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By BRYAN MCKENZIE, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
New statistical models of COVID-19 cases in Virginia show calls for social distancing and closing of public places has slowed the spread of the disease and could push the pandemic’s peak into the summer. The models, designed by the University of Virginia Biocomplexity Institute, in cooperation with other agencies across the country, show that continued social distancing measures could lower the peak number of cases and keep hospitals from being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.
By BEN PAVIOUR, WCVE
State health officials are considering deploying blood and temperature tests as well as smartphone apps to determine “who is allowed to do what” once Virginia’s stay at home order is lifted, Secretary of Health Daniel Carey said on Monday. Carey emphasized the options were still tentative as state officials plan for the next phase of the pandemic. But he said officials need a better system to monitor future outbreaks once social distancing guidelines have been eased.
By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
The Virginia House of Delegates will reconvene outdoors on the grounds of the state Capitol complex for the annual veto session on April 22, according to the office of House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, delegates will meet “in the area roughly bounded by the base of the Capitol’s South Portico steps and the east entrance of the Capitol,” spokesman Jake Rubenstein said in an email. The gathering will be moved under a tent in the event of inclement weather, he said.
By NEIL VIGDOR, New York Times (Metered Paywall - 1 to 2 articles a month)
The leftward transformation of Virginia since President Trump was elected crescendoed over the weekend, with the governor signing into law protections for L.G.B.T. residents, gun background checks, no jail time for simple marijuana possession and early voting. The flurry of new measures enacted by Gov. Ralph S. Northam, a Democrat, came five months after members of his party took control of the Legislature back from Republicans for the first time in more than 20 years.
By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
To the dismay of labor rights groups, Gov. Ralph Northam wants to push back the date on when localities could give public sector workers, including teachers, the right to collectively bargain.
The Virginia Public Access Project
Though absentee voting has begun, Governor Northam recommends postponing city and town elections set for next month until November. The General Assembly must approve any change. This map lists the 16 cities and 99 towns that could be impacted and includes an interactive feature that shows the range in size -- from the City of Chesapeake in Hampton Roads (153,673 registered voters) to the Town of Saint Charles in the southwestern tip of Virginia (49 voters).
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Republicans in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District are postponing their convention contest between Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Nelson, and Bob Good. The 5th Congressional District Republican Committee — composed of local party leaders in central Virginia — decided to delay the convention originally scheduled for April 25 after two hours of discussion on a phone call Sunday night.
The Full Report
54 articles, 28 publications
Read Online10 Most Clicked
The Virginia Public Access Project
Data from the Virginia Department of Health shows a timeline of confirmed cases of COVID-19 and a statewide map showing the number of cases by locality. VPAP has added a map of deaths by health district and hospital utilization data from the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association. Updated each morning shortly after 9:00 a.m.
The Virginia Public Access Project
As of Sunday, 53 long-term care facilities in Virginia had reported more than one confirmed case of Covid-19 among residents. This statewide map shows the region where these affected communities are located. Residents of senior care facilities account for at least 50 of the 149 deaths from Covid-19 in Virginia.
By MARGARET MATRAY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Long-term care facilities account for more than half of the coronavirus outbreaks in the state, and Gov. Ralph Northam said he wants to help those that have been hard hit. One of Northam’s proposed budget amendments increases the rates paid to nursing homes and long-term care facilities by $20 per Medicaid recipient per day, he said Monday at a press conference in Richmond.
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Gov. Ralph Northam is protecting a $130 million budget increase in state and federal Medicaid funds to boost rates for organizations providing personal care and other services to elderly and disabled Virginians in communities across the state. The provision for almost $65 million in state funds — to be matched equally with federal Medicaid money — is a crucial exception to Northam’s strategy of suspending new spending...
By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
The coronavirus is scrambling Virginia's budget and economy, but it didn't prevent Gov. Ralph Northam (D) from signing ambitious legislation that makes it the first Southern state with a goal of going carbon-free by 2045. Over the weekend, Northam authorized the omnibus Virginia Clean Economy Act, which mandates that the state’s biggest utility, Dominion Energy, switch to renewable energy by 2045. Appalachian Power, which serves far southwest Virginia, must go carbon-free by 2050.
By ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press
Unregulated betting machines in gas stations and bars have been granted a possible 11th hour reprieve in Virginia thanks to the coronavirus. And casino legalization in the Old Dominion has taken a big step forward. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam took action on several gambling-related pieces of legislation over the weekend...
Associated Press
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring says the state will become “a more fair, just, and equal place” now that simple possession of marijuana will be decriminalized. Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam signed the decriminalization legislation into law over the weekend.
By JESSICA WETZLER, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
When the deadline for Gov. Ralph Northam to take action on legislation came Saturday, he approved more than 40 bills sponsored by Valley legislators and vetoed only one -- the milk bill. Northam said in his veto explanation that eliminating the ability to label certain food products as milk could hinder a business’ ability to “thrive in Virginia.” “This bill likely conflicts with both the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Virginia and each’s protection of commercial speech,” Northam said.
By WILL GONZALEZ, VCU Capital News Service
Gov. Ralph Northam recently signed a bill to cap the costs of prescription insulin copays at $50 per month, one of the lowest caps in the country. House Bill 66, sponsored by Del. Lee Carter, D-Manassas, originally aimed to cap the costs of prescription insulin copays at $30 per month. By the time the bill passed the Senate, the cap was amended to $50 per month.
By NATHANIEL CLINE, Loudoun Times
The Republican Party of Virginia and the 10th Congressional District party committee have certified their candidates for this November's U.S. Senate and House of Representatives elections. In the Senate race, RPV has certified three candidates seeking the Republican nomination, including civics and economics teacher Alissa Baldwin, Army veteran Daniel Gade and Army Reserves veteran Thomas Speciale.
By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
As of Friday, seven inmates at the Central Virginia Correctional Unit #13 who tested positive for COVID-19 had worked at a cafe in the Virginia Department of Corrections headquarters building. However, none of the department’s 740 employees at the building have been diagnosed with COVID-19, a department spokesman said Monday.
By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
A Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles employee in the headquarters office died April 7 from COVID-19, the agency said Monday in response to an inquiry from the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Four employees at DMV headquarters at 2300 W. Broad St. have tested positive, as did two employees at DMV’s Dahlgren weigh station in King George County, according to DMV spokeswoman Jessica Cowardin.
By JOSH JANNEY, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
A bipartisan letter led by two Virginia representatives urges Congress to provide funding for long-term care facilities in the next iteration of COVID-19 relief legislation. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-10th, and Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, say in the letter that long-term care facilities face a shortage of health care workers as well as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to keep workers and residents safe.
By ELIZABETH COOPER, Va Business Magazine
By 2026, as many as 220 massive wind turbines — each taller than the Washington Monument — may be churning away less than 30 miles off the Virginia Beach coast, powering up to 650,000 homes with renewable energy. The $7.8 billion proposed offshore wind farm would be the nation’s largest such project, but it’s just one component of Richmond-based Dominion Energy Inc.’s plans for achieving its ambitious goal,
By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury
A year after Republican resistance stalled Virginia’s effort to cap carbon emissions from large producers of the greenhouse gas at the forefront of climate change, the wheels are again in motion: Virginia is joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Joining the cap-and-invest program was one of Democrats’ top legislative priorities for the 2020 General Assembly session. Thanks to their majorities in both the House of Delegates and the Senate, they achieved their goal on mostly, but not quite, party-line votes.
By JOHN REID BLACKWELL, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
A water leak that forced the shutdown of one reactor at Dominion Energy’s North Anna Power Station on Thursday is not considered a significant safety issue for local residents, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday. Unit 2 at the plant in Louisa County was shut down at about 1:30 a.m. on Thursday after operators discovered what a Dominion spokesman described as a “small water leak” in the reactor’s coolant pumps.
By JEFF STURGEON, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Yokohama Tire in Salem has canceled plans to resume operations and has closed for the foreseeable future because of the virus emergency, a press release said Monday. Yokohama leaders decided “that both of its U.S. plants will remain closed until further notice...
By STAFF REPORT, Suffolk News Herald
In response to the economic challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the change in recent years in how its readers consume community news and information, the Suffolk News-Herald will begin this week publishing two print editions each week on Wednesday and Sunday. While the Suffolk News-Herald has seen record traffic to its website and new print subscribers, many publications have experienced a decline in local advertising as non-essential businesses are closed and events are canceled.
By ERIN O'HARE, Cville Weekly
At this point in the season, farmers have planted potatoes and strawberries. They’ve sown radishes, carrots, beets, and kohlrabi. They’ve transplanted broccoli and onions from interior pots to outdoor beds, and any day now, they’ll put in the warmer-weather crops like corn and peppers. But as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads throughout Virginia, Governor Ralph Northam’s stay-at-home order has shut down farmers’ markets and restaurants, and local farmers have had to rethink how to get food to their customers
By BILL WYATT, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The Small Business Administration says the demand for $350 billion in relief to small businesses suffering from the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic is overwhelming and the application process now underway is fraught with problems. “I don’t know of anyone in the state of Virginia that’s gotten a check yet,” said Michael C. Scales, business analyst for the Small Business Development Center at Longwood University.
By MICHAEL NEIBAUER, Washington Business Journal (Subscription required for some articles)
The coronavirus pandemic has slowed air travel to a trickle, but it has not hindered Project Journey at Reagan National Airport. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority reports that the new 14-gate north concourse at Reagan Airport remains on schedule to open in July 2021.
By RENSS GREENE, Loudoun Now
A State Corporation Commission hearing examiner has sided partially with Loudoun County leaders in agreeing to delay proceedings for the Dulles Greenway’s request for five years of toll rate increases. Loudoun County government asked the SCC to delay an April 24 deadline to file its arguments opposing further toll increases on the Greenway, citing the need for senior county staff members to address the viral outbreak and state of emergency.
By SCOTT SHENK, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
While public life in many ways has drawn to a near standstill since the COVID-19 outbreak and ensuing stay-at-home orders, so far road construction has avoided delays. With many people either working from home or out of work, traffic has dropped drastically. That reduced traffic has allowed construction on roads to continue in full swing...
By MEL LEONOR AND JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Virginia’s peak day for new COVID-19 cases could take place in mid-August, and may yield a higher number of positive cases than previously anticipated, according to new modeling from researchers at the University of Virginia made public Monday. The projections were pitched as the first outlook for COVID-19 in Virginia that is based on detailed state data by a Virginia institution.
By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press
The good news from University of Virginia experts is that efforts to combat the coronavirus thus far indicate that the growth rate for new cases is not just slowing but leveling off almost entirely. The bad news, though, is that even if those efforts continue successfully for the length of Gov. Ralph Northam’s stay-at-home order, which currently expires June 10, the state will see a summer spike in cases that does not peak until August.
By RACHEL CHASON, GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER AND FENIT NIRAPPIL, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
A group of scientists advising Virginia’s government said Monday that social distancing in the state appears to be working, and their models show the state’s hospitals have enough beds to handle the novel coronavirus pandemic for the next few months if current trends continue. But Gov. Ralph Northam (D) warned that the models also show lifting a stay-at-home order or other social distancing measures too soon would cause a spike in covid-19 cases...
By PETER COUTU AND GARY A. HARKI, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Virginia officials are now optimistic the state has enough hospital capacity to handle the number of coronavirus patients in the coming months, but how to prevent a later surge has yet to be determined. A model created by University of Virginia researchers and the Defense Reduction Agency predicts that if social distancing measures are kept in effect until June 10 then “halfway lifted," it will likely prevent overrunning hospitals with COVID-19 patients until at least August.
By LUANNE RIFE, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Data scientists said Monday that Virginia’s policies to halt commerce and close schools, churches, beaches and parks have worked to keep fewer people from becoming severely ill and dying from COVID-19 — but if those restrictions are lifted too soon, cases will shoot up quickly and overwhelm hospitals. Researchers from the Biocomplexity Institute at the University of Virginia presented their findings during a media briefing organized by the governor’s office to talk about modeling.
By JUSTIN MATTINGLY AND MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Virginia has experienced nearly 100 coronavirus outbreaks, the majority of them in long-term care facilities, according to new data from the state health department. Fifty-three of the state’s 97 outbreaks, according to the Virginia Department of Health, are in long-term care facilities, an issue Gov. Ralph Northam hopes a task force announced Friday will address.
By STAFF REPORT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
The number of COVID-19 cases in Fluvanna County has more than tripled since Friday, with the new cases centered in a long-term care facility, according to the Thomas Jefferson Health District. According to the new case figures released Monday, Fluvanna County now has 62 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. The figure is up from the 17 cases reported Friday.
By MIKE GANGLOFF AND YANN RANAIVO, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
A COVID-19 cluster among Montgomery County Department of Social Services workers grew to nine cases, a county spokeswoman said Monday. And in a week when the New River Valley’s COVID-19 numbers climbed again — from a regional total of 10 on April 5 to 23 on Friday, then to 42 over the weekend — nursing centers in Pulaski and Montgomery counties became the first such facilities in the area known to have infections among residents or staff.
By PETE DELEA, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
An employee at Accordius Health in Harrisonburg said Monday the facility she works at is the long-term care facility being investigated by the Virginia Department of Health’s Central Shenandoah Health District for a possible COVID-19 outbreak. Kanesha Hamilton, a 25-year-old certified nursing assistant, said multiple people are sick at the facility on South Avenue.
By STAFF REPORT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Stafford County took a big jump between Sunday and Monday—from 72 to 87—and there are more cases in that locality than in the rest of the Rappahannock Area Health District combined. Stafford had 15 of the 17 new cases in the local health district between Easter and Monday,
By CAT MODLIN-JACKSON, WVTF
There was no way to ensure six feet of distance between all 55 beds at the Salvation Army shelter that Paul Murphy manages in Richmond. "Our men’s program is basically one large dorm area," he notes. So the organization stopped taking new clients in an effort to prevent a wildfire spread of coronavirus. Now Murphy’s dividing his time between the shelter downtown and a nearby Boys and Girls Club owned by the Salvation Army.
By NEIL VIGDOR, New York Times (Metered Paywall - 1 to 2 articles a month)
A Virginia bishop who defied warnings about the danger of religious gatherings during the pandemic and vowed to keep preaching “unless I’m in jail or the hospital” died over the weekend after contracting Covid-19, his church said. The bishop, Gerald O. Glenn, 66, the founder and pastor of New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Chesterfield, Va., died on Saturday night, according to Bryan Nevers, a church elder.
By MICHELLE BOORSTEIN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
A prominent Richmond-area evangelical pastor died on the eve of Easter after contracting the novel coronavirus. Bishop Gerald Glenn, founder and leader since 1995 of the New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Chesterfield, was the first black chaplain of that community’s police department and was a police officer before becoming a pastor, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Sunday.
By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury
Even on a blustery day with winds gusting to more than 20 miles per hour, parks all around Richmond saw brisk traffic Friday as residents eager to escape the confines of their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic looked to nature for relief. To some, keeping parks open is a public necessity, providing a place to go when almost everywhere else is closed. But to others, it’s a misguided move that has led to crowded trails and throngs of people that directly contravene government orders for all Americans to socially distance and risk further spreading the new strain of coronavirus.
By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)
Ballad Health is increasing its capacity to treat COVID-19 patients while permanently shifting all labor and delivery services to one Kingsport hospital. Ballad’s Market President Lindy White on Monday announced plans for a dedicated facility for women and newborns at Indian Path Community Hospital. Moving those services out of Holston Valley Medical Center gives the health system about 40 additional beds to treat coronavirus patients, should that need arise.
By SANDRA J. PENNECKE, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
A nonprofit organization, Virginia Catalyst, has announced its 11th round of grant funding with an emphasis on ground-breaking projects focused on solutions for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. . . . Created by the Virginia General Assembly, the organization is funded by the Commonwealth’s General Fund, Eastern Virginia Medical School, and several universities: George Mason; Old Dominion; University of Virginia; Virginia Commonwealth; Virginia Tech; and William & Mary.
By BILL WYATT, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Father Mark White has been removed as pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount, one day after Easter Sunday. In a letter dated Monday to the parishioners of both churches, Bishop of Richmond Barry Knestout said the matter was done and named a temporary replacement.
By SARAH HONOSKY, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Following increased demand for land protections in the Lynchburg area, two land conservancy organizations have merged to cover 16 Virginia counties, protecting a total of 25,000 acres from future development. The Roanoke-based Blue Ridge Land Conservancy, founded in 1996, is a nonprofit with the mission to help landowners place their property in conservation easements.
ArlNow
On Thursday, Arlington Public Schools revealed its plan for resuming remote learning following spring break, which ends today. The summary: given the difficulty in ensuring that all students can learn new concepts at home during coronavirus pandemic, nothing new will be taught through the remainder of the school year.
By STACY SHAW, Bristow Beat
Monday, Board of County Supervisors Chair Ann Wheeler (D) announced that she will no longer be proposing an increased residential property tax-rate. Due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak and its significant effect on the local economy, she proposes keeping residential real estate property taxes flat at $1.125 per $100 in assessed value. She believes this will offer relief to citizens in uncertain times.
By FATIMAH WASEEM, Reston Now
Some county residents and organizations are questioning the Fairfax County Board of Supervisor’s decision to proceed with voting on land use cases and other development matters at a meeting Tuesday. The board is considering an ordinance that would allow the county to proceed with some land use work that would “otherwise expire or require time-consuming, case-by-case attention to extend at the expense of operations.” . . . But some say the wording of the ordinance leaves too much room for interpretation, regardless of how well-intentioned the proposed ordinance is.
By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney has stripped raises, vacant positions and plans for new jobs from the city’s spending plan to address a $38.5 million hole anticipated in next year’s budget.
By RYAN MURPHY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Is Costco’s expansion a coronavirus-related emergency matter? Is funding a piece of public art an essential city service during the pandemic? Before the coronavirus and the resulting quarantine measures brought public life in Virginia to a stuttering halt, state law meant Norfolk’s City Council had to hold open, in-person public meetings to consider these kinds of items to ensure transparency and accountability.
By ALEXA DOIRON & JULIA MARSIGLIANO, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)
With the budgets deadline being June 20, localities in the Historic Triangle are having to readjust quickly due to the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. In James City County, Scott Stevens, county administrator, released the proposed budget for fiscal year 2021 on April 2, but this budget was compiled previous to the coronavirus pandemic. Stevens said the budget has the potential to change, but it’s difficult to determine because there’s no way of knowing how severe the economic impact will be.
By JULIA MARSIGLIANO & ALEXA DOIRON, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted some law enforcement agencies to switch gears. The York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office for nearly two weeks has allowed residents to file some crime reports online.
By MEGAN WILLIAMS, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to force changes and adjustments in many aspects of local education and for area school divisions. The biggest change that Rockingham County Public Schools is facing is the possible loss of state funding after having approved a budget for 2020-21. Gov. Ralph Northam submitted amendments to the state budget by midnight on Saturday.
By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee
The ongoing economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic does not seem to have seriously impacted plans to land a gaming facility in Danville. Paradise, Nevada-based Caesars Entertainment, one of four casino companies jockeying for the rights to set up shop in the city, hasn’t changed plans even though it has temporarily shut down its North American properties during the pandemic.
Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
For years now, we’ve been banging on the same drum — that the state should financially help localities renovate or replace old school buildings that the localities can’t afford to pay for on their own. In theory, this ought to be an idea that unites both parties, because outdated schools are found in all parts of Virginia, but especially in rural Virginia (represented almost exclusively by Republicans) and in central cities (represented by Democrats).
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
It is perfectly legitimate — appropriate, even — for individuals and groups across the commonwealth to question the decisions by Gov. Ralph Northam and local officials made during the coronavirus crisis. Public health officials insist these measures are necessary to slow the spread of this disease — an approach that appears to be bearing fruit. But it’s also reasonable to ask the courts confirm the legal authority behind them...
By JOEL ENGLISH, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Over the next two months, online courses will allow students to finish their school year. But a misconception about online learning is what I call The Myth of Convenience: Students often make the mistake of thinking, because online courses are convenient, then they must naturally be easy. Online courses aren’t easy; they’re actually more difficult than traditional courses.
Joel A. English is the executive vice president of Centura College, Aviation Institute of Maintenance, and Tidewater Tech in Virginia Beach.
By LEVAR M. STONEY, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
The challenge presented to nearly every aspect of our lives by the COVID-19 pandemic also presents a challenge to safeguarding one of the fundamental elements of our democracy — the ability to hold elections and cast a ballot in those elections. Over the years, our nation has faced serious challenges to protect and ensure this right...
Levar M. Stoney is mayor of the city of Richmond
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