VaNews
February 5, 2021

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** Virginia Poverty Law Center
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Paving the way for a fair and just path forward for all Virginians.
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Top of the News


** Northam wants school districts to offer in-person learning this summer ([link removed])
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By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam will formally urge school districts Friday to offer in-person learning this summer and will double down on his support for reopening schools as soon as possible. In a live interview with The Washington Post, Northam said his administration wants to see classrooms open in the summer “to allow our children to catch up so that everybody will be ready in the fall. We’re working with our teachers, our school boards, our superintendents.”
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** If it had enough doses, Virginia could vaccinate 50,000 a day, state official says ([link removed])
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By LUANNE RIFE, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The head of Virginia’s COVID-19 vaccine program said the state now has a network capable of delivering 50,000 shots a day but is getting only a third of the vaccine needed to consistently hit that target. Dr. Danny Avula made a round of media calls Thursday to talk about the rollout of the vaccine and how Virginia is seeking to make sure the most vulnerable people are vaccinated first.
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** Rural areas still waiting for vaccines: "How can you be patient in a pandemic when people are dying?" ([link removed])
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CBS News

The heart of Appalachia beats with the help of nurse practitioner Teresa Gardner Tyson. She runs the Health Wagon in Wise, Virginia, a mobile medical clinic providing free crucial healthcare to low-income and underserved people in southwest Virginia. "They don't have reliable transportation. They don't have the money for fuel to go to a clinic," Tyson told CBS News' David Begnaud. . . . For 28 years, Tyson has navigated the rural Appalachian roads to service those who otherwise might not get medical care. But what they need now, she said, is the COVID-19 vaccine.
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** Northam orders Virginia lawmakers to keep working instead of wrapping up next week ([link removed])
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By ANA LEY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam called Thursday for a special legislative session, effectively telling lawmakers to work for another 16 days. For a second year, Democrats in control of the General Assembly and the governor’s mansion have been pushing laws to reform the state’s criminal justice system and to address racial and ethnic inequities exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
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** House passes bill offering sick leave for essential workers ([link removed])
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By SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press

The Virginia House passed a bill Thursday that would guarantee paid sick leave for certain essential workers, but the measure’s fate in the more business-friendly Senate remains unclear. After similar sick leave measures died in last year’s regular and special sessions, the issue continues to prove divisive among Democrats who control the state government. As this year’s bill has been easily advancing through the House, its chief sponsor and advocates on both sides of the issue have expressed skepticism or uncertainty that the upper chamber would look favorably upon it.
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** Va. House votes to force public colleges to reckon with ties to slavery, create scholarships or other programs ([link removed])
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By NICK ANDERSON, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Five public colleges and universities in Virginia would be required to detail as much as possible their ties to enslaved Black individuals who worked on their grounds and to establish scholarships or economic development programs to benefit communities descended from those people under a bill the Virginia House passed Thursday. The bill seeks to hold accountable the College of William & Mary, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Military Institute and Longwood University for their institutional actions during Virginia’s long history of supporting and defending slavery from the Colonial era through the Civil War.
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** Effort to stop mega-landfill in Cumberland County fails in legislature ([link removed])
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By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Senators on Thursday rejected legislation that would have stopped a mega-landfill from opening in poor and rural Cumberland County. The issue illustrated the divide between protecting the environment and historic communities while allowing economic growth in Cumberland, which has about 10,000 people, little business and barely enough revenue for the county government to operate efficiently.
The Full Report
71 articles, 37 publications
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** FROM VPAP
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** VPAP Visual Donors in Common ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

Four years ago, Democrats were locked in a gubernatorial nomination battle between an establishment favorite (Ralph Northam) and a progressive upstart (Tom Perriello). For this year's contest, VPAP has calculated what percentage of each candidate's donations so far have come from Northam or Perriello donors.
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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 to 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.


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** Northam pushes harder for in-person learning to resume ([link removed])
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By SARA GREGORY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam is reiterating a call for school districts to resume in-person learning, saying children “learn better when they’re in the classroom.” Since mid-January, Northam and other top state officials have told districts to treat in-person learning as their default, not the other way around. They’ve also encouraged districts to look at what kinds of in-person summer instruction they can offer.
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** Northam to announce support for extending school year into summer allowing students time to ‘catch up’ ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, WAVY-TV

Governor Ralph Northam is expected to announce his support for extending the school year through summer to ensure students are prepared for the next academic year. “One of the things that I think is very important that we will be announcing tomorrow is that we want to extend our classrooms this summer to allow our children to catch up so that everybody will be ready in the fall,” Northam said. “We’re working with our teachers, our school boards, our superintendents.”
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** Northam to push for Va. schools to extend school year into summer ([link removed])
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By GABRIELLA MUÑOZ, Washington Times

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Thursday he will announce a plan to push the school year into the summer months to make up for the time students were out of the classroom due to the coronavirus. No details have been released yet, but the announcement will come Friday morning, Mr. Northam said during a livestream interview with The Washington Post. “We want to extend our classrooms this summer to allow our children to catch up so that everybody will be ready in the fall,” the Democratic governor said. “We’re working with our teachers, our school boards, our superintendents.”


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** Northam extends legislative session ([link removed])
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By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam on Thursday issued a proclamation extending the current legislative session, using his powers to give lawmakers more time to work through their hefty agenda. Northam spokesperson Alena Yarmosky said that while the proclamation does not have an end date, there is an “understanding” between the administration and legislative leaders that the intent is to create a 46-day session. In that scenario, the special session would last from Feb. 10 to Feb. 27.
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** Paid sick leave bill passes Virginia House, clearing the way for Senate debate ([link removed])
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By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury

A bill that would guarantee paid sick leave to essential employees passed the Virginia House of Delegates Thursday. But the measure, patroned by Del. Elizabeth Guzmán, D-Prince William, faces a harder path in the Senate, where bipartisan opposition has squashed previous versions of the bill. Senators tabled similar legislation during the General Assembly’s nearly three-month-long special session, arguing the bill would hurt small employers already struggling with a pandemic-related drop in business.
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** 'It feels like they don’t care’- Bill expanding workers comp for COVID-19 leaves out large groups ([link removed])
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By JACKIE DEFUSCO, WRIC-TV

Public safety workers who suffer from severe, job-related cases of COVID-19 are being denied benefits. The Virginia General Assembly is trying to change that but the version of the bill that’s likely to pass isn’t retroactive. It also won’t kick in until most essential employees have already been vaccinated. Virginia’s Workers Compensation Act gives employees that incur certain injuries on the job the opportunity to have their medical bills, rehabilitation costs and lost wages covered. Currently, lawmakers say essential workers who suffer a total or partial disability due to COVID-19 aren’t eligible.
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** House kills bill requiring hazard pay for essential employees ([link removed])
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By CAMERON JONES, VCU Capital News Service

Lawmakers unanimously shot down legislation this week that would have required employers to provide hazard pay to essential employees and provide protective equipment in the event of a stay-at-home order. Del. Hala S. Ayala, D-Woodbridge, said she introduced House Bill 2015 to help protect and further compensate employees required to work during a shelter-in-place or stay-at-home order. The measure required that employers authorized to remain open must pay 1.5 times the regular rate of pay for hours worked during a stay-at-home or shelter-in-place order.
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** Senate adopts tax conformity bill after doubling deductions for businesses ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

A sometimes bitter fight over tax relief for small businesses ended in the Virginia Senate with a unanimous vote on Thursday to partially conform the state’s tax code with a new federal law to allow businesses that received forgivable emergency loans to deduct up to $100,000 in expenses from their state income taxes.
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** House approves measure offering college scholarships to descendants of enslaved workers ([link removed])
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By ERIC KOLENICH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Del. David Reid, D-Loudoun, has sponsored a bill to address the five public colleges in Virginia built and maintained on the backs of enslaved workers. Titled the Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship, the bill calls for Longwood University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Military Institute, and the College of William & Mary to offer scholarships to the descendants of the enslaved.
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** Bill to increase transparency in college leadership boards passes in House ([link removed])
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By ERIC KOLENICH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

A bill to create a higher level of transparency by public college governing boards in Virginia was widely approved by the House of Delegates on Thursday. Lawmakers passed HB 2120, sponsored by Del. Mark Keam, D-Fairfax, by a vote of 98-0.
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** Some Virginia school systems say they’ll lose out under enrollment loss funding formula ([link removed])
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By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury

Virginia schools have lost thousands of students over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. . . . Those losses could take a big financial hit on local school divisions, which receive funding from the state based on student attendance counts — better known to administrators as “average daily membership.” Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposed budget aims to mitigate those enrollment losses through a formula that would route additional state funding to schools based on their decline in enrollment.
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** Bill to rename Jefferson Davis Highway passes Virginia House ([link removed])
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By TAFT COGHILL, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

An effort to rename Jefferson Davis Highway has cleared one more hurdle. The bill introduced by Del. Josh Cole last month to remove the name of the president of the Confederacy from U.S. 1 in Virginia and rename it Emancipation Highway passed the House of Delegates on Wednesday by a 70–28 vote. All 55 Democrats in the House voted in favor of the renaming, while 15 Republicans also supported the bill, including Del. Nick Freitas, whose district includes Orange County, Madison County and part of Culpeper County.
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** Senate approves bill to restrict use of license plate reader data ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Disappointed with a recent Virginia Supreme Court ruling about the use of license plate readers, Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, is renewing his push to limit how long law enforcement agencies can retain data collected by the devices. The bill he introduced in the General Assembly would limit how long agencies can retain the data the automated readers collect to no more than 30 days, unless the information is actively being used in an investigation. His bill passed the Senate on a vote of 28-11 on Thursday and heads to the House of Delegates.
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** Virginia, Shifting Left Fast, Moves to Abolish Death Penalty ([link removed])
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By TRIP GABRIEL, New York Times (Metered Paywall - 1 to 2 articles a month)

Since taking control of the state Legislature in 2019, Virginia Democrats have enacted a run of progressive laws — on gun control, abortion access and the removal of Confederate monuments. Now Virginia is poised to become the first state in the South to abolish the death penalty, a sign of ascendant liberal political power in a state that has executed more people since the 1970s than any other except Texas. . . . The Virginia State Senate on Wednesday passed a ban on executions along a party-line vote, and a similar measure is moving forward in the House of Delegates, which could vote on final passage on Friday.
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** 2 bills to create passenger rail authority keeps NRV Amtrak plan on track ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Virginia General Assembly has given initial approval to two versions of legislation to create a passenger rail authority in the New River Valley as plans chug along to extend Amtrak to Christiansburg. The authority would include representatives from several localities and universities in the New River Valley to share the cost of building and maintaining a train station.
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** After dying in the House, advanced recycling bill hangs on in the Senate ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

While a proposal to add language to state code classifying advanced recycling as a manufacturing rather than waste management activity died abruptly in House committee this week, the legislation is still alive in the Senate. “I’ve got to be honest, on the one hand people say, ‘We need fewer landfills, let’s regulate landfills, let’s get rid of landfills.’ On the other hand, this is a bill that says, OK, we’re going to bring in an industry that’s going to create something from this waste, and people are opposed to that,” said Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, during a Thursday meeting of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee.
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** Bill on service-authority withdrawal fails to report ([link removed])
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By GRACIE HART BROOKS, Greene County Record

A three-county marriage is in the midst of a divorce, senators said Monday. Members of the Senate Committee on Local Government discussed Senate Bill 1355 during a Monday morning session. The bill would allow any member locality of the Rapidan Service Authority (RSA) to withdraw from the authority regardless of any outstanding bonds.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** Cox Calls on Lawmakers To Reopen Schools Quickly ([link removed])
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By PATRICK LARSEN, WCVE-FM

Delegate and candidate for governor Kirk Cox announced a series of education proposals Thursday. The former House speaker and high school teacher says schools need to return to five days of in-person learning each week as soon as possible. The Virginia Education Association, the state’s largest teacher union, has previously rebuffed calls to reopen schools before all teachers are vaccinated. Cox says it’s a necessary step to stop learning loss associated with virtual school, but notes it won’t solve every problem.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** NC misses on Fortune 500 expansion, other projects as Virginia wins investment ([link removed])
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By LAUREN OHNESORGE, Triangle Business Journal

It's still early in the new year, but North Carolina's economic development push has already seen potential job investments go to the Commonwealth to the north. At least three companies considering North Carolina for expansions or relocations have picked Virginia instead so far this year – including a Fortune 500 firm, according to officials with the state of Virginia. The Fortune 500 company is Crown Holdings, which has picked Henry County, Virginia, for a 126-job manufacturing operation.
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** Emergency SNAP benefits to continue in February ([link removed])
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By SALEEN MARTIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Eligible Virginians will get more emergency funds through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in February, the department of social services said Thursday in a news release. The money will be added to recipients’ Electronic Benefits Transfer cards on Feb. 16.
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** Over 100,000 sign petition to pardon man jailed in Augusta Correctional Center ([link removed])
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By BEN CRAFT, News Virginian

In 2009, 16-year-old Coker Nicholas Robinson received a 33-year minimum sentence for his role in a Richmond robbery the year before. A decade later, more than 100,000 people have signed a petition to ask for a second chance for Robinson. On Dec. 12, 2008, Robinson, referred to by his family as Nick, participated in a robbery in Richmond with several other adults at a party he attended. The group did brandish firearms, but no one was injured in the robbery


** CONGRESS
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** Warner 'enthusiastic and optimistic' as he takes top Senate intelligence post in new Congress ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., once again is happily following the example of predecessor, Sen. John Warner, R-Va. Mark Warner, just elected to his third six-year term, rose this week to become chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He is the first Virginian to chair a Senate committee since John Warner, who led the Senate Armed Services Committee before his retirement in 2008.
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** Warner bill expanding access to healthy foods could be oasis in Petersburg's food deserts ([link removed])
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By BILL ATKINSON, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 10 articles a month)

Sen. Mark R. Warner is the chief patron of bipartisan legislation that creates incentives to increase access to groceries in underserved communities — including Petersburg — commonly referred to as "food deserts" due to their lack of adequate numbers of supermarkets within them. The bipartisan Healthy Food Access for All Americans (HFAAA) Act, introduced Wednesday in the Senate by Warner, D-Virginia, and three other senators, would create tax credits and onetime grants for entities to establish and expand operations that make it easier to get nutritious foods into the stomachs of people who live in urban food deserts — a mile or more from a grocery store.
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** Swamped with complaints about Postal Service, McEachin takes aim at Trump postmaster general ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Swamped by thousands of complaints over lost or delayed mail, Rep. Don McEachin, D-4th, is leading an intensifying push in Congress to replace U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and, if necessary, the entire governing board of the U.S. Postal Service. McEachin urged the Postal Service Board of Governors on Thursday to replace DeJoy — appointed in May by then-President Donald Trump before a presidential election that relied on record delivery of mail-in absentee ballots that the former president continues to blame for his loss.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** Unemployment levels in Virginia remain elevated ([link removed])
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By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The number of Virginians filing a new claim for unemployment benefits and those receiving benefits week after week remained virtually unchanged, and elevated, during the week ending Jan. 30. The Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday that 18,177 initial claims were made for traditional state benefits last week, down by a little more than a hundred from the week prior. Continued claims for traditional state benefits, those jobless Virginians seeking unemployment relief week after week, rose slightly to 67,337.
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** International shipping company deal expected to bring 400 jobs to Virginia ([link removed])
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By GABRIELLA MUÑOZ, Washington Times

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday that the commonwealth has secured an expanded contract with CMA CGM Group, an international shipping company that is expected to bring 400 new jobs to Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. “This project is a tremendous victory for Virginia that will add significant momentum to our economic recovery as we emerge from this pandemic,” Mr. Northam said. “Hampton Roads has a well-deserved reputation as a maritime services hub, and our renowned tech workforce in Northern Virginia continues to attract leading companies.”
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** Shipping company to update Norfolk HQ, add more than 400 jobs here and in Northern Virginia ([link removed])
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By TREVOR METCALFE, Inside Business

A shipping giant plans to keep its headquarters, along with hundreds of jobs, in Norfolk and add hundreds more in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia. CMA CGM Group, a French shipping and logistics company, decided to renovate its Norfolk headquarters and retain 655 Norfolk jobs, according to an announcement Thursday from Gov. Ralph Northam.
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** Anheuser-Busch brewery in Williamsburg to receive multi-million dollar upgrade, expansion ([link removed])
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By WILFORD KALE, Virginia Gazette (Metered Paywall - 4 Articles per Month)

The Anheuser-Busch brewery in Williamsburg plans a multi-million dollar expansion and upgrade of its facilities, according to company spokesperson Amanda Vigil of FleishmanHillard public relations and marketing agency in St. Louis, Missouri. On Feb. 3, Anheuser-Busch announced plans to invest more than $1 billion over the next two years in its facilities “to drive economic prosperity in communities across the U.S., further fortify its operations, and strengthen its connections with consumers.”
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** It's the Super Bowl of gambling, as Virginians can pick from hundreds of bets on Sunday's big game ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL PHILLIPS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Betting on the big game is as old as the Super Bowl itself. This year, though, it's bigger than ever in Virginia. That's because this is the first Super Bowl since sports gambling was legalized in the state, and for the five operators seeking new customers and market share, it's a massive opportunity. "It is the single biggest day on the calendar," said BetMGM chief revenue officer Matt Prevost. "I think it is also a day where a lot of people who don't normally bet day-in and day-out show up and decide to place a bet or two."
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** Supplier of Virginia’s electric co-ops pledges net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, which supplies electricity to nine of Virginia’s 13 electric cooperatives, on Thursday announced a goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The target is in line with a requirement of the Virginia Clean Economy Act that bars the state from issuing power plants carbon allowances after 2050.
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** Mountain Valley Pipeline cited again for erosion and sedimentation violations ([link removed])
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By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Mountain Valley Pipeline has sunk deeper into trouble with muddy water flowing unchecked from construction sites. A proposed consent order from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection would require the company to pay a $303,706 fine for repeated violations of erosion and sediment control regulations.
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** Virginia Community Capital gets grant to support minority- and women-owned businesses ([link removed])
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By JOHN REID BLACKWELL, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

A new loan program will provide $1 million in loans for women- and minority-owned small businesses in the Richmond region. Virginia Community Capital announced Thursday that Wells Fargo & Co. is providing the money over two years though its Open for Business program, which is designed to support the financing needs of minority- and women-owned small businesses to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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** VMRC fines Dominion and contractor for permit violations on transmission line project ([link removed])
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By JACKIE NUNNERY, Rappahannock Record (Paywall)

In a 7-2 vote, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) on Tuesday, January 26, penalized Dominion Energy and contractor Mears Group $20,000 each for incorrectly locating two work platforms as part of the underwater transmission line project in the Rappahannock River near the Robert O. Norris Jr. Memorial Bridge.
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** Bedford County Broadband Authority files lawsuit against former partner, ([link removed])
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Bedford Bulletin (Paywall for all articles)

The Bedford County Broadband Authority filed civil action against former partner, Blue Ridge Towers, in the Circuit Court for Bedford County on Friday, January 29.. The Authority also named BriscNet, USCOC of Virginia RSA #3 INC, and T-Mobile Northeast LLC as necessary co-defendants, but does not seek relief against them.
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** In a pandemic-shattered economy, local journalism searches for a way forward ([link removed])
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By LISA PROVENCE, Cville Weekly

Long before the pandemic further slashed advertising revenue, newspapers were in distress. Ad dollars are being sucked up by huge corporations like Google, which made $4.7 billion in digital advertising on news sites in 2018, almost as much as the $5.1 billion every single U.S. news outlet combined made that year....Charlottesville’s local media is feeling those shifts. Around town, established media outlets are trying to adapt, with varying levels of success. Meanwhile, two veteran reporters launched or expanded their own Substack news sites during COVID-throttled 2020.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** Liberty University's airport expansion plans hit obstacle ([link removed])
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By SHANNON KELLY, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Liberty University’s efforts to expand the New London Airport onto adjacent properties hit a snag Wednesday. LU had filed a motion asking a Bedford circuit judge to strike a September 2019 decision by the county zoning appeals board. That board’s decision was to deny LU’s request to rezone more than 460 acres of property around the airport, which would allow the university-owned airport to expand.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Virginia approaches one million vaccines administered, nearly doubling total number of COVID cases ([link removed])
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By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

With almost 1 million shots given to combat the coronavirus, Virginia’s vaccine count has nearly doubled the total number of COVID-19 cases reported since March. A month ago, the state’s number of infections was more than triple the amount of vaccines administered. Since then, Virginia has given out more than eight times the number of doses for a total of 920,641 and is averaging almost 40,000 vaccinations per day.
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** SW Va. trailing NE Tenn. in COVID-19 vaccinations ([link removed])
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By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Northeast Tennesseans are receiving their initial and second COVID-19 vaccinations at a much faster rate than their Southwest Virginia neighbors. Through Tuesday, more than 86,000 vaccinations against the novel coronavirus have been administered across 10 Northeast Tennessee counties, according to Ballad Health and that state’s Department of Health.
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** CVS will now distribute the Moderna vaccine to 36 stores in Virginia, instead of 28. ([link removed])
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By ROBYN SIDERSKY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Days after announcing that its stores would start offering coronavirus vaccines to customers, CVS said Thursday that more Virginia locations than expected will have the vaccine starting next week. CVS stores will now distribute coronavirus vaccines to 36 stores in Virginia, instead of 28, in its initial rollout starting Thursday, according to a news release from the company. The same number of doses, 26,000, will be distributed, but to more stores.
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** People turned away at Norfolk coronavirus vaccine clinic because of registration mixup ([link removed])
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By SALEEN MARTIN AND NIA TARIQ, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

A coronavirus vaccine clinic in Norfolk was overwhelmed Thursday and had to turn away people when it was discovered that many had made appointments through a link in an email that wasn’t meant for them. The mistake led to long lines outside the building, and the city being bombarded with questions.
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** Gloucester woman’s death after coronavirus vaccination is being investigated ([link removed])
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By ELISHA SAUERS AND SALEEN MARTIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

State and federal agencies are investigating a Gloucester woman’s death that happened a couple of hours after she received a coronavirus vaccination, says Dr. Danny Avula, the state’s vaccine coordinator. Drene Keyes, 58, died after getting a first dose of the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine Saturday in the town of Warsaw. Keyes waited 15 minutes after the shot to be observed by health care providers on site, but soon after experienced vomiting and trouble breathing. She was taken to Riverside Tappahannock Hospital, where she died.
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** Fredericksburg area tops 20,000 virus cases as daily increases show slowdown ([link removed])
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By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Local COVID-19 cases hit another milestone on Thursday, topping the 20,000-mark. In the Rappahannock Area Health District, 20,031 people have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began. But the number of infections hasn’t been spaced out evenly over those long months, according to data from the Virginia Department of Health.
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** Health Wagon says it hasn’t received COVID-19 vaccine doses ([link removed])
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By KATE ANDREWS, Va Business Magazine

The head of The Health Wagon, the Wise County-based free clinic system that serves more than 5,600 patients in Southwest Virginia, many with medical vulnerabilities, said in a Thursday interview on “CBS This Morning” that the clinic has not received any COVID-19 vaccine doses from the state government.
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** Federal pharmacy vaccine partnership leaves out Southwest Virginia ([link removed])
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By CALEB PERHNE, WCYB

The federal government is getting big-name pharmacies involved in COVID-19 vaccinations, but Southwest Virginia is left out and no one is taking responsibility. The federal partnership includes large pharmacies in each of the 50 states. In Tennessee, the government is partnering with select Walmart pharmacies. In Virginia, CVS is jumping in to help. . . . In Virginia, the nearest of the 28 participating CVS locations is in Blacksburg, completely leaving out our region.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** Most Republicans and Black Virginians distrust the coronavirus vaccine, a new poll shows ([link removed])
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By ANA LEY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Most Black and Republican Virginians don’t trust the coronavirus vaccines that public health officials are desperately trying to get into everyone’s arms, while nearly a third of people in the state know someone who has been killed by the virus, according to a new academic poll. Most Virginians also are wary of going to big events — even if Gov. Ralph Northam’s social distancing restrictions were lifted now, 63% would not attend large sports games or concerts, according to the survey results released Thursday by the Wason Center for Civic Leadership at Christopher Newport University.
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** Virginia to see $13.6 million from nationwide settlement of opioid crisis lawsuit ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Virginia will receive $13.6 million from a nationwide settlement with a global consulting firm under investigation for its role in promoting the use of prescription painkillers fueling the nation's drug addiction crisis. The office of Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring joined attorneys general from 47 states, Washington D.C. and five U.S. territories Thursday morning in announcing a $573 million settlement with McKinsey & Company. Investigators alleged that McKinsey advised Perdue Pharma on how to maximize profits by targeting high-volume prescribers and encouraging physicians to give opioids to more patients; work which the state prosecutor said the consulting company tried to cover up after several states filed suit.
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** 'Driving while Black' arrest in Virginia was unconstitutional, federal court rules ([link removed])
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By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press

Afederal appeals court ruled Thursday that sheriff’s deputies in Virginia violated the constitutional rights of a Black man when they arrested him for refusing to identify himself. The decision by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals partially overturns a lower court’s ruling that upheld the legitimacy of the 2017 arrest of George Wingate by two Stafford County deputies. The deputies invoked a local statute requiring people to provide identification to a law enforcement officer when public safety warrants it.
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** KKK member faces fewer convictions and a lighter sentence for driving through protest in Henrico ([link removed])
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By ALI ROCKETT, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

An avowed member of the Ku Klux Klan now faces a lighter sentence and has fewer misdemeanor convictions after appealing lower court convictions for driving his truck through a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters last summer in Henrico County. Harry Rogers, 37, of Hanover County, pleaded guilty Thursday to three counts of assault, and one count each of destruction of property and hit and run. Each of the five misdemeanors carries a penalty of up to a year in jail.
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** Facebook bans popular Second Amendment page without explanation ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL LEE, Washington Examiner

Facebook booted a popular Virginia Second Amendment advocacy group from their platform but would not elaborate on the justification for the ban. "If they did this to us, it's just a matter of time," said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. . . . Facebook confirmed that it had banned the page but declined to provide a justification for the action. "This was correctly actioned and we will not be republishing," Facebook spokeswoman Kristen Morea said.


** LOCAL
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** Alexandria City Public Schools sets date for reopening; Arlington refuses to follow suit ([link removed])
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By HANNAH NATANSON, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Alexandria City Public Schools this week joined a flood of Northern Virginia school systems in setting firm timelines for reopening classrooms, vowing to welcome all students back for in-person learning by mid-March. But in Arlington, school officials aren’t committing to return dates just yet.
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** Prince William Co. on track to get kids in classrooms within a month ([link removed])
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By NEAL AUGENSTEIN, WTOP

Students in Prince William County, Virginia’s second-largest school district, are on-track to return students to in-person learning in all grades, by March 3. Unlike most Northern Virginia counties that implemented 100% distance learning after a December 2020 jump in positive coronavirus cases, Prince William County began a phased return to school plan in November.
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** Lateef: Extended school year unlikely, but ‘more robust’ summer school a possibility ([link removed])
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By JILL PALERMO, Prince William Times

Prince William County students and teachers won't likely face an extended school year or any kind of mandatory summer school, Prince William County School Board Chairman Dr. Babur Lateef said Thursday. Rather, Lateef said he expects Gov. Ralph Northam on Friday will encourage – but not require – Virginia schools to offer summer school or a “fifth quarter” to students who are struggling because of remote learning this year. “I don’t think any of us have talked about mandating a longer school year. That has not been discussed,” Lateef said in an interview Thursday, Feb. 4.
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** County board unanimously approves mosque expansion ([link removed])
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By DANIEL BERTI, Prince William Times

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors unanimously approved a special use permit to expand Dar Al Noor mosque Wednesday morning and directed staff to begin work on adding a new traffic light in the area. The vote took place after more than six hours of public comment and debate. Nearly 100 county residents participated in public comment time. The majority spoke in favor of the expansion and about the need to accommodate the mosque’s growing congregation and its contributions to the community at-large.
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** Spotsylvania planners delay vote on Crucible ([link removed])
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By SCOTT SHENK, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

A proposed military-style training facility met two avenues of opposition at Wednesday night’s public hearing in Spotsylvania County: neighbors with noise and safety concerns, and officials who say the complex doesn’t mesh with the county’s vision for the Thornburg area. Radio Reconnaissance Technologies Inc., which has operated a training facility in southern Stafford County for more than 20 years called Crucible, wants to build a complex on more than 70 acres it owns near the intersection of U.S. 1 and Mudd Tavern and Morris roads.
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** Henrico board approves staggered return to school ([link removed])
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By JESS NOCERA, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

The Henrico County School Board on Thursday voted to send some of the county’s youngest learners back to the classroom two days a week, starting Feb. 22. In an afternoon of compromises and after considering three proposals, the board voted 4-1 to send back prekindergarten through second grade Feb. 22, third through fifth grades and sixth and ninth grades March 1, and all remaining middle and high school students March 8.
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** Landfill to bring windfall ([link removed])
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By ALEXA MASSEY, Farmville Herald (Paywall)

A study released last month by Green Ridge Recycling and Disposal Facility estimates the landfill, proposed to be located in Cumberland County, would provide an economic boost of more than $74 million to the county over the course of the project’s lifetime. The study, conducted by Magnum Economics, said direct payments to the county will total approximately $74.5 million over the 30-year life of the facility, averaging approximately $2.5 million each year.
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** King William interim treasurer resigns days before special election ([link removed])
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By EMILY HOLTER, Tidewater Review

King William County’s Interim Treasurer Marie Wilson announced Jan. 29 that she was resigning from her position effective that day, citing personal and health reasons, according to a letter of resignation obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. “For personal and health reasons, I am resigning as Interim Treasurer of King William County effective today,” Wilson stated in the letter. Wilson served as the deputy treasurer under former Treasurer Harry Whitt, who faced scrutiny after an internal audit revealed that the office had not collected millions in taxes and shoddy bookkeeping.
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** King William special election fills Treasurer, Commissioner of the Revenue, School Board seats ([link removed])
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By EMILY HOLTER, Tidewater Review

King William residents came to the polls Tuesday to cast their votes in the special election — a first for the county. After three constitutional officers resigned from their positions mid-term, citizens made decisions as to who would fill the Treasurer, Commissioner of the Revenue and the fourth district School Board seat.
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** Suffolk Council fills Chuckatuck Borough seat ([link removed])
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By JIMMY LAROUE, Suffolk News Herald

Suffolk City Council has appointed Shelley Butler Barlow to the Chuckatuck Borough seat to fill out the unexpired term of Mike Duman, who vacated the seat after being elected mayor. Barlow, a farmer at Cotton Plains Farm with her husband Joseph Barlow Jr. and his father and son, was one of 21 people who applied for the open seat after Duman won the four-way race for mayor. She was appointed by a 7-0 vote during council’s Feb. 3 meeting. The names of the other candidates were not made public.
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** Winchester police release video of fatal officer-involved shooting ([link removed])
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By EVAN GOODENOW, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Using a building for cover, Winchester Police Department Cpl. Sean C. O’Connor aimed his AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle at Eric Lyn Clark, who was on his porch about 50 yards away holding his own semi-automatic rifle that he had repeatedly fired at police. “Eric, drop the rifle! Drop it now!,” O’Connor screamed before firing a shot at Clark and then, after Clark didn’t surrender, firing a second shot that killed him.
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** Solar farm could bring millions ([link removed])
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By CRYSTAL VANDEGRIFT, Charlotte Gazette

Following a closed session meeting Monday, Jan. 25, the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted to hold a public hearing on a siting agreement. Supervisors also proposed implementing revenue sharing for solar energy projects as part of the county’s latest proposed solar facility.
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** No voting on town matters, mayor is told ([link removed])
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By TOM CHILLEMI, Southside Sentinel

Under Urbanna’s Charter and the town’s election structure, the mayor is not to be permitted to vote on matters considered by the town council. This is the bombshell that Urbanna Town Council’s attorney Andy Bury delivered to the town council at its Thursday, Jan. 28, meeting. Bury told council that there are attorney general opinions that have found that a mayor elected by voters is not part of the governing body and is thus not permitted to vote.
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** Draconian measures? ([link removed])
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By MICHELLE SMITH, Northern Neck News

“Masks don’t filter out a virus. They’re not stopping the spread of COVID-19, and the virus isn’t that deadly to begin with,” declared Dr. Robert Westbrook, Lancaster County Supervisor for District 5. Therefore, he called on fellow board members to support a letter or resolution pushing the Virginia Department of Health to tell the truth and advise the governor that mask mandates are “draconian” and useless. And he wanted the board to try to get surrounding counties to do the same thing.

Today's Sponsor:


** Virginia Poverty Law Center
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Paving the way for a fair and just path forward for all Virginians.


** EDITORIALS
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** State's highway report card: average ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The Reason Foundation’s 25th annual Highway Report ranked all 50 states in terms of how much they spent on their road and highways compared with their system performance. In 2018 and 2019, the 50 states disbursed a total of $151.8 billion to improve state-owned roads, a 9.2 increase over the $139 billion spent in 2016, with about three-quarters of the money coming from state and local governments and the rest from the federal government. Virginia was ranked 21st in overall system performance relative to expenditures, an average, middle-of-the-pack ranking that’s neither very good nor very bad.
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** Making sausage Richmond-style ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Legislating has often been compared to sausage-making, because the public rarely sees the unsavory process that produces bratwurst—or a transportation bill. Such a bill (HB 1910) before the General Assembly this session would have allowed the establishment of tax-levying regional transportation authorities to raise local money for local projects modeled on those already operating in Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia, and Richmond. But once the bill, which was patroned by two local delegates, got into Richmond’s sausage-making machine, it got ground up into something unrecognizable.
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** Restoring order at the Postal Service requires a leadership overhaul ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

While COVID-19 has halted several elements of day-to-day life, the mail isn’t one of them. Across Virginia and the nation, Americans regularly rely on the U.S. Postal Service to deliver essential items, from bills to prescription medications. The Postal Service also shepherds personal correspondences, from birthday cards in times of celebration to sympathy cards in times of grief.
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** ICE’s union can basically veto any Biden immigration plan — thanks to Ken Cuccinelli ([link removed])
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Washington Post Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

With the stroke of a pen on Jan. 19, the day before President Biden took office, employees of the federal government’s main deportation agency were empowered to thwart the new administration’s policies. The union representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, a longtime ally of former president Donald Trump, was handed what amounts to a veto over the White House thanks to the machinations of one man: Ken Cuccinelli, then-acting deputy secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.


** OP-ED
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** Meyer and Colbert: Preserve the last bastion of nonpartisan government in Virginia ([link removed])
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By DAVID L. MEYER AND LINDA J. COLBERT, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

In the current, hyperpartisan atmosphere that accompanies elections in our nation, what frequently goes unnoticed are the local, nonpartisan elections held in many smaller jurisdictions across the country. In Virginia, this particularly is true for many towns and cities that have, for decades, held their nonpartisan elections on the first Tuesday in May, exactly a half-year away from partisan elections in November. Sadly, these nonpartisan elections are in grave danger of becoming extinct, a casualty of the political polarization that now is seeping down to the local level in our commonwealth.

Meyer is mayor of the city of Fairfax. Colbert is mayor of the town of Vienna.


** THE FRIDAY READ
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** She’s aiming to play Division III football this fall — at defensive back ([link removed])
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By LEONARD SHAPIRO, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

In the fall of 2019, not long after the final gun had sounded, the quarterback from Randolph-Macon Academy sought out the Christchurch School safety who had sacked him once, made a half-dozen more tackles and caught a pass on offense over the previous 48 minutes. “I didn’t even know you were a girl,” he told Haley Van Voorhis, a junior defensive back who grew up in The Plains, Va. “Great game.” Two years later, Van Voorhis is being recruited to play football by several colleges, including Division III Shenandoah University in Winchester.


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