VaNews
April 21, 2020

Today's Sponsor:


** Ambassador James S. Gilmore, III
------------------------------------------------------------

Read Online ([link removed]) 10 Most Clicked ([link removed])
Top of the News


** Virginia lawmakers to hold session unlike any other ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press

Virginia lawmakers are set to hold a one-day legislative session unlike any other in the state’s 400 year history as they grapple with how to handle fallout of the coronavirus. . . . Ordinarily, lawmakers return to the Capitol a few weeks after session ends to take up the governor’s vetoes and proposed amendments during a one-day session, colloquially called the “veto session.” But the coronavirus pandemic has overturned everything, including the logistics of how lawmakers are supposed to gather.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Northam drops bid to expand power to make spending cuts, as assembly prepares to 'pause' new spending ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

The General Assembly wants to deal with more than 180 proposed amendments to the state budget as quickly as possible when it reconvenes in Richmond on Wednesday, but budget leaders also are wary of expanding Gov. Ralph Northam’s power over spending along the way. Faced with questions from Republican leaders in both chambers, Northam is withdrawing a proposal he made to expand his authority to cut state spending by more than 15% without the assembly’s approval.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Report: 78% of Va. restaurant workers have been laid off since March ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By KATE ANDREWS, Va Business Magazine

More than 237,000 restaurant employees in Virginia have been laid off or furloughed since March — 78% of all workers who were employed in February, according to the National Restaurant Association.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Virginia creates group to make sure state has enough coronavirus tests available ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

A group of public and private health officials will coordinate to figure out how many coronavirus tests are needed per day and how those tests will be obtained as Virginia looks to eventually loosen stay-at-home restrictions. The testing work group will be headed by former Virginia Health Commissioner Karen Remley and state epidemiologist Lillian Peake, Gov. Ralph Northam said at a press conference Monday in Richmond.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Virginia’s prison system said it was doing ‘everything it can’ to keep COVID-19 at bay ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury

As COVID-19 began to spread in Virginia, the state Department of Corrections said it was “doing everything it can” to keep the virus out of state prisons. . . . Over the span of about 30 days, they announced visitors had been banned, facilities had been placed on lockdown, prisoners had been put to work manufacturing thousands of cloth masks, employees were being screened and a special “pandemic sanitation plan” had been put into place. Those efforts not only failed to keep the virus out of Virginia prisons, but have been unsuccessful in preventing its rapid spread.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Fairfax temporarily cancels face-to-face video instruction ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By HANNAH NATANSON, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Fairfax County Public Schools is canceling face-to-face virtual instruction for now and launching an outside review of its distance learning, as a second attempt to launch online offerings sputtered Monday morning and as new evidence emerged that employees warned of possible technical troubles weeks ago.
------------------------------------------------------------


** A Michigan family recovering from coronavirus says Sandbridge rental company won't refund money ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By ALISSA SKELTON, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

A Michigan family planned to spend Memorial Day on the Virginia coast. It was the only week this year 27 members of the Budzinski family could find in their busy schedules to travel to Sandbridge and to spend quality time together. But then a global pandemic happened and four of them fell ill with the coronavirus. . . . Karen Budzinski, 63, figured she would be able to easily cancel the week-long vacation for her five children, their spouses, and 15 grandchildren since her group numbered far more than 10, but she quickly learned she was wrong.
The Full Report
47 articles, 17 publications

Read Online ([link removed]) 10 Most Clicked ([link removed])


** FROM VPAP
------------------------------------------------------------


** VPAP Visual Heavy Workload, Improvised Setting ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

The Virginia Public Access Project

When they meet Wednesday, Virginia legislators will face a double whammy -- a relatively large number of gubernatorial amendments to consider and unprecedented arrangements required by current social distancing guidelines.
------------------------------------------------------------


** From VPAP Maps, Timeline of COVID-19 in Virginia ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

The Virginia Public Access Project

Data from the Virginia Department of Health shows a timeline of confirmed and probable 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.


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
------------------------------------------------------------


** Northam creates work group on COVID testing after week of fewer tests ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By MEL LEONOR, ALI ROCKETT AND BRIDGET BALCH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday the creation of a work group that will focus on improving COVID-19 testing in Virginia, after a week that saw testing for the virus decline in the state. Northam said that boosting testing in the state is part of “any plan to ease restrictions on businesses and address the pandemic,” but as of Monday, state officials did not yet have a grasp on the state’s testing capacity and had not set an overall testing goal..
------------------------------------------------------------


** Besides cutting spending, Northam’s budget tackles a Hampton Roads seabird problem ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

Gov. Ralph Northam’s 144 budget amendments aren’t just about cutting new spending as Virginia braces itself for at least $1 billion in revenue losses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. They are also, in one instance, about birds — specifically, gull-billed terns — and a massive expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel that has conflicted with the nesting site of a roughly 25,000-strong colony of assorted avians.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Lt. Gov. Fairfax speaks to his work during the COVID-19 pandemic ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By NATHANIEL CLINE, Loudoun Times

As Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) has been pushing for actions to deal with health care and economic concerns during the coronavirus outbreak, some are wondering why he hasn't been a more visible partner in the commonwealth's response. Fairfax said he's spent the past few weeks connecting with Virginians, faith leaders and members of the business community on social media, by phone and video conferences.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
------------------------------------------------------------


** General Assembly to reconvene to consider measures affected by coronavirus ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

The General Assembly will reconvene Wednesday in Richmond to consider Gov. Ralph Northam’s legislative recommendations, including proposals to move the date of the May municipal elections and changes to the budget. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the session will be unorthodox. Instead of meeting in the Capitol, the House of Delegates and Senate will meet nearly three miles apart ...
------------------------------------------------------------


** Gaming interests push back against Northam proposal to delay ban on 'skill games' ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam has stepped into the middle of an old legislative battle over unregulated electronic skill machines. Gaming groups are calling for the General Assembly to defeat Northam’s proposal to delay a ban on skill games for a year, while taxing the machines and using the money for a new state fund to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.


** STATE ELECTIONS
------------------------------------------------------------


** Three Democratic senators back shorter delay for Virginia’s May elections ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By GRAHAM MOOMAW, Virginia Mercury

Three Democratic state senators are pushing a legislative proposal to postpone Virginia’s May 5 municipal elections to June, a plan they’re pitching as an alternative to Gov. Ralph Northam’s call to push the elections all the way to November. Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, is behind the idea for a shorter delay, joined by fellow Sens. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, and Lionell Spruill Sr., D-Chesapeake.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Absentee voting in Virginia local elections heavy amid pandemic, possible move to November ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Despite Gov. Ralph Northam’s plan to postpone May 5 locality elections to November, Virginia voters are casting absentee ballots in record numbers. . . . “So far, we’ve had 889 applications for absentee ballots that we’ve received. Just under 800 ballots have been issued by mail, and 94 people have voted in person,” Bristol Virginia General Registrar Penny Limburg said Monday. “Generally, we have around 60 absentee voters for a local election.”


** STATE GOVERNMENT
------------------------------------------------------------


** Virginia to expand coronavirus testing in state prisons ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press

The Virginia Department of Corrections said Monday that it will dramatically increase testing of inmates as the state struggles to control the spread of the coronavirus in prisons across the state. As of Sunday, 139 inmates and 50 Department of Corrections staffers had tested positive for COVID-19. One inmate has died.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Advocates demand more protection for youths at Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Attorneys with the Legal Aid Justice Center on Monday demanded that the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice immediately act to protect the health of the 200 youths incarcerated at Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center in Chesterfield County. The LAJC asked the department to immediately ensure that the youths at Bon Air have adequate medical care, meaningful and safe access to counsel, access to counseling and education services,...


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
------------------------------------------------------------


** Lynchburg-area farmers hit hard by COVID-19 crisis ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By SARAH HONOSKY, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Farmers across the country are facing crippling challenges as they bear the brunt of COVID-19’s impact in local communities. When everything trickles down, said WP Johnson, a grain farmer in Bedford County, it all ends up here. “You know the old adage that ‘everything runs downhill?’” Johnson said.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Dairy farms worry about staying afloat ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By SYDNEY LAKE, Va Business Magazine

With milk prices dropping to the lowest point in years during the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia dairy industry representatives fear that as many as 30 to 40 of the commonwealth’s 450 dairy farms could be forced out of business by the end of the year.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Paycheck Protection Program tosses lifeline to small businesses in Fredericksburg area ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By CATHY JETT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The owner of a Spotsylvania County engineering firm realized that it was essential to keep his staff on the payroll if he was to ride out the economic storm caused by COVID-19. “We’re a fairly specialized practice,” said Larry Welford, who started the consulting engineer and land surveying firm 20 years ago. “If you have to let those people go, they’ll find work somewhere else. To come back is an enormous task.”
------------------------------------------------------------


** Norfolk businesswoman to give out 13 grants of $2,020 each ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Angela Reddix said she knows what it’s like to hold her breath before knowing for sure if it would be a good (or not-so-good) year for business. Her company, A. Reddix & Associates Inc. or ARDX, is a government contractor based in Norfolk that relies on a federal budget every year to fund the healthcare management and informational technology services that she supplies.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Hardware stores do brisk business with socially distanced do-it-yourselfers ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By STACY PARKER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Teacher Jimmy Bruce is finally knocking out projects around the house that he’s been needing to do for months. Over spring break, Bruce and his his daughter, Abby, stopped by Beach Hardware at the Oceanfront for a gallon of paint. “I’ve got nothing but time,” he said.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Hampton Roads restaurants transform into markets with eggs, meat, produce and TP ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By MATTHEW KORFHAGE, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

For weeks, it was the mystery of the ages: Why are all the grocery stores out of toilet paper? Why can’t I reliably get eggs and milk and paper towels at Kroger or Harris Teeter? Turns out, it’s an artifact of how America’s supply chain works. There are separate distribution chains for businesses and restaurants to get those eggs and produce — ...


** HIGHER EDUCATION
------------------------------------------------------------


** U.Va. anticipates $12 million in losses from housing and dining rebates ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By PATRICK RONEY, Cavalier Daily

The move to online courses for the spring 2020 semester has cost the University about $300,000, according to Wes Hester, the University’s director of media relations and deputy spokesperson. This money has gone towards increasing storage space and obtaining licenses for the online platforms for virtual instruction — Zoom and Panopto. The increase in spending also provides faculty and staff laptops so they can teach remotely. Additionally, with most students now living at home, the University has issued roughly $12 million in refunds to students for unused housing and dining costs. However, the University decided not to refund tuition for this semester.


** CORONAVIRUS
------------------------------------------------------------


** New COVID-19 cases drop in Virginia for third straight day ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press

For the third straight day Virginia health authorities are reporting a drop in the state’s number of new coronavirus cases. The Virginia Department of Health reported 453 new cases in the last 24 hours for a total of 8,990. The death toll increased from 277 to 300 as the pandemic continues. The drop in new cases marks the first time since the virus arrived in Virginia that the state has reported three consecutive days of declines, according to data kept by the Virginia Public Access Project.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Four Northern Virginia counties account for 42% of state's COVID-19 hospitalizations ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

While hospitals throughout the state report having thousands of available beds and ventilators to treat patients as the number of people hospitalized for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 has taken a slight downturn, data from the Virginia Department of Health suggests that Northern Virginia has been hit hardest in the state – apart from the nursing home in Henrico County that has become one of the deadliest outbreaks in the country.
------------------------------------------------------------


** COVID-19 claims three more lives in Fredericksburg area ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Three more elderly people in the Fredericksburg area have died from COVID-19 since Friday, bringing to nine the number of deaths in the Rappahannock Area Health District. All three were men; two were in their 70s and one in his 80s, according to Allison Balmes–John, spokeswoman for the local health district. No other information was available Monday.
------------------------------------------------------------


** City infection rate is by far the state’s highest, for reasons that are unclear ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By ANDREW JENNER AND CALVIN PYNN, The Citizen

After a sharp increase in local COVID-19 cases over the past week – including an outbreak at the long-term care facility Accordius Health that has infected 81 residents and left 10 dead – Harrisonburg has by far the highest per-capita rate of cases in the state. As of Monday morning, the Virginia Department of Health reported a total of 252 cases in the city, or about 467 per 100,000 residents. That’s well over four times the statewide rate of 105 cases per 100,000 residents and far above Alexandria, in second place with 265 cases per 100,000.
------------------------------------------------------------


** COVID-19 testing to begin in high-risk areas of city ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By JEREMY M. LAZARUS, Richmond Free Press

The Richmond City Health District plans to ramp up testing for coronavirus in neighborhoods that appear to be the most at risk — low-income areas of the city that are home to many African-Americans. Dr. Danny Avula, director of the health district, announced Monday that testing for COVID-19 will begin at the resource centers of the six largest public housing communities — Creighton Court, Fairfield Court, Gilpin Court, Hillside Court, Mosby Court and Whitcomb Court — in addition to the Southwood Apartments and the Broad Rock Community Center, both in South Side.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Nursing homes must report COVID-19 cases to residents and families, federal government says ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Nursing homes will be required to tell residents and their families about COVID-19 cases in their facilities under new federal requirements. The guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services comes as the federal government, like officials in Virginia, tries to mitigate outbreaks in long-term care facilities, which are more susceptible to the virus’ spread. In Virginia, the majority of COVID-19 outbreaks are in long-term care facilities.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Ramadan celebrations move online as coronavirus spreads across Hampton Roads ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By JULIA MARSIGLIANO, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)

The Muslim communities in Hampton Roads have decided to move its annual Ramadan celebrations to a different format this year due the coronavirus. Gov. Ralph Northam last week extended his executive orders on gatherings of more than 10 people and non-essential business closings to May 8. “Basically we have decided we are closing down for Ramadan,” said Muhammad Amer, chairman of trustees at the Peninsula Islamic Community Center in Hampton, referring to mosques being closed to the public.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Parallels of 1918 flu: A century ago, pandemic claimed more than 100 lives in Danville as response grew to shut down city ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

Schools and businesses closed. People were warned to stay away from entertainment venues. All the while, some people doubted the severity of the pandemic. Parallels can be found between a worldwide flu outbreak about a century ago and today’s COVID-19 pandemic. The 1918 flu pandemic killed 50 million people around the world — including nearly 700,000 in the United States and more than 100 in Danville.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Virginia Beach couple with COVID-19 spent weeks in hospital, separated by one floor ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By ELISHA SAUERS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Robert Vanderwerff was born in the Dutch East Indies nearly 80 years ago and lived in an internment camp with his mother during Japanese occupation. He was too young to remember. But recently, Vanderwerff learned a little about what it might feel like to be imprisoned. A few weeks ago, he broke his hip while battling the coronavirus, a hellish ordeal that combined hospital isolation, wrenching pain and an inability to walk.
------------------------------------------------------------


** COVID-19 Sewing ‘Maskforce’ draws 1,200 people in region, supplying masks to hospitals, health agencies ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By ALISON JOHNSON, Virginia Gazette (Metered Paywall - 4 Articles per Month)

Eighteen months ago, C.J. Robison left her nursing job at Sentara Leigh Hospital in Norfolk to be a stay-at-home mother. When the coronavirus pandemic stuck, she couldn’t stop thinking about former co-workers struggling to get protective equipment. Robison’s single Facebook post asking volunteers for homemade masks has morphed into the COVID-19 Sewing “Maskforce” for Hampton Roads, which now has more than 1,200 members.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
------------------------------------------------------------


** Keystone XL ruling could futher delay Mountain Valley Pipeline permit ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

A long-suspended permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline to cross streams and wetlands could remain on hold even longer as the result of a decision by a federal judge in Montana. Last week, U.S. District Judge Brian Morris vacated a so-called Nationwide Permit 12 issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Keystone XL pipeline.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Wise annual pop-up clinic is canceled till 2021, organizers say ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By KATE ANDREWS, Va Business Magazine

Wise County’s free, three-day clinic held annually in July has been canceled, organizers announced Monday. Previously known as the Wise Remote Area Medical clinic, the Health Wagon’s Move Mountains Medical Mission, offering free vision and medical treatment, was set to take place July 10-12


** LOCAL
------------------------------------------------------------


** Richmond councilwoman apologizes for racist figurine on display in her home ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

A Richmond councilwoman has apologized for owning a racist figurine and displaying it in her home. Councilwoman Reva Trammell posted a photo on Facebook over the weekend showing a caricature of an African American woman atop a kitchen cabinet in the background. She swiftly drew criticism on social media, including from her colleague on the City Council, 9th District representative Michael Jones.
------------------------------------------------------------


** 4 Norfolk sheriff’s deputies test positive for coronavirus ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By JONATHAN EDWARDS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Four Norfolk sheriff’s deputies who work in the city jail have tested positive for the coronavirus and are isolating at home. But it’s unclear how many inmates they may have exposed before showing symptoms last week. Two deputies started showing symptoms last week and have been at home since then, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Deanna LeBlanc said in a news release. ... No inmates have been tested, but none are presumed positive, LeBlanc said.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Rite Aid offers coronavirus testing outside Virginia Beach store ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By ELISHA SAUERS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

A Rite Aid store in Virginia Beach will offer testing for the coronavirus in its parking lot starting Wednesday. The drive-thru, at 2293 Upton Drive, is one of 11 across eight states that the retail pharmacy chain will open that day, bringing its total to 24. At each location, the company expects to handle more than 200 tests daily for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Stafford EDA making an additional $200,000 available in Coronavirus Disaster Assistance ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By STAFF REPORT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The Stafford County Economic Development Authority says it has additional financial resources to offer in Round 2 of Stafford Business Coronavirus Disaster Assistance Grant Funds. Since mid-March, the EDA provided $250,000 in grants to more than 40 businesses in Round 1 of assistance.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Pandemic’s effects shift the democratic process online and add challenges for local candidates ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By BRIDGET MANLEY, The Citizen

With three city council seats and city three city school board seats up for election in Harrisonburg this November, the candidates are having to altering their campaign styles — and even how their process for filing to run — in the wake of COVID-19. It’s making an already challenging process of running for office that much harder.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Roanoke fitness center cited for violating closure order ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By ALICIA PETSKA, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

The owner of a Roanoke fitness center has been cited for remaining open in violation of a statewide order directing gyms and other businesses deemed non-essential to temporarily close. Thomas Milton, owner of Titan Fit, said he plans to fight the misdemeanor charge. “We have no intentions of closing,” he said. “We plan to reopen Virginia.” ...
------------------------------------------------------------


** Proposed resolution pushes Danville businesses to put safety first ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

Danville City Councilman Gary Miller is proposing a resolution that urges businesses still operating to require all employees to wear masks and to follow a series of set guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic. While the city does not have the power to mandate that businesses adhere to the social-distancing measures suggested in the resolution, "we can highly recommend or encourage them to," Miller said Sunday.

Today's Sponsor:


** Ambassador James S. Gilmore, III
------------------------------------------------------------


** EDITORIALS
------------------------------------------------------------


** Liberate Virginia? Why should we trust politicians over doctors? ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Liberate Virginia? What the heck is that supposed to mean? President Trump’s series of “liberate” tweets play a dangerous game. The danger is that he might mean them metaphorically but some might read them more literally. Does the president really want to incite a riot? His criticism of the pandemic-related restrictions in Virginia, along with Michigan and Minnesota, also runs counter to the guidelines he himself announced for when states could begin to reopen.
------------------------------------------------------------


** In governor's office, Virginia's doctor is in ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The late Stephen Hawking said Winston Churchill was “the right man at the right time for the right job.” Timing is everything. By the start of World War II, Churchill’s career in British public life was more or less over. Before 1939, his warnings against a resurgent Germany were seen as out of touch with a nation still catching its breath from the first World War and reeling from the Great Depression. And then, caught flatfooted by Hitler and facing annihilation...
------------------------------------------------------------


** Calls to reopen Virignia are premature, dangerous ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

In Richmond last week, about two dozen people gathered at the State Capitol, urging Gov. Ralph Northam to lift the executive orders that closed businesses in order to “Reopen Virginia.” What a disaster — a deadly, self-inflicted disaster — that would be.
------------------------------------------------------------


** The need for ubiquitous testing ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

In this past Sunday’s Q&A with RTD Opinions, Dr. Lilian Peake, Virginia’s state epidemiologist, spelled out the challenges in combating the spread of COVID-19. Unlike other viruses over the past 20 years — SARS, H5N1 avian flu, H1N1 flu, Ebola and MERS to name a few — the novel coronavirus is highly contagious and, depending on the patient, very potent.


** COLUMNISTS
------------------------------------------------------------


** Casey: Donating to journalists and others in need ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By DAN CASEY, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Russ Orrison of Lexington and Elaine Akers of Dublin probably don’t know each other. But both readers had the same idea when they read notices in this newspaper this month that yours truly was on a two-week unpaid furlough. “Could this be because he ‘stepped on somebody’s toes?’ ” Akers wondered in a query to the newsroom. “You got in trouble, or are you taking one for the team?” Orrison asked in an email to me directly. The answer is, I didn’t get in trouble. At least not yet...


** OP-ED
------------------------------------------------------------


** Petersen: It’s quiet in Virginia ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By CHAP PETERSEN, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Schools are closed. Highways are empty. College campuses are eerily silent. Office buildings and shopping malls are shuttered, their parking lots empty. Restaurant and entertainment venues are effectively closed — many will remain that way forever, costing countless families their livelihoods. Most of our population is at home, attempting to work, study, or simply stay sane. Meanwhile, more than 400,000 Virginians have applied for unemployment benefits.

Petersen is a state senator from Fairfax County. He is a Democrat.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Cobb: Opening casino during COVID-19 harms more than it helps ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By VICTORIA COBB, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Southwest Virginia deserves real, long-term solutions, not quick-fix, get-rich schemes. While some areas of the state have just begun to experience an economic downturn due to COVID-19, Bristol and Danville have grappled with low average household incomes and high levels of debt for some time. Now, as COVID-19 brings additional economic strains to local economies, it’s even more clear that casinos are the last thing these cities need.

Cobb is president of The Family Foundation of Virginia
------------------------------------------------------------


** Kaine: Pentagon must improve virus response ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By TIM KAINE, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

For all the horrors of the ongoing tragedy of the USS Theodore Roosevelt — nearly 700 sailors diagnosed with COVID-19, the death of a sailor, the removal of Capt. Brett Crozier — perhaps most unsettling is how long it’s taken to test everyone aboard. As of Monday, 24 days after the first diagnoses, hundreds of crewmembers remain untested.

Tim Kaine, the 70th governor of Virginia, represents the commonwealth in the U.S. Senate.
------------------------------------------------------------


** Snyders: Virginia comes together ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By PETE AND BURSON SNYDER, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Two weeks ago, we — along with some of our friends from Virginia’s business and philanthropic community — announced an effort to help small businesses in the commonwealth struggling with the unprecedented challenges presented by the spread of a global pandemic. All around us, we saw Virginians being laid off and businesses barely hanging on. As entrepreneurs who know firsthand how hard it can be to meet payroll even in the best of times, we wanted to do something to be of assistance. So we created the VA 30 Day Fund.

Virginia technology entrepreneur Pete Snyder and his wife, Burson, launched the nonprofit Virginia 30 Day Fund. Its goal is to help save as many Virginia jobs as possible
------------------------------------------------------------


** Smith and Raskin: As telehealth use increases, broadband is a necessity ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

By SHELLY SMITH AND SARAH RASKIN, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

As the commonwealth attempts to flatten the curve of COVID-19 and reserve health care resources for those experiencing the most severe cases, health systems quickly are shoring up a known but, in many cases, neglected resource for basic and specialty care: telehealth. The expansion of telehealth services is a response to the pandemic that reinforces necessary social distancing while, in theory, preserving access to care...

Shelly Smith is the director of the doctor of nursing practice program at VCU School of Nursing. Sarah Raskin, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the iCubed Initiative — Oral Health Core and VCU L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.
------------------------------------------------------------
Donate ([link removed]) Subscribe ([link removed]) Content Policy ([link removed]) Privacy ([link removed])

============================================================

This email was sent to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
why did I get this? ([link removed]) unsubscribe from this list ([link removed]) update subscription preferences ([link removed])
Virginia Public Access Project . P.O. Box 1472 . Richmond, VA 23218 . USA