaments or other events, and this creates a major economic opportunity for the hosting community. Pulaski has the land and the opportunity to make this area a hot spot for many different things we have planned.
Why is Pulaski County the right place for this project?
We feel this area is perfect because of the proximity to a major city and close enough to some major college campuses. Pulaski also would give the small-town feel and doesn’t run families dry as some major cities would but still give a very high-end sports facility.
What is an overview of what will be included in the complex?
Yea, so as of right now we are planning to include around eight basketball/volleyball courts, a couple turf soccer fields, pickleball courts, a weight room, a small walking track and another sprinting track, a restaurant, and classrooms as well.
We really wanted to give Pulaski the ability to have a place for Pulaski County Rec Sports and still offer the availability of the main courts for commercial use, such as tournaments or other events like camps and what not.
What kind of impact will this have on Pulaski?
The impact will be both economic and social. On the economic side, we’re anticipating millions of dollars in visitor spending each year. When families come for tournaments, they need places to stay, eat, and shop. That means more business for our hotels, restaurants, and local shops. This also creates jobs for the county during the construction process and further once it opens into the hospitality portion and maintaining and running events.
Building this gives our local people access to a facility that is on par with major markets while staying at home. It also gives families a new source of entertainment closer to home without the need to make a trip anywhere.
What will the accessibility for use look like?
Accessibility is at the core of our planning. While we want to host major tournaments and events, this facility belongs to the people of Pulaski. We are designing a usage plan that ensures our schools, youth leagues, and community groups will always have access.
We mostly wanted this to be for the people who live here while also offering the facility out to teams from across the country to come to western Virginia. We are trying to balance serving local needs and driving tourism.
Are there any plans for additional development around the complex?
That’s the goal. We are still kind of in the early stages of everything to begin with but ideally, we can use this as a reason to grow. By adding to the complex, we would bring more visitors which usually means more infrastructure is needed regardless of what we already have. Once again it comes back to the economic advantages that this entire project would bring, adding additional infrastructure leads to more potential jobs and resources for us to gain from. Although the same issue arises when trying to plan and build this because everything, we have talked about won’t be cheap to do.
What led you to take on this role?
I immediately saw potential in what we could bring here, and throughout my career I have always been about building new organizations and standing things from the ground up. When I joined and had the opportunity to announce this project it really catapulted something even bigger than I first thought was even possible when I stepped into this role. I believe in this community’s potential. Taking on this role is about helping Pulaski step into that potential and build something lasting. It’s an incredible responsibility, but it’s also an honor.
What do you hope this project leaves behind for the administration and the county?
I want people to look back at this project years from now and say how great an idea this was that led to many travelling from far to be here and how it gave the people who live here more entertainment through whatever they find. As for the administration, I hope it proves that smart investments can make a lasting impact on the community and the surrounding area as well. In the end, I hope it gives generations a reason to come to either come and live here or if they already are here a reason to stay.
By John Tuason, Politics and Government reporter
With federal cuts looming and open enrollment only a few weeks out, Deepak Madala is helping to prepare Virginians for another season of healthcare uncertainty.
Madala started working at the Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) twelve years ago, when the Affordable Care Act was first implemented in Virginia. He and his boss, Jill Hanken, created a program called Enroll Virginia. Enroll Virginia is a community-based effort to educate Virginians about health coverage options and provide enrollment assistance. The program was recognized by the US Department of Health and Human Services to participate in the Federal Navigator program.
In an interview on Thursday, Deepak discussed the work being done at the VPLC, how the upcoming Medicaid cuts will affect Virginians, and the unique challenges that immigrant families face regarding healthcare.
His comments were edited slightly for length and clarity.
What are the biggest challenges facing the VPLC?
Health insurance is complicated. You know, I think that’s the main challenge. While we’ve expanded, and established a good team statewide, it’s still not enough.
The people we work with; their situations are all highly specific to them and their family. It’s dependent on their personal medical needs, their personal financial situations, and their resources. That complexity has always been our biggest challenge.
There are a lot of changes coming to both the Virginia marketplace and the Medicaid program in the coming years. We’re trying our best to kind of stay ahead of that, to keep our team trained and understanding what those changes are. We’re assisting people as they’re navigating the healthcare system by both kind of helping them through those changes, but also anticipating what’s coming down the road, and helping prepare them for those.
What are the challenges that are coming up for Virginians?
It’s something that always happens, but what’s around the corner right now is that when people enroll in coverage through that marketplace, that coverage is only for one year, so they have to renew that coverage every single year and they do that during what’s called open enrollment. Open enrollment in the marketplace starts in November first, and then it goes through end of January here in Virginia.That’s a relatively short amount of time, so people need to actively go to their accounts, check and see what the prices are and see if there are plans that are and what their budget can afford.
During the COVID pandemic, the federal government expanded and the subsidies that were available to help make some of those private insurance plans more affordable. There’s still help like that available for 2026. But they’ll be less of them available because of cuts being made at the federal level to these programs.
One of those cuts was to enhanced subsidies. So, when people go to shop this fall, starting in November, they may see higher prices. Thankfully, in Virginia we still actually have a very competitive insurance market. We have a lot of different companies that do serve statewide.
How will Medicaid cuts at the federal level be affecting Virginians?
Because of this loss of subsidies and other changes that are in the news right now like Medicaid work requirements, paperwork requirements, and renewals for Medicaid. A lot of that stuff is more likely to come into play in 2026. Administrative types of burdens are going to being placed on people, and in some other states that have already gone through work requirement implementations. In states like Arkansas and Georgia that have implemented work requirements, the biggest problem was the absurdity of how they wanted people to submit their documents.
In Arkansas, for example, the website that they had to submit their documents to was only open during business hours during the week. If you’re a working person, you may have multiple jobs. So, when the website’s not even open, you’re losing your Medicaid coverage because you can’t submit the documents on your schedule. I’m hopeful that Virginia will have more reasonable expectations.
What is different about working with immigrants?
There are many areas in Virginia where there are large numbers of immigrants who don’t have access to insurance through jobs, or through universities for some reason; yet, most Virginian immigrants, do have legal status of some type. It just depends on their situation. Perhaps they’re self-employed. If they run their own business, they themselves don’t have access to insurance because of that. So that’s when we help them through the marketplace because they are not eligible for Medicaid.
Some of the of the broader challenges we see facing immigrants nationwide are families who have U.S. Citizen children who are eligible for a lot of benefits because they’re a U.S. Citizen child. There’s always concern from those families about how their data is being used and whether that is private or not.
So, there are parents who do not meet Medicaid requirements, but their children do?
Exactly. This is one of the misunderstandings people have a lot, particularly in regard Medicaid in Virginia. You do have to be what’s called a qualified immigrant to access benefits, and in most cases, that does require you to have a green card, and to have had that green card for 5 years.
A big hurdle to get over is that you must be a legal permanent resident and have had that legal permanent residence for up to 5 years before you can benefit from the Medicaid program. So, that means a lot of Virginia immigrants don’t qualify.
This 5-year bar is why private insurance is so important, because they can go and purchase plans through the marketplace. Some may even qualify for those nominal tax credits to help pay for some of the premiums, but at the end of the day they’re still paying for insurance.
Because they’re not eligible for Medicaid does not mean their children are not eligible for Medicaid, however. This is where it gets complicated. The vast majority of Americans just sign up through work, and there you go, you’re all covered. It’s more complicated for people who don’t have that, because you may have to sign up for 3 or 4 different programs because every person in the household is in a different program.
by Jonathan Mususa, politics and government reporter
As his first term comes to a close, Delegate Chris Obenshain (R–Blacksburg) is preparing to seek another two years in office.
A Montgomery County native, U.S. Army Reservist and former county prosecutor, he entered the 2023 race for the then-new 41st district, containing Blacksburg and rural parts of Montgomery and Roanoke counties. He faced Democratic nominee and Roanoke Delegate Sam Rasoul’s former chief of staff Lily Franklin and won by a margin of 183 votes.
As a freshman legislator, Obenshain joined a Republican caucus that had just narrowly lost control of the House of Delegates. The Commonwealth has since had a fairly evenly divided government, with Republicans in all three statewide positions – Governor Glenn Youngkin, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, Attorney General Jason Miyares – and Democrats narrowly controlling both houses of the General Assembly.
He and Franklin will face each other again in November.
Also, for those who are wondering, he is indeed one of those Obenshains. The late former Virginia Republican Party chairman Richard Obenshain was his uncle and State Senator Mark Obenshain (R–Harrisonburg) is his cousin.
In an interview at his office in Blacksburg, Obenshain spoke about his role as a Delegate, his experiences as a freshman legislator in Richmond, and his approach to public service.
The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Why would you say you ran for Delegate at the first place?
Really just wanting to be involved to try to make my community a better place. I’ve lived here in Montgomery County for a number of years, I’ve got three kids here – two in the schools here in Montgomery County – and my family’s been here for almost a hundred years. So I really love this community and saw it as an opportunity to really try to continue to make this part of Virginia a great place to live and to work and for people to come and raise their families like I have.
In the wake of your election victory, you said in the Facebook post after the result that “the closeness of this election reflects the division we see across our nation.” Do you see your role as a Delegate for this community as helping to ameliorate those divisions in some way?
Absolutely. As a delegate, I represent everyone who lives in this district. I don’t just represent one party or the other. I represent all of those 80,000 people that make up the 41st district. Some of those folks have very different views about what kind of policies they want for the state of Virginia and so, as a Delegate, it’s really my role to engage with those different groups.
I welcome all kinds of different folks with different policy viewpoints into my office during the legislative session. I meet with folks on opposite sides of a lot of different issues and I appreciate those conversations because it helps me to understand what people are thinking, what their desires and hopes are for their families and their communities.
Let’s get to talking about your tenure. How would you say that your experience as a Delegate compares to you were expecting before you took office?
I think largely it’s what I anticipated. I’ve had the opportunity to work in state government before I ran for the House of Delegates. I’ve worked in the Attorney General’s Office in Richmond for eight years so I knew a little bit about state government and kind of how it worked. So a lot of it was similar to what I expected.
The difference is really, during the legislative session, the pace. Our legislative sessions in Virginia are very short: 45 days in odd years, 60 days in even years. So it’s not a lot of time. Bills are moving very fast. For me, the biggest adjustment was adapting to the pace of things and how quickly things move and making sure that I was ready and had read up on the bills before they come to the floor.
What are the best and worst parts of your job?
The worst part of the job is definitely being away from my family during the week. Like I said, I’m a dad of three kids – two of them are in school – and, during the legislative session, I’ve got to be in Richmond during the week. I envy those legislators from the Richmond area who can go home at night and have dinner with their families because I’m three and a half hours away from home. That’s the toughest part of being a legislator: that separation from family.
But the best part is, again, really getting to represent my community and be a voice for my community. I really enjoy when I have the chance to visit with people from back home during the legislative session or after the session. I get to come back home and talk to folks about the things that we’ve done in the legislature from raising teacher and law enforcement pay to cutting taxes, passing legislation that helps people in a variety of different ways. Those are the great opportunities and the things that I really enjoy doing, being able to represent my community and make some positive change for this region.
What would you say to someone who is perhaps considering a run for public office, maybe even for Delegate?
If you’re interested in public office, the most important thing is to become a part of a community. Identify the community that you wanna be a part of and that you want to give back to. If you do that, if you get engaged in your community and you become involved in local issues, then those opportunities, they’ll come around.
I didn’t have any design on running for the House of Delegates. Again, this is home for me. It’s where my family’s been for almost 100 years. I came to work in the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and have been in this community for a while. Then redistricting happened. A new district gets drawn and the opportunity is created to step up and do a different job.
I decided to take that step at that time, but I wouldn’t have been in that position to run for this seat in the House of Delegates if I hadn’t made this my home and been a part of this community.
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