By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury
A surge of COVID-19 cases in the Hampton Roads region is putting a strain on the area’s contact tracing workforce, Virginia Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver said during a Wednesday news briefing. “In the Virginia Beach area, for example, we’ve had to supplement the contact tracing with help from other local health districts,” he added. . . . One UVA epidemiologist recently likened the ongoing pandemic to “bailing water out of a boat.”
By LUANNE RIFE, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Virginia’s mental health agency is dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks at three psychiatric hospitals and a training center that have infected dozens of patients and employees and have caused five deaths. Most of the state’s psychiatric hospitals have more patients than capacity and are operating at critical levels, said Alison Land, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. She and Dr. Daniel Carey, the state’s secretary of health, last week wrote a three-page letter to lawmakers asking for help.
By ANTONIO OLIVO AND GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and the state’s two U.S. senators are urging President Trump to send the country’s top public health agency to respond to a coronavirus outbreak inside a privately owned immigrant detention center in the town of Farmville that immigrant advocates have called “a tinderbox” of infection. The outbreak at the Farmville Detention Center is the largest at any such facility in the country, with 262 undocumented immigrants there being monitored after testing positive for the coronavirus, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
By GREGORY J. GILLIGAN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Busch Gardens Williamsburg plans to reopen early next month. SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., the park's parent company, didn't provide details as to when the park would reopen. "The company expects its Busch Gardens theme park in Virginia to commence a phased reopening in early August 2020," the company said in a news release Wednesday that provided preliminary second quarter results.
By TOM LAPPAS, Henrico Citizen
Henrico County officials are expecting half of the votes cast in this November’s elections to be submitted through absentee balloting, as the result of a new state law. The county anticipates an 85% voter turnout in November, Henrico Registrar Mark Coakley told the county’s Board of Supervisors during a work session Tuesday – a total that would amount to nearly 195,000 voters.
By SKYLAR WOODHOUSE AND KEVIN CIRILLI, Bloomberg News
Virginia Republican Representative Denver Riggleman said he’s seriously considering running for governor, just weeks after his own party voted against giving him a second term in Congress. Riggleman said he may take what would be a long-shot run as a third-party candidate.
By HANNAH NATANSON, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
The name “T.C. Williams High School” conjures more memories than most alma maters. For millions of Americans who never laid eyes on the sprawling brick building in Northern Virginia, the name brings thoughts of the 2000 film “Remember the Titans.” It was at T.C. Williams that trailblazing Black coach Herman Boone — played in the movie by Denzel Washington — guided an integrated football team through a perfect season, to a 1971 state championship and into Hollywood-fueled immortality.
The Full Report
49 articles, 24 publications
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 a.m.
By LEANNA SMITH, News Leader (Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)
Gov. Ralph Northam visited the Staunton Innovation Hub Tuesday to ceremonially sign legislation establishing the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority. Northam signed Delegate Mark Sickles' HB1017 and Senator Janet Howell's SB576, which are identical bills that create a new authority that will "oversee and support research, development and commercialization as well as related investment and seed-stage funding in the Commonwealth."
By ROBERTO ROLDAN, WCVE
Virginia lawmakers are holding committee meetings meant to inform legislators about who will be filing police reform bills for the August 18 special session. On Wednesday, a joint committee heard from two widows of police officers who are opposed to a proposal to defelonize assault on police. Although the bill has not yet been filed, reducing the penalty for assaulting a law enforcement officer from a felony to a misdemeanor is on a list of priorities Senate Democrats released last month.
By NATHANIEL CLINE, Loudoun Times
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors is backing efforts by Virginia lawmakers, specifically the Virginia Black Legislative Caucus, to address criminal justice reform and excessive force by police in the upcoming General Assembly session in Richmond. But not all supervisors backed the VLBC’s agenda, which includes reducing school resource officers, providing greater oversight over policing and creating a civilian review board with subpoena power.
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
One of Roanoke’s delegates to the Virginia General Assembly is on the mend after being diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. “It was dicey the first few days,” Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, said Tuesday. Rasoul, 39, said he’s fairly sure that he caught COVID-19 from a family member who was not displaying any symptoms.
By JOSH JANNEY, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Local attorney Irina Khanin announced Wednesday that she is seeking the Democratic nomination to run for the 29th District seat in the House of Delegates. The seat was vacated by Republican Chris Collins on June 28 after he was appointed a 26th Judicial District-General District Court judge. Earlier this month, Gov. Ralph Northam set a special election for Nov. 3 to fill the remainder of Collins’s term, which expires Dec. 31, 2021.
By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
A group of advocacy organizations and voters is suing Virginia over its absentee voting rules in advance of the November election. Five state residents and members of the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia and the American Counsel of the Blind of Virginia say in the lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court, that they are unable to independently mark a paper ballot due to their disabilities, including blindness, and that violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
A former Virginia State Police helicopter maintenance technician was ordered to pay a $100 assessment but was given no additional punishment Wednesday for falsifying a maintenance log last year. Michael W. Smith, 55, of Chester, pleaded guilty to the felony charge of “making a false writing or document” last December.
By IAN M. STEWART, WCVE
If the Senate Republicans emergency coronavirus relief bill were a pie, a big slice--namely $70 billion dollars--would go directly to K-12 public and private schools, regardless if they open virtually or physically, according to Education Week. Virginia Senator Mark Warner doesn’t think that’s enough. He is calling for more funding for K-12 schools than the current GOP plan allocates.
By ALONZO SMALL AND BEN DENNIS, WRIC
As Busch Gardens Williamsburg plans to reopen in early August, Kings Dominion says it will remain closed for business – for now. Kings Dominion in Doswell still believes it’s not ‘economically viable’ to open the amusement park during the pandemic with guest restrictions in place. Thus gates will remain closed, ticket booths unoccupied and roller coasters unmoved as 70 miles down the road, Busch Gardens pushes full steam ahead.
By MATT JONES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has given Hampton University $30 million — the largest single gift in its history. Scott made the news of the gift, along with gifts to other prominent Historically Black Colleges and Universities, public on Tuesday.
By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Hampton University has received the largest single donation in school history, a gift announced Tuesday from MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. The private, historically black college in Hampton is one of three to have announced major gifts on Tuesday from Scott, who said she donated $1.7 billion from her fortune to charity.
By ADIAH GHOLSTON, Collegiate Times
Virginia Tech has developed a testing, tracing and case management plan in its efforts to curtail the spread of COVID-19 on campus. The plan includes detailed guidelines for initial and ongoing screening and testing of students and employees, contact tracing investigation and the steps taken if an employee or student becomes infected. The plan was originally released July 1 and updated July 29.
By ADRIENNE BERARD, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)
As William & Mary prepares for the start of the academic year during a pandemic, the university released Monday a statement of expectations – and a commitment to each other – for everyone planning to live, work and study together on campus this fall. The Healthy Together Community Commitment outlines a set of community-wide actions that will be required to comply with COVID-19 related health and safety regulations. The commitment, required of all faculty, staff and students, mandates observance of “all stated expectations for living, learning, gathering and working on campus and in the Williamsburg community.”
By TALYA CUNNINGHAM, WRIC
Virginia Commonwealth University’s campus was damaged during last night’s violence. But once the chaos is over, who is left to clean up the mess? The answer — Stanley Johnson who works for VCU Facilities Management. “It’s no fun, but someone’s gotta do it,” Johnson said.
By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
An overwhelming majority of Virginians — roughly 8 in 10 — are wearing masks always or often when leaving home, according to a new survey by Hampton University’s Center for Public Policy. Nearly as many — seven out of 10 — say they avoid other people as much as possible and roughly three-quarters say they are keeping 6 feet away from people who are not members of their households, the survey found.
By MOSS BRENNAN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The Virginia Department of Health reported 999 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, bringing the state’s tally to 87,993. At least 2,125 Virginians have died from the virus as of Wednesday morning, up 30 from Tuesday.
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Virginia has temporarily stopped admissions to two state mental hospitals, as a series of COVID-19 outbreaks has intensified pressure on overcrowded behavioral health institutions. Piedmont Geriatric Hospital stopped admissions more than two weeks ago after a COVID-19 outbreak that has killed five patients, infected 24 others and sickened nine employees at the state hospital in Burkeville, 55 miles southwest of Richmond in Nottoway County.
By JOHN CRANE, Danville Register & Bee
Following a recent coronavirus outbreak at Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute, a state commissioner has ordered the facility to temporarily stop admissions there. "Taking into consideration the recommendations from [the Virginia Department of Health], I am directing that admissions be ceased temporarily to SVMHI until further notice to ensure safety of existing patients and staff, and to protect any incoming admission," Alison Land, commissioner with the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services wrote in letter to stakeholders and members of the Virginia General Assembly on Tuesday.
By RILEY WYANT AND MAX MARCILLA, WVIR - TV29
Thirteen residents at the Cedars Healthcare Center (CHC) in Charlottesville have so far died in connection with the coronavirus. Additionally, 16 others have been hospitalized....“We treat these fatalities as very tragic events. Our residents are not statistics to us: They are names, faces, habits, they’re people we interact with on a daily basis, and we grieve their loss,” spokesperson Fred Stratmann said.
By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Virginia’s U.S. senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, are urging help be sent to the immigration detention center in Farmville — where roughly 9 in 10 detainees have tested positive for COVID-19, drawing national attention. In a letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, the Democratic senators asked for the White House to work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to dispatch experts to Farmville.
By PETER DUJARDIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Nearly a quarter of the inmates at a state prison in Chesapeake have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent weeks. The Virginia Department of Corrections said 258 inmates at St. Brides Correctional Center are quarantined at the prison after recently contracting the coronavirus.
By ELISHA SAUERS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
About 2.4 percent of adult Virginians have antibodies for the coronavirus, according to preliminary findings from a statewide study. The rates are higher among black and brown populations, with the prevalence of antibodies in the Latino population about three times higher, said state Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver during a Virginia Department of Health teleconference Wednesday. The incomplete study, called the COVID-19 Serology Project, has so far analyzed blood samples from 3,775 out of 5,000 participants. The University of Virginia is overseeing the research.
By DAVE SEIDEL, WVTF
One big question during the coronavirus pandemic has been can a person be infected more than once? Based on at least two cases in the Roanoke area, the answer appears to be yes.
By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Another round of federal funding is heading to localities to help cover expenses incurred in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. As part of the CARES Act, $150 billion was allocated to state, local, territorial and tribal governments across the country to cover expenses directly related to responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Virginia got about $3.1 billion and decided to give half to localities with fewer than 500,000 people.
By GRAHAM MOOMAW, Virginia Mercury
After a night of destructive protests in Richmond involving a torched dump truck, shattered windows, chemical agents and several arrests, Mayor Levar Stoney made a surprising claim. White supremacists “marching under the banner of Black Lives Matter,” he said Sunday, had “spearheaded” the violence.
By SARAH FEARING, WAVY
A state senator representing Virginia Beach has written a letter to City Council saying $496,000 in overtime paid during recent protests and demonstrations could have been “directed to other, more worthy endeavors.” DeSteph also wrote that he believes the unrest in the city cannot continue — and that “law and order” need to be restored.
By JUSTIN FAULCONER, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
As a crowd of more than 50 people stood in intense heat during a recent rally in front of the Amherst Town Hall, Gloria Witt asked anyone within earshot to think of how it was for Black slaves who picked cotton under such conditions. Speaking up for equality for the Black community during the NAACP-led event, Witt said she was thankful young people stepped up to bring a march to the streets of Amherst to shine a spotlight on social justice in the wake of George Floyd’s death that sparked demonstrations across the country.
By SUKAINAH ABID-KONS, Harrisonburg Citizen
What began as a plan to distribute 100 “Black Lives Matter” signs has increased to more than six-fold since June, as demand for signs across the city continues to rise. In the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the protests that followed, the Northeast Neighborhood Association (NENA) wanted to offer local residents ways to express their support and solidarity for the Black Lives Matter Movement.
ArlNow
Arlington County should change its logo and seal, the local branch of the NAACP says. The civil rights group says the logo’s use of Arlington House — the former home of and a memorial to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee — is “divisive and racist.” Enslaved people were forced to build the Greek revival style mansion, which overlooks the Potomac and was the centerpiece of a plantation that utilized slave labor. Until it was seized during the Civil War, Arlington House had primarily been the home of descendents of George Washington. The house is now a National Memorial and part of Arlington National Cemetery.
By RICH GRISET, Chesterfield Observer
Four months of shutdowns, shelter-at-home orders and pandemic-induced economic and political stress finally boiled over in the courtyard of the Chesterfield County government complex last week. On July 20, under an intense late afternoon sun, more than 100 people divided themselves into two distinct groups: Parents, wearing mostly blue, demanded that schools reopen in the fall. Teachers, primarily in red, argued to keep schools closed for the health and safety of students, faculty and staff. “Do your job! Do your job!” shouted the parents. “When it’s safe! When it’s safe!” the teachers yelled back.
By JIM MCCONNELL, Chesterfield Observer
At the behest of the Board of Supervisors, the county’s Internal Audit Department will investigate allegations that members of the Chesterfield Education Association bullied and harassed teachers who disagree with its stance on reopening schools this fall. Leslie Haley, the board’s chairwoman, confirmed last Friday that she intends to request an audit to determine whether non-CEA member teachers were intimidated into silence ahead of the School Board’s controversial July 20 reopening vote.
By JIM MCCONNELL, Chesterfield Observer
Nearly two months after citizens marched to the Chesterfield County courthouse, protesting police brutality and demanding equal justice for people of color, another group of county residents convened in the same location last Saturday morning for a rally in support of law enforcement officers. About 500 people attended the “Go Blue Day” event, which was organized and hosted by Chester dentist Dr. Joe Hillier.
By ALISSA SKELTON, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
On Wednesday, Virginia Beach Fire Chief David Hutcheson stood in the same location at Atlantis Apartments where paramedics tried to save the life of a Virginia Beach man who lost control of his motorcycle on June 28. A memorial with candles, flowers and a photo of 28-year-old Carl Lee Walton Jr. remains near the sidewalk.
By SARA GREGORY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Portsmouth will join other Hampton Roads districts in starting the school year 100% virtually in the fall. The board hadn’t planned to make a decision until August but decided to finalize plans sooner after Superintendent Elie Bracy said local health conditions driving the decision-making weren’t likely to materially change between now and then.
By CJ PASCHALL, NBC 29
Albemarle County will have to replace three members of its Economic Development Authority (EDA), including the chairman, after sudden resignations on July 21 in protest of a new financial disclosure mandate. The mandate was adopted as a result of a multi-million dollar embezzlement scandal in Warren County uncovered in 2019. A new law passed unanimously in the General Assembly earlier this year mandates that all members of similar authorities state-wide file a statement of economic interest every year.
By KATHERINE KNOTT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Charlottesville schools Superintendent Rosa Atkins will recommend that the division start classes online for the first nine weeks of the year, according to an email sent to families Wednesday evening. More information will be released Thursday evening when the School Board meets to vote on a reopening plan.
By SHANNON KELLY, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
The Bedford County Board of Supervisors on Monday unanimously approved a proposed expansion of Smith Mountain Lake Airport. The requested expansion of the Moneta facility would include four land parcels totaling about 30 acres and add five new 1,760-square-foot hangars, one 3,780-square-foot hangar, one 2,880-square-foot hangar and one 2,000-square-foot terminal building.
By JAMEY CROSS, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
With just over 24 hours’ notice to parents and the community, the Lynchburg City School Board held a special meeting Tuesday to discuss the division’s fall reopening plan. The board unanimously voted Tuesday to require masks be worn in the division’s schools, by both students and staff. Edwards said the division will educate students on why they are wearing them, and students will be able to take “mask breaks” while outside or eating.
By JOHN CRANE, Danville Register & Bee
The city of Danville has hired a firm to conduct a study on how to invest new revenues from a casino development if one were to open here. PFM, a financial advisory firm based in Philadelphia, will begin conducting the $74,375 study within the next two weeks, said Danville City Manager Ken Larking.
By BILL WYATT, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Officials in Martinsville and Henry County agree — the city is not broke. Opinions differ between the two governments on just about everything else relating to reversion. Late last year, the city council voted to file with the state a request for permission to revert from a city to a town. Tuesday night the Henry County Board of Supervisors heard from legal counsel the case to be made for why the request should be denied.
By ASHLEY SPINKS, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Whether voters will decide the fate of Floyd County’s courthouse Confederate monument remains in question. After another meeting and more remarks by residents, the county board of supervisors took no action Tuesday night. The board has another meeting scheduled for Aug. 11. That’s three days before the deadline to put the matter on the November ballot.
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
As was expected, Gov. Ralph Northam heaped his disappointment on Hampton Roads Tuesday in announcing tighter restrictions on the region to curb the high rates of coronavirus here in recent weeks. His message: While Virginia is generally doing well to battle COVID-19, Hampton Roads is blowing it and everyone here needs to do their part to protect public health by more faithfully adhering to the guidelines that slow the spread of this disease.
Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
On Tuesday evening, another page was added to Richmond’s chapter in the national movement for racial equity. The George Floyd Hologram Memorial Project was launched at the Lee Circle. Organized by the George Floyd Foundation and Change.org, a national petition platform, Richmond was the first stop on a weeklong tour across the South. The city was chosen because of its history as the capital of the Confederacy.
Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
On Tuesday, Gov. Ralph Northam announced new public restrictions in Hampton Roads to curb a dramatic rise in the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19. The coastal region — with its beaches, boardwalk and fun-in-the-sun allure — is one of the state’s biggest tourist draws in the summer. But in a year of global pandemic, huge crowds don’t mesh with public health safety.
By DAN CASEY, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The stained-glass window was installed in honor of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, one of the best-known Confederate generals of the Civil War. The story behind it is even more interesting. There are more than a few curiosities regarding Roanoke’s Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. One is the name. Why’s a church at Third Street and Patton Avenue Northwest called “Fifth Avenue?” That’s easy.
By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
In 2016, Virginia turned down a proposal to fold into the state constitution a seven-decade-old ban on compulsory union membership as a condition for a job. The defeat of the anti-labor initiative was a shocker in a state where government often is seen as the lapdog of the corpocracy. But the rejection of the Republican-pushed constitutional amendment — it flamed out in some of the reddest areas of the state — was a long time coming.
By WARREN FISKE, WCVE
The national debate on law and order is spilling into Virginia’s U.S. Senate race, with Republican nominee Daniel Gade repeatedly saying incumbent Democrat Mark Warner wants to defund police departments. “@MarkWarner & his party bosses are calling to defund police…” Gade tweeted on July 22.
By SARAH WALSH CORNELIUSSEN, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
This pandemic presents not just the practical requirement to reimagine schooling, but — much as for office work — the outright opportunity. To nurture learning in radically changed circumstances, I propose we replace — permanently — group grade levels with individual student achievement levels, especially since online learning will now always be involved.
Sarah Walsh Corneliussen, mother of four, grandmother of six and retired teacher of hundreds, lives in Poquoson.
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