Virginia News Today – October 29, 2026

Good morning, Virginia. Election Day is five days away, gas prices eased a little this week, and open enrollment for health insurance starts Sunday. Here is what neighbors across the state need to know today.

VIRGINIA TOP STORIES

1. Early voting already tops all of 2022

Virginians have already cast more early ballots than they did in the entire 2022 midterm election. The Virginia Public Access Project counted 1,256,823 early ballots as of Tuesday, October 28. The full 2022 early total was 976,558. That is about 29% more, with days of early voting still left. Loudoun, Arlington, Fauquier, and Fairfax counties have already passed their 2022 early totals. Early voting runs through Saturday, October 31. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Early totals count participation, not results — they do not tell us who will win.

2. Gas prices dip a little statewide

Drivers got a small break this week. The statewide average for regular gas fell to $4.04 a gallon, down two cents from last week, according to AAA data reported this week. The national average is $4.28. Around Virginia, Danville averaged $3.95 and Harrisonburg $3.92 as of October 26. Diesel is still high, averaging about $6.25 statewide. If you are filling up before the weekend, it pays to compare stations — prices still vary a lot town to town.

3. Health insurance savings open Sunday — check if you qualify

Virginia’s new Premium Savings Program could help up to 200,000 people save on health insurance bought through Virginia’s Insurance Marketplace. The state put $150 million into the program. Officials say some people will see premiums drop by more than 90%, and more than 50,000 could qualify for a $0 monthly premium. Open enrollment runs November 1, 2026 through January 29, 2027. If you dropped coverage this year because the price jumped, this is the time to look again. No extra form is needed for the state savings — they show up when you shop for a plan.

4. Virginia’s fight over ICE cooperation heats up

Two developments this week pulled Virginia into the national debate over immigration enforcement. First, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit heard arguments Tuesday over Virginia’s law that would require federal law enforcement officers to show their faces and identify themselves during immigration enforcement. A lawyer for Virginia faced tough questions, and the court sounded open to lifting an order that has blocked the law. Second, a new House Judiciary Committee staff report alleges Fairfax County’s Sheriff’s Office ignored at least 1,670 ICE detainer requests between 2023 and 2025. Fairfax’s policy requires a judicial warrant instead of holding someone on a detainer alone. Advocates with the Legal Aid Justice Center also released a new resource this week tracking 32 state and local government contracts with ICE across Virginia, and they say those agreements should end. What happens next will matter for immigrant families, local jails, and police departments across the state. We will keep following the court case and any local policy changes.

5. Loudoun power line fight goes to Virginia’s top court

The fight over Dominion Energy’s 6.5-mile Golden to Mars transmission line in eastern Loudoun County is now headed to the Supreme Court of Virginia. The Loudoun County School Board and the Loudoun Valley Estates Homeowners Association filed appeals this week. They argue Dominion did not prove the line is needed on this route and did not show it would avoid harm to people living along it. The route runs through neighborhoods, across school properties, along paths children walk to school, and beside a popular trail. The State Corporation Commission had approved overhead lines and rejected burying them. Dominion says the line is needed for reliable service as Northern Virginia’s demand for electricity keeps growing.

Quick hits from Northern Virginia

Alexandria will switch off all 61 of its Flock license plate reader cameras by Friday, October 30, and take them down by December, after months of resident complaints about privacy. Police said the cameras led to 72 felony and 65 misdemeanor charges in the past year. Manassas Park schools reopened Tuesday after all schools closed Monday when a loaded handgun was found in a middle school parking lot; police arrested a high school art teacher. In Fairfax, the new Fairfax Crest development opened Monday with 279 affordable homes on the grounds of the county Government Center.

VIRGINIANS / GENTE DE VIRGINIA

Neighbors feed students, 38,000 pounds at a time

Food for Neighbors marked its 10th anniversary the way it always does: volunteers picked up red bags of food left on doorsteps across Northern Virginia. The October 24 collection brought in more than 38,000 pounds for food pantries at 60 area middle and high schools. That pushed the nonprofit’s lifetime total past 850,000 pounds. Founder Karen Joseph started it after learning students at her son’s school were taking snacks from a teacher’s desk because they were hungry at school. Ten years later, thousands of neighbors still show up to close that gap.

Richmond honors a 105-year-old Buffalo Soldier

In Richmond on Wednesday, October 28, family, friends, and riders from the Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers Motorcycle Club gathered on the front stoop of Matthew E. Otey Sr. to honor him. Otey, 105, is a U.S. Army Technical Sergeant and World War II veteran, one of the last surviving Buffalo Soldiers. He still lives on his own and cooks his own meals. His nephew said it plainly: he is amazed every time he sees his uncle keep going. Otey’s own words that day: “Once a soldier, always a soldier!” (This story is single-sourced; it was reported by one outlet covering the club’s visit.)

REST OF VIRGINIA / EL RESTO DE VIRGINIA

Richmond schools go back to paper after a cyberattack

Richmond Public Schools kept all 53 campuses open this week even as a ransomware attack knocked out networks and left ransom notes on teacher laptops. Teachers and students are using paper copies for classwork while the district works through the outage. The district has not named the attackers or said whether personal records were taken. The governor separately ordered a statewide cyber-resilience plan on October 23, two days after the Richmond outage began.

Virginia Beach turns wastewater into gas for 5,000 homes

A new $30 million project in Virginia Beach will capture gas produced during wastewater treatment and turn it into pipeline-ready renewable natural gas. The Hampton Roads Sanitation District and Virginia Natural Gas say the plant will power about 5,000 homes a year and cut down on gas flared at the treatment plant. The project is expected to add about $0.36 a month to the average residential customer bill, create 268 construction jobs and 18 permanent jobs, and start running in early 2028.

Richmond nonprofit dresses veterans for the job hunt — and wins $10,000

Sue Farrell started Boots to Suits in Richmond in 2014 in memory of her late husband, a Navy submarine commander. Twelve years later, the nonprofit has helped thousands of veterans dress for civilian job interviews with donated suits and professional clothes. This week the National Association of Realtors named Farrell one of five Good Neighbor Award winners nationwide. The award comes with a $10,000 grant, which she says will buy suits in sizes donations do not cover.

WORLD TENSIONS / TENSIONES MUNDIALES

The Iran war is in a tense pause, and the next steps are still unclear. Mediators from Qatar presented a new draft deal this week, but a senior Iranian official called the ideas unacceptable and said Iran will not bend on the nuclear issue. U.S. officials have warned allies to prepare for possible renewed strikes against Iran after next week’s U.S. elections, and for possible Iranian retaliation, according to diplomats cited by the Associated Press. President Trump denied reports that he directed Vice President JD Vance to restart peace talks with Iran. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it is on standby for a return to war. For Virginia, the link is direct: war worries helped push fuel prices up this year, and military families in Hampton Roads and around Quantico watch every shift in this conflict closely.

AROUND THE WORLD / POR EL MUNDO

• Israel: Exit polls in Israel’s election suggest no clear winner, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition short of a clear path to govern.
• Latin America: Pope Leo XIV will travel to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from November 6 to 17, after the Vatican confirmed the trip following a post-surgery checkup.
• Ukraine: Russia and Ukraine began a localized ceasefire in a southern Ukrainian city to allow a humanitarian mission, even as the wider war goes on.
• Africa: A Sudanese army drone strike on a busy market in Nyala, South Darfur, killed more than 100 people, according to a Sudanese rights group.

Sources / Fuentes: FOX 5 DC; WHRO; Virginia Public Access Project; WBTM; Stacker/AAA; Office of the Governor of Virginia; Bloomberg Law via Potomac Local News; House Judiciary Committee staff report via Fox News; Legal Aid Justice Center; ALXnow; Washington Examiner; FFXnow; Richmond BizSense; Cybernews; Energy Transition Insider; American Star News; Associated Press via The Hindu BusinessLine; Reuters via BusinessWorld and AnewZ; Al Jazeera.