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By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Don’t expect to simply sidle up at your neighborhood bar when restrictions on businesses in Virginia begin to be lifted. On Monday, Gov. Ralph Northam expects to lay out his plans for the first phase of a multi-phase approach to reopening businesses in the state. He received the final report Thursday from a group of business leaders he convened from various industries across the state.
By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
The weekend’s wonderfully warm weather and sunshine brought out the hordes: shoppers at local groceries and garden centers, walkers and joggers at area parks and people of all ages, strolling along sidewalks in downtown Fredericksburg. The long-awaited glimpse of spring did not necessarily bring out all the masks, though.
By CASEY FABRIS, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
A task force designed to provide guidance on easing COVID-19 restrictions on businesses has little representation from Southwest Virginia. Gov. Ralph Northam announced last month the creation of a task force that includes more than 20 representatives of businesses throughout the commonwealth. None come from the Roanoke Valley, and only two — representatives from Volvo in Dublin and the Barter Theatre in Abingdon — come from Southwest Virginia.
By BRIDGET BALCH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
The hallways at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg were eerily quiet in April. Its emergency department saw half as many patients as an average month. The hospital has treated 40% fewer people for heart attack and stroke this April compared to last, a figure that makes Dr. Christopher Newman, chief medical and operating officer for Mary Washington Healthcare, fear that many people are not seeking urgent medical care to avoid the risk of catching the novel coronavirus at the hospital.
By MEGAN PAULY, WCVE
Six weeks after Virginia first requested medical swabs necessary for COVID-19 testing, the first shipments finally arrived last week. But it’s still only a fraction of what the state originally ordered. As of last Friday, a total of 29,000 swabs across two separate shipments have been received from FEMA. . . . Virginia’s Department of Health initially requested 500,000 test swabs from the federal government on March 17, five days after Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency due to growing concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus disease.
By RYAN MURPHY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Three localities in Virginia — including Newport News — will get access to new decontamination stations that will help medical personnel and first responders deal with the ongoing shortage of personal protective equipment as they continue to fight the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Saturday.
By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
Look for electric rates to rise faster than they were set to already, in response to bills enacted by the 2020 General Assembly, Dominion Energy Virginia says in a letter to legislators accompanying copies of its latest long-term plan. The 296-page Integrated Resource Plan filed Friday with the State Corporation Commission marks a major shift towards net-zero carbon production.
The Full Report
50 articles, 19 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 KATE ANDREWS, Va Business Magazine
As the governor’s executive order shutting down all “nonessential” businesses is set to expire next Friday, a diverse group of two dozen Virginia business representatives is hard at work compiling ideas for how to reopen safely. The group — which includes officials from major employers Walmart and Amazon.com Inc., museum directors, restaurant owners, beer brewers and owners of barber shops and spas — was named a week ago to suggest industry-specific safety standards for reopening businesses, which Gov. Ralph Northam will take into consideration as the state reopens businesses.
By KATE ANDREWS, Va Business Magazine
Southwest Virginia elected officials and business owners are ready to reopen for business, noting that the number of COVID-19 cases in their region is considerably lower than those found in the more populated regions of the state such as Northern Virginia and Central Virginia. “The [economic] effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have deeply impacted our citizens and businesses, and we must speak up about this,” Roanoke County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Radford said Friday during a news conference.
By JOSH GERSTEIN, Politico
The Justice Department and Gov. Ralph Northam (D-Va.) are squaring off in court over whether Northam’s stay-at-home orders unfairly discriminate against churches and other religious institutions. . . . On Sunday, Justice Department lawyers weighed in with a federal court in favor of a Chincoteague, Va., church that filed suit after its pastor received a criminal citation for holding a religious service last month with 16 people in attendance — exceeding a 10-person limit set by Northam.
By KATHLEEN SHAW, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Marking the finale of the General Assembly session each year, Valley lawmakers annually gather at a bruncheon hosted by Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce to reflect and share with the business community. Pancakes were notably missing from Thursday’s annual Post-Session Legislative Breakfast meeting as attendance was done virtually over Zoom. Over 40 people signed on to listen as Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, Del. Tony Wilt, R-Broadway, and Del. Chris Runion, R-Bridgewater, shared their concerns about decisions such as the minimum wage raise and tax increases.
By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
A Second Amendment supporter who created a Facebook group in support of Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, says the senator tried to take some control of it, and then threatened him with legal action and denied knowing him after he refused.
By JOSH JANNEY, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Retired Lt. Col. Daniel Gade hopes to win the Republican nomination to run against Democratic incumbent Mark Warner in Virginia’s U.S. Senate race in November. Gade, 45, said he views this race as an extension of his 25 years of military service. He enlisted in the Army in 1992, when he was 17. After graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1997, Gade served in Korea and Iraq and was wounded twice in combat. He lost his right leg in combat in Iraq and he was awarded the Legion of Merit, two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star.
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, will head into November without a Democratic challenger, while Democrats are expected to choose their nominee in a week to face Rep. Ben Cline, R-Botetourt. Griffith will be the only incumbent running for reelection without a candidate from a major party opposing him. Democrats held a virtual convention Saturday to handle other business, but no candidates emerged to take on Griffith, 62, who is seeking a sixth term.
By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Virginia is receiving three decontamination systems that can sterilize 240,000 units of personal protective equipment a day for reuse, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Saturday. N95 masks can sustain up to 20 of these decontamination cycles without it affecting their quality, according to a release from the governor's office.
By MIKE PLATANIA, Richmond BizSense
The Virginia Housing Development Authority is eyeing some development of its own at its downtown headquarters. However, the pandemic has thrown a wrench into the plans. The state agency, whose services include lending to individual homebuyers and low- to- moderate-income multifamily developers, filed plans with the city in late April for a roughly 108,000-square-foot expansion of its offices at 601 S. Belvidere St.
By CATHY JETT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
Virginia public schools will receive $238.6 million in federal funding under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Recovery and Economic Security Act. Locally, the funding totals about $9.4 million, ranging from more than $2.4 million for Spotsylvania County to $257,036 for Colonial Beach.
By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury
In a sharply worded opinion issued last week, state regulators dealt a third blow to Dominion Energy’s plan to roll out smart meters throughout the utility’s territory, declaring that in its most recent rejection of the proposal, they had “exercised legislative discretion explicitly delegated” by the General Assembly. . . . The decision marked the latest roadblock to the efforts of Dominion Energy, Virginia’s largest electric utility, to outfit all of its customer with smart meters.
By JOHN REID BLACKWELL, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Loans from a federal program designed to help small businesses survive the coronavirus pandemic are now flowing to some Richmond-area businesses, but uncertainties remain about how long the funds will last and how much will ultimately have to be paid back.
By JOANNE KIMBERLIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Words. Countless words. They’ve poured from this building for 83 years, carrying the stories of the people of Hampton Roads and the world around them. This weekend, The Virginian-Pilot handed a developer the keys to the newspaper’s Norfolk headquarters, following an industry trend that has papers abandoning their traditional downtown edifices for smaller, leased space elsewhere.
By CALEB AYERS, Danville Register & Bee
Believing her cleaning business would see a spike in demand as a result of the coronavirus, Lena Henderson stocked up on extra supplies. “I first thought that since we were a cleaning business that we were going to get all kinds of calls,” she said. But instead of a spike, business for Henderson’s Cleaning Services has all but dried up.
By ALLISON WRABEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Transit providers in the Charlottesville area will receive about $10.9 million dollars from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. The money will help keep agencies keep staff on payroll, take precautions and could help make up potential lost state and local funding.
By TIM DODSON, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)
Like most other colleges and universities, that’s the big question looming over the University of Virginia’s College at Wise after it shifted classes online in March and told students to stay home after spring break amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “My hope is that we can have everyone back on campus and implement whatever health measures we need to have so that we can have classes,” Donna Henry, the school’s chancellor, said about the fall in a recent interview. Still, she cautioned that no final plans have been reached because it’s not yet clear whether it will be safe for the school’s nearly 2,000 students — in addition to faculty and staff — to convene on campus in August.
By PETER COUTU, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Virginia reported another 44 deaths — the largest single-day increase yet — to bring the state’s total to 660, according to data released by the Virginia Health Department. More than half of the coronavirus deaths, 363, have come in nursing homes, according to state data. Another 940 coronavirus cases were also reported overnight, bringing the tally up to 18,671.
By ANTONIO OLIVO, ERIN COX AND REBECCA TAN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
The number of people hospitalized in Maryland for covid-19 was down for the third consecutive day on Sunday, and new admissions were mostly stable in Virginia. The daily increases in deaths across the greater Washington region — meaning the combined total in the District, Maryland and Virginia — have roughly plateaued in the past week. And the governments of those jurisdictions have made progress in expanding testing, hiring contact tracers and stockpiling personal protective equipment.
By DAN FRIEDELL, WTOP
By Saturday, there had been 26 deaths in Alexandria, Virginia, due to COVID-19. Fifteen of them (58%) were residents of long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes and assisted-living communities. The death rate is reflected across Virginia, where 54% of deaths due to the coronavirus outbreak have come in similar facilities.
By LUANNE RIFE, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Seven residents of the South Roanoke Nursing Home have died since an outbreak of COVID-19 swept through the Franklin Road facility. Spokeswoman Jennifer Eddy said Saturday that three residents are in a hospital and 33 others who have tested positive are being cared for in the nursing home. Additionally, at least 28 staff members are infected.
By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
On Monday, the Fredericksburg’s three area hospitals will join other facilities statewide in resuming non-emergency surgeries and health screenings, such as joint replacements, colonoscopies and mammograms, but in a markedly different way than before the pandemic
By KATHERINE KNOTT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
The University of Virginia hopes to run 2,000 COVID-19 tests a day by mid-May — a target that, if met, would account for about 20% of the tests the state says it needs to run in order to reopen.
By IAN MUNRO, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
On Saturday morning, Oscar Renteria Aguilar, 17, was one of over 80 city residents to get tested for COVID-19. The city partnered with the Virginia Department of Health and Sentara to provide the testing for free in the Northeast neighborhood and Mosby Court, where Aguilar was.
By ALEXA DOIRON & JULIA MARSIGLIANO, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)
As the coronavirus pandemic causes establishments to consider social distancing, jails across the country are also looking at how bail can play a role. “There’s a lot of layers to it,” said Nate Green, commonwealth’s attorney for Williamsburg-James City County. “When all the coronavirus stuff started coming out and the government and public safety deputy started sending out recommendations on how to handle things, one of the concerns was how difficult it was to do social distancing in jails and prisons.”
By MIKE STILL, Kingsport Times News
As director of Family Crisis Support Services, Adkins oversees shelters and emergency services in four Southwest Virginia counties and one city. Part of that mission includes finding temporary shelter for people and families forced out of their homes for a variety of reasons including domestic violence, eviction and other crises. Adkins said that the COVID-19 pandemic has added a new wrinkle to the region’s homelessness problem. “The last two-and-a-half years, homelessness has increased in the area, but nothing like this,” Adkins said.
By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Land movement in a construction area shifted a section of the Mountain Valley Pipeline after it was buried along a West Virginia slope, according to a report filed by environmental regulators. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission report stated that “crews verified that the installed pipe shifted ... in at least three locations south of Brush Run Road” in Lewis County, about 50 miles from where the natural gas pipeline begins a 303-mile route that takes it through Southwest Virginia.
By JOSH REYES, LISA VERNON SPARKS AND MATT JONES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
Election Day is less than three weeks away ― but it’s not easy to tell. There have been no rallies, no door-knocking and voters can’t learn much about a candidate from yard signs. So, how does someone run for office in a pandemic? Get creative. Candidates in Hampton and Newport News have pivoted to video, heldvirtual town halls and Facebook Live events. Some also doubled down on some tried and true resources — snail mail, flyers, signs and phone calls.
By CATHY JETT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
The Fredericksburg Nationals had a virtual opening for the baseball team's $35 million multipurpose stadium on Facebook April 23, but Fredericksburg won’t begin paying to use it until people can sit in the seats for city events. The city’s first installment of its $1.05 million annual payment to the Silber family, which owns the team, isn’t due until the quarter after the facility in Celebrate Virginia South receives its “commencement date.”
By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
A number of the region’s nonprofits that are focused on feeding, housing and counseling people amid the COVID-19 pandemic have received a lifeline from the Hampton Roads Community Foundation and United Way of South Hampton Roads. The two organizations teamed up to give out $517,410 in grants to 34 organizations.
By PETER DUJARDIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
A heated and racially charged confrontation between a local landlord and the city’s top building codes official took place on the first floor of Newport News City Hall late last year, according to video footage of the incident obtained by the Daily Press. Harold Lee Roach Jr., Newport News’ director of codes compliance, and David Lee Merryman, who owns 50 rental properties in the city, nearly came to blows in the City Hall lobby on Nov. 20.
By ADELE UPHAUS–CONNER, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
The line of cars waiting to pick up food at the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank has been so long that it has extended out of the parking lot, through the adjacent office park and down to State Route 2 and U.S. 17. The food bank has put up signs warning people on the road of heavy traffic on food pickup days—Tuesdays for those ages 60 and older and Thursdays for families and individuals—and though distribution doesn’t start until 11 a.m., cars start getting in line as early as 7:30 a.m.
By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee
Danville’s city manager wanted to ask the state to recommend stronger social distancing and sanitation guidelines and requirements on businesses than currently used in the city, an email he sent to City Council members earlier this month shows.
Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Politicians grandstanding, attacking the press and suggesting the pandemic is no big deal. Doctors pleading with the government for more restrictions to slow the spread of the virus. Businesses clamoring for those same restrictions to be lifted, pandemic or no pandemic. People openly defying “social distancing” orders. Coronavirus 2020? Yes, but also the flu pandemic of 1918-19.
Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
THE 2020 coronavirus pandemic has altered common activities previously taken for granted in modern American life, such as shaking hands and cramming together in bars, restaurants and other public spaces. This new, previously unknown pathogen is making people think twice about getting too close to their own relatives, friends and co-workers, let alone people they don’t even know.
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Don’t forget the great outdoors. Even as Americans are struggling to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic — how to protect ourselves, when to relax precautions safely, how to keep our personal lives going — Congress is also scrambling to shore up the battered economy. Support for conservation and parks might seem a luxury at this moment, but it’s actually vital for both those efforts and for the future. Unfortunately, clean air and water have been among the casualties of the current crisis.
Daily Progress Editorial (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Losing $3 million a day? That is the burden under which the University of Virginia Medical Center has been suffering during the coronavirus lockdown — and that now has pushed the center into massive furloughs and pay cuts for some personnel. It starkly illustrates the tension between staying the course on the shelter-in-place orders keeping most of us at home vs. calls from some critics to re-open the economy in order to prevent a potentially global fiscal collapse.
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
In an opinion released this week, Norfolk Circuit Court Judge Junius P. Fulton rightfully admonished the Virginia Department of Corrections for withholding records that shed light on what appeared to be a reprehensible breach of oversight in state facilities.
By MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
On Good Friday, retired bus operator Glenn Williams donned a Superman costume and held a sign at a Pulse stop that read: “GRTC OPERATORS AND MECHANICS ARE SUPER HEROES.” Bus drivers and other essential employees are heroes, but they are not superhuman; they are at risk. Nationally, more than 9,000 health care workers have been infected, with 27 deaths, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report last month. These workers have struggled to obtain basic supplies, including personal protective equipment.
By DAN CASEY, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Remember the quaint days before the deadly pandemic that crashed our economy? The supermarkets were stocked with toilet paper, 30 million more Americans were employed, and some less-urgent issues occupied our attention. One concerned a California congressman who’s suing the owner of his hometown newspaper, the Fresno Bee — but in Virginia. Rep. Devin Nunes, a Republican who represents the Fresno, California, region, is also suing Twitter, CNN, the Washington Post, a Republican political strategist and some others.
By ANNA JENG, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The federal government has rolled out a plan for reopening the U.S. economy. Three stages of the process serve as guidelines for each state to gradually end stay-at-home orders and other restrictions. Although it’s hard to predict how the world will be after the coronavirus pandemic, people will gradually resume activities and work that benefit their well-being and the economy but pose a minimal risk of infection.
Anna Jeng, ScD, MSPH, RHSP, is a professor at the School of Community and Environmental Health at Old Dominion University.
By DEBRA RIGGS, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
David Lewis is a trauma therapist working in isolation in Crozet to counsel adults and children who survived the murder of a relative. The support groups he runs are on hold — another casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic — while he tries to reconfigure them online through the Virginia Victim Assistance Network. Recently recognized as Social Worker of the Year by the Virginia chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), Lewis has embraced loosened telehealth regulations.
Debra Riggs is executive director of the National Association of Social Workers Virginia and Metro DC.
By ARSHIA QAADIR, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
The baby seems to have a mild cold at first, with a runny nose and slight cough. But the cough soon becomes more persistent and severe. Her labored breathing is apparent by her chest tugging in and out, the indentation of her ribs visible as she uses all her effort to breathe. Soon, she becomes fatigued and is rushed to the hospital for respiratory support.
Arshia Qaadir, M.D., is a board member of the Virginia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
By JORDAN WOODLIEF, published in Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Like many of my millennial peers, I’ve turned to humorous online memes as a way to combat my anxiety. But the other day, I saw one that really hit home. The background was a bunch of empty supermarket shelves with text that read, “The next time you judge refugees and people fleeing war-torn lands, remember the lengths Americans went to for toilet paper.” I am a paralegal at an immigration law firm where I work with refugees, asylum-seekers, victims of violence and undocumented immigrants, the majority of whom have lived in Central Virginia for years.
Jordan Woodlief is a member of the University of Virginia School of Law class of 2023 and a paralegal at an immigration law firm.
By VALERIE SLATER, published in Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
As America fights to keep residents safe during these unprecedented times, we have taken many steps to stop the spread of COVID-19 by canceling large gatherings, using face masks in public, moving schools to remote learning, and halting unessential travel through orders from governors. Unfortunately, not enough is being done to protect and promote the safety and health of vulnerable youth behind bars.
Valerie Slater, who lives in Richmond is the executive director of RISE for Youth, a nonpartisan campaign committed to promoting community-based alternatives to youth incarceration.
By DEL. TERRY KILGORE, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
We have all witnessed advancements in technology. From cell phones, Netflix, mobile banking, and Amazon Prime, our way of life has changed with technology — so why not healthcare? During the 2020 General Assembly Session, I patroned House Bill 1332, which aimed to open the door for Virginians to seek medical treatment through telehealth and telemedicine.
Kilgore represents the First District in the Virginia House of Delegates. His district consists of Lee County, Scott County, part of Wise County, and the City of Norton. He is a Republican from Scott County.
By ERIKA MARSILLAC AND TERRI KIRCHNER, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Many of us are dismayed by reports of farmers forced to plow under fields of vegetables, pour milk down the drain or break eggs to limit chicken production. For U.S. farmers who feed America and the world, these measures are heartbreaking. For U.S. consumers who are used to easy, on-demand access to a wide variety of foods, worry leads to panic buying and hoarding.
Erika Marsillac is an associate professor of supply chain management and Terri Kirchner is an adjunct associate professor of marketing at Old Dominion University.
By GORDON C. MORSE, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
With the emergence of Norfolk Del. Jay Jones as a potential statewide candidate next year — he would be attorney general, if the stars align — an old Virginia habit of thinking kicked in, that when it comes to apples falling from trees, the tree matters. Jones has “winning ways” regardless and that matters, too.
After writing editorials for The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot in the 1980s, Gordon C. Morse wrote speeches for Gov. Gerald L. Baliles, then spent nearly three decades working on behalf of corporate and philanthropic organizations
By BRIAN BUNIVA, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
The established law in zoning matters is to conduct a public hearing “at which persons affected may appear [in person] and present their views.” The purpose of this requirement is to allow citizens to exercise their constitutional rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Virginia, which guarantees “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for the redress of grievances.”
Brian Buniva is a Richmond attorney with more than 40 years of environmental and land use legal experience
By KAREN MICHAEL, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
A series of state laws were signed in April by Gov. Ralph Northam that will forever impact Virginia businesses, leaving many to question whether the state will now be a forum for extensive employment litigation. One of these laws, known as the Virginia Values Act, which takes effect July 1, was touted by the governor as providing new and needed protections in employment for the LGBTQ community.
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