Virginia elections offices hiring PR pros to fight misinformation and more headlines

The state Capitol. (Ned Oliver/ Virginia Mercury)

• “To battle misinformation, more elections offices are hiring PR pros.”—WVTF

• Officials said a deadlier form of fentanyl, which is responsible for three-quarters of all overdose deaths in the state, has arrived in Virginia. The lab-made opioids known as nitazenes are estimated to be several times more potent than fentanyl.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Virginia is now offering contractor applications and exams in Spanish.—Culpeper Star-Exponent

• The director of the state’s legislative watchdog commission told lawmakers that “one of the biggest challenges to developing more affordable housing is restrictive local zoning ordinances.”—WVTF

• The New York Times looks at Hampton Roads’ SWIFT project, which injects highly treated wastewater into the critical Potomac aquifer.—New York Times

• “Amazon opened the second-largest building in Virginia, and it’s powered by robots and 1,500 workers in Suffolk.”—Inside Business

• The Montpelier Station Post Office reopened quietly after the U.S. Postal Service closed it for four months because it had a historic exhibit on racial segregation.—Culpeper Star-Exponent

• “Culpeper Town Police Chief Chris Jenkins seemingly violated the town’s personnel policy manual by appearing in uniform on town property in a new television political advertisement endorsing Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger for reelection.”—Culpeper Times

• A missing bronze otter statue named Adeline that was stolen from Fredericksburg’s downtown over the weekend was found on a bench in a local park. “Somebody came to their senses.”—Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star

• An iconic Outer Banks house shaped like a UFO was destroyed in a fire.—Virginian-Pilot