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By ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is taking a late step to keep people from gathering at bars as the state prepares to enter Phase 3 of its reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic. The governor said Tuesday the state’s restaurants will not be allowed to fully reopen their bars as previously planned. He announced the decision Tuesday afternoon, a day before the state was set to allow people to congregate at bars as long as they practiced social distancing.
By LUANNE RIFE, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
By late March, when the first person in Roanoke fell ill from COVID-19, elsewhere in Virginia, 22 people had died. The case count was nearing 1,000 as the virus infected mostly those living in Northern Virginia, and the governor had already shuttered schools, ordered some businesses to close and directed all of us to stay home.
By PETER COUTU, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Nearly two months after Virginia announced its plan to employ some 1,300 contact tracers to aggressively box in new COVID-19 cases before the virus can spread, officials won’t say how successful the multi-million dollar program has been in practice. In interviews and press conferences, health officials and experts have touted the old-school practice of contact tracing — when government workers alert people who come in contact with an infected person — as a linchpin of the state’s reopening plan.
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Virginia could lose less than half of the $1 billion in revenues it had expected to in the fiscal year that ended Tuesday, setting the stage for a potential restoration of spending that had been frozen in the new two-year budget that took effect Wednesday. The final number won’t be known for more than a week as income tax payments continue to flow into the state treasury, but Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne said Tuesday that the shortfall caused by the coronavirus pandemic could be less than $500 million in the fiscal year that ended Tuesday.
By LAURA VOZZELLA AND OVETTA WIGGINS, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Restrictions on guns tighten in Virginia on Wednesday while those governing abortion, marijuana and voting loosen under a raft of laws adopted earlier this year in a newly blue state Capitol. As the calendar flips to July, new laws will take effect around the Washington region, bumping up the minimum wage in the District, expanding community college tuition assistance in Maryland and, in Montgomery County, implementing a first-in-the-state ban on certain driveway sealants.
By NICK IANNELLI, WTOP
Under a new law that takes effect Wednesday, police officers across Virginia will be required to ask racial questions about the driver every time they make a traffic stop. The law is called “The Community Policing Act” and was passed during the General Assembly’s legislative session in March. It applies to sheriffs, local police officers and state police officers.
By PATRICIA SULLIVAN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Amazon announced Tuesday that it has hired more than 1,000 employees in the past year for its Arlington-based headquarters, putting it on schedule to create 25,000 new jobs in the decade. The Seattle-based company, which opened its first office in Arlington a year ago, has hired systems engineers, data scientists, designers, lawyers, technology support personnel and human resource employees, officials told The Washington Post in advance of the announcement.
The Full Report
53 articles, 25 publications
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The Virginia Public Access Project
Nearly six of every 10 dollars in campaign donations raised by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) have come from outside Virginia. How does that compare to the 29 other U.S. Senators seeking re-election this fall?
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.
By ANTONIO OLIVO, PATRICIA SULLIVAN AND REBECCA TAN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Bar areas inside Virginia restaurants and taverns will not join the state’s next phase of reopening Wednesday, Gov. Ralph Northam said, a reversal in policy that followed Delaware’s decision to shut down recently reopened bars in beach communities. After federal officials said Tuesday that bars were the source of coronavirus outbreaks in other states across the country, Northam said people in Virginia will continue to be prohibited from congregating inside bar areas unless they are eating at high-top tables that are set at least six feet apart.
By JESSICA NOLTE, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Gov. Ralph Northam announced that bar seating will remain closed Wednesday as the state moves into Phase 3 of reopening during the coronavirus pandemic. “I am watching what is happening in other states — we are taking a cautious approach as we enter Phase 3 and maintaining the current restrictions on bar areas,” Northam said in a Tuesday news release.
By BILL ATKINSON, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 10 articles a month)
On the eve of Phase 3 of Virginia’s reopening after COVID-19 comes a warning from Gov. Ralph S. Northam that he “will not hesitate” to reinstate physical distance standards if the state’s declining rate of virus cases begins heading upward again.
By HOLLY PRESTIDGE, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Virginia moves one step closer to normal Wednesday as it begins Phase Three COVID-19 guidelines. The third phase lifts capacity restrictions at retail stores and restaurants, meaning those businesses can operate as they did before the pandemic. Gyms, fitness centers and swimming pools can operate at 75% capacity.
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Gov. Ralph Northam is redirecting $30 million in state funds to pay for a 29% increase in Medicaid rates paid to primary care doctors, pediatricians and other health care providers who are struggling to survive the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Northam is making the rate increase retroactive to March 1, using money that had been budgeted for Medicaid managed care organizations to pay for nonelective surgeries and other medical services that were canceled or curtailed because of the spread of COVID-19.
By SYDNEY LAKE, Va Business Magazine
Gov. Ralph Northam on Tuesday recommended that more than $4.2 million in Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grants be distributed among 17 economic development projects in Southwest Virginia. ARC grants can be used toward infrastructure, entrepreneurship development and workforce development. Northam’s recommended allocations must be approved by the federal commission before being awarded later this year.
By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
They ran on making Virginia safer and more equitable. Now, the bills that the Democrats who gained control of the General Assembly last year passed during this winter’s legislative session are set to take effect Wednesday, and the new laws are sure to make the state more progressive. Aside from the slate of gun control measures that were at the top of the Democratic majority’s list, the group — younger and more diverse than past Virginia legislatures — had the votes they needed to make big changes to the state’s voting, criminal justice and anti-discrimination laws, to name a few.
By MARK BOWES, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
If a late legal challenge doesn’t derail it, Virginia’s new universal background check law will center on the private sales of firearms when it goes into effect Wednesday, requiring nearly all gun transactions to be monitored by the state. Commercial sales of guns by licensed firearms dealers in Virginia have required background checks of prospective buyers for decades.
By ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press
Marijuana will be decriminalized, local governments will have the ability to take down Confederate monuments, and Virginians will pay more in taxes for gasoline and cigarettes starting Wednesday. July 1 is the start date for most of the new laws passed earlier this year by the General Assembly.
By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury
Possessing small amounts of marijuana is still illegal in Virginia, but as of Wednesday the maximum penalty for people caught with an ounce or less the drug has been reduced to a $25 civil fine. It’s a significant shift in a state where police reported a record 29,000 arrests for marijuana possession in 2018 and a study the prior year found 127 people were being held in jail solely on a marijuana charge — enforcement that disproportionately targeted Black Virginians.
By JESSICA JEWELL, WSLS
The start of July means the start of several new laws in Virginia, including one capping the price of insulin which has tripled over the last decade and created life or death decisions for diabetics. 17-year-old Onaca Umak, who lives in Roanoke, has been living with Type 1 diabetes since she was nine. It's a disease that comes with its fair share of costs physically and financially.
By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
After postponing its convention at the start of COVID-19’s outbreak in Virginia, the Republican Party of Virginia has set a new date for the assembly. The party announced Tuesday that it will hold an unassembled convention from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 15, more than three months later than its original May 1-2 date.
By JESSICA NOLTE, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The Chesapeake Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court said it would remain closed until Monday after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus. During the closure, the building will be disinfected. Bond hearings and arraignments for adult inmates will be conducted by the General District Court, said Bonnie Coffey, clerk.
By JOHN REID BLACKWELL, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
The Virginia Employment Commission is ordering employees who work at the agency’s headquarters in Henrico County to work from home after an employee tested positive for coronavirus. About 350 employees of the agency who are assigned to the headquarters offices in the Brookfield Place building at 6606 W. Broad St. will be required to work from home, the agency said Tuesday.
By SYDNEY LAKE, Va Business Magazine
The Virginia Employment Commission is temporarily closing its Richmond headquarters office after the fourth VEC employee in three months has tested positive for COVID-19, the VEC announced Tuesday. The closure affects 350 employees who work out of the Richmond office.
By JAMES SCOTT BARON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
Amy Pereschuk was one of about 625,000 workers in Virginia who lost their jobs in Virginia during the first few weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. And she soon was one of many who were struggling to collect the unemployment benefits they were due. “I can never reach a person to talk to,” Pereschuk said in early May. “It feels like a full-time job just trying to figure this out.”
By LAURA PETERS, News Leader (Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)
The Hershey Company will be investing millions of dollars to add 110 new jobs to its Stuarts Draft plant. Hershey Chocolate of Virginia, which has its plant in Draft, will be investing $135 million to increase its production capacity at its existing facility by 90,000 square feet, a release said Tuesday.
By IAN MUNRO, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The Hershey plant in Starts Draft will receive a $135 million investment for another expansion to add 90,000 square feet and 110 jobs to the facility, according to a Tuesday morning press release from the office of Gov. Ralph Northam. The “new jobs in these new facilities will be good-paying, high-skilled and career-oriented jobs that require the ability to work with technology as our new facilities will feature the latest in manufacturing tech,” Jeff Beckman, a spokesperson for Hershey, said in a Tuesday email. Hiring for some of these new positions has already begun, he said.
By ALEXA DOIRON, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)
Despite pleas from local senators and Busch Gardens officials, it doesn’t seem as though an opening date for the park is in the near future. When Gov. Ralph Northam announced the new restrictions for Virginia entering Phase 3 of reopening, he included theme parks as entertainment venues which restricted their capacity to 1,000 guests.
By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
The boat had just lost sight of land when two delicate shapes appeared on the horizon, like needles sprouting from the sea. As the boat got closer, they seemed to grow — and grow — until they towered above passing container ships. Two wind turbines now rise higher than the Washington Monument off the coast of Virginia Beach, $300 million down payments on what state officials wager will be a new industry and a source of clean energy for the future.
By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Norfolk Southern sold its 21-story downtown Norfolk headquarters to TowneBank and the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters for far less than the assessed value, according to a recorded deed with the city. The document shows the railroad company, which is moving to a new campus in Atlanta, sold the building for $30 million, or $96.54 a square foot based on rentable office space.
By STAFF REPORT, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Passenger traffic at Richmond International Airport dropped 91.6% in May compared with the same month a year ago as the airport experienced dramatic declines in travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The steep decline in May wasn’t as bad as it was in April, when traffic plunged 96.4% as airlines reduced flights by historic levels, the Capital Region Airport Commission reported Tuesday.
By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The region’s two commercial airports learned Tuesday that they are receiving millions in federal grants. The Federal Aviation Administration announced that Norfolk International Airport and Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport would be among the airports to receive one of 383 grants worth a total of $793.4 million. With the exception of about $100 million in COVID-19 relief funding, much of the money is for the agency’s Airport Improvement Program, which the country’s airports are entitled to annually based on traffic and construction funding needs.
By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Authorities said Tuesday that the University of Virginia has agreed to pay $1 million to settle claims that it did not properly account for some rebates and credits it received on purchases made in connection with federal grants and awards. According to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office, universities can spend money from federal awards to buy materials for use in meeting the obligations of the award.
By STAFF REPORT, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The surge in cases of COVID-19 in the West Piedmont Health District slowed Tuesday on the eve of Phase 3 of reopening in Virginia. After the district reported 73 new cases Thursday through Monday, there were a more normal eight identified Tuesday afternoon by Nancy Bell, spokesperson for the district. And Tuesday also was the first day of free testing in Franklin County.
By HANNAH SCHUSTER AND MATT BLITZ, DCist
Northern Virginia, along with the rest of the Commonwealth, will enter Phase Three of its reopening plan on Wednesday, local officials confirm to DCist/WAMU. But they want to make it very clear that lifting restrictions does not mean the pandemic is over. “I think there is a concern that as you move to Phase Three, that signals to folks that, you know, all bets are off, you can do whatever you want,” Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson said. “We’re trying to emphasize to folks that we need to continue to keep our guard up.”
By SALEEN MARTIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Nearly 600 coronavirus cases were reported overnight in Virginia, according to data released Tuesday morning by the Virginia Department of Health. The state’s tally is now 62,787, adding 598 cases.
By FATIMAH WASEEM, Reston Now
Although the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to drop, local health officials are encouraging residents to maintain social distancing as the county enters phase three of Gov. Ralph Northam’s reopening plan tomorrow (Wednesday). The number of COVID-19 cases has dramatically declined from a peak of around 300 cases per day to an average of 60 to 70 cases per day, according to Benjamin Schwartz, the Fairfax County Health Department’s medical epidemiologist.
By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
Those who were tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday during the local health district’s largest community testing event to date didn’t just get swabs stuck up their noses. They also got gift cards for grocery and gas, bottles of water and disposable masks and hand sanitizer. The items were donated by groups that partner with the Family Life Center on Bragg Hill Drive in Fredericksburg, where 297 people were screened for the novel coronavirus.
By SAMANTHA WILLIS, Virginia Mercury
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt practically every sector of society, life literally goes on. There were 22,965 births in Virginia between March 1 and Monday. . . . “The main way my practice has changed is that I am no longer seeing clients in person,” said Cheyenne Varner, a doula based in Richmond. “Prenatal meetings … [now] happen through Zoom. . . ."
By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Gov. Ralph Northam on Monday quietly signed an executive order extending a state of emergency declaration in Richmond, citing “civil unrest” following weeks of protests that have resulted in some violent clashes between demonstrators and police. The extension came at the request of Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who said in a Monday letter to the governor that the city has “minimum funding to cover costs” tied to the response, and that “the bandwidth of our personnel will reach its limit.”
By CATHY JETT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
Fredericksburg is tightening its rules on protests that have been occurring in the city since May 31. Beginning Monday, police will tell all demonstrators who are protesting in the streets without an approved permit that they are violating traffic-safety laws and could be subject to a traffic citation. Those who continue to protest in the street without a permit could be subject to a citation.
By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
A request by the ACLU for an emergency court order aimed at curbing the use of tear gas and similar means of dispersing crowds of protesters was denied Tuesday. In a seven-page order, Richmond Circuit Judge Beverly Snukals acknowledged citizens’ rights to free speech and assembly, but wrote that the Virginia Supreme Court has consistently held that granting an injunction is “an extraordinary remedy.”
By ALI ROCKETT, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
More than 40 clergy and leaders representing dozens of faiths gathered Tuesday at the foot of the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue to condemn police brutality and racism. The members of the group, called Clergy Action RVA, said they stand firmly on the side of demonstrators who, for more than 30 days, have taken to the streets in Richmond and across the nation following George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police and who often have been met with the very force they’re protesting.
By HANNAH NATANSON, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Parents in Loudoun County face a choice for the fall: They can either send their students to bricks-and-mortar school for a portion of every week, or they can keep their children at home for full-time distance learning as the school district responds to the upheaval caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Loudoun County School Board voted by a slim margin to endorse the two-track plan at a contentious, marathon virtual meeting Monday that began at 4 p.m. and lasted past midnight.
By JOHN BATTISTON, Loudoun Times
During its Monday meeting — which ran an unprecedented nine-plus hours and leaked well into Tuesday morning — the Loudoun County School Board passed a resolution supporting a hybrid learning model for Loudoun County Public Schools' coming fall semester, should the third phase of the "Forward Virginia" reopening plan still be in place. The staggered scheduling solution, which will have most students attending school in-person two days a week, provides an opportunity for parents uncomfortable sending their children to school buildings to opt out in favor of 100 percent distance learning.
Loudoun Now
The appropriateness of Loudoun County High School’s Raider mascot has been debated for decades, but that debate ended Tuesday morning. The School Board voted unanimously to remove the mascot and to direct the school to come up with a new one.
By LAWRENCE EMERSON, Fauquier Now
Fauquier’s school board wants to consider more options before approving a plan for resuming classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Superintendent David Jeck on Monday night presented his favored plan for the fall term that would bring half (Group A) of Fauquier’s 11,300 students into schools for traditional classes Mondays and Tuesdays, provide “virtual” or online instruction for the other half (Group B) at home Mondays and Tuesdays, and devote Wednesdays to virtual learning for all and “deep cleaning” of schools, while teachers also plan and have “office hours” to communicate 1-on-1 with students and parents. . . .
By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
In naming Richmond’s third police chief in three weeks, Mayor Levar Stoney deviated from a vetting process laid out by his own administration. Stoney handpicked Gerald Smith, of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in North Carolina, to fill the post permanently after recommendations from two former Richmond police chiefs and input he sought from select “community leaders.” Smith takes over Wednesday.
By MATT JONES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
Hampton City Schools is considering seeking a waiver to bring all students back to school full-time as part of its reopening plan. The district announced the plan Tuesday, covering options ranging from mostly virtual instruction to mostly in-person instruction. It’s the most detailed plan announced so far in Hampton Roads.
By NOLAN STOUT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
In one of its first actions, Charlottesville’s Police Civilian Review Board voted to jettison the bylaws and ordinance approved by the City Council in favor of the structure presented by an initial board. The board held its first meeting virtually on Monday and took swift action to embrace the bylaws and ordinance presented by the initial panel.
By BRIELLE ENTZMINGER, Cville Weekly
As protests against police brutality continue around the country, school districts are tackling another form of systemic racism and oppression: whitewashed history. Since last year, Albemarle County Public Schools has been working to create an anti-racist social studies curriculum, elevating the voices and stories of marginalized people and groups, which are often misrepresented by (or entirely excluded from) textbooks.
By RANDI B. HAGI, Harrisonburg Citizen
Alternating students’ attendance days, more virtual learning and temperature checks at the door are hallmarks of the plan for the upcoming academic year that’s beginning to take shape for Harrisonburg city students. The Harrisonburg school board members considered a drafted “return to school” plan in a work session Tuesday evening and are expected to vote on the plan at the board’s regular meeting July 7.
By CLAIRE MITZEL, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
The Roanoke County School Board has delayed its vote on the division’s proposed return to school plan, which may not have enough support to pass in its current form. The vote was to take place Thursday. The delay will give the board additional time to hear from the public and discuss its options.
By RALPH BERRIER JR., Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles will resume its DMV Select services at Roanoke’s city hall on Wednesday as part of the city’s reopening of some government facilities. In the next week, other offices at the Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building will reopen to employees and to the public and city libraries will begin offering curbside pickup of books at neighborhood branches.
Gazette Virginian
State Sen. Frank Ruff and Delegate James Edmunds announced last week that Comcast will begin a network expansion project this year to extend broadband service to more than 775 addresses in Brookneal. In addition to Gigabit internet service, residential customers in the county will have access to all Xfinity services.
Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Former state Sen. Bill Carrico of Grayson County is thinking about running for governor. Unlike Democrats, who have at least four candidates already and might have five or six, Republicans don’t have a well-defined field yet. One question Carrico will face is this: Is a candidate from rural Southwest Virginia their best choice to win an election that will ultimately be decided in the suburbs of the urban crescent, especially the suburbs of Northern Virginia?
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The working theory of representative government — the great American version that showcases two major political parties — is that elections should shape legislative outcomes. Ergo, the electorate should see, following an election, the value of political participation. Involvement should yield results. Goodness, the theory held true in 2020.
Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
When new Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith starts his first day of work on Wednesday, he’ll face an immediate test. In a normal year, Richmond would be brimming with outdoor festivals and celebrations to honor America’s birthday. This year’s Fourth of July brings the worry of different fireworks.
By SUSAN SWECKE, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
There’s nothing I love more than going to political rallies. Seeing old friends, dressing up, and hearing from our party’s leaders can be a wonderful and energizing experience. I’ll never forget our national convention in 2016 when an arena full of tens of thousands of Democrats made Hillary Clinton the first female nominee for President of a major party in history. But when our country started closing down to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we knew the rallies and conventions Virginia Democrats had planned for this year would have to look different.
Swecker is the Chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia
By LAWRENCE G. KEANE, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Recently, the Virginia State Police annual report on statewide crime for 2019 was released. The crime statistics made publicly available show the gaping disconnect between Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s legislative agenda and the public safety reality facing the commonwealth. His agenda, and that of the Democrats who took control of the state legislature during the last election, has been defined by gun control.
Keane is the senior vice president of government relations and public affairs and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association.
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