Election Day is Nov. 5, 2024. Here’s our guide on how to cast your vote and what’s on the ballot.

Mark these days in your calendar.

March 5 Presidential Primary Election

June 18 Primary Election

Nov. 5 General Election

*Important: You can actually register all the way up through Election Day, but you’ll have to vote using a provisional ballot if you miss the deadline.

Virginians can register to vote on the Citizen Portal of the Virginia Dept. of Elections website. You’ll need a valid Virginia driver’s license or a state ID card to register.

Pro tip: If you are 17, you can register and vote in primary elections if you will be 18 before the general election.

Not sure if you’re registered? Check your status on the Citizen Portal. Once you input your information, it’ll tell you your status, precinct, and district information.

Registered voters can cast their ballot early in-person starting 45 days before Election Day. Go to your local registrar’s office — for Richmond, that’s 2134 W. Laburnum Ave. — to vote early.

Richmonders can also vote early at City Hall and Hickory Hill Community Center. Check the hours for early voting before you head out.

Find your polling place to vote on Election Day. Polls are open from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. Bring an acceptable form of ID to vote.

This year’s elections include races for the President, US Senate, US House, Mayor of Richmond, Richmond City Council, and Richmond School Board. To see what elections you’ll be voting in, check your district.

Several candidates have filed paperwork or publicly announced their candidacy for Mayor.

WASHINGTON – Powerful storms that moved across the mid-Atlantic on Monday, dropping large hail and produced damaging winds along the way.

Several Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued along the line of storms that stretched from West Virginia through the Delmarva Peninsula and into southern New Jersey. Damaging wind gusts and large hail were the primary threats with any severe storms that developed.

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Large hail, damaging wind reported

Hail was reported in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania on Monday afternoon and evening. Most of the reports showed hail the size of quarters had fallen.

A FOX Weather viewer shared an image of "gumball-sized" hail that had fallen in Alexandria, Virginia. Others shared images of quarter-sized hail that fell in buckets in Brambleton, Virginia.

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A video showed the hail falling like snow in Brambleton. According to M Roussey on X, formerly Twitter, the hail was the size of gumballs.

Stormy weather led to a ground stop at Washington's Dulles International Airport near Arlington, Virginia. Isaac Harris recorded a video showing hail that was reportedly dime-sized falling at the airport.

According to storm reports from the National Weather Service, the largest hail reported was in Arcola, Virginia, where golf ball-sized hail fell in Hanson Park.

Winds of more than 50 mph were reported around the Richmond, Virginia, area. That's where the NWS received several reports of trees being knocked down.

About 15,000 power outages were reported as of Monday evening, according to PowerOutage.us.

Many Veterans find staying active a rewarding and challenging part of their treatment. When you add-in competition, comradery, and entertaining activities, you have a recipe for successful rehabilitation and a good time.

Adaptive sports recreation therapists at the Richmond VA Medical Center hosted the 2nd Annual Richmond Tournament of Champions here September 25-27, 2023. Veterans competing in the games tested their skills at 9-ball billiards, cycling, air rifle marksmanship, bocce ball, disc golf, and bowling.Richmond VA recreation therapists, Jennifer Vass, Nicole Shuman, and other rec therapy team members organized the multi-day event. The idea originated when many of the games VA patients were accustomed to attending were cancelled during the COVID pandemic.“We have a group of Veterans who love to travel to national Veterans' events,” Vass said. “During COVID, that stopped.”The logistics of getting Veterans and staff to these events during this period became much more complex and, in many cases, ceased altogether.Veteran athletes who were unable to travel for their beloved games became disheartened.Having gained ample experience working and attending many VA national games, Vass and Shuman decided to take matters into their own hands by organizing an event on their home turf.“It’s exciting to be able to have this here, and it’s good practice for our Veterans who are going to the big games,” Shuman said.She also stated that these games provide an opportunity to those Veterans who are not able to travel to compete, as well as introducing new patients and many of the facility’s inpatients to enjoy the experience.With just three months of preparation, the therapists were set to kick off the three-day tournament with 28 competitors and six separate events.One of the main goals of these games is to help those Veterans who are recovering from injury to regain independence and quality of life. Vass and Shuman both remarked that one such person who participated in the games is competitive recumbent racer, Mike Brooks. Brooks was injured in a cycling accident and did physical rehabilitation at the Richmond VA hospital.“I think it was four or five years ago that we gave him his first trike through the equipment program,” Shuman said. “He put 8,000 miles on it.”Through hard work, treatment and physical therapy, Brooks was able to return to a sport that he loves.“Being part of helping someone get that ability back is extremely exciting and rewarding,” Shuman added.This year’s event concluded with a fellowship dinner and awards ceremony for participants and their families. The ceremony included special guest speakers and awards for the top three competitors in each sport.Matthew Reed competed in five of the six events and took home the coveted Triple Threat Championship crown for being the top competitor in three events.“I’m legally blind,” Reed said. “Through Nicole’s [Shuman] assistance, and the whole team’s assistance, it truly became an adaptive experience for me.”Reed appreciated the opportunity to be able to compete with his friends at the VA.“The team here is just fantastic,” he said. “It’s so much fun to be part of this adaptive sports program.”Vass, Shuman, and the rest of their team already have their sights set on next year's games. Their goal is to expand the Tournament of Champions with more participants, more fellowship, and more fun.

The Office of Advanced Manufacturing (OAM) within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is revolutionizing healthcare for Veterans using 3D printing and other advanced technologies.

By creating customized solutions for Veterans in need of assistive technology (AT), OAM helps individuals maintain, increase, or improve their functional capabilities. AT helps Veterans perform a variety of tasks, from complex movements like driving and playing sports to everyday tasks like using a phone or turning on a light.

A new library of VHA OAM hosted on the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) 3D page currently contains a collection of design packages, which include CAD files and detailed instructions available for use within a clinical setting. Specific areas of interest include Assistive Technology, empowering individuals with disabilities to improve their independence.

“The website is a design library of files for assistive technology devices that we've created here at Richmond [VA Medical Center] that came out of two things:” said Melissa Oliver, assistive technology program director at Richmond VA Medical Center. “One, a patient need, a Veteran need, but then we were hearing from people across other VA sites that said, ‘hey, we would love to be able to have this Item.’”

The idea for the library began as a link on Shopify through VA’s Innovation Spark, Seed, Spread project where someone could order the actual AT product before moving to the current setup before the proliferation of 3d printers became widespread.

“When everybody Started getting 3D printers, they just wanted the files and so then that's how we got to the design library, and we partnered with NIH,” said Oliver. “We already had a platform for the design files and so we partnered with them to have a place to manage it and house it for us.”

There are currently 31 designs on the site with plans to expand and grow the number of design packages available for download, according to Oliver. The library's second goal of connecting VA clinicians with engineers is also incredibly important. By fostering collaboration between these two groups, the VHA OAM Design Library is helping to drive innovation in the field of assistive technology. These innovations have the potential to greatly improve the quality of life for Veterans with disabilities.

“That covers the primary goal of it, but I think it also serves as a sort of a portfolio of or starting point of ideas for other VAs to look at and say, hey, if we, you know, modify this existing design a little bit, you know maybe we could meet the need for another Veteran,” said Brian Burkhardt, Richmond office of advanced manufacturing hub site lead. “So, it's a nice way to not only share the designs, but to be a jumping point of, you know, for creativity.”

The impact of OAM's AT digital library is profound, with many Veterans experiencing life-changing benefits. For example, 3D-printed toothbrush holders aid in independent personal hygiene, while 3D-printed stylus palm grips make it easier for Veterans to write. These tailored solutions make a significant difference in the lives of Veterans, enabling them to perform tasks that were previously difficult or impossible. OAM's innovative approach to healthcare transforms the way VA approaches patient care and sets a new standard for the industry.

The VHA OAM Design Library is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in assistive technology. Its commitment to providing detailed instructions and fostering collaboration between clinicians and engineers is helping to drive innovation and improve the lives of people with disabilities.

“The traditional method for sharing out things that we produce in VA is tech transfer. So that's great and works for many things, but this is a way to share things that either maybe aren't appropriate for tech transfer, or there's just not a big enough market for,” said Burkhardt. “So, we're sharing something that might help a few people out there but there's just not a big enough market for.”

The new online library provides access to a vast collection of CAD files for use in clinical settings. The library is primarily focused on assistive technology and improving the independence of individuals with disabilities. By providing detailed instructions on how to uniformly fabricate and use these devices, the VHA OAM Library is helping to ensure that these designs are accessible to as many people as possible.

“Anybody, whether you're a federal employee or Joe Schmoe, can get to the NIH site. It's a public open facing outward facing site than anybody can do that. So, it's not only accessible for our Veterans to be able to utilize, but the public at large,” said Oliver. “It has the general picture, then it has a description, then you also have the PDF here and you also have more pictures too, so they can see what it looks like,” Oliver said.

“I think it's also a way for smaller VA's that are making things to be able to share what they're doing because I think a lot of times, they don't feel like they can get that word out to other people, but it might benefit of a Veteran or any therapist that is looking for a potential solution,” she said.

Check out the collection at:https://3d.nih.gov/collections/oam/at