VaNews
June 8, 2020

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** Protestors topple Confederate statue in Richmond ([link removed])
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By SEAN GORMAN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

People who passed through Monroe Park on Sunday morning stopped to stare and take pictures of the grafitti-scrawled pedestal that once held the statue of Confederate Gen. Williams Carter Wickham.
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** Richmond police keep quiet on discipline after officers attack demonstrators ([link removed])
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By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury

After a week of demonstrations demanding police accountability, officials in Richmond aren’t saying how police are being held accountable for tear gassing a large crowd of peaceful protesters. “I don’t think the chief plans to revisit this anytime soon,” said a police department spokesman, Gene Lepley, of the incident a week ago Monday. “He has apologized repeatedly.”
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** By the numbers: Amid the protests, taking stock of racial inequality in Virginia ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Thousands of Virginians have marched in protest over the past week in response to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. The largely peaceful gatherings — the initial two nights saw vandalism and looting that led to a state-ordered curfew in Richmond, Virginia Beach and Hampton — are bringing down Confederate monuments and have brought to light again the racial disparities in how people of color are treated in Virginia and across the U.S.
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** Awaiting guidance from state, Virginia schools make plans to reopen ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Virginia students are set to learn this week when and how they might be able to return to school in the fall. Gov. Ralph Northam is expected on Tuesday to address school reopening, something he initially had planned to do last week. The announcement will give more guidance to school districts and colleges across the state that have been moving forward with their own plans to return.
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** Virginia may be significantly undercounting the coronavirus’ real death toll ([link removed])
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By PETER COUTU, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Virginia’s official coronavirus death total could be significantly undercounting the pandemic’s real toll on the state, according to a Virginian-Pilot analysis. Compared to a typical year, overall deaths in Virginia are up by roughly 17% since March 14, when the state announced the first COVID-19 death in the commonwealth, according to federal data. From mid-March to mid-May, roughly 2,200 more people died than normal.
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** How a Gay Wedding Fractured Virginia Republicans ([link removed])
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By BEN PAVIOUR, WCVE

Alex Pisciarino and Rek LeCounte’s wedding day last July was hot -- the kind of soupy mid-summer heat that slows the South to a crawl. “We warned everybody to wear seersucker and some light fabric,” LeCounte said. “And some folks didn't listen to us and you could tell how they wish they had.” At the time, the couple had no idea their day would make national headlines.
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** Social media post leads to Abingdon police chief’s retirement ([link removed])
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By ROBERT SORRELL, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

The police chief of Abingdon suddenly retired Friday after a social media post, which he described as “satirical,” surfaced Friday regarding a 2nd Amendment rally. Tony Sullivan, who was named the town’s police chief in 2002, submitted a letter to Town Manager James Morani on Friday. In the letter, which Sullivan provided to the Bristol Herald Courier, he said a resident had contacted him regarding a social media post he made on Jan. 20, 2020, the date of the 2nd Amendment protest in Richmond.
The Full Report
83 articles, 26 publications

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


** FROM VPAP
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** From VPAP Maps, Timeline of COVID-19 in Virginia ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

Our COVID-19 dashboard makes it easy to track the latest available data for tests performed, infections, deaths and hospital capacity. There's a filter for each city and county, plus an exclusive per-capita ZIP Code map. Updated each morning around 10:00 am.


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** Northam, scores of others get tested for coronavirus at community event in Chesapeake ([link removed])
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By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The coronavirus nasal swab test was undoubtedly uncomfortable. A scrunch of the face. Tears in the eyes. A burning sensation. But for many in Chesapeake’s Geneva Square neighborhood on Friday — including Gov. Ralph Northam and other state and city leaders — the swab of the nasal cavity was a necessary step.
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** Madison County residents sue Northam over earlier church restrictions ([link removed])
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Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Four Madison County residents have sued Gov. Ralph Northam, saying state executive orders aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 infringe upon their religious freedom. Northam’s executive orders describing limits on state operations and businesses did not deem church employees essential and barred attendees from gathering together in numbers greater than 10.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** Virginia GOP calls own lawmaker's comments on Confederate statues 'idiotic' ([link removed])
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By ERIK ORTIZ, NBCNews

A Republican state senator in Virginia known for courting controversy and who is running for governor in 2021 is facing backlash from members of her own party after she said that the removal of Confederate statues is an "overt effort to erase all white history." Sen. Amanda Chase, whose majority-white district is just west of the capital, Richmond, made related comments in a fundraising email and a video shared Wednesday on Facebook live — a day before Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, announced that statues of Gen. Robert E. Lee and four other Confederate leaders along Richmond's Monument Avenue will be dismantled.


** FEDERAL ELECTIONS
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** Localities seek poll workers for June primary after volunteers drop out due to COVID-19 ([link removed])
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By ALISON GRAHAM, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Roanoke County is searching for at least three dozen more people to work polling places for the June 23 primary election after volunteers dropped out due to COVID-19 health concerns. Roanoke County General Registrar Anna Cloeter said her office currently has about 90 people who have confirmed they can work June 23. Typically, the county staffs between 300 and 350 election officers at its 33 precincts.
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** Riggleman faces tough convention contest against Bob Good ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Central Virginia Republicans will decide in a week whether to stick with Rep. Denver Riggleman, whose libertarian swagger has agitated some activists enough that they sought a challenger. Riggleman, R-Nelson, and Bob Good are locked into a bitter battle over the party nomination, with Good questioning Riggleman’s conservative credentials and Riggleman, who is seeking a second term, not apologizing for his libertarian views.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** Little consensus on utility disconnection ban ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

If state regulators were hoping to get clarity from utilities and the public on whether to extend Virginia’s moratorium on service disconnections due to non-payment of bills, they may be sorely disappointed. Keep the moratorium mandatory? Allow utilities flexibility to impose measures as needed? Get rid of the ban entirely?
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** Police acquisition of military surplus equipment soars as critics decry militarization of law enforcement ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Transfers of military gear to police departments — from $767,000 armored cars designed to survive mines to night vision equipment to the backpacks soldiers take into combat — ballooned in Virginia and in Hampton Roads last year. Hampton Roads police department and sheriffs office acquisitions tripled, to nearly $854,000 worth of equipment, a Daily Press analysis of U.S. Department of Defense data found. But unlike in years past, last year’s total included no weapons.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** Colonial Williamsburg to reopen on limited basis June 14 ([link removed])
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By SYDNEY LAKE, Va Business Magazine

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation announced Friday that it will open for limited public programming at some of its historic sites on June 14 while the state moves into Phase 2 of Gov. Ralph Northam’s “Forward Virginia” plan.
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** Norfolk Naval Shipyard starts using drones in place of hazardous manual labor ([link removed])
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By KATHERINE HAFNER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

After a storm swept through Hampton Roads in mid-April, bringing gusts of up to 75 mph, surveying the damage at Norfolk Naval Shipyard was likely to take several weeks. A traditional inspection would require a construction crew to build and move scaffolding to carefully look through a building where several large windows had been shattered.
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** In severe downturn, some Richmond-area startups thrive, some pivot, others wait and hope ([link removed])
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By JOHN REID BLACKWELL, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

The coronavirus pandemic forced the founders of Brandefy out of their office in downtown Richmond and even stranded one of the startup company’s employees overseas, but it hasn’t stopped the venture from forging ahead with its business plans. In fact, during the pandemic, the Richmond-based startup has seen a lot more consumer interest in its technology service — a website and mobile app that enables shoppers to compare prices and ingredients of skin care and cosmetic products.
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** A pandemic bright spot: The bicycle business is booming ([link removed])
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By ROB HEDELT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Dan Murphy, who operates Olde Towne Bicycles stores in Fredericksburg and Woodbridge alongside his family, said the coronavirus has brought an unexpected boost to the bike business. “It was like a door opened and something new started happening,” he said, noting that families who couldn’t go to work, school or gyms turned to cycling as a way to fill time and exercise.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** George Mason University announces plans to reopen for fall semester ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Inside NOVA (Metered Paywall)

George Mason University plans to reopen for the fall semester and resume classes as scheduled on Aug. 24, interim president Anne Holton announced Friday. As other colleges and universities have announced in the past few weeks, instruction will be a mixture of in-person classes and online classes, Holton wrote in an email to the university community.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Virginia coronavirus update: Confirmed cases eclipses 50,000 mark ([link removed])
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By JOSH REYES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Virginia officials reported 1,284 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the state’s total to 50,681, according to the Virginia Department of Health. Of those, 48,349 are confirmed and 2,332 are probable, meaning medical professionals consider them to have the virus based on symptoms or epidemiological evidence despite a lack of testing. There have been 1,472 deaths, a rise of 12 reported overnight.
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** Richmond, Henrico health officials warn protesters of COVID-19 risks ([link removed])
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By ALI SULLIVAN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts warned protesters of COVID-19 transmission during the ongoing pandemic. In a release Friday, the local health departments said pervasive racism has proved “far deadlier over time than the COVID-19 pandemic,” adding that police violence is itself a public health crisis.
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** CMS data, riddled with errors, gives little clarity on COVID-19 in Virginia’s nursing homes ([link removed])
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By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury

The data was hotly anticipated. But less than 24 hours after the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the names of nursing homes with COVID-19 cases, it became clear there were problems.
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** In Hampton Roads nursing homes, 33 people have died of COVID-19, data shows ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Long-secret information about coronavirus cases and deaths in nursing homes shows there have been 33 deaths and 209 cases in greater Hampton Roads. That’s a lower percentage of deaths and cases than for the state as a whole, according to an analysis by the Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot of data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
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** Four Chesterfield Jail inmates test positive for COVID-19; all remain asymptomatic ([link removed])
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By MARK BOWES, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Four inmates at the Chesterfield County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19, but all of them remain asymptomatic, jail officials said Saturday. The infections at the jail — the first known cases since the beginning of the pandemic — came to light after the Chesterfield Sheriff’s Office was notified Wednesday that an inmate who was released two days earlier had tested positive for the coronavirus.
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** Virginia's health department is looking for 1,300 COVID-19 contact tracers. So far, it's hired 168. ([link removed])
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By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Virginia’s contact tracing hiring remains far short of official goals as the state moves ahead with the next phase of reopening and hundreds of state health staff remain reassigned to tracing roles. As of Thursday, the Virginia Department of Health had hired only 168 contact tracers among thousands of applications since it kicked off a hiring campaign in mid-May.
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** Plasma from coronavirus survivors is getting easier to come by. But is it an effective treatment? ([link removed])
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By ELISHA SAUERS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Lisa Joyce relies on other people to catch her up on the past month. She knows her husband dropped her off at Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News for a nagging cough on May 1. She was discharged with an oxygen tank on the 29th. What happened in between is a blur.
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** Sheltering at home during the pandemic not an option for those without a place to live ([link removed])
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By ALICIA PETSKA, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

A line was already forming when a small band of volunteers pulled up to Market Square in downtown Roanoke. The queue stacked up halfway down the block: 18, 19, 20. “Twenty-one,” called out Dana Perry, whom others on the street refer to as “mother” and who had carefully kept track of every soul in need who showed up.
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** While hundreds take part in drive-thru COVID testing in Danville and Chatham, lots of swabs go unused ([link removed])
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By CALEB AYERS, Danville Register & Bee

Cars trickled into the parking lot of Chatham Middle School on Saturday morning where the Virginia Department of Health was offering free drive-thru testing for COVID-19. After 100 people were tested in the first hour, the traffic remained mostly slow during the rest of the day. By the end of the eight-hour event, 359 people had received tests. There were 1,000 tests available.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** Black Lives Matter Protests Draw Hundreds in Leesburg, Thousands in Sterling ([link removed])
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By RENSS GREENE, Loudoun Now

Protests across Loudoun continued on Saturday with Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Leesburg and Sterling drawing massive crowds. Leesburg’s second major protest in a week drew hundreds of people, who marched through downtown from the Town Green to the courthouse square. The statue of the Confederate soldier on the courthouse green, surrounded by protesters once again, ended the demonstration wearing a face mask reading “Black Lives Matter” and holding a protest sign.
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** More than 1,000 march in Purcellville in support of 'Black Lives Matter' movement ([link removed])
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By JOHN BATTISTON, Loudoun Times

Purcellville’s Loudoun Plaza shopping center parking lot became the rallying point for more than 1,000 participants in a peaceful protest for racial equality Sunday afternoon. After a moment of silence for George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by a Minneapolis police officer, the procession launched down Main Street and continued for nearly three-quarters of a mile, ending at the feet of Purcellville Town Hall. Several speakers, including a few elected officials, addressed the crowd from the Town Hall steps.
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** Protest briefly shuts I-95 in Virginia; nearly 50 arrested ([link removed])
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Associated Press

Police in Virginia have arrested nearly 50 protesters responding to the death of George Floyd after they marched onto Interstate 95, briefly shutting down a portion of the nation’s busiest north-south highway.
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** Warrenton “unity rally” brings hundreds to park ([link removed])
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By DON DEL ROSSO, Fauquier Now

Holding a sign that read “Be Love. Give Peace a Chance,” the lifelong Fauquier resident couldn’t believe her eyes as hundreds gathered Saturday afternoon in Warrenton’s Eva Walker park for a unity rally. “I think it’s amazing,” said Angela Albrecht, 53, a white nondenominational minister who lives near Orlean.
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** Thousands more march for justice in Richmond, Henrico as children rally together ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY AND SEAN GORMAN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Over the past 11 days, Raquel McKeever showed her son videos of the protests that have sprung up across the country in response to the killing of Minnesota man George Floyd. They watched as thousands marched for justice, including many in Richmond. They talked about black culture and growing up as a black boy. On Sunday, they marched for themselves.
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** Mayor Stoney says curfew violation charges against peaceful protesters should be dropped ([link removed])
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By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

In a tweet Friday, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said he has told the city’s top prosecutor he believes that curfew violation charges against peaceful protesters should be dropped. “I’ve spoken with the Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney, Colette McEachin, and I made it clear that peaceful protesters who were arrested solely for violating curfew should have their charges dropped,” the mayor’s tweet said.
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** Attorney, among peaceful protesters tear gassed by Richmond police at Lee Monument, sues officers ([link removed])
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By ALI ROCKETT, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

An attorney who attended a protest at the foot of the Robert E. Lee monument Monday evening is suing a handful of Richmond police officers for tear-gassing kneeling demonstrators more than 20 minutes ahead of an 8 p.m. curfew. The plaintiff, Jonathan Arthur, is a lawyer with the firm Thomas H. Roberts & Associates, which handles personal injury and civil rights claims and filed the suit Thursday on Arthur’s behalf.
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** Hanover man arrested after witnesses say he drove through group of protesters in Henrico ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

A Hanover County man was arrested Sunday after police and witnesses say he revved his engine and drove a pickup truck through a group of protesters in Henrico County. Police have arrested and charged Harry H. Rogers, 36, with assault and battery. ...One person was evaluated at the scene but refused further treatment.
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** 'I don't think things are going to be the same': Civil rights leaders reflect on this week ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Oliver Hill Jr. is a psychologist, a student of comparative history, and the son of a civil rights icon. Hill watched it all come together in the streets of Richmond in the past week. Public revulsion over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis prompted demonstrations that he said brought Virginia to "a tipping point" in the long struggle of African Americans for civil rights in the shadow of Confederate statues they see as symbols of white supremacy and distorted history. No longer.
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** In separate demonstrations, hundreds march throughout Norfolk for Black Lives Matter protests ([link removed])
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By JOSH REYES AND PETER COUTU, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

In front of Norfolk City Hall, hundreds of white Christians kneeled to ask for forgiveness. Jim Wood of First Presbyterian in Norfolk asked whites in the crowd to repent on behalf of white Christian churches. The pastor, who is white, said white Christian churches have a history of racism and upholding racist systems, such as slavery, segregation and discrimination.
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** Thousands march from Mt. Trashmore to Town Center for Black Lives Matter protest ([link removed])
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By KATHERINE HAFNER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The chants reverberated in the Interstate 264 underpass on Independence Boulevard as thousands of people passed underneath. “Black lives matter!” “No justice, no peace!” “Say his name. George Floyd!” Cars driving south honked in support as they passed. Nearby, the normally busy entrance and exit to the interstate near Town Center were blocked and empty. Several thousand people — and a few dogs — braved the midday heat and humidity Saturday, many wearing masks, for a Black Lives Matter march that began at Mount Trashmore and ended at Town Center.
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** Virginia Beach police release details on protest arrests; demonstrators call for investigation ([link removed])
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By JANE HARPER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Virginia Beach police on Friday provided more details on the dozens of arrests made during two protests earlier in the week in the city, as some demonstrators called for an investigation into tactics used by the department. On the first night of protests — last Sunday at the Oceanfront in response to the death of George Floyd — 28 charges were filed by Virginia Beach officers, according to the information.
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** Protests spread to rural Eastern Shore ([link removed])
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By JOANNE KIMBERLIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Protests are different in a small town, where everyone knows each other. Saturday night’s protest in Exmore had the feel of a hometown gathering. “My people have come for love from the community,” organizer Kaliyah Weatherly told the crowd. About 150 people turned out for the Justice for George Floyd march. They trickled into the town park, carrying signs, wearing masks, greeting each other with neighborly howdy dos.
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** Virginia Beach police chief apologizes for letter urging shop owners to hide valuables from protesters ([link removed])
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By ANA LEY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

On Friday, the Virginia Beach Police Department posted a letter urging Town Center shop owners to hide valuables and deadbolt doors to keep away demonstrators who planned to gather there in honor of George Floyd. “If you have suspicious guests staying at your hotels, please give us a call so we can conduct further investigations,” said the letter, signed by Master Police Officer David J. Nieves. “Remove an(y) construction items such as bricks, rocks or any other item that can be used as a projectile.”
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** After long week of protests, Fort Monroe rally goers dress up, call for change ([link removed])
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By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Standing on the same ground that the first enslaved African Americans arrived on nearly 401 years ago, Elizabeth Williams couldn’t put into words what that meant for her and her two teenage daughters. “It’s frustrating,” Williams said as hundreds gathered around her at what is now Fort Monroe in Hampton, but was known as Point Comfort in 1619. “We’ve known as a black community that this has been needed for a long, long time.”
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** More than 100 protesters gather at Williamsburg-James City County Courthouse ([link removed])
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By ALEX PERRY, Virginia Gazette (Metered Paywall - 4 Articles per Month)

More than 100 protesters marched through the New Town shopping center on Friday night in a peaceful protest against police brutality. The protesters met at the Williamsburg-James City County Courthouse on Monticello Avenue at about 6:30 p.m. They stood at the Courthouse Street intersection and chanted while holding up signs for about 40 minutes.
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** 'We love this city. We just want some change': Prayers, protests continue in Fredericksburg ([link removed])
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By KEITH EPPS, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

A group of people representing multiple local churches gathered in Market Square downtown Friday evening to worship Jesus and pray for, among other things, peace. As most of that group filed out of the Fredericksburg outdoor gathering spot, a Black Lives Matter contingent that has been marching around the city all week rolled in, shouting, “No justice, no peace!”
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** Stafford NAACP leads peaceful protest march against racial injustice ([link removed])
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By ADELE UPHAUS–CONNER, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

One of the biggest of the local protests against police violence towards African Americans took place Sunday afternoon in Stafford. Hundreds and hundreds of protesters participated in a march organized by the Stafford County branch of the NAACP from the Stafford County Courthouse to the Public Safety building, which houses the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office.
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** Walking the path of another protest, 70 years ago ([link removed])
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By ADELE UPHAUS–CONNER, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

As they marched in downtown Fredericksburg on Saturday evening, protesters were carrying on the tradition of another group who protested racial injustice 70 years ago to the day. On June 6, 1950, a group of about 300 Fredericksburg residents marched from the Dorothy Hart Community Center to Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) in a protest staged by the 26-member graduating class of the all-black Walker–Grant High School.
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** An estimated 1,000 people march from downtown to UVa ([link removed])
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By TYLER HAMMEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

More than a thousand people marched from downtown Charlottesville to the University of Virginia on Sunday evening to demand justice and affirm that black lives matter. The marchers filled most of the length of West Main Street as they walked from the Free Speech Monument on the Downtown Mall to the steps of the Rotunda.
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** HPD Chief English: 'The Turning Point' For Police ([link removed])
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By IAN MUNRO, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

On Court Square, over a thousand people were kneeling in silence for eight minutes and 40 seconds — the same amount of time Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of George Floyd, who was declared dead after the incident. They had gathered for a protest against police brutality and to have questions answered by Harrisonburg Police Chief Eric English, Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst and local Judge Anthony Bailey. Over a thousand people attended Friday’s protest, which at times grew tense as the crowd shouted over responses from the members of the local criminal justice system.
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** Black Lives Matter supporters march down Main Street in Salem ([link removed])
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By ALISON GRAHAM, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

More than 50 protesters marched down Salem’s Main Street on Sunday as Black Lives Matter protests continued for the seventh day around the Roanoke Valley.
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** Police brutality condemned at Winchester rally ([link removed])
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By EVAN GOODENOW, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Underneath Winchester’s statue honoring local Confederate soldiers is a shrine to George Floyd, the black man whose death on May 25 under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis sparked worldwide protests against police brutality. “This monument represents racism and hate for others,” said a sign at the Civil War statue on Friday. “Stop killing black people. Destroy white supremacy,” said other signs.
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** 'It's time': Winchester protesters march for racial justice ([link removed])
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By BRIAN BREHM, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

“My brothers, my sisters, my friends — it’s time.” The Rev. Kevin Wilson of Saint Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church of Winchester spoke with passion on Friday morning as he addressed about 500 people who gathered on the Loudoun Street Mall to protest police brutality.
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** Prayer meeting reflects on racial tension and a national tragedy ([link removed])
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By RANDY ARRINGTON, Page Valley News

As rain peppered umbrellas and thunder threatened to disperse the peaceful gathering, the crowd stood steadfast — searching, perhaps even yearning, for a sense of unity. One clergyman offered a symbol of the crowd’s commonality — a human skull. “We recognize it as human, not as a color,” the pastor said.
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** 'It's time to come together in unity and love': Pastors hold prayer gathering in Caroline ([link removed])
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By DAWN HAUN, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The Rev. Marvin Fields’ preached about unity and peace to the congregation at Second Mount Zion Baptist Church in Dawn. His morning sermon, “All For One and One For All,” circulated into the afternoon to another crowd standing on the courthouse lawn in Bowling Green. Fields was one of several local pastors who organized a prayer gathering in Caroline County on Sunday.
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** Prayer vigil highlights racial inequality ([link removed])
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By SAM WALL, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

A prayer vigil in downtown Roanoke put on by many of the valley’s churches conveyed an overarching message to the hundreds in attendance: unity. The last-minute event was a collective effort by many church leaders in the area, according to The Hill Church Lead Pastor Charles Wilson Jr., who helped lead participants in prayer at Martin Luther King Bridge before making the short walk together to First Baptist Church Gainsboro on North Jefferson Street on Saturday afternoon.
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** March against racism brings community together ([link removed])
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By SHAINA STOCKTON AND SHANNON WATKINS, Galax Gazette

“If all we do is march and cheer then honestly, it’s been a waste of time,” said Houston Dixon on Friday at a Galax protest march. Though Friday evening’s event — the second one of the week against racism and police brutality, and to mark the death of George Floyd and other black Americans at the hands of police — was peaceful, it was anything but subdued.
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** Hundreds gather in Abingdon for victims of racial injustice ([link removed])
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By ROBERT SORRELL, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Hundreds of people in Abingdon knelt or laid on the ground Saturday morning for 8 minutes and 46 seconds — the amount of time George Floyd was pinned by a Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer last month. People from across the Mountain Empire gathered at 11 a.m. at the Abingdon Farmers Market, which is currently not operating as normal due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for an event to remember African American citizens killed during encounters with police.


** LOCAL
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** Arlington Police Talk Review Panels and Body Cameras ([link removed])
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By VERNON MILES, ArlNow

Arlington County police leaders defended the department’s record in an interview with local Black Lives Matter organizer Yolande Kwinana Thursday evening. The ACPD brass discussed ways the department can make progress towards reform and some areas where the department has hit stumbling blocks during the course of the livestreamed discussion But the interview started with officials defending the shooting of Alfredo Rials-Torres and talking about areas the department can improve.
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** Fairfax County police officer charged after using stun gun on black man without provocation, police say ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN JOUVENAL AND EMILY DAVIES, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A white Fairfax County police officer has been charged with three misdemeanor counts of assault and battery after authorities said he used a stun gun on a black man who was disoriented and did not appear combative as he paced on a street in the Mount Vernon neighborhood on Friday.
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** FBI withholds hundreds of documents from Fairfax in probe of Bijan Ghaisar killing ([link removed])
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By TOM JACKMAN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The Fairfax County prosecutor investigating the 2017 slaying of unarmed motorist Bijan Ghaisar says the FBI has withheld about 260 documents from its investigation into the fatal shooting by two U.S. Park Police officers, and he wants to see them before deciding whether to seek charges in the case.
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** Alexsis Rodgers joins Richmond mayoral race ([link removed])
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By LILY BETTS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Alexsis Rodgers, a Hanover native who served as Gov. Ralph Northam’s policy director during his term as lieutenant governor, announced Saturday that she will enter the Richmond mayoral race. Rodgers joins a field that is expected to include incumbent Levar Stoney, attorney Justin Griffin and Councilwoman Kim Gray. The deadline to obtain the 500 signatures needed to run in November’s election is June 23.
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** New ordinance banning use of cellphones while driving in Richmond takes effect June 9 ([link removed])
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By ALI ROCKETT, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

It will soon be illegal on Richmond streets to use a cellphone while driving. The new city ordinance goes into effect Tuesday, June 9, more than six months ahead of a similar state law. It goes further than the current code, which only outlaws typing text or numbers into a phone while driving.
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** 'The time is now to move forward': Neighborhood association wants new name for Jefferson Davis Highway ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Jefferson Davis Highway in Richmond could be the next Confederate iconography removed as a result of mass demonstrations that have roiled the city over the past two weeks. In a letter dated Saturday, the Jefferson Davis Neighborhood Civic Association asked 8th District City Councilwoman Reva Trammell to introduce a proposal to the Richmond City Council that would rename the city’s part of the highway.
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** Norfolk’s top prosecutor: Criminal justice system unfair to black people, needs reform ([link removed])
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By JONATHAN EDWARDS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Norfolk’s chief prosecutor said not all people are equal before the law because the criminal justice system has always been unfair to black people. “We have two systems of justice — we have one for black people, and we have one for white people,” Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Greg Underwood said.
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** Stafford businessman seeks commission to review citizen concerns ([link removed])
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By JAMES SCOTT BARON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Like many people across the country, Vernon Green has had enough. Standing before Stafford County’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night, Green, an African American businessman, asked supervisors to help identify someone in each of their districts to be members of a multicultural commission.
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** Roanoke mayor supports removing Robert E. Lee memorial ([link removed])
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By RALPH BERRIER JR., Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Roanoke Mayor Sherman Lea said that he supports removing a memorial to Confederate general Robert E. Lee that currently stands in a small downtown park.
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** March seeks unity in LGBTQ community ([link removed])
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By CARRIE J. SIDENER, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Chants of “Out of the closet and into the streets,” echoed through Riverside Park as the hundreds who gathered there Sunday afternoon set to the streets for the Black LGBTQ Celebration March. Organized just days ago, the march brought out members of the black LGBTQ community and their supporters for a peaceful march.
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** Virginia mayor who requested Confederate monuments resigns ([link removed])
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NBC 12

The mayor of Crewe in Nottoway County has resigned just days after requesting Richmond’s Confederate monuments be moved to the town. Mayor Greg Eanes resigned on Friday which was effective at noon.
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** Grassroots efforts to change Confederate school names in Hanover intensify following monument announcements ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS AND KENYA HUNTER, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

When Sophie Lynn, a rising junior at Lee-Davis High School in Hanover County, heard Richmond would pursue removing its Confederate tributes on Monument Avenue, she wondered why her county couldn’t do the same. “No Confederate figure should be glorified. These people were obviously racist. They fought for slavery. It has no place in the schools, no place on roads, it has no place on a statue,” Lynn said.
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** Prince William superintendent: rename Stonewall Jackson High ([link removed])
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Associated Press

A northern Virginia school superintendent wants to rename a high school and middle school named for Confederate general Stonewall Jackson. Prince William County Public Schools Superintendent Steve Walts said in an open letter Friday, “We can no longer represent the Confederacy in our schools.”
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** A painful week pushed Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney toward a historic decision ([link removed])
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By K. BURNELL EVANS AND MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Levar Stoney’s hands shook as he tried to steady the megaphone. Facing a charged crowd of more than 1,500 on the steps of City Hall, Richmond’s black mayor tried to atone for why his police force had fired tear gas on Black Lives Matter protesters standing with their hands raised beneath the Robert E. Lee monument a night earlier. After emerging to a chorus of boos, he tried to relay the apology he had rehearsed. Jeers drowned him out.
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** Fredericksburg's controversial slave auction block removed early Friday morning. ([link removed])
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By CATHY JETT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Fredericksburg removed its controversial slave auction block early Friday morning to minimize pedestrian and vehicular conflicts later in the day. Stabilizing straps, weights, and mechanical equipment were used to lift the freed stone onto a custom-designed pallet intended to support the approximately 800-pound artifact. Dovetail Cultural Resource Group, a Spotsylvania County cultural resources management firm, provided oversight of the removal operation.​
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** Man Pleads in Charlottesville Slave Auction Marker Case ([link removed])
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By HAWES SPENCER, WCVE

On the same day that Gov. Ralph Northam ordered the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue, a white Charlottesville man has resolved criminal charges levied against him in February for stealing a plaque commemorating the location of a market where enslaved people were sold. The 75-year-old man, Richard H. Allan III, was charged with grand larceny, a felony, and possession of "burglarious" tools. He pleaded guilty to property destruction, a lesser misdemeanor charge, and was sentenced to 25 hours community service. Allan says he was offended by the placement of the slave auction marker, embedded underfoot in a sidewalk, so he pried it out. "I felt it was offensive to a significant section of our community," Allan said.
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** Danville receives $3 million in funding from CARES Act to help cover city's costs from COVID ([link removed])
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By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

Danville will use more than $3 million in federal aid to help cover costs for providing grants and loans to small businesses affected by the pandemic and to cover other COVID-19-related expenses incurred by the city. Some of that money will likely be used to provide financial help to those behind on their utility bills — if they can prove the pandemic has negatively affected their income.
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** In Boyce, the mayor mows the grass at town hall ([link removed])
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By MICKEY POWELL, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Small-town mayors sometimes have duties their counterparts in larger towns and cities never would have to handle. In Boyce, for instance, the mayor not only must preside over council meetings and represent the town at public functions. He also is expected to mow the town hall’s backyard. And, the council apparently has no intention of changing that practice.


** EDITORIALS
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** How far right can 5th District Republicans go and still win? ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Later this week, one of our local congressmen might be defeated for re-election, and it won’t even be in a real election. We refer to Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Nelson, who is local if you’re in Franklin County, parts of Bedford County, or other points in the 5th District that sprawls from the North Carolina line to the outskirts of Northern Virginia.
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** Virginia emerges as hot spot for tech jobs ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Microsoft dropped its announcement on May 27, right in the midst of everything — and, you know, there’s a lot of “everything” right now. But it’s worth pausing to wave a hand, say “hello,” and noting that Microsoft’s decision to establish a $64 million “software development and R&D regional hub” in Reston is very good news for Virginia.
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** Behind the scenes, some important negotiations over renewable energy ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Six years ago, a light bulb — a metaphorical one — lit up over the heads of Roanoke officials. The city was spending $490,000 a year to heat, cool and otherwise power the Berglund Center. The Berglund Center also has a big, flat roof — the kind of surface that would be perfect for solar panels.
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** Removing Lee statue signals new era for Virginia ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee occupies a place of prominence in Richmond, casting a long shadow of Virginia’s capital and serving a constant, painful reminder of the commonwealth’s ugly past. Soon, the statue will be gone and that shadow lifted, a symbolic act but a clear indication that things are changing in Virginia.


** OP-ED
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** Moore: Hate in the heart solves nothing ([link removed])
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By SHAWN MOORE, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Nearly three years ago, I wrote about the racism, bigotry, and hate displayed in Charlottesville when a group of white supremacists occupied the sacred grounds of Thomas Jefferson’s Academical Village. At the time I noted, “the divisive rhetoric and violence over race issues had been brewing for some time and my fear was that we had not even reached the boiling point.” Sadly, I was right.

Moore is a sports marketing consultant and former collegiate coach. He was a 1990 Heisman Trophy finalist as quarterback at the University of Virginia, and he played four years in the NFL.
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** Robins: Preserving open space essential to Hampton Roads ([link removed])
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By ROB ROBINS, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

As we persevere through these tough times, the Living River Trust thought this would be the perfect time to share some good news. In April, the Living River Trust set aside for permanent protection nearly 500 acres of forest at the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp in Chesapeake.

Rob Robins, senior vice president of Bay Diesel and Generator, is chairman of the Living River Trust, the only conservancy in Hampton Roads dedicated to preserving open space and protecting natural, cultural and recreational resources.
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** Bagby and Herring: New laws make Virginia more just, fair and safer for all ([link removed])
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By LAMONT BAGBY AND MARK R. HERRING, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

The killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor — as well as so many others whose names we know and don’t know — are tragic and stark reminders that skin color can either open doors or be a death sentence in America. Each of them should still be alive, and if they had been white, they almost certainly would be. The fact is one of us can walk without fear through any neighborhood in Virginia and one of us lives with the reality that he might be perceived as a threat simply because of the color of his skin, just like Ahmaud Arbery was when he was shot and killed.

Lamont Bagby represents the 74th District in the Virginia House of Delegates and chairs the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. Mark R. Herring is the 48th attorney general of Virginia.
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** Manns: The complexities of race-based trauma ([link removed])
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By MONICA R. MANNS, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

The past weeks have been traumatic for our nation, and like many people, I have felt the effects on a deeply personal level as well. I am a black woman, and I am the mother of African children, one of whom is a boy — a boy whom I adopted, along with his sister, from an African country where everyone was his color.

Monica R. Manns is chief equity, diversity and opportunities office with Henrico County Public Schools.
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** Bond: Chain emails and press statements will not solve our crises ([link removed])
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By ADAM L. BOND, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

I received an email from a 97-year-old member of the congregation that I serve. I normally do not read the chain emails that people send. Many are amusing or reflective, but I try not to get lost in my inbox. I pay attention, however, when a 97-year-old member sends me a note. This chain message, “Enough is enough,” listed nearly 30 African American women and men who died at the hands of people who served as or acted as police.

Adam L. Bond is the pastor-elect of the Ebenezer Baptist Church of Richmond and a professor at Virginia Union University’s School of Theology.
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** O’Connor: You don’t have to be 'racist' to perpetrate racist behaviors ([link removed])
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By JAKE O’CONNOR, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

As a mixed man, with white parents, three black brothers and two white brothers, and now a white fiancee, my world and my perspective have always been a little bit different from others. Growing up, you don’t really see or understand race. I just wanted to play with my friends with no thought to the color of their skin or my own. I was able to live a privileged life without dealing with some of the consequences of race because I was too young to notice.

Jake O’Connor, 31, grew up in Richmond and graduated from Douglas Freeman High School and the College of William & Mary.
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** Morse: Where does removing Lee’s statute get us? ([link removed])
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By GORDON C. MORSE, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

So what will become of Robert E. Lee and all the “fixed” tributes to his memory and the “Lost Cause” he represented? We’ll see. The removal of Lee from Richmond’s Monument Avenue will likely not quench the prevailing thirst. I admit to some ambivalence about Lee’s banishment — is this really the best, most thoughtful answer? — and may be channeling my grandmother here.

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
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** Taylor: Black Americans want to breathe free ([link removed])
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By MAURICE CONNOR TAYLOR, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

I enrolled in college in Petersburg in 1964 during the Civil Rights Movement. I participated in the marches, protests and sit-ins while lying with a straight face my non-involvement to my very worried parents. I was frightened by police dogs, spat upon and hauled into a precinct. Through the years, I experienced either first-hand or vicariously blacks, especially our men, being killed simply because of an extra dose of pigmentation.

Maurice Connor Taylor is a mother of two, a grandmother and a great-grandmother. She is a resident and native of Portsmouth, a retired Norfolk educator and active in her church and community.
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** Zucaro: Beach police seek to reaffirm community trust ([link removed])
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By TONY ZUCARO, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The death of George Floyd was, by any measure of professional policing unnecessary, avoidable and criminal. Our hearts are heavy — weighed down by the recent and tragic deaths of Mr. Floyd and others like him. The realization these incidents have been committed by some who, like us, wear a uniform and swear an oath to serve and protect all persons, only adds to our collective sorrow.

Tony Zucaro is the interim chief of police of the Virginia Beach Police Department.
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** Sibilla: Virginia finally ends unjust driver’s license suspensions ([link removed])
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By NICK SIBILLA, published in Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

With the novel coronavirus pandemic still raging, having a car is critical for many Virginians to get to work, shop for groceries and run errands. But until legislation was signed this spring, Virginians would lose their driver’s licenses if they had unpaid fines and fees or if they had been convicted of any drug crime.

Nick Sibilla is a legislative analyst at the Institute for Justice.
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