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By ALAN SUDERMAN AND SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press
Virginia lawmakers held a legislative session unlike any in the state’s more than 400-year history Wednesday, donning masks and keeping their distance from each other as they voted to delay a minimum wage hike, teacher raises, and other items amid uncertainty about the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the economy.
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Gov. Ralph Northam’s effort to move the May municipal elections to November failed late Wednesday after the state Senate rejected his recommendation. Northam wanted to postpone the May 5 elections to Nov. 3, along with the presidential and congressional contests, out of concern about people voting in person during the coronavirus pandemic. Most Democrats supported his proposal, but it gave Republicans and a few Democrats pause.
By CHIP LAUTERBACH, VCU Capital News Service
Horns blared and flags waved from vehicle windows as hundreds of Virginians converged Wednesday on Capitol Square to protest restrictions implemented by Gov. Ralph Northam during the COVID-19 pandemic. Protesters reiterated the message of similar demonstrations taking place in state capitals across the country. “At first we were compliant,” said protester David Decker. “Now it seems like it’s being forced upon us more and more, and we’re absolutely sick of it.”
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Two Republican state senators are representing the owner of Gold’s Gym facilities in Virginia, including two in the Richmond area, in a lawsuit that challenges Gov. Ralph Northam’s authority to close private fitness centers as nonessential businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
The ACLU of Virginia wants the Virginia Supreme Court to order state and local officials to provide adequate care for people in custody in prisons, jails, juvenile facilities and elsewhere. “This petition seeks extraordinary relief to mitigate the extraordinary risks imposed by the novel coronavirus ... upon incarcerated people, corrections and health staff, and all of our communities.
By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
Smithfield Foods will spend $100 million to give its 40,000 production and distribution workers nationwide a bonus, even as the new coronavirus has shuttered key midwestern plants. Company officials have not responded to repeated Daily Press requests for comment about whether the virus is affecting operations in its hometown, where Isle of Wight County officials say it employs more than 1,000 people.
By MATTHEW KORFHAGE AND KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
On April 10, Eric Nelson got an email that meant the difference between being open and being closed: His loan had come through. His restaurant in Norfolk’s Ghent neighborhood, Crudo Nudo, had been shut down for weeks — though he still serves free food once a week to people in the neighborhood who are down on their luck. He’d had to cut all his staff in March ...
The Full Report
47 articles, 20 publications
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The Virginia Public Access Project
Data from the Virginia Department of Health shows a timeline of COVID-19 cases and statewide map showing the number of cases and deaths by locality. VPAP has added daily hospital utilization data from the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association. Updated each morning shortly after 9:00 a.m.
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, the General Assembly reconvened Wednesday to give its final approval to numerous bills, including raising the minimum wage and a plan to establish a funding stream for school construction. The House of Delegates and Senate returned to Richmond to consider amendments that Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, made to bills passed during this year’s regular session.
By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, MEL LEONOR AND MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
A briefly unconscious House leader, a senator inside a plexiglass box and incessant honking from protesters contributed Wednesday to one of the most extraordinary gatherings of the Virginia legislature in recent memory. From behind cloth masks, lawmakers in the House and Senate gathered in Richmond for a veto session in which they considered the sweeping impact of COVID-19 on Virginia, as well as Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposed changes to legislation ...
By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Six weeks after passing a budget that included more education funding and raises for state employees, lawmakers gathered Wednesday in Richmond under extraordinary circumstances to consider halting most of that new spending, and allocating money to the coronavirus pandemic response.
By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER AND LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
The Virginia General Assembly froze much of its ambitious two-year spending plan Wednesday, taking up recommendations from Gov. Ralph Northam to delay new programs until the state better understands the cost and impact of the coronavirus crisis.
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
The General Assembly on Wednesday granted a one-year reprieve for the operations of thousands of electronic skill games operating in businesses across Virginia, but only after Gov. Ralph Northam promised to veto any future legislation to extend the industry’s life any longer.
By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)
State lawmakers set the stage Wednesday for a Nov. 3 public vote on casino gaming by approving a series of gubernatorial amendments to legislation allowing casinos in five Virginia cities including Bristol. Meeting in a historic reconvened session, the Virginia General Assembly approved amendments proposed by Gov. Ralph Northam, finalizing legislation to license one casino to operate in Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Richmond, if approved by voters of each city.
Danville Register & Bee
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's plan to push back the May 5 municipal elections to Nov. 3 was presented as an amendment to the state budget. The Senate passed the plan by for the day, effectively killing it. Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, led the effort, saying moving the elections to November would “void” local charters.
By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn appeared to faint behind the dais Wednesday, falling then quickly recovering with the assistance of first responders. Filler-Corn passed out as the House was getting ready to break from its regularly scheduled veto session. She was back presiding over the House an hour later and reconvened the meeting to the applause of lawmakers.
By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
They wore face masks and gloves, each sitting at their own little round table in the grass underneath a massive staked white tent that nearly touched the Virginia State Capitol. They touched elbows instead of shaking hands, grabbed boxed lunches and searched the grass for outlets for their laptops. As they worked out the technical difficulties to answering roll call, honks could be heard down the hill ...
By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Protesters who want Gov. Ralph Northam to ease restrictions on business and church closures during the coronavirus shutdown drove their vehicles along the blocks surrounding Capitol Square on Wednesday, honking horns in protest. Many of the cars and trucks sported American flags, Trump signs and messages like “Fear is the virus” and “Reopen Virginia.”
By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury
Virginia Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver announced Wednesday that nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the state can now share information on COVID-19 outbreaks, including “case identification and contact investigation efforts.” The information is still considered “confidential” and won’t be released to the general public, according to a news release from the Virginia Department of Health. But the decision reverses the department’s previous policy of not disclosing information on outbreaks even to other facilities requesting the information.
By ELISHA SAUERS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Five people with intellectual disabilities and 11 staff members who care for them have contracted the coronavirus at a state-run facility in Chesapeake. Meghan McGuire, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, said officials are monitoring the recent COVID-19 outbreak at Southeastern Virginia Training Center.
By NEIL HARVEY, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Virginia’s ongoing judicial emergency status, which limits, modifies or postpones most in-person court hearings as a precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic, will continue at least through May 17. The state Supreme Court announced Wednesday it will extend the emergency...
By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury
With utility regulators’ schedules in flux due to COVID-19-related shutdowns, Virginia Natural Gas is pushing to keep a pipeline expansion case on its original timeline even as opponents argue the pandemic will have a “chilling effect” on public participation. On Tuesday, the utility, which serves about 300,000 customers in central and southeastern Virginia, asked the State Corporation Commission for “expedited consideration” of its application to build 24 new miles of pipeline and two new compressor stations while also expanding an existing station in Ladysmith.
By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
The Virginia State Parole Board said it attempted to contact a surviving relative of a 2011 murder victim before one of the three people convicted in the slaying was granted parole last month. Debra Scribner, 66, was granted geriatric conditional release on March 31.
By BILL WYATT, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner criticized President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus crisis, and community and business leaders in Martinsville and Danville expressed frustration with the unfairness of the distribution of federal money to help keep small businesses afloat during a conference call Wednesday afternoon.
By MELISSA HOWELL, WTOP
Hospitals are on the front lines of the fight against the coronavirus, but they’re still facing serious financial challenges. Inova Health System in Virginia is the latest to be impacted, and has announced it will lay off 427 employees amid growing demand for more resources to treat the coronavirus.
By JOSH JANNEY, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Valley Health System announced Tuesday that it will commit up to $50 million from its reserve funds to retain and pay all of its staff for the next 90 days amid the coronavirus pandemic. The not-for-profit health system, which is parent company of Winchester Medical Center and five other hospitals in the region, has curtailed or temporarily suspended some of its services ...
By RACHEL MAHONEY, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Centra Health and Blue Ridge Ear, Nose, and Throat Plastic Surgery will pay more than $9 million between them to the government to settle a lawsuit claiming the two providers had a history of an improper financial relationship. Though the claims in the suit have been settled, “there has been no determination of liability,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia.
By JONATHAN CAPRIEL, Washington Business Journal (Subscription required for some articles)
Tensions between Amazon.com Inc. and some of its workers appear to be mounting, as up to 350 of the company's warehouse workers were expected to begin a mass sickout Tuesday over conditions related to the coronavirus, according to multiple news outlets. Company executives downplayed earlier demonstrations.
By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
In recent years, the growth of the chicken industry has exploded on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, where thousands are employed and where two of the most recognizable meat companies, Tyson and Perdue, have operations. But this recent growth has come with a cost, one environmental group asserts in a report released Wednesday, to coincide with Earth Day.
ArlNow
Across the country, restaurants have started suing insurance companies over their refusal to pay business interruption claims. Many businesses have insurance policies that cover loss of income due to disasters. Restaurants say being forced to shut down by state and local governments to help slow the spread of the coronavirus is such a case and are seeking payments. Insurance companies, however, say the policies mostly cover interruptions caused by property damage, not diseases.
By BILL WYATT, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The owner of a tanning salon who says Martinsville officials told her she could remain open is blaming a competitor for filing a complaint that forced her to turn off her bulbs. On March 23 Gov. Ralph Northam issued Executive Order 53 that ordered the closure of certain non-essential businesses. That order specifically told tanning salons to shut down.
By JOE TENNIS, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)
You can say there’s no such thing as a free lunch. But if you’re a factory worker at Electro-Mechanical Corp. in Bristol, Virginia, that’s exactly what you get three days a week. Founded in 1958, this longtime company on Goodson Street employs 400 factory workers who must be on-site and cannot work from home, said company leader Howard Broadfoot.
By CALEB AYERS, Danville Register & Bee
Mike Shelton, a longtime resident of Keeling who lives in a three-bedroom brick home, is cutting his winter electric bill by half with the installation of solar panels. In the winter, his utility bill would often exceed $400 a month. With the new solar panel system he recently bought, he will pay a flat monthly rate of about $220.
By JUSTIN GEORGE, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Metro plans to take advantage of the lower ridership brought on by the coronavirus pandemic to accelerate its platform rebuilding project, extending this summer’s planned shutdown to nine stations, including everything west of Ballston. The change to the shutdown schedule, which begins Memorial Day and lasts through Labor Day, means there will be no Silver Line service.
By MATT JONES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
No Christopher Newport University student will pay more for tuition, room and board or other fees next academic year, according to President Paul Trible. Trible announced the plan in a message Wednesday to students and families, citing the economic turbulence brought by the coronavirus pandemic.
By MICHAEL MARTZ, PAUL WHELAN, SEAN GORMAN AND JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
A third resident at a retirement community in Mechanicsville has died after testing positive for COVID-19. The Harmony Collection at Hanover said on Wednesday the 84-year-old resident died after being hospitalized. The retirement community also confirmed Wednesday that 22 residents and 13 employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press
A coronavirus outbreak at a northern Virginia long-term care facility has resulted in 11 deaths and dozens of illnesses over the past month. The outbreak at Dulles Health and Rehab Center in Herndon began with a positive test for the coronavirus March 28, said Jeannie Adams, director of legal services for Commonwealth Care of Roanoke, which provides management and consulting services to the Herndon facility.
By JAKOB CORDES, WCVE
As the coronavirus outbreak spreads, demand for testing, personal protective equipment, and ventilators has risen rapidly. In Virginia, one organization has been working on innovative approaches to all three - but Indie Lab, based in the Scott’s Addition neighborhood of Richmond, isn’t a big pharmaceutical company or an established research institution.
By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Free COVID-19 testing began this week in Richmond and Henrico County neighborhoods with a high concentration of uninsured residents. The Richmond and Henrico County Health Districts are leading the initiative aimed at identifying positive cases in predominately African American and Latino communities ...
By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
King George County has the smallest population in the local health district, but more of its residents have died from COVID-19 to date than in any other locality in the Rappahannock Area Health District. Four elderly King George residents have passed away from the respiratory illness ....
By ALEXA DOIRON, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)
People are living through a historic time, a pandemic that continues to wreak havoc to the nation and the world. And one local group wants to capture that history as it’s happening. “If we don’t collect the stories now, it’s just going to disappear,” said Jay Gaidmore, president of the Williamsburg Historic Records Association.
By HANNAH NATANSON, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
The longtime information technology chief for Fairfax County Public Schools is out of a job days after the district’s disastrous debut of online learning, according to a letter sent to staffers. “Effective immediately, Maribeth Luftglass is stepping down from her role,” Superintendent Scott Brabrand wrote in the message to information technology staffers...
By VERNON MILES, ArlNow
Hundreds of Washington-Liberty High School students woke up Tuesday morning in Arlington to find their front lawns adorned with congratulatory messages. Principal Gregg Robertson said administrators and faculty at the school missed their students and were heartbroken that seniors didn’t get to experience their full senior year due to the coronavirus closure.
By NATHANIEL CLINE, Loudoun Times
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to dedicate two funds totaling more than $1 million to support local small businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The board voted unanimously to create the one-time Business Interruption Fund (BIF) after a proposal by the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development.
By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
After a whirlwind budget season that saw stiff criticism from teachers for failing to fully fund schools, students protesting for teacher salary increases and the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors unanimously approved its $723 million revised budget Wednesday night in its second virtual meeting. The adopted budget is almost $50 million short of County Administrator Joe Casey’s initial proposal...
By ALISSA SKELTON, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Just like most cities in the nation, Virginia Beach will need to make cuts to be able to survive the financial crisis created by coronavirus. On Wednesday night, the Virginia Beach City Council held its first virtual public hearing on the more than $2 billion budget proposal. Only 20 residents called into the meeting to share their thoughts from home.
Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Gov. Ralph Northam has gotten high marks from Virginians – well, 76% of them according to a recent survey – for his handling of the pandemic. Throughout, he's emphasized the science and de-emphasized the politics. He hasn't dominated the national media the way some other governors have, but that's partly because he's concentrated on the business at hand, not the show business.
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The coronavirus has struck nursing homes in Virginia and elsewhere — those supported by public funding, primarily — with grievous, wretched effect. Too many people have died for lack of adequate staffing, lack of adequate equipment, lack of adequate understanding of what to do when confronted by a fast-spreading virus.
Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
The insidious coronavirus poses not only a physical threat, but a mental one as well. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that 45% of adults said they feel worry and stress related to the coronavirus has had a negative impact on their mental health. About 1 in 5 responded that the virus has had a “major impact” on their mental health.
By DAN CASEY, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Have you ever voted absentee before? Me neither. Since 1976, I’ve always voted in person on Election Day at a designated precinct. The same seems true for the vast majority of voters in the Roanoke Valley and probably elsewhere in Virginia. For example, in the 2019 elections in Roanoke County, a total of 26,505 people voted. Of those, less than 2% — or 502 — voted absentee.
By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
What if Donald Trump, saddled by the catastrophe that is the coronavirus, is defeated for re-election in 2020, with Democrat Joe Biden extending his party’s presidential win streak in Virginia to four straight since 2008 and burnishing the state’s image as the least Southern in the South? What if Biden, on taking over from Trump in 2021, inherits a lousy economy ...
By LARRY HINCKER, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
To Open or Not to Open, that is the question…with apologies to The Bard. The nation is frozen in place, gripped by a world pandemic not seen in a century, if ever. We have a health as well as an economic problem of epic proportions. First, we have to get past the virus. CDC experts say that an outbreak is over when levels of infection “return to normal.” Uh, we’ve never seen this before. Thus, understanding a new normal has myriad meanings.
Larry Hincker is a retired public relations executive and lives in Blacksburg. He assists the NRV Passenger Rail initiative.
By SAGHANA CHAKRABORTTY, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
While precious time has been squandered over the last two-to-three months, I have been wondering when we will have enough kits for universal testing for the virus causing COVID-19. We have been told repeatedly in daily briefings that we are doing so much better than other countries. Unfortunately, the data tells us a different story. Some countries are handling this better, faster and resuming a semblance of normal life. The United States is supposed to lead the world in innovation and productivity, and not lag behind.
Dr. Saghana Chakrabortty, a primary care physician for more than 30 years, practices medicine in Norfolk and lives in Virginia Beach.
By STEPHEN D. HANER, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
America’s and Virginia’s unemployment insurance programs — born of the Great Depression and the Social Security Act of 1935 — might be another casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus has mutated unemployment insurance into a form that is financially unsustainable. Each state has its own unemployment insurance trust fund, financed by taxes on employers and steadily growing in good times.
Haner is senior fellow for state and local tax policy with the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
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