VaNews
January 1, 2021

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** B2L Consulting
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Happy New Year! Best wishes for health and healing.
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Top of the News


** Virginia sets single-day record for coronavirus infections on final day of 2020 ([link removed])
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By JENNA PORTNOY, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A pandemic that created global havoc throughout most of 2020 showed no signs of abating on the year’s final day as the number of new infections in the greater Washington region entered record territory, fueled by a record in Virginia. D.C., Maryland and Virginia reported 8,437 new infections Thursday, topping the previous single-day record of 8,001 new cases on Dec. 12. The 5,239 cases in Virginia set a state record Thursday that was well above its rolling seven-day average of 3,667 daily cases.
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** Leaving Congress, Rep. Riggleman says 'there is no home for me in the Republican Party' ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

As Denver Riggleman's time in Congress wound down at year's end, some of his Republican colleagues wanted to know if they could get a couple of bottles of whiskey or bourbon before he left Capitol Hill. “They’re picking over my corpse for some whiskey,” said Riggleman, whose family runs a distillery in Nelson County. Riggleman has spent the past couple months criticizing President Donald Trump and Republicans for peddling conspiracies and attempting to overturn the presidential election results.
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** Rising tides a constant undercurrent as Norfolk plans for the future of downtown ([link removed])
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By RYAN MURPHY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

When folks in the 1940s and 1950s imagined the city of the future, they talked about flying cars and moving sidewalks. These days, city planning is a little more, well, down to earth. But trying to predict the future — or at least shape it — is critical in trying to drive economic and physical development in the city. That’s especially true in a city like Norfolk, where the idea of sinking into the sea like the Lost City of Atlantis is hits a little too close to home. In Norfolk’s recently unveiled new Downtown 2030 plan, the threat of rising tides looms large.
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** Audit of King William Treasurer: Decades of uncollected taxes, over appropriations, poor bookkeeping ([link removed])
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By EMILY HOLTER, Tidewater Review

A turnover audit revealed the King William Treasurer’s Office had $14.4 million in uncollected real estate and personal property taxes dating back to 2000. Of that, $3.4 million remains uncollected, according to a county official. According to the report, the amount of uncollected taxes dates back several years and has grown exponentially over time. Following the Dec. 5 tax deadline, the total amount of taxes uncollected is about $3.4 million. The audit took place in September and included uncollected taxes from 2020.
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** 'You just don’t know what's coming' ([link removed])
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By GEORGE COPELAND JR., Richmond Free Press

For Tatanisha Rodriguez, the experience of going to a food bank for help for the first time just a week shy of Christmas produced a multitude of emotions and reactions. The Chesterfield County resident was laid off in May from her job of 20 years in insurance claims and risk management. She felt a mix of anger and hurt at her situation, gratitude for the efforts of organizers and volunteers, and had a warning for others to not take their place in life for granted, especially during such unstable times brought on by the pandemic.
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** Former Miss Virginia becomes a Christmas miracle ([link removed])
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By BILL WYATT, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

To all the titles won by Barbara Guthrie Lay you now can add "Christmas Miracle 2020." Lay, the grand marshal of the Martinsville Christmas Parade earlier this month, was declared dead of COVID-19 on Christmas Eve. And then she was revived.
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** Friday Read With Each Run, a City Shaken by Racism Is ‘Finding the Greater Good’ ([link removed])
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By ANNA KATHERINE CLEMMONS, New York Times (Metered Paywall - 1 to 2 articles a month)

In 2006, William Jones III moved with his wife, Yolonda, to Charlottesville, Va. Two years before, Jones, who is Black, had started jogging regularly. But when he looked around Charlottesville, he saw only white people running. “I said, ‘I got to see myself out here,’” Jones, 38, said. “We got to run in our neighborhoods. If I’m not seeing Black people running, then the people who really need to see Black people running are not seeing them either.”
The Full Report
24 articles, 18 publications
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** FROM VPAP
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** From VPAP Maps, Timeline of COVID-19 in Virginia ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

VPAP has revamped its COVID-19 dashboard to focus on recent trends and to include information about cases by age and race. We've also updated pages that include the latest statistics for each city and county. Updated each morning around 10:30 a.m.


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** Culpeper residents sue Northam over church guidelines ([link removed])
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By JOSH GULLY, Inside NOVA (Metered Paywall)

Shortly after a group of churchgoers re-filed their lawsuit in Madison County against Gov. Ralph Northam over pandemic-related church guidelines, three Culpeper County residents followed suit and filed nearly identical litigation against the governor. The Culpeper County lawsuit was filed by Ron Young, Alum Spring Baptist Church’s pastor, Charles Sheads Sr. and Jocie Stallings, who are both members of Novum Baptist Church in Madison County. Mike Sharman, the lawyer who filed both the Madison and Culpeper lawsuits, said the plaintiffs want equality and religious freedom, adding that churchgoers should not be subject to more restrictive guidelines than anyone else.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** Deeds proposes tax increase for law enforcement raises, school renovations ([link removed])
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By ANDREW CAIN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, is proposing a statewide tax increase on individual incomes above $150,000 per year to fund raises for law enforcement officers and to establish dedicated funding for school construction. Deeds wrote in a newsletter to his constituents that the increase would raise the rate for income beyond $150,000 a year from 5.75% to 5.9%. He said his proposed increase would generate about $134.1 million in fiscal year 2021, which started July 1, and $144.2 million in fiscal year 2022.
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** Two lawmakers want Virginia to crack down on illegal evictions ([link removed])
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By JONATHAN EDWARDS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

One tenant in Petersburg was suffering from a permanent respiratory disease when his landlord — in an effort to force him out of his apartment — shut off the power, crippling his nebulizer and threatening his life. Another was locked out of her apartment in Fluvanna County for two weeks. She retreated to a hotel, ran out of money, and was forced to couch surf, which meant giving up her now-faraway job.
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** Peake to propose state budget amendment to aid waterline project at CVTC ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN FAULCONER, Amherst New Era Progress

A Lynchburg-area state legislator is proposing a $100,000 budget amendment in the upcoming General Assembly session to aid a utility project tied to the Central Virginia Training Center site that would benefit an adjacent mobile home park community. The Amherst County Service Authority is seeking the funding assistance from the state to extend a waterline on Colony Road to a mobile home park in close proximity to the CVTC campus, a state-run medical facility in Madison Heights which closed this year.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** 2nd District candidates rush to let voters know about Jan. 5 special election ([link removed])
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By DANIEL BERTI, Prince William Times

Amid reports of meager early voter turnout in the 2nd District House of Delegates special election, candidates and political committees are scrambling to get voters to the polls by Jan. 5. As of Tuesday, Dec. 29, fewer than 200 people had cast early votes in the election. The district is home to about 52,000 eligible voters. Democratic candidate Candi King and Republican Heather Mitchell are vying to represent the district, which covers parts of eastern Prince William and Stafford counties.
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** Numbers reveal low voter turnout ahead of Jan. 5 special election ([link removed])
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By JAMES BARON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

So far, voter turnout has been low ahead of the Jan. 5 special election between Democrat Candi King and Republican Heather Mitchell in the Virginia House of Delegates District 2. The district includes parts of Prince William and Stafford counties. The outcome of the special election will determine who fills the void left by Woodbridge Democratic Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, who resigned Dec. 12 to run for governor of Virginia. Carroll Foy’s departure from public office prompted Gov. Ralph Northam to schedule a January special election to fill the vacancy.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** New laws take effect Jan. 1 include bans on handheld phones ([link removed])
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By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, JULIE ZAUZMER AND RACHEL CHASON, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The new year brings new laws into effect across the region: Starting Jan. 1, residents can no longer legally hold their cellphones to their ears while they drive in Virginia, sell foam peanuts in the District or run in Maryland’s general elections as a write-in candidate if they lose a primary race. Virginia joins the District and two dozen other states, including Maryland, that prohibit holding cellphones behind the wheel.
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** Williamsburg, James City General District Court clerk’s office and court closed next week due to COVID case ([link removed])
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By MAGGIE MORE, Virginia Gazette (Metered Paywall - 4 Articles per Month)

The General District Court and related clerk’s office for Williamsburg and James City County will be closed Monday, Jan. 4, through Wednesday, Jan 6, due to a COVID exposure, said Judge Colleen K. Killilea in an email Thursday afternoon. The closure only applies to the General District Court.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** First-time and continued unemployment claims in Virginia dropped last week ([link removed])
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By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Fewer Virginians applied for traditional state unemployment benefits or federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance last week, according to the latest data from the Virginia Employment Commission and U.S. Department of Labor. Initial claims for traditional unemployment statewide fell nearly 19% to 11,890 during the week ending Dec. 26, compared with the previous week. The number of new claims for PUA, which provides benefits to eligible self-employed and “gig” contract workers, dropped 45% to 4,562 after a steep and sustained rise in the beginning of December.
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** There was already a pandemic. Then, for some Chesapeake business owners, came a bridge closure. ([link removed])
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By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

When Monica Taglis first heard about the Centerville Turnpike Bridge closure, she thought it’d just be for a day or two. Taglis’s husband was on his way to open up their business, Angie’s Family Restaurant, early one Saturday when a police officer told him the bridge was closed. Just hours earlier — about 4:34 a.m. — a barge being pushed by a tugboat named Island Lookout struck the swing bridge, which spans over the Intracoastal Waterway and was about 7 feet from fully open.


** TRANSPORTATION
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** New owner of tolled tunnels linking Portsmouth and Norfolk suspends toll hike in 2021 ([link removed])
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By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Drivers using the Elizabeth River Tunnels linking Norfolk and Portsmouth won’t see an increase in tolls this year. The tunnels’ new owners agreed to keep the toll rates as is until at least January 2022 in light of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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** Coins still accepted on Dulles Toll Road through early 2021 ([link removed])
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By ABIGAIL CONSTANTINO, WTOP

While drivers adjust to all-electronic tolling, coins will continue to be accepted on the Dulles Toll Road in Virginia into early 2021. Once a date is set for the Dulles Toll Road to go all-electronic toll collecting, tollbooth change baskets will be removed, and coins will no longer be accepted, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said in a news release.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Virginia surpasses 5,000 total deaths from COVID-19 ([link removed])
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By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

More than 5,000 people in Virginia have lost their lives to COVID-19 since March 14. That’s an average of more than 500 deaths per month, almost 120 per week and 17 each day. Some died alone in hospital rooms where families couldn’t visit. Others were nursing home residents who said goodbye to their children through glass windows. One was an immigrant in a detention center who was days from going home. Dozens were people incarcerated in Virginia prisons. . . . And on New Year’s Eve, as many were debating holiday plans, the state reported a record high of 5,239 new cases. Health care workers on the front lines fear the worst is yet to come.
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** Virginia surpasses 5,000 COVID-19 deaths, logs first-ever day of more than 5,000 new cases ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia logged more than 5,000 new COVID-19 cases for the first time on Thursday, the same day the state surpassed 5,000 deaths from the virus. The Virginia Department of Health reported Thursday that the state’s cumulative total for COVID-19 cases during the pandemic is now up to 349,584, an increase of 5,239 from Wednesday. There have been 5,032 COVID-19 deaths in Virginia, an increase of 48 from Wednesday.
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** Page County’s positivity rate now at 22.5% ([link removed])
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By RANDY ARRINGTON, Page Valley News

For the first time during a pandemic that has now stretched out over 10 months, Virginia reported more than 5,000 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day. Thursday’s statewide report included no disclaimer of a system glitch; no mention of a data backlog. . . . Page County’s seven-day positivity rate is at its highest level of the pandemic at 22.5 percent, according to Daily Locality Metrics data provided on the VDH website. On Nov. 16, that rate stood at 3.4 percent.
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** VDH: Seventy COVID-19 cases in one day's reporting is a record for Petersburg ([link removed])
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By BILL ATKINSON, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 10 articles a month)

The city is closing out the year of the COVID-19 pandemic with an ominous end ... a record for one-day count of new cases According to statistics from the Virginia Department of Health, the city logged 70 new positive virus cases Thursday. That is almost nine times the number of new cases reported on Wednesday, and more than twice the previous one-day record of 33 set Nov. 23.
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** Fresh surge of COVID-19 cases strike women’s prison ([link removed])
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By HEATHER MICHON, Fluvanna Review

On Dec. 1, the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) registered zero cases of COVID-19 among inmates and staff at Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women (FCCW). By Dec. 23, that number had grown to 138 inmates and 29 staff. This brings the cumulative number of cases since March to 333, or about 35 percent of the total prison population. To date, no fatalities have been reported.
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** Fredericksburg-area hospitals restricting visitors because of increasing virus cases ([link removed])
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By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

All three hospitals in the Fredericksburg area are restricting visitors as COVID-19 cases—and hospitalizations—continue to set records. Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center put the restrictions in place on Monday, and Mary Washington Hospital and Stafford Hospital started them with the new year. . . . The tighter restrictions come as more than 90 patients are being treated for virus symptoms at all three facilities. That’s about three times the number of hospitalizations during peaks this spring, according to hospital officials and state data.
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** Virginia COVID vaccinations: Half a million for frontline health workers? Not even close. ([link removed])
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By MONIQUE CALELLO, News Leader (Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)

As of this morning, Dec. 30, Virginia has received approximately 285,000 vaccine doses from Pfizer and Moderna and has administered 54,295 doses to people in the Commonwealth, said Christy Gray, Division of Immunization Director at Virginia Department of Health. Virginia is planning to receive 370,000 doses of vaccine by Dec. 31 from both manufacturers. The state originally planned on 480,000 doses.
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** Vaccine Timeline Murky for Front-line Workers in Doctor’s, Dentist’s Offices ([link removed])
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By WHITTNEY EVANS, WCVE-FM

The first round of COVID-19 vaccines has been delivered to front-line healthcare personnel in hospitals and long-term care facilities in Virginia. But some smaller-scale providers are still trying to find their place in line. Phase 1a of Virginia’s vaccine rollout plan includes health care workers and long-term care residents and staff. This includes patient-facing public health workers, primary care offices, dentists and pharmacies.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** Former National Teacher of the Year Rodney Robinson apologizes for tweet about Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell ([link removed])
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By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Rodney Robinson, a senior adviser for Richmond Public Schools and a former National Teacher of the Year, apologized Thursday for a since-deleted tweet in which he called U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s 2017 attacker a “true Kentucky hero” and said it was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s neighbors’ “turn to step up.”
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** What she could, she did ([link removed])
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By JIMMY LAROUE, Suffolk News Herald

Ruby Walden once said she hoped she had been able to contribute something to help somebody else. “And in doing that, we need to be concerned with others, other than ourselves, and concerned about what it takes to make a community complete, . . . ,” Walden told Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander in a 2018 interview as part of an oral history of Virginia’s appellate court. As a community and civil rights activist, Walden, who died Dec. 22 at the age of 99, contributed much to make life better for Black residents of Nansemond County and Suffolk, with a particular focus on education, as she was part of a lawsuit for the equalization of schools in then-Nansemond County in 1951.


** LOCAL
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** Petition calling for removal of Shenandoah County School Board president filed in court ([link removed])
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By CHARLES PAULLIN, Northern Virginia Daily

Over 400 people have signed a petition seeking the removal of Shenandoah County Public School Board Chairwoman Karen Whetzel amid the School Board’s legal battle in the county’s circuit court over the recent decision to change the Confederate-themed names of schools and a mascot. Filed in Shenandoah County Circuit Court on Dec. 10, the petition states three reasons for the removal. It was drafted by attorney Brad Pollack, who is a county Board of Supervisors member and who also is listed as counsel for the petition challenging the School Board’s renaming decisions.

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Happy New Year! Best wishes for health and healing.


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