Rabu, 23 September 2026

Early Voting Triples, USS Stout Deploys, and Unemployment Declines

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1800, William Holmes McGuffey was born. His McGuffey Readers taught generations of American children to read, and he spent his last 28 years as a University of Virginia professor in Charlottesville, where he’s buried.

Virginians are voting early at triple the pace they did by this time during the 2022 midterm cycle. Learn more in Top Stories.

What's your go-to headache cure? We ran the 10 most popular home remedies for headaches past neurologists, and the verdicts are all over the map. One popular trick can actually make the pain worse, and the remedy with the strongest scientific evidence might not be in your medicine cabinet at all. See if your remedy made the list, and what the experts had to say about it. Ayla has the details on today's episode of The Flyover Podcast. Tune in here!

Today’s sponsor, Doroni, is developing the H1-X personal flying vehicle with safety-focused technology and intuitive, AI-assisted controls, and is offering investors the opportunity to get in at $3.30 per share.

Virginia Early Voting Triples 2022 Pace

Virginians had cast 34,512 early ballots as of Sept. 20, more than triple the 10,401 logged at the same point in the 2022 midterm cycle.

In-person early voting opened Sept. 18 and runs through Oct. 31 ahead of the Nov. 3 election. This year’s ballot carries a U.S. Senate race and all 11 U.S. House seats, unlike 2022, which had no statewide contest.

The heaviest early turnout so far is in the 11th Congressional District, which covers most of Fairfax County. Analysts caution it’s far too early to read much into the numbers.

Batten University political scientist Leslie Caughell tied the surge to the cost of living and to “questions about defense and potential deployment.”

The Senate contest pits Democrat Mark Warner, seeking a fourth term, against Republican Bert Mizusawa, a retired Army major general.

Roanoke Region Explores AI Center

Southwest Virginia governments, employers, and colleges are seeking a consultant to study a proposed regional AI Center of Excellence for the Roanoke area.

The group includes Botetourt County, Salem, Roanoke, Roanoke County, Virginia Tech, Radford, Roanoke College, Virginia Western, Carilion Clinic, Google, and regional economic-development partners. It has asked GO Virginia for a $99,999 grant toward a $257,409 study, with results expected by mid-2027.

A 2025 Virginia Chamber assessment released in January found about one-third of jobs in the region could face AI-related changes, with major shifts likely within two to five years. Botetourt economic development director Kyle Rosner, who wrote the request, called it “a massive disruption on the scale of automation or the internet.”

Not everyone is sold. Julie Bivins of the Southwest Virginia Data Center Transparency Alliance called it frustrating that “more of our tax dollars are going to this extractive industry.”

NASA Links Wallops, Kennedy Launches

NASA has placed launch operations at its Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore under the same leader who runs Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Kennedy director Brian Hughes now oversees launch activity at both sites. Wallops keeps its own director, David Pierce, and remains a separate Virginia facility tied to Maryland’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

The change comes as Wallops’ launch pace has climbed sharply. A NASA inspector general report found launches jumped 467% between 2020 and 2025, from 3 to 17, driven by commercial companies like Rocket Lab.

The same report warned both spaceports face aging infrastructure and could reach capacity by 2028 or 2029. For the Eastern Shore, closer ties to Kennedy could mean more launches, contractors, and aerospace jobs, though NASA hasn’t announced any new commitments.

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➤ Statewide: Periods of rain and isolated storms will continue through Thursday across Southwest Virginia, bringing beneficial soaking downpours of 1-2 inches amid elevated flood risks, before cooler, clearer weather returns Friday. (More)

➤ Accomack County: A juvenile was arrested over an online threat that targeted two schools, and county officials planned extra police at the Nandua schools Monday as a precaution. (More)

➤ Lynchburg: A month-long effort dubbed Operation United Resolve netted nearly 1 kilogram of drugs, including 30 grams of fentanyl, about 30 weapons, and more than $80,000 in cash across 300 warrants. (More)

➤ Rockbridge County: Virginia investigators sought search warrants in Florida as part of their animal-cruelty case against the Natural Bridge Zoo, but a Florida prosecutor refused, calling the request insufficient. Asha the elephant had been moved to Florida five days before Virginia’s December 2023 raid. (More)

➤ Norfolk: The guided-missile destroyer USS Stout pulled out of Naval Station Norfolk on Monday for a scheduled deployment. The Navy isn't disclosing where the Arleigh Burke-class ship is headed or for how long. (More)

➤ Henrico County: Frances May West Byers, one of Virginia's oldest residents, died at 111 earlier this month. Born in Hanover County in 1915, she once lived at Scotchtown, Patrick Henry’s historic home, and credited her long life to faith and to avoiding alcohol and tobacco. (More)

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➤ UVA may have fallen to West Virginia 38-27 before 39,377 at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, but the neutral-site date paid off: the Cavaliers banked a $2 million guarantee from the Charlotte Sports Foundation—better than a typical home gate. (More)

➤ Old Dominion, on a two-game skid, hosts undefeated James Madison in its Sun Belt opener Saturday night at S.B. Ballard Stadium. The Monarchs are looking to snap a four-game losing streak against the Dukes in the “Royal Rivalry.” (More)

➤ Hannah Pachan’s goal in the 85th minute lifted Virginia Tech women’s soccer to a 1-0 win at Syracuse, the Hokies’ second shutout of the year. Tech outshot the Orange 23-10 and opened ACC play 2-0. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: MLB | NHL | WNBA

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➤ Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors cleared the way for up to 2,975 homes at the aging Merrifield at Dunn Loring Station apartments, replacing 706 garden units built in the 1960s with high- and mid-rise buildings and 25,000 square feet of retail beside the Dunn Loring Metro. (More)

➤ Virginia’s unemployment rate slipped to 3.6% in August, the lowest since spring, and below the 4.1% national rate. But the improvement came partly because the state’s labor force kept shrinking as workers stopped looking for jobs. (See Report)

➤ Richmond restaurant and bar Social 52 says it received a notice claiming more than $17,000 in overdue meals taxes, payments the owner insists were already made. (More)

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The Pentagon’s Got Its Eye on This Tech

One of the biggest indicators for forward-thinking investors is where the U.S. government puts its money.

First, they bet big on jet engines. Then drones. Now? Flying cars. The U.S. Air Force just signed a $142M deal for a company building five-seater air taxis. But our nation’s most covert operations need smaller, personal aircraft. And Doroni, the company positioned to lead the $100B personal eVTOL category, aims to capture this opportunity.

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➤ High school students in Floyd County’s advanced building-trades program are teaming with a local nonprofit, FISH, to repair aging homes across the community, learning a trade while tackling the county’s need for housing repairs. (More)

➤ The Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center’s “Night Owl on the Town” gala pulled in a record $162,000 Saturday at the Hotel Roanoke, topping last year’s $111,000 with a sold-out crowd of nearly 300. (More)

➤ Thirty sculptors from 10 countries kicked off the Neptune Festival with a sand-sculpting competition at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. The festival has drawn crowds to the coast since 1974. (Watch Report)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes.

➤ What are the 10 most popular at-home headache remedies, and do they actually work? (Hear Remedies)

➤ Tesla has reopened reservations for its long-delayed Roadster, nearly nine years after the car was promised. (Listen Now)

➤ Demand for wine is falling, forcing California grape growers to tear out vineyards their families tended for generations. (Hear Story)

In case you missed it, this week on Flyover Focus, we dug into the cost of living and how it affects you. Why does your paycheck buy less, and do Social Security raises keep retirees afloat? Tune in here for all of those answers and more.