VaNews
June 11, 2020

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** Portsmouth City Council talked about moving Confederate monument, then protesters started tearing it apart ([link removed])
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By ANA LEY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Following a frenetic two days of protests, arrests and sniping between public officials over Portsmouth’s downtown Confederate monument, council members agreed on reviving plans to move the obelisk away from prominent view in this majority black city. During a specially called virtual meeting Wednesday evening, the group called for a public hearing on July 28 before they decide on the monument’s future.
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** Harry F. Byrd Jr.'s name removed from SU's School of Business ([link removed])
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By ANNA MEROD, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Shenandoah University has removed the name of the late U.S. Sen. Harry F. Byrd Jr. from its business school following a petition and online public forum denouncing Byrd’s support of school segregation in Virginia in the 1950s ...“The board and I understand that we cannot be an institution that serves all students equitably when our business school still holds the name of an individual who denied full integration of schools,” SU President Tracy Fitzsimmons said in a statement.
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** Attorney general will defend governor’s push to remove Lee statue; Jefferson Davis statue pulled down ([link removed])
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By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

State Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) has served notice to a circuit court judge that he will defend the effort to remove Richmond's grand statue of Robert E. Lee and complained that a temporary injunction against the removal was issued without informing his office. “The Governor has both the authority and the moral obligation to remove this badge of white supremacy from its place of exaltation, and [Herring] intends to defend the Governor’s decision and ensure the removal of this divisive relic,” the attorney general’s office wrote in a court filing Wednesday afternoon.
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** Virginia coronavirus updates: The number of people hospitalized in the state reaches new low ([link removed])
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By ROBYN SIDERSKY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Fewer than 500 coronavirus cases — 439 — were reported overnight, bringing the state tally to 52,177. For the second day in a row, it’s the lowest number of cases reported in a 24-hour-period since April 20, per a Virginian-Pilot count.
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** Long list of precautions, but Northern Va. day care centers to open Friday ([link removed])
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By NICK IANNELLI, WTOP

As Northern Virginia enters Phase Two of the lifting of coronavirus restrictions on Friday, day care centers in the area will be allowed to open their doors. But, they will have a long list of new health regulations to follow. “It is definitely going to be not quite what the children were used to before,” said Gina Flacco, a mother in Fairfax, Virginia.
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** Norfolk City Council approves changes to police use-of-force policy ([link removed])
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By PETER COUTU, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Following two weeks of police brutality protests across Hampton Roads, the Norfolk City Council unanimously voted on Tuesday to tweak the police department’s use-of-force policy. The changes include banning high-speed chases in all cases except felonies that resulted in serious injuries or death and directing the city manager to petition the state Department of Criminal Justice Services to end a mandate that requires police departments to train its officers on chokeholds.
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** Pharrell Williams urges Virginia Beach to paint Black Lives Matter on the Boardwalk ([link removed])
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By STACY PARKER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The idea of painting “Black Lives Matter” in large yellow letters on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk drew the support Tuesday of one of the city’s favorite sons. Pharrell Williams took to Instagram to praise a proposal that had been circulating on social media. He liked the look of the now iconic yellow words that were painted last week on the street leading to the White House superimposed on the boardwalk.
The Full Report
48 articles, 25 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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** AG Herring: Northam has 'both the authority and the moral obligation' to remove Lee statue ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

After a Richmond judge pressed pause on Virginia’s plans to remove the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue, Attorney General Mark Herring asserted that Gov. Ralph Northam has the power to take it down. “The governor has both the authority and the moral obligation to remove this badge of white supremacy from its place of exaltation,” Herring said in a filing in Richmond Circuit Court on Wednesday.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** Amid protests, police officers in schools face growing scrutiny from Virginia legislators ([link removed])
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By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury

Less than a year ago, a Democratic challenger trying to unseat then-Virginia House Speaker Kirk Cox was put on the defensive after he ran an attack ad claiming she called for the removal of police in schools. In 2018, months after a deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida, a bipartisan House committee called for more funding and greater support for school resource officers. But after the death of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement in Minneapolis, and ensuing protests over discriminatory policing, the use of school resource officers is facing increasing scrutiny from some members of Virginia’s majority Democratic legislature.


** FEDERAL ELECTIONS
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** Drive-through convention will decide GOP nominee for Congress in central Va. ([link removed])
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By JENNA PORTNOY, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Several thousand Republicans will travel to a church parking lot outside Lynchburg on Saturday to decide between freshman U.S. Rep. Denver Riggleman and Bob Good, a former Liberty University official challenging him from the right. Instead of a traditional day-long convention with speeches and horse-trading, delegates will cast their ballots via a drive-through convention, an alternative intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Virginia’s 5th District.
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** GOP tweaks congressional nominating convention in Virginia ([link removed])
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Associated Press

Republicans selecting a congressional nominee in Virginia’s 10th District are changing the procedures for their nominating convention in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The convention is scheduled for June 20 in Winchester. The nominee will face freshman Democrat Jennifer Wexton.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** Virginia students to take SOLs during altered new school year without waiver ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Barring a federal waiver, the Virginia Department of Education expects school districts across the state to give Standards of Learning tests in the spring of the 2020-21 school year. A day after Gov. Ralph Northam announced that Virginia schools will reopen next school year, albeit in a scaled-back way, the state Education Department released more guidance for schools and families.
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** Few Prisoners Get Early Release Promised by the State ([link removed])
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By SANDY HAUSMAN, WVTF

To reduce the risk of coronavirus in prisons, the legislature said wardens should consider release of anyone due to get out within the next year. Officials estimated 2,000 people might be eligible, but so far less than 200 have been freed. The governor has also pledged to speed up review of pardon requests if prisoners have certain medical conditions, but the state won’t say how many clemency requests it has cleared.
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** After forceful opposition from police, man who killed Richmond officer in 1979 is released on parole ([link removed])
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By ALI SULLIVAN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

A man convicted in the killing of a Richmond police officer in 1979 was released on parole early Wednesday morning amid an ongoing investigation into the Virginia Parole Board’s decision to grant him parole.
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** After controversy, man convicted of killing officer paroled ([link removed])
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By SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press

A man who served decades in prison for the killing of a Richmond police officer and whose parole grant sparked a still-continuing investigation by Virginia’s government watchdog agency has been released from prison. Vincent Martin, who had been held at the Nottoway Correctional Center, was released on parole, Virginia Parole Board chair Tonya Chapman told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
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** Regulators open up applications for electricity aggregation experiment ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

After a compromise struck late and quietly in the 2020 General Assembly, Virginia is embarking on a limited-scale experiment that will let some large corporate customers of Dominion Energy with multiple facilities in the commonwealth sidestep the requirement to buy electricity from the utility. On Tuesday afternoon, state regulators issued an order opening up the application pipeline for an electricity aggregation pilot program passed by the General Assembly this March and set to go into effect July 1.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** Virginia Chamber releases blueprint for reopening ([link removed])
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By SYDNEY LAKE, Va Business Magazine

The Virginia Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday released its “Blueprint for Getting Virginians Back to Work” plan, which provides reopening guidance to businesses and policymakers.
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** The Harvest Foundation invests $1M in Virginia 30 Day Fund ([link removed])
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By SYDNEY LAKE, Va Business Magazine

The Harvest Foundation in Martinsville announced Wednesday it has invested $1 million in the Virginia 30 Day Fund to launch a new relief initiative to aid small businesses in Martinsville and Henry County.
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** Inside the grassroots Virginia fund aiming to raise $3M for small businesses ([link removed])
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By SARA GILGORE, Washington Business Journal (Subscription required for some articles)

When the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, Pete Snyder was in Disney World with his wife, Burson, and their 5-year-old daughter. They flew home, went straight to the grocery store and started getting their own lives in order. “Ten days into this, we started to say, ‘Oh my gosh, how can we help? What can we possibly do that would add value out there?’”
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** Kroger employees rally to protest lack of hazard pay amid pandemic ([link removed])
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By SEAN GORMAN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Local Kroger employees drove in a car caravan nearly 20 vehicles long past three of the grocery chain’s Henrico County stores on Wednesday, demanding that the company restore an hourly hazard pay bump the workers initially received for working during the coronavirus pandemic.
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** With horn honks and cheers from coworkers, Hampton Roads Kroger employees protest removal of hazard pay ([link removed])
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By TREVOR METCALFE, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Car horns blasted Wednesday afternoon across a Kroger parking lot in Virginia Beach as a dozen vehicles filled with local employees protested the loss of their coronavirus hazard pay. As on-the-clock coworkers cheered them on from just outside the store in the Little Neck section of Virginia Beach, the protesters drove cars around the lot and honked their horns in a socially distant show of support.
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** Some Richmond business boarded up, others found ways to give to the cause ([link removed])
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By JOHANNA ALONSO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Over the past week and a half, corporations across the nation have announced plans to donate to social justice organizations in light of the unrest caused by killing of George Floyd. But while major corporations are making massive donations, many Richmond-area small businesses are doing their part to contribute to the movement on a local level.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** Hundreds of students placed on housing waitlist after Virginia Tech reduces on-campus occupancy ([link removed])
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By ASHLEY LONG, Collegiate Times

On June 8, following President Sands’ announcement regarding fall semester operations, several students received emails notifying them they were not selected to live in on-campus housing for the 2020-2021 academic year. . . . In a typical fall semester, the university can accommodate 10,400 students living on campus. However, due to efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 such as designating quarantine areas, only about 9,100 students can be accommodated with on-campus housing this year.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Virginia's COVID-19 deaths surpass 1,500 as stay-at-home order expires ([link removed])
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By LUANNE RIFE, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Virginia’s stay-at-home order — or safer-at-home order, as the governor later modified it — expired Wednesday with little fanfare. Virginians have been moving about for several weeks, first in tentative small gatherings held mostly outdoors.
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** Impact of reopening on COVID-19 rates may not be known till late June ([link removed])
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By KATE ANDREWS, Va Business Magazine

As the state enters week four of reopening, the Virginia Department of Health probably won’t know if there’s a broad increase in COVID-19 cases until late June, State Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver said Wednesday.
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** Leaders worry lapse in prevention may send Dan River Region back into Phase One ([link removed])
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By CALEB AYERS, Danville Register & Bee

Danville City Manager Ken Larking and Pittsylvania County Administrator David Smitherman are concerned a lapse in prevention measures could lead the region backward in terms of reopening. “We are concerned about the potential return to Phase One. A lot of our work is preparing for that potential eventuality,” Smitherman said, noting they are making extra efforts to ensure first responders have the training and tools they need.
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** Hispanic Community Hit Hard by COVID-19 in Fairfax County ([link removed])
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By FATIMAH WASEEM, Reston Now

Fairfax County’s Hispanic community is bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Hispanic individuals comprise just under 17 percent of the total population, they account for nearly 66 percent of all confirmed cases in the county. The rise has raised alarms about equity issues between different racial groups in the county.
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** Feds go after payments for respiratory masks allegedly not delivered ([link removed])
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By JEFF STURGEON, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Thousands of American consumers paid more than $900,000 to online Chinese merchants for N95 respirators and other masks that they never received, according to a federal complaint. The U.S. attorney’s office in Roanoke petitioned a judge Wednesday for permission to seize about $500,000 left in PayPal accounts that authorities said were opened by the suspected merchants as the pandemic began and later frozen in response to reports of alleged fraudulent activity.
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** Four dead, 81 infected with COVID-19 in Spotsylvania long-term care facility ([link removed])
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By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

COVID-19’s lethal impact on long-term care facilities has reached the Fredericksburg area, where four residents of Carriage Hill Health & Rehab Center have died in an outbreak that’s infected 81 residents and workers.
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** Some federal data on nursing homes is missing, including those in Williamsburg ([link removed])
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By JULIA MARSIGLIANO, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently released information about the number of coronavirus cases at nursing homes. But the data shows limited and incomplete information for nursing homes in Williamsburg.
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** Young athletes in Northern Virginia to (carefully) take field Friday ([link removed])
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By NEAL AUGENSTEIN, WTOP

After almost three months of restrictions related to COVID-19, young athletes and their parents will be able to expend that built-up energy, Friday. As Northern Virginia enters Phase Two of Gov. Ralph Northam’s plan to reopen the state after the March shutdown due to the novel coronavirus, youth sports will be able to resume, with several conditions to allow increased activity while maintaining physical distancing.
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** Shenandoah National Park increases recreational access ([link removed])
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News Leader (Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)

Following guidance from the White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and local public health authorities, Shenandoah National Park is increasing recreational access and services, according to a news release.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** Statue of Jefferson Davis torn down on Monument Avenue ([link removed])
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By ZACH JOACHIM AND JOHANNA ALONSO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

The statue of Jefferson Davis on Monument Avenue in Richmond was torn down from its pedestal late Wednesday night. The statue of the president of the Confederacy was toppled shortly before 11 p.m. and left on the ground at the intersection of Davis and Monument avenues.
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** Jefferson Davis statue torn down in Richmond, Virginia ([link removed])
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Associated Press

Protesters tore down a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis along Richmond, Virginia’s famed Monument Avenue on Wednesday night. The statue in the former capital of the Confederacy was toppled shortly before 11 p.m., news outlets reported.
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** Portsmouth Confederate statues beheaded, partially pulled down by protesters ([link removed])
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By ANA LEY, SALEEN MARTIN AND MATT JONES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Demonstrators beheaded the four Confederate statues before pulling one down using a tow rope Wednesday night at the Portsmouth Confederate monument as police watched. A protester was injured as the statue fell, hitting him on the head. Louie Gibbs, vice president of the Portsmouth NAACP, said the man, who was in his 30s, lost consciousness. The man’s head was cut open, and he was transported to the hospital.
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** Man injured in toppling of Confederate statue in Virginia ([link removed])
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By DENNIS ROMERO, NBCNews

A man was injured when a Confederate statue at a monument in Portsmouth, Virginia, was topped by demonstrators Wednesday, police said. Sgt. Misty Holley of the Portsmouth Police Department said a man sustained serious injuries and was hospitalized.
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** ‘It’s like putting Band-Aids on a broken house’ ([link removed])
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By KATELYN WALTEMYER, Harrisonburg Citizen

Even after Harrisonburg’s police chief has spent much of the nearly two years in the job reviewing and implementing department policies, the efforts haven’t prevented black JMU students from fearing the police. Leeyah Jackson, a panelist at Wednesday’s Rethinking Policing and Building Community Trust virtual town hall streamed on Facebook Live, said it’s frustrating that despite the reforms, the system feels like a building where “the foundation is off.”
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** Hundreds march in Christiansburg as protests continue ([link removed])
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By YANN RANAIVO, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

About 250 people gathered in the square just outside the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday afternoon to show their support of calls to end police brutality and systemic racism. The Black Lives Matter event was the latest in a string of protests across Southwest Virginia that are part of nationwide demonstrations triggered by the May 25 death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.


** LOCAL
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** Arlington NAACP Joins Calls to Equip Police With Body-Worn Cameras ([link removed])
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By VERNON MILES, ArlNow

The Arlington branch of the NAACP has thrown its voice into the push for body-worn cameras to be implemented in the Arlington County Police Department. A Change.org petition calling for Arlington County leadership to prioritize body-worn cameras sits at 2,409 of its 2,500 goal at the time of writing. “Arlington is the only jurisdiction of size in the entire DC-region without a Body-Worn Camera (BWC) program,” Arlington Branch NAACP #7047 said in the petition.
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** Beatty says he is 'doubling down against racism' following removal from Loudoun School Board committees ([link removed])
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By JOHN BATTISTON, Loudoun Times

In response to his removal last week from the Loudoun County School Board’s Equity and Discipline committees, John Beatty (Catoctin District) gave a follow-up statement during the board’s virtual meeting Tuesday evening. The action against Beatty was the result of months of controversy after he reportedly made the following statement during a School Board equity training session in February: “It was worse for African Americans after reconstruction because they did not have the patronage of a master.”
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** Judge reduces ballot requirements for Richmond City Council, School Board candidates ([link removed])
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By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Candidates seeking a seat on the Richmond City Council or the Richmond School Board will have two more weeks to qualify for the November ballot, a Richmond judge ruled Tuesday. Judge Beverly Snukals extended the filing deadline from June 9 to June 23 and lowered the number of signatures candidates must submit to qualify for the ballot.
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** As protesters demand police accountability in Richmond region, will true change take place? ([link removed])
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By ALI ROCKETT AND C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Before George Floyd in Minneapolis, there was Marcus-David Peters in Richmond. The circumstances of their deaths differ, but the advocacy that arose from them is shared: Activists want to redefine the relationship between police departments and the civilians they serve.
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** Progressive Voices Enter Richmond Elections Following Weeks Of Police Protests ([link removed])
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By ROBERTO ROLDAN, WCVE

As Richmond sees days of protests and civil unrest in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, two progressive activists have announced they’ll run for local office. Alexsis Rodgers announced last week she’ll make a run for Richmond mayor, and Tavarris Spinks now says he is running for City Council in the second district. The second district seat is being vacated by Councilwoman Kim Gray who is also running for mayor.
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** Newport News police officers now have “duty to intervene” ([link removed])
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By JOSH REYES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

If a Newport News police officer sees another officer in a verbal or physical conflict, they are now required to intervene. Police Chief Steve Drew said the department changed its policies this weekend to include a “direct duty to intervene.” It’s one of two changes designed to increase officer accountability and deescalate situations that Drew announced at a news conference Tuesday.
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** Rosie’s gaming facility in Chesapeake gets ‘no’ recommendation vote from planning commission ([link removed])
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By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Citing concerns about traffic, Chesapeake planning commissioners voted Wednesday to deny recommending a project that would bring a satellite wagering facility to the Greenbrier Mall. By a vote of 6-2, the staff made its recommendation to City Council to deny Rosie’s Gaming Emporium coming to the first floor of the now-shuttered Sears store located along Greenbrier Parkway.
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** Stafford schools to revisit agreement with Sheriff's Office ([link removed])
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By ADELE UPHAUS–CONNER, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The Stafford County School Board plans to review an agreement with the Stafford Sheriff’s Office that provides resource officers to division schools. The board discussed revisiting the memorandum of understanding at its meeting Tuesday.
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** Charlottesville School Board to discuss school resource officers amid calls for an end to the program ([link removed])
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By KATHERINE KNOTT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

The Charlottesville School Board on Thursday will discuss whether to remove school resource officers from the division, after prompting from Charlottesville chapter of Black Lives Matter and one school board member.
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** Fredericksburg City Council gets earful about police response at protests ([link removed])
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By CATHY JETT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Fredericksburg residents gave City Council an earful Tuesday about the police response at some of the Black Lives Matter protests that have been held since May 31. Nearly 40 emails were read during the virtual meeting. Many were from people who said they were distressed that the protesters, most of whom are teens and young adults, were met in several instances by police dressed in riot gear and using tear gas.
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** Region 2000 approves fiscal year 2021 budget despite $1.4 million in undistributed funds ([link removed])
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By SARAH HONOSKY, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

At its Wednesday afternoon meeting, the Region 2000 Services Authority approved its $7 million fiscal year 2021 budget — though the much- contested $1.4 million in excess revenue remains undistributed to the city of Lynchburg and Campbell County, with the four member localities of the authority divided on the issue, and left in a stalemate.


** EDITORIALS
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** Good wants to upend some historic American values ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

It would be helpful, of course, if all Americans knew their history better than they do. It would be especially helpful if our elected leaders knew it better. And it seems it would be most helpful if the congressman who represents Virginia’s 5th Congressional District — a district once home to Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Patrick Henry and some of the nation’s most consequential historical events — understood it best of all.
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** Attacks on media should be denounced ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

As people poured into the streets in recent days to call for justice in the May 25 death of George Floyd, journalists mobilized to cover the protests, risking their health and safety to do so. In return — as documented in dozens of reports, photos and videos — they have been subjected to assault by law enforcement.


** COLUMNISTS
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** Schapiro: Monuments were reaction to a rarity in Virginia: progress ([link removed])
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By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Political trauma spurs big investments in education and health care, much of it targeting African Americans. Other help for minorities: easier access to the polls, public employment and the courts — not to mention steps toward criminal justice reform. A lot of it is financed by shuffling millions of dollars around the Virginia budget.
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** Vargas: Five years after pardon, Va. man still not fully free ([link removed])
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By THERESA VARGAS, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Neli Latson’s life changed in the same swift way the lives of so many other black people have: with a stranger’s call to the police. He was 18, sitting outside a library in his Virginia neighborhood, waiting for it to open, when that call was made.


** OP-ED
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** Wittman: Working to make the buildout of rural broadband a reality ([link removed])
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By ROB WITTMAN, published in Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

I want to respond to a recent letter to the editor published in The Free Lance–Star on June 3 regarding efforts to address rural broadband [“When is rural internet access coming?’]. First, I want to thank the writer for his comments and concerns on this issue facing rural Virginia. Furthermore, the coronavirus pandemic has emphasized the increased importance of addressing it. As Virginians have been adapting to a new way of life during the coronavirus outbreak, high-speed internet access has become a necessity, now more than ever.

Wittman represents the First District of Virginia in the House of Representatives.
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