Drivers of hybrid vehicles can continue using Virginia's carpool lanes even if they are driving alone. The state has extended the hybrid exemption another year, through June 30, 2011. The General Assembly passed the extension, and Gov. Bob McDonnell signed it into law on March 13.

VIRGINIA BEACH Budget cuts this year could have negative implications for Virginia schools for years to come, members of the State Board of Education said Thursday.

VIRGINIA BEACH Calling guns in bars a "recipe for disaster," the state's police chiefs have pleaded with Gov. Bob McDonnell to veto legislation that would ease Virginia's concealed weapon laws.

It could have been worse. The budget adopted by the state legislature Sunday isn't the worst-case scenario local school divisions feared. Though the full effects of the state budget aren't clear, there is some good news. Funding for preschool hasn't been slashed. Schools won't be left holding the bag for the entire decrease in funding based on the composite index formula.

The spending decisions the General Assembly made to offset a $4 billion shortfall will be felt throughout the state in ways both obvious and obscure. Public schools and government-subsidized health care will lose hundreds of millions. But there are a host of less heralded budget decisions that will affect Hampton Roads.

Environmentalists have described it as "the Virginia dirty air bill" - a measure that would limit the authority of the State Air Pollution Board and could increase smog problems in Hampton Roads, Richmond and other regions.

Arts managers breathed easier Monday after learning that the Virginia Commission for the Arts had not been erased entirely from the state budget. "I'm very relieved," said John Dixon, director of the Academy of Music in Norfolk. "Still apprehensive about the next year or two, but it's going to be a lot easier knowing the state arts commission will be in existence."

When Gov. Bob McDonnell signed a law last week requiring that most of Virginia's royalties from offshore drilling be spent fixing the state's transportation system, his running mate said it was fulfilling a campaign promise to repair the overburdened network.

RICHMOND The General Assembly adopted a budget Sunday that cuts hundreds of millions in spending on public schools and health care. Many legislators and stakeholders breathed a little easier after the spending plan was adopted, despite its sharp reductions, because in many cases it avoided deeper cuts that had been contemplated.

By Colleen Slevin

DENVER Kristie McNealy blogs from her suburban Denver home about raising four children and health issues. Her husband, Rob, a floor installer, runs another Web site offering product reviews and advice on hardwood floors.