By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) on Wednesday proposed a state budget that would restore some spending frozen earlier this year amid uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic, updating a spending document that the General Assembly just finished tinkering with last month. Speaking to lawmakers via video link from an almost empty committee room, Northam said the budget was created "against the backdrop of the pandemic" and that it is "intended to help Virginians navigate the next phase of the crisis and, perhaps, its final months. . . . While we believe an end to this crisis — and a rebounding of our economy — is in sight, we are not there yet."
By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The critical care nurse was one of the first in Richmond to treat a patient who tested positive for COVID-19. On Wednesday, she became the first front-line worker at VCU Medical Center to receive a vaccine aimed at defeating the virus. “Very simply, I miss my family. I miss my mom,” said Audrey Roberson, who’s worked at VCU for 31 years and runs the hospital’s medical respiratory ICU, which treats the sickest COVID-19 patients.
By JOSH GULLY, Inside NOVA (Metered Paywall)
An attempt to have Culpeper County Public Schools release a weekly coronavirus rundown to the public failed during a Dec. 14 school board meeting. As the meeting began, board member Barbara Brown suggested an agenda amendment to include a vote whether the school system will “provide information regarding COVID quarantines, isolations and positive cases weekly to staff and public for the remainder of the school year.”
By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury
It’s not over yet. The Virginia State Corporation Commission this November denied Appalachian Power Company’s request to increase its electric rates and both the utility and the Office of the Attorney General are challenging the ruling. Their aims are exactly opposite: Appalachian says regulators erred in rejecting the rate hike, while Virginia’s top attorney says regulators incorrectly calculated the utility’s earnings, which means customers could be entitled to refunds.
By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
The keel is in place for the new U.S.-flagged ship that Dominion Energy expects will anchor the offshore wind energy business in Hampton Roads. The $500 million, 472-foot ship — to be named Charybdis, after the mythical Greek sea monster that generated whirlpools — will be one of the largest of its type and should be in place in 2023, in time to begin installing the first of the 180 turbines Dominion plans to operate 27 miles off of Virginia Beach.
By DREW HANSEN, Washington Business Journal (Subscription required for some articles)
MGM National Harbor is looking at moving some of its gaming operations into the great outdoors. A permit application for commercial contractor JE Richards Inc. to perform “electrical work for outdoor gaming construction drawings” at the casino-resort was submitted Friday to Prince George’s County....The pursuit of some form of outdoor gaming comes in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis, where outside settings have emerged as safer places to enjoy activities once performed indoors.
By STEPHEN DINAN, Washington Times
Virginia’s special history commission on Wednesday picked Barbara Rose Johns, a lesser-known civil rights pioneer who led an early school desegregation effort, as the figure it wants to send to Washington to replace the state’s current statue of Robert E. Lee in the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol. Brushing aside suggestions of founding-era heroes such as James Madison or Patrick Henry, and 20th Century statesman George C. Marshall, the commission said it wanted someone schoolchildren would identify with — and Johns, who was a teen in 1951 led a strike at her Virginia high school to demand facilities like white students had, fit the bill.
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By SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam outlined his proposed amendments to the two-year state budget Wednesday, presenting a plan that includes hundreds of millions on the pandemic response and restores Democratic priorities put on hold in the spring over economic uncertainty. The governor’s proposals, which typically serve as a starting point for lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled General Assembly who convene in January, account for the fact that Virginia’s economy has held up better than expected this year, administration officials said.
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Gov. Ralph Northam would spare public schools the loss of more than a half-billion dollars from a drop in enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic under the new two-year budget he proposed on Wednesday, nine months after the public health emergency began. Northam’s budget would forgo $513.5 million that the state could have saved in K-12 funding because of declining enrollment, but which the governor warned “would devastate our public education system.”
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Gov. Ralph Northam unveiled his proposed changes to the state’s two-year budget, which include funding for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations and other pandemic assistance and $50 million to advance a goal to extend Amtrak passenger rail service to the New River Valley. New River Valley government and community leaders have been eager to restore passenger rail to the region to boost economic development and provide long-distance transportation for students enrolled at Virginia Tech and Radford University.
By JUSTIN FAULCONER, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
More than a dozen Amherst residents addressed the county’s board of supervisors Tuesday, arguing for and against a potential First Amendment resolution opposed to Gov. Ralph Northam’s latest round of restrictions aimed at mitigating the spread of the coronavirus. The majority of the 11 residents who spoke during a public comments portion said they favor the board backing such a resolution while others voiced support for Northam’s measures they feel are keeping the public safe.
By LUKE WEIR, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Roanoke County has approved its 2021 legislative agenda, listing political priorities and positions to send the Virginia General Assembly ahead of the state’s January lawmaking session. A legislative agenda is approved by the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors annually, to outline issues the local government wants addressed by elected officials at the state level, said County Attorney Peter Lubeck.
By SCOTT MCCAFFREY, Inside NOVA (Metered Paywall)
Arlington County Board members on Dec. 12 opted to back off proposed verbiage in their 2021 legislative-priorities package that apparently left a bad taste in the mouths of local law enforcement. Board members voted to change wording of a proposal that asks the General Assembly to grant Arlington power to expand the use of speed cameras across the community. In the original draft of the proposal, the one-paragraph policy statement said that giving localities more authority in automated traffic enforcement “has the potential to improve safety, reduce unnecessary interactions between residents and police and further advance equitable outcomes by reducing or eliminating raced-based disparities in speed enforcement.”
By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring formally launched his bid for a third term as the state’s top lawyer Wednesday. Herring had previously intended to run for governor, but in September, he revealed he had decided to forgo a run for higher office, opting instead to seek to continue in his role, a decision he detailed in a series of calls with influential Virginia Democrats.
By LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Attorney General Mark R. Herring on Wednesday formally announced plans to seek a third term as "the people's lawyer." In a campaign video, Herring (D) highlights legal wins from his earliest days on the job, when he used the powers of his office to legalize same-sex marriage, challenge President Trump’s immigration ban, defend the Affordable Care Act and grant in-state tuition to certain undocumented immigrants.
By RANDI B. HAGI, Harrisonburg Citizen
Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat running for that job again in 2021, is naming a key piece of his education plan after one of Harrisonburg’s most prominent historic figures: educator Lucy Simms. McAuliffe will visit Harrisonburg virtually on Thursday, fielding questions in a town hall hosted by JMU Civic & Dukes Vote. His “Lucy Simms Educator Program” will pay the college tuition and room-and-board costs for certain students who commit to teaching in Virginia public schools for five years in high-demand fields.
By MARK HAND, Loudoun Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman rolled out a new initiative, called “Loudoun Leads,” as a way to increase transparency and collaboration with other government agencies and community groups on Tuesday. In the same announcement, Chapman, a Republican, said he has decided not to run for governor in 2021. In October, Chapman, who was re-elected to his third term as sheriff in November 2019, said he was considering a run for governor.
By DANIEL BERTI, Prince William Times
Woodbridge resident Briana Sewell has announced her candidacy for the 51st House of Delegates' seat currently held by Del. Hala Ayala, who is not seeking re-election to vie for the Democratic nomination in the lieutenant governor's race. Sewell, 30, is a Democrat and the first candidate to announce a bid for the seat. No Republican candidates had filed as of Wednesday morning.
By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Less than a month after denying Appalachian Power Co.’s request to raise its base rates, state regulators will reconsider their decision. The State Corporation Commission on Tuesday suspended its final order — which turned down Appalachian’s bid for an increase that would have cost an average residential customer an extra $10 a month — until further notice.
By ANDREW CAIN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Dominion Energy on Wednesday announced that it has laid the keel for an offshore wind turbine installation vessel in Hampton Roads as part of its project to create what will be the largest offshore wind farm in the U.S. By build-out in 2026, the project, 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, is expected to provide 650,000 customers zero carbon electricity at peak output, according to Dominion CEO Bob Blue.
By JEFF STURGEON, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Norfolk Southern Corp. confirmed Wednesday that the company has furloughed an undisclosed number of workers in the Roanoke area but provided no details. In response to a question about job changes in Roanoke, railroad spokesman Jeff DeGraff said by email that the company had “informed employees of furloughs within our mechanical department that are needed to align our operations with the current economy.”
By MATT JONES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
William R. Harvey wants to make it clear: any success that Hampton University has seen in the last four decades was not his. It’s the responsibility of his team of administrators, 17 of whom have gone on to become presidents of other colleges. Harvey, who has led the university since 1978, says that shows how much the university and its leaders have accomplished.
By LUKE WEIR, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
What Roanoke College officials are describing as a cyber incident has caused the college to disconnect its computer network while the issue is resolved, college officials said. The FBI and Virginia State Police are investigating the situation, which was first reported Saturday, said Roanoke College Director of Public Relations Teresa Gereaux. “It does seem like it has impacted much of the college’s systems,” Gereaux said Wednesday. “The extent we’re not sure of at this point.”
By LUANNE RIFE, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
A Carilion Clinic ICU nurse said Wednesday that she felt a little weepy in getting the first of two vaccination shots that will protect her from COVID-19. Mary Rogers, who cares for the sickest COVID patients at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, said she and her husband, a Carilion EMT, feel that the vaccine will protect them, their families, patients and the community.
By STAFF REPORT, Danville Register & Bee
The Pittsylvania-Danville Health District recorded 100 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday morning, surpassing a previous record of 95 set on Dec. 7. It's the latest in a roller-coaster ride that started Monday when no new cases were added to the local district's log. The health department blamed that on a "gap in coordination," essentially saying weekend data managers weren't able to cover all of the health districts.
By HOLLY KOZELSKY, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Sovah Health in Martinsville and Danville each have received 975 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses and are administering them in small batches, as they get used to the process. On Tuesday, the day the vaccine was received, 15 doctors and nurses in Martinsville and 10 in Danville were vaccinated. “Part of this way to try to make sure that we understood the relatively complex processes for reconstituting” the vaccine, Sovah-Danville Chief Operating Officer John Kent said during a press conference Wednesday over Zoom.
By STAFF REPORTS, Fauquier Times
On Dec. 15, Fauquier Health received its initial allocation of COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccine was developed by Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech, and has been approved for adults older than 16. The health system's chief operating officer, Kevin Sale, said in a press release, “We are in the process of distributing them in accordance with prioritization guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal government and the Virginia Department of Health.”
By BRAD ZINN, News Leader (Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)
Nearly 400 inmates and correctional officers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 at the Augusta Correctional Center as the virus has exploded inside the facility. According to the Virginia Department of Corrections, 332 inmates have come down with the coronavirus at the Craigsville prison. A total of 62 staff, including contractors, have also been diagnosed.
By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury
Kathryn Brown, an elementary school teacher in Waynesboro, was initially puzzled when she noticed other local schools transitioning back to online learning after Thanksgiving break. “Rockbridge County, for example, announced they were switching to a virtual model,” Brown said in an interview on Tuesday. “And they cited an email from [Central Shenandoah Health District Director Dr. Laura Kornegay] where she strongly encouraged them to do that.”
By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
A statue of a Black teenage girl who dared challenge segregation in Virginia schools could soon stand beside George Washington in the U.S. Capitol. Barbara Rose Johns, who as a 16-year-old in 1951 led a protest of poor learning conditions for Black students in Farmville and helped dismantle school segregation nationwide, has been chosen by an advisory commission to replace Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee as one of two figures representing Virginia in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall.
By ANDREW CAIN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
A state panel on Wednesday recommended that a statue of teenage civil rights heroine Barbara Rose Johns replace Virginia’s Robert E. Lee statue at the U.S. Capitol. The Commission For Historical Statues In The United States Capitol voted 6-1 in favor of Johns, who was a 16-year-old student at Farmville’s Moton High School in 1951 when she led a student walkout to protest the students’ substandard segregated school facilities.
By PATRICIA SULLIVAN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Arlington House, the historic mansion once inhabited by Robert E. Lee that overlooks the Potomac River’s Memorial Bridge into Washington, long a symbol of the county that surrounds it, won’t be as prominent there next year. Arlington, the county, is changing its logo and seal to remove the six-columned house from its official documents and equipment sometime next year, primarily because it was built by enslaved people and later owned by Lee, who led the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
By NATHANIEL CLINE, Loudoun Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Former Virginia Gov. Harry F. Byrd and Confederate commander John Mosby, whose names rest on Loudoun County’s Route 7 and Route 50, may have their names stripped from those highways because of their history supporting racism. On Tuesday, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors directed staff to begin a planning process toward renaming the two primary roads — Harry Flood Byrd Highway (Route 7) and John Mosby Highway (Route 50).
By JAMES SCOTT BARON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
Just north of Stafford County, the road signs no longer read Jefferson Davis Highway. Elected officials believe it’s time for Stafford to make a similar change. In 1922, the Virginia General Assembly designated U.S.1 as Jefferson Davis Highway in honor of the president of the Confederacy, at the request of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. But public opinion has shifted since then, and the road has been renamed in sections by some of the localities it runs through.
By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury
Virginia is the South’s “leading state” in energy efficiency efforts as a result of its 2020 passage of the Clean Economy Act and decision to join a regional carbon market, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy found in its annual ranking of states’ progress in reducing their energy loads. The scorecard, which was released Wednesday, touted the Virginia Clean Economy Act as “a major victory for efficiency in the Southeast” and attributed Virginia’s rise in the rankings from 29th to 25th position largely to the legislation.
By DANIEL BERTI, Prince William Times
Prince William’s Board of County Supervisors has directed county staff to begin studying the creation of a civilian review board, a municipal body that could be empowered to investigate the county’s police department over claims of abuse and misconduct – and possibly mete out punishment for officers who break the rules. The board voted 7-1 Tuesday, Dec. 15, to move the proposal forward, with only Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, R-Brentsville, voting against it.
By DANIEL BERTI, Prince William Times
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution on Tuesday to give most county employees, including first responders, a bonus of $500 for full-time workers and $250 for part-time workers in recognition of their service during the coronavirus pandemic. The resolution was proposed by at-large Chair Ann Wheeler a week earlier after the board was told the county would not be able to implement across-the-board, 3% pay raises for county employees as a result of fiscal impacts from the coronavirus pandemic.
By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The Richmond Redevelopment & Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners on Wednesday took another step toward demolishing and redeveloping the Creighton Court public housing community. In a unanimous vote, the nine-member board authorized the agency to submit a second demolition application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. With the application, RRHA will seek permission to raze 312 units in the neighborhood — the remainder of the 504-unit complex that was not covered by an earlier application the housing authority submitted this year.
By ROBERTO ROLDAN, WCVE-FM
Richmond City Council’s Governmental Operations Committee approved a new slate of candidates to a task force working to establish a civilian review board for police misconduct. The Task Force for Establishing a Civilian Review Board will outline both how the future board will operate and investigate reports of police misconduct. Council delayed putting together a final list of nominations for weeks, as they debated whether two former law enforcement officers should be allowed to serve on the board. In October, City Council’s Public Safety Committee nominated former Petersburg Police Chief John Dixon III and former officer Charlene Hinton.
By YASMINE JUMAA, WCVE-FM
At the start of the pandemic, Richmond’s homeless service providers began offering temporary shelter in hotels and motels. But residents have since been calling attention to what they say are substandard shelter conditions and a lack of pathways to permanent housing. The organization Homeward is in charge of the Richmond region’s homeless services. The city provided them with federal CARES Act dollars to put the motel program in place. In recent weeks, some advocates have posted photos to social media showing dirty appliances and moldy motel rooms and sent officials a list of demands that includes conducting an audit of homeless service providers’ expenses.
By SARA GREGORY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The Norfolk School Board has revised its reopening plans to lower the thresholds that dictate when the district will reopen for in-person instruction. The plan remains tied to the key health metrics that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend districts consider, such as the number of new cases per 100,000 people and the percentage of positive tests.
By PETER COUTU, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
With special nods from Gov. Ralph Northam, Mayor Bobby Dyer and Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria, Virginia Beach School Board member Dan Edwards wrapped up his last meeting Tuesday night after more than two decades on the body. Edwards, who won his first election in 1998 and was named chair the following year, is the longest-serving board member in city history. The tenure earned him an unusual send-off for a school board member — including a gifted plate of chocolate chip cookies and a coffee table with the school division’s old logo.
By FRED HODGE, Fauquier Times
The process of installing cameras to livestream high school sports has hit a snag at Liberty and Fauquier. During pre-installation walkthroughs, representatives of PlayOn! Sports, the Atlanta-based firm handling the National Federation of State High School Associations streaming service, noted the gymnasiums at the two schools posed unique installation challenges.
Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Is America broken? It sure seems that way at times. Last week we saw the astonishing — the Pennsylvania attorney general said “seditious” — sight of the president of the United States, and nearly two-thirds of House Republicans, signing onto an extraordinary lawsuit to overturn the presidential results. Among them were three of Virginia’s four Republican House members — Ben Cline of Botetourt County, Morgan Griffith of Salem and Rob Wittman of Westmoreland County.
Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
It has been nearly nine months since Gov. Ralph Northam first instituted lockdowns and restrictions on businesses and other organizations throughout the commonwealth to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic that cost hundreds of thousands of Virginians their jobs. During that time, two pharmaceutical companies participating in the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed have developed novel vaccines for the novel coronavirus – an unheard of scientific breakthrough, according to former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, and one that could accelerate the time vaccines are developed and deployed in future pandemics.
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Virginia officials urgently need to find a workable way to help people who fall behind on their rent without placing an unfair burden on landlords. When the COVID-19 pandemic threated to cause a flood of evictions last summer, the state and federal governments came through with temporary measures that helped many renters.
Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, “home” has been a constant for slowing the spread of the novel disease. In March, Gov. Ralph Northam instituted a “stay-at-home order,” urging Virginians to limit travel to essential needs such as work, groceries or medical attention. By May, the state began easing restrictions under a “safer-at-home order.”
By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
In toppling monuments to Confederates, Gov. Ralph Northam — and he’s too modest to admit it — is erecting one to himself. It’s not bronze or marble or granite, though as a soon-to-be-lame-duck governor, Northam qualifies for an official portrait. Northam’s unlikely monument — one more oriented to the future than the past — largely will be fashioned from Virginia’s budget, etched with dollars for programs that aim to expand democracy in a state that long resisted it.
By STEVE MARTIN, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Virginia once again sat on the sidelines watching the 2020 presidential election, as did about 40 other states. Why? Because Virginia was not a battleground. We received virtually no interest from either campaign, leaving many voters seeing no reason to go to the polls. Allow me to illustrate the enormous impact this reality has on voter participation with the numbers from just one state.
Martin, R-Chesterfield County, served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, 1988-1994, and the Senate of Virginia, 1994-2016.
By JOAN SCHILLER, CHRISTINE D. BERG, BRIAN LESTINI AND STEVEN AVERBUCH, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
As oncologists who have devoted our careers to cancer patients and research, who live and work in the mid-Atlantic region, we are speaking out now to draw more attention to the rapid and profound action required to address the adverse health effects from air and water pollution, environmental degradation, and climate change -induced events such as hurricanes, wildfires and flooding.
Schiller, M.D., is an adjunct professor at the UVA School of Medicine. Berg, M.D., is a special volunteer at the National Cancer Institute. Lestini, M.D., is a pediatric oncologist. Averbuch, M.D., of Princeton, N.J., is a medical oncologist.
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