By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER AND LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Dramatic votes to legalize marijuana and abolish the death penalty have defined Virginia's General Assembly session so far, but lawmakers say addressing the effects of the pandemic remains a priority. The legislature adjourned its regular session Monday with legislative work only half complete and immediately prepared to reconvene in a special session Wednesday to finish the job. Responding to the pandemic is one of the major legislative areas still unresolved, though the topic has created some moments of unity amid the usual partisan bickering.
By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury
A bill from Sen. Lynwood Lewis, D-Accomack, that would require large employers like poultry plants to publicly report any COVID-19 outbreaks that have been linked by the Virginia Department of Health to the worksite cleared the Senate Friday night. Crucially, however, the measure failed to garner enough support to go into effect immediately if it passes both houses of the legislature and is signed by Gov. Ralph Northam. Without an emergency enactment provision, the bill could not become effective until July 1.
By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Emerging from its deadliest month of the pandemic, Virginia is witnessing the number of new cases drop to levels last seen in December. With a single-day increase of 1,700 COVID-19 infections, Monday signaled a sharp turnaround from the more than 5,200 daily cases recorded a month ago and a mostly sustained decline from a record-setting holiday surge that resulted in a nearly 10,000-case spike on Jan. 17.
By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury
Henrico-based tobacco giant Altria has registered to lobby on marijuana legalization in Virginia — a first for the company at the state or federal level, according to a cannabis industry trade publication. A disclosure filed with the state last month says the company retained Williams Mullen’s Elizabeth Rafferty to lobby on issues “related to the responsible and equitable regulation of cannabis sales in Virginia.” The filing was first reported by Cannabis Wire. While Altria hasn’t lobbied in support of legalization in the United States before, it’s made its interest in the industry clear, purchasing a stake in the Canadian recreational marijuana business Cronos and collecting cannabis-related patents.
By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The Virginia General Assembly is continuing to do the people’s business in Richmond, but starting now, lawmakers — 11 of them seeking statewide office — are allowed to raise campaign money while they work. The loophole stems from some unusual mechanics in this year’s session.
By CLAIRE MITZEL, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The independent investigation of Virginia Military Institute is beset with delays, significantly slowing its progress, according to investigators' first monthly report. Investigators blamed the military college itself for several of the delays. In particular, the two groups have disagreed on the extent to which VMI's counsel should be present for meetings and interviews. In response, VMI spokesman Bill Wyatt said the report "takes an interesting tone."
By KYLE SWENSON, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Michelle Walston was confused. Did she just hear right? “Sorry," she said. “What?” Many times the 49-year-old single mother had stood right here at the court clerk’s window in Stafford, Va., untangling the legal jargon related to the eviction case that had cost Walston her home. But what she heard on this January morning didn’t make sense. “Your case has been dismissed," the clerk repeated from behind protective glass. “We got a letter this morning.”
The Full Report
44 articles, 24 publications
The Virginia Public Access Project
Our COVID-19 dashboard makes it easy to track the latest available data for tests performed, infections, deaths and hospital capacity. 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.
By STAFF REPORT, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
COVID-19 provides an ominous backdrop for this year’s legislative session, which features important developments on issues ranging from marijuana to mandatory minimum sentences, from schools to statues. Here’s an update on where key legislation stands at the General Assembly’s procedural midpoint. Abortion The House and Senate backed legislation to remove the ban on abortion coverage on the state’s health care exchange. Budget The House and Senate have not acted on revisions to the $141 billion two-year budget that Gov. Ralph Northam introduced in December.
By ANA LEY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
A Democrat-led General Assembly convened last month with lawmakers promising to make Virginia more progressive, and so far, they’ve delivered. In less than a month, both legislative chambers passed bills that will soon make this the first state in the South to end the death penalty and legalize marijuana. Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who urged lawmakers to pass those bills along with other bold proposals laid out in his annual State of the Commonwealth address, has signaled he’ll sign them into law.
By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury
Lawmakers in Virginia are moving forward with legislation to repeal a slew of mandatory minimum sentences, but the House and Senate are at odds over how far to go. A bill passed by the Senate would scrap mandatory sentences for nearly all crimes on the books. The House, meanwhile, advanced legislation that focuses on drug offenses but preserves mandatory penalties for violent crimes and sex offenses.
By MATT BLITZ, Reston Now
A new bill introduced by VA Del. Ken Plum of the 36th District would repeal mandatory jail sentences for second and subsequent misdemeanor larceny convictions. Under current Virginia law, anyone who is convicted of a second misdemeanor larceny conviction is subjected to a mandatory jail sentence of at least 30 days (but not more than 12 months). A third misdemeanor larceny conviction is a Class 6 felony, punishable with at least a year in jail.
By KATHERINE DEROSA, VCU Capital News Service
Virginia lawmakers killed a proposal that would allow some special education students another year of instruction because of the struggles of virtual learning caused by COVID-19. House Bill 2277 proposed that high school students with special needs who are set to graduate in the 2021 school year and who are 22 years old after Sept. 30, 2020, be allowed to take an extra year and graduate in 2022.
By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
State Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, said the results of a COVID-19 test show she is negative. Chase said she decided to get the test Thursday after finding out a campaign volunteer she was near at a gun show had tested positive. She said she learned about the volunteer during the Senate session at the Science Museum of Virginia after someone called Senate staff to report the situation.
By BILL ATKINSON, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 10 articles a month)
With at least three women vying for their parties' nominations for governor, it should come as no surprise that they lead the list of candidates backed most by donations from women, according to a report by the non-profit and nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. Former Democratic Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy has raised the most money from women among all of the gubernatorial candidates, VPAP reported Monday. Seventy percent of the $1.8 million her campaign has raised come from women.
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Roanoke Del. Sam Rasoul will run for both his House of Delegates seat and the Democratic lieutenant governor nomination as Republicans put forward a candidate to challenge him for the House position. Rasoul has emerged as a leader in his party's large pack for lieutenant governor after raising more than $600,000 by the end of last year — more than double what some of the other candidates raised. Rasoul is one of the more progressive members of the House, to which he was elected in 2014. He was the first Muslim member of the legislature.
By COLLEEN CURRAN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
For Virginians whose unemployment benefits ran out, relief is on the way. The Virginia Employment Commission is re-launching the federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Some may see payments as early as Thursday.
By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Out-of-work Virginians who ran out of jobless benefits and have been waiting several weeks for the state to revive a pandemic program that Congress reauthorized in late December will finally get some relief.
By JESSICA WETZLER, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Middle River Regional Jail has signed a contract with Pamunkey Regional Jail in Hanover to rent 30 beds for MRRJ inmates starting this week, Superintendent Jeffery Newton confirmed to the Daily News-Record on Monday. Middle River Regional Jail will pay $50 per bed per day, bringing the total for 30 beds to $1,500 a day, according to Newton.
By LOGAN RODDY, Harrisonburg Citizen
As the Rockingham County supervisors prepare to hear Middle River Regional Jail’s pitch for a $40 million expansion, the supervisors signaled that they’ll be a more receptive audience than some of the other local government bodies that fund the jail. Rockingham County’s Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday will be the fifth and final stop on Jail Superintendent Jeffery Newton’s round of presentations about the expansion. The jail’s authority board seeks the required approval from the five local governments — Harrisonburg, Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta and Rockingham counties — to move ahead with the plans.
By ALLISON WRABEL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Residents at Southwood Mobile Home Park were among area community members who received assistance from the more than $1.6 million in emergency rent and mortgage relief distributed locally in 2020. In mid-2020, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development’s Emergency Rental and Mortgage Relief Program began distributing CARES Act funding, and the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission was selected to manage the program locally.
By RICHARD CHUMNEY, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Lawyers for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam have asked a federal judge to toss out a lawsuit brought by Liberty University alleging state officials unfairly denied financial aid to the school’s online students. Lawyers for Northam and Peter Blake, the director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, said in a motion to dismiss last week that the lawsuit fails to bring valid claims. They also argue Liberty lacks standing and Northam is immune from the suit. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Lynchburg last month, claims state officials discriminated against students in the commonwealth by distinguishing between online and residential students when distributing financial assistance through the Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant program.
By ETHAN BROWN AND PHIL SCHUELER, Flat Hat
Days before the College of William and Mary resumes in-person classes for the spring semester, the College faced record spikes in COVID-19 positive cases on campus, causing concerns among students, staff and administrators. As of Monday, Feb. 8, there were 46 active COVID-19 cases among students in Williamsburg. There were only 16 active cases Monday, Feb. 1, representing an increase of 187% over the previous week. There have now been 72 total cases this semester, in addition to 64 pre-arrival positives.
By ETHAN BROWN, Flat Hat
After an unprecedented admissions cycle conducted almost entirely online, the College of William and Mary received a record number of applications from students seeking to join the College’s class of 2025. According to Associate Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Admissions Tim Wolfe ’95 M.Ed ’01, the College received almost 17,400 applications from prospective students, an increase of 23% from last year’s admissions cycle of approximately 14,200 applications. Wolfe said that this was the first time the Office of Undergraduate Admission had received more than 15,000 applications, and he noted that the cycle likely saw the largest single-year increase in the College’s history.
By STAFF REPORT, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Virginia on Monday reported 1,700 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily total since the day after Christmas. The state’s cumulative total of cases during the pandemic is now 530,825, the Virginia Department of Health reported. Over the last 10 days, the average daily count of new cases has been 3,291.
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
COVID-19 vaccinations at three dozen CVS retail pharmacies in the state will begin on Friday, a day later than originally planned, as the national pharmacy chain and the Virginia Department of Health agreed on a plan to coordinate the rollout of the national program that President Joe Biden announced last week. CVS announced late Monday that it would open an online portal to schedule appointments at still-undisclosed retail pharmacies on Thursday, two days later than originally planned.
By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
Dr. Christopher Newman had read the studies and knew that younger people tend to have more of a reaction to the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine than the first. Even so, he was “a bit” surprised by how he felt after his second shot. He had fever and body aches for about nine hours followed by fatigue that lasted a day. “Personally, I felt pretty lousy,” Newman said, but then he was “completely back to normal within two days.”
By DON DEL ROSSO, Fauquier Now
For about week, the elderly Warrenton couple phoned the Fauquier County COVID-19 call center daily to learn when they could schedule vaccinations against the deadly virus. “They’re really excited” at the prospect of getting the shots, said call center representative Tristan Chavez, who patiently has shepherded them along the way. Their waiting and uncertainly ended Friday, when Mr. Chavez notified the couple that he could schedule them for this week’s vaccination clinic.
By LUANNE RIFE, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Each of Virginia’s health districts is responsible for determining how best to safely and efficiently administer their allotments of COVID-19 vaccines in their areas based on their partners and resources. Please note that doses are in limited supply as Virginia, for now, is receiving only 120,000 first doses each week that are shared across the commonwealth through the health districts based on their share of the state's population.
WAVY-TV
Some employees at the Perdue Farms plant in Accomac received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday. Vaccinations for certain employees got underway Monday after the company received the Moderna vaccine through a partnership with the Virginia Department of Health, Perdue announced Monday in a news release. Eligible associates at Perdue’s Accomac operation received the vaccine at the plant’s onsite Wellness Center. The doses were administered free of charge.
By ADELE UPHAUS–CONNER, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
The Rappahannock Regional Jail will remain locked down due to COVID-19 exposure until test results have been returned for all inmates and staff. “No changes in lock down status will occur until we receive all results,” jail Superintendent Kevin Hudson wrote in an email last Thursday. “Testing is still being done, final numbers have not been received.” The Virginia National Guard was deployed to the jail last week to conduct COVID-19 testing on all inmates—who number more than 1,300—and approximately 300 staff members, Hudson said.
By ALAN RODRIGUEZ ESPINOZA, WCVE-FM
According to the CDC, only 38% of Latinos got the flu vaccine last year. With the COVID-19 vaccine now being administered, the Richmond City Health District is working to engage more of the city’s Latino residents. Karen Carle, a bilingual public health nurse with the RCHD, has been working as a vaccine manager during the city’s mass vaccination events. She’s also interpreted for some Spanish-speaking patients. Carle says the health department is actively working to recruit more Spanish speakers for their events.
By STAFF REPORT, Danville Register & Bee
Pittsylvania-Danville Health District's COVID-19 death toll surged by 22 on Monday morning after employees spent the weekend sorting through a backlog of death certificates. The oldest of the newly logged deaths dates back to April, said Chris Andrews, a district epidemiologist with the Virginia Department of Health.
By SCOTT MCCAFFREY, Sun Gazette
By law, financial-disclosure forms filed by County Board members, top staff and those appointed to Arlington government boards and commissions must be made accessible to the public. Exactly how accessible remains open to interpretation. The forms are available for inspection by the public, but at a recent meeting of the county government’s Audit Committee, one member said he thought they should be given to more transparency. “Has any consideration been given to post these forms on the Web?” asked John Vihstadt, a former County Board member who now serves as a citizen member of the panel.
By ABIGAIL CONSTANTINO, WTOP
Schools in Loudoun County, Virginia, completed their first stage of employee coronavirus vaccinations last week and are preparing to move on to administering second doses. After finishing the first stage last Friday at its distribution site at Brambleton Middle School, the school system will transition to second vaccine doses this Friday. Some 10,500 staff have received their first does since Jan. 15.
By RENSS GREENE, Loudoun Now
The project to extend broadband internet access to under-served parts of the county is moving ahead in bits and pieces, according to the first quarterly update on the multi-pronged project. One part of that effort, approved by county supervisors in November 2020, is already done—streamlining the approval process for building new telecommunications projects by no longer requiring pre-application meetings before applying to start projects that need a sign-off from the Board of Supervisors.
By DANIEL BERTI, Prince William Times
Thousands more Prince William County residents can keep cattle and domestic fowl on their properties as a result of new rules approved by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors last week. During the Tuesday, Feb. 2 meeting, the county board signed off on two resolutions -- one expanding the county’s domestic fowl overlay district and the other changing the county’s zoning rules for keeping cattle. As a result, about 1,800 parcels were added to the domestic fowl overlay district, and about 3,800 more agriculture-zoned parcels can keep cattle. The parcels now allowed to keep cattle are almost entirely within the expanded domestic fowl overlay district.
By CHRIS SUAREZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Richmond has agreed to sell the dilapidated Public Safety Building at 510 N. 10th St. for $3.5 million. The pending sale of the city-owned property sets the stage for a $325 million redevelopment Capital City Partners LLC pitched last spring after the Richmond City Council rejected the $1.5 billion Navy Hill plan. The redevelopment project will include office space for VCU Health, new facilities for The Doorways and Ronald McDonald House Charities, a child care center, ground-level retail and speculative office space.
By ALAN RODRIGUEZ ESPINOZA, WCVE-FM
During a special meeting Monday, the Richmond school board voted to extend Superintendent Jason Kamras’s contract for the state maximum of four years. The extension passed on a 6 to 3 vote after a closed session of the board. Kamras’s new term will begin on July 1 of this year and is set to expire in the summer of 2025. After the vote, he reaffirmed his commitment to follow through with his “Dreams 4 RPS” strategic plan, following calls for accountability from several board members.
By MARK BOWES, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The mother of a deceased Hopewell police informant alleges in two lawsuits that city authorities are responsible for her son fatally overdosing on opiates that he was coerced to purchase while undercover, and that officers gathered days later at the man's funeral and disrupted the service by arresting his best friend as he prepared to give the eulogy. Donna Watson, the administrator of her son Troy Howlett's estate, is seeking $10 million in general damages plus $350,000 in punitive damages for what she claims was his wrongful death by police of a fentanyl-laced heroin overdose on July 30, 2018. The complaint says police and the city's commonwealth's attorney knew that Howlett was addicted to opiates and that he ingested some of the illegal drugs that he was forced to purchase in his role as an informant.
By MATT JONES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
Some of the city’s youngest students will return to the classroom four days a week starting Feb. 22 under a plan laid out by Newport News Public Schools on Monday. Newport News is one of three cities in Hampton Roads that haven’t held in-person classes this school year. The district has laid out timelines twice before, once in October and again in November, but delayed due to criticism from the community and high coronavirus case numbers.
By COY FERRELL, Fauquier Times
Speed limits in school zones may soon be enforced by speed cameras. A public hearing on the proposal will be conducted this Thursday at a regular meeting of the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors. If the proposed ordinance is approved by supervisors, a fine of $100 would be issued automatically to the registered owner of each offending vehicle.
Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Did the dam just break? For the past three years, state Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, has been waging a lonely crusade to fix the disparity between Virginia’s most affluent schools and its least affluent. For three years running, he’s introduced a bill for an advisory referendum on whether the state should issue $3 billion in bonds for school construction to fix schools that Gov. Ralph Northam declared in his inaugural address were “crumbling.”
Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
Gov. Ralph Northam has ordered all public school divisions in the commonwealth to offer Virginia families the option of in-person instruction by March 15—nearly a year to the day the governor closed the schools in what turned out to be an unsuccessful attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19. Northam said he based his decision on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent assessment that “it is critical for schools to open as safely and as quickly as possible for in-person learning.”
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Rare is the occasion that we see bipartisan cooperation by lawmakers, even on issues that will have broad-reaching effect, but Virginia can be pleased to see that resolving a problem with a federal program brought state legislators together. For many businesses struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic, loans awarded through the federal Paycheck Protection Program provided an invaluable lifeline. A December report by the U.S. Treasury Department concludes the $521 billion program helped support about 51 million jobs — and may have saved 19 million people from unemployment.
Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Figuring out how to combine science with fairness in COVID-19 vaccine distribution is a tricky puzzle. Science can help predict how to distribute limited doses to minimize overall deaths, but that means acting fast, which might compromise fairness. That’s how we end up with outrage when hospital administrators get shots ahead of nursing home residents or, as The Atlantic reports, offspring ahead of their elderly parents.
By TIM DEMPSEY, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Back in early November, Sen. Jennifer Boysko, chairman of the Virginia Broadband Advisory Council, penned a rather touchy-sounding op-ed that sought to refute claims that rural broadband deployment was not a priority for the Senate. Pointing to increased state and federal spending and misleading statistics on improved broadband access (the state's only metric is physical access, not affordability), Sen. Boysko assured readers that the state is making good progress on this issue and attempts to change our current approach must be carefully considered.
Dempsey is a resident of Arlington and an organizer with ArlFiber.
By BARBARA BLAKE AND JAMES V. KOCH, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Everyone knows we are hip-deep in a medical epidemic relating to COVID-19. This has caused some to forget about “the other crisis” that is on-going and only appears to be strengthening — the abuse of opioids. At least 72,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2019, an approximate 1,200 of whom were Virginians. The epidemic has shattered families and cost the United States billions of dollars in health care costs, lost tax revenue and lost productivity. Has COVID-19 had an impact on opioid abuse? The answer appears to be yes even though the data relating to this situation are not yet conclusive.
Blake is the chief administrative officer of The Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy at Old Dominion University. Koch is Board of Visitors Professor of Economics Emeritus and President Emeritus at Old Dominion University.
By J. CHAPMAN PETERSEN, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
A year ago, Linda Park was a first-generation Korean American who owned and operated a hibachi-style Japanese restaurant in Fredericksburg. Representing years of labor and her life savings, the restaurant was popular and making money. She was the living embodiment of the American dream.
Petersen, D-Fairfax City, represents the 34th District in the Virginia Senate.
By DANIEL A. DOMENECH AND MARK E. EMBLIDGE, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
It should not have taken a global health and economic crisis to cast light on the crisis already taking place in our schools, where income level and skin color still play significant roles in predicting student success. Public schools don’t just educate children; they also feed them, address trauma and mental health issues, monitor physical health, and identify signs of domestic instability and other risk factors affecting a student’s ability to prioritize learning.
Domenech is chair of the Communities In Schools of Virginia board of directors. Emblidge is president and founder of Communities In Schools of Virginia.
By VEE LAMNECK, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Despite the availability of treatments that allow people living with HIV to live long, healthy lives and that prevent sexual transmission, the HIV epidemic remains a significant public health issue across the country and in Virginia. Laws in Virginia that criminalize a person’s HIV status are making the problem worse. HIV criminalization refers to the use of laws and policies to target and punish people living with HIV. As of 2020, Virginia was one of 37 states with laws that criminalize the alleged potential exposure, nondisclosure or potential transmission of HIV.
Lamneck is executive director at Equality Virginia.
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