Virginia’s recycling rate remained unchanged at 38.5 percent last year, according to a state report.

The annual report by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality logs the performance of 324 cities, counties and towns, including some recycling activity by businesses.

The Virginia Department of Health is closing Chesapeake Bay tributaries, including in Hampton Roads, to shellfish harvesting because of last week’s nor’easter, effective today through Dec. 2. The affected shellfish include oysters, clams and scallops. Crabs and fin fish are not banned.

U.S. Sen. Jim Webb signaled his resistance Monday to the current cap-and-trade legislation in Congress and introduced with another senator a new $20 billion energy bill that focuses on expanding nuclear power and funding research into alternative energy sources.

By Thursday afternoon, the trees at Norfolk Botanical Garden were already in trouble. Pools of standing water had formed, and the ground was soaked through. The softened soil left the roots of large trees with nothing to grab onto. By Thursday night, when the gusts really started, it was all over.

RICHMOND All tributaries to Virginia's portion of the Chesapeake Bay have been closed to shellfish harvesting through Wednesday due to severe weather, the Virginia Health Department announced Thursday.

Virginia has the second-dirtiest waterways among the 50 states. That's according to a recent study by the Environment America advocacy group tallying the amount of pollutants discharged into bodies of water across the nation.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. Maryland, Delaware and Virginia are joining forces to promote offshore wind power.

The governors of the three states announced Tuesday that they have signed an agreement to work together on promoting federal policies, transmission strategies and other issues to advance offshore power in the mid-Atlantic region.

By Alex Dominguez

BALTIMORE Critics of the federal government's draft plan to clean up the Chesapeake Bay said it lacked details, while federal officials emphasized they would let states continue successful programs to control pollution flowing into the watershed.

There are now two proposals to buy SPSA, the region's struggling trash authority. Wheelabrator Technologies Inc., a New Hampshire-based subsidiary of Waste Management, revealed few details about a proposal submitted Monday to purchase the Southeastern Public Service Authority.

WILMINGTON, N.C.  A North Carolina contractor says plans for a new sea turtle hospital in Surf City are in the works.

The Star-News of Wilmington reports that Wilmington-based Baldwin Construction Services, Inc., is planning to design and build the 14,200-square-foot Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.