VaNews
December 1, 2020

Today's Sponsor:


** Kimball Payne
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From a dedicated reader of "The Whipple Report," in honor of the birthday of his oldest child, his daughter Helen.
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Top of the News


** Virginia tests plan to distribute COVID-19 vaccine ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

With the initial shipments of a new vaccine against COVID-19 potentially weeks away, Virginia is testing its plan for distributing the initially limited supply of the vaccine to the people who need it most — front-line medical workers and the employees and residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
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** Virginia SCC judge appointed to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, leaving seat vacant ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

Democrats will get to fill yet another seat on the Virginia State Corporation Commission after the U.S. Senate on Monday evening confirmed Judge Mark Christie to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The nomination of Christie, who has served on the SCC since 2004, has been in the works for months. The White House formally announced him as a candidate in July.
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** Metro budget proposes cuts to service, station closures amid dire financial forecast ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN GEORGE, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Metro is proposing the elimination of weekend rail service in its budget for the first time as the transit agency’s financial struggles deepen amid the coronavirus pandemic. The drastic action is one of several deep cuts Metro officials say they will have to make to survive the next fiscal year as fare revenue forecasts appear bleak and Congress remains unable to reach an agreement on a coronavirus relief package that could include aid to transit agencies.
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** ‘Residents Won’t Just Hear the Noise – They’ll Feel It’ ([link removed])
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By BONNIE HOBBS, Connection Newspapers

The writing was already on the wall in July when the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors refused to adopt the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s (MWAA) 2019 noise contours for Chantilly’s Land Unit J. Doing so enabled the board to pretend it’s still 1993 and later greenlight a slew of new homes in an area experts say is too noisy for human habitation.
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** Rising COVID-19 cases among local trash crews prompts plea for residents' patience ([link removed])
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By JILL PALERMO, Prince William Times

A “dramatic increase” in COVID-19 cases among trash and recycling crews has prompted the City of Manassas to ask residents to have patience with their weekly service and allow more time for pickups. Manassas officials made the announcement via Facebook Monday morning. The main challenge is that more trash workers are testing positive for COVID-19 and are having to recover or quarantine.
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** As solar farms multiply across Virginia, officials reckon with land use challenges ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

Once upon a time, Virginia saw Halifax County as a golden place. Just above the North Carolina border, in the heart of Southside Virginia, Halifax’s sunshine and abundant lands yielded some of the country’s largest crops of brightleaf tobacco. . . . Today, the landscape is far different. The population has shrunk and is aging. . . .Tobacco is a shadow of its former glory. Halifax, though, still has the two resources that once put it on the map: sunshine and abundant land.
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** A modest barge carries a growing share of Virginia’s port traffic ([link removed])
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By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Much attention at the Port of Virginia has been given to the supersized and superpowered. One-hundred-seventy-foot cranes that tower above those stacked container ships sailing into Hampton Roads. Middle-of-the-channel dredge operations to make the port the deepest and the widest. Rumbling trucks and snaking trains.
The Full Report
34 articles, 23 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.


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** Virginia’s early COVID-19 vaccination plan anticipates doses will be scarce ([link removed])
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By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury

Gov. Ralph Northam is hoping that all Virginians might be vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-summer. But as state leaders prepare for a largely unprecedented rollout, it’s clear that scarcity will inform at least the first few weeks of vaccine distribution. Health officials outlined the state’s coalescing approach in two meetings Tuesday, a little over a month after the Virginia Department of Health submitted its initial vaccination plan to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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** State health official updates lawmakers on vaccine latest ([link removed])
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By SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press

If federal regulators approve Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, Virginia could begin receiving limited doses as early as mid-December, the state epidemiologist told lawmakers Monday. Manufacturers already have begun stockpiling doses in anticipation of eventual approval, but the first shots in what’s expected to be the biggest vaccination effort in U.S. history will be in short supply.
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** Virginia officials prepare to distribute vaccine ([link removed])
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By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Virginia officials are preparing to distribute COVID-19 vaccines as soon as they become available, possibly as soon as next week, Gov. Ralph Northam said Monday. Biotech firm Moderna Inc. on Monday claimed its vaccine against the novel coronavirus was 94% effective in its 30,000-member, phase three clinical trial group and 100% effective against severe disease.
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** Gov. Ralph Northam joins local food bank volunteers ([link removed])
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By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam joined a dozen other volunteers Monday to pack food for distribution across the region. Northam, members of his traveling party and Del. Israel O’Quinn, R-Bristol, spent some time filling bags with potatoes, carrots and apples at the Feeding Southwest Virginia food bank in Abingdon. The first lady and other members of the administration volunteered at food banks statewide.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** House Democrats name McQuinn and Simon to new redistricting commission ([link removed])
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By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

House Democrats have named Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Richmond, and Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, to the state’s redistricting commission, a new body formed to redraw the state’s political lines next year. The commission, created through a constitutional amendment approved by voters in November’s election, will be made up of eight lawmakers and eight citizens. They’ll be tasked with drawing maps that conform to new rules that restrict political and racial gerrymandering.


** FEDERAL ELECTIONS
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** After losing Senate race, Virginia Republican launches PAC focused on electing veterans ([link removed])
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By MEAGAN FLYNN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Daniel Gade, the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia who lost to Sen. Mark R. Warner in November, says he will not run for governor next year but is launching a political action committee devoted to electing conservative veterans and educating voters on veterans issues. Gade, a 25-year Army veteran who lost a leg in combat in Iraq, had courted speculation that he would run for governor after teasing a forthcoming “major announcement” in a tweet Friday.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** With a 35-year-old computer system, Virgnia is 5 months behind in processing unemployment claims ([link removed])
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By SCOTT TAYLOR, WJLA

About 70,000 people in Virginia, including Johanna Barksdale, are still waiting to collect their unemployment benefits. . . . 7 On Your Side has discovered that the Virginia Employment Commission is still using a computer system to process claims that is 35 years old.
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** Virginia Beach woman receives nine VEC letters, all addressed to different people ([link removed])
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By EVAN WATSON, WVEC

A Virginia Beach woman waiting for an unemployment update received nine letters from the Virginia Employment Commission in her mailbox. The letters were sent to her home but addressed to three different people. "How many other people are going through this?" Laurel Lackey asked. "I'm wondering who has my information now."


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** Virginia Beach sheet metal company to create 200 jobs in expansion ([link removed])
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By TREVOR METCALFE, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

A planned $15.8 million expansion at a Virginia Beach sheet metal company will add a 100,000-square-foot production facility and create 200 new jobs. The expansion plans, which were originally announced in July, come as Acoustical Sheetmetal continues to have success installing its soundproof metal walls in the booming data center space.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** SU pushes back spring semester start date, offers extra online course credits in January ([link removed])
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By ANNA MEROD, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Shenandoah University is pushing the start date of the spring semester to Feb. 1 due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, but it’s offering undergraduates an opportunity to earn extra credits in January through online courses. This is the first time SU has offered an online-only term in January, which is called the J-Term. Students may enroll in courses totaling up to three credits.
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** W&M men’s basketball ‘pausing’ team activities due to ‘COVID-19 protocol’ ([link removed])
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Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)

The William & Mary men’s basketball program paused all team activities following a positive COVID-19 test within the team’s Tier 1 personnel. The program was notified of a positive result on Sunday as part of the program’s regular surveillance testing. In following guidelines set forth by the CDC, the Virginia Department of Health, the NCAA and campus community, all Tier 1 members of the program (players, coaches, trainers and managers) will quarantine for 14 days.
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** Lawsuit Alleges Wage Theft at Virginia University Construction Sites ([link removed])
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By ALAN RODRIGUEZ ESPINOZA, WCVE-FM

Workers are suing two Virginia-based construction companies in a class action lawsuit over allegations of wage theft. Workers claim construction company Agent Wall Systems and B&A, a firm that hires labor for construction jobs, misclassified them as independent contractors, rather than employees. “They were not paid overtime premiums for hours worked over 40,” said attorney Matthew Handley, who is representing the workers in the lawsuit.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Virginia COVID-19 cases rise by 6,935 over the holiday weekend ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

The Virginia Department of Health reported Monday that the state’s cumulative total for COVID-19 cases during the pandemic is now up to 237,835 — an increase of 6,935 from Friday. The 237,835 cases consist of 211,254 confirmed cases and 26,581 probable cases. There are 4,062 COVID-19 deaths in Virginia — 3,723 confirmed and 339 probable. That’s an increase of 18 from Friday.
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** Virginia COVID-19 cases rise by 1,893 over Sunday's total ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Virginia Department of Health reported Monday that the state’s cumulative total for COVID-19 cases during the pandemic is now up to 237,835 — an increase of 1,893 from Sunday. The 237,835 cases consist of 211,254 confirmed cases and 26,581 probable cases.
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** School Divisions Navigating VDH Recommendations ([link removed])
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By MEGAN WILLIAMS, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

In light of the rise in COVID-19 cases across the state and the Virginia Department of Health placing almost every school division in the highest risk category, officials are having to make tough calls about the remainder of the 2020 school year. All but 10 school divisions in Virginia have been placed in the “red” zone by the VDH based on number of cases and hospitalizations. The regional director for the VDH recommended that all school divisions go entirely virtual.
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** As virus cases surge, Prince William Co. plans larger-scale testing events ([link removed])
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By SCOTT GELMAN, WTOP

As the number of coronavirus cases in Prince William County continues to rise, officials in the Virginia county are planning multiple larger-scale testing events in advance of the winter holidays to alleviate demand. Dr. Alison Ansher, director of the county’s health district, told WTOP local officials are coordinating with the Virginia National Guard to organize public testing sites that would conduct an extra 500 tests per day. Those samples would be reviewed in a state lab.
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** Chesapeake jail opens COVID isolation unit as hundreds of inmates test positive ([link removed])
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By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Some inmates at the Chesapeake city jail have been moved to an isolated coronavirus unit after an outbreak, the sheriff’s office said. On Friday, Sheriff Jim O’Sullivan’s office said 232 inmates tested positive for the virus — roughly 24% of the overall jail population of 985. Four deputies also tested positive.
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** Central Shenandoah Health District seeing “significant community transmission” ([link removed])
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By CALVIN PYNN, Harrisonburg Citizen

Although not at emergency levels, cases and hospitalizations from COVID-19 have been trending noticeably upward in the Central Shenandoah Health District. “The district has seen a significant increase in cases and general increases in hospitalizations related to COVID,” said Dr. Laura Kornegay, health director for the district, in an email to The Citizen.
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** 213 Middle River Regional Jail inmates in Augusta test positive for COVID-19 ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, News Virginian

More than 200 inmates at Middle River Regional Jail in Augusta County have tested positive for COVID-19, the jail said Monday. All inmates and staff were tested Wednesday, and 213 inmates were positive. In addition, 14 staff members tested positive.
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** Lord Fairfax Health District sees 57% increase in cases during November ([link removed])
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By RANDY ARRINGTON, Page Valley News

The Lord Fairfax Health District has seen a significant surge in new cases of COVID-19 that began in mid-October push November’s numbers to the highest levels of the pandemic. All six jurisdictions within the health district have shown dramatic increases over the past few weeks and many have set new daily records in the past seven days. The Virginia Department of Health reported 217 new cases of COVID-19 within the health district on Monday — a new single-day record.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** Could Community Ownership Save Mobile Home Parks? ([link removed])
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By CAT MODLIN-JACKSON, WVTF

Mobile home parks have been a source of affordable housing since the 1970s. Now, these communities are starting to disappear as land values rise, developments crop up and the structures start to wither with age. But a movement to preserve the neighborhoods is gaining traction across the state.


** LOCAL
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** As COVID-19 cases climb, first-graders set to return to Prince William County classrooms ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Inside NOVA (Metered Paywall)

Approximately 3,000 first-graders in Prince William County are set to return to classrooms on a part-time basis starting Tuesday. They will join kindergartners and pre-kindergartners who returned Nov. 10, despite an ongoing spike in COVID-19 cases. As of Monday morning, the school division’s COVID-19 dashboard showed 177 positive coronavirus cases among staff and/or students at county schools. Last month there were 84, and in September there were 50.
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** Chesterfield School Board says high COVID community transmission led to systemwide closure ([link removed])
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By JESS NOCERA, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

The monthslong debate on whether to send students back into Chesterfield County Public Schools’ buildings started a new chapter this week, with empty classrooms and students back home, participating in virtual learning. Chesterfield students, besides select K-12 special education pupils, will not be allowed back into their respective classrooms until at least Jan. 29, the end of the first semester of 2021. The school system reversed course on its reopening plan Wednesday as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the county.
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** Henrico announces its schools won't play winter sports because of COVID ([link removed])
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By TIM PEARRELL AND ZACH JOACHIM, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Henrico County Public Schools announced Monday that its schools won’t be playing winter sports this season, adding to a growing list of school systems around the state opting out because of the pandemic.
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** Students, parents protest Williamsburg-James City County’s cancellation of winter sports season ([link removed])
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By MARTY O'BRIEN, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

Lafayette swimmer Aidan Crisci acknowledges the good intentions of Williamsburg-James City County Schools in canceling high school winter sports because of COVID-19 concerns. But, like 30 others rallying in opposition at the school division offices Friday, he feels the decision made last week is ill-considered.
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** New COVID cases found at two Chesapeake schools ([link removed])
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By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Chesapeake health officials found a link between two positive coronavirus cases at two different elementary schools. The discovery led school leaders to shift three classrooms — one at Crestwood Intermediate and two at Truitt Intermediate — to online learning. All elementary students in Chesapeake who selected an on-campus learning option have been going to school five days a week.
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** City ordered to pay court costs following Kessler FOIA lawsuit ([link removed])
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By TYLER HAMMEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

The city of Charlottesville will have to pay Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler’s court costs after failing to provide emails requested under the Freedom of Information Act in a timely manner. Kessler, the primary organizer of the 2017 white nationalist rally, has filed several lawsuits against the city in years past, mostly centered around alleged violations of his constitutional right to free speech.
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** Rockbridge County calls temporary halt to high school sports-related activity ([link removed])
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By ROBERT ANDERSON, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Rockbridge County High School athletic director and boys basketball coach Mike Gale is known for employing a frenetic run-and-gun style of play. For now, the first-year head coach and the Wildcats are grounded. Gale said Monday that Rockbridge County has suspended all athletic activity because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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** Two Pittsylvania County offices close after employees test positive ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Danville Register & Bee

Two Pittsylvania County offices are closed to the public after employees tested positive for COVID-19. Offices of treasurer and commissioner of the revenue will remain off-limits to residents through Dec. 9, the county reported in a news release Monday afternoon.

Today's Sponsor:


** Kimball Payne
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From a dedicated reader of "The Whipple Report," in honor of the birthday of his oldest child, his daughter Helen.


** EDITORIALS
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** Partners: UVa and community ([link removed])
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Daily Progress Editorial (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Not much more than a year after the University of Virginia created its Equity Center — an initiative to work with Charlottesville partners on addressing racial and socioeconomic inequality — the program has found a home appropriately situated on West Main Street, where town and gown have long been linked. Several other programs also will take up residence at the former Albemarle Hotel building, 617 W. Main St. — the offices of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Academic Outreach and Community Partnerships at UVa Health.
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** Bedford's 'no shutdown' crowd gives aid and comfort to the enemy ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Can the government tell you when to shut off your lights? If it did, would that be considered tyranny? Heck yes! I have the right to keep my lights on whenever I want! You’ll have to pry the light switch out of my cold, dead hands! OK, but what if we were at war? During World War II, East Coast cities routinely had blackouts at night to thwart either German submarines lurking off-shore, or, less likely, German bombers. Even Detroit, a city nearly 600 miles inland but home to factories vital to the war effort, had blackouts. Was that tyranny? Or was that patriotism?
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** Our lack of vision is failing students ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Last week’s decision by Chesapeake schools to continue in-person classroom learning in the face of rising coronavirus cases numbers precisely illustrates the failed approach to education during this pandemic. It’s not that the city’s school officials were wrong to keep kids in the classroom, so much as that communities are being forced to choose from a buffet of unpalatable options. By now we should have a response organized around the preservation of public education, even to the expense of all else.
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** Redacted reports remain center of controversy ([link removed])
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Daily Progress Editorial (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

The Virginia Office of the State Inspector General is charged with the critical responsibility of serving as a watchdog over other agencies. But all too often, government simply serves itself — even when a watchdog agency such as the OSIG tries to do its job. That’s the picture painted by a review of the agency’s investigation into allegations against the Virginia Parole Board.


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