VaNews Aug. 13, 2019
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** FROM VPAP
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** VISUALIZATION: COMPARING CANDIDATES' PERSONAL WEALTH ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

Recently filed disclosures show how 120 men and women seeking entrance into the Virginia General Assembly measure up in personal wealth compared to the 140 members who served last winter. As expected, the hopefuls are younger and less financially settled than those in power.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** TO STEM KILLINGS, GOP LAWMAKER WANTS TO BOOST VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAMS ([link removed])
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By MECHELLE HANKERSON, Virginia Mercury

Taking cues from other states and cities that have implemented them, Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, wants Virginia to establish more programs that encourage people to leave violent lifestyles in order to curb shooting deaths. Weeks after the General Assembly abruptly adjourned a special session called to address gun violence after a mass shooting in Virginia Beach, Gilbert, the House majority leader, filed legislation aimed at boosting what criminal justice professionals call group-violence reduction or intervention initiatives.


** RED FLAG BILL FINDS SOME SUPPORT AMONG VIRGINIA GOP ([link removed])
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By BEN PAVIOUR, WCVE

Last week, President Donald Trump backed the idea of federal “red flag” laws designed to keep guns away from people who may harm themselves or others. Several Virginia Republicans say they support similar measures here, bucking the party’s traditional reluctance to take up gun control measures. Del. Jason Miyares (R-Virginia Beach) proposed his red flag bill in July, when the legislature met for a special session on gun violence.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** SPEAKER COX IS FIRST VIRGINIA HOUSE CANDIDATE THIS YEAR TO AIR BROADCAST TV AD ([link removed])
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By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A cheerful TV ad featuring House Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, will hit Richmond-area screens starting Tuesday — the first broadcast ad in a House of Delegates race this season.


** HOUSE SPEAKER KIRK COX LAUNCHES EARLY TV AD AS HE DEFENDS REDRAWN VIRGINIA DISTRICT ([link removed])
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By LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Virginia House Speaker Kirk Cox will launch the first TV ad of his reelection campaign Tuesday, a feel-good spot that features minority constituents calling the Republican “one of us.”


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** TENSION BETWEEN COURTHOUSE ACCESS AND SECURITY ([link removed])
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By MAURA MAZUROWSKI, Virginia Lawyers Weekly (Paywall for some articles)

Courthouse security is cracking down across Virginia. Despite calls for relaxed cellphone policies in Virginia courthouses, many sheriffs are still reluctant to allow visitors to bring their phones past the security desk. In some locations, lawyers are facing stricter security hurdles as they enter the courthouse.


** VITA PROMOTES ONE OF ITS OWN AS CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Virginia Information Technologies Agency has promoted one of its own to serve as chief administrative officer for an operation in the midst of reorganization under a new model for serving state executive branch agencies. Dan Wolf, a lawyer who represents the agency in front of the General Assembly money committees, will become CAO, one of two new executive positions created under a VITA reorganization during the spring.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** MOUNTAIN VALLEY PIPELINE FACES NEW LEGAL CHALLENGE, THIS ONE OVER ENDANGERED SPECIES ([link removed])
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By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Foes of the Mountain Valley Pipeline have filed another legal attack, this one over the pipeline’s impact on endangered species such as the Roanoke logperch. The petition, filed Monday, asks a federal appeals court in Richmond to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reexamine its earlier opinion that burrowing a 42-inch diameter pipe across rugged mountain slopes and through unspoiled streams will not significantly harm the threatened fish, bats and plants that live there.


** LOCAL
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** IN BLUE NORTHERN VA., TOP OFFICIALS PUSH BACK AGAINST PROPOSED SHELTER FOR MIGRANT YOUTHS ([link removed])
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By ANTONIO OLIVO, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Top Democrats in increasingly blue Northern Virginia are telling the Trump administration they’re against plans to open a shelter for unaccompanied minors in the region and saying their jurisdictions should be compensated for any potential impact on local schools or hospitals.


** LOUDOUN NAACP, LEESBURG COUNCILMEN MEET IN WAKE OF PROCLAMATION CONTROVERSY ([link removed])
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By ELIZABETH STINNETTE, Loudoun Times

The Loudoun chapter of the NAACP and Town of Leesburg, in spite of a few contentious moments, agreed to move toward a resolution during a special meeting Monday morning. The NAACP asked to meet with council last month in the wake of Councilman Tom Dunn’s decision to write a message instead of his signature on a proclamation presented to NAACP President and Pastor Michelle Thomas in June.


** RICHMOND COUNCILWOMAN WANTS REFERENDUM ON COLISEUM ([link removed])
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By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Richmond voters may get to weigh in on whether public dollars should pay for a new downtown arena. The Richmond City Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday on whether to include an advisory referendum on the November ballot about financing for the centerpiece of the $1.5 billion Coliseum redevelopment project. Calling for the referendum is Councilwoman Reva Trammell, the 8th District representative.


** CALL MOUNT FOR VIRGINIA BEACH TO TEAR DOWN SITE OF MASS SHOOTING ([link removed])
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By PETER COUTU AND ALISSA SKELTON, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Four of the mass shooting victims' families say there's only one option for dealing with the site of the tragedy: Demolish the building. “I think it is unfair to give the building a facelift when my mother was murdered inside of it,” said Sarah Gayle, speaking about Mary Louise Gayle, a 65-year-old public works employee killed on the third floor.


** NORFOLK, VIRGINIA BEACH NEED TO HIRE 911 DISPATCHERS ([link removed])
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By LUCRETIA CUNNINGHAM, Southside Daily

...According to National Emergency Number Association standards, 90 percent of 911 calls should be answered within 10 seconds during the busiest time of the day, or the hour when the center receives the most calls. A call-to-answer time report from Norfolk shows the call center answered 61.44 percent of calls within 10 seconds


** HOW CHARLOTTESVILLE ‘RESISTANCE’ AND VIOLENCE FELLED A RISING POLITICAL STAR ([link removed])
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By FRED LUCAS, Daily Signal

Days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, then-Mayor Michael Signer held a press conference at this city’s outdoor downtown mall that turned into a political rally drawing hundreds. That’s where the mayor declared to a cheering crowd that Charlottesville was a “capital of the resistance.”


** DANVILLE JUDGE SIGNS ORDER TO PUT PARI-MUTUEL WAGERING ON NOVEMBER BALLOT ([link removed])
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By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

Danville voters will decide in November whether to allow pari-mutuel wagering — also known as off-track betting — in the city so a company can open a proposed Rosie's Gaming Emporium here. Circuit Judge Joseph Milam signed the order Wednesday for the referendum to be held Nov. 5.


** COUNTY OKS $104.1 MILLION VIRGINIA TECH FOUNDATION BOND REQUEST ([link removed])
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By YANN RANAIVO, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors on Monday passed 6-1 a $104.1 million bond issuance that will finance a multitude of Virginia Tech-affiliated projects in Blacksburg, Roanoke and other parts of the state. The bond request came from the Virginia Tech Foundation, which is using the county’s Economic Development Authority as a financial conduit.


** BLAND COUNTY THE THIRD VHSL SCHOOL TO CANCEL FOOTBALL BECAUSE OF A LACK OF PLAYERS ([link removed])
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By ROBERT ANDERSON, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Bland County High School has canceled its 2019 varsity football season because of a lack of available players. Bland assistant principal and athletic director Tyler Eastep said the decision was made Thursday after the number of players on the team dropped to “under 10” following several days of preseason practice.


** EDITORIALS
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** MONACAN SITE SHOULD BE SAVED, BUT CAN IT BE? ([link removed])
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Daily Progress Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The James River Water Authority is under fire for choosing a historically significant Native American site — as its former capitol, the most significant to the Monacan nation — as the location for a new water pumping station. The site is Rassawek to the Monacans and known as Point of Forks on modern maps.


** REGION MUST FLY IN THE SAME DIRECTION ([link removed])
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Daily Press Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The region’s two main airports must work together to create better opportunities for service When regional planners studied the various aspects of transportation throughout Hampton Roads two years ago, they found air travel in a depressed state.


** OP-ED
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** DAU: VIRGINIANS NEED RELIEF FROM RX GREED ([link removed])
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By JIM DAU, Published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

For decades, Virginians have seen their drug prices skyrocket without rhyme or reason. In the commonwealth, the average annual cost of brand-name prescription drug treatment increased 58% between 2012 and 2017, while the annual income for Virginians increased only 8.5%. Prescription drugs don’t work if patients can’t afford them.

Jim Dau is state director of AARP Virginia.
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