By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury
Third and fourth-year medical students at Virginia Commonwealth University came back from winter break expecting to resume clinical rounds, a key part of their curriculum that allows students to take a hands-on role in patient care. Instead, at a Jan. 1 meeting, faculty from the medical school’s Office of Student Affairs — along with Dr. Arthur Kellermann, the CEO of VCU Health System — made a surprising announcement. Medical students were being pulled from their clinical responsibilities for the next two to three months. . . . But they also informed students that they wouldn’t be included in the health system’s first phase of vaccine distribution.
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The Virginia State Crime Commission has endorsed abolishing all mandatory minimum sentences from the state code. Legislators will take up the significant proposal to get rid of 224 offenses with mandatory minimums during the General Assembly session beginning next week. The commission, a bipartisan advisory body that studies criminal justice, voted 9-2 on Tuesday to end mandatory minimums, with the lone Republican, Del. Les Adams, R-Pittsylvania, and Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone voting against the recommendation.
By ANTONIO OLIVO, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Voters in Prince William and Stafford counties on Tuesday chose Democrat Candi King to succeed former Virginia delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy, who resigned from her seat last month to focus on a bid for the Democratic nomination for governor. The special election between King and Republican Heather Mitchell was held after a three-week campaign in which both candidates sought to tap into enthusiasm lingering from the November presidential election.
By ANA LEY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
As social unrest over systemic racism continues to grip the nation, Virginia has created an Office of Civil Rights with the intent of promoting a more equitable government. The move will “expand and reorganize” the state’s previous Division of Human Rights, according to a statement released Tuesday by the office of Attorney General Mark Herring, whose office oversees it.
By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury
More than half a million municipal utility customers in Virginia were at least 30 days behind on their bills as of Dec. 15, with arrearages totaling more than $88 million statewide, a Commission on Local Government report presented Tuesday found. Most of those accounts were even further behind, with more than 423,000 accounts at least 60 days in arrears. The data, which were collected in response to a budget provision negotiated during the special legislative session this fall, paint the clearest picture yet of the challenges facing municipal utilities that serve customers struggling to pay bills during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic constriction.
By NOLAN STOUT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
A consulting firm has determined that Charlottesville’s government lacks the stability to effectively recruit a new city manager, leading to a call to wait until the next election to hire for the position, a sharp war of words and an emergency meeting. The City Council will hold an emergency meeting at 11 a.m. Wednesday for a closed session to discuss prospective candidates for the city manager position, the contract for finding a city manager and consultation with legal counsel.
By PETE DELEA, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Rockingham County sheriff’s deputies charged two Shenandoah Valley men accused of breaking into Endless Caverns and stealing thousands of dollars of rock formations. Benjamin Lopez Jr., 27, address unknown, and Brandon David Wells, 30, of New Market, are charged with two felony counts of grand larceny, two felony counts of breaking and entering, two felony counts of possession of stolen property, three misdemeanor counts of vandalism to a cave, two counts of stealing speleothems, misdemeanor polluting a cave, two misdemeanor counts of trespassing and misdemeanor property destruction.
The Full Report
40 articles, 16 publications
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.
By JENNA ZIBTON, WSLS-TV
About 75 minutes after 10 News published our initial report, we’ve now learned that Gov. Ralph Northam will not address bringing students back to school. While the Virginia Department of Education told 10 News in a statement that Northam would release updated guidelines on Wednesday, VDOE has since rolled back that statement.
By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
With the 2021 General Assembly session soon approaching, advocates and some health officials are pushing legislators to back the long-debated expansion of paid sick leave to hourly-wage workers, many of whom are deemed essential and can’t afford to stay home without it. In a livestreamed news conference Tuesday led by a coalition formed to support the policy called Virginians for Paid Sick Days, Dr. Danny Avula, director of the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts, said doing so would result in “drastic reductions in the exposure and the potential for spread.”
By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury
Members of the Virginia Crime Commission voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to endorse legislation stripping all mandatory minimum sentences from state code. The sweeping proposal, which lawmakers plan to introduce when the General Assembly convenes later this month, would eliminate mandatory jail and prison terms attached to 224 offenses that range from drunken driving to child rape. Lawmakers on the commission who backed the proposal — all Democrats — called it an important step to restore sentencing discretion to local judges and juries.
By ANDREW CAIN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Apanel of retired judges on Wednesday will set about picking the eight citizen members of Virginia’s redistricting commission from Democratic and Republican lists with stark racial and geographic differences. The 34 Democratic finalists include 12 non-Hispanic whites, 14 Black people, four Hispanic people, two Asians and two who are multiracial, according to profiles of the 62 finalists reported by the Virginia Public Access Project.
By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury
Attorney General Mark Herring announced Tuesday he’s creating an Office of Civil Rights dedicated to investigating allegations of discrimination in policing, housing and employment. “The Office of Civil Rights will enhance our ability to protect Virginians from discrimination in housing, employment and public life, as well as allow us to tackle new responsibilities, like ‘pattern and practice’ investigations that can root out and end unconstitutional policing and enforcing protections against discrimination for LGBTQ Virginians,” Herring said in a statement.
By STAFF REPORT, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Virginia Democrats on Tuesday night claimed victory in two special elections for the House of Delegates, holding onto the seats of former Dels. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-Prince William and Joe Lindsey, D-Norfolk. Democrat Candi King edged Republican Heather Mitchell by about 3 percentage points as Democrats held the seat vacated by Carroll Foy, who stepped down last month to focus full time on her campaign for governor.
By SIERRA JENKINS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Voters elected Democrat Angelia Williams Graves to fill a vacant statehouse seat in the 90th House District in a special election Tuesday. The seat came open when Joe Lindsey, a Democrat who had held it since 2014, was recently appointed to a judgeship in Norfolk’s General District Court. Lindsey had to step down as a delegate in order to serve as a judge.
By JAMES SCOTT BARON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
Unofficial results show Democrat Candi King narrowly defeated Republican Heather Mitchell in Virginia’s House of Delegates District 2 race on Tuesday. The district includes parts of Stafford and Prince William counties. “I am beyond honored, I’m very grateful and I want to thank Heather [Mitchell] for a competitive race,” said King.
By JILL PALERMO, Prince William Times
Candi King came out on top of the Jan. 5 special election to fill the House of Delegates seat recently vacated by Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, retaining the seat for the Democrats as the General Assembly kicks off its new session next week. King, 38, of Woodbridge, defeated Republican Heather Mitchell with 4,386 or 51.5% of the 8,509 votes cast. Mitchell garnered 4,123 votes, or 48.4%, according to the unofficial results reported by the Virginia Department of Elections.
By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury
Former Virginia Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade Angela Navarro, who worked in Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration, was sworn in to the State Corporation Commission Tuesday. Navarro’s selection was previously announced by Northam in early December, two days after the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment of long-time SCC Judge Mark Christie to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Christie took the oath of office for FERC in Richmond Jan. 4.
By BEN DENNIS, WRIC-TV
Three Republican Virginia delegates signed a letter asking Vice President Mike Pence to nullify the commonwealth’s certified election results. Del. Dave LaRock (R-Loudon) tells 8News he plans to send the vice president the letter Tuesday night–the eve prior to Pence presiding over the electoral college certification in Congress. The letter shows two co-signers, Del. Mark Cole (R-Fauquier) and Del. Ronnie Campbell (R-Lexington), requesting “a stay of any designation of Presidential Electors from our state until such time as a comprehensive forensic audit of the November 3, 2020, election has taken place to determine the actual winner.”
By JEFF WILLIAMSON, WSLS-TV
Congressman Ben Cline announced Tuesday that he will support objections to the Electoral College certification process on Wednesday. Cline, who represents Virginia’s 6th Congressional District, joins other congressmen planning to reject Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.
By JOHN REID BLACKWELL, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Job cuts may be on the way for the Henrico County-based insurance giant Genworth Financial Inc. now that its plan to merge with a China-based investment firm is on indefinite hold. With the long-delayed deal in limbo, Genworth is pursuing a contingency plan to raise capital that may include a partial initial public offering of stock for its U.S. mortgage insurance business.
By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The route a natural gas pipeline will take to cross hundreds of streams and wetlands in Southwest Virginia has grown even murkier. As part of a rewriting of a federal permitting process, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality said last month that it would deny future water quality certifications for pipelines more than 36 inches in diameter under the so-called Nationwide Permit 12. That could possibly apply to Mountain Valley Pipeline, which is currently building a 42-inch diameter pipeline that would pass through the New River and Roanoke valleys.
By EMILY HOLTER, Virginia Gazette (Metered Paywall - 4 Articles per Month)
Williamsburg’s Busch Gardens announced Tuesday that it will open in January, February and March for three limited capacity outdoor special events — a first for the park. According to a statement released by the park, Busch Gardens Winter Weekends will kick off Jan. 15 and end Jan. 24. The event will feature the park lit up at night, 13 rides open to the public and wildlife experiences not typically known to the park. On Saturdays, the event will bring a fireworks show.
By EMILY BROWN, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
The interstate natural gas pipeline project that for years seized the attention of residents in Nelson County and others in the commonwealth and nearby states will coast to a halt by the end of 2022, Atlantic Coast Pipeline officials said. In a document filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and dated Dec. 16, ACP detailed its plans for disposition, including restoration and other relevant strategies for the canceled project’s facilities and the areas for which the pipeline was set.
By SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press
The developers of the now-canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline have laid out plans for how they want to go about unwinding the work that was done for the multistate natural gas project and restoring disturbed land. In a filing with federal regulators made public Tuesday, the pipeline company proposed an approximately two-year timeline for efforts across West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, where progress on the project ranged from uninitiated to essentially complete.
By LUANNE RIFE, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Roanoke-area health districts are on pace to have offered all eligible health care workers their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as next week. “I’m hopeful that between our collaboration with our community partners, with our health systems, that by the end of next week that we will have the ability to have offered clinics to everyone. But I’m not sure about that yet. It’s really a moving target,” Dr. Cynthia Morrow, who heads the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts, said Tuesday.
By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Richmond and Henrico Health Districts announced Tuesday that they anticipate vaccinating front-line essential workers and people over the age of 75 in February. This next tier includes grocery store employees, public transit workers, police officers and teachers per guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is one of the first local health departments in Virginia to release a timeline for those next in line to receive a COVID-19 vaccine dose.
By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
A COVID-19 outbreak at the only long-term care facility in Caroline County has infected 30 patients and 11 staff members—and caused the death of two residents. “The loss of these lives has been hard for our community,” said Jenna Cracknell, administrator at Bowling Green Health & Rehabilitation Center, “and we continue to mourn with their families.”
By MIKE GANGLOFF, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Twenty cases of COVID-19 were discovered last weekend among inmates at the New River Valley Regional Jail, Superintendent Greg Winston confirmed Tuesday. Most of the prisoners are experiencing no symptoms, according to the superintendent. Officials at the facility in Dublin learned the extent of the outbreak after two prisoners reported mild effects of the coronavirus infection Saturday morning, Winston wrote in an email.
By EMMA NORTH, WRIC-TV
The Augusta Correctional Center currently has 122 inmates battling COVID-19 at the prison. Over the weekend, one inmate at Augusta passed away due to complications from the virus. The Virginia Department of Corrections says the inmate died at the August Health Center. He was 64 years old and serving a 300-year sentence for sexual assault, rape and forcible sodomy.
By KERRI O'BRIEN, WRIC-TV
Fort Lee, Fort Pickett and Fort Hill in Virginia will be getting new names after Congress’ recent override of the President’s veto of the defense spending bill. The bill lays out plans to rename military installations with confederate names. Local Congressman, Donald McEachin has been among those pushing for the renaming of 10 U.S. army bases currently named after confederates, two are in his district.
By DAVE RESS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Virginia has been working hard to protect the Bay, but the Chesapeake Bay Foundation still grades its health as D-plus. The main reason is the ineffective management of striped bass. Blue crabs are doing well, bumping up a notch to B-plus and oysters saw modest gains, though remaining with a grade of F.
By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury
Two years after its last assessment of the Chesapeake Bay’s health, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has found little overall improvement in the nation’s largest estuary, despite reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus pollution and the shrinking of the bay’s dead zone, an oxygen-deprived area where species are unable to survive. “The Chesapeake Bay system is still dangerously out of balance, but there’s hope for improvement as pollution levels decline and the dead zone retreats,” said Foundation President Will Baker in a call with reporters Tuesday morning.
By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, G. Zachary Terwilliger, is leaving his post on Jan. 15 after 2½ years on the job and joining, as a partner, a Texas-based international law firm. The 39-year-old Terwilliger, the youngest of more than 90 U.S. attorneys across the country, was appointed by President Donald Trump to the job in May 2018, confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn in that November. He will be working for the Washington office of Vinson & Elkins LLP.
By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press
The leader of one of the nation’s most prominent U.S. Attorney’s offices said Tuesday he is resigning after nearly three years of prosecuting terrorists, spies and political operatives. G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, is joining the private sector with a post at the Vinson and Elkins law firm. Terwilliger, 39, is the youngest U.S. Attorney in the country and has led the office since 2018, but his connections to the office go back to 1999, when he worked there as an intern. He also served for years there as a line prosecutor.
By KENYA HUNTER, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
With COVID-19 cases in the county surging, the Henrico County school system announced Tuesday that the return of elementary school students to in-person learning will again be delayed. The students, who were poised to return to school buildings on Monday after a return in late November was scuttled, will now go back Jan. 25.
By PETER COUTU, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The leader of Virginia Beach public schools is calling for some of the division’s students to start returning for in-person classes on Jan. 19 despite Hampton Roads’ number of new coronavirus cases and positive rate continuing to climb. Aaron Spence, the superintendent of the region’s largest school system, said he is pushing for students to return to classrooms because he believes the division’s mitigation strategies work and that research shows schools are not significant spreaders of COVID.
By RYAN MURPHY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Four competing groups — comprised of major developers, entertainment figures and arena operators — have been shortlisted by the city of Norfolk to redevelop Military Circle, officials said Tuesday. The city envisions new homes, shopping, hotels, restaurants and offices to revitalize the area. And many of the groups vying to carry out the overhaul have experience that suggests another element not specifically mentioned in the city’s plans: an arena.
By LAWRENCE EMERSON, Fauquier Now
Fauquier public schools will resume interscholastic sports, with practices beginning Jan. 6 and competition starting Jan. 12. The school board approved the plan, 5-0, during a special meeting via Zoom on Tuesday night. “So much already has been taken away from them” (student-athletes) because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Liberty High Principal Sam Cox told the board before the vote.
By ANNA MEROD, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Local school divisions are reporting an increase in the number of students who failed at least one course in the first quarter of the 2020-21 academic year — a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic that mirrors a national trend. The uptick in failing grades follows learning changes that were implemented as a result of the pandemic.
By JUSTIN FAULCONER, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
An online petition opposing Amherst County becoming a “First Amendment sanctuary” — which involves local government officials taking a formal stance against Gov. Ralph Northam’s COVID-19 restrictions — was presented to the county’s board of supervisors Tuesday. Gloria Witt, a Madison Heights resident and leader within Amherst County’s NAACP branch, presented the petition started in late December at www.change.org to the board during a public comments portion of Tuesday’s meeting. The petition had 393 signatures just before 5 p.m. Tuesday and states its signers believe Northam has acted properly in protecting Virginia residents during the pandemic.
By CLAIRE MITZEL, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Roanoke County’s varsity student-athletes can begin winter sports practices this week, the Roanoke County School Board voted Tuesday. The district plans to start with in-county competitions, and district staff will continue to make recommendations and create a framework for play in the coming weeks.
By BILL WYATT, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Beaver Hills Golf Course is closed, possibly for good, and that could be the only thing that is settled about the property on Kings Mountain Road. A request for a special-use permit that would allow the construction of a solar farm on the property has been denied by the Henry County Board of Zoning Appeals, but Andrew Palmer, commercial leasing manager for The Lester Group, says North Carolina Renewable Energy intends to appeal that decision.
Daily Progress Editorial (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney says she had an “unsettling…interaction” with a representative of the consulting firm hired to help find a new city manager. Whatever the truth of the matter, the complaint alone is indicative of the lack of stability in city government to which City Council referred this week. The council temporarily suspended its city manager search, it announced this week, and will evaluate the “next steps to stabilize the organization.”
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
News that a coronavirus vaccine was deemed safe and effective following rigorous testing and review was the beacon of light that many people needed as 2020 came to a close. In the first week of 2021, however, that hope has given way to frustration as distribution has slowed and only 20% of Virginia’s vaccine doses have been administered.
By BEN CLINE, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
On January 6, 2021, the U.S. House and Senate will convene in a joint session to open the electoral votes submitted by state government officials, certify their validity, count them, and declare the official result of the election. As the representative of Virginia’s Sixth Congressional District, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution, and this is a duty that I do not take lightly or without thoughtful consideration and deliberation.
Cline represents the 6th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a Republican from Botetourt County.
By CLAIR BERUBE, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Medical school applications are exploding in the United States. According to Dr. Jeffrey Young, senior director of student affairs at the Association of American Medical Colleges, applications for med schools are up 18%. This has been dubbed “The Fauci Effect” for Dr. Anthony Fauci, inspiring people across the country to go into medicine.
Berube is an assistant professor of education at Virginia Wesleyan University.
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