VaNews
January 25, 2021

Today's Sponsor:


** Virginia's Member-Owned Electric Cooperatives
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Electric co-ops are locally owned utilities. Leaders of Virginia’s 13 electric co-ops look forward to their virtual visits with their General Assembly representatives. www.vmdaec.com ([link removed]) ; www.co-opliving.com ([link removed])
* Read Online ([link removed])
* 10 Most Clicked ([link removed])
* Refer a Friend ([link removed])

Top of the News


** As more people become eligible to get vaccinated in the region, supply of vaccine remains an issue ([link removed])
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By JENNA PORTNOY, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Tom Bleha and his wife were counting the days until their coronavirus vaccine appointments on Jan. 30, and the promise of a return to what he called “a semi-normal life,” but on Friday evening, Virginia Hospital Center canceled their slots. “We are outraged,” said Bleha, 85, whose two previous bouts with pneumonia put him at high risk for a serious case of covid-19. The Arlington hospital will run out of vaccine doses in the coming week after Virginia abruptly changed the way it allocates the doses it receives from the federal government.
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** Holes in Va.’s race, ethnicity reporting for vaccines leave doubts about equitable distribution ([link removed])
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By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Virginia hasn’t recorded the race or ethnicity of more than half of the people who’ve received the coronavirus vaccine, undercutting a critical pillar in marshaling resources to hard-hit populations. There’s little evidence to show that will change, even as the state pledges an equitable distribution of a limited supply that researchers say is nearly impossible to execute without accounting for these demographics. The already questionable success of asking its most skeptical and underserved communities for trust lies in incomplete state figures that show when race has been recorded, 71% of those vaccinated have been white.
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** Virginia moves toward banning capital punishment, in a shift for prolific death penalty state ([link removed])
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By LAURA VOZZELLA AND GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Virginia, a state that has executed more prisoners than any other in the country, appears poised to eliminate the death penalty — a seismic shift for the state legislature, which just five years ago looked to the electric chair and secret pharmaceutical deals to keep the ultimate punishment alive. The former capital of the Confederacy would become the first Southern state to abolish capital punishment if a bill on track to pass the Senate gets out of the House and over to the desk of Gov. Ralph Northam (D), who has promised to sign it.
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** Virginia Republicans stick with convention as messy fight over nomination method continues ([link removed])
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By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury

Virginia Republicans appear to be sticking with their plans to hold a convention to select their nominees for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. The decision has not come easily. The party’s central committee has been divided for weeks, leading to procedural deadlock, convoluted parliamentary maneuvers and increasingly heated debate that on Saturday left members exacerbated.
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** Southwest Virginia seeks strategies to lure data centers ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

It’s pitch black and silent a few hundred feet underground in this tomb-like mine shaft. There’s no breeze, but it’s cool. Besides some troublemakers who have broken through the chains on the gate, it’s hard to locate the entrance to this mine off a road in Scott County. The limestone mine is empty. It's cavernous and the ceiling is high — no need to duck walk.... site-logo Some economic development and mining industry leaders think they’ve come up with an idea of what to do with mines like these that are empty but still full of potential. They want to put data centers in them
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** Rocky Mount officer says he and colleague fired for participating in U.S. Capitol riot ([link removed])
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By MIKE ALLEN, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Rocky Mount has fired two town police officers who have been charged by federal authorities with participating in the Jan. 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol, one of the officers said. “We were both terminated,” wrote Thomas “T.J.” Robertson, who until Friday morning was a sergeant with the Rocky Mount Police Department. Robertson shared an excerpt from a letter citing “conduct unbecoming an officer” as the reason for his firing. The letter states he will be terminated Tuesday.
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** 6 ways to increase your odds of getting coronavirus vaccine on time ([link removed])
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By ELISHA SAUERS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Limited supplies, lags and near-daily changes have muddled the coronavirus vaccine rollout, leaving Virginians confused about when will be their turn and where they’ll go to get immunized. While much of the process is out of your hands, there are a few things you can do to ensure you don’t miss your shot to get your shot.
The Full Report
49 articles, 17 publications
* Read Online ([link removed])
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** FROM VPAP
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** VPAP Visual Comparing Legislative Candidates' Source of Funds ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

VPAP shows the percentage of campaign donations that each General Assembly candidate received last year from six types of sources, including businesses that lobby the state legislature and small donors who give $100 or less. There are filters for incumbents and non-incumbents, who tend to rely on a very different mix of funding sources.
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** From VPAP Maps, Timeline of COVID-19 in Virginia ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

Our COVID-19 dashboard makes it easy to track the latest available data for tests performed, infections, deaths and hospital capacity. We've added a link the VDH vaccination data. There's also a filter for each city and county, plus an exclusive per-capita ZIP Code map. Updated each morning around 10:30 a.m.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** As pandemic rages on, legislature moves to extend loosened alcohol restrictions as lifeline to restaurants ([link removed])
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By CASEY FABRIS AND AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Cocktails served at fine dining restaurants like the River and Rail are not easily replicated at home. The Roanoke restaurant makes the ingredients like tonic and syrup that go into its cocktails, requiring hours of prep time. It would also be an expensive endeavor, said front-of-house manager Shane Lumpp. Buying all the supplies for one River and Rail cocktail that has seven ingredients would cost about $200, he said.
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** Tenant protections spurred by COVID-19 pandemic could become permanent under Price bill ([link removed])
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By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

A Virginia House of Delegates committee is set to weigh Tuesday whether tenant protections established because of the COVID-19 pandemic should be permanent. HB-1889 would require landlords who own five or more units to offer payment plans to renters who fall behind. The bill, carried by Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, would also require landlords to issue a 14-day, rather than a five-day, notice before pursuing an eviction, in what advocates say is a crucial change for households living paycheck to paycheck.
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** Lawmakers are considering adding ‘advanced recycling’ to state code ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

Recycling, once seen as a key environmental priority, has seen its star fall in recent years, with many localities eliminating or scaling back programs after the foreign countries that once accepted much of their plastic, paper and aluminum waste began to refuse or curtail new shipments. The biggest turning point was China’s 2018 announcement of its “National Sword” policy banning the importation of plastics and other recyclables. . . . Now the plastics and recycling industries are looking toward a new solution: chemical recycling, often called advanced recycling. Nine states to date have passed laws recognizing the fledgling industry and differentiating it from solid waste management.
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** Virginia lawmakers seek to boost cultural competency in schools ([link removed])
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By KENYA HUNTER, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Virginia Lawmakers want to make good on recommendations from last year after the Virginia Commission on African American History in the Commonwealth showed the state is doing a subpar job of teaching public school students Black history. A proposal from Del. Clinton Jenkins, D-Suffolk, to mandate cultural competency training for those seeking or retaining a state teaching license, and requiring history teachers to be trained to teach African American history, survived the House on a 59-41 vote this week, prompting debate on the floor on the role of the state in framing students' understanding of U.S. history.
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** Death penalty foes call for its abolition ([link removed])
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By EVAN GOODENOW, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

At the site where a white supremacist mob lynched a Black man in 1893, five death penalty opponents on Friday prayed for its abolition comparing it to modern-day lynching. The group was comprised of members of the NAACP Winchester Chapter 7127 and the Valley Interfaith Council. They said capital punishment is barbaric, kills innocent people and disproportionately kills Black people. They called it a vestige of the nation’s settler-colonial and Jim Crow past.
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** Plans to start a Virginia Beach tourism authority have stalled ([link removed])
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By ALISSA SKELTON, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Virginia Beach will not get approval to create a tourism authority during the 2021 General Assembly session. Del. Nancy Guy (D-Virginia Beach) said she plans to abandon the bill, which she sponsored for the city, that would have created one. She said she will do so because some members of the resort community and Republican Del. Barry Knight, who also represents the city, were pushing her to make changes to the bill. She said she asked the city council if it would support changes, and the city directed her to drop the bill.
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** Chesterfield Judge Pamela O’Berry in jeopardy of losing seat on bench ([link removed])
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By JEREMY M. LAZARUS, Richmond Free Press

Judge Pamela O’Berry, currently the longest-serving Black judge in Chesterfield County, is facing removal after 12 years on the bench in Chesterfield General District Court. The Free Press has learned that Judge O’Berry was not included on the state Senate’s list of lower court judges to be reappointed to new six-year terms, though her name was included on the House of Delegates list. Unless the Senate in a floor vote reinstates her, Judge O’Berry would not receive the required support from both chambers and would have to step down when her term ends this year.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** Virginia GOP leaders reaffirm decision to pick nominees in a convention ([link removed])
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By ANDREW CAIN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Virginia Republican leaders on Saturday reaffirmed their decision to nominate the party’s statewide candidates in a convention, despite warnings from supporters of a primary that a convention could violate Gov. Ralph Northam’s COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings. By a 38-33 vote, the Republican State Central Committee rejected a move to switch the party’s nomination method to a primary. Four members of the committee voted “present.”
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** Virginia GOP chief calls party’s run-down headquarters a ‘literal ghetto’ ([link removed])
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By LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Virginia GOP Chairman Richard Anderson publicly complained over the weekend that the party's deteriorating headquarters is a "literal ghetto." Anderson made the comment Saturday at the end of a marathon Zoom meeting, when a member of the State Central Committee asked Anderson for an update on the brick building in downtown Richmond. The cash-strapped party, which had $1,514 in the bank as of Dec. 31, has long put off expensive repairs.
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** Roanoke civil rights attorney announces candidacy for Delegate in Virginia’s 11th district ([link removed])
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WFXR-TV

Roanoke-based civil rights attorney, Charlie Nave (R), announced his campaign for Delegate in Virginia’s 11th district. Nave is the chairman of the Roanoke City Republican Committee and he says he brings a track record of championing limited government as well as offering strong support for the Second Amendment and equal opportunity for all citizens.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** Montgomery, Giles counties to resume jury trials with new virus safeguards ([link removed])
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By MIKE GANGLOFF, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Court systems in Montgomery and Giles counties plan to re-start jury trials after a 10-month break caused by the pandemic. They are the first court systems in the New River Valley to receive state approval to call jurors again. The initial jury trial is scheduled to begin Wednesday, with jurors in Montgomery County Circuit Court considering an appeal of a misdemeanor assault and battery conviction.
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** Virginia health department tweaks hotline’s Spanish services ([link removed])
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By ELISHA SAUERS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The Virginia Department of Health can connect Spanish speakers with an interpreter over the phone, a service people might not have known existed based on the hotline’s English greeting. Now, the ASK-VDH-3 hotline, which has been inundated with calls for coronavirus information, lets callers know up front in Spanish that translation services are available.
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** Virginia National Guard to keep roughly 1,000 troops in Washington D.C. ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Approximately 1,000 members of the Virginia National Guard could remain in Washington, D.C., for a few more weeks after being deployed to keep the U.S. Capitol safe for the inauguration of President Joe Biden. The Virginia National Guard announced Saturday that a portion of the 2,400 troops it deployed earlier this month will stay at the request of several local and federal law enforcement agencies.
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** Local family drug courts prove effective in family reunification ([link removed])
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By ALISON GRAHAM, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Ashley Sweigart had just finished taking a few Roxicodone pain pills and had sat back to watch TV in her bedroom when she heard a car pull up outside her trailer. It was the day after Christmas 2018, and her son and stepdaughter were in the living room playing with their new toys. Ashley walked out through the back door and met an unmarked silver car outside. Two women stepped out and Ashley’s heart dropped when she saw the badges swinging from their necks: Bedford County Department of Social Services.
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** Area prosecutors split on change to centuries-old jury sentencing law ([link removed])
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By TYLER HAMMEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

As reform to Virginia’s jury sentencing looms, prosecutors in Central Virginia appear split on whether the changes will lead to staffing problems and docket delays. Passed during a special session of the state General Assembly last year, SB 5007 will end a 244-year-old practice of allowing juries to recommend a sentence for those they convict. The law, which was signed by Gov. Ralph Northam late last year, goes into effect July 1.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** Regulatory route becomes more complicated for Mountain Valley Pipeline ([link removed])
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By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The journey of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, up and down precarious mountainsides and under rocky streambeds, was never an easy one. Now, the natural gas pipeline is facing an increasingly difficult passage through legal and regulatory roadblocks. A sixth lawsuit challenging the project’s federal permits — which were recently restored after being set aside by an earlier round of litigation — was filed Wednesday.
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** Poll shows support for pipeline in Southwest Virginia ([link removed])
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By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A majority of Southwest Virginians support the construction and operation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, according to a recent poll commissioned by the company building the natural gas pipeline. Surveying by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy found that 66% of the respondents favored the pipeline, which has been under construction since 2018. The poll found 28% opposed and 6% undecided.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** University of Richmond warns students against parties ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

The University of Richmond sent a letter to students Friday warning that parties and other violations of COVID-19 safety protocols could jeopardize in-person learning this semester. The university, which has been offering a mix of in-person and fully online classes, has reported 54 positive COVID-19 cases among its faculty, staff and students since the start of its spring semester earlier this month.
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** As second pandemic semester begins, universities apply lessons learned ([link removed])
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By KATE SZAMBECKI, Harrisonburg Citizen

The second full semester of the COVID-19 era classes at EMU got off to a smoother start than the first, when several positive tests among residence hall staff resulted in a two-week postponement of move-in day. This time, on Jan. 17 EMU finished testing all 340 undergraduates who live on campus, with just one positive result, and classes began as scheduled on Jan. 19. The reassuring launch of the spring semester appears to be the latest example in what Dean of Students Shannon Dycus described as a pattern of progress since the academic year began – rooted in an appeal to students’ sense of community responsibility.
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** VMI commandant to retire as racial reckoning continues ([link removed])
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By IAN SHAPIRA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The commandant of the Virginia Military Institute, William “Bill” Wanovich, who came under scrutiny for posing in a photo mocking Hispanics at a campus Halloween party three years ago, is retiring at the end of the academic year, the college announced Friday. Wanovich’s pending departure marks the latest major disruption at VMI since The Washington Post published a series of stories exposing racism at the nation’s oldest state-supported military college.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Virginia reports 3,792 new COVID-19 cases ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Virginia Department of Health reported Sunday that the state’s cumulative total for COVID-19 cases during the pandemic is now up to 472,447, an increase of 3,792 from Saturday. There have been 6,078 COVID-19 deaths in Virginia, a decrease of one from Saturday's report.
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** Pandemic causes spikes in stress-driven incidents in Newport News, police chief says ([link removed])
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By PETER DUJARDIN, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

The stress of the COVID-19 pandemic led to spikes in drug overdoses, suicides and felony domestic assaults in Newport News last year, the city’s police chief says. At the same time, a sharp decrease in property crime — particularly burglaries and larcenies — led to an overall 14% reduction in the city’s crime rate in seven key categories, Police Chief Steven Drew said Friday.
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** Fewer vaccine doses headed to Virginia, Fredericksburg region ([link removed])
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By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Even with the confusion and frustration of the registration process, things had started to click with the local rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Rappahannock Area Health District had worked out kinks in its distribution plans, lined up more vaccinators and taken its clinics on the road, both to King George County and the Brisben Center homeless shelter. Mary Washington Healthcare had moved as many as 1,500 people a day through its clinic to the point that people posting on a virtual town hall last week compared its efficiency to a Chick-Fil-A drive-thru. But like many other aspects of life, especially during a pandemic, Murphy’s law prevailed.
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** Community gathers to pray for Rappahannock Regional Jail inmates and staff ([link removed])
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By ADELE UPHAUS–CONNER, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Juan Gray stood in the parking lot of the Rappahannock Regional Jail, facing the building where he spent four months in 2019 for parole violation. He wept as he said a prayer for inmates and staff of the facility, which has been on lockdown since last week due to positive cases of COVID-19. “I pray for everyone behind these walls,” he prayed aloud. “People come here because they don’t have nowhere to go.”
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** Chesterfield developing portal for COVID vaccine waitlist after confusion ([link removed])
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By JORDAN BONDURANT, WRIC-TV

The Chesterfield County Health District is in the process of developing a portal for residents to get on a COVID-19 vaccine waitlist after some confusion over the district’s “When Can I Get Vaccinated” tool online. The official county government Facebook page put out a status on Sunday clarifying that the resource was originally intended to give residents an idea of which phase of the state’s vaccination plan they fall into.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** Bird fans cry foul after huge nest destroyed in Virginia Beach ([link removed])
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By JOANNE KIMBERLIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Loafing eagles and out-of-town ospreys triggered a dust-up on Shore Drive when a huge nest was removed from a cell tower earlier this month. The nest — about 4 feet across — had been a fixture for years atop the 130-foot-plus tower near Chic’s Beach. Neighbors were upset when they spotted workers up there Jan. 14 tearing the nest apart. “Appalled,” said Shelley Bossert, who could see the nest from her second-story window at Vantage Apartments. “Outraged.”


** LOCAL
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** Arlington Co. parent groups conflicted on when to bring students back to classrooms ([link removed])
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By VALERIE BONK, WTOP

Some parents in Arlington County, Virginia, say it’s past time to bring students back to classrooms, while others say it’s too risky. It has been more than 300 days since schools went virtual, and the group Arlington Parents for Education said it’s time to get children back in classrooms. It held a rally Saturday calling for schools to resume in-person learning as soon as possible.
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** Fairfax Co. parent group unsure if schools will commit to latest reopening plan ([link removed])
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By MATTHEW DELANEY, WTOP

The proposed reopening plan for Fairfax County schools in Virginia has been released, but it’s not sitting well with parents who believe a return to in-person classes should be an option for families who want it. Dr. Scott Brabrand, superintendent of the state’s largest school system, unveiled his plan at the county school board’s meeting last week. According to the plan, students would begin coming back to class on Feb. 16, with the goal of having 100,000 students across multiple grade levels in class by March 9.
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** Chesterfield police report at least six overdose deaths since Thursday ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

At least six people have died of suspected drug overdoses in Chesterfield County since Thursday. In a news release Saturday, Chesterfield police said they have responded to multiple overdose calls in the last 72 hours. The release states that police are aware of six suspected overdose fatalities in the county since then.
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** After noise complaints, Hampton police plan to build indoor gun range ([link removed])
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By LISA VERNON SPARKS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

Rapid gunfire erupts from Hampton police’s outdoor range and echoes through Old North Hampton and beyond, depending on which way the wind is blowing. “It’s extremely loud. Not knowing when the next volley of shots (is) coming,” says Will Moffett, a former Hampton city council member who lives near the Bethel Avenue range. “They were using some high-powered automatic weapons. This has been a nightmare. It’s like living next to a train track.”
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** Charlottesville schools look north for model to shed resource officers ([link removed])
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By KATHERINE KNOTT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

A committee tasked with finding a replacement for the school resource officer program in Charlottesville City Schools has settled on a model used by the Toronto, Ontario school division. The plan would replace police officers in schools with unarmed safety monitors, who are well-known adults from the community. Their task is to build relationships with students and monitor school grounds. The Toronto District School Board discussed the approach with Charlottesville residents in a virtual forum earlier this month.
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** Front Royal councilman proposes naming street for Trump ([link removed])
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By ALEX BRIDGES, Northern Virginia Daily

Front Royal’s mayor says the town doesn’t plan on naming any of its streets after former President Donald J. Trump any time soon. Mayor Christopher W. Holloway stated in a media release issued Friday evening that he and a majority of the Town Council members do not support the idea brought up earlier in the week by Councilman E. Scott Lloyd, a former appointee under the Trump administration.
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** New River training academy: Montgomery County says it's no member, points to past incident ([link removed])
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By YANN RANAIVO, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Montgomery County officials say the locality has no obligations to a Dublin-based law enforcement academy that contends the county still owes it an annual fee that effectively determines whether local police officers can continue working. In correspondences about the matter with the New River Criminal Justice Training Academy, a top Montgomery County official also raised concerns about a 2019 incident at the institution involving one of their deputy trainees at the time.
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** Bristol Virginia Public Schools ready to reopen schools Monday ([link removed])
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By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Bristol, Virginia students and teachers return to classrooms Monday for the first time in nearly a month, as the division continues to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. City students were last in classrooms Dec. 9 and online classes resumed Jan. 12. School officials added bookend weeks of virtual classes around the traditional Christmas break to allow as many teachers and staff as possible to receive the first round of COVID vaccinations, following months with few actual cases in classrooms.

Today's Sponsor:


** Virginia's Member-Owned Electric Cooperatives
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Electric co-ops are locally owned utilities. Leaders of Virginia’s 13 electric co-ops look forward to their virtual visits with their General Assembly representatives. www.vmdaec.com ([link removed]) ; www.co-opliving.com ([link removed])


** EDITORIALS
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** What will Democrats who oppose coal tax credits do for Southwest? ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia's coal counties are getting some special attention from the General Assembly, just not necessarily the attention they want or need. Two legislators — neither from coal country — have introduced bills to repeal the state's coal tax credit. This is not surprising. Democratic antipathy toward fossil fuels — both sponsors here are Democrats — is well-known.
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** Will General Assembly again punt on school construction? ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

...This is our annual editorial in which we urge the General Assembly to pass the bill that state Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, has introduced calling for the state to issue $3 billion in school construction bonds. Yes, we realize this comes under the heading of Albert Einstein’s famous definition of insanity — doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
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** Restoring productive leadership in Charlottesville ([link removed])
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Daily Progress Editorial (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Negativity. Conflict. Dissension. There are plenty of words to describe what’s been going on in Charlottesville, both in government and among the citizenry. Now the city must find a way to engage in constructive criticism. That’s a subtlety that has eluded many people in recent times. And there’s a reason for this lack of nuance: Many of Charlottesville’s problems are not subtle. They are blatant. And they are accompanied by high emotion.
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** Virginians want results, not more promises, on vaccine effort ([link removed])
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Daily Press Editorial (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

There is no shortage of disappointment in the haphazard distribution of the coronavirus vaccine so far, and that’s especially true in Virginia. One month since celebrating area health care workers receiving their first shots, the commonwealth lags near the bottom of states in the number of vaccine doses distributed and the percentage of its vaccine supply used thus far.


** COLUMNISTS
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** Shenk: Traffic bounces back ([link removed])
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By SCOTT SHENK, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

A presentation of traffic trends in Virginia since the beginning of the pandemic includes the obvious, along with some head-scratchers. Data collected by 512 vehicle counting stations across the state showed the deepest plummet in traffic happened in the months following the onset of the pandemic, falling 60 percent below 2019 figures, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation report. Traffic has bounced back in recent months, and is near normal in some areas, including the Fredericksburg corridor.


** OP-ED
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** Morse: With Democrats in control, the challenge is to govern ([link removed])
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By GORDON C. MORSE, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

It could be — this is just an argument — that Virginia Democrats could do themselves a political favor by simply governing well. Starting now. No time like the present. After all, Democrats run the show. New president. New Congress. And, here in Virginia, Democrats command statewide political offices and rule the General Assembly.

After writing editorials for the Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot in the 1980s, Gordon C. Morse wrote speeches for Gov. Gerald L. Baliles.
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** Stephens: Restoring civility starts with grace, giving and gratitude ([link removed])
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By BRYAN K. STEPHENS, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The violence, racial tensions, ugly political discord and the pandemic have all transitioned into 2021 totally unencumbered. In fact, with the horrific tragedy of Jan. 6, they appear to be picking up steam. The collective impact to businesses and our economy has been devastating. It has to stop. I believe the solution is faith. No matter what your religion, your faith should be telling you to apply the principles of “Grace, Giving and Gratitude” (G3).

Stephens is president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
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** Lucas and Aird: Home health workers at risk without legislative action ([link removed])
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By LOUISE LUCAS AND LASHRECSE AIRD, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The health care industry is full of unsung heroes. Germaine Oliver is one of them. Oliver works for Care Advantage, one of the largest home care agencies in the commonwealth. She just celebrated a monumental work anniversary. For 30 years, she’s dedicated herself to her patients with an energy and passion that is unmatched, taking care of people in their homes with love and care.

Lucas of Portsmouth is president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate. Aird represents the 63rd House of Delegates District
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** Boysko and Ayala: Small-business owners have spoken — Virginia needs paid leave ([link removed])
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By JENNIFER BOYSKO AND HALA AYALA, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The past year has been one of unprecedented struggle for small-business owners. We’ve watched with awe as entrepreneurs across the commonwealth have adapted to the changing business landscape that the COVID-19 pandemic has created. From offering curbside and virtual services, to ensuring that employees safely can work from home when possible, business owners once again have proved that their collective resiliency is one of their strengths.

Boysko, D-Fairfax, and Ayala, D-Prince William, are patrons of Senate Bill 1330 and House Bill 2016, respectively, to establish a paid family and medical leave program in Virginia.
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** Payne and Haymore: Reinventing the Economy ([link removed])
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By WILL PAYNE AND TODD HAYMORE, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Sixteen months ago we kicked off InvestSWVA, a business attraction and marketing initiative for Southwest Virginia ,launched with the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and backed by the LENOWISCO Planning District Commission and private industry partners Point Broadband and Appalachian Power.

Payne serves as Director of InvestSWVA and the Southwest Virginia Energy Research and Development Authority. Haymore is Strategic Advisor to InvestSWVA.
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** Click: In the aftermath of Capitol riot: 'Arise, Mountain-Valley Republicans' ([link removed])
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By CAROLYN CLICK, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

My God, I’m glad my late mother did not live to see the ignoble crumbling of the Grand Old Party she treasured. I’m relieved she did not witness the violent mob that rampaged through the U.S. Capitol or watch members of her once-storied political party equivocate and engage in election-fraud lies. A native of the Shenandoah Valley, my mother was a Mountain-Valley Republican until her death at age 98.

A native of Weyers Cave in Augusta County, Click is a former reporter for United Press International and The Roanoke Times & World News, among other news organizations.
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** Holland and Winslow: State continues to shun local governments' needs ([link removed])
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By JIM HOLLAND AND CHRIS WINSLOW, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

As state officials issue directives regarding eligibility and supplies for distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, Virginia localities remain stymied by state bureaucracy. The front lines of local government are where the citizens first reach out and first are heard. Their cries to us are unparalleled to anything we’ve experienced. We deeply are empathetic, yet we have been rendered helpless.

Holland is chair of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors. Winslow is vice chair of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors.
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** Valentine: Why Virginia is helping develop innovative alcohol detection technology ([link removed])
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By SHANNON VALENTINE, published in Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The new year presents an opportunity to amend old habits and introduce new ones. I invite Virginians across the commonwealth to join us in our efforts to keep everyone on our roads safe from the effects of impaired driving. Social distancing has not reduced the frequency of drunken driving — which puts all road users in danger. In fact, drunken driving remains one of the most significant threats to road safety.

Valentine is Virginia secretary of transportation and serves as chair of the Commonwealth Transportation Board.


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