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For more on this story, visit vpm.org. Federal regulators rejected a proposal by the regional electric grid operator that sought to curb the impact of data centers.

Catherine Hafner from our partner station WHRO reports.

PJM Interconnection manages the supply and flow of power throughout the mid-Atlantic.

It's been trying to tackle growing demand from data centers that's driving up the cost of electricity.

Environmental advocates say the decision will force the public to keep paying for data centers' power supply and increase risks of blackouts.

Regulators did approve one of PJM's requests to create a database of data centers and other large energy customers.

That was WHRO's Catherine Hafner reporting.

A Henrico County Circuit Court judge took additional action in the lawsuit between striking union workers and management at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

We've seen increased funding come in from that industry, and that really has one of been the primary job m- drivers of growth regionally, across the state, and nationally over the last four years.

However, McNab told WHRO that growth may be short-lived as cuts to Medicaid and other federal programs go into effect in January.

It's once again time for the Richmond Folk Festival, but you don't need to worry if you can't make it down to Brown's Island in person.

VPM is a media sponsor of Folk Fest and will be broadcasting live from the festival every day.

In a statement, Superintendent Jason Kammer said it's a reflection of the, quote, "life-changing work happening in classrooms every day." And a rare bee has been rediscovered in Virginia after it was last seen more than a century ago.

Catherine Hafner with WHRO reports from Isle of Wight County.

State zoologist Ellison Orcutt sweeps a butterfly net across a field of flowers to collect samples.

He's especially looking for Protandrina abdominalis, a native bee that nests in sandy ground.

False alarm.

Whether it's gone for the season or just elusive today is one of many open questions.

That was Catherine Hafner reporting for WHRO News.

This has been the VPM Daily Newscast.

Credit to the prosecutors who refused to let this one slide.

down to Hampton Roads, where WHRO reported a hunger study that should stop every policymaker in Virginia cold.

The University of Chicago, working for the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, found 43% of households in southeastern Virginia and on the eastern shore are food insecure.

On the Virginia peninsula, it is 50%, half, the second highest rate in the state.

A new law aims to force payment, but it'll also create an avalanche of paperwork for the already strapped courts.

Ryan Murphy from our partner station WHRO has more.

The new law would see the Department of Motor Vehicles refuse to renew driver's licenses or vehicle registrations from those who ignore traffic camera fines.

To do that, the state's general district courts would need to get every citation to the DMV.

Last year, police agencies across the Commonwealth issued more than 950,000 citations just in school and work zones.

A third of those never got paid, and cities and counties almost never go after the offenders because the courts can't handle even a fraction of the thousands of cases in each locality.

That was WHRO's Ryan Murphy.

Freelance reporter Jim Morrison also contributed to the report.

The British took over NATO in Norfolk for the first time today in a ceremony on board the carrier USS Nimitz.

Steve Walsh of member station WHRO reports the moment was both symbolic and practical.

British General Nick Perry officially became the first non-American to run the only operational command in North America.

The change comes as Europeans have begun to take a larger day-to-day leadership role as the alliance continues to reshuffle during this second Trump administration.

NATO Joint Forces Command Norfolk is in charge of the High North in the Atlantic.

Perry says he welcomes the security agreement between the U.S. and Denmark over Greenland, which was signed this week.

That's Brian Walsh from WHRO reporting.

U.S. stock indexes ended roughly back where they started today.