Sandy Hausman

Students at Virginia Tech, VCU and the University of Mary Washington staged protests earlier this week, prompting the arrest of more than 100 people charged with trespassing. The University of Virginia has, so far, taken a different tack as Sandy Hausman reports.

The Virginia Department of Corrections recently launched a tip line where people could call to report suspected delivery or sale of contraband behind bars. In making the announcement, Department Director Chad Dotson said the safety of employees and inmates was his top priority.But advocates say there’s another drug problem in prisons— a failure to provide prescription drugs inmates need.

Lawmakers began meeting in Richmond this week to craft a new budget proposal after Governor Glenn Youngkin made major changes to the original spending plan with 233 amendments and vetoes.

The EPA now requires water treatment plants to test for a group of contaminants known as "forever chemicals." Used in products like non-stick coatings and rain wear, these substances are water, grease and stain resistant, but they’re also hazardous to human health – linked to liver damage, cancer and birth defects. Getting them out of our water will be the next great challenge. A lab here in Virginia is working on technology to achieve that goal.

The University of Virginia today opened a new building that will house the nation’s first School of Data Science, bankrolled by business school graduate Jafffray Woodriff.

For some people, retirement means a chance to travel the world, while others prefer to stay home and play pickleball or golf. For Robert Hale, however, it’s been a very different experience. He crisscrosses the Commonwealth each week, sometimes driving more than a thousand miles to visit and counsel incarcerated people.

Charlottesville will start its celebration of wine week Friday with a variety of events planned. About 20% of Virginia’s wine is produced in and around the city where Thomas Jefferson dreamed of launching an industry. And that dream appears to be coming true.

Experts have raised alarms about the potential of artificial intelligence to cause problems for humanity, but in the field of medicine it’s already making a positive difference. At the University of Virginia, for example, computer scientists are experimenting with a way to help caregivers do a difficult and frustrating job – caring for people with Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia.

When Foxfield hosts its celebrated steeplechase in Charlottesville this month, a new race is planned. It’s named for a legendary horse, offers a prize of $50,000 and will honor the animal’s owner who turns 94 this year.

The University of Virginia hosts its annual Blue-White game this weekend – a free, exhibition contest marking the end of spring training. Football is, of course, a big deal at many schools, and one professor at UVA has built an entire course around a TV series about that subject.