Good morning, Virginia. Here is what your neighbors are talking about today, Wednesday, October 14, 2026.
VIRGINIA TOP STORIES
Gas is creeping back up across Virginia — and Republicans want a 90-day break on fuel taxes. AAA puts Virginia’s regular average at $4.16 a gallon this week, up four cents from $4.12 a week ago, while the national average slipped a penny to $4.35. Diesel in Virginia averaged $6.24 a gallon, down about 12 cents but still far above last year’s levels — it hit a record $6.39 on September 22. Now House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, Del. Wendell Walker of Lynchburg, and Del. Scott Wyatt of Mechanicsville are asking Gov. Abigail Spanberger to call a special session to suspend the state gas and diesel taxes for 90 days. Virginia taxes gasoline at 32.6 cents a gallon and diesel at 33.6 cents. If the full cut reached the pump, 15 gallons of regular would cost $4.89 less. Wyatt puts the 90-day cost at about $410 million and says state revenues running ahead of projections could cover it. A Spanberger spokesman says the governor is assessing all options and blames the price spike on President Trump’s war with Iran.
Nearly 2,000 jobs are headed to Caroline County. Gov. Spanberger announced Tuesday that Tysons-based engineering firm M.C. Dean plans to invest $412.5 million to expand its Modular Mission Critical manufacturing campus. Two new buildings are planned: a 442,000-square-foot plant on the existing main campus and a 1.5 million-square-foot plant on the company’s 600-acre north campus. When done, the campus would total more than 3.6 million square feet on 1,300 acres by 2030 — the largest modular manufacturing campus in the country — and create a projected 1,950 jobs. The state put up to $45 million on the table through the Major Employment and Investment Project Approval Commission, pending approval by the legislature. The expansion still has to go through Caroline County’s special-exception permit process, including two public hearings. The company also plans a Power Systems Training Center at Caroline High School starting in 2027.
Early voting is running at nearly double the 2022 pace. As of October 11, Virginia recorded nearly twice as many early ballots as it had at the same point in the 2022 midterm cycle, with early voting surging in Northern Virginia. In Fairfax County, early voting jumped 128% over the same period in 2022, from about 27,000 ballots to more than 62,000. Statewide, the count hit 183,217 early ballots against 75,819 at the same point four years ago. Gov. Spanberger says roughly 450,000 Virginians have voted early so far, compared with a little over 200,000 at this point in 2022. In-person early voting began September 18 and runs through 5 p.m. on October 31. October 23 is the deadline to register and still cast a regular ballot. Election Day is November 3. Meanwhile, college students are increasingly taking advantage of same-day registration — walk in, register, and vote in one trip, a ballot counted as provisional until the registration is confirmed.
A federal judge ruled Virginia can keep in-state tuition for undocumented students. Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Payne on Monday denied the Justice Department’s motion, granted Virginia’s, and dismissed the case with prejudice. The DOJ sued Virginia in December, arguing the state’s Dream Act conflicts with a 1996 federal law that bars postsecondary benefits based on residency for people not lawfully in the country. Payne concluded the tuition benefit comes from attending high school in Virginia for at least two years and filing state tax returns — not from residency itself — and that nonresidents can qualify under the same rules. About 1,200 students qualified for in-state tuition through these provisions in the 2025-26 school year. The DOJ has appealed one of the related rulings, and other cases are still moving forward.
VIRGINIANS / GENTE DE VIRGINIA
Waynesboro’s winter shelter still needs two more host sites — and the cold is coming. The Waynesboro Area Refuge Ministry, WARM, says only 16 of the 18 host sites it needs are secured for the 18-week season that runs November 29 through March 29. Zoning rules in Staunton and Waynesboro cap how many beds each site can set up, so WARM also needs overflow sites for four weeks. The ministry shelters unhoused adults at participating churches, and last winter it served 198 people across 4,308 stays and provided nearly 13,000 meals. Any organization in the Staunton-Waynesboro-Augusta area willing to host or serve as an overflow site can call 540-324-8166. This item is single-sourced (Staunton News Leader) — we could not find a second outlet confirming the latest call for sites.
REST OF VIRGINIA / EL RESTO DE VIRGINIA
After 128 years, Haynes Furniture is closing for good. The family-owned Virginia chain and its sister brand, The Dump Luxe Furniture Outlets, started going-out-of-business liquidation sales on October 8 with discounts of 40 to 80 percent off furniture, mattresses, and rugs — deeper markdowns are expected as the inventory clears. The company traces back to 1898, with its first stores on Grace Street in Richmond and Main Street in Norfolk. Closing Virginia locations include Haynes stores in Newport News, Richmond’s Hull Street Road, Henrico’s West Broad Street, and Virginia Beach, plus The Dump outlets in Norfolk and Richmond. Executive chairman E.J. Strelitz said family leadership is retiring and called it a bittersweet ending. Liquidation firm SB360 Capital Partners is handling the sales. The company has not announced a final day of operations yet.
Heads up, Hampton Roads: the eastbound HRBT closes this weekend. The I-64 Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel toward Norfolk shuts down fully from 9 p.m. Friday, October 16, through 5 a.m. Monday, October 19, for repaving. The westbound weekends finished early and reopened ahead of schedule. During the eastbound closure, take the signed detour over the I-664 Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, or consider the Route 17 James River Bridge or the free Jamestown-Scotland Ferry. A second eastbound weekend (October 30–November 2) may be used if the contractor needs more time, with backup dates in November. Check VDOT’s 511Virginia site or app before you go — GPS apps may not show the closure.
That “space jellyfish” in the sky Tuesday morning was a SpaceX rocket. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 6:33 a.m. carrying NASA’s CRS-35 mission: an uncrewed Dragon capsule loaded with more than 6,300 pounds of supplies and science equipment for the International Space Station, including the final pair of station roll-out solar arrays. Because the launch happened before sunrise, sunlight caught the exhaust plume high above the dark ground and spread it into a glowing, jellyfish-shaped cloud — visible from Richmond to the Shenandoah Valley to the D.C. region. A Staunton skywatcher pulled over by the stockyards to photograph it. The Dragon is expected to dock with the station on Thursday.
WORLD TENSIONS / TENSIONES MUNDIALES
Real movement in the Iran conflict over the last two days. Reuters reported Wednesday that two senior Iranian officials say Tehran is shifting tactics to step up attacks on shipping ahead of the U.S. vote: at least five incidents in the past 48 hours around the Strait of Hormuz — drone strikes on tankers and commercial ships, per the British navy’s UKMTO — and the campaign is expanding beyond the strait into the Gulf of Oman and waters off Qatar and the UAE. After U.S. strikes destroyed much of Iran’s radar, the IRGC is reportedly using small unarmed boats as spotters; U.S. forces confronted and destroyed one such dhow last week. One Iranian official said the goal is to frustrate U.S. efforts to bring down global oil prices. The Wall Street Journal reports Iran is also fortifying nuclear sites and border areas, rallying its people for a return to fighting, and threatening a wider response — possible ground incursions into neighboring countries, strikes on the UAE, and attacks on regional cables, data centers, and AI facilities. At a campaign rally Tuesday, President Trump warned Tehran to “wait till you see what we do to Iran” and told reporters he will “make a decision on Iran very soon.” U.S. Central Command rejected Iran’s claims of control over the strait.
What it means for Virginia: this is the backdrop behind the prices at your pump — Brent crude is holding around $105 a barrel. And in Hampton Roads, military families with loved ones deployed are watching every development.
AROUND THE WORLD / POR EL MUNDO
Latin America: In Brazil, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro reversed course Tuesday and backed a constitutional amendment to cut the workweek from 44 to 40 hours — effectively ending the six-day workweek still common in retail.
Europe: Ukraine took a step forward in its bid to join the European Union, opening talks on internal market and competitiveness standards after Hungary dropped its objections.
Africa: Eritrean forces were seen entering towns in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, raising fears that the long-simmering conflict could flare up again.
Vatican: The Vatican said doctors found cancer in Pope Leo and removed a lobe of his lung.
Sources / Fuentes
Gas prices and tax push: WBTM 102.5 (AAA data, Oct. 12, 2026); The Center Square via Warren County VA (Oct. 7, 2026); Potomac Local (Oct. 8, 2026, citing WTOP). M.C. Dean expansion: Virginia Business (Oct. 13, 2026); Fredericksburg Free Press (Oct. 13, 2026). Early voting: FFXnow (Oct. 14, 2026, citing WUSA9); Potomac Local (Oct. 5, 2026, citing The Center Square); WHRO (Oct. 14, 2026). In-state tuition ruling: Higher Ed Dive (Oct. 8, 2026); Campus Reform (Oct. 13, 2026). WARM winter shelter: Staunton News Leader (Oct. 14, 2026) — single-sourced. Haynes Furniture closing: Home News Now (Oct. 8, 2026); TheStreet (Oct. 10, 2026). HRBT closures: Virginia Department of Transportation (updated Oct. 13, 2026). SpaceX launch: Gray News (Oct. 13, 2026); Fox 5 DC (Oct. 13, 2026); Staunton News Leader (Oct. 13, 2026). Iran conflict: Reuters (Oct. 14, 2026); The Wall Street Journal (Oct. 13, 2026); The Times of India live updates (Oct. 14, 2026). International briefs: Reuters (Brazil, Ukraine); The Associated Press (Ethiopia, Vatican).
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