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The Virginia Public Access Project
The Governor's self-quarantine recommendation for senior citizens could dampen turnout in municipal elections set for May 5 across Virginia. In these small-turnout city and town elections, people 65 or older typically represent nearly half of voters. The Virginia Department of Elections has issued guidance that anyone can vote absentee if they believe coming to the polls in person on May 5 would jeopardize their health.
By PETER COUTU, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
As health officials reported 67 new coronavirus cases in Virginia — bringing the total to 219, the biggest jump yet — Gov. Ralph Northam said the state is very much still in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak and residents should prepare for it to last months, not weeks. He announced no new restrictions on residents or business Sunday but again urged everyone to stay at home as much as possible because how quickly the virus spreads is “up to you and me and every single Virginian.”
By JOHN REID BLACKWELL, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Solid economic data is hard to come by so far about the severity and extent of damage to Virginia’s economy from the coronavirus outbreak, but anecdotal reports coming to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond do indicate a sudden and major hit to employment especially for businesses such as restaurants and hotels.
By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury
Lindsey Mace did exactly what she was supposed to do when she started feeling sick last week. She called her doctor at Richmond Family Practice and listed her symptoms: run-down and tired, with a lot of pressure in her chest and head. “It was at the point where I felt tired just taking the dog out,” Mace said.
By MATTHEW DELANEY, WTOP
Playgrounds, recreation centers and other outdoor areas have been shut down by the City of Alexandria in order to slow the spread of coronavirus, the city announced Saturday afternoon. The closures, announced in conjunction with Alexandria City Public Schools, target basketball and tennis courts, fenced-in fields and dog parks.
By MICHAEL O'CONNELL, Patch.com
Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey called the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Proposal County Manager Mark Schwartz submitted in February "no longer very relevant" in light of the current coronavirus crisis. "We have temporarily suspended budget work sessions, while the manager and our management and finance staff work through substantial and as yet unclear changes to both projected revenues and projected expenditures," Garvey said, at a Saturday morning Board meeting.
By THERESA VARGAS, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Only three months ago, Anna Epstein sat in a theater with her mother and daughter, watching the movie “Cats.” That day feels so distant. Distant enough that on a recent night, as Epstein watched the movie with her 9-year-old daughter at home, just after the song “Memory” played, she received an email that left her sobbing. Her mother’s assisted living center, she learned, had figured out a way for families to safely visit.
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By SAMUEL NORTHROP, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Virginia health officials announced three more COVID-19 deaths on Sunday, bringing the statewide total to six fatalities and 220 confirmed cases of the respiratory illness. All three of the patients were women in their 80s and residents of the Peninsula Health District. They were from Newport News, Williamsburg and James City County. The source of their exposure is unknown, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
By ANN E. MARIMOW, GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER AND FENIT NIRAPPIL, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
The number of recorded coronavirus cases in the Washington region continued to spike Sunday, with Maryland and Virginia announcing the largest single-day increases, additional deaths reported and fresh warnings to stop mass gatherings, including visits to see the Tidal Basin’s cherry blossoms. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) emphasized the likely long duration of the pandemic and suggested schools may need to be closed for an extended period.
By MATT CHITTUM, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Local governments scrambling to conduct board and council meetings while respecting social distancing and coronavirus safety concerns were provided little leeway by an opinion on the matter from Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring Despite guidance to avoid large gatherings, Herring said in an advisory opinion issued late Friday that government bodies cannot simply turn to electronic or teleconference meetings to conduct the public’s business.
By MATT JONES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
Gov. Ralph Northam’s order that no more than 10 people should gather together has presented challenges for school boards and city councils across the state. In Virginia Beach, city staffers presented Tuesday a proposed budget to an empty room. The Hampton School Board approved its budget Wednesday in a room that was empty except for the board, the superintendent, the school board attorney and the school board clerk.
By MATT CHITTUM, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Members of the General Assembly delegation for the Roanoke and New River valleys credit Gov. Ralph Northam for his coronavirus outbreak response, but remain unsure about how to balance protecting public health with keeping businesses afloat. “While I have never been particularly complimentary of this governor, this is a time when it’s probably very good that we have a doctor at the helm,” Del. Chris Head, R-Botetourt, said of Northam, a pediatrician.
By ALISON GRAHAM, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Virginia soon may hire a children’s ombudsman after the General Assembly passed a bill now headed to Gov. Ralph Northam’s desk. If signed, the law will go into effect July 1. The Office of the Children’s Ombudsman will investigate complaints concerning the Virginia Department of Social Services and will have a heavy focus on foster care and child-placing decisions.
By ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press
Two weeks ago, Virginia lawmakers approved legislation to allow developers to build five large casino resorts around the state in what supporters have long hoped will be a dramatic economic boost to struggling areas. Virginia is one of the few states in the country where casinos are currently banned. But those plans could be in serious doubt amid the coronavirus pandemic, which forced nearly every commercial casino in the country to close just a matter of days after lawmakers voted.
By MIKE GANGLOFF, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Preparing to become a judge after years as a prosecutor is a little like going back to law school – and a little like breaking up a family, Mike Fleenor said recently. Pulaski County’s commonwealth’s attorney for the past 20 years, Fleenor said it was a bittersweet feeling to learn this month that the General Assembly had appointed him to the Circuit Court bench.
By KARRI PEIFER, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Any restaurant in Virginia with a valid license to sell wine and beer on-premises can now sell wine and beer to go and for delivery without applying for additional permits. Gov. Ralph Northam announced the change at a news conference Friday
By GRAHAM MOOMAW, Virginia Mercury
In a memo sent to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management this month, the agency’s leader told his colleagues the COVID-19 crisis could “run into the summer” and disclosed that he had tested negative for the coronavirus. Jeff Stern, who has served as VDEM’s state coordinator since 2014, sent the all-staff memo on March 15, the same day the agency announced one of its own employees had contracted the virus from an unknown source. In the note, Stern said the pandemic has “all the makings of an historical event.”
By SARA GREGORY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Virginia students and teachers won’t have to worry about Standards of Learning tests this spring. Any state that requests a waiver from federally required standardized testing, which Virginia education officials say they intend to do, will be granted a reprieve from tests in light of school closures due to the coronavirus, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced Friday.
By CLAIRE MITZEL, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
The Virginia Department of Education will be able to cancel Standards of Learning tests after the federal government announced Friday that it will grant statewide standardized testing waivers.
By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Virginia’s state testing is likely to be canceled this year after the U.S. Department of Education said Friday that it would waive mandatory testing requirements. Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane, the state’s K-12 leader, said in a statement Friday: “I thank USED for responding to the pleas of states — including Virginia — for relief during this time of national crisis and for providing a simple and expedited process for requesting waivers.
By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
Financial markets are in turmoil, but the retirement plan that covers Virginia teachers, state employees and most local government staff has just completed processing the payments to retirees it will be sending out April 1. "Short-term market volatility does not impact benefit payments," said Patricia Bishop, director of the Virginia Retirement System.
By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury
In a Sunday briefing, state officials said that there have been no cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus, among inmates at Virginia’s 40 state-run incarceration facilities. But Brian Moran, the commonwealth’s secretary of public safety and homeland security, also said that no inmates have been tested for the virus, throwing the state’s official count into doubt.
By PETER DUJARDIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Local districts of the state Health Department are leading the efforts to enforce the governor’s recent order that says that only 10 patrons or fewer can be inside any restaurant statewide at any one time. Police departments and sheriff’s offices can step in, too, but say they plan to do so only in the rare cases when the Health Department is unable to force compliance.
By MATTHEW KORFHAGE, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Beer and wine takeout and delivery are now legal in the state of Virginia for most businesses licensed to sell alcohol. At a news conference Friday, Gov. Ralph Northam announced what amounts to a drastic policy change for Virginia’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority.
By ANDREW CAIN AND FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Gov. Ralph Northam has named former Portsmouth Police Chief Tonya Chapman as the new head of the Virginia Parole Board. Chapman was the first African American female chief of a municipal police department in Virginia, according to a release from the Northam administration. The Virginian-Pilot reported in March 2019 that Chapman said she was forced out as police chief after three years in the job.
By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Tonya Chapman, Virginia’s first black female city police chief who last year said she was forced to resign from her job in Portsmouth when she tried to change the department’s culture, has been appointed chairwoman of the Virginia Parole Board, according to Gov. Ralph Northam’s office. The appointment comes almost exactly a year after Chapman left her job as top cop in Portsmouth.
By DAVE RESS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
With more than 20,000 employees doing essential work for the Navy, Newport News Shipbuilding figures it can’t dodge the inevitable. But it is scrambling to keep the new coronavirus at bay for as long as it can. Although many of Virginia’s smaller businesses have had to close their doors or cut back the scope of their operations, that hasn’t been an option so far for the yard, which has to hit strict delivery deadlines for the carriers and submarines it builds.
By GREGORY J. GILLIGAN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
More than 20,000 people from across the country were slated to flood the Richmond region this weekend for the annual Jefferson Cup youth soccer tournament. About 18,000 players, parents, coaches, college scouts and family members were supposed to be here last weekend and more than 20,000 people were to come next weekend as part of the four-weekend tournament, one of the largest of its kind in the nation.
By JOHN REID BLACKWELL, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Toilet paper and hand sanitizer seem to be in short supply these days. At least two Richmond-area distilleries have come up with small solution to one of those. Reservoir Distillery, a bourbon whiskey producer based in Richmond’s Scott’s Addition area, and Three Crosses Distilling Co. in Powhatan County have started making what might be called a “hand-crafted hand sanitizer.”
By JOHN REID BLACKWELL, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
The chairman and chief executive officer for Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc., Howard A. Willard III, has been diagnosed as having the virus that causes COVID-19 and is temporarily stepping aside from his job. Altria, one of the Richmond region’s largest employers, disclosed the news in a message to employees that was also posted on its website Friday.
By KAREN GRAHAM, Loudoun Times
A Loudoun County-based biotechnology company says it has developed a test for novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. Sterling-based Aperiomics said it is available to begin processing tests immediately -- up to 1,000 tests a week -- and is accepting orders nationwide.
By CASEY FABRIS, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Christoph Herby stands inside his 96-square-foot sugar shed and watches the sap hauled from his black walnut trees boil. Steam rises from the evaporator and the air smells of buttered popcorn. “That’s our liquid gold,” he says, noting the intense labor that goes into making walnut syrup. Tonoloway Farm, a first-generation syrup operation run by Christoph and Lauren Herby in Highland County, is believed to be the only commercial producer of walnut syrup in Virginia.
By SOPHIE KAPLAN, Washington Times
Metro announces a significantly reduced schedule for rail and bus for the week of March 23 in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. “Metro will do everything we can to protect the everyday heroes who are driving buses, running trains, monitoring stations and helping people with disabilities, ” said Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld in a press release.
By MATT JONES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
After thousands signed a petition asking Old Dominion University to reschedule graduation, the university said it will find a new date for commencement. The university posted Saturday morning on Facebook that it would reschedule spring commencement tor an undetermined date. ODU also will find a way to allow students and families to attend virtually.
ArlNow
The number of known coronavirus cases in Arlington has jumped from 17 on Friday to 26 on Sunday. That’s according to new numbers from the Virginia Dept. of Health, which is now reporting 219 cases statewide and 3,337 people tested. Arlington has the third-highest number of positive COVID-19 tests in the state, after Fairfax County (31) and James City (32).
By LAURA MECKLER, LAURA VOZZELLA AND RACHEL CHASON, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Both Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, Md., recorded their first coronavirus deaths on Saturday, and Virginia, Maryland and the District all reported double-digit increases in infections as the pandemic continued its march into the region. Fairfax County authorities said a man in his 60s who had been hospitalized for covid-19 had died, the third reported coronavirus death in the commonwealth. His name and hometown were not released.
By STAFF REPORT, Loudoun Times
Two more Loudoun County Public Schools employees have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to an announcement from the school system Saturday, bringing the number of LCPS workers who have contracted the virus up to three. Fourteen people in the county had tested positive as of Saturday, according to the Virginia Department of Health. That is five more people than were reported Friday.
By AMY TRENT AND RACHEL MAHONEY, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
The Central Virginia Health District, which encompasses Lynchburg and the counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford and Campbell, on Friday confirmed its first case of COVID-19 illness in a resident of the district. “The patient is a male in his 30s. He is isolated at home and monitoring his health. To protect patient privacy, no further information will be provided,” according to a news release issued Friday night by the Virginia Department of Health.
By RENSS GREENE, Loudoun Now
County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large), on behalf of the Loudoun Board of Supervisors, joined the rest of the region and Gov. Ralph Northam today in writing letters to President Donald J. Trump to be added to the priority locations for federally supported COVID-19 testing sites. Currently, Boston, New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Santa Clara and Seattle are among those sites. But the DC region, which includes Dulles Airport and the federal workforce, is not.
Loudoun Now
According to the latest update of COVID-19 cases reported by the Virginia Department of Health, 67 more patients tested positive for the infection in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 219. One new case was reported in Loudoun County, which has 15 confirmed cases.
By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
If the neighborhood parks and playgrounds are old hat by now or too crowded for safety, get in the car and drive to some of the most diverse state and national parks in the country just an hour or two away from Richmond. Entrance stations, visitor centers, museums and other facilities may be closed, but for now, at least, the best stuff is open to the public and there is plenty of elbow room.
By NOLAN STOUT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
As the Charlottesville area saw another case of coronavirus, the University of Virginia Medical Center prohibited visitors to inpatient units starting at 10 p.m. Sunday and increased its restrictions on visitors to outpatient facilities. The Charlottesville area had 10 confirmed cases of COVID-19, which is caused by the coronavirus, as of Sunday evening, according to the Thomas Jefferson Health District.
By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee
The arrival of COVID-19 in the Dan River Region was inevitable, given its rapid spread. “It’s not news that we want to hear,” Danville City Manager Ken Larking said Sunday. But, “it’s not surprising that it has happened.” The Pittsylvania-Danville Health District confirmed the region’s first case Sunday morning.
By MIKE GANGLOFF AND NEIL HARVEY, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
It’s a balance virtually every public institution is currently trying to strike: maintaining day-to-day operations and necessary functions in a pandemic, while also protecting customers and workers, and complying with state orders. Local courts still face that evolving challenge, even as a declaration of a judicial emergency last week drastically dialed back most activity in courthouses.
By SEAN GORMAN AND JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
As the disruption of the coronavirus ripples through the economy, some local food pantry operators are seeing more demand for their services, and some pantries have been forced to close. The pandemic has lead to other challenges. Some pantries have seen their volunteer ranks thin as people seek to steer clear of crowds.
By RYAN MURPHY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Priscilla Rivera’s email was frantic. The mother of four, who spends her days taking care of other people’s children in her Hampton home, was desperate for guidance. Should she shut her day care or stay open? And what about her mother, a 70-year-old who plays grandma to the children Rivera watches every day? Was she in danger?
By SARA GREGORY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Normally, the school day at Larchmont Elementary begins with the morning announcements. Life lately is anything but normal. But every morning on the Norfolk school PTA’s Facebook group, a different family is posting video morning announcements of their own — a small gesture to routine. “Please join us for a jammin’ minute,” 6-year-old morning announcement correspondent Eliot Roberts said from her front yard one day this week, before running in place and doing 10 jumping jacks.
By BRIDGET BALCH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Weeks before hospitals and doctors’ offices began canceling appointments and the governor started making orders to limit gatherings in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Karen Legato knew hard times were coming. Legato, the executive director of Health Brigade – one of more than 60 medical clinics in Virginia that offer free services to uninsured and low-income people – began to make the difficult decisions...
By ANTONIO OLIVO, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
A Fairfax County psychiatrist resigned Friday over what he called inadequate safeguards against novel coronavirus infection from patients at the county’s Merrifield Center for mental health treatment. Jason Williams, who for two years has treated patients for the county’s Community Services Board, is among a growing number of health-care professionals to voice concern over continued interactions with patients without clear guidance.
By JOHN RAMSEY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Life was turning around for Mary Lou Bakewell: She’d rebounded from back surgery, returned to work and bought a house with her husband, a bar manager at Siné, last fall. The baby boy came Jan. 16. She stayed home for about seven weeks — unpaid, but getting by. She’d resume bartending at Home Team Grill in time for March Madness. March was always reliable, until it wasn’t.
By DENISE M. WATSON, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Wednesday evening, Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg sat in the study of her Norfolk home and opened the FaceTime app on her computer. She’s been using the video app more frequently during the past week. Smiling back at her were Mark Lipton and Sharon Smith in their Virginia Beach home. Lipton wore a boutonniere on his lapel and Smith had sprigs of baby’s breath in her hair. Mandelberg was about to wed them.
By ROBERT SORRELL, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, local residents are finding new ways to say goodbye to loved ones as funeral homes respond to the crisis. “This has certainly been a challenging time, and we are doing our best to be responsible citizens while also honoring the needs of the families we serve,” said Kim Farris-Luke, owner of Farris Funeral Service in Abingdon, Virginia.
By MARK BOWES, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
For some Virginians, the purchase of firearms and ammunition has become more important than stockpiling toilet paper as anxiety spreads about the potential long-term effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Virginia gun sales are spiking to record levels that firearm dealers attribute in part to the virus scare, but also to the lingering effects of increased gun restrictions passed by the Democrat-controlled General Assembly.
By TONIA MOXLEY, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Dogs and cats may not have to worry about COVID-19, but the pandemic viral infection is changing how some veterinarians practice. At Riner Animal Hospital on Thursday, that meant Bear the black lab got his vaccines in the clinic while his ride, Joe Richmeier, sat in his truck in the parking lot. And Bear got a little walk from his vet, Dr. Lindsey Mabe, who brought the 1-year-old canine outside when his appointment was over.
By ALISSA SKELTON, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
America is experiencing a shortage of toilet paper. People began hoarding it shortly after the first cases of coronavirus appeared in the United States, and now most stores are sold out or running low. But lack of toilet paper can create another problem: Massive clogs caused by people flushing things they shouldn’t. Treatment plants are constantly dealing with this issue, said Lacie Wever, a spokeswoman for Hampton Roads Sanitation District.
By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
The 2020 census is moving ahead as scheduled amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as public officials and advocacy groups rethink outreach efforts to boost completion. The population count will officially take place April 1, — when the federal Census Bureau hopes to count “everyone once, only once, and in the right place,” in what it says will be the country’s largest domestic mobilization effort.
By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
A large portion of the Outer Banks will be closed off to non-resident property owners. Dare County, which encompasses several towns, including Duck, Kitty Hawk and Nags Head, said the closure goes into effect Friday at 10 p.m. County officials did not say in a news release how long that would last.
By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Monday’s won’t be a normal meeting of the Richmond City Council, if ever there has been one. The council will meet to vote on ordinances unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the meeting cannot bring more than 10 people to the council chambers, or else it would flout public health guidance meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
By LISA VERNON SPARKS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
Hampton is not giving up on its casino dreams. The city hired a consultant to assess its economic viability to host one on the Peninsula, with favorable prospects. It spoke with casino operators and identified a site with easy access Interstate 64 ― the Coliseum Central business district. It petitioned state legislators to be considered. ... Hampton officials said they hope to make it the next time around.
By ALEXA DOIRON & JULIA MARSIGLIANO, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)
As public schools continue their shutdown due to coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, schools across Hampton Roads and the Peninsula still currently plan to pay employees. On March 13, Gov. Ralph Northam ordered the closure of all Virginia public schools for a two-week period to limit the spread of the virus. As a result, many staff and faculty across school districts are finding themselves without access to their jobs.
By JULIA MARSIGLIANO & ALEXA DOIRON, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation waived April’s rent for some tenants of the Merchants Square Association. Ralph Youngs, president of the Merchants Square Association and owner of a Baskin-Robbins franchise, said the foundation’s new president, Cliff Fleet, gave them the news recently.
By JAMES SCOTT BARON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
The Rappahannock Regional Solid Waste Management Board will soon begin work to expand the regional landfill in Stafford County. Joe Buchanan, director of the Rappahannock Regional Landfill, which serves Stafford and Fredericksburg, said the new landfill cell is a “highly engineered” system that spans 7.21 acres and should absorb 5 years worth of refuse.
By SCOTT SHENK, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
Orange County is seeing red over work-truck traffic related to a massive solar power facility’s construction in Spotsylvania County. Orange recently filed a lawsuit in circuit court over impacts county officials claim big trucks working on the Sustainable Power Group project are having on its rural roads. The suit not only seeks to keep the trucks off roads in Orange, but asks for work on the project to be stopped.
By DON DEL ROSSO, Fauquier Now
Hyper-sensitive to the economic hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Fauquier’s board of supervisors Thursday night promised that the county’s fiscal 2021 budget will include no tax increase. “We understand the magnitude and the impact on all of our citizens,” board Chairwoman Mary Leigh McDaniel (Marshall District) said of the virus during Thursday’s “virtual” public hearing on the proposed budget in the Warrenton Community Center at 430 E. Shirley Ave.
By NOLAN STOUT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
In his 36 years with The Salvation Army, Maj. Walter Strong has dealt with all sorts of disasters. But the coronavirus pandemic is a whole different animal. “I have served disasters all over the southern United States — [Hurricanes] Hugo, Katrina, all the big ones — that you could plan for. You knew what was going on,” he said. “This one, day to day it’s changing. You really don’t know from day to day what you’re doing.”
By TYLER HAMMEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
More inmates are being released on home electronic monitoring as the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail takes steps to avoid the potential spread of the coronavirus. According to jail Superintendent Martin Kumer, the courts have released 32 people on home electronic incarceration since Monday and anticipate that figure will grow to approximately 50 people in coming days.
By NEIL HARVEY, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Fifty-six inmates have been released by the courts from the Roanoke City Jail this week — roughly 10% of a population that generally hovers between 500 and 550 people — as a precaution against the looming threat of COVID-19, officials said Friday. That push was accelerated by the state Supreme Court’s declaration of emergency on Monday, which drastically limited local courtroom activity in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
By CLAIRE MITZEL, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
As local school districts wrap up the first week of meal deliveries during a two-week statewide school shutdown, Roanoke City Public Schools has acknowledged concerns and confusion from some employees regarding work expectations. The district provided clarification in the middle of the week after some employees expressed confusion regarding pay and the number of people in a confined space during meal distribution.
By YANN RANAIVO, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
In the growing New River Valley, where meals and sales tax fuels governmental budgets, officials are wary of what may be coming. The coronavirus pandemic will keep thousands of students from returning to campuses for weeks, if not months. Restaurants are being held to takeout orders, if they’re open at all. Other businesses are curbing their hours or closing.
By NICK CROPPER, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
The Greater Lynchburg Transit Company announced effective Monday it is suspending all on-board fare collection and enforcement during the COVID-19 emergency until further notice. This will include the regular fixed route as well as paratransit services, according to a news release.
By SAM WALL, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Radford is guaranteed to see some new faces on its city council and school board with only one incumbent running for reelection. Vice Mayor Dick Harshberger is one of nine candidates — four for council and five for school board — running for two openings on each governing body in the May 5 election.
Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
How’s this for an odd sight? A General Assembly committee controlled by Democrats — not just Democrats but the top Democrats — voted down a proposal to erect a statue to the most famous African American from Virginia. Framed even more harshly, you could say the House Rules Committee voted to preserve the Old House Chamber — one possible site for the proposed Booker T. Washington statue — as an all-white preserve dominated by figures from the Confederacy.
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Add securing a Real ID to the list of things disrupted by COVID-19. Fortunately, this is one problem that could have a simple solution. Procrastinators — and there are many — have run afoul of the pandemic. Lines and waits at DMV offices were already long as more people realized the Oct. 1 Real ID deadline was fast approaching. Now Virginia has joined other states in closing DMV offices to try to slow the spread of the virus.
Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
The success of the Chesapeake Bay cleanup has always depended on two basic elements: enforceable goals and the money to achieve them. With the goals established and the Environmental Protection Agency in its watchdog role, the General Assembly has approved serious new funding that will help Virginia meet the 2025 cleanup deadline.
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
We are called today to stand up for those who cook our meals, pour our drinks, wash our dishes, clean our rooms and otherwise tend to the needs of Hampton Roads, resident and visitor alike. The hospitality industry is the backbone of the Virginia Beach economy and it has been broken by the events of the last two weeks. That’s also the case in Norfolk, Yorktown, Williamsburg and other Hampton Roads cities that depend on tourism ...
Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Del. Wendell Walker, R-Lynchburg, made a rookie mistake in his first legislative session: He introduced a bill he didn’t want to see passed. Unhappy with Democrats who were keen to pass bills to allow localities to take down Confederate statues (which they eventually did), Walker thought he would call their bluff.
By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
More than 100 years ago — with the nation at war and Virginia under a new governor — lethal influenza swept across the state, sickening more than 326,000 people and killing nearly 16,000, most of them over two months. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-19 eased long enough, in the estimate of authorities ultimately proved wrong by a second burst of sickness, for Virginia to hold an election — and for voters to do, as they usually did in that era: obediently affirm the conservative, white-male status quo.
By DAN CASEY, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Congress is speeding through legislation to try to prevent an economic collapse as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic. People who — less than a month ago — were likening democratic socialism to communist totalitarianism are now quite seriously considering sending $1,000 (or more) government checks to Americans. But amid fear that’s sweeping the nation, some politicians are cautioning, “Not so fast.” One of them is freshman Rep. Ben Cline, R-Botetourt.
By KELSEY CRANE, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Virginia’s transportation system is in need of serious improvements. Continuing with the status quo of perpetual highway expansion is outdated and isn’t meeting the needs or serving the best interests of our communities. Instead, it’s hurting our environment, health and wallets. Burning motor fuels produces almost half (45%) of the climate pollution in the commonwealth...
Kelsey Crane is campaign and policy director for the Virginia Sierra Club.
By DON FORSYTH, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
A single bee cannot survive apart from its hive. And neither can most humans. Minimizing social contact might be the best way to cope with the threat of COVID-19, but it comes at a cost. Humans are social animals and live in constant contact with other people: friends, relatives, neighbors, coworkers, team members, and on and on. As the philosopher John Donne explained, “No one is an island.”
Forsyth is professor of leadership studies at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond.
By TERRY DURKIN, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
I would be remiss if I didn’t begin this article by mentioning how difficult the COVID-19 outbreak has been on our local economy, even with only one known active case in our area at the time of this writing. Small businesses are bearing the brunt of new social distancing directives, with restaurants being particularly affected.
Durkin is Vice President of Public Policy for the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce
By SUE ELLA KOBAK AND MARK ATKINSON, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Hundreds of thousands of Virginians get their power from rural electric cooperatives. These nonprofit utilities are owned by their consumers, who are called “members.” Unfortunately, all is not well at some of the commonwealth’s rural electric co-ops. Electric co-ops are supposed to operate democratically, but many have strayed from their founding principles — democratic in word but not in deed.
Kobak of Pennington Gap, is active with PVEC Member Voices. Atkinson, of Beaverdam, is active with Repower REC
By GORDON C. MORSE, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
“It’s not a storm,” Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious-disease expert, said on television the other night. “It’s a winter.” That struck me as one of the few genuine insights into what’s happening. A hurricane can be vastly destructive, but it comes and then goes. Influenza? When you don’t have a vaccine for it, it just comes.
Gordon C. Morse began his writing career with the Daily Press editorial page in 1983, then moved across the water to write opinion for The Virginian-Pilot. He later joined the administration of Gerald L. Baliles as the governor's speechwriter
By CECILIA AGUILERA, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
During the recently concluded legislative session, Virginia lawmakers initiated a much-needed overhaul of the commonwealth’s restrictive voting laws. It’s a good start, but more must be done to protect and expand voting rights. Specifically, the General Assembly should take steps next year to increase student voting and establish objective criteria for restoring the right to vote to Virginians with felony convictions.
Cecilia Aguilera is counsel at the Fair Elections Center, a national, nonpartisan voting rights and election reform organization.
By JARED BRANDWEIN, SKIP STILES, KAREN FORGET & MARY RAFFERTY, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
In April 2019, the US Environmental Protection Agency published a proposal that completely redefined the waters and wetlands to which the protections of the 1972 Clean Water Act apply. Despite receiving 770,000 public comments, many in opposition, in January the agencies announced they will move forward with regulations that will disastrously hamstring our ability to protect water quality and will remove crucial protections for many of our nation’s waters and wetlands.
Brandwein is the executive director for Back Bay Restoration Foundation. Stiles is the executive director for Wetlands Watch. Forget is the executive director for Lynnhaven River NOW. Rafferty is the rxecutive director for Virginia Conservation Network
By LARRY HINCKER, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
My normal beat for the Roanoke Times is state and regional public policy issues. This time of year, I’d be opining on the state budget. With unprecedented spending increases, there’s plenty to dissect there. But no. Here I sit wondering, probably like the rest of you, is all this really necessary? As of this date, there is only one confirmed COVID 19 case anywhere in Southwest Virginia. Yet, events are cancelled virtually across the board.
Larry Hincker is a retired public relations executive and lives in Blacksburg. He assists the NRV Passenger Rail initiative.
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