VaNews
November 2, 2020

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Top of the News


** Six things to watch on election night (or week) in Virginia ([link removed])
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By GRAHAM MOOMAW, Virginia Mercury

With more than two million ballots already cast, Election Day in Virginia might feel more like the culmination of a long process and less like the main event it normally is. . . . Unless there’s unexpected drama, Virginia won’t be a make-or-break state on the national stage, with Republicans and Democrats battling for the White House and control of the U.S. Senate. But there will be plenty of important storylines, even if they unfold over an entire week instead of a single night.
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** Witnesses describe clash at Lee Circle between caravan of Trump supporters and a crowd of opponents ([link removed])
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By REED WILLIAMS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Tempers flared Sunday as a “Trump train” of cars tried to pass Lee Circle along Monument Avenue and clashed with opposing protesters, drawing a police presence that blocked off the area to traffic. Witnesses said gunshots were fired during the encounter on Sunday afternoon two days before the presidential election, and one man showed a reporter a bullet hole in his car where it was parked on Monument Avenue near Lee Circle, which has been the site of racial justice protests for several months.
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** Eastern Virginia keeps coronavirus in check while Southwest struggles with spread ([link removed])
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By ELISHA SAUERS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Far fewer tests came back positive for the coronavirus in Eastern Virginia than in other parts of the state over the past week. The rate was about 4.2% in the area, compared with 5.4% statewide. Virginia’s rate of new cases seems to be driven by a rise in Southwest Virginia, where it’s between 8 and 11%
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** The state says it’s fixing special education oversight in Virginia, but advocates wonder if it will be enough ([link removed])
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By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury

The Virginia Department of Education is quietly implementing changes in response to a federal report that found serious deficiencies in how the agency monitors and enforces compliance with special education law. In a memo circulated to local school districts last month, state Superintendent James Lane wrote that the agency was revising its policies and procedures to implement “required actions” laid out in the June letter from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs.
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** In Coal Country, a Political Journey from Blue to Deep Red ([link removed])
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By MASON ADAMS, WCVE-FM

The sharp divisions of one of the most polarizing presidential elections in modern history feel strangely removed from the heart of Virginia’s coal country. The political divide still runs through social media and cable news — but yards, storefronts and bumpers indicate Southwest Virginia residents are largely unified in their preference for president. In fact, longtime Buchanan County resident Gerald Elkins claims that President Donald Trump has done more to unite residents here than any president in memory.
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** Putting a pipeline through a forest: a foregone conclusion? ([link removed])
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By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

When public agencies and boards made crucial decisions about the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the outcome was often influenced by a pro-industry panel called the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. That, at least, has been the mantra of opponents to the natural gas pipeline being built through the New River and Roanoke valleys. But shortly after the U.S. Forest Service allowed Mountain Valley to pass through the Jefferson National Forest in 2017, one of the agency’s regional planning directors who was involved in the process reached the same conclusion.
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** Two more injuries, evacuations on Old Rag ([link removed])
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By JOHN MCCASLIN, Rappahannock News (Metered Paywall)

Halloween was another busy day for search and rescue teams on Old Rag Mountain, Shenandoah National Park’s most popular — and arguably its most grueling — hiking destination, presenting a risky “rock scramble” upon approach to the 3,284 foot summit. “A call to our Communications Center was received about 9:30 a.m. for a 50-year old woman who was injured on Old Rag. She was airlifted off the mountain about 1 p.m. by the U.S. Park Police helicopter Eagle 2,” the park stated.
The Full Report
22 articles, 17 publications
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** FROM VPAP
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** VPAP Visual Nearly Half of Virginians Voted Early ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

After Saturday's deadline for early in-person voting, close to half of Virginia's 5.9 million voters had cast a ballot before tomorrow's election. The rate of early voting varies, from a high of 68% in Falls Church to a low of 19% in Lee County in far Southwest Virginia. (Localities have mailed out another 188,000 mail ballots that have not been returned.) This visual ranks every locality based on the latest voter registration numbers from the state Department of Elections.
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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.


** FEDERAL ELECTIONS
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** Caravan of drivers supporting Trump clogs Beltway’s outer loop Sunday ([link removed])
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By THOMAS ROBERTSON, WTOP

Miles-long stretches of cars waving flags and donning decorations for President Donald Trump caused delays all around the Capital Beltway’s outer loop Sunday afternoon. The WTOP Traffic Center reported just after 1 p.m. issued caution to all drivers on the Beltway for the caravan, which was traveling below speed in the middle lanes of the Outer Loop.
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** Trump Supporters, Protesters Clash At Richmond's Lee Monument ([link removed])
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By IAN MUNRO, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A convoy backing President Donald Trump was blocked by protesters as it tried to round the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond on Sunday afternoon. The monument’s protesters stood in the road stopping the procession in support of the president. The cars and trucks of the convoy, adorned with Trump flags and stickers, pulled up to the roundabout where the statue stands on Monument Avenue.
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** Cline Makes Last-Minute Push ([link removed])
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By PETE DELEA, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

In August, James Madison University senior Eli Galiano knocked on his first door in the Shenandoah Valley while campaigning for area Republicans. Heading into Saturday, Galiano knocked on roughly 1,800 doors in the Harrisonburg area. By Election Day, he plans to have visited more than 2,000 doors in hopes of reelecting U.S. Rep. Ben Cline, R-Lexington. Cline is battling fellow Lexington resident Nicholas Betts.
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** Virginia Democrats address supporters in Williamsburg ahead of Election Day ([link removed])
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By JOSH REYES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

An array of elected Virginia Democrats spoke to supporters in a rainy Williamsburg parking lot Sunday afternoon, pushing them to maintain their energy in the final two days before Election Day. The officials guessed many in the crowd outside the Williamsburg-James City County Democrat headquarters already voted, but said there was still more work to do before Election Day voters took to the polls. Along with a chance to listen to candidates, the roughly 50 attendees collected yard signs and packets with pamphlets and other materials to distribute.
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** Doug Emhoff campaigns in Manassas as early in-person voting wraps up ([link removed])
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By PAUL LARA AND GIANNA JIRAK, Inside NOVA (Metered Paywall)

The nation is facing simultaneous crises of a pandemic, an economic slump and heightened racial tensions, and the present administration is not doing anything about it, said Doug Emhoff, the husband of Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, during a campaign stop in Manassas on Saturday afternoon. On the final day of early in-person voting in Virginia, Emhoff campaigned with U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, seeking re-election in Virginia’s 10th District, and Qasim Rashid, the Democratic candidate in Virginia’s 1st District congressional race. Wexton is being challenged by Republican Aliscia Andrews, and Rashid is trying to unseat Republican Rep. Rob Wittman.
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** Pro-Trump protesters picket Attorney General Barr's house in Virginia, demand he 'lock up' Joe Biden ([link removed])
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By MATTHEW BROWN, USA Today

A group of protesters gathered in front of Attorney General William Barr's McLean, Virginia home on Saturday evening where they called for Barr to "lock up" his Democratic opponent Joe Biden. Photos of the event showed a crowd of about a dozen men, donned in clothing and messages supportive of President Donald Trump, held signs with slogans such as "Biden Lies Matter," "Equal Justice Is Coming" and "They that forsake the law praise the wicked." Others wore "Trump 2020" flags and "Crooked Hillary for Prison" T-shirts.
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** Expecting voters by the thousands, Southside registrars say all systems are go for Election Day ([link removed])
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By BILL WYATT, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Election Day is Tuesday and while about one-third of registered voters across Henry, Pittsylvania and Patrick counties including the cities of Martinsville and Danville have already voted, thousands are still expected to cast ballots at their assigned precinct on Tuesday.
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** Virginia localities take precautions to protect voters, workers ([link removed])
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By SAM FOWLER, VCU Capital News Service

Virginia localities are taking a number of precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 at polling places even though masks will not be required. Saturday marked the last day to cast early, in-person ballots before Election Day, but voters can still cast in-person ballots on Nov. 3. They also can mail or return absentee ballots by that day. Election officials say they have been working to keep voters and workers safe during an election that has yielded a record number of early votes.
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** Lynchburg-area high schools, colleges work to educate first-time voters ([link removed])
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By JAMEY CROSS, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

For Matthew Gillett, a junior at the University of Lynchburg, this election year is different. While it’s not the first time the political science major has voted in an election, it is the first time he’s voted for a presidential candidate. Gillett said he voted in the 2018 midterm election and has always followed politics, but voting in the 2020 election, albeit absentee and not in person, felt gratifying. “I felt like to actually have my voice heard this year was something very special,” Gillett said.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** As Virginia tries to become more energy efficient, building codes come under the microscope ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

It’s almost a ritual: As the days shorten and the drafts begin to sweep beneath the door or weasel around the window frame, the echo of a grumpy parental voice can be heard: “We aren’t paying to heat the neighborhood.“ Variations of that experience play out across the U.S. every year. But if you thought the only people involved in the effort to keep the energy they’ve bought stay inside the walls they inhabit — from replacing windows to adding insulation — were individual families, you’d be wrong.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Virginia COVID-19 cases rise by 1,202 from Saturday ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Virginia Department of Health reported Sunday that the statewide total for COVID-19 cases is 182,392, an increase of 1,202 from the 181,190 reported Saturday. The 182,392 cases consist of 168,675 confirmed cases and 13,717 probable cases. There have been 3,655 COVID-19 deaths in Virginia — 3,399 confirmed and 256 probable. That’s an increase of one from the 3,654 reported Saturday.
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** Community COVID testing events to continue through winter ([link removed])
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By BRYAN MCKENZIE, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

University of Virginia health and medical officials say their months-long effort to take COVID-19 testing into communities lacking access will continue throughout the winter, even as classes end and students leave for home. Since the testing began in August, an estimated 3,500 tests have been administered to non-university community members. The testing locations focus on minorities and lower income essential workers who traditionally have less access to medical care.
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** Pandemic creates added challenges for migrant workers and the farms that employ them ([link removed])
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By TRISTAN LOREI, Harrisonburg Citizen

Migrant workers, who would spend this fall picking apples at Turkey Knob Growers’ orchard in Timberville, travelled roughly 50 hours by bus from Monterrey, Mexico, late this summer to get to northern Rockingham County. It’s a trip many have made for years. But in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, everything seems to come with additional risks. For migrant workers like Adrian Galván Arrojo, the pay and job security outweighed his concerns about the virus.
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** Public-Health Experts Are Rewriting Pandemic Rules for Governments—and Their Gyms ([link removed])
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By LOUISE RADNOFSKY AND BEN COHEN, Wall Street Journal (Subscription Required)

Linsey Marr is an engineering professor at Virginia Tech who specializes in a field that has never been so useful to so many people: She’s an expert on viruses in the air. Marr’s research during a pandemic driven by airborne transmission of a virus has made her a trusted source of advice for people all over the world. And in her local CrossFit.


** LOCAL
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** School Board member victim of vandalism ([link removed])
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By TRACY AGNEW, Suffolk News Herald

Suffolk Police are investigating a vandalism incident that appeared to target a School Board member for her vote against returning students to school. Suffolk Police say the incident happened about 1 a.m. Oct. 24, just hours after the board had voted during a special meeting. An unknown offender lit a 20-foot-long daisy chain of firecrackers across the yard, leaving a burn mark, according to city spokeswoman Diana Klink.
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** Richmond developer plans big investment in Colonial Beach ([link removed])
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By ROB HEDELT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Though he grew up in Roanoke with his mom, Duke Dodson often visited the Fredericksburg area to be with his late father Dennis, a local insurance agent and high school sports star. On many of those visits, the father and son headed out to spots like Lake of the Woods or Colonial Beach to have fun on the water. That connection plays a critical part in what could be the biggest residential and commercial redevelopment that Colonial Beach has ever seen. The businessman and his company, Dodson Development, inked a development agreement with the town that could inject $27 million into that community on the Potomac River over the next several years.
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** City Council to receive report on possible slave graves at Pen Park ([link removed])
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By NOLAN STOUT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

An archeological firm has identified 43 possible unmarked graves near a family cemetery in a Charlottesville park and the City Council will start considering how to protect the area. The council will receive an update on a survey of the cemetery at the Meadowcreek Golf Course during its meeting on Monday.
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** Local Family Treatment Court program receives $828K in grant funding ([link removed])
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By TYLER HAMMEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Thanks to federal funding, the Charlottesville-Albemarle Family Treatment Court will be able to expand its operations over the next several years. Family Treatment Court — or FTC, as it’s known by participants — was among various substance use disorder and drug court programs across the commonwealth to receive a total of nearly $8 million in Department of Justice funding.

Today's Sponsor:


** Washington Gas
------------------------------------------------------------

Washington Gas thanks VaNews for its outstanding coverage of Virginia’s primary and general elections!


** EDITORIALS
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** Will we know Tuesday night who won? ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Tuesday is Election Day or, more properly in the age of early voting, the last opportunity to vote. That means Tuesday night is Election Night, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll know tonight who won. The torrent of absentee ballots — many mailed in, others delivered in-person — means that many states won’t have their final tallies for days yet.


** OP-ED
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** Walker: Employees with disabilities perform vital services with pride ([link removed])
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By JOHN WALKER, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

It has been 30 years since President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. The act, which prohibited discrimination based on disability in employment and other aspects of community life, since has resulted in growing support for the employment of people with disabilities and has influenced public policy at all levels.

Walker is president and chief executive officer of SOAR365.


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