VaNews Sept. 24, 2019
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Read Online ([link removed]) 10 Most Clicked ([link removed])


** FROM VPAP
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** VISUALIZATION: COMPARING CANDIDATES' SOURCE OF FUNDS ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

VPAP ranks General Assembly candidates by the percentage of money from six types of campaign donors, ranging from small donors who give $100 or less to businesses that lobby the state legislature. There's also an option to view each category by dollar amount. The campaign finance numbers cover 20 months through August 31.


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** FIRST LADY'S CATERPILLAR CAPTIVATES FREDERICKSBURG PRESCHOOLERS DURING HER BACK TO SCHOOL TOUR ([link removed])
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By CATHY JETT, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Virginia first lady Pamela Northam asked the 3-year-olds clustered around her Monday to find the yellow and black swallowtail caterpillar hiding among the leaves of her parsley plant. “Can I hold it?” asked one of the students in Scarlett Walker’s Virginia Preschool Initiative class at the Walker–Grant Center in Fredericksburg.


** VA. ISN’T READY TO SETTLE WITH PURDUE — YET ([link removed])
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By MECHELLE HANKERSON, Virginia Mercury

In recent weeks, several states have settled opioid lawsuits brought against Purdue Pharma. Virginia isn’t one them. Attorney General Mark Herring said in a release he won’t agree to a settlement until it’s in the “best interest of Virginians” and Purdue and the Sacklers “must face real, significant, personal accountability.”


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** VA. SENATOR SAYS SHE NEVER APPROVED AD VOWING TO ‘SHOOT DOWN’ ANTI-GUN GROUPS ([link removed])
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By LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A Virginia state senator on Monday blamed her digital advertising firm for a political ad that shows her vowing to “shoot down” anti-gun activists, releasing a recorded phone conversation that she said backs up her claim.


** CHASE, CONSULTANT EACH SAY OTHER IS MISREPRESENTING FACTS ABOUT GUN AD ([link removed])
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By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

State Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, opened up a new battle front on Monday by demanding an apology from a consultant that she said botched a campaign ad, making it seem as if she would not be afraid to “shoot down” anti-gun groups.


** STURTEVANT, FACING TOUGH ELECTION, ATTACKS CHALLENGER HASHMI FOR TAKING NORTHAM MONEY ([link removed])
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By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A vulnerable suburban Richmond Republican is bringing Gov. Ralph Northam’s yearbook scandal into his state Senate bid, criticizing his Democratic challenger for calling on Northam to resign but later taking Northam PAC money.


** FREITAS, RIDGEWAY TALK GUN CONTROL AT FORUM ([link removed])
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By TYLER HAMMEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Amid an unusual election, Democrat Ann Ridgeway and write-in incumbent Republican Del. Nick Freitas stuck to their party lines at a candidate forum in Orange County on Monday.


** VIRGINIA GOP CANDIDATE IN TIGHT HOUSE RACE BACKS GUN CONTROL ([link removed])
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By RODNEY ROBINSON, VCU Capital News Service

Gun control policy could play a significant role in the 73rd House District race, especially with the Republican contender breaking away from the party’s usual stance on gun control. Republican Mary Margaret Kastelberg is calling for stricter gun control policies but says her positions are consistent with gun owner’s Second Amendment rights.


** CANDIDATES FOR 58TH DISTRICT TALK ISSUES ([link removed])
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By JESSICA WETZLER, Daily News Record (Subscription Required)

Republican Del. Rob Bell and Democrat Elizabeth Alcorn, two candidates running for the House of Delegates 58th District, participated in a debate Monday sponsored by the East Rockingham High School PTSA. This was the first debate to feature the two candidates side by side.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** TRANSPORTATION WITHOUT TRAUMA THE GOAL OF NEW STATE MENTAL HEALTH INITIATIVE ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

It’s not the kind of road trip anyone wants to take — an involuntary journey to find a hospital bed somewhere in Virginia for treatment in a psychiatric emergency. But the trauma doesn’t have to include handcuffs and shackles in the back of a police car for people who qualify for an alternative form of transportation that will debut on Oct. 7 in Southwest Virginia.


** RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, OTHER MEDIA SUE TO OPEN UP ENTIRE EXECUTIONS TO PUBLIC VIEWING ([link removed])
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By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Richmond Times-Dispatch is among a handful of news organizations suing the Virginia Department of Corrections to enable citizen and media witnesses to view executions from start to finish.


** LAWSUIT CALLS FOR FULL PUBLIC VIEW OF EXECUTIONS IN VIRGINIA ([link removed])
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By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press

Prison officials are unconstitutionally limiting public access to executions in Virginia by blocking witnesses from seeing certain steps in the process, four news organizations allege in a federal lawsuit filed Monday. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond allegesthe department is violating the First Amendment


** HOW VIRGINIA’S NEW STUDENT LOAN OMBUDSMAN HELPS BORROWERS ([link removed])
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By MECHELLE HANKERSON, Virginia Mercury

Student loans: Just over a million Virginians have $38 billion worth of them and have made thousands of complaints about confusing rules, ballooning balances and misapplied payments to the federal government in the past three years. Since January, students have been able to send concerns to Scott Kemp, the state’s first student loan ombudsman.


** NEW RULES FOR VIRGINIA STATE PARK VISITORS ([link removed])
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By AUTUMN CHILDRESS, WHSV

If you're planning a trip to a Virginia State Park this year, you'll soon have to abide by some new rules. The Department of Conservation and Recreation implemented more than a dozen new regulations that'll go into effect Oct. 17


** CONGRESS
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** SPANBERGER AND LURIA SAY UKRAINE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST TRUMP ARE IMPEACHABLE IF TRUE ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, and Elaine Luria, D-2nd, on Monday called on Congress to investigate President Donald Trump over what they call “unprecedented allegations” related to a phone call between Trump and the president of Ukraine during which Trump allegedly urged the Ukrainian to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden. In a column published late Monday by The Washington Post, Spanberger and Luria joined five other freshman Democrats


** BEYER AND OTHER HOUSE DEMOCRATS ARE PUSHING RANKED CHOICE VOTING ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL POPE, WVTF

When you go to the polls this November, you’ll be voting for your top choice. But what if you had an opportunity to specify which candidate was your first choice and which candidate was your second choice. Congressman Don Beyer is a Democrat from Alexandria, and he says ranked choice voting would discourage negative campaigning.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** BLOCK.ONE TO LOCATE U.S. HEADQUARTERS IN ARLINGTON, VOWS TO KEEP BLACKSBURG 'HUB' ([link removed])
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By ROBBY KORTH, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Blockchain titan Block.one — a company with strong Blacksburg ties — announced it will establish its U.S. headquarters in Arlington County. The new headquarters will come with a $10 million investment and 170 new jobs in Northern Virginia over the next three years, it was announced by Gov. Ralph Northam Monday.


** FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE COMMONWEALTH JOINS ARMADA HOFFLER BOARD ([link removed])
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By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Dorothy McAuliffe, wife of former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, has been appointed to the board of Armada Hoffler, the real estate investment trust and developer based in Virginia Beach.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** VIRGINIA STUDENTS TOP NATIONAL AVERAGE ON SAT, BUT PARTICIPATION FALLS ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The average Virginia student fared better on the SAT this year than students across the U.S., according to data released Tuesday. Virginia students who graduated in the Class of 2019 had an average score of 1119, compared with a 1059 average nationwide, according to the College Board, the company that administers the college readiness exam.


** FORMER VA. GOVERNOR MCAULIFFE REPORTS HIS CAR STOLEN IN D.C. ([link removed])
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By MARTIN WEIL, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe said his car was stolen Monday in Washington. “Went in for lunch … came out and car was stolen,” McAuliffe wrote on Twitter.


** LOCAL
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** COUNTY BOARD APPROVES NEW ENERGY PLAN DESPITE SOME CONCERNS ([link removed])
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By VERNON MILES, ArlNow

After months of debate and discussion, the Arlington County Board has unanimously approved a plan to reach carbon neutrality in Arlington by 2050. The plan, approved at the Saturday (Sept. 21) County Board meeting, has environmental goals across six categories, from new building regulations to transportation goals and standards.


** DEMOCRATS’ PUSH TO WIN VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE COULD MEAN FAIRFAX COUNTY GOES ALL BLUE ([link removed])
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By ANTONIO OLIVO, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A broad Democratic push to win control of Virginia’s General Assembly is affecting local elections in Fairfax County, with left-leaning groups trying to flip the last two GOP-held seats on the board of supervisors. Virginia’s largest jurisdiction has not been governed by just one party in at least four decades,


** CANDIDATE’S TWITTER SCRUB BACKFIRES ([link removed])
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By ANTONIO OLIVO, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Virginia Republican John Gray figured he was being smart. He paid $30 to delete some offensive and inflammatory tweets as part of his bid to become chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. But after Gray’s campaign disclosed two $15 payments to a service that scrubbed his Twitter account, the line-item entry attracted attention from his chief opponent, Democrat Ann Wheeler, whose team easily dug up the deleted posts and shared them with The Washington Post.


** ON 5-4 VOTE, CITY COUNCIL SEATS REVIEW PANEL FOR COLISEUM PROJECT ([link removed])
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By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Richmond City Council-appointed panel that will review the $1.5 billion plan to redevelop the area around the Richmond Coliseum will include an avowed public supporter of the project. Hakim J. Lucas, president of Virginia Union University, will join eight other appointees on the Navy Hill Development Advisory Commission.


** FAMILIES OF THE MASS SHOOTING VICTIMS EAGERLY AWAIT RESULTS OF POLICE INVESTIGATION ([link removed])
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By ALISSA SKELTON, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

For the first time since May 31, Sarah Gayle will be allowed to go to the place where her mother took her last breath. She plans to walk down the hallway in Building 2 where Mary Louise Gayle, a Virginia Beach right-of-way agent, was shot to death.


** NORFOLK COUNCILWOMAN SAYS CASINO LAND VOTE IS BEING RUSHED ([link removed])
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By RYAN MURPHY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Some Norfolk residents, including a councilwoman, are raising concerns about unanswered questions and what they call a rushed vote on a deal that could pave the way for a casino near downtown.


** REVIEW BOARD MEMBERS SAY INITIAL BUILDING PLANS FOR NEW PUBLIC HOUSING LOOK MORE ‘VIRGINIA BEACH’ THAN ‘NORFOLK’ ([link removed])
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WAVY

Several members of Norfolk’s Architectural Review Board want to see more unique urban architecture in buildings designed to replace public housing. “I would love to see people come bring us designs that doesn’t look like it’s coming from Virginia Beach or coming from an apartment complex in Virginia Beach and plopping it down in downtown Norfolk,” said Greg Rutledge, Chair of the Architectural Review Board, following the group’s meeting Monday night. “I’m looking for more.”


** STATE LAW FAVORS PARTY-AFFILIATED CANDIDATES OVER INDEPENDENTS IN LOCAL ELECTIONS ([link removed])
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By NOLAN STOUT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

While Mayor Nikuyah Walker may have broken the mold of party politics in 2017 as the first unaffiliated candidate elected to the City Council in more than 70 years, independent candidates still face an uphill climb in Charlottesville. And it’s not just because of party politics.


** EDITORIALS
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** AGENCIES NEED AN IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING ([link removed])
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Daily Progress Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The James River Water Authority and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources seem to have different definitions of “rejection.” The JRWA wants to build a water pump station at Point of Fork, which is also the historic site of the Monacan capital, Rassawek.


** LOSING ON THE HOME FRONT ([link removed])
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Daily Press Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

It's unacceptable for military families to be living in substandard housing, battling mold, lead, rats and other problems that range from inconveniences to serious threats to health and safety. It’s inexcusable to subject those who volunteer to serve and their families to such conditions in military housing. And, according to the results of a new national survey arranged by the Navy, the problems are worse here in Hampton Roads that just about anywhere else.


** IS VA. DOING ENOUGH TO STOP JAIL SUICIDES? ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Some of the 51 inmates who have killed themselves in Virginia jails over the past five years may not have been prone to taking their own lives before they found themselves locked up, according to experts on the topic.


** HOW JOB REQUIREMENTS ARE CHANGING ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The world is changing all around us, sometimes in ways that are hard to understand. But the chart you see at right is pretty easy to understand and it goes a long way toward explaining, well, lots of things. We’re going through a national debate — expect more of this — about the high price of college.


** EVERY EFFORT COUNTS ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

As groups like the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) warn of the risks for dams in Virginia and around the country, we’re pleased to see our state create programs to foster improvements. On Friday, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced more than $500,000 in grants to support tools and upgrades at more than 20 dams across the commonwealth.


** OP-ED
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** LURIA AND SPANBERGER: THESE ALLEGATIONS ARE A THREAT TO ALL WE HAVE SWORN TO PROTECT ([link removed])
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By GIL CISNEROS, JASON CROW, CHRISSY HOULAHAN, ELAINE LURIA, MIKIE SHERRILL, ELISSA SLOTKIN AND ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, Published in the Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Our lives have been defined by national service. We are not career politicians. We are veterans of the military and of the nation’s defense and intelligence agencies. Our service is rooted in the defense of our country on the front lines of national security. We have devoted our lives to the service and security of our country, and throughout our careers, we have sworn oaths to defend the Constitution of the United States many times over. Now, we join as a unified group to uphold that oath as we enter uncharted waters and face unprecedented allegations against President Trump.


** SPENCER: PRESERVING PETERSBURG NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL SPENCER, Published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

More than 150 years after the famous Battle of the Crater, Petersburg National Battlefield is experiencing a new fight to preserve its history for future generations. Like most of our national park sites across the country, Petersburg faces growing maintenance and repair needs, compounded by aging facilities, inconsistent congressional funding and increased visitation.

Michael Spencer is secretary of the Petersburg Battlefields Foundation.
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