VaNews
April 8, 2020

Today's Sponsor:


** Cox Communications
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Danke, Merci, Gracias, Shukran, XieXie, Obrigado, Daalu, Todah, Mahalo… In every language, we say Thank You to everyone working the front lines right now. www.cox.com ([link removed])

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Top of the News


** From VPAP Mapping COVID-19 Deaths by Health District ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

The Virginia Department of Health -- citing patient privacy concerns -- is withholding the locality of persons who have died from COVID-19. But VPAP has pieced together a map from press releases from VDH district offices and news reports. Meanwhile, VPAP is using VDH numbers to update a timeline of confirmed cases and a map showing the number of cases by locality. Updated each morning shortly after 9:00 a.m.
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** “It’s our time": Navy Reserve calls up Hampton Roads doctors to help fight coronavirus ([link removed])
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By KATHERINE HAFNER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Dr. David Zelinskas got the call Thursday night: be ready to go within 72 hours to help fight the coronavirus. “We all kind of had the feeling it was a matter of time,” said Zelinskas, 37, who works at Tidewater Physicians Multispecialty Group and lives in Virginia Beach.
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** Death count now 32 at Canterbury as COVID symptoms spread ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

The death toll from COVID-19 has doubled in five days at Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in western Henrico County, with four more deaths in the previous day and a total of 32 dead in two weeks. With 16 deaths since Thursday, Canterbury is approaching the number of COVID-19 fatalities at the nursing home in the Seattle area where the coronavirus pandemic first erupted in the United States.
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** Virginia Attorney General asks state to extend suspension of utility disconnection through June 10 ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Attorney General Mark Herring has asked the State Corporation Commission to extend its mandated suspension of utility disconnections for non-payment and suspended late charges through June 10.
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** Farm stands across Hampton Roads open early to sell fruits and veggies ([link removed])
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By STACY PARKER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

John Cromwell’s farm stand In Virginia Beach usually opens in mid-May, when his fields are bursting with pea pods. Until then, he’s busy supplying local restaurants with his hardy winter crops — beets, kale and collards. But with eateries across the country cutting back or closing entirely as a result of the coronavirus, Cromwell found himself last month with plenty of ripe vegetables and no where to sell them.
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** Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy files paperwork to run for governor ([link removed])
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By GRAHAM MOOMAW, Virginia Mercury

Democratic Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy has filed campaign paperwork indicating she will run for governor in 2021. It’s widely known that Carroll Foy, a 38-year-old legislator from Prince William County serving her second term in the House of Delegates, has been considering a run for statewide office.
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** West Virginia poised to become first state to allow political gambling ([link removed])
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By EBEN NOVY-WILLIAMS, Bloomberg News

West Virginia appears poised to become the first state in the U.S. to allow gambling on politics, a move that would let people turn their Trump-versus-Biden predictions into cash. The West Virginia Lottery, which oversees betting in the state, said Tuesday that officials approved a plan to let FanDuel Inc. and other sportsbooks offer political wagers, but needed time "to fully work through the implications and research it further."
The Full Report
35 articles, 16 publications

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** FROM VPAP
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** VPAP Visual COVID-19 hardest on seniors ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

Nearly half of people confirmed COVID-19 are under the age of 50, but nearly every fatal Virginia case among patients whose age could be determined has been 60 or older. Nearly half of people who have died are 80 or older. These statistics were compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project from Virginia Department of Health press releases and newspaper articles.


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** Workers urge Northam to sign minimum wage bill ([link removed])
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By ADA ROMANO, VCU Capital News Service

Workers and advocates are urging Gov. Ralph Northam to sign a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $9.50 at the start of next year. The General Assembly will reconvene on April 22, and lawmakers will reevaluate recently passed legislation as the state’s economy takes a blow and unemployment climbs during the COVID-19 outbreak.
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** Northam to postpone action on teacher raises, tuition freeze ([link removed])
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By ALAN SUDERMAN AND SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam plans to delay some long-sought Democratic priorities until more is known about the pandemic’s affect on the economy, pushing back decisions on whether to give teachers and state workers raises, freeze in-state college tuition, and implement other new spending in budget recently passed by lawmakers. Clark Mercer, the governor’s chief of staff, said Tuesday that too little is known about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak...


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** Virginia Senate plans to convene at Science Museum conference hall during April veto session ([link removed])
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By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

To protect members and staff from COVID-19, the Virginia Senate will trade its clubby confines at the state Capitol for an airy conference hall at the Science Museum of Virginia when the legislature returns to Richmond for its spring session April 22. Unlike the House of Delegates, which announced last week it would convene outdoors, possibly on the Capitol grounds, the Senate will meet indoors.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** Democrat Carroll Foy files to run for Virginia governor ([link removed])
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By SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press

Democratic state Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy has filed paperwork to run what could be a history-making campaign to become Virginia’s first woman governor and the first African-American female governor in the United States.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** Virginians offered little relief this tax season ([link removed])
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By JAMES SCOTT BARON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Virginia taxpayers will not get much relief in filing their taxes during the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, they’re expected to file on time, and in some instances, pay interest on payments they owe. Virginia, Idaho and Mississippi are the only three states in the U.S. that are not matching the Internal Revenue Services’ extended federal tax filing and payment deadline of July 15.
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** Corrections panel to vote on plan to reopen Chesapeake jail annex to house COVID-19 inmates ([link removed])
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By MARK BOWES, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

A state corrections panel is to vote Friday on a proposal to reopen a Chesapeake jail annex to temporarily house asymptomatic inmates who test positive for COVID-19 in Chesapeake and at other local and regional jails in Hampton Roads.
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** Virginia schools will be able to keep millions in federal money ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Virginia schools will now be able to keep millions in federal education money they would have had to give back with schools closed for the rest of the academic year. The change was granted under flexibility given to the state by the U.S. Department of Education.


** CONGRESS
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** Virginia Democrats ask for flexibility on how to use relief money ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

The Democrats in Virginia’s congressional delegation sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday asking that Virginia be provided as much flexibility as needed with the $3.3 billion it will receive as part of the federal relief package Congress passed last month. The relief bill approved included $150 billion in aid for state and local governments, but it can only be used to cover costs related to responding to the COVID-19 crisis.
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** Virginia Dems in Congress ask Trump for flexibility on relief money for state and local governments ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Virginia Democrats in Congress have asked President Donald Trump’s administration for guidance to state and local governments that gives them more flexibility in spending an estimated $3.3 billion in emergency relief from the stimulus package signed into law in late March.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** Fredericksburg-area businesses 'think outside the box' to reach customers amid pandemic ([link removed])
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By CATHY JETT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Fredericksburg has created a new website to encourage support of local businesses that have come up with creative ways to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s called fxbglovelocal.com. Danelle Rose, the city’s Visitor Center and tourism services manager, came up with the idea for it last month after Gov. Ralph Northam said all restaurants, fitness centers and theaters could have only 10 patrons at a time while encouraging carry-out and takeaway options.
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** Farmers market shift: Scrambling to not lose a spring season ([link removed])
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By TONIA MOXLEY, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

When Chris Cirenza heard that Virginia Tech students wouldn’t return to campus after spring break because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, he knew his business would suffer. “Undergrads love my carbonara,” Cirenza said. For the past two years, students and nonstudents would stand in long lines at his Not Your Mama’s Pasta stall at the Blacksburg Farmers Market waiting for Cirenza
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** Amid widespread closures, clinics and health providers turn to telehealth ([link removed])
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By RACHEL MAHONEY, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

With state and federal regulations and recommendations against continuing routine checkups and elective surgeries, health practitioners are closing their doors — but some are offering different telehealth options to keep up with patients during the pandemic.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** VCU will not refund tuition, mandatory fees with students learning online ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Virginia Commonwealth University will not refund tuition and mandatory fees, but will give students in its art school a partial reimbursement, President Michael Rao said Tuesday. In a message to the VCU community, Rao said full-time art students will get $350 and part-time students will be credited $42 per credit hour.
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** Virginia Tech freezes most hiring, moves summer classes online ([link removed])
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By HENRI GENDREAU, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Virginia Tech is moving all summer classes online, and has imposed a hiring freeze as fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues. The university announced Monday it would move all courses, labs and programs over the summer online. That includes new student orientations, conferences and agricultural sessions scheduled to take place on campus.
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** At Virginia universities, a struggle to define ‘essential’ science ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

Since 1955, scientists from the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences have been trawling the waters of the Chesapeake Bay to find out just what lies beneath the surface. Croaker, blue catfish, spot, blue crab, the flat brown fish known as the hogchoker — all have passed through the nets of these fishers of knowledge. Over 65 years of data collection, the project, which monitors juvenile numbers as a marker of species abundance, has become the longest continuously running trawl survey in the nation and a vital repository of information for fisheries managers. Until now.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** 16-year-old pilot flies medical supplies to rural hospitals ([link removed])
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By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press

TJ Kim can’t play lacrosse -- COVID-19 took the sport away. And at age 16, he can’t drive alone. But Kim can fly. And he’s turned his flying lessons into missions of mercy, bringing desperately needed supplies to rural hospitals in need. Each week, he carries gloves, masks, gowns and other equipment to small hospitals. When he made his first delivery, on March 27 to a 25-bed hospital in Luray, he was taken aback by the reception.
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** State Psychiatric Hospitals Work to Contain Coronavirus ([link removed])
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By MEGAN PAULY, WCVE

State psychiatric hospitals are starting to see cases of COVID-19. As of Tuesday, these include one confirmed staff case at Central State Hospital in Petersburg, and one resident case at the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation about an hour from Richmond in Burkeville, Virginia. There’s also one confirmed staff case at Western State Hospital in Staunton and two staff cases at Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute in Marion.
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** Hampton Roads food banks see surge in demand, drop in donations ([link removed])
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By BROCK VERGAKIS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Darlene Palacious had been working at a temp agency in Virginia Beach when everything changed due to the spread of the coronavirus. As Gov. Ralph Northam issued stay-at-home orders, job opportunities vanished. Her need for food did not. The 57-year-old Hampton resident joined hundreds of others in need on Friday and pulled her sports utility vehicle into a long line at Darling Stadium to try to get a box of provisions from the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank.
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** Virginia’s state lab is one of the first in the country to sequence samples of virus that causes COVID-19 ([link removed])
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By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury

Buried in the genetic code of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, are mutations that can help scientists learn more about where the disease started and how it’s continuing to spread. Virginia’s state laboratory is one of three public health labs in the country to begin unraveling that code, Gov. Ralph Northam announced at a news briefing on Monday.
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** Clarke officials: Keeping people off the Appalachian Trail is hard ([link removed])
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By MICKEY POWELL, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Keeping people off the Appalachian Trail during the coronavirus pandemic is a hard, if not impossible, task for Clarke County officials. Complaints have been received from people “concerned about the volume of hikers not making it easy to practice proper social distancing” along the trail, as well as in designated parking areas, said County Administrator Chris Boies.
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** Virginia attractions close to slow virus ([link removed])
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By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Despite a lack of COVID-19 cases in Southwest Virginia, a number of prominent outdoor attractions are now closed, and Gov. Ralph Northam on Monday reemphasized his call for abiding by social distancing guidelines as the number of cases statewide continues to climb.
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** A Chorus Of Alzheimer’s Patients Sings Through The Shutdown On Zoom ([link removed])
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By MIKAELA LEFRAK, WAMU

Mary Ann East is the first to log on to her Zoom meeting. She’s the conductor of the Fairfax, Va.-based Sentimental Journey Singers, and her chorus is about to start their second virtual rehearsal of the coronavirus pandemic. Smiling faces with gray hair start to pop onto the screen, Brady Bunch-style. East greets them each by name: “Hi Billy, hi Debbie!” Dottie has some trouble with her camera, but East helps her figure it out.


** LOCAL
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** Arlington Democrats go mail-in route for School Board caucus ([link removed])
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By SCOTT MCCAFFREY, Inside NOVA (Metered Paywall)

The Arlington County Democratic Committee is switching to a mail-in election to select two endorsees for School Board, with results expected to be released in early June. The new process, devised in the wake of the COVID-19 public-health crisis, replaces the traditional Democratic caucus, which usually includes two or three days of in-person voting.
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** Virginia Beach City Council votes to suspend meal taxes to reduce takeout bills ([link removed])
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By ALISSA SKELTON, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Starting in May, anyone ordering takeout from a Virginia Beach restaurant will see a 5.5% decrease on the bill. During its second virtual meeting since the coronavirus pandemic began, the Virginia Beach City Council voted 9-2 on Tuesday evening to suspend the meals tax for May and June in an effort to encourage more people to support local businesses.
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** Peninsula localities adjust as they face unknowns with budget season approaching ([link removed])
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By LISA VERNON SPARKS, DAVE RESS, JOSH REYES AND STEVE ROBERTS JR, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

For Peninsula localities and their budget cycles, the coronavirus pandemic has created a new level of unknown. City councils, county boards of supervisors and school boards must complete their spending plans in time for the July 1 start of their next fiscal year. Whether the virus and the hefty economic cost it imposes on some communities will be over by then is far from certain.
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** York County courthouse closed, sanitized after three deputies got coronavirus ([link removed])
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By PETER DUJARDIN, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

The York County courthouse was closed for deep cleaning on Monday after three sheriff’s deputies in the building tested positive for the coronavirus, the sheriff’s office said. The first deputy left work on March 25, and was tested the next day. The results came back Saturday confirming COVID-19, York-Poquoson Sheriff’s spokeswoman Shelley Ward said.
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** Chesapeake sheriff wants to use temporary building to house inmates in Hampton Roads ([link removed])
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By MARGARET MATRAY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

A temporary building at the Chesapeake city jail could be used to house inmates in the region who test positive for coronavirus. Chesapeake Sheriff Jim O’Sullivan has asked the state Board of Corrections for permission to use the building, which is vacant, to isolate sick inmates from the general population.
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** Roanoke to furlough some city workers ([link removed])
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By TAD DICKENS, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Roanoke City Manager Bob Cowell says that he and his staff are working on next year’s budget while picking up the pieces of this year’s. The Great Recession found Roanoke City Manager Bob Cowell halfway across the country. Cowell was director of planning and development services in College Station, Texas, and he was part of a team that had to implement furloughs during the 2008-2009 period.
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** Danville child care centers see dramatic drop in attendance ([link removed])
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By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

Child care has changed in the age of the coronavirus pandemic. The region’s child care centers have suffered a drop in the number of kids watched each day. They’ve adapted to restrictions on gatherings, a stay-at-home order, school closures and parents either working at home or left without a job.

Today's Sponsor:


** Cox Communications
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Danke, Merci, Gracias, Shukran, XieXie, Obrigado, Daalu, Todah, Mahalo… In every language, we say Thank You to everyone working the front lines right now. www.cox.com ([link removed])


** EDITORIALS
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** Net-zero emissions doesn’t mean fossil-free ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Under pressure from environmental groups pushing for renewable energy and the bipartisan 2018 Grid Transformation and Security Act, Virginia’s largest utility has embarked on an ambitious plan to zero-out its greenhouse gas emissions over the next 30 years. But “net zero” does not mean that by 2050, Dominion Virginia Power will be relying entirely on solar and wind power.
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** The Commonwealth has a moral obligation to protect prisoners from coronavirus ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Virginia officials are keeping a close watch on developments in New York, where the coronavirus outbreak has claimed hundreds of lives and sickened thousands more. The data emerging from the Empire State is as instructive as it is deeply frightening, and it underscores the need for the commonwealth to empty out its prisons, as much as safely possible, to prevent a mass-casualty scenario unfolding in those facilities.
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** Restructured Redskins deal is welcome news ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

When the Washington Redskins chose Richmond as their new training camp location for 2013, a stated goal of the eight-year agreement was to expand their presence in the commonwealth. In a June 2012 RTD report, former Mayor Dwight Jones was “giddy excited” about the move.
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** Why are we just now being told to wear face masks? ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

On Monday, Gov. Ralph Northam announced that everyone should start wearing face masks when going out to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The governor explained that when one “is wearing a face covering, it is less likely that droplets from a sneeze or from talking will spread out into the air, and if you’re wearing a face covering, it can offer some level of protection against those droplets.


** OP-ED
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** Torian and Cox: Expanding online offerings at our colleges ([link removed])
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By DELS. LUKE TORIAN AND KIRK COX, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

As the coronavirus — and the devastating disease it causes — sweeps across the commonwealth, the lives of Virginians have been dramatically disrupted. It is and will continue to be painful and heartbreaking to lose fellow citizens to this disease, but it also is inspiring to watch people put their ingenuity to work saving lives and solving problems. State leaders will have to use that same innovative thinking to tackle the large-scale policy challenges this outbreak is causing ...

Luke Torian, D-Prince William, represents the 52nd District in the Virginia House of Delegates. Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, represents the 66th District in the Virginia House of Delegates.
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