Virginians enjoyed air so clean in 2009 that it set a record. With the season for ozone—the main pollutant in smog—virtually over, the state has suffered just three high-ozone days. All three smoggy days occurred in Northern Virginia, which has a long reputation for cars and air pollution. In the Richmond area, ozone never exceeded the federal limit.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine wants Virginia to become the home to major offshore wind-energy projects. Kaine’s office yesterday released a letter, dated Sept. 15, to S. Elizabeth Birnbaum, director of the federal Minerals Management Service, requesting the formation of a federal-state-local task force to help guide the development of wind energy.

The planned closure of nearly half of Virginia’s highway rest areas next week seems likely to move ahead, despite state officials’ pleas to Congress to help keep them open. The state plans to close 18 rest areas Tuesday because of a shortfall in transportation revenue, but Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and other officials have asked Congress for a waiver or exemption from a federal law barring commercial activities at interstate rest stops. That would enable the state to have private businesses operate them.

The Richmond metropolitan area’s historically black colleges—Virginia Union University and Virginia State University—form a “radicalization node.“ Similarly, the presence of historically black Norfolk State University and Hampton University and evangelical Regent University increase the terrorist threat in Hampton Roads. These assertions are among the findings of a report published last month by the Virginia Fusion Center, a 10-person unit of the Virginia State Police and the state Department of Emergency Management that was created to improve the sharing of anti-terrorism intelligence.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine believes that protecting the environment can help protect Virginians from the grim economy. “Creating green jobs and a renewable energy sector of the Virginia economy is one way we can create opportunity from our current economic challenges,“ Kaine said in a statement. Kaine outlined a green-jobs initiative yesterday at the Virginia Beach headquarters of a company that installs solar panels.

Budget-balancing—job one of the 2009 General Assembly—could require something old (spending cuts), something new (higher taxes), something borrowed (debt-backed bonds) and something blue (Democrats). The legislature returns Wednesday for a 46-day, election-year session, the overarching theme of which is the deepening recession that has blown another hole—this time, at least $3.2 billion—in the two-year, $77 billion budget.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is President-elect Barack Obama’s pick to run the Democratic National Committee, a high-profile post from which the Virginian can steer millions of dollars in cash and services to candidates across the country.

A Petersburg man charged yesterday with stabbing to death his live-in boyfriend served three years in prison for fatally stabbing his first cousin in 2003. Timothy M. Blowe, 41, was arrested early yesterday and charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Charles Avent, 39, who was stabbed just before midnight in a trailer the men shared in 2100 block of County Drive, Petersburg police said.