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It might come as a surprise in the 21st century – after man has walked on the moon and sent rovers to Mars – that truck brakes actually fail – but on occasion they do. Engineers have designed special ramps at the base of steep hills so drivers can avoid the disastrous consequences of a runaway rig. This spring Virginia unveiled one-of-a-kind for the Commonwealth. Sandy Hausman reports on how it work.
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A new study by the non-profit Climate Central shows weather-related power outages are on the rise, and our region – the southeast – had the largest number of major power outages – taking a toll on at least 50,000 customers at a time. Sandy Hausman reports on changes we need to make to protect against increasingly common storms. -
Following the deaths of two teenagers last fall in Blacksburg, the Montgomery County School Board voted to begin a new gun safety initiative. The effort is based on a national program, called Be SMART, focuses on educating students about gun safety, and urging parents to secure their guns. -
Protests roiled college campuses this past week, and stirred up Virginia politicians too.Jeff Schapiro, political columnist at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Michael Pope recap the week in politics and state government. -
A new law signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin that allows for utilities to make customers pay for the costs of developing nuclear power facilities. -
Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg says housing issues can get addressed in one of three ways in Virginia: by regulation, zoning or in the budget. -
People who have disabilities often don’t get to tell engineers what they wish they could change about their wheelchairs, or other adaptive technologies.A group of engineering and neuroscience students at Virginia Tech have spent the past semester doing something not many in their field do, learning from people with brain injuries. -
Students at Virginia Tech, VCU and the University of Mary Washington staged protests earlier this week, prompting the arrest of more than 100 people charged with trespassing. The University of Virginia has, so far, taken a different tack. -
The Montgomery County School board released a public statement Wednesday, describing some of the results from an investigation into the deaths of two teenage students. The investigation found issues within the school division’s handling of events leading up to the deaths. -
Virginia's 45-day period of early voting is the longest in the nation. -
Two years in, SOL test scores are down and teacher vacancies are up, but Gov. Glenn Youngkin will leave office with majorities on powerful boards leading the Commonwealth's public education systems.
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