VaNews Sept. 6, 2019
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Read Online ([link removed]) 10 Most Clicked ([link removed])


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** TRANSPARENCY GROUP SUES FAIRFAX OVER DENIED RECORDS REQUEST ([link removed])
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By WHITTNEY EVANS, WCVE

A conservative group that advocates for government transparency has filed a lawsuit against Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax over a denied public records request. Judicial Watch and Virginia resident William Marshall are asking for a year’s worth of instant chats, emails and text messages between Fairfax and his staffers about sexual assault allegations that were brought against the Lt. Governor in February.


** VA. FIRST LADY VISITS BERRYVILLE CHILDCARE FACILITY ([link removed])
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By ANNA MEROD, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

In 1992, the concept of the Heritage Child Development Center on Mosby Boulevard was just that. Kimberly Schreckengost was working at Berryville Graphics at the time and had just given birth to her daughter. She approached the president of printing company, which had about 750 employees, and asked if there was a possibility of starting a childcare facility for the workers.


** PRINCE WILLIAM NAACP PRESIDENT TAPPED FOR NEW VIRGINIA AFRICAN AMERICAN ADVISORY BOARD ([link removed])
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By DANIEL BERTI, Prince William Times

The Rev. Cozy Bailey, president of the Prince William NAACP, has been appointed by Gov. Ralph Northam to serve on the Virginia African American Advisory Board, which is charged with advising the governor on economic, professional, cultural, educational and governmental links between state government and the African American community.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** WITH PIPELINE MONEY IN QUESTION, ALBEMARLE SEEKS $15M FROM STATE FOR BISCUIT RUN PARK ([link removed])
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By ALLISON WRABEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Albemarle County is asking the state for $15 million over three years to help fund Biscuit Run Park. County staff and the Board of Supervisors on Thursday presented the county’s legislative priorities for the 2020 General Assembly session to state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath; Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle; and Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** MONEY FLOWING TO VIRGINIA LEGISLATIVE RACES FROM BOTH SIDES OF GUN CONTROL ISSUE ([link removed])
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By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

National groups on both sides of the gun control issue are pouring money into Virginia legislative races, with the NRA making an unusually large donation to a Republican leader and Everytown for Gun Safety escalating its contributions to Democrats. Everytown’s Action Fund said Thursday morning that it was spending an additional $438,000 to help turn the Virginia legislature blue in November


** STUART, RASHID DEBATE FOR SENATE SEAT ([link removed])
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By JAMES SCOTT BARON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Incumbent Republican State Sen. Richard Stuart met Democratic challenger Qasim Rashid Thursday night during a debate before a packed meeting hall at the University of Mary Washington’s Stafford County campus. Rashid, a Democrat, writer and human rights attorney, squared off with Stuart on a variety of issues including transportation, equal rights, health care, guns, immigration, the minimum wage and student loan debt.


** REPUBLICAN IN 32ND SENATE DISTRICT REALISTIC ABOUT HIS CHANCES ([link removed])
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By SCOTT MCCAFFREY, Inside NOVA

Arthur Purves and Janet Howell have a few things in common. Among them: Each is running for elected office for the eighth time. But, as Purves noted with a sense of self-deprecation, Democrat Howell has won all of her campaigns, while he has yet to notch a victory.


** IF THE HOUSE FLIPS, A BIG NEW ROLE FOR HAMPTON’S DEL. WARD ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

It’s one of the most powerful posts in Virginia politics -- chair of the House of Delegates Commerce and Labor Committee -- and if Democrats take control of the chamber, it will almost certainly go to one of the quietest and well-liked Virginia legislators: Jeion Ward, who represents Hampton (and as she likes to joke, 10 houses in Newport News). It’d mark the first time in 23 years that a Democrat has been chair of the committee that’s the gatekeeper for laws on employment, workers compensation, utility regulation, telecommunications, insurance and financial services (though in 1998 and 1999, there were Democratic and Republican co-chairs).


** FEDERAL ELECTIONS
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** SUPERVISOR JOHN LESINSKI ANNOUNCES BID FOR U.S. CONGRESS ([link removed])
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By JOHN MCCASLIN, Rappahannock News

Rappahannock County Supervisor John Lesinski hopes to become the next U.S. congressman for the 5th Congressional District. Having immersed himself in public service to his community and country for most of his adult life, perhaps it comes as no surprise that Rappahannock County Supervisor John Lesinski today will toss his hat into the U.S. congressional ring.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** GREAT DISMAL SWAMP CLEANUP COMPLETE, BUT DORIAN FLOODING POSES OTHER POLLUTION RISKS ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

As a revitalized Hurricane Dorian continues its sweep up the East Coast, Virginians concerned about the environmental impacts of flooding can rest easy about at least one site: the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, where a Norfolk Southern train derailed in June, spilling 36 cars full of coal into the sensitive terrain. On Thursday, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality spokeswoman Ann Regn confirmed that cleanup of the site is complete. Planting and seeding activities that aim to restore the land to its previous condition are ongoing.


** VA. HEALTH OFFICIALS WEIGH NEW RULES ADVOCATES HOPE WILL EXPAND RURAL ABORTION ACCESS ([link removed])
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By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury

The Virginia Board of Health is considering rolling back strict rules surrounding certain types of abortion, a move advocates hope would expand access to the procedure in rural parts of the state. New regulations under review distinguish surgical and medication-only abortions for the first time, exempting providers of medication-only abortions from certain requirements imposed under legislation signed in 2011 by Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, which advocates for abortion access call TRAP laws, or Targeted Restrictions of Abortion Providers.


** NO LOCAL FUNDS FOR LOCAL JAIL ([link removed])
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Northern Neck News

Northern Neck Regional Jail is the only facility in Virginia that operates without any local funding, and despite consecutive years of budget deficits, the jail’s administration plans to keep it that way. The state government, the federal government and the inmates contribute to operations. But the facility’s members—Richmond County, Westmoreland, Northumberland, Gloucester and the Town of Warsaw— have the rare privilege of incarcerating people free of charge.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** BAY RESTORATION PLAN CONCERNS AGRICULTURAL ADVOCACY GROUP ([link removed])
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By JESSICA WETZLER, Daily News Record (Subscription Required)

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s office released the final plan for Phase III of the Watershed Implementation Plan on Aug. 23, but one of the Commonwealth’s largest agricultural advocacy groups has “mixed feelings.” The Virginia Farm Bureau Federation stated in a release that although some aspects of the plan were positive, other areas created priority concerns.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** AFTER A YEAR IN THE TREES, OPPONENTS CONTINUE TO BLOCK WORK ON THE PIPELINE ([link removed])
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By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Along a 303-mile corridor of land stripped bare for a natural gas pipeline, the only trees left standing are here, on a steep mountainside in Montgomery County. And it is here, not coincidentally, that opponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline are stationed high above the ground in a white pine and a chestnut oak.


** RECORD RAIN + HEAT = A CHESAPEAKE DEAD ZONE AMONG THE BIGGEST IN DECADES ([link removed])
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By SCOTT DANCE, Baltimore Sun

They call it bad water, and it spreads across the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay every summer. Watermen know that if they leave crab pots at depths of more than 10 or 12 feet this time of year, anything they catch will suffocate in a layer of water starved of oxygen. And this season, the volume of that water — known ominously as the dead zone — is among the largest in the past 35 years.


** LOCAL
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** SUPERVISORS EXPLORING TAKEOVER OF SCHOOL MAINTENANCE ([link removed])
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By JIM MCCONNELL, Chesterfield Observer

Long-simmering tensions between Chesterfield’s two elected governing bodies regarding school facility maintenance finally boiled over last week. Following positive tests for the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease in cooling towers at four county schools, and the subsequent revelation that the school system failed to repair or replace many malfunctioning HVAC components despite being repeatedly alerted to the problems, the Board of Supervisors is strongly considering an action it has long been reluctant to take: putting the county government in charge of maintenance at Chesterfield’s more than 60 school buildings.


** DOMINION TO FUND NEW ROAD TO DUTCH GAP ([link removed])
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By JIM MCCONNELL, Chesterfield Observer

Chesterfield County and Dominion Energy have reached agreement on the broad strokes of a plan to preserve public access to the Dutch Gap Conservation Area and Henricus Historical Park while the utility company excavates massive amounts of coal ash stored at the adjacent Chesterfield Power Station.


** COUNTY APPROVES AMENDMENT TO ORDINANCE ON POLITICAL AND TEMPORARY SIGNS ([link removed])
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By HEATHER MICHON, Fluvanna Review

The Fluvanna Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday (Aug. 21) to amend a county ordinance regarding political and temporary signs. Previously, the ordinance restricted signs to be displayed no more than 60 days prior to an event.


** FREE CLINIC OF DANVILLE SHUTTERS AFTER SEEING DRASTIC DROP IN PATIENTS DUE TO MEDICAID EXPANSION ([link removed])
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By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

The Free Clinic of Danville, which provided free health and dental care for low-income patients lacking insurance, has closed for good because of a sharp drop in patient volume. It’s still operating with non-medical staff while they process and send out medical records and distribute unneeded medical equipment and supplies to local nonprofits and two other free clinics in the state.


** EDITORIALS
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** ROANOKE SHOULDN'T BE SENTIMENTAL ABOUT NORFOLK SOUTHERN; IT'S NOT SENTIMENTAL ABOUT US ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Norfolk Southern has furloughed 130 employees in Roanoke and one rail union says the workers have only a “slim” chance of being recalled to work. Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, said he was “shocked and deeply disappointed to hear about Norfolk Southern’s plans right after Labor Day” and that “this decision shows a blatant disregard for Roanoke’s role in helping to build the railroad in our region.” Why is he surprised? Why is anyone surprised?


** DEFINITION OF PUBLIC GROUP IS EVIDENT ([link removed])
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Daily Progress Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Your state tax money is helping to fund a tourism group in the Historic Triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. If you were so inclined, shouldn’t you be able to look at the group’s records or attend its meetings to make sure your money is being spent wisely? Absolutely you should.


** THE FRIDAY READ
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** HIS DOG ORDERED PORN. HE GOT STUCK WITH THE BILL. ([link removed])
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By JOSH SHAFFER, News & Observer

The trouble started with a slip of the paw — a mistake of obscene proportions. Last month, Thomas Barnes found himself stuck with a $70 bill from DirectTV after he said his bichon frise dog, Marino, jumped on his bed and stepped on the remote control, accidentally ordering the Hustler channel by pay-per-view.
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