By LUANNE RIFE, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Starting at 5 p.m. Friday, Virginians could find they are unable to preregister for the COVID-19 vaccine, as the state moves toward a centralized system. The Virginia Department of Health will be moving all of the local health districts' waiting lists into a central system, and will be replacing each of the local surveys with a link to the unified system. The new system is expected to launch at 8 a.m. Tuesday and is intended to offer a more user-friendly way both for people to express interest in getting a shot and for public health officials to manage the lists.
By JOANNE KIMBERLIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The voice is leathered with age. His breathing is labored. “Do you have any idea how I could get on the list to get my COVID shot? … I’m 88 years old ... I could try to find somebody to take me if I could find out …” He’s among the countless locals inundating the newspaper with calls and emails. . . . They’re desperate for a scarce, newly minted injection that can be the difference between life and death for the most vulnerable. And they’re confused by the patchwork of phases, clinics and agencies, networks, lists and sub-categories orchestrating the vaccine rollout.
By COY FERRELL, Prince William Times
There were few people happier than 98-year-old Edna Kidwell on Thursday. Kidwell, originally from Amissville, has lived at The Oaks in Warrenton for 12 years. On Thursday, she received the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the door of her apartment, thanks to the efforts of Fauquier County paramedics. She was all smiles and spread her arms theatrically with a laugh. “Wow! Wasn’t that great?” she exclaimed after EMT Peter Josendale gave her the shot.
By JACKIE DEFUSCO, WAVY-TV
A raise for teachers is on the table in the Virginia General Assembly but some lawmakers want to require schools to reopen first. The House and Senate introduced their spending plans earlier this week. Each chamber is expected to vote on their respective proposals on Friday, which will be followed by extensive negotiations between the bodies. After that, Gov. Ralph Northam will have an opportunity to weigh in. The chambers are taking different approaches but both go further than the 2 percent minimum raise for teachers Northam endorsed in his State of the Commonwealth address last month.
By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury
After months of local wrangling over exploratory gold drilling in the forests of Buckingham County, the debate over whether Virginia wants to embrace a new era of gold mining or shut the door on an activity that hasn’t occurred here in decades has arrived at the General Assembly. The question “is not just about one locale,” Del. Elizabeth Guzman, D-Prince William, told lawmakers last week during a final House of Delegates vote on a law that would impose a temporary ban on most gold mining in Virginia until July 1, 2023, while also convening a state work group to evaluate its health and environmental impacts. “This bill has broad implications for Virginia.”
By IAN MUNRO, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Wednesday’s announcement of Valley Guard Supply’s $1 million expansion shares something in common with another major economic development project announced in November: Harrisonburg and company officials were mum on the developments until a formal announcement came down from Gov. Ralph Northam’s office. City spokesman Michael Parks said sharing information with the public about such projects prior is hard for localities to do. “We would love to spend every day out there talking about new businesses opening,” but there are complications, he said.
WFXR-TV
Bluefield College, a school that competes athletically in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, has forfeited one of its games after players were suspended for kneeling during the national anthem at recent games. In a statement on Thursday, Feb. 11, Bluefield College president David Olive said that after players knelt during multiple games in January and February, even after he’d told them to stop, he decided to suspend all athletes involved, which resulted in a forfeit of the NAIA Division II Appalachian Athletic Conference game against Reinhardt.
The Full Report
59 articles, 31 publications
The Virginia Public Access Project
In the 2021 General Assembly session, it's become increasingly rare to see disagreements fall along any line other than Democrat v. Republican. This visual looks at two measures of party-line voting during the first half of the last four legislative sessions.
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 AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The General Assembly is under a tight deadline to add new judges to Virginia’s Court of Appeals, with the goal being able to appoint them to the bench before the legislative session concludes at month's end. Gov. Ralph Northam identified expanding the court by adding more judges a priority, requesting the General Assembly put $5 million in the budget to accomplish it, but the process has been rocky in the Democrat-controlled legislature. Both chambers need to pass legislation, and agree on how much to put in the state spending plan to support the effort.
By GRAHAM MOOMAW, Virginia Mercury
In the name of consumer protection, Virginia lawmakers are considering a trio of bills intended to give victims more power to recoup costs after car crashes, a push the insurance industry says could raise premiums for drivers at a time when many can’t afford it due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Together, the three pieces of legislation would double minimum liability coverage levels, give drivers more power to sue their own insurance company for “bad faith” decisions and allow victims to get more money from insurance carriers on both sides of a collision instead of having the at-fault driver’s insurance offset the victim’s insurance. . . . The three bills have already passed the Senate with bipartisan support and are awaiting their initial hearing in the House of Delegates.
By TITUS MOHLER, Farmville Herald (Paywall)
A bill calling for a study evaluating the impacts of gold mining on public health, safety and welfare in Virginia, while also setting a temporary limit on gold mining operations successfully passed the Virginia House of Delegates Friday, Feb. 5.
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
From one state institution to another, Virginia Commonwealth University is looking for state help in buying the current Richmond home of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority for a proposed athletic village that would include a stadium for collegiate and minor league baseball. But the House of Delegates and Senate have widely differing approaches to how much help the state is willing to provide.
By ROGER WATSON, Farmville Herald (Paywall)
A bill moving through the Virginia General Assembly would ask Longwood University to identify any slaves who worked to help build what was then the Farmville Female Seminary and provide scholarships and economic development programs to help the families of their descendants.
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Former House Speaker William J. Howell is returning to the battle over public policy in the Virginia General Assembly, but in a different role than he served as leader of the House of Delegates for 15 years. Howell, a Republican from Stafford County who served in the House for 30 years before retiring in 2017, is the new chairman of the board of directors at the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, a conservative policy think tank that touts free markets and limited government.
By BILL ATKINSON, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 10 articles a month)
State Sen. Amanda F. Chase is now out of "jail" on Facebook. Chase, a Republican lawmaker from Chesterfield County and one of four GOP gubernatorial nomination hopefuls, said Thursday morning that her 30-day ban from posting on any of her pages has been lifted. But while she may be free to speak her piece again on what seemed to be her favorite platform, she said her "Senator Amanda Chase" page is still down, and she might be taking the social-media giant to court to get that restarted.
By TONIA MOXLEY, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
A well-known businessman hopes to take back the 12th District House of Delegates seat for Republicans in November. Larry Linkous, owner of Linkous Auctioneers and former Montgomery County GOP chairman formally announced his candidacy Thursday, promising to bring unity to the statehouse. “I have just so much displeasure with the political climate, state and national.
By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Democratic candidates for the Virginia House of Delegates will be allowed to gather signatures online and by mail this year to get their names on the ballot. The decision stems from a Thursday agreement in Richmond Circuit Court. Several Democratic House candidates filed a lawsuit against the Department of Elections early this month asking that they be able to gather signatures in a safe way because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
By SYDNEY LAKE, Va Business Magazine
Virginia’s General Fund revenue for January 2021 decreased 2.4% compared with January 2020, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday. Total revenue collections rose 6% through January on a fiscal year-to-date basis, which was well ahead of the 1.2% growth forecast. “As we work to put this pandemic behind us, we must stay focused on positioning our commonwealth for broad-based and inclusive growth,” Northam said in a statement.
By GRACIE HART BROOKS, Greene County Record
Jury trials may become a more popular option for defendants after July 1. That summer date will mark the enactment of a new law giving defendants convicted at jury trials the choice to be sentenced by a judge or the jury that convicted then. The law is a piece of criminal justice reform, overturning the involvement in sentencing that juries have had in Virginia since the late 1700s. “This is the most transformational piece of criminal justice reform to be passed in Virginia in a generation,” said Sen. Joseph Morrisey, who sponsored the bill during last year’s General Assembly.
By ANDREW RINGLE, VCU Capital News Service
Jillian Floyd hasn’t seen her son in a year. She is one of many Virginia prisoners experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic in Virginia’s correctional institutions, where thousands of incarcerated people have tested positive for the coronavirus since March and more than 50 who died also tested positive for the disease. Floyd, a prisoner at Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Fluvanna County, said she talks on the phone every day with her 10-year-old child. She said it is difficult for her son not to see her like he did before COVID-19.
By CLARA HAIZLETT, WCVE-FM
Although many state agencies have struggled financially throughout the pandemic, officials say the Department of Wildlife Resources hasn’t skipped a beat. But with more people getting outdoors, there are more concerns about safety, especially on the water. The DWR is responsible for the management of inland fisheries, wildlife, and recreational boating in Virginia. Unlike other state agencies, the department isn’t primarily funded by tax dollars. Instead, it’s funded through the sale of licenses and a federal excise tax on guns and ammunition, among other sources. Fortunately for the department, the number of people buying licenses has been on the rise in the past few years.
By STACY PARKER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Cages filled with oysters destined for the mouths of Valentine’s Day lovers will have to stay in the Lynnhaven River awhile longer. The state health department has closed a large swath of the waterway to shellfish harvesting after sewage from a pipe off Independence Boulevard leaked into one of its tributaries last Friday.
By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The number of Virginians filing new unemployment claims for traditional state benefits last week dropped to its lowest level since early December. The Virginia Employment Commission said Thursday that 14,203 initial unemployment claims were filed during the week ending Feb. 6, down from 18,177 a week earlier.
By DAVE RESS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
A sharp increase in revenue at Newport News Shipbuilding largely due to its work on aircraft carriers powered a strong gain in business for its parent, Huntington Ingalls Industries for the fourth quarter of 2020, the company reported Thursday. Newport News Shipbuilding’s revenue rose 25.1% in the quarter over the year before, to reach $1.8 billion. After accounting for its operating costs over the three months, its operating income slipped 6.6% to $128 million.
By JUSTIN GEORGE, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Metro’s precarious financial condition amid the pandemic was worrisome enough for some board members that they considered a pause Thursday on buying buses and selling bonds — two moves that would put the transit system hundreds of millions of dollars deeper into debt. But Metro officials argued that holding back on replacement vehicles and renovations would further degrade a transit system that’s already billions of dollars and years behind on maintenance.
By ERIC KOLENICH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The pandemic has taken a financial toll on Virginia’s colleges. There are fewer undergraduate students, fewer occupied dorms rooms and fewer slices of pizza served in the dining halls. At Virginia Commonwealth University, COVID-19 blew a $35 million hole in the university’s finances. As a public college, VCU is not permitted to operate in the red. Chief Financial Officer Karol Gray told school’s board of visitors in December the university was in the midst of a revenue crisis.
By ERIC KOLENICH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Life at Virginia Commonwealth University will look closer to normal this fall, President Michael Rao said Thursday in his annual State of the University speech. After two and a half semesters of mostly online education, in-person classes will start to return, and students and employees will be vaccinated. It may not completely resemble pre-COVID life, but it’ll be better than now, Rao said. In a 30-minute pre-recorded message, Rao laid out his vision for the future of the university and its health system, and he recapped a turbulent year.
By LAUREN O'NEIL, Cavalier Daily
COVID-19 cases on Grounds jumped this week, with 40 student cases and four faculty and staff cases diagnosed Wednesday alone. This brings the current count of active cases within the University community to 222, according to the University’s COVID-19 tracker. This week saw the largest numbers of cases since students returned to Grounds for the spring semester. In addition to the 44 new cases Wednesday, 43 new cases were reported on Tuesday and 58 new cases were reported Monday. Monday also made up the single largest daily number of cases in a single day — 58 — since Sept. 17, when 59 cases were reported.
By HENRI GENDREAU, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Early this week, Virginia Tech reported that a little more than 5% of students and staff tested for COVID-19 had positive cases — missing the university’s goal to keep below that rate. On Wednesday, the rate dropped to 4.9%, with no sign that previous days had ever surpassed 5%. Wednesday’s update to the university’s COVID-19 dashboard showed that 690 tests, and two positive cases, were added over the last week, decreasing the seven-day positivity rate. Those changes paint a more accurate picture of the pandemic on campus, the university said.
By ALEX PERRY, Virginia Gazette (Metered Paywall - 4 Articles per Month)
Positive COVID-19 cases continue to rise among students at the College of William & Mary this semester, surpassing the total number of student positive COVID-19 cases reported in the fall. The COVID-19 Dashboard on W&M’s website reported that as of 9:23 a.m. Thursday, there are 55 active student cases and there have been 88 positive cases among 6,282 students tested this spring semester, which started Jan. 27. There have also been nine positive cases among 848 employees tested with five active cases currently.
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Mike Martin tried the website for CVS Pharmacy at 1:30 a.m. on Thursday to look for an appointment to be vaccinated against COVID-19 through a new national pharmacy program the company rolled out this week in Virginia. “It was asleep, unlike me,” said Martin, 69, a Bon Air resident who tried again beginning at 5:15 a.m. — the same time the online scheduling system began taking appointments on Tuesday, to the surprise of Virginians who were told to expect appointments to open two days later.
By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
Friday’s COVID-19 testing event at Dixon Park in Fredericksburg and the vaccination clinic at King George County have been canceled because of the possibility of inclement weather. All those who were scheduled to be tested or receive vaccines will be notified, according to Rappahannock Area Health District officials. Starting at 5 p.m. Friday and through the weekend, residents will not be able to get onto the health district’s website to register for the vaccine. The Virginia Department of Health is taking all the registration portals throughout the state offline to move the lists of those registered into a centralized system that will begin operation sometime next week.
By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
In a temporary solution to cut down on the chaos that's left Virginians wondering whether they're still on a vaccine waiting list after signing up, Chesterfield Health District unveiled a system on Thursday that will send confirmation emails or calls to residents who registered. The move comes after more than a month of confusion brought on by Virginia's lack of a centralized portal promised by state officials to help people find available doses and verify registration status. Dr. Danny Avula, the state's vaccination coordinator, said in a vaccine town hall Wednesday that the process is likely to roll out by the end of next week, which would then send Virginians who have filled out vaccine interest forms weekly reminders that they're still in the system.
By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The Chesapeake Health Department has vaccinated thousands of people so far. Doses come in and emails with registration links go out to those who are eligible. That process has been running smoothly. Until this week. Someone shared a link on the social media platform Nextdoor, and “within minutes,” hundreds of people who don’t qualify in this phase signed up, said Kimi Stevens, a health department spokesperson.
By FATIMAH WASEEM, Reston Now
More than 180,000 people are on the county’s waiting list for the COVID-19 vaccine. In order to improve transparency, Fairfax County plans to launch a new queuing system that would provide information about vaccine registration status tomorrow. At a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting earlier this week, County Executive Bryan Hill said the system would be followed by a dashboard with real-time information about vaccine distribution. . . . The queuing system would confirm if registrants are in the queue, describe progress made so far, and inform registrants of where they are in the line.
By MIKE BOLLINGER, Highland Recorder (Subscription required)
The eight deaths in Bath County from the coronavirus have now been officially reported from the outbreak at The Springs Nursing Center. According to last Friday’s data from the Virginia Department of Health, the outbreak at the Springs is still in progress, with 50 total cases and now eight deaths. Last Friday was the first time the deaths had been reported on the VDH outbreaks dashboard.
By RANDY ARRINGTON, Page Valley News
After sitting at around 20 percent for more than a month, Page County’s seven-day positivity rate has dropped dramatically in the past two weeks, according to the Virginia Department of Health, and is now currently reported at 9.1 percent. The county’s positivity rate was at a low of 3.4 percent in mid-November, but climbed as high as 22.5 percent six weeks later on Dec. 31.
By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)
In just one month, this region’s surge of COVID-19 cases has diminished from a firehose-like stream to a trickle, but the virus hasn’t gone away. The Tennessee Department of Health reported almost 1,700 active cases across 10 Northeast Tennessee counties Thursday. Sullivan has 411 active cases, Washington 255 and Hamblen 250. Virginia does not report active cases.
By RACHEL WEINER AND SPENCER S. HSU, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
A former U.S. Navy intelligence officer and FBI official from Virginia has emerged as a key figure in the federal investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, as U.S. prosecutors alleged Thursday that he organized a group of trained fighters and was in contact with self-styled militia groups including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Three Percenters. In asking a federal judge to detain Thomas Edward Caldwell, 66, pending trial, prosecutors revealed some of the most explicit evidence to date of discussions allegedly indicating coordination and planning among groups under scrutiny for the assault on Congress that left one police officer and four others dead, delayed the confirmation of President Biden’s victory and led to charges against more than 200 people.
By JANE HARPER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
In several videos posted online after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol last month, a long-haired man with American flag pants is seen standing in the building’s rotunda with what appears to be a self-rolled cigarette in his hand. “It’s time to smoke weed in here,” the man yells in one of the recordings, according to a criminal complaint filed recently in federal court. After lighting the joint, the man hands out several others to fellow rioters, the complaint said. On Tuesday, Eduardo Nicolas Alvear Gonzalez — identified in the court documents as the man with the joints in the videos — was arrested by U.S. Marshals at an apartment in Virginia Beach, according to an FBI spokeswoman.
By JOSH GULLY, Culpeper Times (Metered Paywall)
By a 5-4 vote during its Feb. 9 meeting, the Culpeper Town Council decided to rename the lake dubbed after Alabama-native Major John Pelham. Council members in favor of the renaming included Frank Reaves Jr., Meaghan Taylor, Jamie Clancey, Billy Yowell and Pranas Rimeikis. Those opposed were Jon Russell, Keith Brown, Keith Price and Mayor Michael Olinger. Pelham died in Culpeper stemming from injuries suffered when an exploded artillery shell struck his head during the 1863 Battle of Kelly’s Ford.
By STEPHEN FALESKI, Smithfield Times (Paywall)
In a unanimous Feb. 9 vote, Windsor’s Town Council rejected the idea of relocating Isle of Wight County’s Confederate monument to the town’s municipal cemetery. Currently, the monument stands outside the county’s government complex, where it’s stood for the past 115 years.
By SCOTT MCCAFFREY, Sun Gazette
Technical, legal and financial complexities likely will mean any start to “instant-runoff” County Board voting in Arlington will be pushed back to 2022 at the soonest. “It’s not practical for this year. The earliest this could possibly be used is next year,” said Arlington Electoral Board secretary Scott McGeary, summing things up during a Feb. 6 Electoral Board meeting. That’s a view generally shared by elections staff. . . . Under General Assembly legislation passed in 2020, Arlington now has the power to implement instant-runoff (alternately known as “ranked-choice” voting) for County Board races at either or both the primary and general-election levels. It would not impact any other elections in Arlington.
By NATHANIEL CLINE, Loudoun Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Scheduled to vote on the measure Wednesday, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors instead moved a vote on several ordinance amendments to prohibit firearms in county buildings, public parks and recreational community centers to March 2. The board voted 7-2 with supervisors Tony Buffington (R-Blue Ridge) and Caleb Kershner (R-Catoctin) opposed. County staff is expected to provide information that clarifies the legality of the amendments and the process of obtaining a concealed permit as supervisors.
By JARED FORETEK, Inside NOVA
Most Manassas City Public Schools students could see the inside of their classrooms for the first time since last March next month, with the school board indicating support for a return date of March 15. Under the plan, which was discussed at last night’s board meeting and will be voted on at the next meeting Feb. 22, the general student population not currently receiving in-person instruction would start coming back in the middle of March, pre-k through fourth graders returning the week of March 15, and grades five through 12 returning the following week.
By ALAN RODRIGUEZ ESPINOZA, WCVE-FM
Richmond Superintendent Jason Kamras is proposing that city schools operate year-round next year to help students impacted by virtual learning and the pandemic. Kamras’s vision is for the 2021-2022 school year to begin in person in August, and end in late June. It would include four two-week breaks, or “intersessions,” every nine weeks. About 5,000 “high-need students” would receive additional instruction during these intersessions, adding up to 40 extra school days.
By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Outlining his vision for an “equity agenda” for this year, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney on Thursday announced the creation of a public engagement office and an economic development scorecard system in his annual State of the City address. While acknowledging the constraints and challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impose on the city, Stoney said his administration remains committed to its goals of affordable housing, improving public safety and police accountability, reopening public schools, and fostering economic development.
By ALEX PERRY, Virginia Gazette (Metered Paywall - 4 Articles per Month)
The city of Williamsburg is working on plans to distribute the remaining Wi-Fi routers for its free, wireless internet pilot program to city residents. The Highland Park Free Wireless Internet Pilot Program is a six-month pilot program that will allow Williamsburg to test how internet could be offered as a utility to city residents. The project was announced in mid-November and is meant to help address the necessity of free internet service to city residents, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
By SCOTT SHENK, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
Small Spotsylvania businesses struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic can get help from the county through a new program. The Board of Supervisors and county staff on Tuesday discussed the grant program, which is designed for businesses with no more than 75 employees. A motion to make the budget adjustment necessary to fund the program was approved 7–0.
By BRYAN MCKENZIE, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
If you’re interested in a heavy bronze statue with a pink granite base and concrete foundation and you’re willing to pay to remove it move it elsewhere, the city of Charlottesville has one it will give away for free. The city has issued a formal request for information in an effort to determine if any individual or organization would be willing to “safely remove, relocate and take ownership of” the 1919 statue depicting Sacajawea, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
By PETER CARY, Piedmont Journalism Foundation
Mel Miller had long wanted to keep his cattle from polluting Town Run, a pretty creek that meanders through his Catlett farm. Using a wetlands banking program, he had fenced off most of his pastures from the stream but he still had a mile to go. And that would cost a lot, at least $50,000, not just for the fencing but also for a watering system to serve the cattle once they were barred from the creek. Miller knew the John Marshall Soil and Water Conservation District, a state agency headquartered in Warrenton, was paying 75% to 85% of the cost of such projects, but even that was not enough.
By ALLISON BROPHY CHAMPION, Culpeper Star Exponent (Metered Paywall - 20 articles a month)
The only movie theater in Culpeper has fallen on many months of hard times and may not survive, like theaters worldwide trying to operate in a pandemic and can’t pay their rent. Built on land owned by the town of Culpeper in the year 2000, the 13,624-square-feet Regal Culpeper Movies 4 at 210 S. Main St. operated for the next 20 years, attracting popcorn and candy-toting movie goers from the region to blockbusters screened in its four theaters.
By SANTIAGO MELLI-HUBER, WFXR-TV
Lynchburg City Councilmember Jeff Helgeson apparently violated Virginia campaign finance laws in his last campaign. Helgeson won re-election to represent Ward III in May. According to the Facebook ad library, Helgeson ran ads before and after the election that were paid for by his campaign. His campaign finance reports from that time show payments on radio advertisements, but not Facebook. Anyone running for office in Virginia has to publicly disclose money received as donations and any money they spend on the campaign.
By LUKE WEIR, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Although the exact local impact of a new internet sales tax will remain uncertain for months longer, revenue audits performed later this year have potential to reveal answers, officials said. When Salem City Council members requested data on internet sales tax revenue during the council’s meeting this week, Finance Director Rosie Jordan said no such data is readily available. Sales tax comes to local governments through the Virginia Department of Taxation, Jordan said.
By OWEN FITZGERALD, Independent-Messenger
Greensville County School Board member Jason Rook apologized during the Board’s meeting Monday evening for posts he made and shared on his personal Facebook page. A number of citizens submitted public comments to the Board regarding Rook’s posts. In recent weeks, Rook, who represents the Hicksford District, has made multiple posts criticizing the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. One post referenced by multiple citizens stated, “Due to my white privilege, I will be donating my COVID-19 vaccine to someone less fortunate. No need to thank me.”
By BILL WYATT, Martinsville Bulletin (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The Virginia Department of Health has shut down the El Norteno restaurant in Martinsville, and the Virginia ABC permanently has canceled its alcohol license. The restaurant in the Patrick Henry Mall on East Church Street was the scene of a shootout Friday night that left two people dead and two others seriously wounded.
By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)
Saying the need for blood donations is as great or greater than ever, Marsh Regional Blood Center kicked off the first day of a two-day blood drive Thursday at the former Bristol Mall. A steady stream of donors filed into bloodmobiles in the parking area after being screened inside the former Sears store — the future site of the Hard Rock Bristol casino. The drive was a cooperative effort between Hard Rock, Marsh and the Bristol Herald Courier.
Northern Neck News
The Northern Neck Planning District Commission and All Points Broadband announced (Wednesday) that they have received an additional $8.5 million in federal broadband funds to support the second and final phase of a regional fiber-to-the-home broadband network to bring internet access to approximately 7,500 unserved locations in the Counties of King George, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland,
Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
This year’s General Assembly has dealt with some mighty big issues — abolishing the death penalty, legalizing marijuana, potentially amending the state constitution to require equal educational opportunities for all of Virginia’s students. Now, here’s something that seems much smaller: How few jobs should a data center create before it qualifies for certain tax incentives? Under current law, a data center can qualify for tax breaks if it creates at least 25 jobs in an economically distressed area. State Sens. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William, and Todd Pillion, R-Washington, have introduced a bill that would reduce that to 15.
Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Reopening schools is one important part of a broad approach to address the devastating effects of this pandemic on children. Helping those kids who have fallen behind requires a similar urgency — work that must begin now. At his Feb. 5 news conference, Gov. Ralph Northam directed local school systems to resume in-person learning in some form by March 15.
By CHUCK SLEMP, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Elder abuse is a growing epidemic because Virginia’s population is aging. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2035 seniors will outnumber children for the first time in American history. According to the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, one in five Virginians will be over the age of 65 by 2030. Unfortunately, as the population ages, the number of crimes perpetrated against the elderly has skyrocketed. In 2020, Adult Protective Services workers responded to over 37,000 reports of elder abuse in Virginia.
Slemp is Commonwealth’s Attorney for Wise County and the City of Norton.
By JIM CARROLL, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The U.S. Small Business Administration has been at the forefront in supporting the recovery of the nation’s small businesses. Utilizing the considerable expertise from its partner organizations such as, among others, Small Business Development Centers, SCORE, Women’s Business Centers and Veteran Business Outreach Centers, it has been able to reach out and provide direct technical assistance to the nation’s small businesses.
Carroll is the vice president for small business for the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and the executive director for the Small Business Development Center of Hampton Roads.
By MICHAEL DEAL, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
“When [the pandemic] hit us, it was like a freight train ... We didn’t even know what the questions were to provide answers to parents who were panicking,” explained Frances Wilson, the director of technology for Lunenburg County Public Schools. “Hot spots were provided in churches, libraries, park areas, and fire and rescue departments across the county ... it was a team initiative, that’s for sure.” Middlesex County Public Schools Superintendent Pete Gretz told a similar story.
Deal is a freelance journalist and podcaster (Citizen Reformers). He lives in Vienna.
By SALAAM BHATTI, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Sixty years ago, President John F. Kennedy began his inaugural address by stating, “Man holds in his mortal hands, the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.” At the helm of such power, the government had a choice to make: continuing military growth and spending, or solving poverty once and for all?
Bhatti is a public benefits attorney at the Virginia Poverty Law Center and director of Virginia Hunger Solutions.
By RALPH BERRIER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Who wouldn’t have loved an all-expenses-paid trip to Roanoke in 1970? Well, probably not Karen Carpenter, judging by her reaction when the famous pop singer actually won such a prize on the classic game show, “The Dating Game” 50 years ago. And definitely not Emily Nussbaum, Pulitzer prize-winning television critic, who would’ve been too young in 1970 anyway, and who LOL’d on Twitter after she watched an old clip of that show on YouTube.
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