Author

Sarah Vogelsong

Sarah Vogelsong

Sarah Vogelsong is editor-in-chief of the Virginia Mercury and previously its environment and energy reporter. She has worked for multiple Virginia and regional publications, including Chesapeake Bay Journal, The Progress-Index and The Caroline Progress. Her reporting has won awards from groups such as the Society of Environmental Journalists and Virginia Press Association, and she is an alumna of the Columbia Energy Journalism Initiative and Metcalf Institute Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists.

Richmond, Va., voters decisively reject casino in second referendum
By: - November 8, 2023

The second time was not the charm for developers’ dreams of building a casino in Richmond, Virginia. City voters appeared to have decisively rejected the idea in a referendum Tuesday, with more than 60% of votes cast opposing the measure at the time the Richmond Grand Resort & Casino’s backers declared defeat. Two hours after […]

Richmond, Va., casino promoters make racially inflammatory remarks on local radio?
By: and - November 6, 2023

Radio entrepreneur Cathy Hughes may have upended her push to build a casino in Richmond by letting her opinions fly on the radio. Just days before Richmonders head to the polls to vote a second time on a proposed casino partly owned by Urban One, the media company Hughes founded, casino opponents published a series […]

Energy tech testbed to develop projects on 65K acres in Virginia’s Wise County
By: - November 2, 2023

A public-private initiative that aims to test out emerging energy technologies on Southwest Virginia lands formerly mined for coal has signed an agreement to develop its projects on 65,000 acres primarily located in Wise County that are owned by a major natural gas and pipeline company. The deal, announced by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office […]

New study finds coal miners in Central Appalachia at highest risk of dying from lung diseases
By: - February 28, 2023

Central Appalachian coal miners in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia are more than eight times more likely than men in the general population to die from respiratory diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and black lung, according to recent research. “This higher mortality has also worsened over time with modern miners facing greater risk than […]