VaNews July 1, 2019
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Read Online ([link removed]) 10 Most Clicked ([link removed])


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** WHY FACIAL RECOGNITION EXPERTS COULDN’T SAY WHO WAS IN NORTHAM YEARBOOK PHOTO ([link removed])
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By ELISHA SAUERS AND MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A facial-recognition study that couldn’t determine who was in the racist photo on future Gov. Ralph Northam’s 1984 yearbook page drew a two-sentence mention in a 36-page report commissioned by Eastern Virginia Medical School. But details of that study — including who conducted it — have not been made public until now.


** FEDERAL JUDGE WON'T DISMISS DRIVER'S LICENSE SUIT ([link removed])
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By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A federal judge Friday denied a request to dismiss a class-action lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Virginia’s law that automatically suspends the driver’s licenses of persons who cannot afford to pay court costs and fines.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** IRANIAN-AMERICAN SENATE CANDIDATE IN VIRGINIA WAS TARGETED BY FOREIGN TWITTER ACCOUNTS ([link removed])
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By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Foreign Twitter accounts attacked a Democratic candidate who ran in a primary for state Senate in Northern Virginia in what she said was an aggressive campaign to misrepresent her views on Iran. Yasmine Taeb, the first Muslim woman elected to the Democratic National Committee, lost a close primary race June 11 to Senate Minority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, in Senate District 35, which includes parts of Fairfax County, Alexandria and Falls Church.


** PAPERWORK GLITCH LEAVES FREITAS SCRAMBLING TO GET ON BALLOT ([link removed])
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By HILARY HOLLADAY, Culpeper Star Exponent (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, is in the midst of a re-election campaign in Virginia’s 30th House District, but it turns out the two-term state delegate’s name is not certified to appear on the ballot Nov. 5. Culpeper County’s general registrar and director of elections, James Clements, made the discovery Wednesday.


** BOARD OF ELECTIONS ALLOWS KILGORE ON BALLOT ([link removed])
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By MECHELLE HANKERSON, Virginia Mercury

One of the most senior Republicans in the House of Delegates will appear on the ballot as the official party nominee even though his nominating paperwork didn’t make it to the Department of Elections by the required deadline. Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, was the winner of a local party convention, which should have allowed him to be listed on the ballot as the official Republican nominee.


** STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS CERTIFY SCOTT WYATT AS GOP NOMINEE IN VIRGINIA'S 97TH HOUSE RACE ([link removed])
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By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

State election officials on Friday sanctioned Hanover Supervisor Scott Wyatt as the Republican nominee for the 97th House district anchored in Hanover. The decision by the board on Friday dealt a critical blow to efforts by Republican Del. Chris Peace to hold onto his seat through a heated nomination fight months in the making.


** AS DEMOCRATIC BASE BECOMES MORE DIVERSE, PARTY TRIES TO DIVERSIFY CAMPAIGN WORKERS ([link removed])
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By PATRICIA SULLIVAN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

When Adam Ebbin, the first openly gay Virginia state lawmaker, arrived in Richmond 16 years ago, he looked around at the hundreds of staffers working in the Capitol and realized he didn’t know a single one who was gay. Danica Roem, in contrast, says she was inundated with volunteers from the LGBTQ community when she ran for the House of Delegates in 2017. Her openness about her own transgender identity, Roem says, made those individuals feel that her campaign would be a “safe” place to work.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** VIRGINIA’S MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROGRAM CLOUDED BY CONFUSION ([link removed])
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By BEN PAVIOUR, WCVE

Virginia’s first five medical marijuana facilities are set to open by the end of the year, but only 600 people have registered for the program so far. Advocates are reporting confusion about how the program works. Madison Davis is one of those early signups. Davis was five years old when she was diagnosed with a rare type of brain cancer called ependymoma. Her parents turned to cannabis as a way to help prevent Madison from having seizures.


** VIRGINIA TAKES GAMBLE, AS STUDY FOCUSES ON POTENTIAL CASINOS IN PARTS, BUT NOT ALL, OF STATE ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ AND GRAHAM MOOMAW, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The most potentially far-reaching state law that takes effect on Monday creates a legislative study with big stakes for high rollers who are pushing state lawmakers to allow casino gambling in almost every region of Virginia, including the Richmond area. The scope of the study by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission now includes Northern Virginia, in addition to Richmond and four other cities specified in the new law, according to commission staff.


** COMMEMORATING 1619 ANNIVERSARY OF MILESTONES WILL COST VIRGINIA TAXPAYERS $23 MILLION ([link removed])
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By LISA VERNON SPARKS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The year 1619 stands out as a watershed moment in Virginia’s history, an epoch marked by many first milestones. Commemorating those milestones is costly — roughly $23 million from the state alone — paid with the strength of taxpayer might.


** NEW VIRGINIA LAWS GO INTO EFFECT MONDAY ([link removed])
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By ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press

Thousands of Virginians will be able to get their driver’s licenses back, bars will be able to promote their happy hour specials and big-dollar lottery winners will be able to keep their identities secret under a host of new laws going into effect on July 1. One of the biggest items that passed during the legislative session earlier this year was a measure that ends the suspension of driver’s licenses of people with unpaid court debt.


** NEW LAWS STEER CHANGES FOR DRINKS, DRUGS, WAGES ([link removed])
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By LAURA VOZZELLA AND OVETTA WIGGINS, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Virginians will have an easier time hanging on to their driver’s licenses, having children with donated embryos and finding the best happy-hour drink deals come Monday, as a host of new laws take effect in the commonwealth.


** HUNDREDS OF NEW VIRGINIA LAWS TAKE EFFECT MONDAY ([link removed])
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By MARIE ALBIGES AND DAVE RESS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Starting Monday, if you find a crow, feral swine or coyote in your car on your property in Virginia, you’re legally allowed to take it out or shoot it. That’s just one of nearly 1,900 bills passed during the General Assembly’s regular session this spring.


** NEW LAWS: INTERSTATE 81 IMPROVEMENT PLAN, DRIVER'S LICENSE SUSPENSIONS AND HAPPY HOUR ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The journey featured some twists and turns, but on Monday a new law will go into effect setting in motion the process of making upgrades to Interstate 81. A transportation package will raise $280 million a year, with about $150 million going toward I-81 improvements. The rest of the money will go toward transportation infrastructure needs elsewhere in the state.


** HOW WILL VIRGINIA'S NEW LAWS AFFECT YOU? ([link removed])
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By MEL LEONOR & MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Hundreds of laws that the General Assembly passed this year go into effect Monday, impacting Virginians’ transportation, education, taxes and much more. In the meantime, the state kicks off its new budget year, with raises for state employees and an official online sales tax. Here is your guide to the highlights of how the new laws could affect you:


** NUMBER OF NEW LAWS TAKE EFFECT IN VA., TENN., ON MONDAY ([link removed])
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By TIM DODSON, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

A number of new statutes are set to take effect in Virginia and Tennessee on Monday, July 1. Each state has new laws covering a range of topics, from how to classify electric scooters in Tennessee to happy hour advertising in Virginia.


** NEW LAWS TAKE EFFECT TODAY ([link removed])
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By PETE DELEA, Daily News Record (Subscription Required)

Beginning today, drivers traveling through construction work zones in Virginia must put their cellphones down. It is among dozens of pieces of legislation going into effect today after being approved by the General Assembly earlier this year. While some bills would have prohibited drivers from using hand-held devices altogether, lawmakers opted for a more limited statute.


** CIGARETTE SALES AND GAS TAXES AMONG NEW LAWS TAKING EFFECT MONDAY ([link removed])
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By ONOFRIO CASTIGLIA, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

New laws taking effect Monday in Virginia include raising the age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 and raising gasoline taxes about 7 cents per gallon along the Interstate 81 corridor to pay for improvements to the highway. Dozens of new laws were passed by the General Assembly during the legislative session earlier this year and signed by Gov. Ralph Northam when required. The new laws include measures requiring access to health insurance for people on the autism spectrum


** CONGRESS
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** BLUNT TALK FROM TIM KAINE ON WAR POWERS ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Years of struggling to get Congress to live up to its responsibility under the Constitution to vote on sending American troops into harm’s way can lead to some blunt talk. So, Sen. Tim Kaine was pretty plain-spoken Friday as he headed into the Capitol to vote on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act — “the biggest thing I work on” — that would say Congress must authorize military action in Iran before any American service men and women go to Iran.


** HOUSE VOTES TO HIKE CHESAPEAKE BAY CLEANUP, BUT SENATE SUPPORT UNCERTAIN ([link removed])
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By TAMARA DIETRICH, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Chesapeake Bay cleanup would get a boost under a measure that just passed the U.S. House of Representatives, but its fate remains uncertain in the Senate. The HR 3055 Interior Appropriations bill hikes federal funding to curb bay pollution from $73 million to $85 million for fiscal year 2020, much of which would go to Virginia localities.


** NEAR-RECORD DEAD ZONES FORECAST FOR CHESAPEAKE BAY ([link removed])
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By TAMARA DIETRICH, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Heavy rains since last fall have led forecasters to predict near-record dead zones this summer in the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico — which could affect crab and oyster populations. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects the low-oxygen dead zone in the Chesapeake will grow to 2.1 cubic miles and the no-oxygen dead zone up to 0.63 cubic miles, the fourth-largest volume of the past two decades.


** SPANBERGER IS AMONG GROUP OF 7 FRESHMAN LAWMAKERS TACKLING ELECTION SECURITY ([link removed])
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By TAMI ABDOLLAH, Associated Press

For the past eight weeks, seven freshman members of Congress have quietly met each Monday in a spare House conference room to tackle a problem they feel their more senior colleagues haven't done enough to address: election security. The six Democrats and one Republican call themselves Task Force Sentry,


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** THESE GIANT CRANES SHOW WHY THE NEXT FIGHT IN THE U.S.-CHINA TRADE WAR COULD BE SO DAMAGING ([link removed])
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By DAVID J. LYNCH, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Perched in the cab of a crane roughly 15 stories above the ground, Bobby Rascoe toggled a black joystick and zoomed out over the Elizabeth River and the East Coast’s third-largest port. These towering Chinese cranes are the only models that can reach far enough and high enough to handle the world’s largest seagoing cargo carriers.


** ALTRIA CEO: FEDERAL LEGALIZATION FOR CANNABIS 'PROBABLY INEVITABLE' ([link removed])
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By JOHN REID BLACKWELL, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

In just one year at the helm of the nation’s largest tobacco company, Howard A. Willard III has led Altria Group Inc. as the company has made some of its biggest-ever bets on the future of the industry.


** VIRGINIA'S SMOKING AGE IS CHANGING FROM 18 TO 21 WITH ALTRIA'S SUPPORT ([link removed])
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By GRAHAM MOOMAW, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

When Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment was presenting his bill to raise Virginia’s smoking age from 18 to 21, he delegated some of his time to a company he called “one of our most responsible corporate citizens.” Jennifer Hunter, Altria Group Inc.’s senior vice president for communications and corporate citizenship, took the podium at the January General Assembly hearing to explain why the Henrico County-based tobacco giant was willing to give up some of its customers.


** LAWSUIT AIMED AT PORTION OF HUNTINGTON INGALLS PENSION ([link removed])
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By HUGH LESSIG, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A federal lawsuit alleges Huntington Ingalls underpays pension benefits to some retired shipbuilders by using outdated information, the latest in a string of similar court challenges against major U.S. companies....HII uses 1971 mortality tables to determine benefits, along with interest rates, the complaint states. That older mortality table doesn’t take into account the longer lifespans of today, and it also assumes 90 percent of employees are male.


** NEW FRANKLIN PLANT TO GRIND VIRGINIA CORN TO BE TURNED INTO PLYWOOD GLUE ([link removed])
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By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Governor Ralph Northam announced Friday that M&M Milling, a company with operations in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, would open its first East Coast plant in Franklin with a promise to spend at least $2.3 million on Virginia-grown corn. The company plans to buy the corn, about 575,000 bushels, within three years and grind it down to use in materials that make plywood glue.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** VIRGINIA LAUNCHES TEACHING DEGREES AT COLLEGES IN EFFORT TO CURTAIL TEACHER SHORTAGE ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia is trying to make it easier to become a teacher. The state is launching 53 new teacher preparation programs and 25 new degrees, by Gov. Ralph Northam announced last week, that will let people become teachers after getting an education degree in four years.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** PIPELINE PROTESTER REMOVED FROM PERCH ATOP MVP EXCAVATOR ([link removed])
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By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The person clinging to an excavator parked in the construction zone of the Mountain Valley Pipeline was barely visible. A crowd of fellow protesters, blocked from getting any closer to the scene, stood at the edge of Bradshaw Road, yelling, chanting and using megaphones to be heard.


** RAM CLINIC SERVES OVER 1,100 PEOPLE IN WISE, VA. ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, WJHL

Over 1,100 people were able to take full advantage of health services offered at the Wise County Fairgrounds this weekend. The Remote Area Medical (RAM) Clinic lasted three days in the region, and officials have released the final results from the event.


** RAM CLINIC IN WISE TOPS 1,000 PATIENTS SATURDAY ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Kingsport Times News

Friday evening rains turned to a sunny Saturday for the Remote Area Medical clinic at the Wise County Fairgrounds. Paula Hill, clinical director for event co-sponsor The Health Wagon, said Saturday’s turnout topped 1,000 patients.


** ELK REINTRODUCTION IGNITES BACKLASH IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA ([link removed])
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By MASON ADAMS, Virginia Mercury

For most people, spotting an elk in the wild sparks excitement and awe. That’s especially so in southwestern Virginia, where elk have only recently been reintroduced after an absence of more than 150 years. For farmers and cattlemen, however, the sight of elk inspires something else: fear and dread.


** WHITE SUPREMACIST JAMES FIELDS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR DEADLY CAR ATTACK IN CHARLOTTESVILLE ([link removed])
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By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press

An avowed white supremacist who deliberately drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a young woman and injuring dozens, apologized to his victims Friday before being sentenced to life in prison on federal hate crime charges. James Alex Fields Jr., of Maumee, Ohio, had pleaded guilty in March to 29 of 30 hate crimes in connection with the 2017 attack that killed Heather Heyer and injured more than two dozen others.


** LOCAL
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** REPORT: RACIAL DISPARITIES PERSIST ON TEST SCORES, HIRING AND DISCIPLINE IN VIRGINIA’S LARGEST SCHOOL SYSTEM ([link removed])
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By DEBBIE TRUONG, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Black and Hispanic students in Virginia’s largest school system still lag behind white and Asian classmates on state reading and math tests, despite efforts in Fairfax County Public Schools to narrow those achievement gaps.


** PETERSBURG'S HOMICIDE RATE WAS THE HIGHEST IN VA. LAST YEAR ([link removed])
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By MARK BOWES, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

When police found Tahjmere Hopkins’ bloodied, naked body on a front porch in southeast Petersburg last year, the 22-year-old father was partially tied by his hands and feet to a metal chair. He had been abducted, beaten, tortured and shot multiple times, including in the head....Hopkins was one of 17 people killed last year in Petersburg, a record for this city of 32,000 people.


** INDEPENDENT REVIEWS ARE COMMON AFTER MASS SHOOTINGS. VIRGINIA BEACH MAY SOON APPROVE ITS OWN. ([link removed])
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By PETER COUTU AND ALISSA SKELTON, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A month ago, Jason Nixon lost his wife, Kate, in the city’s deadliest mass shooting. Debbie Borato lost her only sister, Missy Langer. Cassandra "DD" Hardy and Denise Smallwood lost their brother, Josh Hardy. All of them simply want to know why. They want answers.


** CITY COUNCIL BACKS NORTHAM PROPOSAL TO GIVE LOCALITIES MORE SAY ON GUNS ([link removed])
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By HAILEY BULLIS, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

After some debate, the Fredericksburg City Council has voted to support Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposal to give local governments more say in gun rules and regulations. At its meeting Tuesday, the council voted 4–2 to approve a legislative agenda for the July 9 special session called by Northam after the mass shooting at Virginia Beach in late May to consider a series of gun-control measures the governor has proposed.


** SUPERVISOR CRITICAL OF SPOTSYLVANIA'S USE OF BONDS FOR ROAD WORK ([link removed])
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By SCOTT SHENK, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

In 2014, Spotsylvania voters approved a referendum allowing the county to issue public bonds to help pay for transportation, schools and public safety projects. The transportation bond totaled $63.3 million. The referendum allowed for the money to be spent on a variety of projects to be chosen by county leaders, but also included a list of areas to focus on for improvements. So far, $6.2 million has been used,


** EDITORIALS
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** PROGRESS STALLED ON MENTAL HEALTH REFORM ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The Virginia General Assembly in 2017 approved an ambitious package of reforms intended to improve the delivery of mental health services, expand the array of programs available and bolster access to care. The law, known as STEP-VA, asked a lot of community services boards, the 40 local organizations charged with administering mental health services.


** AT REGIONAL JAIL, INMATE HEALTH STILL AT RISK ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

It's been nearly four years since officers at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail found 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell unresponsive in his cell, the walls smeared with feces and the flood soaked in urine. Mitchell, who was being held for allegedly taking $5 worth of snacks from a local convenience store, had a history of mental illness and should have been at Eastern State Hospital for a court-ordered psychological evaluation.


** A WAVE OF CASH HEADED FOR VIRGINIA ELECTIONS ([link removed])
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News & Advance Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

In just over four months, on Nov. 5, Virginians will head to the polls to select their representatives in the General Assembly with all 40 seats in the state Senate and all 100 in the House of Delegates up for grabs. It’s going to be a battle royale for control of the Assembly in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election with the once-every-10-years redistricting following in 2021.


** URANIUM RULING GOOD FOR VIRGINIA ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 17 ruling that Virginia may ban uranium mining in the state is a win not only for Pittsylvania County but also for the whole commonwealth.


** THIS SWAMP IS WORTH SAVING ([link removed])
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Daily Press Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Norfolk Southern must protect the Great Dismal Swamp as it recovers from Tuesday’s coal spill Workers continue to remove nearly 3,600 tons of coal that spilled Tuesday in the Great Dismal Swamp after a train derailed along a remote section of track.


** TOUGH CALL, BUT UNDERSTANDABLE, ON IMMIGRATION ([link removed])
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Daily Progress Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

We believe in law and order — including proper security at our national borders. We also believe in due process of law — including proper treatment of immigrants, both those legally entering the country and those accused of entering illegally. Given the documented deficiencies in today’s immigration system — not to mention outright cruelty to children — we understand why Charlottesville law enforcement and prosecutor’s offices would decline to join any federal immigration crackdown.


** BOTH PARTIES PLAY POLITICAL GAMES ([link removed])
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Daily Progress Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Earlier this month, Democrats took offense at a Republican proposal to use the upcoming special General Assembly session on gun control to also look at sexual assault allegations against Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax. Affronted Democrats were shocked — shocked! — at the suggestion, and said they wouldn’t stoop to such “political games.”


** COLUMNISTS
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** SCHAPIRO: A HIGH COURT RULING TOO LATE TO HELP VIRGINIA REPUBLICANS ([link removed])
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By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

In lawsuits they didn’t initiate, Virginia Republicans got from the U.S. Supreme Court the decision on partisan gerrymandering they wanted. It was too late to do any good. That doesn’t mean it won’t — downrange.


** OP-ED
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** MORSE: A SPECIAL SESSION, WITH EYES ON NOVEMBER ([link removed])
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By GORDON C. MORSE, Published in the Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Theories abound over what may happen in the fall legislative elections, when the occupants of all 140 General Assembly seats will be determined. It’s close, you know. Following the 2017 election, only a favorable blind drawing kept Republican Del. David Yancey in his Peninsula seat (he hired the smarter lawyer in the showdown) and allowed Republicans to retain control of the House.

Gordon C. Morse wrote editorials for the Daily Press and The Pilot in the 1980s. He later wrote speeches for Gov. Gerald L. Baliles, then worked for corporate and philanthropic organizations


** SHAH: FIX VIRGINIA’S CORRUPTION PROBLEM ([link removed])
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By SHRUTI SHAH, Published in the Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

On Nov. 5, Virginians will head to the polls to elect members of the General Assembly. Whoever voters send to Richmond in this year’s elections should make anti-corruption and government transparency a priority. This issue matters to me as a Virginia voter, and I am not alone.

Shruti Shah is president and chief executive of the Coalition for Integrity, which promotes government transparency and accountability.


** GILMORE & TAYLOR: CHARGING TOWARD ENERGY REFORM IN VIRGINIA ([link removed])
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By BRENNAN GILMORE & LYNN TAYLOR, Published in the Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

One of us was chief of staff for Tom Perriello and runs an environmental nonprofit. The other worked for the Koch brothers and facilitates a monthly meeting of Virginia conservative and libertarian activists. Needless to say, we do not exactly subscribe to the same political philosophies. Here’s where we do agree: The energy sector in Virginia is broken.

Brennan Gilmore is executive director of Clean Virginia. Lynn Taylor is president and co-founder of the Virginia Institute for Public Policy. They are members of the nonpartisan Virginia Energy Reform Coalition.


** JENG: CONSIDER HEALTH EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ([link removed])
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By ANNA JENG, Published in the Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Climate change is all around us, with undeniable evidence supporting this reality and its consequences. Here in Hampton Roads, the main effects include coastal flooding, more frequent storm events and salt-water intrusion. While coastal flooding and sea level rise have gained increasing attention and concern, the health impacts and threats from climate change have received less attention and have gone largely unaddressed.

Anna Jeng, Sc.D. is a member of the Virginia Board of Health and a professor in the School of Community and Environmental Health at Old Dominion University.


** ROSS: HOW TRUMP ECONOMY HELPS WESTERN VIRGINIA ([link removed])
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By WILBUR ROSS, Published in the Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The Roanoke Times posed several thoughtful questions on rural America on the occasion of my official visit June 14 (“4 questions for Secretary Ross.”) The Trump Administration is doing far more for areas like Roanoke than any of its recent predecessors.

Ross is the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.


** HANER: DOMINION'S SOUTHWEST PROJECT IS BAD FOR ITS CUSTOMERS ([link removed])
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By STEPHEN D. HANER, Published in the Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Speaking on behalf of my fellow Dominion Energy Virginia customers, and to my fellow Virginians in Southwest Virginia not paying that utility’s bills, I have a simple question: Can’t we find an easier and less expensive way for you to shake us down? None of us here see any need for a white elephant pumped storage hydroelectric plant in Tazewell County, more than a hundred miles south and west of where most Dominion customers live and work.

Haner is a former Roanoke Times staff writer who has now retired from working as a lobbyist in Richmond, often on issues related to energy regulation.


** LIMPERT: PIPELINE COATING IS DANGEROUS ([link removed])
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By WILLIAM LIMPERT, Published in the Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

I much appreciate Laurence Hammack’s article regarding the horrific life-changing impacts to residents along the Mountain Valley Pipeline (“Mountain Valley Pipeline will take longer and cost more to complete, company says,” June 17 news story.) We landowners along the Atlantic Coast Pipeline stand in solidarity with them

Limpert is a retired environmental regulator with an emphasis in water pollution and particularly pollution from construction projects


** PLAUGHER: VIRGINIA IS LEADING ON PASSENGER RAIL. IT NEEDS CONGRESS’ HELP. ([link removed])
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By DANNY PLAUGHER, Published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

While Indiana (Hoosier service) and Pennsylvania (Keystone and Pennsylvanian services) are cutting or eliminating their Amtrak regional trains, Virginia is doubling down on better rail service. On June 19, the Commonwealth Transportation Board voted to approve the state’s Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program (SYIP). Included in the SYIP was the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation’s (DRPT) request of $774 million in projects to sustain, improve and expand our Amtrak passenger rail network.

Danny Plaugher is executive director of Virginians for High Speed Rail
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