VaNews
September 17, 2020
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Top of the News


** Criminal justice reform bills make way through state Senate committee ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

One month into a special session, the Virginia General Assembly is getting closer to passing police and criminal justice reform as lawmakers begin to narrow their focus on legislation. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday advanced a batch of police reform bills that, taken together, make up a massive Senate omnibus bill. Proposals include prohibiting law enforcement officers from having sex with people in their custody, banning no-knock warrants and neck restraints, and improving law enforcement training standards.
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** Senate panel kills bill to require paid leave for quarantined employees ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Much to the delight of business groups and dismay of employee advocates, a Senate committee killed legislation on Wednesday to require employers to provide up to two weeks of paid sick leave for workers who have to quarantine because of exposure or infection by COVID-19. The 14-1 vote by the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee effectively closes the possibility of passing a sick leave requirement during the special General Assembly session called in part to address the effects of the COVID-19 public health emergency on Virginians. The same committee killed a similar bill earlier in the special session, also by a wide bipartisan margin.
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** Residents of one U.Va. dorm quarantined after possible COVID-19 outbreak ([link removed])
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By SEVY VAN DER WERF AND AVA MACBLANE, Cavalier Daily

Residents of the Balz-Dobie dormitory were told Wednesday evening to quarantine in their rooms after five first-year residents tested positive for COVID-19 and wastewater testing of the dorm provided positive indicators of a possible infection. The University instructed all 188 Balz-Dobie residents to return to their dorms immediately to be tested for COVID-19 at 6:00 p.m., according to an email to residents obtained by The Cavalier Daily. Results for the tests are expected within 24-48 hours, according to the email from Provost Liz Magill, Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis, Medicine Department Chair Mitch Rosner and Amy Mathers, associate professor of Medicine and Pathology.
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** Collapsing inmates, cold hot dogs and one nurse: quarantine in a Virginia prison ([link removed])
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By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury

It was early July and Virginia prison officials thought they had the coronavirus pandemic pretty well under control. Gov. Ralph Northam’s secretary of public safety, Brian Moran, told lawmakers that they were down to 16 active cases among 28,000 inmates — a result, he said, of extensive prevention measures undertaken by the Virginia Department of Corrections....But if the state was declaring victory over COVID-19 behind bars, it would soon prove fleeting.
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** Poor investment performance means state pension funds lose ground ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

The unfunded liability of pension funds for state employees and teachers has risen as market returns have lagged on investments by Virginia’s $82 billion retirement system. The funded status of the state’s two biggest pension funds dropped in the last fiscal year to about 71%, down from about 75% the previous year. Funded status represents the amount of money available in the Virginia Retirement System trust fund to pay for future retirement benefits and other liabilities for state employees and teachers.
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** Will 'biblical conservative' Bob Good make Virginia's 5th District safer GOP terrain, or more in play? ([link removed])
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By STEPHANIE AKIN, Roll Call

The late-summer sun was just beginning to cast shadows on the white pillars of the Buckingham County courthouse, near the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, when House hopeful Bob Good stood before a crowd of supporters last week and promised to "not stand idly by" against the threat of urban rioters. "We can't say it couldn't happen here," the Virginia Republican said. "It can happen here. But we won't let it happen here."
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** Arlington votes to end sidewalk crowding ordinance ([link removed])
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By ERIN COX, PATRICIA SULLIVAN, REBECCA TAN AND OVETTA WIGGINS, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Maryland’s top health official warned Wednesday that the approaching flu season could coincide with a higher wave of coronavirus cases than the state saw in the spring, saying it could be more than a year until a vaccine makes it possible to do more than “coexist” with the virus. Meanwhile, Arlington County leaders decided this week to abandon a sidewalk crowding ordinance put in place this summer that was intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus, saying the measure had little success.
The Full Report
41 articles, 22 publications
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** 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 10:30 a.m.
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** From VPAP Video: A "Mean Tweet" sampler ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

More than 300 people tuned in Wednesday for VPAP's first-ever "virtual" fundraiser. The prerecorded show featured House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) and Sen. Emmett Hanger (R-Augusta) performing good-natured skits. We also had 16 General Assembly members reading not-so-nice things that people posted about them on social media. Click for photos and a link to a video with a sampler of "Mean Tweets."


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** Senate panel defeats paid quarantine leave bill ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A state Senate panel defeated a bill Wednesday that would have required certain employers to provide paid quarantine leave during the coronavirus pandemic. The Democratic-controlled Senate Labor and Commerce Committee voted 14-1 to kill House Bill 5116, the final paid sick leave bill that was still moving through the General Assembly.
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** Senate approves 12-month utility debt repayment plans with bipartisan support ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

The Virginia Senate passed legislation Wednesday that will require all utilities except those controlled by municipal authorities to offer 12-month payment plans to residential customers who have been unable to pay their bills due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The measure passed 24-12, garnering support from four Republicans. All Democrats except Sen. Creigh Deeds of Bath County, who abstained, voted in favor of the plan.
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** Senate backs McClellan's utilities bill ([link removed])
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By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Senate lawmakers on Wednesday approved legislation designed to help Virginians facing utility debt — one piece of a broader conversation about how to avert mass disconnections and deal with unrecoverable financial charges. The Senate voted 24-12 in favor of a bill introduced by Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, that would give customers 12 months to pay off outstanding utility bills after the end of the current moratorium on disconnections — without facing late fees, interest or a deposit to enter the repayment plan.
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** Senate passes legislation to let the state inspect Virginia's ICE facilities ([link removed])
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By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Senate lawmakers on Wednesday approved legislation that would establish state oversight of Virginia immigration facilities, allowing the state to inspect and require health safety standards of privately owned federal detention centers such as those in Caroline County and Farmville. The 21-16 vote on Senate Bill 5017 would change the state’s definition of “local correctional facility” to allow jurisdiction over health inspections. Under current law, the Virginia Department of Health could not require the facilities to implement recommendations and had to be invited in.


** FEDERAL ELECTIONS
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** AG Herring's office urges court not to hear Kanye West's appeal ([link removed])
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By ANDREW CAIN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Attorney General Mark Herring’s office is urging the state Supreme Court not to hear Kanye West’s appeal of his ouster from Virginia’s presidential ballot, saying it could wreak havoc with Friday’s scheduled start of absentee voting. Lawyers for the rapper and entrepreneur’s campaign “ask this Court to overturn the circuit court’s decision and direct local election officials to reverse course as late as September 18 — the same day that those same officials must mail ballots to nearly one million people and have ballots available for in-person absentee voting,” Herring’s office writes in asking the court to turn down the appeal.
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** Early voting in Nov. 3 election kicks off Friday in Virginia ([link removed])
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By CATHY JETT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Voter registrars across Virginia will begin allowing early in-person voting and mail out absentee ballots Friday for the Nov. 3 election. Any registered voter in the state may vote early in-person at their local voter registrar’s office or satellite location, or request an absentee ballot. New legislation passed by the General Assembly that went into effect July 1 eliminated the need to provide an excuse to vote either way, but an absentee application is required in order to receive a ballot by mail.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** In 2019, Virginia Led the Nation in Expanding Health Insurance Coverage ([link removed])
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By MALLORY NOE-PAYNE, WVTF

New numbers out Tuesday from the Census Bureau show that in a single year the number of Virginians without health insurance dropped by .9-percent, the largest drop of any state in the country. That dip was between 2018 and 2019. And while it may seem like a small number, Freddy Mejia, a policy analyst at the left-leaning Commonwealth Institute, says it translates to health insurance for a lot of people.
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** Stafford holds first jury trial in Fredericksburg area since pandemic began in March ([link removed])
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By KEITH EPPS, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

It wasn’t a particularly scintillating case, but a jury trial held in Stafford Circuit Court Wednesday was the first one held in the area since March. Stafford was one of only four localities in the state—and the only one in the Fredericksburg area—that were recently granted permission from the Virginia Supreme Court to resume conducting jury trials in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. County judges submitted a plan that was approved by the state. A trial for a Spotsylvania County man charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possessing marijuana turned out to be the test case for the new plan.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** InterChange Takes Ownership Stake In Shenandoah Valley Railroad ([link removed])
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By IAN MUNRO, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Mount Crawford-based logistics, transportation and development firm InterChange Group became part owner of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad last week, according to Lance Arey, the general manager of the railway firm. Arey said InterChange Group’s addition to the railroad partnership will “definitely bring [opportunity] to the Valley and more movement of cars through here.” “It’s good to have them on board,” he said Wednesday. The 20.2 mile-long, privately owned Shenandoah Valley Railroad runs from Pleasant Valley to Staunton, connecting Class 1 railroads of Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation.


** TRANSPORTATION
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** Residents flood county board meeting to speak out against Va. 28 bypass ([link removed])
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By DANIEL BERTI, Prince William Times

Several dozen Manassas-area residents whose homes could be impacted by a proposed Va. 28 bypass attempted to speak out against the project during a Prince William Board of County Supervisors work session Tuesday held just one week after the board endorsed the project before hearing public comment. The 2 p.m. work session, called to discuss the county budget, was held in a conference room at the county’s development services building. Because of social distancing, seating was limited to four members of the public. The unexpected turnout caught county staff and supervisors off guard, leading to a chaotic scene as residents jostled to gain entry to the room and crowded the doorway to watch the session.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** U.S. medical expert Birx in Blacksburg: Virginia Tech 'understood the need' ([link removed])
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By TONIA MOXLEY, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia Tech knows droplets. And that, U.S. Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx told news outlets gathered on campus Wednesday, could help public health policy better address the spread of COVID-19. Tech was the last stop on Birx’ tour of about a dozen major universities across the Upper Midwest and the South that have reopened during the pandemic.
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** UVa identifies cluster of coronavirus cases ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

The University of Virginia has identified a cluster of coronavirus cases in a residence hall and is mass testing students, according to a Wednesday tweet by the university. UVa announced Wednesday evening that five cases were identified in the Balz-Dobie residence hall through wastewater and individual testing programs.
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** Radford University student protest still planned despite pushback ([link removed])
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By SAM WALL, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A student-led protest focused on racial inequality at Radford University is still being planned for Saturday despite criticism and threats made online. The Bigger Picture March slated for 4 p.m. on Muse Lawn has been rescheduled several times due to the pandemic as well as bad weather.
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** Liberty University's COVID-19 cases jump to 141, according to new online dashboard ([link removed])
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By RICHARD CHUMNEY, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Liberty University on Wednesday reported 141 active coronavirus cases among its students and employees, an increase of more than 50 positive cases over the figure reported a week ago. More than 1,000 students and employees have been instructed to quarantine, according to Liberty’s new COVID-19 dashboard, which launched Wednesday after it initially was delayed by a technical glitch.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Virginia reports 845 new coronavirus cases Wednesday ([link removed])
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By JONATHAN HEETER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The Virginia Department of Health reported 845 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, bringing the state’s tally to 136,359. At least 2,839 Virginians have died from the virus, up 45 from Tuesday.
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** Delays in COVID test results at Farmville's ICE facility fueled outbreak, CDC report says ([link removed])
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By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Testing delays in late June and early July impacted the isolation protocols of Farmville’s ICE facility, with many of the results unknown for nearly a month, said the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in an August report made public Tuesday. As a result, residents in the general population resided in multiple dorms while awaiting test outcomes, fueling an outbreak prompted by the transfers of 74 people from Florida and Arizona that brought on a federal lawsuit against ICE and the center.
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** As the VDH has access to more death certificates, COVID-19's deadly impact is showing more and more ([link removed])
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By HOLLY KOZELSKY, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The statistical accounting of the deadly disease COVID-19 finally is catching up to its reality. The latest numbers from the Virginia Department of Health are showing an explosion of COVID-19 deaths in the West Piedmont Health District, which covers Martinsville and the counties of Henry, Patrick and Franklin. In Patrick County alone, five new deaths were reported Wednesday and four on Tuesday. Another resident of Martinsville also was reported to have died.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** Fairfax County votes to remove marker of Confederate death ([link removed])
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Associated Press

A northern Virginia county has voted to remove a monument marking the spot where the first Confederate soldier died in the Civil War. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 9-1 at its Tuesday meeting to remove the stone marker and two cannons placed on either side of it on the grounds of the county courthouse.
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** Arlington’s county symbol, an image of Lee’s mansion, may be history ([link removed])
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By PATRICIA SULLIVAN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

After a summer of protests for racial justice in Virginia and around the country, Arlington County decided this week to examine whether to do away with its 37-year-old symbol, a stylized image of the mansion where Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee once lived that one public official described as “a plantation house.” The image, which adorns the county’s seal, flag, website and stationery, shows the familiar six-columned home of Lee that overlooks the Potomac River at Memorial Bridge from Arlington National Cemetery.
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** Loudoun to Find Public Confederate, Segregationist Names ([link removed])
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By RENSS GREENE, Loudoun Now

Loudoun County will start work to inventory the public places and monuments bearing names honoring Confederate or segregationist ideas and figures after a divided vote at the Board of Supervisors in the early morning hours Wednesday, Sept. 16. The vote directs county staff members to report by back with a list of those symbols by June 2021, such as “road or street names, buildings, signs, logos, markers, monuments, battlefields, and others in public spaces honoring Confederate and segregationist figures or symbols in Loudoun County.”
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** Newport News task force to seek out new names for 4 schools ([link removed])
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By MATT JONES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

District staff told the school board Tuesday it’d cost about $680,000 to rename the four schools. In the first months of the year — before Newport News took down its Confederate monument, before Gov. Ralph Northam asked schools to reconsider controversial names, before the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools — Dianca Wright had a question. She had been a proud and actively involved parent when her son attended R. O. Nelson Elementary School. But she didn’t know who R. O. Nelson was.


** LOCAL
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** Report: Fairfax County denied more than 900 ICE detainer requests over two years ([link removed])
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By SAM DORMAN, Fox News

Authorities in one Virginia county for the last two years have denied 98%, or 915, of federal immigration enforcement's requests to detain non-citizens, an outside investigation concluded. The report came from the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) on Friday, more than two years after Fairfax County implemented a policy raising the criteria for which requests it would honor. Between May 23, 2018 and May 6, 2020, the affluent county reportedly received 929 detainer requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which often uses them to hold suspected criminals.
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** Controversial Library Board Argument Spills Over into Board of Supervisors Meeting ([link removed])
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By VERNON MILES, Reston Now

A controversy at the library level led to a heated exchanged at Fairfax County Board of Supervisors today (Tuesday) as the Board’s lone Republican pushed back against a motion to ensure the various boards and commissions consider the county’s standards of diversity. Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay started the meeting with a motion for staff to circulate the One Fairfax policy and training to all boards and commissions and that members sign acknowledgement to confirm they have received and reviewed the policy.
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** Loudoun County supervisors vote down efforts to regulate firearm discharge sounds ([link removed])
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By NATHANIEL CLINE, Loudoun Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted against a measure to evaluate the regulation of excessive sounds from firearms. Supervisors Juli Briskman (D-Algonkian), Matt Letourneau (R-Dulles) and Mike Turner (D-Ashburn) backed the effort spearheaded by Leesburg Supervisor Kristen Umstattd (D), but it failed 4-5. Opposing were Chairwoman Phyllis Randall (D-At Large) and Vice Chairman Koran Saines (D-Sterling) and supervisors Sylvia Glass (D-Broad Run), Caleb Kershner (R-Catoctin) and Tony Buffington (R-Blue Ridge).
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** Superintendent acknowledges 'likelihood' of COVID-19 cases in schools when students return ([link removed])
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By JILL PALERMO, Prince William Times

Although Prince William County schools remain on track to allow students to attend school in-person starting Nov. 10, there will be challenges -- including the “likelihood” of COVID-19 cases among students and staff, Superintendent Steven Walts said Wednesday. Already, 17 students and staff are home quarantining as a result of COVID-19 cases among staff, Walts said.
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** In Richmond's mayoral race, three candidates exceed six figures ([link removed])
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By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Mayor Levar Stoney solidified his money advantage in the city’s mayoral race over the past two months. But two of his opponents — Kimberly Gray and Alexsis Rodgers — reported six-figure fundraising hauls of their own in a new round of campaign finance reports filed Tuesday. The reports provide detailed information about political donors and candidates’ spending.
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** Stoney wants $500,000 for health equity studies as Richmond's estimated budget surplus rises to $13.75M ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Richmond finance officials now estimate that the city will have a $13.75 million surplus from the closeout of the 2020 fiscal year, a $9 million increase above a preliminary estimate the city reported last month. After anticipating this spring that the city would need to draw $6.6 million from a rainy day fund for an impending budget deficit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city may instead allocate just as much to the emergency fund and also spend more than $1 million on initiatives to help retired city employees and residents who have been disproportionately affected by the health crisis.
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** Portsmouth to pay $200,000 in settlement with man shot by police ([link removed])
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By MARGARET MATRAY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The city of Portsmouth will pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was shot by a police officer in 2017 as he ran from a burglary. But the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing on the part of Officer Jeremy Durocher, according to the city.
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** Culpeper sheriff posts apparent fake news about BLM violence in Roanoke ([link removed])
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Culpeper Star Exponent (Metered Paywall - 20 articles a month)

Culpeper County’s top elected lawman on Tuesday re-posted on his agency’s social media a lengthy, apparently fabricated story describing a violent attack in Roanoke by Black Lives Matter protesters. But there is no evidence the attack happened, The Roanoke Times reports. Sheriff Scott Jenkins, in posts Tuesday on the Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office official Facebook page, warned of similar violence in “any community at any time … especially where they see weakness in local government officials.”
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** City OKs 78 Businesses For CARES Act Grants ([link removed])
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By IAN MUNRO, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Harrisonburg approved 78 businesses for grant money from CARES Act funding the city has received, according to a Tuesday press release from city staff. Of the businesses approved for funding, most are restaurants, retail shops, hotels or entertainment spots, according to the full list provided to the Daily News-Record by Peirce Macgill, the assistant director for economic development.
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** Some Staunton citizens want an election recall of four City Council members ([link removed])
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By MONIQUE CALELLO, News Leader (Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)

In the May Staunton City Council elections, newcomers Mark Robertson, Steve Claffey and Amy Darby ousted incumbents Ophie Kier, Erik Curren and James Harrington. When the new council was formed, incumbent Andrea Oakes became the city’s mayor. Now some Staunton citizens are initiating a recall of all four members, said Jennifer Kitchen, who is facilitating a recall election meeting Wednesday night, Sept. 16, for residents concerned with the current council majority.
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** Former candidate leads coalition against casino in Danville ([link removed])
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By JOHN CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

A Danville man has formed a political action committee opposing the casino proposed by Caesars Entertainment in the city. Eric Stamps, who ran as a Democrat for the House of Delegates last year against Republican Danny Marshall, said he filed the PAC — Local Action PAC — Monday and received approval from the Virginia Department of Elections on Tuesday.


** EDITORIALS
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** What Amazon's expansion tells us (and it's not good) ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Remember when the internet was supposed to bring about “the death of distance” and usher in a rural renaissance? Yeah, that didn’t happen. Remember when the pandemic was going to herald a new era of telecommuting and, yes, usher in that long-promised rural renaissance? Sorry, it’s not happening, either.
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** Blanket immunity is a worrisome trend ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The Virginia General Assembly has passed a bill giving blanket civil immunity to assisted-living facilities, hospices and adult day care centers, the same immunity already given to hospitals and nursing homes. The bill sailed through both chambers: 36-0 in the Senate and 84-13 in the House of Delegates.
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** COVID-19 relief requires a long-term vision ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Across the commonwealth, localities are setting different priorities as they respond to COVID-19 challenges on the fly and use federal CARES Act dollars to close financial gaps. Virginia Beach chose to provide hazard pay to first responders. Harrisonburg is creating grants to help businesses with expenses. And in Henrico and Chesterfield counties, a $2.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will help with housing issues.


** COLUMNISTS
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** Schapiro: Threading the needle in a GOP district ([link removed])
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By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Denver Riggleman, who has an ax to grind with fellow Republicans, has a good idea how to win a vast, rural congressional district that was drawn for the GOP but might not be as red as it used to be. Riggleman was denied renomination in Virginia’s 5th District in a hard-right revolt, losing to Bob Good — a Scripture-quoting culture warrior — after a single term because he tempers his conservatism with libertarianism: Riggleman officiated in 2019 at the wedding of gay campaign volunteers.


** OP-ED
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** Long: How not to overthrow the state ([link removed])
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By JOHN LONG, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Just as the first American Revolution began in Lexington, Massachusetts, some day Lexington, Virginia, will be hailed as the birthplace of the second American Revolution, with statues of the alumni of a college writing course at Washington and Lee University. Eh, on second thought, don’t get your hopes (or your fears) up. Last week there was a tempest in a teapot about a course offered at W&L provocatively titled “How to Overthrow the State.”

Long is a historian, writer and educator from Salem.
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** Pregnall: Virginia Tech’s Student Townhall on COVID-19 Demonstrates Perils ([link removed])
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By ANDREW M. PREGNALL, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

On 11 September 2020, Virginia Tech President Tim Sands hosted a town hall to provide current students the opportunity to ask questions about the university’s COVID-19 planning and response. As a recent alum, I was heartened to see the students ask tough, specific questions of the administration about its plans. They clearly expected more from Tech in its efforts to provide them and the Blacksburg community with a safe opening, and their questions highlighted areas where Tech could improve its response.

Pregnall graduated from Virginia Tech with degrees in microbiology and history as its 2019 Undergraduate Student of the Year. He is currently a postgraduate in Health Data Science at University College London as a 2020 Marshall Scholar,
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** Fairfax: Helping Black-owned small businesses survive online ([link removed])
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By TRICIA FAIRFAX, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

In a time of uncertainty, my life significantly has changed. Things have been rocky for nearly every business, especially small businesses owned by Black entrepreneurs. COVID-19 has shut down more than 40% of us, compared to just 17% of our white peers, threatening to widen an already vast racial wealth gap. But businesses owned by Black women helped drive the economic recovery after the Great Recession, creating more jobs than any other group. We can do it again, as long as we have the tools we need to participate and succeed in an increasingly online economy.

Tricia Fairfax of Roanoke owns Tree Fairfax, an online leather goods business.


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