VaNews
February 7, 2021

Today's Sponsor:


** Dave Webster
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Censure is the tax a man pays to the public for being eminent.
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Top of the News


** For some ‘in-person’ classes, the person won’t be a teacher ([link removed])
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By DONNA ST. GEORGE, HANNAH NATANSON AND PERRY STEIN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

After nearly a year of online learning, parents in the Washington region were thrilled to hear announcements from public schools, some of them tumbling out rapid-fire in recent days, that in-person learning will resume next month for students who choose it. But families quickly discovered that in-person learning will not necessarily mean sitting in a classroom and being taught by a teacher. Instead, school officials in Maryland and Virginia have been hiring “classroom monitors” who will fill out school staffing — in some cases supervising classrooms as students continue to do online lessons.
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** Budget negotiations wait on new revenue, special session ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Teachers want pay raises, and so do state employees. The Board of Education says Virginia needs to spend almost half a billion dollars to meet its own standards for public education. Home health agencies say they need a big boost in Medicaid reimbursements to cover their costs when the state minimum wage rises on May 1 and again on Jan. 1. But all of these big-ticket spending requests will depend on how much sustainable revenue that General Assembly budget negotiators expect to have for the two-year budget that each chamber will release this week.
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** The COVID vaccine pipeline: Virginians flock to NC for shots ([link removed])
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By ALISSA SKELTON, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Anxious for the coronavirus vaccine, a pipeline of Hampton Roads residents crossed the border into North Carolina to get shots after being unable to do so in Virginia. Word spread quickly over the past few weeks that Hampton Roads residents were getting inoculated — no questions asked — on a first-come, first-served basis at vaccination clinics in rural North Carolina towns.
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** From Richmond's 'Dr. Fauci' to leader of Virginia's vaccination efforts ([link removed])
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By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Before he inherited a disastrous vaccination rollout with little infrastructure and federal guidance to fix it, before he battled a supply shortfall that placed high-risk essential workers months from receiving vaccines, and before his face was among the most watched in Virginia, Dr. Danny Avula went on vacation after nine months of working 100-hour weeks.
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** Did the pandemic peak 2 weeks ago? U.Va. coronavirus watchers think so. ([link removed])
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By ELISHA SAUERS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Holiday gatherings and activity appear not to have propelled the coronavirus’ spread as much as public health officials feared. Across the state, new cases of COVID-19 are generally declining, and pressure on hospitals is easing....All of the prediction models for where the pandemic is headed are showing encouraging signs, according to analysts at The University of Virginia Biocomplexity Institute. The data indicate the coronavirus likely peaked two weeks ago.
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** In effort to address imbalance, more than 700 receive first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Ringgold ([link removed])
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By PARKER COTTON, Danville Register & Bee

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit rural and Black communities particularly hard across Virginia, and members of both populations have had trouble getting access to the vaccine....On Saturday, in a pointed attempt to partially address that imbalance, the Virginia Department of Health and various partners in the Dan River Region held a large scale vaccination event at the Cherrystone Ministry Baptist Association, located at 5551 Tom Fork Road, where more than 700 people received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
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** How the coronavirus tore through D.C., Maryland and Virginia. ([link removed])
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By REBECCA TAN, ANTONIO OLIVO AND JOHN D. HARDEN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The boat motored up the Nile River, a capsule of gaiety beneath a spotless February sky. Bonnie Lippe figured the aches and fever she and others in her tour group experienced were related to the rich food or the drinking water. A month later, she became the first person in the Washington region confirmed to have the coronavirus. By December, hundreds of thousands would be infected in the region, including a Virginia widow who placed her late husband’s ashes in a church portico on a recent sunny day; a D.C. nursing home aide who struggled to climb the steps of her apartment building that same morning; and a priest in the Allegheny Mountains who was tethered to an oxygen machine, grateful for friends who help with the laundry.
The Full Report
24 articles, 15 publications
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** FROM VPAP
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** From VPAP Maps, Timeline of COVID-19 in Virginia ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

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.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** Bill requiring background checks for gun rentals in Virginia killed by Democratic-led Senate ([link removed])
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By DEAN MIRSHAHI, WRIC-TV

Legislation aimed at preventing suicides at shooting ranges by requiring background checks on gun rentals failed to garner enough support Thursday in the Virginia Senate, with a few Democrats agreeing with Republicans that the effort needs further review.
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** Del. Josh Cole seeks funds to assist Brooke Road area residents ([link removed])
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By JAMES BARON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Motorists who have battled flooding on Brooke Road in southern Stafford County may soon have a way around it. Del. Joshua Cole, D–Fredericksburg, submitted a $1.5 million budget amendment at the state capital to reimburse Stafford for an emergency access road between Windemere Drive and Crestwood Lane. The gated gravel road will be open for access only when Brooke Road is impassible, and closed again to all traffic when Brooke Road is reopened.


** CONGRESS
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** Hampton Roads gets a bigger voice on a key defense panel ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Two Congressional neighbors from Hampton Roads -- Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Norfolk, and Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland -- are taking on new leadership roles in a key defense policy panel. Luria was elected vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee this week, while Wittman is stepping up to serve as the Republicans’ No. 2 on the committee.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** Roanoke, New River valleys' economic recovery continues, but not for all ([link removed])
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By LUKE WEIR, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

While many in the Roanoke and New River valleys returned to work after layoffs and furloughs following last spring’s coronavirus-related shutdown, experts say it will take time before the job market and larger local economy fully recovers. In areas surrounding Roanoke, the unemployment rate peaked at 10.5% in June and April, but was down to 4.3% when 2021 began...


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Church leaders partner with Richmond, Henrico health districts to get shots to the most vulnerable ([link removed])
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By HOLLY PRESTIDGE, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Second Baptist Church pastor Ralph Steven Hodge looked up from his clipboard and yelled across the church parking lot at husband and wife Bobby and Gail Taylor as the couple made their way to their car. “Bless you, man,” Hodge called out. “Thank y’all for getting your shots — love you!”
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** Staff, volunteers say vaccination clinics inspiring gratefulness in community ([link removed])
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By JOSETTE KEELOR, Northern Virginia Daily

The mood at the Warren County Health Department during a recent second-dose COVID-19 vaccine clinic was one of thankfulness. “The people who are coming through to get vaccines are so thankful,” said Tina Carter, a registered nurse helping with the effort. At the door, people are screened for any symptoms of illness, and then they’re guided to a registration table where they confirm their appointment and take a seat at a vaccination table.
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** Doctors, civic leaders urge Lynchburg minority groups to register for vaccine ([link removed])
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By RICHARD CHUMNEY, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

In an effort to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations among minority groups in the Lynchburg region, local doctors, nurses and civic leaders this week ramped up their campaign to ease concerns and to dispel myths about the newly developed vaccines. “The African American community, specifically in this country, has been particularly affected by the disease,” said Dr. Winifred Agard, a veteran emergency room physician at Lynchburg General Hospital...
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** Equity issues surround COVID-19 vaccinations ([link removed])
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By GEORGE COPELAND JR, Richmond Free Press

Is there inequitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine to people of color? The bottom line: No one knows. In Richmond and across the country, race and ethnicity data was never collected from half the people getting shots from the limited supply available.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** Last stand for eelgrass ([link removed])
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By KARL BLANKENSHIP, Bay Journal

It was a bad sign last spring when Bob Orth answered the phone and the words spilled out from the other end. “Where did all the grass go?” The fisherman on the line had for years been catching speckled trout in the large bed of eelgrass at Dameron Marsh near the mouth of the Potomac River. Now, the caller said, it was gone.
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** ATF warns of more live grenades like one that killed Abingdon boy ([link removed])
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By ROBERT SORRELL, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Live hand grenades — like the one that killed a 12-year-old Abingdon boy in late December — may still be out there, federal investigators say. Corey Ray, public information officer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said law enforcement is still concerned about the possibility of additional grenades sold by a vendor in Shallotte, North Carolina. ...The grenades were thought to be inert or inoperable MK2 grenades, a style used during World War II. At the time of sale, neither the vendor nor buyer believed the grenades to be functioning or hazardous, the ATF said.


** LOCAL
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** Loudoun County to Draw New Dulles Airport Noise Zone ([link removed])
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By RENSS GREENE, Loudoun Now

Loudoun County supervisors have formally launched a long-awaited process to redraw the airport noise zones around Dulles International Airport, which guide both development policy and real estate disclosures. As a matter of policy, Loudoun County generally does not allow residential development within the highest-noise Airport Impact Overlay District, which is meant to represent the areas most affected by jet noise from the airport. They are also based on projections of future noise as airport traffic grows and a new runway is built. However, the maps of airport noise on which that district is based were last updated in 1993, and the airport has seen changes since then—including moving plans for a new runway.
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** Christiansburg councilman favors town adopting gun control measure akin to Blacksburg ([link removed])
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By YANN RANAIVO, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Steve Huppert says he has nothing against the Second Amendment and people who own and carry firearms. But there’s an appropriate place for them, the Christiansburg councilman said. “People shouldn’t have sex out in the middle of Christiansburg,” Huppert said. “That’s how I feel about gun control. There’s a place for everything.”

Today's Sponsor:


** Dave Webster
------------------------------------------------------------

Censure is the tax a man pays to the public for being eminent.


** EDITORIALS
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** Lawmakers can restore order by resuming utility rate reviews ([link removed])
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Daily Press Editorial (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

A critical mass appears to be forming over how to better regulate utilities in Virginia in order to reduce costs for customers, who in 2019 paid the sixth-highest energy bills in the nation according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While a work in progress, it is a necessary step toward reining in Dominion Power, which has benefited from a generously written regulatory framework at the expense of Virginia families.
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** State demands bigger piece of pie ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

AFTER closing down much of the Virginia economy last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Ralph Northam now wants to tax the federal loans that kept many Virginia businesses from going bankrupt. The governor’s bill (SB 1146), carried by Sen. Janet Howell, D–Fairfax, chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, proposed taxing Paycheck Protection Program loans awarded to companies that used money appropriated under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to keep employees on the payroll during the lockdowns.
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** State education department is spurred to action ([link removed])
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Daily Progress Editorial (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Last year in this space, we addressed problems at the Virginia Department of Education that had earned a reprimand from the federal government over the way it supervised schools’ special education programs. Then late last year, a state agency weighed in with its own conclusion that the VDOE was not adequately serving students with disabilities. The two reports overlap in some of their criticisms, including concerns over how the department addressed complaints.
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** The summer option for back-to-school ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

To prevent “irreparable learning loss and psychological damage,” Gov. Ralph Northam said Friday that he expects every public school division across Virginia to have options available for in-person learning by mid-March and to begin planning for the eventual return of all pupils to the classroom.


** OP-ED
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** Northam: Appalachia has opportunities ([link removed])
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By RALPH NORTHAM, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

As someone who grew up on a family farm in rural Virginia, I know firsthand the unique challenges and incredible opportunities that face rural America. That’s why I’m excited to spend the last year of my term as the State Co-Chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), elected by my fellow governors in the 12 other states that make up the Appalachian region. Appalachian communities are rural, urban, and everything in between, and the region’s strengths and challenges are just as varied.

Northam is governor of Virginia and incoming state co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission.
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** Everhart: HB 1737 Benefits Patients, Nurse Practitioners and Physicians ([link removed])
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By CAROLE EVERHART, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

As a nurse practitioner (NP) and the only health care provider for Everhart Primary Health Care in rural Cana, Va., a nonprofit, fee-for-service primary healthcare clinic, I can confidently explain why Virginia needs to support House Bill 1737 and lower the years of experience for NP autonomous practice from five to two. Even with their education, training and certification, Virginia is the only state requiring NPs to practice for at least five years before they are eligible for autonomous licensure.

Everhart is a family nurse practitioner and one of the founders of Everhart Primary Health Care in Cana.
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** Carroll Foy: In Virginia, influence should live with the people, not corporations ([link removed])
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By JENNIFER CARROLL FOY, published in Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Democracy rests on the fundamental principle that elected officials will listen to and represent the people. As public officials, we’re elected to reform health care, to fix the criminal justice system, to create an economy that works for all Virginians and to generally improve the lives of our hard-working constituents. We are not elected to serve special interests, but some people in Richmond didn’t get the memo.

Carroll Foy is a candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, where she represented Prince William County.
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** Preve: The racist legacy of nicknames — a historical injustice at Monticello ([link removed])
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By RICARDO PREVE, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Recently, a couple of America’s largest consumer product companies decided to drop the use of brand names that referred to Black people by a nickname. Quaker Oats Co. announced that it is discontinuing its pancake-mix brand “Aunt Jemima,” while Mars Inc. will rename its “Uncle Ben’s” rice. Considering the balance-sheet value of these brands to the companies, these decisions must not have been taken lightly. The fact that they did occur, however, points to the importance of names in our society.

Preve is a film director and a resident of Charlottesville since 1976. He is a former board member of the Virginia Film Festival. His next film is set at Monticello.
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** Morse: Capital punishment endured in Virginia because of Virginians ([link removed])
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By GORDON C. MORSE, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

There’s a reason why capital punishment endured so long in Virginia: It was popular. That often matters in a democracy....It takes knowing a little history to understand the role of the death penalty in Virginia — how it came back in 1982 following a 20-year hiatus, why it was vigorously re-embraced and often used afterwards.

Morse's career includes writing editorials for The Virginian-Pilot, speeches for Gov. Gerald L. Baliles and speeches for companies and philanthropic organizations.
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** Nicholson: Ending mandatory minimums will bolster trust in law enforcement ([link removed])
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By JAMES NICHOLSON, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

As an officer, I have learned that one of our greatest challenges to effective law enforcement is the loss of police-community trust. We have lost trust, in part, because of incarceration that community members see as unjust and overly long. These sentences are generally due to mandatory minimum sentences, which take justice out of the hands of judges and juries, as spelled out by the U.S. Constitution, and instead rely on bureaucratic statutes that ignore the circumstances and context of each case.

Nicholson serves with the Chesapeake Police Department. He is writing as an individual and member of Law Enforcement Action Partnership, a group of police, prosecutors and judges working to improve the criminal justice system.
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** Herring and Herring: Easier path to expungement will tilt the justice system toward fairness ([link removed])
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By MARK R. HERRING AND CHARNIELE HERRING, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

For decades the criminal justice system has been failing our most vulnerable communities while working for the most privileged members of society. Black and brown Virginians are arrested and convicted disproportionately at alarming rates for crimes their white counterparts will see zero or little jail time for. Systemic racial biases in our criminal justice system have led to Black and brown Virginians filling our prison cells for minor crimes. But even when individuals have served their time, they must live the rest of their lives with their convictions as a stain on their records.

Mark R. Herring is the 48th attorney general of Virginia. Del. Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria) is the House majority leader.


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