Good morning, Virginia. It is Monday, October 26, and we are one week out from Election Day on Tuesday, November 3. Early voting runs through Saturday, October 31, so check your local registrar for today’s hours. Here is what neighbors across the state are talking about today.
VIRGINIA TOP STORIES
1. Gas in Virginia: $4.04 a gallon today, still far above last year
Virginia drivers are paying $4.04 a gallon for regular gas today, according to AAA figures dated October 26. That is below the national average of $4.29, and down from $4.24 a month ago. It is still far above the $2.87 Virginians paid a year ago. Diesel sits at $6.26 a gallon in Virginia, close to its record high. For a 14-gallon tank, a regular fill-up runs about $57 at today’s state average.
2. Diesel relief for farmers runs through December 31 — but the tax still has to be paid
Governor Abigail Spanberger’s Executive Directive 5, issued October 16, lets farmers, loggers, and haulers use dyed diesel in on-road vehicles through December 31. Dyed diesel is normally sold for off-road equipment, and the state tax on road fuel had kept it off highways. Under the directive, the state Motor Vehicles department waives certain civil penalties for users who first pay the backup tax owed on road use. The department was told to publish the payment process within five business days, with details due by October 23. The relief does not make the fuel tax-free. Anyone planning to use it should check the department’s published process first, so the tax and paperwork are handled before the fuel goes in a road truck.
3. Deck collapse at a William & Mary homecoming party hurt 28 people
A back deck collapsed at an off-campus house in Williamsburg on Friday night, October 23, during a homecoming party. The City of Williamsburg says the collapse was reported around 10:07 p.m. on the 200 block of Matoaka Court. Emergency crews took 13 people to hospitals, and 15 more went on their own. City officials say none of the injuries were life-threatening. William & Mary says students were among those hurt, and its student-affairs team is helping them recover. The city’s codes division is inspecting the site. Neighbors told local station WAVY that classmates pitched in after the collapse, driving people home and checking on each other.
4. Northern Virginia leaders push back on merging four bus systems
Local leaders in Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax County, and Fairfax City are telling the state they do not want their four bus systems merged into one. The systems in the study are Alexandria’s DASH, Arlington Transit, Fairfax Connector, and Fairfax City’s CUE. At an October 21 roundtable run by the state Department of Rail and Public Transportation, leaders said they want better coordination, not a merger. A state-commissioned study found a merger would bring few service gains and could cost anywhere from slightly less to 9% more to run than keeping the systems separate. The department reports to the General Assembly in December. For riders, nothing changes yet — this is still a study, and local service keeps running as-is.
5. Loudoun expands direct admission to George Mason to every qualifying senior
Loudoun County Public Schools is expanding its direct-admission program with George Mason University so every senior with a 3.25 grade-point average or higher by the end of junior year gets an offer. The change covers the class of 2027 and builds on a pilot at Dominion, Park View, and Potomac Falls high schools. In the pilot, more than 550 students qualified and nearly 350 applied, and the schools saw a 35% rise in students planning to enroll at Mason. The offer skips the usual application, with no fee, essay, or recommendation letters needed, though honors and some majors still ask for more. It does not change scholarship rules, and students still have to finish high school to keep the offer.
VIRGINIANS / GENTE DE VIRGINIA
6. A Hampton student went looking for shark teeth — and found a spear point thousands of years old
Brooklyn Rolph, a biology major from Hampton at Mary Baldwin University, found a stone spear point about 6 inches long on September 21, during a field trip to Virginia’s Eastern Shore. She was looking for shark teeth on a barrier island when she spotted the point at the edge of an inlet, just as the tide was coming in. State archaeologists identified it as a Lehigh/Koens-Crispin point, 3,000 to 4,500 years old. The point belongs to the state, since the island is a natural area preserve, and it now sits with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources for study. Rolph told her university she sprinted to her professor the moment she picked it up.
7. Staunton talks solar savings and new housing laws tonight
The Staunton Housing Commission opens a quarterly virtual series tonight, Monday, October 26, at 5:30 p.m. The first session covers a community solar program with Dominion Energy that can cut utility bills for eligible lower-income residents, with no panels needed at home. It also covers housing legislation passed by the General Assembly in its 2026 session. Sessions are recorded and posted on the city’s website. To join tonight, contact Staunton housing planner Rebecca Joyce at the city.
REST OF VIRGINIA / EL RESTO DE VIRGINIA
8. Richmond area: Lilly breaks ground, with 650 new jobs and 1,800 construction jobs
Drugmaker Lilly broke ground in the Richmond area on a new manufacturing site for next-generation cancer medicines. The company says the plant will create 650 high-wage jobs — engineers, scientists, operations staff, and lab technicians — plus about 1,800 construction jobs while it is built. Lilly also committed $40 million to a statewide training network for pharmaceutical manufacturing, with a hands-on training center planned in Goochland County for 2028. Hiring is already open in Richmond.
9. Hampton Roads: $1.7 billion to house sailors ashore
The Navy and Hunt Military Communities have closed the second phase of the Homeport Hampton Roads housing program, a $1.7 billion deal that will build about 5,470 new beds and improve about 2,600 existing beds for unaccompanied sailors. The beds sit at Naval Station Norfolk, Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Naval Air Station Oceana, and in downtown Newport News. With the first phase, the full program will cover about 11,760 beds. The Navy says the deal saves taxpayers more than $325 million compared with paying up front, and it is part of a push to make sure no sailor has to live aboard ship when a bed ashore is available.
WORLD TENSIONS / TENSIONES MUNDIALES
10. Iran: a decision is near, but no strike today
President Donald Trump said Sunday it is “getting to be decision time” on Iran: make a deal or resume attacks. He also told reporters there will be no strike today, Monday, October 26. Iranian officials confirmed October 25 that indirect messages with the United States are still moving through intermediaries, though formal talks remain stalled. A third U.S. aircraft carrier group is heading toward the Persian Gulf, and Saudi defenses intercepted a Houthi missile aimed at Riyadh. For Virginia, the link stays close to home: diesel is at $6.26 a gallon, fuel costs feed into grocery and delivery prices, and military families in Hampton Roads and around Quantico watch every step closely.
AROUND THE WORLD / POR EL MUNDO
- Brazil: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a historic fourth term as president in Sunday’s runoff, beating Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro has refused to concede and says he will seek an annulment.
- Serbia: A student-led opposition movement won parliamentary elections, and longtime leader Aleksandar Vučić conceded defeat after years in power. (Single-sourced, see Sources.)
- Venezuela: Opposition leader María Corina Machado announced her return after months in exile. (Single-sourced, see Sources.)
- Ukraine: Ukrainian and Russian forces kept exchanging strikes ahead of possible diplomatic talks. (Single-sourced, see Sources.)
SOURCES / FUENTES
AAA Virginia gas prices, gasprices.aaa.com, data dated October 26, 2026, and USA Today List Wire state gas prices, October 20, 2026; Governor of Virginia Executive Directive 5 release, October 16, 2026, Forvis Mazars diesel-relief summary, October 2026, and American Farm Publications, October 23, 2026, on dyed diesel; People, New York Post / Fox News, and Potomac Local, October 25-26, 2026, and the City of Williamsburg statement on the deck collapse; FFXnow, ALXnow, and Alexandria Brief, October 22-23, 2026, on the bus-system study; All Virginia News and George Mason University on the Loudoun direct-admission expansion; Mary Baldwin University, October 22, 2026, and Delmarva Now, October 26, 2026, on the spear-point find; Staunton News Leader, October 26, 2026, on the housing series; Morningstar / Business Wire on the Lilly groundbreaking, October 22, 2026; Business Wire / Morningstar on Homeport Hampton Roads Phase II, October 23, 2026; Bloomberg via Moneyweb, October 26, 2026, and Associated Press via WMAL, October 26, 2026, on Iran; Reuters and USA Today, October 25-26, 2026, on Brazil. The Serbia, Venezuela, and Ukraine briefs are single-sourced to the Open Chronicle global roundup, October 26, 2026. All other stories above were cross-checked against at least two sources except where a claim is explicitly attributed to one outlet.
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