Governor Bob McDonnell announced this morning further steps to be taken to address the unprecedented hardware failure and subsequent data corruption that has affected certain state agencies during the past week.

Following a visit to Virginia’s Emergency Operations Center in Midlothian, Governor Bob McDonnell today highlighted the precautionary preparations being taken by state agencies and officials ahead of Hurricane Earl. The tropical system, currently located roughly 230 miles south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, continues on a northward trajectory at 18mph and has been downgraded to a still powerful Category 3 storm as of the 2pm update from the National Hurricane Center

Governor Bob McDonnell today declared a state of emergency in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a step authorizing state agencies to take precautionary action to prepare for any potential impacts in eastern Virginia from Hurricane Earl. A state of emergency must be declared under state law so that additional resources are available and positioned for use if necessary.

“It is my esteemed honor to congratulate Justice Cynthia D. Kinser on her historic election as the first female Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Justice Kinser is a widely respected jurist and is well suited to oversee the judicial branch of state government.

The leading transportation advocacy organization in Northern Virginia is backing ABC privatization as one component of an overall transportation solution for the Commonwealth. The Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, which is “the only organization focused exclusively on working to make better transportation a reality for Northern Virginia citizens and businesses”, declared its support in a formal statement by past Chairman David Guernsey prepared for the Governor’s Herndon town hall held on August 25th.

Governor Bob McDonnell today announced an additional appointment to his administration under the Agriculture and Forestry secretariat. McDonnell announced appointments to two boards of visitors: Virginia State University and George Mason University. He also announced appointments to seven other Virginia boards and commissions.

Audit of Transportation Research Program Recommends Greater Focus on Innovation, Better Implementation

Governor Bob McDonnell today announced that Virginians can now sign up with myDMV to receive their state vehicle registration renewal notices through email or phone, rather than getting a paper reminder in the mail. Currently, the paper renewal notice that DMV mails is a courtesy reminder for our customers.

Governor Bob McDonnell declared today as “Victim Advocate Day” during the graduate services of the third class of the Virginia Victim Assistance Academy at the University of Richmond.

Governor Bob McDonnell today announced that the Commonwealth and CSX Transportation have reached an agreement on key principles regarding the high speed rail stimulus grant awarded to Virginia earlier this year. A project framework agreement has been submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT), a critical milestone that will allow work to begin on the $75 million shovel-ready project, pending US DOT approval of the agreement.