William Byron and his team celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
William Byron and his team celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
John Fishwick of Fishwick and Associates speaks during a press conference for a lawsuit the law firm filed against Botetourt County on Monday.
Google purchased 312 acres at the Botetourt Center at Greenfield to build a data center campus in the business park. A section of the purchased land is seen looking northwest from International Parkway in August 2025.
A Botetourt resident is suing to invalidate the data center campus performance agreement between Botetourt County and Google on the basis that the vote to approve the contract violated the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
The county board of supervisors voted June 24, 2025, to adopt a resolution approving a performance agreement between the county, the county’s economic development authority and Google subsidiary Helio Capital LLC that would allow Google to construct a data center campus in Daleville.
But in a lawsuit filed Monday naming the county, the board, the economic development authority and Helio Capital, resident Robert Dallas alleged that the board did not adequately identify the details of the agreement during its discussion and vote.
The performance agreement was a walk-on item during the June 2025 meeting, which means it was not advertised in the agenda in advance. A video of the meeting shows then-chair Amy White describe the item being voted on as the "performance agreement resolution" with no additional details.
The board then voted unanimously to approve the resolution, which OK'd an agreement that finalized Google’s land purchase and included provisions expediting the county permitting process and providing the company with performance grants.
Dallas’s lawsuit contends that the substance of the performance agreement was not "reasonably identified," as is required by the Freedom of Information Act. It claims that no meeting attendee could have understood what exactly the performance agreement entailed based on this description.
The lawsuit also alleges that the board agreed to approve the agreement during a closed session — a meeting that excludes the public — earlier that day and did not adequately identify the performance agreement or the resolution to approve it when it moved to begin such a meeting.
Of the voting supervisors, Mac Scothorn, Brandon Nicely and Walter Michael are still on the board. White and Stephen Clinton finished their terms at the end of 2025 and are no longer on the board.
The lawsuit further contends that the board's actions "were not inadvertent" and are "consistent with an atmosphere of secrecy it had cultivated" throughout the process to bring the data center project to the county.
In a statement Monday, the county said that because the matter involves pending litigation, it would not be commenting on the specific allegations or discussing legal matters.
"The County respects the legal process and remains committed to providing accurate and appropriate information to the public as the matter moves forward," the county said in the statement.
The lawsuit calls on the court to void the performance agreement and stop the board from taking any additional actions under the agreement. It also requests that the board be required to rescind all actions it has taken in accordance with the contract since June 24, 2025, including the issuance of expedited permits.
Google began grading work on the site in September after receiving its land disturbance permit from the county in August. The company plans to build three hyper-scale data centers on its 312-acre property in the Botetourt Center at Greenfield business park.
Dallas is represented by law firms Fishwick and Associates, Dooley Law and Munro Byrd. Tim Dooley of Dooley Law has repeatedly criticized the data center project and the county government on his website.
Dallas, a 36-year resident of the county and retired anesthesiologist, said during a news conference Monday that the lawsuit is about holding leaders responsible and having a transparent government.
He lives roughly half a mile from the planned data center campus site on property protected by a conservation easement.
"I know this community well, and like many, I was surprised when the county suddenly announced the data center project with no public input in June of 2025," he said. "I filed this petition because I strongly believe that Botetourt County board of supervisors should follow all the rules of procedure and give citizens like me and many others the chance to make our voices heard."
Julie Bivins, a co-founder of the Southwest Virginia Data Center Transparency Alliance, said in a post on the alliance's website that the lawsuit aligns with the actions the group has called for. The local advocacy group has been organizing against the project since late 2025.
"This is a strong lawsuit and we support it," said Bivins. "We believe the Botetourt County board of supervisors acted in error when they approved the county land sale to Google last year. We hope this suit leads to more steps, like the beginning of a moratorium on data centers state-wide so that we can get to the truth of the effects of data centers before they permanently affect our communities."
During the news conference, attorney John Fishwick responded to a question from media about whether residents of other localities with data center developments could pursue the same type of lawsuit. He said the firm believes it's an important case and pointed to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act’s relevance to all county and state citizens.
"So we think this is an important lawsuit that maybe will be a trend-setting lawsuit," Fishwick said. "We're anxious to get to court and have it heard."
Alexia Partouche (540) 981-3116 alexia.partouche@roanoke.com
Supervisor Steve Clinton announces that Google has bought land in Botetourt County for a potential data center.
Three upcoming events will honor the memory of Audie Murphy, the most decorated U.S. veteran from World War II, who died with five other peopl…
This is a rendering of a proposed new hotel in Ridgeway.
The Henry County Board of Zoning Appeals approved a special-use permit for Churchill Downs Inc. on Wednesday to move Rosie’s from the Dutch Inn in Collinsville to Ridgeway and expand its operations.
Colonial Downs representatives told the BZA on Wednesday that the new Rosie’s facility in Ridgeway could employ up to 100 people.
MARTINSVILLE —Henry County announced plans Thursday for a 99-room Home2 Suites by Hilton in Ridgeway, next to the proposed site of a new Rosie’s Game Room. The hotel and gaming venue are separate projects by different companies, both planned near Martinsville Speedway.
Shamin Hotels is developing the all-suite hotel. Construction is expected to begin by the end of the year, with the hotel ready to welcome guests in spring 2028, according to the county’s announcement. The proposed location is near Martinsville Speedway and the Smith River Sports Complex, and the hotel is intended to serve sports and race visitors as well as business travelers.
The county release cited a regional lodging study estimating that about 62% of area lodging demand is met in surrounding markets. It said visitors often look for accommodations elsewhere because of limited local availability and inconsistent quality. “Additional quality lodging will help us better serve visitors and create more opportunities for local businesses,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jim Adams said in the release.
The Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved a special-use permit for Churchill Downs Inc. on Wednesday to move Rosie’s from the Dutch Inn in Collinsville to a standalone facility near the speedway. The proposed 24,000-square-foot venue would occupy about 6 acres north of the U.S. 58 bypass and east of Old Greensboro Road. No one spoke in opposition during the hearing.
The Ridgeway site would replace the Collinsville game room, which has 37 historical racing machines. Churchill Downs expects the new location to have 150 machines, along with simulcast racing and food and beverage service. Historical racing machines allow customers to wager on past horse races. Henry County voters approved pari-mutuel wagering and off-track betting in a 2004 referendum; Rosie’s has operated in Collinsville since 2021.
Company representatives told the BZA the new facility could employ about 100 people, including a security staff of 20 to 25. They described plans for ID checks, weapons detection, surveillance and security staff trained in de-escalation. Asked whether the game room would operate around the clock, a representative said the company would follow local rules and generally stay open as long as those rules allow.
The permit vote followed a board of supervisors resolution Tuesday supporting the facility’s relocation, development and operation. At the BZA hearing, Planning Director Lee Clark said the supervisors’ resolution was required for the venue to have the maximum allowed number of machines.
Churchill Downs has not announced a construction or opening date for the new game room. A company representative said design work is still underway and that a typical project takes about 18 months from groundbreaking to opening.
Hodges
A 26-year-old Moneta man is facing charges after being accused of firing gunshots in the direction of law enforcement officers during a standoff in Franklin County early Saturday.
Caleb Lane Hodges is charged with three counts of aggravated attempted murder on law enforcement, a felony use of a firearm charge, a felony count of maliciously shooting in an occupied building, two misdemeanor assault charges, a reckless handling of a firearm misdemeanor and obstruction of justice, according to the Franklin County Sheriff's Office.
The incident started just after 5 a.m. Saturday, when the county communications center received a 911 call that drew deputies to a home on Oldfield Road in Moneta. When the deputies arrived, they learned a man inside had been accused of assault by family members and had barricaded himself inside.
During the standoff, multiple shots were fired from inside the house in the direction of the law enforcement officers.
"Deputies established communication with the subject and, after approximately 30 minutes of attempts to resolve the situation peacefully, he was safely taken into custody," the sheriff's office news release stated.
Hodges is being held without bond.
