VaNews Sept. 2, 2019
------------------------------------------------------------

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


** FROM VPAP
------------------------------------------------------------


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY TURNOUT VARIES BY DISTRICT ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
The Virginia Public Access Project

Voter turnout ranges widely in different legislative districts. Look at General Assembly elections to see the range of turnout across districts in 2015.


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
------------------------------------------------------------


** NORFOLK POLICE CHIEF AMONG THOSE PICKED TO SERVE ON GOVERNOR’S AFRICAN AMERICAN ADVISORY BOARD ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Five months after signing a law to form the state’s first African American Advisory Board, Virginia’s governor has picked who will serve on it. The board’s 18 members — 15 of whom must be African American — include Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone and Virginia Beach’s Gilbert Bland, who heads the Urban League of Hampton Roads. Bland will serve as the commission’s chairman.


** TWO LOCAL EDUCATORS NAMED TO STATE COMMISSION ON AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY EDUCATION ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By SHANNON KEITH, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam has appointed two Lynchburg-area educators to a group tasked with revising the state’s history and social studies standards to incorporate a better understanding of African American history. Northam signed a bill last week establishing the Commission on African American History Education


** NORTHAM: FARMLAND FUND CONSERVES 100-PLUS PROPERTIES ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By CLINT SCHEMMER, Culpeper Star Exponent (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

14,000 acres. That’s how much farm and forest a Virginia effort has protected since 2008. The commonwealth’s chief executive celebrated the accomplishment in Fauquier County last week during a visit to Messick’s Farm Market on U.S. 28 just east of Bealeton.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
------------------------------------------------------------


** IN RESPONSE TO AIDE'S SUIT ALLEGING EMAIL AND FACEBOOK 'HACKS,' ADAMS SAYS SHE CAUSED NO HARM ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Del. Dawn Adams, D-Richmond, on Friday responded to a lawsuit filed by a former aide, arguing in court that she doesn’t owe any damages while not denying she accessed the aide’s personal Facebook and Gmail accounts.


** STATE ELECTIONS
------------------------------------------------------------


** VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS LIKE THEIR ODDS TO FLIP THE STATE SENATE. THE HOUSE MAY BE MORE OF A TOSSUP ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By GRAHAM MOOMAW AND MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

At the unofficial kickoff of Virginia’s General Assembly campaign season, Democrats feel they have a strong chance to flip the state Senate, but the House of Delegates appears to be more of a toss-up. If Republicans hold their thin majorities in the state legislature when voters go to the polls in two months, it will extend a stretch of divided government that dates to 2014. If Democrats take both chambers, they’ll have full control of state government for the first time since 1993.


** WITH POTENTIAL FOR GAINS, DEMOCRATS GO ON OFFENSE IN HAMPTON ROADS LEGISLATIVE RACES ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Democratic candidates for the General Assembly in Hampton Roads are riding popular support for expanding Medicaid coverage for thousands of uninsured people.


** IN WESTERN VIRGINIA, DEMOCRATS RUNNING FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY FORM COALITION TO COURT RURAL VOTERS ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The house sat along the side of a long, narrow gravel road in a wooded area. Houses like these in Rockingham County are sometimes hard to find, but Brent Finnegan, a Democrat running for Virginia’s House of Delegates, makes the extra effort to talk to these potential voters.


** DEMOCRAT MAKES LONE BID IN FAR SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY SEAT ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Of the six General Assembly seats in far Southwest Virginia, only one Democrat is challenging a Republican in the deep red region. Far Southwest Virginia was once firmly Democratic soil, but one by one, Democratic politicians saw their support fade and give way to what is now a Republican stronghold.


** FEDERAL ELECTIONS
------------------------------------------------------------


** O'ROURKE VISITS BLAND — THE COUNTY IN VIRGINIA THAT VOTED STRONGEST FOR TRUMP ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

When Tommy Dunn got the call earlier this week that Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke wanted to meet voters at his diner and convenience store, he had to check his hearing. “Beto O’Rourke wants to come here, to Bland County?” Dunn asked in disbelief.


** DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL BETO O'ROURKE VISITS BLAND COUNTY ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By JASMINE DENT FRANKS, Bland County Messenger

Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke may have made history Friday morning when he stopped in the diner at the Bland Square to talk to local supporters. As far as anyone in attendance could remember, no presidential candidate has ever made a campaign stop in Bland County.


** BETO O'ROURKE HOLDS TOWN HALL AT VIRGINIA TECH ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By JEN CARDONE, WDBJ

Hundreds of students and people from the community made their way to Virginia Tech to listen to democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.


** IN HIS SECOND VISIT TO CHARLOTTESVILLE, O'ROURKE SAYS 'SHOWING UP' IS IMPORTANT ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By NOLAN STOUT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Beto O’Rourke believes Charlottesville “has an incredibly powerful story to tell” about America. “It’s an incredibly important community, not just to Virginia, but to the country,” the Democratic presidential candidate said Saturday during a campaign event in the city.


** CONGRESSWOMAN GETS IDEAS ON REDUCING ADDICTION ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By EVAN GOODENOW, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

To combat the opioid epidemic, Rep. Jennifer Wexton went looking for answers on Friday from people on the front lines of the battle. Wexton, D-10th, toured Edgehill Recovery Center, rode with a Winchester police officer on patrol and hosted a roundtable discussion with people in long-term recovery, police and treatment providers.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
------------------------------------------------------------


** VIRGINIA POLICE DEPARTMENTS FAIL TO REPORT NEARLY ONE IN THREE POLICE SHOOTINGS ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

When two Lynchburg police officers pleaded no contest earlier this year to illegally shooting an unarmed man in 2018, it marked the first criminal conviction of a Virginia officer charged with unlawfully shooting a civilian in nearly three years. But when Virginia State Police published its annual “Crime in Virginia” report this spring detailing crime trends in the previous year, the section listing officer-involved shootings made no mention of the Lynchburg case.


** DOMINION FORECASTS BIG COST FOR CAP & TRADE PLAN GENERAL ASSEMBLY REJECTED ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Dominion Energy’s new update of its long term plan includes an extra year of breathing space for its elderly oil-fired generating unit at Yorktown, and a forecast of some really big bills if Virginia joins a regional greenhouse gas cap and trade that the General Assembly narrowly rejected this year.


** VIRGINIA'S BAN ON SMOKING AND E-CIGARETTES AT SCHOOL GOES INTO EFFECT THIS SCHOOL YEAR ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

You can no longer smoke on school property or at any school function in Virginia. A law banning tobacco on school property for every school district in the state went into effect July 1, but its effects will really be felt with the start of the school year Tuesday. The new law also outlaws tobacco in every school-related setting, including school activities off campus. Virginia is one of just 19 states to have a full school tobacco ban.


** GROWING HEMP AMIDST NEW LAWS ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By LOGAN BOGERT, Greene County Record

With the rising popularity of cannabidiol (CBD) oil and hemp-related products, its agricultural production is a growing revolution across the country. Industry estimates in 2018 reported U.S. hemp product sales at nearly $700 million annually, and according to a study by cannabis industry analysts the Brightfield Group, the hemp-CBD market could reach $22 billion by 2022. As of Tuesday, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services had issued 955 grower registrations...


** VIRGINIA WILL TEACH STUDENTS COMPUTER SCIENCE STARTING IN KINDERGARTEN. HERE'S HOW. ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia’s tech talent pipeline is starting long before college. Schools across the state will be rolling out new computer science standards of learning this year, the first state in the U.S. to have mandatory standards for computer science education.


** TRANSPORTATION
------------------------------------------------------------


** SOUTH ENTRANCE FOR POTOMAC YARD METRO STATION STILL UNCERTAIN, EVEN WITH EXTRA MONEY ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By LUZ LAZO, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Alexandria officials say construction of the Potomac Yard Metro station is on track for a spring 2022 opening, but it remains unclear whether the station will have the second entrance that the city killed last year — even after having received a $50 million state grant to restore it.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
------------------------------------------------------------


** AS STUDENTS STRUGGLE WITH MENTAL HEALTH, VIRGINIA TECH TAKES PROACTIVE MEASURES ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By ROBBY KORTH, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

At first glance, the numbers are shocking. The volume of students seeking counseling from Virginia Tech’s Cook Counseling Center has grown 43% in the last five years while enrollment is up less than 10%. An estimated 17% of students are on some type of psychotropic medication to treat mental health issues.


** JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY SET OUT TO HELP 35 MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS BECOME THE FIRST IN THEIR FAMILIES TO ATTEND COLLEGE ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By DEBBIE TRUONG, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Amy Cortes grew up amid farmland in the Shenandoah Valley, in a small town 15 miles from the stately campus of James Madison University. For much of her childhood, Cortes couldn’t picture herself as a student there, walking among the academic buildings made of bluestone or lounging on the manicured quad, mountain ranges in the distance.


** 'CONSERVATIVE' STRING ATTACHED TO $50 MILLION COLLEGE GIFT ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press

A $50 million gift made earlier this year to Virginia's largest public university was given specifically to "promote the conservative principles of governance," newly released documents show, raising concerns from critics that it compromises academic freedom at the school. George Mason University announced the gift earlier this year — the largest ever received in the school's history — from the estate of Allison and Dorothy Rouse to Mason's Antonin Scalia Law School.


** ONE YEAR AFTER NAME CHANGE, UL FEELS MORE CONFIDENT THAN EVER ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By RACHEL SMITH, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

University of Lynchburg is catching up. And that’s something that should have happened some years ago — at least that’s the way UL President Kenneth Garren sees it. The university on Lakeside Drive is kicking off its second year with a brand new name, and its leaders agree: Years of work and preparation are paying off.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
------------------------------------------------------------


** DOMINION CITES PROGRESS IN COAL ASH REMOVAL PROJECTS ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By TAMARA DIETRICH, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Dominion Energy says it’s making progress on plans and permits to remove and contain tons of toxic coal ash stored in leaky, unlined storage ponds at four of its Virginia power stations. The $3 billion cleanup is required under bipartisan legislation passed earlier this year and agreed to by Dominion. The ponds are at the Chesapeake, Chesterfield, Bremo and Possum Point sites, which together store more than 27 million cubic yards of coal ash.


** DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR MAKES CALLS FOR GAMING COMPANY IN CHARLOTTESVILLE FIGHT ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

When Queen of Virginia Skill & Entertainment wanted to know more about why a Charlottesville prosecutor was about to declare that its games violated state anti-gambling laws, the company turned to a politically well-connected member of its Virginia team to find out more about him.


** LOCAL
------------------------------------------------------------


** TENSION BETWEEN CHESTERFIELD POLICE AND REFORM-MINDED PROSECUTOR IS LOCAL EXAMPLE OF NATIONWIDE IDEOLOGICAL CLASH ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By MARK BOWES, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Chesterfield County Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott Miles has riled members of the county’s law enforcement establishment, who say he has acted unilaterally in implementing his own drug diversion program without any buy-in from county judges, the police, the sheriff’s office or the administrator of the county’s existing Drug Court program that’s been in place for nearly two decades. Miles, who is acting on his campaign platform of criminal justice reform, argues that he is well within his authority as the county’s top prosecutor.


** PAUL GOLDMAN APPEALS GENERAL REGISTRAR'S REFERENDUM DECISION ON $1.5 BILLION COLISEUM DEAL ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The effort to have a referendum on a proposed city charter change that could stymie the proposed $1.5 billion coliseum redevelopment project isn’t dead yet. Paul Goldman, a former head of the Democratic Party of Virginia, filed an appeal Friday that contests a ruling earlier this month by the Richmond general registrar that Goldman’s petition drive didn’t gather enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.


** VIRGINIA BEACH EYES EXPANSIVE PROGRAM TO BUY OUT FREQUENTLY FLOODED HOMES ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By PETER COUTU, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Virginia Beach officials are considering a program that would offer money to residents who want to move out of homes that have flooded or face such a risk. These houses would then be demolished, and the city would restrict future development on the property, earmarking it as a park, land to plant trees or to be used as a flood-control project. It’s one of several strategies city leaders are weighing


** VA. BEACH SIGNED LEASE OF STATE SENATOR'S BUILDING FOR CITY REGISTRAR ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Virginia Beach City Manager’s Office signed a lease for the city to rent space for the voter registrar in a building owned by a state senator, a decision that caught some members of the City Council by surprise. The lease stemmed from a long-standing desire to consolidate buildings that house the registrar and voting equipment, city officials said.


** BEFORE PUBLIC FEUDS AND AN ABRUPT RESIGNATION, VIRGINIA BEACH CITY MANAGER’S SUPPORT FROM STAFF DWINDLED ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By PETER COUTU, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Years before the City Council’s support for its top executive waned, backing from rank-and-file employees throughout this coastal community had started to erode. Many staffers viewed Dave Hansen’s management style as abrasive, one that set the tone for other supervisors throughout the city, according to interviews with current and former employees, public listening sessions with the firm leading the probe into the mass shooting and workers’ responses to a recent citywide survey.


** REPORT REVEALS GROWTH IN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS' SPENDING ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By ALLISON WRABEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Albemarle County’s operational spending has increased by about 73% over the last 20 years, while Charlottesville’s has increased by about 57%, according to a recent report from the Free Enterprise Forum. The most recent iteration of the Choices and Decisions report from the local pro-business advocacy organization looks at inflation-adjusted total operational spending, per capita spending and the Local Government Spending Index for localities in the region.


** EDITORIALS
------------------------------------------------------------


** AN UP-TO-DATE DEQ VITAL FOR VIRGINIA'S ENVIRONMENT ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
News & Advance Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

If you were to ask the average Virginian what the state Department of Environmental Quality does, you would probably get a generalized response mentioning the generic terms of clean water and air and fighting pollution. Or, more likely, the reply might be along the lines of “Isn’t there some agency in Washington that does that — why do we need something like that in Virginia?”


** HOW TO SEND A MESSAGE ON GUN VIOLENCE IN VIRGINIA ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Washington Post Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Virginia is one of four states facing legislative elections this fall, and the only one where control of both chambers, each run by Republicans holding tissue-thin margins, hangs in the balance. Small wonder, then, to see one of the most vulnerable Republicans, now clinging to a seat in Northern Virginia, struggling to do damage control on a key issue: guns.


** ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN SHOOTING INVESTIGATION ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The firm investigating the May 31 mass casualty shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center is weeks from completing its work but there are already concerns it cannot deliver the thorough, independent report it promised. Some members of the public — including the families of some victims — have expressed reservations about Hillard Heintze, the Chicago firm hired to conduct the investigation.


** EDITORIAL: AMERICAN WORKERS STILL NEED PROTECTIONS ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

We hope you're reading this while savoring your coffee before a day of relaxation with your family or while winding down after delightful holiday hours with loved ones. We hope your day is full of beach or boat time, a cookout, a bike ride or hike, or maybe some cornhole competition. We hope you celebrate Labor Day, the day that’s supposed to honor American workers, by having fun.


** CAMPAIGNS UNDER WAY AS NOVEMBER ELECTION LOOMS ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The Labor Day weekend is often considered the unofficial end to summer. Public schools begin in a few days, some rules about the beaches change as the tourist crowds begin to thin, and September typically brings with it the start of cooler weather and a steady march to autumn. Typically, Labor Day weekend also represents a beginning: the start to the campaign season


** COLUMNISTS
------------------------------------------------------------


** SCHAPIRO: THERE'S A REASON IT'S CALLED THE 'SILLY SEASON' ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

North of Fredericksburg is a House of Delegates district drawn in 2011 to elect Republican Bill Howell, speaker from 2003 until 2018. He was propped up by a 2-to-1 GOP majority that was reduced to two seats by the anti-Donald Trump tsunami that swept in Ralph Northam and 15 new Democrats. Over the past decade, as the Washington suburbs have crept south, the district has become quite swing-y.


** OP-ED
------------------------------------------------------------


** CHESAPEAKE BAY CLEANUP HEADS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By WILLIAM C. BAKER, Published in the Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia recently released a strong, detailed and practical plan to reduce pollution to its portion of the Chesapeake Bay and the tidal rivers that feed it. Now, Gov. Ralph Northam and the General Assembly must turn the plan into action.

William C. Baker is president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.


** NORTHAM: BLUEPRINT TO GUIDE CHESAPEAKE CLEAN-UP EFFORTS ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By RALPH NORTHAM, Published in the Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Earlier this year, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation released a report on the progress bay watershed states have made toward reducing pollution that harms the bay. I’m proud the report credited Virginia with a “strong roadmap for success,” provided we accelerate our efforts. That’s exactly what we’re doing.

Ralph Northam is the 73rd governor of Virginia.


** VIRGINIANS LIKE TERM LIMITS — BUT THEIR REPRESENTATIVES DON’T ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By MARY VOUGHT, Published in the Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Virginians are frustrated with the politicians and entrenched power brokers in Washington and their enablers in Richmond. As elected officials, they become accustomed to the power and trappings that elected office holds and lose sight of promises they made on the campaign trail.

Mary Vought is executive director of the Senate Conservatives Fund. She lives in Northern Virginia.


** MORSE: SLAVERY COMMEMORATION OFFERS POWERFUL TRIBUTE ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By GORDON C. MORSE, Published in the Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Carefully planned public events, by definition, seldom produce the unexpected. Yet, there it was last weekend, at Fort Monroe: a big, satisfying and meaningful surprise. Largely on the subject of slavery, no less.

Gordon C. Morse wrote editorials for the Daily Press and The Pilot in the 1980s. He later wrote speeches for Gov. Gerald L. Baliles, then worked for corporate and philanthropic organizations


** ROBERSON: PURSUING A BOLD PATH FOR VIRGINIA’S TEACHING PROFESSION ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By STEWART D. ROBERSON, Published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Here in Virginia, the state of the teaching profession has reached a crisis point. The number of unfilled teaching positions has nearly doubled in a span of five years, precipitated by below-average rates of pay, substandard working conditions and a high barrier to entry. One in five educators must ultimately take a second job to make ends meet.

Stewart D. Roberson is chair of the University of Virginia K-12 Advisory Council and served as superintendent of the Falls Church City and Hanover County school districts.


** BRADSHAW AND CLEMENTS: FLY IN FORMATION ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
By TIM BRADSHAW AND RANDY CLEMENTS, Published in the Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The Blue Angels are models of dynamic teamwork. Their yellow and blue fighting machines slice through skies and clouds while thousands of bystander’s stare in amazement. This impressively choreographed formation flying is the result of extreme coordination and planning. The Roanoke Regional Airport Commission and its staff look to emulate the Blue Angels as we strive to enhance our airport.

Bradshaw has served as the executive director of Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport since 2014. Clements is a Roanoke foot and ankle surgeon and pilot. In July, he became chairman of the Roanoke Regional Airport Commission.
------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe ([link removed]) Donate ([link removed]) Content Policy ([link removed]) Privacy ([link removed])

This email was sent to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
why did I get this? ([link removed]) unsubscribe from this list ([link removed]) update subscription preferences ([link removed])
Virginia Public Access Project . P.O. Box 1472 . Richmond, VA 23218 . USA