Hey, y’all. It’s Amie.

Spencer Snakard, president of Protect Fauquier, speaks Aug. 29, 2022, at a rally near Manassas, Va., protesting a newly built data center for Amazon Web Services. (AP Photo/Matthew Barakat, File)

By Jonny Lupsha

Here’s what you need to know: Loudoun County is home to a diverse population of residents, a broad range of excellent restaurants, and is, by some metrics, the wealthiest county in the United States. It’s also known as “Data Center Alley,” for being home to nearly 200 data centers—with another 100 or more on the way.

The facts:

• Data centers—the large, unsightly, constantly humming buildings that serve as the physical backbone of the internet—are more ubiquitous in Loudoun County than anywhere else on Earth.

• Roughly 70% of the world’s internet traffic comes through Loudoun County’s vast swaths of data centers. On the upside, they generate more than 40% of the county’s local property tax revenues, undeniably contributing much of Loudoun’s wealth.

• However, the expansion of data centers also comes with costs—like a recently approved Dominion-proposed construction plan shows a route of transmission lines that will run directly through an Ashburn neighborhood. Those transmission lines consist of 185-foot monopoles, at least one of which will be built in the middle of one resident’s backyard.

Love them or hate them? We’ve got more details on the give-and-take of data centers below. 

Kody (left) and Amie Knowles visited Carter Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville. (Colton Knowles/Dogwood)

By Amie Knowles

You know what they say about an apple a day? It keeps the data centers away. Or something like that. 

Right now, fruit season is well underway in parts of Virginia.

Last summer, my husband, Kody, and I took our son, Colton, to Carter Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville. Currently open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the third, fourth, and fifth generations of the Chiles Family operate the working farm, from planting the crops to managing the markets. 

While it was our first time visiting the orchard, it won’t be our last. We’re already planning a day trip up that way again soon, so we can pick our own peaches and blackberries, which are both currently in season there. Apples will be ripe for the picking at Carter’s around mid-August. 

We’re also thinking about heading over to Wade’s Orchards in Woolwine. They currently have a variety of Yellow Transparent, Lodi, and Summer Rambo apples for sale. And we’ll probably pick up some Yellow Cling-Stone peaches while we’re there, too.

By Amie Knowles

Did you know? In Virginia, we don’t have to look far to find talent! We’ve compiled a list of some players you might’ve seen on the field recently at the FIFA World Cup—and they all have commonwealth connections.

Derrick Etienne Jr., #7, played for Haiti as a forward. Etienne was born in Richmond and played soccer at the University of Virginia in 2015.

Matt Turner, #1, played for the USA as a goalkeeper. Turner started 27 matches on multiple short-term loans with the Richmond Kickers in 2016 and 2017.

Joe Bell, #6, played for New Zealand as a midfielder. Bell, an Olympic athlete, played soccer at the University of Virginia from 2017 to 2019.

Christian Pulisic, #10, played for the USA as a forward. Pulisic’s parents, Mark and Kelley, met while playing soccer at George Mason University.

Giovanni Reyna, #7, played for the USA as a midfielder. Reyna’s father, Claudio, led the UVA Cavaliers to three NCAA championships in the 1990s. 

Alex Freeman, #16, played for the USA as a defender. Freeman’s father, Antonio, played football at Virginia Tech.

🗳 This November, Virginians may have to vote on a small additional sales tax that would fund repairs of their communities’ public schools, half of which are more than 50 years old. One of former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s final acts in office could shift their maintenance costs further onto you. (Watch here)

🪧 A small group recently gathered in Richmond to protest Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s vetoes of legislation related to collective bargaining and criminal justice reform, as well as her support for a massive tax break for data centers. (Read more)

🚨 Just across the border in West Virginia, ICE is operating with limited transparency, inconsistent public data, and significant consequences for immigrant communities. (Watch here)

You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Our mailing address is:
Dogwood / COURIER Newsroom
3229 Greenpoint Ave., PMB 532
Long Island City, New York 11101

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or  from this list.