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35-734: The purpose of the WCEDA is to foster and stimulate industry and economic development within Warren County and the town of Front Royal. The WCEDA was authorized on December 20, 1994, by an act of the Virginia General Assembly and derives its power from the Front Royal Town Council and the Board of Supervisors of Warren County, Virginia. Its stated goal is to expand investment and create jobs, and since it

70-411: A commission consisting of eight lawmakers, four from each party, and eight citizens. The amendment passed with all counties and cities supporting the measure except Arlington . The commission failed to reach an agreement on new state and congressional districts by an October 25, 2021, deadline, and relied upon the amendment's provision that lets the state Supreme Court of Virginia draw the districts in

105-603: A small portion of northeast Greenland . There is no hemisphere that includes all of the Americas that also excludes all land outside of it, regardless of the meridians or points chosen to define it. Below is a list of the sovereign states in both the Western and Eastern hemispheres on the IERS Reference Meridian , in order from north to south: Below is a list of additional sovereign states which are in both

140-455: A vice-chairman, a secretary, an assistant secretary, and a treasurer. The chairman and the other officers serve for one fiscal year, with elections taking place during the last regular meeting of each fiscal year. The Board can also create executive committees which are composed of the chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, treasurer, and additional members as chosen by the Board. Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly

175-639: Is Genovesa Island at 0°19′N 89°57′W  /  0.317°N 89.950°W  / 0.317; -89.950 . The highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere is Aconcagua in the Andes of Argentina at 6,960.8 m (22,837 ft). The tallest freestanding structure in the Western Hemisphere is the CN Tower in Toronto at 553.3 m (1,815 ft) and the tallest building in

210-656: Is described as "the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World." Its existence dates to its establishment at Jamestown on July 30, 1619, by instructions from the Virginia Company of London to the new Governor Sir George Yeardley . It was initially a unicameral body composed of the Company-appointed Governor and Council of State , plus 22 burgesses elected by the settlements and Jamestown. The Assembly became bicameral in 1642 upon

245-600: Is practicable, representation in proportion to the population of the district." The Redistricting Coalition of Virginia proposes either an independent commission or a bipartisan commission that is not polarized. Member organizations include the League of Women Voters of Virginia, AARP of Virginia, OneVirginia2021 , the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and Virginia Organizing . Governor Bob McDonnell 's Independent Bipartisan Advisory Commission on Redistricting for

280-804: Is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia , the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere , and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World . It was established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house , the Virginia House of Delegates , with 100 members, and an upper house , the Senate of Virginia , with 40 members. Senators serve terms of four years, and delegates serve two-year terms. Combined,

315-654: The 180th meridian . The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere . Geo-politically, the term Western Hemisphere is often used as a metonym for the Americas or the " New World ", even though geographically the hemisphere also includes parts of other continents. The Western Hemisphere consists of the Americas , excluding some of the Aleutian Islands to the southwest of the Alaskan mainland;

350-790: The 2023 election , when the Democratic Party secured majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly. The General Assembly meets in Virginia's capital of Richmond . When sitting in Richmond, the General Assembly holds sessions in the Virginia State Capitol , designed by Thomas Jefferson in 1788 and expanded in 1904. During the American Civil War , the building was used as the capitol of

385-795: The Confederate States , housing the Confederate Congress . The building was renovated between 2005 and 2006. Senators and delegates have their offices in the General Assembly Building across the street directly north of the Capitol, which have been rebuilt and are expected to open in 2023. The Governor of Virginia lives across the street directly east of the Capitol in the Virginia Executive Mansion . The Virginia General Assembly

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420-525: The Constitution of Virginia , senators and delegates must be twenty-one years of age at the time of the election, residents of the district they represent, and qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly. Under the Constitution, "a senator or delegate who moves his residence from the district for which he is elected shall thereby vacate his office." The state constitution specifies that

455-652: The secretary of the Senate , the title used by the U.S. Senate ). Following the 2019 election , the Democratic Party held a majority of seats in both the House and the Senate for the first time since 1996. They were sworn into office on January 8, 2020, at the start of the 161st session . In the 2021 election , the Republican Party recaptured a majority in the House of Delegates, then lost it after

490-830: The Commonwealth of Virginia made its report on April 1, 2011. It made two recommendations for each state legislative house that showed maps of districts more compact and contiguous than those adopted by the General Assembly. However, no action was taken after the report was released. In 2011 the Virginia College and University Redistricting Competition was organized by Professors Michael McDonald of George Mason University and Quentin Kidd of Christopher Newport University . About 150 students on sixteen teams from thirteen schools submitted plans for legislative and U.S. Congressional Districts. They created districts more compact than

525-424: The General Assembly consists of 140 elected representatives from an equal number of constituent districts across the commonwealth. The House of Delegates is presided over by the speaker of the House , while the Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virginia . The House and Senate each elect a clerk and sergeant-at-arms . The Senate of Virginia's clerk is known as the clerk of the Senate (instead of as

560-697: The General Assembly in 1776 with the ratification of the Virginia Constitution . The government was moved to Richmond in 1780 during the administration of Governor Thomas Jefferson . The annual salary for senators is $ 18,000. The annual salary for delegates is $ 17,640, with the exception that the Speaker's salary is $ 36,321. Members and one staff member also receive a per diem allowance for each day spent attending to official duties such as attending session in Richmond or attending committee meetings. Transportation expenses are reimbursed. Under

595-402: The General Assembly shall meet annually, and its regular session is a maximum of 60 days long in even-numbered years and 30 days long in odd-numbered years, unless extended by a two-thirds vote of both houses. The Governor of Virginia may convene a special session of the General Assembly "when, in his opinion, the interest of the Commonwealth may require" and must convene a special session "upon

630-528: The General Assembly's efforts. The "Division 1" maps conformed with the Governor's executive order , and did not address electoral competition or representational fairness. In addition to the criteria of contiguity, equipopulation, the federal Voting Rights Act and communities of interest in the existing city and county boundaries, "Division 2" maps in the competition did incorporate considerations of electoral competition and representational fairness. Judges for

665-505: The House of Delegates. In 2015, in Vesilind v. Virginia State Board of Elections in a Virginia state court, plaintiffs sought to overturn the General Assembly's redistricting in five House of Delegates and six state Senate districts as violations of both the Virginia and U.S. Constitutions because they failed to represent populations in "continuous and compact territory". In 2020, a constitutional amendment moved redistricting power to

700-463: The WCEDA became embroiled in what some have described as the largest embezzlement scandal in Virginia history. The scandal involved a massive embezzlement scheme involving a director of the WCEDA, a Washington-area developer, and numerous other local government officials and their associates. According to the allegations, the developer falsely promised to build a data center and retail complex that would attract 600 jobs and fund other development within

735-664: The Western Hemisphere is One World Trade Center in New York City at 541.3 m (1,776 ft). In an attempt to match the Western Hemisphere more closely with the Americas, some sources use the 20th meridian west and the diametrically opposed 160th meridian east to define the hemisphere. This definition excludes all of the European and African mainlands, but still includes some islands associated with these continents, more of eastern Russia and Oceania, and part of Antarctica. It includes all islands of Alaska, but excludes

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770-682: The Western and Eastern hemispheres along the 180th meridian , in order from north to south. (France is not listed below due to its inclusion above, though the meridian does pass Wallis and Futuna .) With the exception of the United States (due to Wake Island , Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands ), all of them are located on just one side of the International Date Line , which curves around them. The following countries and territories lie outside

805-412: The application of two-thirds of the members elected to each house." Article II, section 6 on apportionment states, "Members of the . . . Senate and of the House of Delegates of the General Assembly shall be elected from electoral districts established by the General Assembly. Every electoral district shall be composed of contiguous and compact territory and shall be so constituted as to give, as nearly as

840-431: The basis of population, in conformance with federal and state laws and court cases, including those addressing racial fairness. The territory is to be contiguous and compact, without oddly shaped boundaries. The commission is prohibited from using political data or election results to favor either political party or incumbent. It passed with a two-thirds majority of 27 to 12 in the Senate, and was then referred to committee in

875-929: The cash award prizes were Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution and Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute . In January 2015 Republican state senator Jill Holtzman Vogel of Winchester and Democratic state senator Louise Lucas of Portsmouth sponsored a Senate Joint Resolution to establish additional criteria for the Virginia Redistricting Commission of four identified members of political parties, and three other independent public officials. The criteria began with respecting existing political boundaries, such as cities and towns, counties and magisterial districts, election districts and voting precincts. Districts are to be established on

910-684: The county. The project never materialized, but was instead used as a vehicle to embezzle $ 21 million in funds. The fraud scheme was uncovered by the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Culpeper Field Office, which launched a probe in 2018 into the business practices of the EDA in conjunction with the Front Royal Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation . In

945-509: The development activities undertaken by the agency are the successful repatriation of the former Avtex plant, which had been made into an EPA Superfund site following its closure. The site, which the EPA returned to the control of the WCEDA in 2014, was successfully remediated and became the agency gained control of 162 acres of industrial plant site, 240 acres of conservation land, and 34 acres devoted to recreational activities. The remediation work

980-431: The event that the commission could not do so. The Supreme Court did so and approved newly drawn districts on December 28, 2021. While newly drawn districts will currently first be used in 2023, a federal lawsuit is pending that calls for an election to be held using newly drawn districts as immediately as November 2022. If the lawsuit was successful, it would have required all House districts, which just held elections under

1015-460: The fallout of the scandal, 14 current and former municipal officials were indicted and are facing criminal charges, including the entire Warren County board of supervisors as well as the former Warren County Attorney and the head of the Warren County schools division. In addition to the criminal cases, civil lawsuits were filed by the Town of Front Royal seeking $ 15 million in damages from the WCEDA and

1050-650: The formation of the House of Burgesses . The Assembly had a judicial function of hearing cases both original and appellate . At various times it may have been referred to as the Grand Assembly of Virginia. The General Assembly met in Jamestown from 1619 until 1699, when it first moved to the College of William & Mary near Williamsburg, Virginia , and from 1705 met in the colonial Capitol building. It became

1085-441: The former directors. A special grand jury has been appointed to investigate the matter. The authority is governed by a seven-member board of directors , appointed by the Board of Supervisors of Warren County. The board meets on a monthly basis but additional meetings can be called by any two directors on an ad hoc basis. The Board is led by a chairman, chosen from among the directors by the other directors. Other officers include

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1120-478: The previous districts in 2021, to hold back-to-back elections in 2022 and 2023 under the newly drawn districts. 37°32′20″N 77°26′01″W  /  37.53889°N 77.43361°W  / 37.53889; -77.43361 Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian —which crosses Greenwich , London , England —and east of

1155-708: The westernmost portions of Europe and Africa , both mainland and islands; the extreme eastern tip of the Russian mainland and islands ( North Asia ); numerous territories in Oceania ; and a large portion of Antarctica . The center of the Western Hemisphere is located in the Pacific Ocean at the intersection of the 90th meridian west and the Equator , among the Galápagos Islands . The nearest land

1190-687: Was coordinated between the WCEDA and several outside entities, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , the EPA, and the FMC Corporation , a chemical manufacturing firm based in Philadelphia. The WCEDA has been credited with attracting new businesses and investment activity to the Front Royal-Warren County area, including the restaurateur Chick-Fil-A , the hotel chain Marriott , and a brewing company. In 2019,

1225-566: Was established in the mid-1990s it has created over 2,500 jobs and generated $ 500 million in investments in the Route 340/522 corridor. The work of the WCEDA became especially salient for the region's residents after the closure of its largest taxpayer and employer, Avtex , following severe environmental contamination issues at its main plant, including wastewater runoff into the Shenandoah River and clean air violations. Most notable among

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