It's WINDSday |April 1, 2026

Celebrating the Power of Wind, Clean Energy and a Green Environment

Energy security is not just a policy preference—it is a national imperative. For conservatives, the principle is simple: America must produce more energy, not less, and we cannot afford to leave viable resources untapped. True energy independence strengthens our economy, fortifies our national defense, and insulates us from geopolitical instability.

For too long, energy debates have been framed as a choice between traditional fuels and renewables. That is a false choice. The future of American energy should be defined by abundance, not restriction. Oil, natural gas, nuclear, hydro, solar, and wind all play a role in meeting rising demand driven by technological growth and industrial expansion.

Offshore wind in particular deserves serious consideration. Projects like the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind initiative demonstrate that renewable energy can deliver large-scale power—enough for hundreds of thousands of homes—while also supporting critical infrastructure along our coasts. In regions like Hampton Roads, where military readiness is paramount, strengthening the grid is a matter of national security.

Meanwhile, global competitors are not hesitating. Nations such as China and India are rapidly deploying wind and solar because they are among the fastest ways to bring new energy online. If the United States chooses to limit itself, we risk falling behind in both energy production and strategic capability.



This is not about replacing one energy source with another. It is about building a resilient, diversified system that can meet today’s needs and tomorrow’s challenges. Nuclear and emerging technologies like fusion must continue to advance, while renewables help scale capacity quickly.

Energy dominance should mean exactly that: dominance across all forms of energy. The path forward is not subtraction—it is addition.

Thomas is director of Conservatives for Clean Energy Virginia. A graduate of Liberty University, Turner was previously Chairman of the Young Republican Federation of Virginia and serves on the Republican Party of Virginia State Central Committee.

“I stood with the Patriots from the very beginning,” boasts William Jennings, who served five years as a Patriot soldier following the Battle of Hampton in October 1775.

“I later would be assigned to pilot the French ship Northumberland, a voyage that carried me all the way to Martinique in the Caribbean!”

Want to portray Mr. Jennings? Our friends at the Hampton History Museum are now casting for that role and five other historical figures for a 30-minute production called “Revolutionary Hampton: Journeys of Liberty.” 

CLICK HERE to find all the info including sample scripts. Pick one, record yourself, and send it in ASAP. Deadline is April 8.

Who knows? You could be Joseph Harris, a black man in his 30’s (“I was a sailor and harbor pilot in Hampton, and I knew these waters better than anyone who claimed to OWN them!”) or Sarah M’Caa, a white woman of the same age (“Before the Revolution, my mother and I ran the finest tavern in town!”)

Kudos to HamptonVA 250 for this creative project, which It’s WINDSday will surely follow.

A black man in a red coat?

It happened starting right here in Virginia after the last royal governor, Lord Dunmore, issued a proclamation on November 7, 1775 that any slave owned by a rebellious Patriot “willing to bear arms (on behalf of King George III), as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing this colony to a proper sense of their duty, to his Majesty’s crown and dignity." As many as 2,000 did so immediately, and it ensured that the Revolution would also be about the end of enslavement, not just freedom from the British.

That’s local music publisher Eric Smith (who played football at Kempsville High) reading Dunmore’s screed at a recent meeting of the Virginia Beach 250 Committee. Smith is portraying “Colonel Tye,” who escaped slavery and joined the Brits’ Ethiopian Regiment. In 1780, while fighting at Colt’s Neck NJ, Tye jumped in a river, was shot and died a few days later of tetanus.

There’s a new book out in hardcover called “the Ethiopian Regiment in the American Revolution”. The author is Justin Iverson, who lives in Norfolk, teaches at ODU and is a federal historian at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton. Get it and Iverson’s other works on Amazon.

Given its location on small-industry heavy Cleveland Street, and appearance, a one-story all-brick building albeit with a pretty impressive new sign, you might think what’s inside will not be inviting. “I get it,” says LauraLi Malinson owner of yes, LauraLi’s. But you can’t always tell a book by its cover.

“I worked here eighteen years ago when it had a different name,” says the Green Run High grad (1991). “I eventually left to be a server at Captain Ron’s in Ocean View,” until a “crazy day” in 2024. 

At a pool party, LauraLi, mother of three, ran into some former co-workers who said the Cleveland Street place was closed, and the owner was looking for a tenant. “I always wanted to be my own boss.” With longtime friends including Sharon “Shorty” Mitchell (who toiled here “day and night,” she recalls for five years), LauraLi signed a lease. “We redid the kitchen, painted the walls, fixed the floor, upgraded the food and added more entertainment,” she says. “I was so excited because this is the business I was born for.”

Shorty recommended a friend and I try the meatloaf and Reuben (of course) for lunch, both excellent. And LauraLi encouraged me to return for dinner, and I did, devouring the flavorful She Crab Soup (with a warm pretzel) and cheesesteak (prepared by Vanessa, another lifelong friend and kitchen queen). LauraLi’s, however, is much more than food, drink and pool. On WINDSday evenings, there is “Pub Poll,” a Family Feud type competition. Tuesdays is Karaoke, Thursdays is Music Bingo, there’s a DJ on Fridays and live bands on Saturdays.

“I have always wanted to help the community,” says the proprietor, which is why LauraLi donates to the food pantry at Relevant Church on Morrison Avenue. Good grub, cold drinks, nightly fun, community driven. That’s a great combination and at least four good reasons to see LauraLi at LauraLi’s. 

Diversity Dialogue Days Help Students Recognize When They are Stereotyping

DEI is getting a bad rap in some quarters, but not on this morning in the TowneBank Gymnasium at Virginia Wesleyan University.

For the 17^th consecutive, year, the Virginia Center for Inclusive Committees partnered with several local high schools (Grassfield, Granby, Cox, First Colonial, Booker T., Cape Henry Collegiate, Norview, PA and Tallwood) for Diversity Dialogue Day (DDD), sponsored by Dominion Energy.

Each school sent about ten students plus teachers to learn how to recognize when they are stereotyping others, based on race, gender, weight, age, class, language, etc., and then how to overcome it by asking questions.

At the end of each DDD, held annually in four regions across the state, participants develop strategies to increase awareness and promote inclusion within their schools.

Need some guidance on how to build a better workplace or educational environment?

VCIC (which traces its roots in Virginia to a 1935 effort to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism), has programs to help any group, large or small, work better together. 

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