VaNews
March 13, 2020

Today's Sponsor:


** Dave Belote, DARE Strategies LLC
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Honored to support VPAP's mission to ensure transparency in all facets of politics in the Commonwealth.

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Top of the News


** VPAP Visual Rise of Ad-hoc Committees ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

When the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates deadlock on conflicting versions of the same bill, legislators rely upon six-member "conference committees" to work out the differences. The number of bills that ended up in conference has trended up during the last five years. This year, the last-minute crush of 187 bills in conference was one reason why the legislature went into overtime.
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** Virginia Democrats finish historic session under cloud of the coronavirus and economic uncertainty ([link removed])
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By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER AND LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Jubilant Democrats finished a historic legislative session Thursday under a cloud of uncertainty, with action on the state's $135 billion two-year spending plan vying for time with updates on the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency over the virus even before the General Assembly adjourned, saying the number of confirmed infections across the state had grown to 15, plus two Virginians in Texas.
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** Northam declares state of emergency in response to virus ([link removed])
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By SARAH RANKIN AND ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency Thursday in response to the coronavirus pandemic, as the state’s number of confirmed cases grew to 17. Northam advised all Virginians to avoid large gatherings “for the time being.” He said he was canceling all state conferences and large events for the next 30 days and urged local governments and private organizers to follow suit.
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** Colleges Across Virginia Close Due to Coronavirus ([link removed])
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By MEGAN PAULY, WCVE

Virginia colleges and universities are starting to advise students not to come back to campus after spring break because of concerns about spreading COVID-19. Earlier this week, Richmond mom Kirsten Gray was worried about her 19-year-old daughter going back to UVA. She was relieved when the university cancelled physical classes, this week, and moved them online. But, the gravity of the situation also sunk in. “I got a little dizzy with shock, being stunned, because I’m like, oh my God. This really is happening,” Gray said.
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** W&L, VMI Remain Open For Now ([link removed])
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By KATIE DOAR, News-Gazette

When the University of Virginia canceled its classes for the foreseeable future Wednesday, announcing that all study would be moved online, many began to believe that Washington and Lee would fall in line with the precaution.
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** Chesterfield teachers planned a mass protest Friday. Then, class was canceled ([link removed])
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By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Chesterfield teachers planning to simultaneously request a sick day in protest of comments the county administrator made about teacher pay are questioning the system’s decision to cancel classes Friday. The plan to file for a sick day Friday on Thursday afternoon was interrupted when Superintendent Merv Daugherty made Chesterfield the first school system in the region to cancel school in preparation for the coronavirus.
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** Coronavirus in Virginia: Mapping reported cases throughout the state ([link removed])
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By PETER COUTU, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Since Virginia’s first coronavirus case was reported in Virginia on March 7, COVID-19 has continued to spread throughout the state. The Virginian-Pilot is tracking the outbreak of this respiratory illness and will continue to update this map and table as the state health department announces new cases.
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The Full Report
47 articles, 25 publications

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** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** 17 coronavirus cases in Virginia; Northam declares state of emergency ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Virginia now has 17 presumptive cases of novel coronavirus, state officials said Thursday. That is nearly double what the state had reported Wednesday, prompting Gov. Ralph Northam to declare a state of emergency across the state. The majority of the state’s cases are in Northern Virginia


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** Assembly adopts budgets despite economic qualms; VRS seeks to reassure state retirees ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

The General Assembly adopted a pair of state budgets on Thursday despite Senate Republicans’ concerns about the potential economic fallout in Virginia from a plunge in the stock market amid the global coronavirus pandemic. State finance and retirement officials do not share those concerns, although they acknowledge economic uncertainty until the pandemic is brought under control.
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** State legislators clear budget logjam with extended deadline ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Virginia’s General Assembly on Thursday passed its two-year budget, which includes pay raises for public school teachers and nearly $80 million for colleges and universities that freeze tuition for the upcoming school year. The legislature approved the budget five days after it was scheduled to adjourn its 60-day session.
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** How new Democratic majorities put their mark on their first budget ([link removed])
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By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury

Virginia lawmakers closed out their legislative session for the year Thursday with votes to send a $135 billion budget to Gov. Ralph Northam. Here’s what’s in the two-year spending plan and a few of the ways new Democratic majorities put their stamp on Northam’s initial proposal.
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** Lawmakers approve sports betting except on Virginia colleges ([link removed])
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By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

In addition to casinos, the Virginia General Assembly approved legislation allowing sports betting, but the compromise bill forbids wagering on all Virginia college teams. The collegiate component was a sticking point for the two chambers, which disagreed on aspects of the bill.
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** A last minute Dominion bill dies a quiet death ([link removed])
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Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

If it’s last day of an already-extended General Assembly session, and there’s a resounding round of “aye”s when the Speaker of the House of Delegates asks what legislators feel about a motion to pass a bill by for the day (that is, postpone debate for a day), it’s a bad sign for a measure’s supporters. In the case of SB1096, that would be Dominion Energy.
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** Senator explains his monuments vote ([link removed])
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By DAVID HOLTZMAN, Central Virginian

Republican Sen. Bryce Reeves, who represents Louisa County in the Virginia General Assembly, explained his vote yesterday for a bill allowing localities to remove war monuments, including those honoring Confederate generals. Reeves said he opposed the bill, but was obliged to vote for it to preserve an amendment he inserted preventing local governments from destroying monuments.
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** Ex-legislator Onzlee Ware promoted to become Roanoke Circuit Court's first black judge ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

The General Assembly’s vote to promote Roanoke Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Onzlee Ware will make him the first black circuit court judge in the city. The election Thursday brought to an end a bitter contest that played out publicly among Roanoke Valley lawmakers and others in the legislature who favored different candidates.
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** Assembly leaves Court of Appeals seat unfilled ([link removed])
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By PETER VIETH, Virginia Lawyers Weekly (Subscription required for some articles)

The General Assembly ended its regular session March 12 by electing four additional trial court judges but ignoring a vacancy on the Court of Appeals. A March 12 resolution listing offices to be filled by legislative elections omitted the seat vacated in June by U.S. District Judge Rossie D. Alton Jr.
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** General Assembly divide means Court of Appeals, SCC judge picks will fall to Northam ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG AND NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury

Gov. Ralph Northam will have the chance to make interim appointments for two judicial seats after lawmakers failed to agree on nominees for vacant positions on the Virginia Court of Appeals and the State Corporation Commission. Democrats in the House and Senate said they simply couldn’t reach agreement between the two chambers on who to elect to a vacancy on the Court of Appeals and, as a result, no vote was taken.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** Chesterfield ex-candidate for House is charged in alleged 'revenge porn' case ([link removed])
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By MARK BOWES, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Sheila Bynum-Coleman, who was defeated in last year’s state elections by then-Virginia House Speaker Kirk Cox, has been indicted in Henrico County on two misdemeanor counts accusing her of disseminating nude photos of a woman at her workplace.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** Report: Immigrants contribute nearly $60B to Northern Virginia's economy ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Inside NOVA (Metered Paywall)

A new report on the impact of immigrants in Northern Virginia found they are injecting $57.7 billion into the local economy — accounting for more than a quarter of the region’s $224.9 billion gross domestic product.
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** DuPont's plant in Chesterfield ramps up Tyvek production to help combat coronavirus outbreak ([link removed])
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By JOHN REID BLACKWELL, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

While healthcare workers worldwide respond to the coronavirus outbreak, hundreds of employees at DuPont's Spruance manufacturing plant in Chesterfield County are working to ramp up production of a material that helps shield those front-line fighters from the virus.


** TRANSPORTATION
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** Metro preparing for possibility of scaling back service ([link removed])
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By KATHERINE SHAVER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Metro officials said Thursday they want to maintain full subway and bus service as long as possible but are preparing for the possibility that they would need to scale back service if too many employees call in sick because of the novel coronavirus.
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** Public transit has had a fitful past in Chesterfield. Its future is looking brighter ([link removed])
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By RICH GRISET, Chesterfield Observer

Driving along Jefferson Davis Highway just south of Chippenham Parkway, it’s easy to miss Bensley Stop 20. Amid the area’s patchwork of mobile homes, used car dealerships and Mexican restaurants, this tan and brown wooden structure stands as a relic of a bygone era. From 1902 to 1936, an electric streetcar line ran between Richmond and Petersburg along U.S. Route 1, and this shelter offered commuters refuge from the wind and rain. It may soon do so again.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** Colleges in Virginia to begin closing dorms ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Colleges in Virginia will begin closing residence halls over the next few days, as the spread of COVID-19 has led to movement away from in-person classes toward online instruction. Among the universities that will be closing their residence halls because of the new coronavirus are Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Richmond and Randolph-Macon College.
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** Two more Longwood students quarantined ([link removed])
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By ROGER WATSON, Farmville Herald (Paywall)

Two students who shared living space with the Longwood student who received a presumptive positive coronavirus test result have been quarantined. A release from the Piedmont Health District of the Virginia Department of Health said the students were quarantined Wednesday.
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** Economic Disruption Expected If Students Stay Out Of Town ([link removed])
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By IAN MUNRO, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Many local business operations could be hampered by James Madison University students not returning from spring break for classes, according to local members of the business community. On Wednesday, both JMU and Bridgewater College announced they would be moving classes online till early April to help reduce the risk of COVID-19 to their student bodies.
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** 'Campus is going to be like a ghost town': Students prep for disruption ([link removed])
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By HENRI GENDREAU, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Yipin Zhou gathered a dozen students at an industrial warehouse here late Wednesday night. For months, the Virginia Tech engineering students have been working on a robot for a global competition set to take place in China in August.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Northern Virginia now reports six positive coronavirus cases ([link removed])
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By ANGELA WOOLSEY AND GREGG MACDONALD, Fairfax Times

The novel coronavirus that has infected more than 100,000 people and disrupted economies around the world has now been detected in Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun, Prince William and Spotsylvania Counties. Virginia health officials say that six patients have tested positive for the respiratory virus officially known as COVID-19 as of Mar. 10, all of them residents of the state’s northern region.
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** 2 new coronavirus cases confirmed on the Peninsula ([link removed])
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By JOSH REYES AND JESSICA NOLTE, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The Peninsula Health District confirmed Thursday the first two cases of coronavirus on the Peninsula, according to a news release. The Virginia Department of Health website states the cases are in Williamsburg. But Williamsburg city spokeswoman Lee Ann Hartmann clarified that the people live in the greater Williamsburg area, which includes three other counties.
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** Coronavirus in Hampton Roads: New cases confirmed, schools to close ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The statewide tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 17, with two new cases in the Hampton Roads area, according to the Virginia Department of Health. The Virginian-Pilot previously reported this week about a husband and wife in Virginia Beach who tested positive for COVID-19. So far test results for 117 Virginia patients have come back negative for the respiratory illness.
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** Coronavirus ‘presumptive positive’ cases reported in Williamsburg ([link removed])
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By ALEXA DOIRON, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)

Two residents in the Peninsula Health District have tested presumptive positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19) on Thursday, according to the Virginia Department of Health. The two cases are in Williamsburg, from VDH indicated. . . . These are the first two presumptive positive cases in the Peninsula Health District and they are believed to be related to international travel as opposed to local community spread.
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** Presumptive positive coronavirus test in Harrisonburg ([link removed])
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By BRAD ZINN, News Leader (Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)

A presumptive positive coronavirus test has been confirmed by the Virginia Department of Health in the Harrisonburg area, according to an announcement by the city on its website.
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** Harrisonburg Resident Tests Positive For Coronavirus ([link removed])
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By IAN MUNRO, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Harrisonburg has its first presumptive case of COVID-19. Michael Parks, Harrisonburg’s director of communications, said the city was notified about the positive test around 5 p.m. Thursday. The patient is a city resident in their 60s and is doing well in isolation, according to a press release from the Central Shenandoah Health District.
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** Maryland, Loudoun & Fairfax counties close their schools ([link removed])
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By DONNA ST. GEORGE, HANNAH NATANSON AND JOE HEIM, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Breaking: Fairfax County Public Schools, one of the nation’s largest school systems, will close Friday, officials announced late Thursday night. Superintendent Scott Brabrand said administrators had been flooded with “genuine concerns” from parents who wanted the school system to shutter. The school district — which serves 188,000 students in Northern Virginia — had previously vowed to stay open...
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** Prince William schools closed to students Monday and Tuesday for cleaning, prep for possible 'extended closure' ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Prince William Times

Prince William County schools will close to students on Monday and Tuesday, March 16 and 17 to allow staff to prepare for a possible "extended closure" and to disinfect schools and school buses, Superintendent Steven Walts announced Thursday.
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** Richmond, Henrico schools to close for at least two weeks ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Richmond-area schools are closing in response to the spread of the coronavirus in Virginia. Richmond Public Schools and Henrico County Public Schools are closing for at least two weeks, school leaders in both districts announced Thursday.
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** Chesterfield County closing schools to students on Friday ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Chesterfield County schools are closed to students on Friday, the school division announced Thursday morning in response to the spread of the coronavirus in Virginia.
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** Virginia Beach, Norfolk schools will close to students Monday while staffs make coronavirus plans ([link removed])
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By SARA GREGORY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Virginia Beach and Norfolk schools are closing to students Monday to give teachers time to make plans in the event more extensive school closures are needed to stop the spread of coronavirus.
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** Norfolk closes all facilities until March 30 ([link removed])
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By SALEEN MARTIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

All City of Norfolk facilities, including recreational centers, libraries, MacArthur Memorial, Nauticus and the Virginia Zoo, will be closed to the public from March 16 to March 30, according to a city news release.
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** Area Schools Cancel Class For Today ([link removed])
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By JESSICA WETZLER AND JIM SACCO, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Hours after the Virginia Department of Health confirmed a presumptive positive test of COVID-19 in Harrisonburg on Thursday, the city and Rockingham County public school systems canceled today’s classes to develop a plan for at-home learning.
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** Yellow tent set up outside ER for virus testing ([link removed])
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By ALEXA MASSEY, Farmville Herald (Paywall)

Centra Southside Community Hospital Community Engagement and Relations representative Kerry Mossler said Thursday afternoon that a large yellow tent next to the hospital’s emergency room entrance may be used for coronavirus testing should the need arise.
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** Arlington Youth Baseball, Softball Leagues ‘Suspended Indefinitely’ ([link removed])
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ArlNow

Arlington’s youth baseball and softball leagues, much like the major professional sports leagues, are going on an immediate hiatus. “In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the diamond sports leagues in Arlington have suspended indefinitely all activities including practices, games, coaching clinics, and team meetings until further notice,” the local leagues said in a statement sent to ARLnow.
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** Services cancelled at Episcopal churches ([link removed])
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By SHERRY HAMILTON, Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal

Episcopal churches in Gloucester and Mathews have cancelled on-site worship services for the next two weeks in response to a directive from the Diocese of Virginia concerning the Coronavirus outbreak. In a letter to parishes across the state, Bishop Susan E. Goff said that churches could remain open and church staff could go to work, but that there would be no physical gatherings for worship.
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** Maple Festival Postponned ([link removed])
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Highland Recorder (Subscription required)

The Highland County Chamber of Commerce has made the decision to officially postpone both weekends of the 62nd Highland County Maple Festival, originally scheduled for March 14-15 and 21-22, until further notice due to safety considerations regarding the coronavirus.


** LOCAL
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** Loudoun Renews Car Tax Relief; State Offset Falls Further Behind ([link removed])
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Loudoun Now

County supervisors have unanimously approved another year of property tax relief on personal use vehicles, in a program that counts for less each year as the state falls farther behind on its own tax relief program.
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** Cathy’s Camp to be shut down by March 31, displacing homeless ([link removed])
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By JEREMY M. LAZARUS, Richmond Free Press

Complete closure and removal. That’s what’s ahead for Cathy’s Camp, the tent community that sprang up in recent months adjacent to the city’s winter overflow shelter and across the street from the Richmond Justice Center. Despite failing to identify new resources or shelter space, a homeless task force of public and private service providers rolled out a plan to shut down the camp by the end of March.
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** Town buys Times building ([link removed])
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By DIANA MCFARLAND, Smithfield Times (Paywall)

The Town of Smithfield is the new owner of The Smithfield Times building and property at 228 Main St. The deal with John and Anne Edwards closed Thursday, March 5, with a purchase price of $425,000, according to interim Smithfield Town Manager Sanford “Sandy” Wanner.
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** Monacans' supporters express outrage at water project meeting ([link removed])
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By DAVID HOLTZMAN, Central Virginian

Some 100 residents of Louisa, Charlottesville, Richmond and surrounding areas attended the James River Water Authority meeting on March 11 at Spring Creek Sports Club to urge the authority to change the location of a planned pump station and water pipeline. When the authority voted to forward a recommendation that the water project stay at the current site, many in the audience began yelling "Shame!" and interrupted Chairman D.D. Watson several times before the meeting adjourned.
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** Carilion asks people to not use emergency room when urgent care will do ([link removed])
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By LUANNE RIFE, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

The Virginia Department of Health as of Thursday evening had not announced any cases of coronavirus in the state’s southwest region, but that hasn’t kept people from speculating and sharing rumors. People are sick, mostly from the flu, and are being tested for the coronavirus. Labs take a day or two to provide the results, and another 24 hours or so can pass before the Health Department is confident enough to share the information with the public, said spokesman Bobby Parker.
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** Casino operator selection expected to come in April, Danville mayor says ([link removed])
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By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

Danville officials will hold a work session March 31 to discuss proposals from companies that want to bring a casino to the city. “Hopefully, after that meeting we’ll make some sort of decision,” Mayor Alonzo Jones said Thursday, adding the March 31 discussion will take place during closed session.
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** Militia callout announced ([link removed])
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By ALEXA MASSEY, Farmville Herald (Paywall)

A group of Buckingham County gun rights activists is making plans to hold a meeting April 25 for those interested in starting a county special task and response (STAR) team/militia. Flyers for the group, Patriots of Buckingham, are circulating around the county, encouraging all able-bodied citizens to muster.

Today's Sponsor:


** Dave Belote, DARE Strategies LLC
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Honored to support VPAP's mission to ensure transparency in all facets of politics in the Commonwealth.


** EDITORIALS
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** Reaction to gun control: More guns ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam and the new Democratic majority in the General Assembly should have brushed up on their physics, in particular Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion (“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”) before proposing and then passing a raft of controversial gun-control legislation aimed at reducing the number of firearms in Virginia. So far, the reaction has been a dramatic increase in the number of Virginians seeking to purchase guns.


** OP-ED
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** Ali & Thompson: Educators in Virginia need collective bargaining ([link removed])
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By SAHAR ALI & DURANN THOMPSON, published in Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

As educators in Virginia’s public schools, we were disheartened to read Chris Braunlich’s Feb. 16 op-ed [“A bad lesson about collective bargaining in schools”], which suggested that giving teachers a voice on the job through collective bargaining would somehow harm students of color. Virginia is one of only three states to ban all its public sector workers from the freedom to collectively bargain

Sahar Ali is an instructional assistant and Durann Thompson is an elementary school teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools.
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** LeMunyon: Nonpartisan redistrictin ([link removed])
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By JIM LEMUNYON, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

The passage of the constitutional amendment to establish a nonpartisan commission for drawing state legislative and congressional district lines was a major achievement of the 2020 Virginia General Assembly session. Voters will have the final say in November, many voting to ensure that “voters can pick their legislators, and not the other way around,” a phrase often used by advocates.

Jim LeMunyon represented portions of Fairfax and Loudoun counties in the House of Delegates from 2010 to 2018.


** THE FRIDAY READ
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** A small town takes a big hit ([link removed])
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By KEVIN WILLIAMS, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

CYNTHIANA, Ky. — On a typical weekday, the restaurants that are just a quick walk from the white-columned county courthouse at the center of town would be serving a lively lunch crowd. But the booths are empty this week, the bar stools vacant. The culprit is the novel coronavirus — a single case on Friday, followed quickly by four more. Almost overnight, they wiped out business here and made Harrison County an unlikely epicenter for the outbreak in Kentucky.
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