VaNews
July 10, 2020

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Top of the News


** Advocates, Lawmakers Call For Stronger Response to Coronavirus Impact on Latinos ([link removed])
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By ALAN RODRIGUEZ ESPINOZA, WCVE

In a letter to Gov. Ralph Northam, the League of United Latin American Citizens is demanding that Virginia provide the community with more testing and free personal protective equipment, and hire more bilingual contact tracers and translators. The letter also calls for more Latino members in the state’s COVID-19 task force, and more bilingual and bicultural health officials: “The disproportionate and severe impact of COVID-19 on the Latino community demands greater precautions and immediate action of inclusion at decision-making levels.”
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** Virginia makes major dent in budget shortfall ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

The $1 billion budget loss that Virginia officials feared turned into a manageable $236.5 million shortfall at the end of the fiscal year last week, boosting the state’s balance sheet as Gov. Ralph Northam and the General Assembly prepare to revise the two-year budget that has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic.
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** ‘A new day for employees’: New laws likely to prompt more litigation in state court ([link removed])
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By MAURA MAZUROWSKI, Virginia Lawyers Weekly (Subscription required for some articles)

Employment lawyers anticipate an increase in state litigation using new labor and employment laws that went into effect July 1. Seven major pieces of “employee-friendly” legislation were passed by the General Assembly this year, including new pregnancy discrimination laws and a gradual increase in the minimum wage. But there is one new law that has employment lawyers talking the most: The Virginia Values Act.
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** Albemarle schools detail plans for reopening ([link removed])
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By KATHERINE KNOTT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Elementary school students in Albemarle County will go to school in-person four days a week next school year under two of three reopening scenarios presented to the School Board Thursday, while secondary students would go to class one or two days a week.
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** Richmond judge bars removal of lone remaining Richmond-owned Confederate statue ([link removed])
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By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

After chiding Mayor Levar Stoney’s handling of civil unrest, a Richmond judge barred his administration from taking down any more Confederate statues in the city for 60 days. Richmond Circuit Court Judge Bradley B. Cavedo on Thursday granted an anonymous plaintiff’s request for a temporary injunction in a suit brought against Stoney Tuesday.
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** VMI's history in spotlight as alumni request commission to revisit Confederate symbols ([link removed])
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By CLAIRE MITZEL, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Four Virginia Military Institute alumni have drafted a letter to the military college’s leadership requesting a commission be formed to examine and reassess the school’s traditions, monuments, and building names. The letter, published Tuesday night, was signed by roughly 400 people within 24 hours, ranging from the class of 1948 to current cadets.
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** Wrong Lee: School system has no plans to change Lee High School’s name ([link removed])
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By MIKE STILL, Kingsport Times News

A request by Gov. Ralph Northam to change Lee High School’s name as part of an effort to stop honoring figures of the Confederacy may be missing a bit of earlier Virginia history. Lee County School Superintendent Brian Austin said Wednesday that...while statues of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee have been a prime target of opposition to memorializing the Confederacy after its defeat in 1865, Lee High is not named after that Lee.
The Full Report
50 articles, 29 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.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** Dems plan criminal justice reforms in August ([link removed])
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By PETER VIETH, Virginia Lawyers Weekly (Subscription required for some articles)

A special General Assembly session in August will be dominated by a Democratic criminal justice reform program still being fine-tuned by party leaders. The session – dates still undetermined – is expected to pick up where the regular 2020 Assembly session left off on justice initiatives. The public protests that followed the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis have stoked the party’s incentive to enact changes.
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** Areas legislators meet with business community ([link removed])
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By MATT WELCH, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

With a mixture of looking back at the previous legislative session and looking forward at what could be ahead, area legislators discussed policy issues the business community has been facing during a virtual roundtable discussion Thursday. Hosted by the Top of Virginia Regional Chamber every year to allow a conversation between business owners and legislators, the discussion was held via Zoom this year. State Sen. Jill Vogel, R-Upperville, and Dels. Wendy Gooditis, D-Clarke County, and Dave LaRock, R-Hamilton, participated.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** Library of Virginia apologizes for delay with Wilder papers, promises fix as 'highest priority' ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

The Library of Virginia has offered an apology and a plan to its supporters for its failure to make publicly available the gubernatorial papers of former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, who was inaugurated 30 years ago as the first African American elected governor in U.S. history.
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** Hard Rock, partners pre-certified to operate casino ([link removed])
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By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Hard Rock International and two local partners have been pre-certified by the Virginia Lottery Board to operate a casino in Virginia. That approval paves the way for the city of Bristol to conduct a public referendum in November.


** CONGRESS
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** McEachin suggests name change for Fort Lee ([link removed])
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By BILL ATKINSON, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 10 articles a month)

Rep. A. Donald McEachin says he would like to see the name of Fort Lee changed to honor a former Army deputy chief of staff who launched his military career at the post. In a letter sent Thursday to the Defense Department, McEachin, D-4th, claimed there was a list of far more “suitable Virginians” for whom the Prince George County installation could be named. But he specifically cited retired Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg, whose 35-year career took him from a post-World War II segregation era into the beginning of President Ronald Reagan’s administration.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** Number of new unemployment claims across Virginia stays steady ([link removed])
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By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The number of new unemployment claims filed by workers last week across Virginia was virtually unchanged compared to the week prior when it had risen for the first time in 12 weeks. The Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday that 31,825 initial claims — the first step in the process to seek jobless relief — were filed during the week ending July 4, just 130 fewer than the week prior.
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** Virginia Supreme Court upholds decision blocking Walmart from electricity choice ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

The Supreme Court of Virginia quashed Walmart’s effort to buy energy from companies other than state utilities Dominion and Appalachian Power Company Thursday when it upheld an earlier decision by the State Corporation Commission blocking such an attempt. “Despite its ostensible complexity, this case boils down to a simple conclusion: The commission believed that now is not a good time to grant these petitions,” the court concluded in an opinion penned by Justice Arthur Kelsey.
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** Payments now going out from delayed unemployment program ([link removed])
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Associated Press

Initial payments have begun to laid-off workers under the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which Virginia lagged most other states in getting up and running. The program referred to as PEUC provides up to an additional 13 weeks of regular unemployment insurance to individuals who have already exhausted their benefits.
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** Virginia Employment Commission releases updated data on unemployment insurance ([link removed])
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WHSV

The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced the latest data regarding unemployment benefits claims throughout the commonwealth today. According to a press release from the VEC, there have been a total of 938,559 initial claims filed in Virginia in the past 16 weeks. This is more than all initial claims filed from mid-September 2014 to mid-March 2020.
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** Axed pipeline leaves mark on local economy, tax revenues ([link removed])
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South Boston News & Record

Dominion Energy and its partner, Duke Energy, have abandoned plans to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which was slated to run through southern Virginia in Brunswick and Greensville counties. The decision by the two utility giants to discontinue the project also leaves unanswered what happens to acres of steel pipe that has been stored in Clarksville for construction of the pipeline.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** All fall 2020 study abroad programs canceled ([link removed])
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By SEVY VAN DER WERF, Cavalier Daily

The University’s International Studies Office has canceled all fall 2020 study abroad programs due to advisories from the U.S. Department of State and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This decision comes months after the ISO canceled spring break study abroad and summer programs. Students were notified of the decision June 26. In addition to study abroad programs, all University-related international travel will be suspended in the fall 2020 semester, according to a public health advisory on the ISO website.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Roanoke Valley NAACP chapters discuss disproportionate COVID-19 cases among Black, Hispanic populations ([link removed])
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By ALISON GRAHAM, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Members of NAACP chapters for Franklin County and Roanoke met Thursday in Rocky Mount to discuss the disproportionate effect of the coronavirus on Black and Hispanic populations. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health and social inequities put some members of minority groups at a higher risk of getting COVID-19 and experiencing more severe cases.
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** Local health district slow to ramp up contact tracing on COVID-19 cases in Prince William, Manassas, Manassas Park ([link removed])
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By DANIEL BERTI, Prince William Times

The symptoms of the coronavirus are by now well known: a fever, cough and sore throat are signs you may need a test. But many people who get sick can become contagious before experiencing symptoms and unknowingly pass on the virus on to others. One of the only ways to break the chain of COVID-19 infections is through contact tracing, a process in which public health workers call people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and help them remember the people with whom they had contact while they were contagious.
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** 613 new coronavirus cases reported in Virginia, 95 in Norfolk ([link removed])
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By SALEEN MARTIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The Virginia Department of Health reported 613 coronavirus cases Thursday, bringing the state’s tally to 67,988. Of the total cases, 65,191 are confirmed and 2,797 are probable, meaning those patients are symptomatic and have a known exposure to the illness. At least 1,937 Virginians have died from the virus as of Thursday morning, up 32 from Wednesday.
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** Travel, failing to follow guidelines blamed for COVID rise in region ([link removed])
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By DAVID MCGEE, Washington County News

Visits to hot spots and failing to follow health guidelines are blamed for sharp increases of COVID-19 cases across Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. A total of 369 new cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed in the 10 counties of Northeast Tennessee during the two-week period from June 17 to July 1, a 43.7% increase in total cases since the pandemic began, according to the Tennessee Department of Health. Sixty new cases have been reported across the 10 counties and two cities of Southwest Virginia in those 14 days, an uptick of 21.8%.
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** COVID-19 positive tests spike in Petersburg a week after Phase 3 reopening ([link removed])
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By SEAN JONES, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 10 articles a month)

Since Virginia moved into Phase 3 of reopening on July 1, Petersburg has seen its highest increase in COVID-19 cases during the pandemic. Over the past week, there have been 74 new positive tests registered by the Virginia Department of Health. The next highest weekly total increase of positive cases was 48 new cases in late May. VDH reports Petersburg’s total number of cases to be 313.
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** COVID cases at Farmville ICE center nearly double ([link removed])
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By ALEXA MASSEY, Farmville Herald (Paywall)

Reported coronavirus cases jumped significantly in Prince Edward County this week after Virginia entered Phase 3 of its reopening process, with Farmville's Immigration Centers of America ICE (U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Detention Center nearly doubling its numbers of active COVID-19 cases.
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** What’s behind the sudden COVID-19 rise in Rappahannock? ([link removed])
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By JOHN MCCASLIN, Rappahannock News (Metered Paywall)

Rappahannock County has seen a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in recent days, and one church may be to blame. Four new coronavirus cases were reported in the 24 hour period between Monday and Tuesday — bringing the number to 10 new cases in five days. All of which adds up to 30 cases in the county to date as of Tuesday morning, according to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH).
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** West Piedmont Health District to reduce information flow after 18 more cases of COVID-19 ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Finding information about cases for COVID-19 in the West Piedmont Health District is about to become more tedious. Almost daily alerts breaking down cases by age, gender and locality in the West Piedmont Health District are about to stop, district spokesperson Nancy Bell said in an email to media outlets on Thursday morning. ... “We are eliminating this step due to workload increases,” she wrote.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** Amended lawsuit challenges Northam's authority to order Lee statue's removal ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

An amended lawsuit challenging Gov. Ralph Northam’s plans to take down the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue questions the governor’s powers under state law to order its removal. In his June 4 announcement that he was directing the Department of General Services to remove the statue, Northam cited a section of Virginia code that his office says gives him “the sole authority to approve the removal of a work of art owned by the Commonwealth upon submission of a plan to do so.”
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** Crews wrap up a whirlwind week of removing Confederate monuments in Richmond ([link removed])
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By ALI SULLIVAN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

After a whirlwind week, crews tasked with removing the city’s Confederate iconography have finished their job — for now, at least. On Thursday morning, workers dismantled what remained of the monument to Confederate naval commander Matthew Fontaine Maury: a 10,000-pound globe sitting atop the monument. The statue of Maury himself was removed one week prior, on July 2.
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** Richmond group places historic markers along Monument Avenue to provide context ([link removed])
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By HOLLY PRESTIDGE, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Richmonders know Maggie Walker, but they might not know of Sarah Garland Jones and the hospital she started for Black people just after the turn of the 19th century. They also might not know that many of the buildings that stand in Jackson Ward and Virginia Union University were designed by noted Black architect Charles Thaddeus Russell.
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** Richmond activists keep focus on evictions as more statues come down ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Amid continued protest against evictions in Richmond, Jasmine Jones worries that her mother could lose her home in the city’s West End. “She just lost her job because of COVID-19. She’s pretty much on the verge of not being able to pay her rent,” the 20-year-old VCU student said. Jones and dozens of other people returned to the John Marshall Courts Building on Thursday a week after a protest there against the continuation of eviction hearings, which previously had been suspended, ended in pepper spray, a smashed window and two arrests.
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** Council majority supports removing Roanoke's memorial to Robert E. Lee, renaming plaza ([link removed])
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By RALPH BERRIER JR., Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Roanoke’s Robert E. Lee memorial does not stand six stories high like the one to the Confederate general in Richmond does. Lee is not cast in bronze, astride a horse. Roanoke’s memorial to Lee is a stone pillar, about 10 feet tall, that sits in a quiet plaza that also bears his name. But Roanoke’s Lee memorial will most likely meet the same fate as the imposing monument in Richmond that Gov. Ralph Northam ordered this week be taken down.
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** Hearing set on Surry monument ([link removed])
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By NATE DELESLINE III, Smithfield Times (Paywall)

A public hearing is set for 7 p.m. Aug. 13 to receive comment on the future of Surry County’s Confederate monument. The hearing will be conducted virtually to facilitate social distancing in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Effective July 1, the General Assembly granted local governments the authority to remove, relocate or add context to Confederate war memorials and monuments.
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** A small, mostly white Virginia town put up a ‘Black Lives Matter’ banner. Ginni Thomas denounced it. ([link removed])
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By PATRICIA SULLIVAN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The banner says “Welcome to Clifton where Black Lives Matter.” It was posted over the tiny Northern Virginia town’s Main Street, in a space mostly used to advertise community events, after residents proposed staging a protest like the ones that have swept the country since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.


** LOCAL
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** Bedford County School Board changes division’s dress code, prohibits Confederate flag attire ([link removed])
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By JAMEY CROSS, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

The Bedford County School Board voted 4-2 at its Thursday meeting to amend the division’s code of student conduct to add language specifically prohibiting attire that is “racially/culturally divisive,” including the Confederate flag. The remainder of the code of student conduct was approved unanimously.
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** At Richmond School Board meeting, doctors weigh in on school reopening ([link removed])
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By KENYA HUNTER, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Doctors weighed in on school reopenings at Thursday’s Richmond School Board meeting, saying that school openings won’t cause a spike in COVID-19 cases in Virginia or in Richmond.... In a presentation done by Dr. Danny Avula, the director of Richmond’s and Henrico County’s health departments, School Board members were told that data shows that student-to-student transmission is much less likely than adult-to-adult transmission....“The risk to teachers is actually where we need to be thoughtful and careful,” he said to the School Board.
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** Chesapeake School Board member has spread false information about coronavirus and masks ([link removed])
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By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

As schools debate how to reopen safely this fall, a Chesapeake School Board member has been spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories about the coronavirus on Facebook. One teacher called the posts disturbing, and some of the posts she shared were flagged by Facebook as containing false information. Christie New Craig’s posts, which were public at the time, drew scores of comments, likes or shares.
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** Prince William School Board backs plan allowing students to return to school 2 days a week ([link removed])
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By JILL PALERMO, Prince William Times

Prince William County students could opt to attend school two days a week – or stay home and receive all their instruction online – under the plan the school board tentatively approved Wednesday for the coming school year. In a non-binding straw vote taken at the end of a seven-hour work session, the school board unanimously agreed on a plan that would allow as many as 50% of students to receive in-person instruction inside the school building at one time, an arrangement that would have students in school two days a week and working online from home the remaining three.
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** IRS filing shows Monroe Park Conservancy running deficit ([link removed])
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By JEREMY M. LAZARUS, Richmond Free Press

Does a nonprofit group authorized by City Hall to manage Monroe Park need a bailout? That question is resonating after the Monroe Park Conservancy reported that its revenue fell nearly $264,655 short of covering expenses in its most recent financial report to the Internal Revenue Service.
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** Foundation poised with cash to purchase Woodland Cemetery ([link removed])
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By JEREMY M. LAZARUS, Richmond Free Press

The Evergreen Restoration Foundation has raised the $50,000 needed to purchase Woodland Cemetery, a historic African-American cemetery in Henrico County that is the burial ground of Arthur Ashe Jr., the Richmond-born tennis great and humanitarian. Marvin Harris, founder, president and chief executive officer of the foundation, announced Tuesday that the nonprofit has the money to buy from the Entzminger family the 30-acre property at 2300 Magnolia Road on the border with the city.
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** Albemarle School Board adopts SRO resolution; dress code ban clears initial review ([link removed])
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By KATHERINE KNOTT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

The Albemarle County School Board wants to hear about new security protocols that don’t involve school resource officers no later than Aug. 13, according to a resolution adopted Thursday. Board members have said they want to end the daily presence of officers in schools after several discussions about the role of armed police in division buildings. Many schools systems, including Charlottesville City Schools, have decided to remove school resource officers following a national reckoning about policing in America. The resolution was part of the consent agenda of Thursday’s meeting. An amended student dress code that bans Confederate imagery also had a first reading, paving the way for a vote at the board’s next meeting.
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** Fogel critical of city police after videos show use of force during Wednesday arrest ([link removed])
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By TYLER HAMMEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

The Charlottesville Police Department has released body camera footage of a Wednesday arrest on the Downtown Mall after a local attorney questioned use of force employed by an officer during the incident. The release of the body camera footage was spurred by another video posted on Instagram Wednesday evening by an onlooker.
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** Supervisors OK permit for $101M solar power plant ([link removed])
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By JOSH JANNEY, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Conditional-use permits for a large solar power plant near Stephens City and a 199-foot-tall telecommunications tower in western Frederick County were unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday night. Richmond-based Urban Grid, representing Foxglove Solar LLC of Stevensville, Maryland, plans to spend about $101 million to develop the solar facility on approximately 669 acres in the vicinity of Hites, Marlboro, Klines Mill, Clark and Vaucluse roads in the Back Creek District.
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** Shenandoah County School Board votes to remove Confederate leader names from school buildings ([link removed])
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By JOHN HOOD, WHSV

On Thursday night, the Shenandoah County School Board voted to remove the names of Confederate leaders from two of its schools. The resolution on the school board’s agenda moved that the names of Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School be retired, in as well as the Rebel mascot at North Fork Middle School.
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** Lancaster County to ‘go big’ in pursuit for broadband funding ([link removed])
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Northern Neck News

The Lancaster County Broadband Authority is pushing forward with its multi-prong approach in the pursuit for broadband funding, and will be applying for state and federal grants at the same time. This spring, the broadband authority announced that it was discussing the possibility of applying for the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative, also known as a VATI grant.
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** Chincoteague state of emergency ends with council vote ([link removed])
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By LAURA BENEDICT SILEO, Eastern Shore News (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A motion to end the Chincoteague state of emergency due to COVID-19 was approved Monday. On day 109 of the local state of emergency, Councilman Gene Wayne’s motion was approved 4-1.
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** Public comment at Council meeting leads to spirited discussion of Confederate monument ([link removed])
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By ASHLEY SPINKS, Floyd Press

As local business owner Kamala Bauers stood before the Floyd Town Council during its regularly-scheduled meeting Thursday night, she told the group, “There’s so many places I’d rather be.” Bauers spoke emotionally on removing the Confederate monument from the court house lawn for reasons that were twofold, as she described. “What’s happening in our country right now is devastating…I want to see that statue gone, because it does not belong in front of a courthouse where people of color have to pass by to do their government business,” she said.
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** More solar projects seeking approval as Pittsylvania County leaders weigh taxing options ([link removed])
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By CALEB AYERS, Danville Register & Bee

After pushing for changes to the tax exemptions and schedule for utility-scale solar projects in Virginia, Pittsylvania County leaders are now mulling whether they should adopt the newly allowed taxation structure of $1,400 annually per megawatt of energy generated. The legislative committee of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors will meet later this month to weigh the pros and cons of taxation structures and decide whether to adopt it.


** EDITORIALS
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** Good riddance ([link removed])
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Richmond Free Press Editorial

Four of the five statues of Confederates are now gone from Monument Avenue. Finally! And good riddance! Removal of these symbols of racism and oppression has brought a sense of liberation to the city, with people now flocking to Monument Avenue and enjoying the green space like we have never seen before.
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** Allow public debate, vote on vaccines ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

In early March, before the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed in Virginia by Gov. Ralph Northam, the General Assembly passed a bill (HB 1090) patroned by Del. Patrick Hope, D-Arlington, that amended existing state law requiring that children entering public or private schools in Virginia, including daycare facilities, be vaccinated against a number of infectious diseases.
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** Potential tunnel sale means opportunity for region ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The timing couldn’t be worse — most of the circumstances are less than ideal — but Virginia should exhaust every avenue in the hopes of reducing the tolls at the Midtown and Downtown tunnels that continue to suffocate the people of Portsmouth, to the detriment of the region.
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** What will 'back to school' look like? ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

As September looms closer, discussions as to what will happen with the state’s school systems are growing as heated as the weather outside. Virginia schools, like most across the United States, closed in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students, parents and teachers were forced to quickly adapt to online learning. Many were completely caught off guard and understandably ill-prepared for the task.
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** Backlog of evidence kits eliminated ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

In a November editorial, we saluted Attorney General Mark Herring for his proactive measures to test thousands of physical evidence recovery kits that had been collected from victims in old sexual assault investigations but never tested. Many of the rape kits, as they also are called, had been languishing in storage for years.


** OP-ED
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** Bowen: Don't believe Norfolk Southern's explanation for closing Roanoke shops ([link removed])
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By MIKE BOWEN, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

It is sad to see Norfolk Southern abandoning a town it had such a huge role in building. While the change has been good for me in many ways, after spending eight years there, I feel a certain loss watching them close the shop. The idea that the continued decline in coal traffic is the sole reason is a talking point regurgitated by NS figureheads as a way to rationalize their submission to corporate greed.

Bowen worked for eight years in the Norfolk Southern locomotive shop until he was laid off in January.
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** King and Hoque: The ultimatum: Face-to-face education, or deportation ([link removed])
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By D. RYAN KING AND MARUF HOQUE, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

This week the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency announced modifications to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) stating that nonimmigrant M-1 and F-1 students cannot take a full online course load and remain in the United States. This modification to SEVP makes it so that universities have to choose between returning to face-to-face instruction, potentially at the detriment to the health of their students, staff, faculty, and local communities, or force their international students to relocate in the midst of a global pandemic.

King and Hoque are scientists and Virginia Tech PhD students working at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.
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** Polar politics: nominees increasingly reflect parties' fringe factions ([link removed])
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By MARK J. ROZELL, published in Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

If you're sensing a tectonic shift by both major parties toward opposing and irreconcilable poles of the political spectrum, it’s not your imagination. With each election cycle, winning becomes an exercise in engaging both major parties’ most activist members—who are increasingly the most uncompromising and strident. To an extent not seen before, they control each party’s nomination machinery and the ability to script future government policy.

Rozell is the dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University


** THE FRIDAY READ
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** Anything You Say in This Trader Joe’s Line May Be Used Against You ([link removed])
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By JUDITH NEWMAN, New York Times (Metered Paywall - 1 to 2 articles a month)

It began, as so many things do in New York City, with people who would not shut up. After the pandemic began in March, the lines to get into a Trader Joe’s store on the Upper West Side became excessively long, with people queuing up hours before the store opened. And as they waited, they talked. Incessantly. Not to one another, but on their phones.
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