VaNews
December 14, 2020

Today's Sponsor:


** Virginia's Redistricting Commission Citizen Member Selection Committee
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Now accepting applications from Virginia citizens with diverse backgrounds to serve as one of eight citizen commissioners. Application deadline December 28th. Apply today! ([link removed])
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Top of the News


** Virginia making payments in backlogged unemployment cases ([link removed])
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By SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press

Virginia has begun paying unemployment benefits to some of the tens of thousands of people whose claims had previously been on hold - in some cases for many months - because they were awaiting a staff review. State officials decided to go ahead and pay certain applicants while their claims make their way through the determination process.
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** Drug overdose deaths in Virginia hit record high ([link removed])
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By KATHERINE HAFNER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Before the pandemic, fatal drug overdoses in Virginia already were breaking records. As the deadly drug fentanyl often got mixed in with others, users sometimes unknowingly ingested the potent blend and died. Officials in the commonwealth received millions in funding to combat the problem and were making some progress. But when the coronavirus hit — as with everything it touched — the problem got much worse.
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** Officials: Calls for expanded testing signal virus is more widespread ([link removed])
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By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Recent calls for expanded COVID-19 testing, in light of skyrocketing positivity rates, indicate the virus is likely even more widespread, health officials said this week. Cases and testing positivity remain at record levels across Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee, but this coronavirus spike is likely even greater, Ballad Health officials said during the weekly news briefing.
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** For rural Virginia, getting the vaccine is one thing. Storing it is another. ([link removed])
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By ERIC MILLER, NBC 12

For months, West Piedmont Health District’s Nancy Bell has spent plenty of time on one major problem: where to keep the sensitive COVID-19 vaccines in her rural chunk of south Virginia. “The past couple of days have been fast-forward planning,” she said. Both vaccines now awaiting approval need to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures. . . . That’s putting a burden on rural health districts, like West Peidmont, where the number of freezers capable of hitting those temperatures is limited.
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** Doctors say in-person school isn’t driving COVID-19 cases. But getting students back in class is complicated. ([link removed])
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By MATT JONES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

As COVID-19 cases skyrocket, more students and staff are getting sick. As of Friday morning, Chesapeake schools had reported 101 coronavirus cases in the past two weeks. The Virginia Department of Health has reported 1,007 cases in the city in roughly the same time frame. But so far, there’s only a handful of cases in Hampton Roads in which people contracted COVID-19 at a public school.
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** GOP Congressman-elect calls the coronavirus pandemic 'phony' ([link removed])
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By JOHN L. DORMAN, Business Insider

GOP Congressman-elect Bob Good on Saturday labeled the coronavirus pandemic as "phony" during an appearance in Washington, DC, at the second "Million MAGA March" in support of President Donald Trump. Good, a conservative who will represent Virginia's 5th Congressional district beginning in January 2021, made the statement in front of a throng of supporters who were in town to protest election irregularities in the 2020 presidential election, despite no evidence showing widespread voter fraud.
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** The racial reckoning with Confederate monuments dates back more than a century ([link removed])
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By DENISE M. WATSON, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The Norfolk newspaper carried an interesting development out of Raleigh: A Lamar Bailey was arrested for drawing obscene images on a Confederate monument. That was in March 1898. In Charleston, South Carolina, the statue of John C. Calhoun, a once vice president and rabid slavery supporter, was shot at, pelted with rocks and so vandalized that it had to be replaced with a taller memorial. The substitute was installed in 1896. Portsmouth’s monument to the Confederate dead was removed in August after being beheaded and splattered with paint. But it had long been a target of disdain.
The Full Report
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** FROM VPAP
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** VPAP Visual Who has applied (so far) to Redistricting Commission? ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

Halfway through a month-long application process, 88 people have offered their services as one of eight citizen members of Virginia's new Redistricting Commission. Those selected will serve alongside eight legislators. This visual provides a demographic breakdown by gender, age, race, income, region and -- yes -- political party self-identification.
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** VPAP Visual Congressional candidates' source of campaign funds ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

VPAP ranks the November 2020 congressional candidates by the percentage of money from six types of campaign donors, ranging from small donors who give $200 or less to out-of-state donors. There's also an option to view each category by dollar amount. The totals are from January 2019 to November 23, 2020.
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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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** Northam seeks $25M for ‘historic justice’ initiatives ([link removed])
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By DENISE LAVOIE AND SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press

Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam on Friday announced a proposal to spend $25 million to transform historical sites in Virginia, including the Richmond spot where a soaring statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee became a recent focal point of protests against racism. Nearly $11 million of the money would be used to reconstruct Richmond’s Monument Avenue, a historical boulevard that was lined with the Lee statue and other Confederate monuments for more than a century.
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** Northam announces $25 million to transform Monument Avenue, other sites ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday that his next budget proposal will include $25 million to transform Richmond’s Monument Avenue and support other historic sites tied to the city’s slavery heritage. Speaking before the Rumors of War statue on Arthur Ashe Boulevard, Northam said he has tapped the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to lead an effort to develop new ideas and plans for the street following the removal of the city’s Confederate monuments earlier this year.
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** Virginia governor asked to grant posthumous pardons to seven Black men executed for 1949 rape ([link removed])
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By RACHEL WEINER AND GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Nearly 70 years ago, after a series of trials that lasted little more than a week, seven Black men were executed for the rape of a White woman in Martinsville, Va. Now, advocates and descendants of the executed are asking Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) to issue a novel posthumous pardon. The petition does not argue that the men were innocent but contends that the rushed trials and extreme punishment defied any concept of justice.
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** Police agencies say they won't stop cars to enforce curfew ([link removed])
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By MARK BOWES, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Virginia State Police and Richmond-area law enforcement agencies say they will not be stopping motorists to enforce compliance with Gov. Ralph Northam’s modified stay-at-home order that imposes a midnight to 5 a.m. curfew beginning Monday. “We will NOT be conducting traffic stops on people otherwise lawfully operating a motor vehicle during these times,” Chesterfield County Police Chief Jeffrey Katz said in a posting Thursday evening on his Facebook page.
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** Hemingway slams Northam for telling Virginians how to worship: 'Flat-out wrong' ([link removed])
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By CALEB PARKE, Fox News

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, D., "overstepped his role" when he told citizens how to worship amid the latest coronavirus restrictions, Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway told "America's Newsroom" on Friday. "This year we need to think about what is truly the most important thing. Is it the worship or the building? For me, God is wherever you are. You don't have to sit in the church pew for God to hear your prayers," Northam said during a press conference in Richmond. "Northam is just flat-out wrong when he pretends to be a theologian who can instruct people on how they should be worshipping," Hemingway said.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** Virginia lawmakers focus on racial equity as they debate marijuana legalization ([link removed])
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By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury

Del. Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, said it wasn’t just a pungent odor that struck him during a recent visit to the city’s newly opened medical marijuana dispensary. “I saw all that marijuana and I was looking over my shoulder waiting on the feds to run in and get us all because there was so much cannabis in there,” said Scott, a lawyer, who contrasted the scene to a court hearing three days later where he witnessed “a young brother get sentenced to five years for possession with intent to distribute marijuana” — a disparate approach to the drug he called absurd and hypocritical.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** McAuliffe outlines plans, talks with local educators ([link removed])
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By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe promised to go “big and bold” in redefining education in Virginia during a Friday Zoom call with city educators. McAuliffe, who this week announced his bid for a second term as governor, outlined his plans to change public education and received input from Highland View Elementary Principal Pam Davis-Vaught, city teachers and counselors and a Virginia High student during the nearly hourlong virtual meeting.
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** Chase reverses course and says she will seek GOP nomination in a convention ([link removed])
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By ANDREW CAIN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Less than a week after saying she would run as an independent, Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, says she will seek the GOP nomination for governor in the party-run convention so that she does not split the party. “I am still advocating for a primary, but I am not going to run as an independent, because if I run as an independent, that would ensure that a D would win, and that as a true conservative R is not something that I’m willing to do so,” Chase said in a Facebook video Friday afternoon.
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** Amanda Chase says she won’t run as an independent and will seek GOP nomination for governor ([link removed])
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By GRAHAM MOOMAW, Virginia Mercury

Backtracking on her threat to run for governor as an independent, Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, said Friday that she’ll reluctantly participate in a GOP nominating convention even though she preferred a primary. “I am going to fully seek the Republican nomination,” Chase said in a video streamed on Facebook. “I’m not going to run as an independent.”
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** Candi King wins Democratic primary in 2nd House of Delegates race ([link removed])
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By JILL PALERMO, Prince William Times

Candi King came out on top of a quick-turnaround, five-candidate primary Sunday to win the Democratic nomination in the Jan. 5 special election for the 2nd District House of Delegates seat. The eastern Prince William and Stafford County post is being vacated by Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, who is vying for the party’s nod to run for Virginia governor.


** FEDERAL ELECTIONS
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** These GOP members of Congress from Virginia, Maryland back Texas suit to overturn election ([link removed])
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By MEAGAN FLYNN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Four Republican congressmen in the greater Washington region signed onto the amicus brief backing Texas’s failed lawsuit over the presidential election, which sought to invalidate election results in four battleground states. The Supreme Court rejected the case on Friday evening, writing in a short statement that “Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections. All other pending motions are dismissed as moot.” Before that, Reps. Ben Cline, H. Morgan Griffith and Rob Wittman of Virginia and Rep. Andy Harris (Md.) had joined more than 100 House Republicans to support the case.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** 80,000 Virginians who lost unemployment while waiting for a hearing could see money return ([link removed])
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By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The Virginia Employment Commission, which has taken longer than any other state to determine a jobless worker’s eligibility for unemployment, is changing the way it will pay out benefits in some cases. And the change could help about 80,000 Virginians. Before, if there was an issue with a claim including questions about how a person left their job, the weekly benefits a person already was receiving would have been cut off until a hearing was held or a determination was made after fact-finding. Those decisions have been delayed, though, often for months at a time, leaving thousands without benefits while they waited.
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** Virginia says it will stop cutting off unemployment benefits without investigations ([link removed])
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By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury

Facing the threat of a class-action lawsuit, Virginia officials said this week they will stop halting unemployment benefits after they’ve been started without first conducting a review. The Charlottesville-based Legal Aid Justice Center says the decision means payments will resume for thousands of unemployed Virginians who had their benefits cut off after, for instance, an employer disputed their eligibility for benefits or reported they refused a job offer. “The policy until now has been that a mere report by a former employer would trigger the Virginia Employment Commission to cut off someone’s benefits,” said Pat Levy-Lavelle, a lawyer with the center that has been representing people seeking jobless benefits. “Whereas now a report puts a case on list for adjudication but doesn’t in and of itself trigger cutoff of benefits.”
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** State Retraining Program Gets 33K Inquiries In Under 6 Weeks ([link removed])
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By IAN MUNRO, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Sadie LeClair, 20, was teaching at Pleasant Valley Elementary School in Harrisonburg and studying at Blue Ridge Community College when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In the fallout, LeClair lost her job and moved to Winchester to live with her boyfriend, yet her passion to teach and work with children had not been stifled. LeClair continued her schooling to help fill a shortage of early child educators and caretakers — a shortage many other industries are also seeing. And a new state retraining program has aided her.
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** Martinsville files to resume jury trials with Virginia Supreme Court ([link removed])
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By BILL WYATT, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

On March 16, Gov. Ralph Northam requested a declaration of a judicial emergency in all district and circuit courts in the state, which Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Donald Lemons honored that same day. That declaration has been extended 13 times, most recently on Dec. 3, and will remain in effect through Jan. 3, 2021. The order suspends non-essential and non-emergency court proceedings in all circuit and district courts and extends the deadlines of those suspended proceedings.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** BAE turning to oyster ‘castles,’ ‘bergs’ to help clean up the Elizabeth River’s polluted waters ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Like many who live and work on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and the rivers that feed it, BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair figured it would be a nice thing to raise some oysters. But the shipyard on the Elizabeth River, long considered among the state’s most polluted waterways, isn’t aiming for oyster roasts from its 20 cages of baby oysters any time soon.
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** Forest Service report supports pipeline's route through the Jefferson National Forest ([link removed])
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By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Mountain Valley Pipeline inched closer Friday to the Jefferson National Forest, where plans call for it to pass through 3.5 miles of woodlands and 90 feet under the Appalachian Trail. An environmental impact statement released by the U.S. Forest Service supported running a buried, 42-inch diameter pipe through the forest to transport natural gas at high pressure.
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** The U.S. Navy is planning to build significantly more warships over the next 30 years ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

The Pentagon’s latest 30-year shipbuilding plans calls for more ships, and a lot more smaller ones, as well as a major move into unmanned vessels. It also calls for a stepped-up pace for building the Virginia-class attack submarines built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Electric Boat team effort.
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** Virginia made it easier to build solar facilities. Hanover County residents are pushing back. ([link removed])
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By ABBY CHURCH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

When Nat Draper bought 13 acres in Hanover County 17 years ago to build a house, the big appeal was the area’s beauty. He remembers driving an ATV down the half-mile-long driveway to the mailbox with his daughters on a sled tied behind him, snow draped over the rolling hills on both sides. It was everything he wanted — a good environment to raise his kids while being connected to nature.
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** Can Southwest Virginia win the data center game? ([link removed])
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By MASON ADAMS, Va Business Magazine

Like many other parts of the commonwealth, Southwest Virginia is making a play to attract data centers, offering cheap land, available workers and a natural cooling system. Data centers aren’t huge employers but do offer high wages and significant tax revenue — which other regions in Virginia have taken full advantage of, particularly Loudoun County in Northern Virginia.
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** Blackjewel plans to liquidate assets in bankruptcy ([link removed])
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By ROBERT SORRELL, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

The bankrupt Blackjewel coal company — which left hundreds of miners in Southwest Virginia without pay in 2019 — is being liquidated and is accusing its former CEO of conducting fraudulent transactions. Ned Pillersdorf, who represents the company’s former miners, said adversary action filed this week reads like a “criminal indictment.” He said former CEO Jeff Hoops, who resigned from the company after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2019, “basically emptied its assets.”
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** First-Year NASCAR Track Operator Finds There's No Playbook for a Pandemic ([link removed])
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By AL PEARCE, Autoweek

Nobody was surprised when the gates remained closed and locked on March 28, the scheduled opening night for NASCAR racing at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia. Fans and competitors were understandably deeply disappointed, but not overly concerned at the time. They were neither surprised nor concerned a week later, when the reschedule opening night also was canceled. Or the week after that or the weeks and months that followed.
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** Southside Speedway closing after 60 seasons, citing pandemic ([link removed])
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By ZACH JOACHIM, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Southside Speedway, a Richmond auto racing institution where NASCAR star Denny Hamlin first raced, is closing its doors for good. The track posted a statement on its website Friday morning citing the coronavirus pandemic, which kept the track from offering racing this season and cast doubt on a potential 2021 season.


** TRANSPORTATION
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** Metro moves closer to huge service cuts ([link removed])
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By DREW HANSEN, Washington Business Journal (Subscription required for some articles)

Metro on Thursday moved closer to a series of drastic cuts as it faces a nearly $500 million deficit created by slumping ridership and fare revenue during the Covid-19 crisis. The Metro Board of Directors voted 6-2 in favor of a proposed budget from Paul Wiedefeld, the general manager and CEO of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. His proposal calls for the elimination of all weekend rail service and the closure of 19 Metro stations.
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** Claims that Metro leaders pushed toxic culture 'unsubstantiated,' review finds ([link removed])
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By EMILY ZANTOW, Washington Times

Claims that top Metro officials peddled a “deep-seated toxic workplace culture” including racism, sexual harassment and retaliation are “unsubstantiated,” according to an independent investigation released Friday by the Washington-area transit agency. Metro hired the law firm Littler Mendelson, P.C. to conduct an independent review of working conditions and hostile work environment complaints published in the Washington Metropolitan Safety Commission (WMSA) audit in September.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** Students see fewer arrests amid decriminalized marijuana, but legalization won't stop college penalties ([link removed])
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By HENRI GENDREAU, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Marijuana has been growing on Virginia. This summer, the state decriminalized the drug, meaning simple possession prompts a $25 civil fine rather than a misdemeanor that could carry a $500 fee, a suspended driver’s license and even jail time. Last month, Gov. Ralph Northam pledged that the General Assembly convening in January will seek to legalize weed, which practically could take effect as early as the summer.
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** VCU expects a financial loss of at least $75 million during spring semester ([link removed])
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By ERIC KOLENICH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Revenues for Virginia Commonwealth University likely will fall at least $75 million in the spring 2021 semester, president Michael Rao told the school's board of visitors on Friday. And that's the best-case scenario for an uncertain future still clouded by the pandemic. Revenue losses could reach $144 million. VCU Health is projecting a loss of $60 million.
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** COVID restrictions to continue for UVa students in spring ([link removed])
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By BRYAN MCKENZIE, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

University of Virginia students can expect COVID-19 restrictions and requirements to continue when they return to Grounds from winter break, officials told the university’s Board of Visitors on Friday. Administrators, faculty and students were also praised to the board and by the board for efforts at helping the university make a quick move from on-Grounds to online classes in March and for limiting the spread of COVID-19 during the fall semester.
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** UVa students take care of their own during pandemic ([link removed])
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By BRYAN MCKENZIE, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

When the pandemic began draining bank accounts, disrupting lives and leaving people struggling to pay bills and buy food, one government body immediately sprang into action. It wasn’t the state legislature. It wasn’t Congress. It was the University of Virginia Student Council.
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** How a University of Richmond researcher uncovered the campus's forgotten connection to slavery ([link removed])
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By ERIC KOLENICH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

On the campus of the University of Richmond, there is a grassy triangle of land southeast of Westhampton Lake. Dotted with oak and pine trees, the green space extends up a hill from Richmond Way and is trimmed by two university buildings. Some 180 years ago, the space served as a cemetery for the enslaved people who lived and worked on a plantation that used to exist there. University leaders knew about the cemetery when they bought the land in 1910. They knew it in the 1940s and again in the 1950s when the graves were discovered during construction projects.
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** In final years at Liberty, Falwell spent millions on pro-Trump causes ([link removed])
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By MAGGIE SEVERNS, Politico

After shocking many in the evangelical movement by endorsing Donald Trump over other Republicans for the 2016 presidential nomination, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. pumped millions of the nonprofit religious institution’s funds into Republican causes and efforts to promote the Trump administration, blurring the lines between education and politics. The culmination of his efforts was the creation of a university-funded campus “think tank” — which has produced no peer-reviewed academic work and bears little relation to study centers at other universities — that ran pro-Trump ads, hired Trump allies including former adviser Sebastian Gorka and current Trump attorney Jenna Ellis to serve as fellows and, in recent weeks, has aggressively promoted Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud.
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** Thomas Nelson Community College is named after a Revolutionary War hero and slaveholder. Will it be renamed? ([link removed])
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By MATT JONES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

In spring 1967, the land that would become the Peninsula’s community college was just a swampy forested tract of land. A year earlier, Gov. Mills Godwin had signed legislation creating the Virginia Community College System, setting up a system of local boards that eventually led to a network of 23 public two-year colleges across the state.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Virginia reports 3,294 new COVID-19 cases ([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 state’s cumulative total for COVID-19 cases during the pandemic is now up to 281,909, an increase of 3,294 from Saturday. There have been 4,411 COVID-19 deaths in Virginia, an increase of two from Saturday.
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** No Timetable for Prison Vaccinations in Virginia Yet ([link removed])
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By WHITTNEY EVANS, WCVE-FM

It’s unclear when prisoners in Virginia will receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The governor’s three-phase distribution plan does not specifically mention people who are incarcerated in prisons and jails. Correctional facilities have been hit hard by the pandemic. According to the Virginia Department of Corrections, around 5,300 offenders have tested positive for the virus inside state-run correctional facilities so far and 35 have died. VADOC reported more than 200 active cases and one death among staff.
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** ‘I am concerned’: Prince William Co. health leader advises caution as positivity rate spikes ([link removed])
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By SCOTT GELMAN, WTOP

A doctor tasked with overseeing the Prince William County Health District in Virginia is urging the public to take the necessary precautions as the county’s coronavirus test percent-positivity rate exceeded 16% this week. Dr. Alison Ansher, who oversees Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park, told WTOP the current surge was expected and could get worse if public health guidelines aren’t followed.
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** Spotsylvania hospital fills two units with virus patients, plans to open a third ([link removed])
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By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center has seen such a surge in COVID-19 patients that it had to open a second unit—and is making plans for a third. In a weekly update posted on YouTube on Friday, Lee Van Sise, the hospital’s chief nursing officer since June, said the surge started Monday night with an influx of emergency room patients who tested positive for the virus. After the six beds in the intensive care unit were filled, the hospital allocated seven more rooms for COVID-19 patients.
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** Verona jail and Craigsville prison report nearly 500 have tested positive for COVID ([link removed])
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By BRAD ZINN AND LAURA PETERS, News Leader (Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)

Middle River Regional Jail announced Friday that 49 additional inmates tested positive for COVID-19, a press release said. The Augusta Correctional Center in Craigsville is also battling a coronavirus outbreak at its facility. According to the jail press release, a total of 358 inmates have tested positive for COVID since Nov. 25. Middle River Regional Jail had 820 inmates in custody as of Friday evening.
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** New study outlines how families of color in Virginia are affected by the pandemic ([link removed])
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By KENYA HUNTER, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Families of color are losing the most during the coronavirus pandemic, from jobs to housing, food security and mental health, according to data released Monday by the nonprofit Voices for Virginia’s Children. One in four Black families reported sometimes or often not having enough to eat, compared to about one in six families overall; more than one in three Black families also suffered housing instability — compared to about one in five Virginia families overall, according to the study.
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** Virginia’s contact tracing app will now notify users of exposures across state lines ([link removed])
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By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury

Virginia’s contact tracing app is going national. Starting this week, COVIDWISE will work in 15 states and Washington, D.C. after joining a national server that allows for notifications across state lines. The Virginia Department of Health announced the change in a news release on Friday, writing that the transition “will enable users to find out when they may have been exposed by users from other states.”
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** States get tracing apps to talk to each other as virus rises ([link removed])
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By BRYAN ANDERSON, Associated Press

As coronavirus exposure notification technology slowly rolls out across the country, every resident in 17 states and the District of Columbia will now be able to send and receive alerts beyond their home state if they’ve tested positive for the coronavirus or come into contact with someone who has. On Friday, Virginia joined Washington, D.C., and 16 other states that have been using the Association of Public Health Laboratories’ National Key Server, which allows phones to “talk to each other” across state borders. This means users in these 18 areas won’t have to download a separate app in places they are visiting.
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** Dan River Region churches balance Christmas traditions with raging coronavirus ([link removed])
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By SUSAN ELZEY, Danville Register & Bee

Candlelight, caroling, cantatas and Santa Claus at the annual Christmas party are all cherished traditions and rituals at churches during the Christmas season. This year, however, as the world waits for a vaccine to become readily available and the pandemic rages, Dan River Region churches have canceled or changed their usual activities in favor of safety and health.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** Descendants of enslaved Blacks explore Virginia history ([link removed])
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By SUSAN SVRLUGA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Growing up, George Monroe Jr. avoided the historical site that was just a few miles from his family’s property in Virginia, James Monroe’s Highland. “To be honest with you, the old folks, the family back in the day, they frowned on it,” he said. “Who really wants to go visit a plantation, knowing your family members were enslaved there?”
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** Oliver Hill, Barbara Johns, Maggie Walker among finalists to replace Virginia's Lee statue at U.S. Capitol ([link removed])
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By ANDREW CAIN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Civil rights attorney Oliver Hill Sr., teenage civil rights pioneer Barbara Johns and Maggie Walker, the first African American woman to charter a bank in the U.S. are among the five finalists to replace Virginia's statue of Robert E. Lee at the U.S. Capitol. The other two finalists are Pocahontas and John Mercer Langston, Virginia's first African American member of Congress.
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** VMFA's event marks one-year anniversary for Kehinde Wiley's 'Rumors of War' ([link removed])
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By ZACH JOACHIM, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

“Rumors of War wasn’t a rumor” — that was a line commonly seen on signs held by protesters this summer on Richmond’s Monument Avenue. The statement refers to the prophetic nature of Kehinde Wiley’s “Rumors of War” statue that was unveiled along Arthur Ashe Boulevard outside the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on Dec. 10, 2019, less than six months before the largely peaceful protests, which were sometimes disrupted by acts of violence.
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** Fairfax County begins process of finding new names for Lee Highway ([link removed])
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By ANTONIO OLIVO, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Fairfax County has begun the process of getting rid of Confederate names on streets, parks and other sites, part of a broader reckoning over Virginia’s Civil War legacy amid calls for greater racial and social equity in the state. On Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors agreed to start public discussions around a renaming process featuring 157 locations that, in many cases, would require county residents and businesses to change their mailing addresses.
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** CPD officer convicted of assault in March arrest ([link removed])
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By NOLAN STOUT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

A white Charlottesville police officer has been found guilty of assaulting a Black man. Judge Theresa Carter sentenced officer Jeffrey Jaeger to a 12-month suspended sentence and two years of unsupervised probation following a trial in Charlottesville General District Court on Friday. Attorney Mike Hallahan, who represented Jaeger, appealed the conviction to Charlottesville Circuit Court.


** LOCAL
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** Workforce shortage prompted Fauquier County schools to revert to virtual-only instruction ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORTS, Prince William Times

Fauquier County's decision to revert to virtual only instruction next week was the result of “catastrophic workforce shortages” related to COVID-19 as well as rising community spread and increasing hospitalizations, Fauquier County officials said Friday. “This was a result of catastrophic workforce shortages,” Fauquier County School Board member Stephanie Litter-Reber (Lee) said Friday. She emphasized that the decision was not made, as she put it, “because teachers didn’t want to teach.”
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** Petersburg registrar: Recount off because of COVID-19 exposure in office ([link removed])
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By BILL ATKINSON, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 10 articles a month)

An exposure to COVID-19 in the city registrar's office has forced postponement of Tuesday's recount of the Ward 2 council election results. Registrar Dawn Wilmoth said Sunday night that her office — which already had been set up according to pandemic protocols in advance of the recount — is closed effective immediately for cleaning and sanitizing due to the exposure. She called the timing "very unfortunate" but necessary to protect everyone who would have been sequestered inside the Market Street office for the duration of the recount.
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** In-person instruction at Hanover High School suspended ([link removed])
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By ABBY CHURCH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Hanover County Public Schools announced late Friday it was suspending in-person instruction and moving to remote learning at Hanover High School after seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases. The change went into effect immediately and will go until Dec. 18 with plans to reopen on Jan. 4, the day after winter break ends. All other schools in the county will meet for instruction as scheduled, according to the announcement.
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** Massive new indoor entertainment venue opens at Virginia Beach Town Center as COVID-19 threat persists ([link removed])
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By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

There is little, if any, space inside the just-opened 84,000 square-foot Apex Entertainment amusement center that isn’t filled with something fun, be it an indoor go-kart track, military-themed laser tag, black light mini-golf course, ax-throwing walls, a ropes course, a bowling alley, bumper cars, sports simulators, pool tables and an arcade. The new venue in Virginia Beach’s Town Center threw its doors open to thrill-seekers at 2 p.m. Friday afternoon.
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** WJCC parents petition school board for in-person classes ([link removed])
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By JULIA MARSIGLIANO, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)

The coronavirus pandemic has pretty much disrupted every facet of normalcy. Take for instance families with kids in school. They are now tasked with keeping students on track while they learn from home. But some parents want the school divisions to reopen full-time and have in-person classes. They say that’ll give parents and their kids some much needed relief. Joseph Nickerson created an online petition for the Williamsburg-James City County School Board to give an option of having in-person classes for students in grades K-12 starting Jan. 11.
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** Spotsy teachers say fewer students coming to class ([link removed])
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By ADELE UPHAUS–CONNER, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

High school teachers in Spotsylvania County Public Schools say attendance at their in-person classes is lower than it should be, and has declined since the hybrid school option began in October. Spotsylvania students who select the hybrid option are divided into two groups. Each group attends school in person two days a week and participates in virtual online learning for another two days.
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** Kessler revives FOIA lawsuit in new venue ([link removed])
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By TYLER HAMMEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler has revived a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, filing the latest iteration in Charlottesville Circuit Court and expanding his claims. 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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** Virginia county works to fill gaps in broadband service ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN FAULCONER, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

In nearly two decades of living at her current home in Amherst County, Monica Dean said her massive struggles with affordable high-speed internet access make her feel like she and her husband have been left behind. The retired couple lives in the Bobwhite Road area of the county, where the internet is slow, unreliable and costly when it’s even working, she said, and they’ve dealt with high cellphone bills.
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** Roanoke County schools see increase in failing grades; district plans targeted approach to support students ([link removed])
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By CLAIRE MITZEL, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Roanoke County students earned more failing grades in the first quarter of the 2020–21 school year than in previous years, grade distribution data shows. As a result, Roanoke County Public Schools has begun targeted intervention to support struggling students. The data, presented Thursday to the Roanoke County School Board, shows the increase in F’s largely comes from students who have chosen online-only instruction.
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** Montgomery County to move most seventh to 12th-graders to remote learning ([link removed])
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By YANN RANAIVO, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Montgomery County Public Schools will move Monday to a phase that will shift most seventh to 12th-graders to remote-only learning until at least Jan. 21. The county school board approved the decision on 5-2 vote during a specially called teleconference meeting Friday. The move came just days after the board decided to keep the district under a phase that has allowed no more than half all students to be in class at any time during the school day.
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** Danville officials say battery storage project will power electrical savings ([link removed])
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By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

City officials say a battery energy storage project would save money for Danville Utilities and help lead to lower electric costs for consumers. If approved by Danville City Council, the project would install a large outdoor battery system at a Danville Utilities warehouse site at 864 Monument St. It would include containers about 20 feet long and 10 feet wide and several feet apart, but connected to a transformer.
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** Ringgold residents concerned about First Piedmont Landfill, but county's regulatory powers are limited ([link removed])
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By PARKER COTTON, Danville Register & Bee

A group of Ringgold residents has raised concerns in recent months about the operating procedures of the First Piedmont Corporation landfill, but they say they have received little support of their efforts from the Pittsylvania County government.
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** Bristol Virginia City Schools return to virtual learning ([link removed])
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Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Students and staff at Bristol Virginia City Schools are returning to a virtual learning environment. Superintendent Keith Perrigan said virtual learning will take place the entire week of Dec. 14. He said a small number of key staff personnel at some schools will be unavailable making it difficult to implement the Return to School plan.

Today's Sponsor:


** Virginia's Redistricting Commission Citizen Member Selection Committee
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Now accepting applications from Virginia citizens with diverse backgrounds to serve as one of eight citizen commissioners. Application deadline December 28th. Apply today! ([link removed])


** EDITORIALS
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** Northern Virginia's rise is good for rural Virginia -- maybe ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

We have some good news and we have some ambiguous news. Let’s start with the good news: Northern Virginia really has become a global center for technology companies. That’s not just some hype out of the governor’s office, but something validated in a recent report on technology startups worldwide – “The Global Startup Ecosystem Report,” an annual study by Startup Genome, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that studies such things.
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** Don’t water down academic testing ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Virtual learning has been a disaster for many children, particularly for low-income, minority students and those with special education needs. The latest research has found that “students who struggle in in-person classes are likely to struggle even more online.” But exactly how much educational ground have at-risk students in the Fredericksburg region lost since March, when all of Virginia’s school divisions were closed on order of the governor due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
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** As case numbers rise, a plea for cooperation ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Wash your hands. Avoid gathering with people outside your home. Practice social distancing. Wear a mask. From the start of this pandemic, the guidance has generally been constant. In our ninth month of dealing with the coronavirus, however, most people are as tired of hearing it as officials likely are repeating it. Yet, we find ourselves at a precarious point.
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** Virginia's opting for a nominating convention could be a blow to Trumpism ([link removed])
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Washington Post Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Credit Virginia's Republican Party for doing something — anything — to restore its competitiveness after a decade-long streak of GOP losses in statewide races. Last weekend, the party’s governing Central Committee, worried at the prospect that a Trump-style candidate in next year’s gubernatorial election would yield yet another shattering defeat, opted for a nominating convention rather than a primary.


** COLUMNISTS
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** Schapiro: Politics in Virginia's parallel universe ([link removed])
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By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Ben Cline, the congressman from the Blue Ridge 6th District, is a strict constitutionalist quick to object to government overreach, such as perceived intrusions on gun rights — a big deal in Virginia’s countryside. His fellow Republican from the 1st District in Tidewater, Rob Wittman, is a Ph.D. who worries the Chesapeake Bay could become an algae-choked Petri dish because of fertilizer runoff from all those upstream suburban lawns. Cline, a lawyer, and Wittman, a scientist, would tell you there is ample, irrefutable evidence of both — that the facts don’t lie.


** OP-ED
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** Kellermann and Rao: The Navy learned how to defeat COVID-19. We can too. ([link removed])
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By ART KELLERMANN AND MICHAEL RAO, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

This past March, a huge outbreak of COVID-19 occurred on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier operating in the Western Pacific. Ultimately, 1,271 sailors — 26% of the crew — were infected. In mid-November, the Navy published a detailed account of the outbreak in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The ship had been at sea for 13 days when three crew members reported to the ship’s medical department with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19.

Kellermann, M.D., is senior vice president of health sciences and CEO of VCU Health System. Rao, Ph.D., is president of Virginia Commonwealth University and the VCU Health System.
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** Carrico: Cox will stand for law enforcement ([link removed])
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By BILL CARRICO, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Few things are more difficult for a retired legislator than watching a legislative session go off the rails and be unable to do anything about it. That’s where I found myself in most of 2020, watching as House and Senate Democrats attacked our law enforcement community. I’m also a retired State Trooper, and that made it even more difficult to watch Democrats paint our men and women behind the badge as a threat to public safety, rather than a force for good.

Carrico is a former state trooper and a former Republican state senator from Grayson County.
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** Hanold: Lawmakers need to prioritize Medicaid reimbursements for home health care ([link removed])
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By TIM HANOLD, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

People everywhere are adapting to the new normal. Home health care is no different. Our industry is responding not only to the coronavirus, but also to long-term trends in health care. Heading into the 2021 General Assembly session, Virginia lawmakers should prioritize fully funding Medicaid reimbursements for home health care as a critical bridge to a new normal for this industry.
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** Lawhorn: Virginia Tech should run UVA-Wise ([link removed])
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By ED LAWHORN, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Regular readers of the Roanoke Times editorial column know that it periodically focuses its editorial spotlight on the challenging circumstances of far southwest Virginia, including declining population, deteriorating public school facilities, and economic difficulties, all revolving primarily around a decelerating coal economy. Should this topic matter to us? Obviously, it’s concerning to the newspaper, but how about to those of us in the New River and Roanoke valleys?

Lawhorn is a former banker living in Blacksburg.
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** Bolling: Election 2020 — What lessons can we learn, and what actions should we take? ([link removed])
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By BILL BOLLING, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Was the outcome of the 2020 election influenced by widespread voter fraud? I do not think so. At least that has been the conclusion of the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and various election officials of both parties in key battleground states. In addition, more than two dozen lawsuits filed by President Donald Trump’s legal team have been dismissed either by federal or state judges, many of whom were appointed by him.

Bolling is a former two-term lieutenant governor of Virginia. He now teaches government and politics at Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University and the University of Richmond.
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** Morse: A familiar face enters Virginia’s gubernatorial race ([link removed])
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By GORDON C. MORSE, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

If you want a seminar on modern political campaigning, carefully observe former Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s bid for a second term as Virginia’s chief executive. Watch the master dance his way through difficult channels and necessary alignments. The choreography. The dexterity. The footwork. Fred Astaire, eat your heart out.

After writing editorials for the Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot in the 1980s, Gordon C. Morse wrote speeches for Gov. Gerald L. Baliles.
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** Warner: Virginians should have faith in the election ([link removed])
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By MARK WARNER, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The votes have been counted, recounted and certified. The dust has settled on President Donald Trump’s undemocratic attempts to reverse the final tally. And the results are in: This election was, in the words of President Trump’s own appointees, “the most secure election in modern history.” This outcome was far from given. In the weeks running up to Nov. 3, the Senate Intelligence Committee, on which I serve as vice chairman, received multiple briefings from intelligence officials raising alarms that foreign nations intended to launch massive interference campaigns to spread misinformation designed to influence our elections.

Warner is the senior U.S. senator from Virginia and the commonwealth’s 69th governor.
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** Levine: Virginia should join a compact that would give its electoral votes to the popular vote winner ([link removed])
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By MARK LEVINE, published in Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Whom did you vote for in the 2020 presidential race? Say it out loud right now. If you said either “Trump” or “Biden,” you’re wrong. Strange as it may seem, you didn’t vote for President Trump, President-elect Joe Biden or any other candidate. You voted for a group of electors whom you trust/suspect/hope/pray will pick your chosen presidential candidate when they cast their votes in state capitals on Monday.

Levine, a Democrat, represents parts of Alexandria, Arlington County and Fairfax County in the Virginia House of Delegates.


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