Good morning, Virginia. Today is a weekend early-voting day — polls for early voting are open Saturday, October 24, and again Sunday, October 25, ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, November 3. The regular voter registration deadline passed Friday, October 23, but same-day registration is available in person at early voting sites and on Election Day. Here is what else neighbors across the state are talking about today.
VIRGINIA TOP STORIES
1. Gas in Virginia: $4.06 a gallon, still well above last year
Virginia drivers are paying $4.06 a gallon for regular gas today, October 24, according to AAA. That is below the national average of $4.30, and down from $4.24 a month ago. It is still a long way above the $2.88 Virginians paid a year ago. Diesel sits at $6.27 a gallon in Virginia. For a 14-gallon tank, a regular fill-up runs about $57 at today’s state average.
2. Amazon drops its Loudoun data center plan — homes and a community arts center instead
Amazon has walked away from building four data centers on the former George Washington University campus in Ashburn, Loudoun County, after pushback from residents and the county. The 122-acre site will instead go toward mixed-use and residential development, including homes for working families. Amazon will donate 25 acres to Loudoun County for a community arts center and indoor sports facility, and give $5 million to the county housing fund. Loudoun Board Chair Phyllis J. Randall welcomed the deal, saying the county and Amazon chose dialogue over a court fight.
3. Northern Virginia home sales fell in September — but the market is still tight
Closed home sales in Northern Virginia totaled 1,250 in September, down 7.5% from September 2025, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors. Nationally, closed sales fell 2.2%. Local listings grew fast, mostly condos and townhomes, yet Northern Virginia still has less supply relative to sales than the national market, and local prices rose faster than the national pace.
4. Fairfax County and ICE: House report counts 1,670 declined detainers
A House Judiciary Committee interim staff report released October 20 says the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office declined at least 1,670 immigration detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement between 2023 and 2025. The report also criticizes Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s charging decisions. Fairfax County’s stated policy is that it does not hold people on an ICE detainer alone without a judicial warrant, and Virginia law allows a sheriff to transfer custody to ICE up to five days before release. The report is a Republican staff report, and its claims about motives are allegations in that report, not court findings. For immigrant families in Northern Virginia, the practical point is this: county jail policy and federal enforcement remain in open conflict, and that fight is playing out in Congress, not just in court.
5. State Sen. Louise Lucas indicted on cannabis, money-laundering charges
Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment Thursday against Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas, 82, of Portsmouth, and six others, including two of her daughters and her grandson. Prosecutors allege a five-year enterprise that distributed at least 100 kilograms of marijuana and laundered proceeds, worth about $4.5 million, and used her post as Senate Finance chair to shield it. Lucas surrendered Thursday in Norfolk and denies wrongdoing, saying she will not back down. An indictment is an allegation, not a conviction, and Lucas is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The case lands less than two weeks before the November 3 election, though state senators are not on the ballot this year.
VIRGINIANS / GENTE DE VIRGINIA
6. Loudoun seniors get a clearer path to George Mason
Every Loudoun County public school senior with a 3.25 GPA by the end of junior year will now get direct admission consideration at George Mason University in Fairfax County, under an expanded agreement. Families will hear sooner, without a full traditional application, which counselors say should ease stress over financial aid and housing plans. Scholarship rules and program requirements do not change. (Single-sourced: All Virginia News.)
7. Virginia honors Norfolk soldier Maj. Bianca C. Wilkerson
Gov. Abigail Spanberger ordered Virginia flags to half-staff on Thursday, October 22, for U.S. Army Maj. Bianca C. Wilkerson of Norfolk, who died September 18 in Doha, Qatar, in a non-combat incident while supporting military operations. Wilkerson, 37, graduated from Maury High School in Norfolk and Virginia Commonwealth University, served with the 1st Armored Division and the 25th Infantry Division, and was a company commander, musician, marathon runner, and volunteer. The state order called her service selfless and offered condolences to her family.
REST OF VIRGINIA / EL RESTO DE VIRGINIA
8. Richmond area: Eli Lilly breaks ground on a $5 billion plant, 650 jobs
Eli Lilly broke ground this week in Goochland County, just west of Richmond, on a $5 billion plant to make next-generation cancer medicines. The site will create 650 high-wage jobs — engineers, scientists, lab techs, and operations staff — plus about 1,800 construction jobs. Hiring is already underway, a training center is targeted for 2028, and production is planned for 2030.
9. Hampton Roads: 8,000-plus new and improved beds for sailors
The Navy and Hunt Military Communities closed a $1.7 billion deal, Homeport Hampton Roads Phase II, to build about 5,470 new beds and improve or integrate about 2,600 existing beds for unaccompanied sailors at Naval Station Norfolk, Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Naval Air Station Oceana, and downtown Newport News. With Phase I, the project will total about 11,760 beds. The Navy says the private-capital approach will save taxpayers more than $325 million.
10. Richmond pushes a plan to help longtime homeowners stay put
Richmond city leaders made a new homeowner relief program their top ask for the 2027 General Assembly session. The Longterm Owner Occupancy Program, or LOOP, would let the city help longtime homeowners squeezed by rising property values and tax bills. Councilmember Ellen Robertson warned the city is losing residents who cannot afford climbing values. The program still needs state lawmakers to authorize it. (Single-sourced: WTVR reporting via The Cooldown.)
WORLD TENSIONS / TENSIONES MUNDIALES
11. Iran: diplomacy talk, Hormuz warnings, and what it means for Virginia
Diplomats meeting in Istanbul on Friday warned that a renewed attack on Iran would widen the war, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan saying diplomacy is the only way out. President Donald Trump has announced a naval mission, Project Freedom, to help ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blockaded since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began February 28. Iran’s military warned Monday that foreign armed forces approaching the strait would be attacked. A U.S. intelligence memo reported this week also says Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel abroad. Reports differ on recent tanker incidents near the strait, and oil prices remain high, with Brent crude above $100 a barrel in recent reporting. For Virginia, the link is direct: high crude keeps diesel near $6.27 and gas above $4, and Hampton Roads and Quantico military families watch every escalation closely.
AROUND THE WORLD / POR EL MUNDO
- Brazil: Brazilians vote Sunday in a presidential runoff, with former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva trailing Flávio Bolsonaro after a first round in which more than one in five voters stayed home.
- Climate: The United Nations warns a powerful Super El Niño could bring extreme heat, drought, and floods across Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, as Super Typhoon Champi batters Taiwan.
- Taiwan: Two earthquakes, magnitudes 5.0 and 4.8, rattled eastern Taiwan, according to Focus Taiwan.
- Scotland: Rail lines face closures as Scotland braces for Storm Boelo, according to local reporting.
SOURCES / FUENTES
AAA Virginia gas prices, gasprices.aaa.com, October 24, 2026; The Real Deal and Bisnow reporting on Amazon/Loudoun County, October 23, 2026, and Washington Post reporting via Tom’s Hardware; Northern Virginia Association of Realtors via PR Newswire/Morningstar, October 23, 2026; House Judiciary Committee interim staff report, October 20, 2026, via Fox News and The Digital Free Press; Reuters, U.S. Department of Justice, and CNN on the Lucas indictment, October 22, 2026; All Virginia News on Loudoun–George Mason direct admission; Virginia Governor’s flag order on Maj. Wilkerson via Flags Express and The Sun; Eli Lilly via PR Newswire and BioBuzz; Hunt Military Communities via BusinessWire, October 23, 2026; WTVR via The Cooldown on Richmond LOOP; Reuters on the Istanbul Iran meeting, October 23, 2026, Fox News/Axios on the U.S. intelligence memo, and Al Jazeera on the Hormuz mission; Wall Street Journal on Brazil, United Nations/World Meteorological Organization via UNILAD on El Niño, Focus Taiwan via EIN Presswire, and Times & Star via EIN Presswire on Storm Boelo. Items marked single-sourced above rely on one outlet; all other stories were cross-checked against at least two sources.
Leave a Reply