VaNews Aug. 14, 2019
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Read Online ([link removed]) 10 Most Clicked ([link removed])


** FROM VPAP
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** VISUALIZATION: WEALTH OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOPEFULS ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

To qualify for the ballot, General Assembly hopefuls must disclose information about their personal finances that potentially could pose conflicts of interest with the public duties they are seeking. Using five measures, VPAP compares the personal wealth of non-incumbent Republican and Democratic candidates on the November ballot.


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** HERRING CALLS FOR COURT REVIEW OF EPA CLEAN POWER PLAN REPEAL ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Attorney General Mark Herring is teaming up with counterparts from 21 other states,Washington D.C. and some of the nation’s biggest cities to challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to repeal the Clean Power Plan.-- the 2015 regulation that would, for the first time, limit carbon emissions from power plants.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** SMALL DONATIONS IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY RACES ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

...Thanks to the number crunchers at the Virginia Public Access project, we know that Democratic General Assembly candidates have been a lot more active — or at least a lot more successful — on the small donation front this year. Some 61,342 people have given $100 or less to Democratic candidates this year, compared to 7,709 who have given to Republicans.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** STUDENT EXAM SCORES IN VIRGINIA SPARK CONCERNS ABOUT GAPS ([link removed])
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By DEBBIE TRUONG, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Virginia education officials will work with school systems to bolster students’ reading skills after state standardized test scores released Tuesday revealed persistent and, in some cases, deepening gaps in scores between black and Hispanic students and their white and Asian peers.


** PERFORMANCE ON STATE SOL TESTS DIPS ACROSS VIRGINIA ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Richmond-area students fared worse than they did last year on many state accountability tests, statewide scores released Tuesday show, as performance across the state dropped slightly. The share of Virginia public school students who passed tests in five core subject areas fell compared to 2017-18 rates, according to results published online by the Virginia Department of Education.


** PASS RATE GAP BETWEEN BLACK, WHITE STUDENTS PERSISTS IN NEW SOL RESULTS ([link removed])
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By KATHERINE KNOTT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Achievement gaps in Charlottesville and Albemarle County schools persist across subject areas, according to state Standards of Learning test scores released Tuesday. In Charlottesville, 48% of black students passed the reading SOL, compared with 89% of white students. In Albemarle County, 54% of black students passed the test, compared with 86% of white students.


** WIDOWS SUE OVER TROOPERS KILLED IN VIRGINIA HELICOPTER CRASH ([link removed])
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By TYLER HAMMEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The widows of two Virginia State Police officers who died in a helicopter crash in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017, have filed wrongful death lawsuits seeking $50 million each. Amanda Bates and Karen Cullen both filed their separate lawsuits Monday, naming the commonwealth of Virginia, the secretary of public safety and homeland security, and the Virginia State Police as defendants.


** AS GAMING MACHINES FLOOD NORTHERN VIRGINIA, A LEGAL DISPUTE HEATS UP ([link removed])
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By ALEX KOMA, Washington Business Journal (Subscription required for some articles)

Look too quickly at the brightly colored, desktop-shaped contraption on the bar at the Glory Days Grill in Lorton and you might just think it’s a slot machine. The gadget shares the same basic design as any game of chance you might find in a casino, with its array of buttons and a small screen, glowing with a series of colorful icons and the occasional animation.


** DATA PRESENTS COMPLICATED PICTURE OF VIRGINIA EVICTIONS ([link removed])
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By BEN PAVIOUR, WCVE

In April 2018, The New York Times put Richmond and Virginia at the center of a story on a nationwide eviction crisis. Richmond had the second highest eviction rate in the country, according to data from the Princeton Eviction Lab cited in the story, with four other Virginia cities cracking the top ten. Tenant advocates, politicians and landlords scrambled for solutions that ultimately included a package of legislation that went into effect July 1....And while statewide data on actual evictions isn’t available, local data from the City of Richmond’s Sheriff's Office shows it’s evicting fewer people -- 2,527 last year, down from a recent high of 3,513 in 2014.


** ROANOKE NONPROFIT GAINS STATE APPROVAL TO OPERATE NEEDLE EXCHANGE ([link removed])
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By HENRI GENDREAU, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

It’s official: Roanoke is the fourth locality in the state to win approval for a syringe exchange. The Virginia Health Department has endorsed a local nonprofit’s plan for a program aimed at reducing infectious disease rates by allowing people who use drugs to turn in used needles for sanitary ones.


** LAW THAT HAS ALLOWED HEALTH OFFICIALS TO DISTRIBUTE 28,000 CLEAN NEEDLES SET TO EXPIRE NEXT YEAR ([link removed])
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By KATIE O'CONNOR, Virginia Mercury

In 2017, Virginia passed a law allowing some localities to launch needle exchange programs, an attempt to prevent the spread of infectious diseases like hepatitis C and HIV. But it came with a hitch: the law is due to sunset in 2020.


** VIRGINIA ABC TOPS $1 BILLION IN SALES ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia is cashing in a $1 billion bet on its 85-year-old state liquor monopoly. The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, conceived four years ago as a way to make an old government bureaucracy run like a modern business, surpassed $1 billion in retail sales in the year that ended June 30 and generated almost a half-billion dollars for the state budget.


** STATE RECORDED ZERO WHISTLE-BLOWER REPORTS IN 2017-18 ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Hear that? No? Perhaps because you’ve been listening for the sound of whistler-blowers summoning the sharp-eyed investigators of the Office of the State Inspector General. Once again, the IG reports, there were no claims on the state Fraud and Abuse Whistle Blower fund. In fact, no whistle-blowers reported anything to the IG’s office during fiscal year 2019.


** CONGRESS
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** WARNER URGES CONGRESS TO APPROVE LAST HURDLE FOR FREDERICKSBURG-AREA VA CLINIC ([link removed])
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By CATHY JETT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D–Va., is urging a Senate committee to green-light the last congressional approval needed to get Veterans Administration outpatient clinics up and running in Fredericksburg and Hampton Roads. He sent a letter Monday to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works asking that the leasing prospectuses for them be brought up for approval when Congress returns in September.


** SPANBERGER TO HOST RURAL BROADBAND SUMMIT IN LOUISA ([link removed])
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Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, is hosting a summit Saturday in Louisa County to highlight Central Virginians’ experiences with a lack of high-speed broadband internet access.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** DEBT-COLLECTION COMPANY BRINGING FEWER JOBS TO DANVILLE THAN FIRST ANNOUNCED IN DECEMBER ([link removed])
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By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

Based on the announcements in December, the parking lot of the former Telvista building should’ve been a hive of activity by now. Instead, knee-high blades of grass now poke through the cracks in the asphalt along Cane Creek Boulevard.


** PROMINENT ECONOMIST WROTE OP-ED ABOUT AMAZON’S NEW HEADQUARTERS AT COMPANY’S SUGGESTION ([link removed])
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By BY DALTON BENNETT AND ROBERT MCCARTNEY, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A prominent Washington-area economist wrote an opinion piece welcoming the arrival of Amazon’s new headquarters in Northern Virginia at the suggestion of a company official who hoped to build public support for the project before a key Arlington County Board vote, emails show. Stephen S. Fuller, a professor at George Mason University, also showed the article to Amazon public relations staff before publication and invited them to suggest changes — although he rejected their revisions.


** 25 YEARS AGO, HISTORY DERAILED DISNEY THEME PARK ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

What would Mickey Mouse have to say about slavery? That’s the question historians were asking 25 years ago, when the Walt Disney Co. was touting a $650 million theme park – centered around American history – just miles from Bull Run in Manassas, where the Civil War's first major battle was fought. But in September 1994, almost a year after announcing its plan, the company abandoned it. There would be no Disney's America, as the park was known. There would be no accompanying golf course, no 2,000-plus homes, no 2 million feet of commercial space.


** DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ASKS JUDGE TO HALT MOVEMENT OF BLACKJEWEL COAL ([link removed])
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By TIM DODSON, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The U.S. Department of Labor is asking a federal judge to halt the movement of coal from two Virginia facilities owned by bankrupt coal operator Blackjewel LLC until idled workers receive overdue pay. The federal government considers coal at Blackjewel facilities in Raven and Honaker “hot goods” produced in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act,


** TRANSPORTATION
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** DELEGATES SAY IT WILL BE A LONG ROAD TO IMPROVING I-81 ([link removed])
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By REBECCA J. BARNABI, News Virginian

Interstate 81 and Virginia’s aging population featured prominently in a question-and-answer session between Dels. Steve Landes, Ronnie Campbell and Tony Wilt and community members at the end of last Thursday’s 9th Annual Valley Business Summit. “We’ll start with a topic that’s near and dear to all of our hearts, and that’s Intestate 81,” said Blue Ridge Community College President John Downey, who mediated the question-and-answer session.


** LOCAL
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** FAIRFAX BOARD CANDIDATE, 69, SUFFERS FATAL HEART ATTACK AFTER A DAY OF CAMPAIGNING ([link removed])
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By ANTONIO OLIVO, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A Republican candidate for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors died Sunday after experiencing a heart attack at the end of a day of campaigning, his family and friends said. Republican Paul Bolon, 69, complained of chest pains while walking through the county’s Providence District to introduce himself to voters,


** FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR ANNOUNCES RUN FOR COMMONWEALTH’S ATTORNEY ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN JOUVENAL, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A former federal prosecutor formally announced Tuesday that he is running for commonwealth’s attorney in Fairfax County as an independent, emphasizing his nearly two decades of experience and saying he would focus on “public safety, not politics.” Jonathan Fahey, 48, of Falls Church, Va., said in a speech on the steps of Fairfax County’s former courthouse that his top priorities would be gang violence and the opioid crisis


** VIRGINIA BEACH COURTHOUSE NOW REQUIRES SECURITY SCREENING AT THE DOOR ([link removed])
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By AESIA TOLIVER, WAVY

About 10,000 people come through the Virginia Beach courthouse on a weekly basis. Now the process to get in may take longer, but it’s all in the name of safety. “Everybody understands the need for safety with the city buildings when they come and do business here, and that’s what we are trying to do it, just make it as safe as possible for everyone here,” said Alvie Culanding with the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office.


** STATE WATCHDOG SAYS NORFOLK SCHOOL BOARD HELD ILLEGAL MEETINGS ([link removed])
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By SARA GREGORY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Days after a state open-government watchdog said Norfolk’s School Board violated the law by repeatedly failing to give public notice of meetings, board members planned another meeting without giving proper notice. The latest meeting, which was to be held in Richmond starting Monday, would have been at least the fifth time in 10 months that the board has met without properly announcing the meeting in advance.


** PORTSMOUTH SAID WEEKS AGO IT WILL CONDEMN 5 CITY BUILDINGS ([link removed])
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By ANA LEY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Three weeks ago, City Manager Lydia Pettis Patton abruptly declared Portsmouth’s city jail unfit for human habitation and ordered it evacuated immediately, along with four adjoining government buildings. The city then plastered bright orange “condemned” signs on the doors of the Portsmouth Civic Center, alerting passersby that the complex that includes the jail, the magistrate’s office and a police department evidence unit was unlivable. Pettis Patton’s announcement triggered confusion, concern and litigation.


** OFFICIALS POSITION THE FREDERICKSBURG REGION FOR DATA CENTER DEVELOPMENT ([link removed])
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By LINDLEY ESTES, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Fredericksburg Regional Alliance president Curry Roberts insisted the Fredericksburg region will attract data centers and the tax revenue they bring. “There are going to be data centers in this region,” told a group last week. “They will locate here.” The city hosted the public information session about data centers at Germanna Community College’s FredCAT facility in Fredericksburg’s Central Park on Monday


** BEFORE A NEW SEASON OF COLLEGE PARTIES, CITY COUNCIL TIGHTENS NOISE ORDINANCE ([link removed])
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By RANDI B. HAGI, Harrisonburg Citizen

In time for college students’ return to Harrisonburg for the fall, the city council on Tuesday unanimously approved changes to the noise ordinance aimed at massive parties. The new amendments include tightening restrictions on party organizers from getting a new permit if they become repeat offenders — either for noise or underage drinking.


** MONACAN TRIBE PUSHES AGAINST WATER PROJECT ([link removed])
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By ALLISON WRABEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Monacan Indian Nation members and their supporters spoke out Tuesday against a planned water project in Fluvanna County. Point of Fork, also known as Rassawek, the historic capital of the Monacan Indian Nation, is the planned site for the water intake and pump station for the project.


** BOARD POWERS FORWARD WITH APPROVAL ON EIGHTH SOLAR PROJECT IN PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY ([link removed])
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By CALEB AYERS, Danville Register & Bee

The eighth solar farm planned for Pittsylvania County received a special use permit Tuesday night despite a single voice of public dissent. The Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously voted 5-0 to approve a 500-acre project split between the Banister and Callands-Gretna districts that is projected to generate 42 megawatts annually.


** EDITORIALS
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** VETERANS' WORKFORCE PROGRAM PAYING OFF ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Placing its 50,000th veteran in a job was a recent milestone worth celebrating for the Virginia Values Veterans program. That’s 50,000 veterans helped and 50,000 jobs filled by trustworthy, dependable people who bring a unique set of skills and experience to the workplace. That milestone also should be viewed as a stepping-stone to a more vigorous success rate, a reason to step up this needed and worthwhile program.


** A MORE MODERN -- AND PROFITABLE -- ABC AUTHORITY ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Let’s raise a glass to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) for crossing the $1 billion threshold in annual sales for the first time, setting a record for total revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30.


** COLUMNISTS
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** POLITIFACT: GUN LOBBYIST VAN CLEAVE "MOSTLY TRUE" ON CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS ([link removed])
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By WARREN FISKE, WCVE

Beefing up background checks on gun buyers won’t reduce crime, says Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. During an Aug. 8 interview on WRVA Radio in Richmond, he was dismissive of calls for stronger background checks in the wake of fatal mass shootings this year in Virginia and other states. “Criminals don’t go through background checks,” he said. “I think it’s like 3% go through a background check - 3%. Ninety-seven percent get the guns on the street.” We fact-checked Van Cleave’s claim.


** OP-ED
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** EWING: WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON? ([link removed])
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By TOM EWING, Published in the Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

David Butterworth’s defense of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (“Pipeline protests are hurting workers,” Aug. 5 commentary) tears a destructive path through the truth in the same way that his beloved pipeline is destroying family farms, wooded hillsides, and mountain streams across Southwest Virginia. His misleading, false, and reckless criticism of protesters serves the interests of the corporate investors

Ewing teaches world history courses at Virginia Tech.
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