VaNews
February 17, 2021

Today's Sponsor:


** The Virginia Lottery
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Circumstances change, but their mission doesn’t, giving back 595 million dollars to Virginia’s K through 12 public schools last year. Learn more at valottery.com/givingback ([link removed])
* Read Online ([link removed])
* 10 Most Clicked ([link removed])
* Refer a Friend ([link removed])

Top of the News


** Virginia launches centralized system for vaccination preregistrations ([link removed])
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By LUANNE RIFE, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Virginia Department of Health has launched a centralized preregistration system for COVID-19 vaccinations but warned that with millions of people expected to visit the site on Tuesday, delays and problems might occur. The department said in a news release that its information technology staff would continue to address back-end components, and that anyone who cannot get through to vaccinate.virginia.gov should try again.
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** Fairfax schools reopen classrooms ([link removed])
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By HANNAH NATANSON, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Bucknell Elementary School Principal LaRonda Peterson stood in the doorway of a newly reopened classroom Tuesday morning, arms folded, alert for signs of trouble. A small boy in a blue jacket popped into view. He had just been released for a midmorning break. He took a few halting steps toward Peterson, and she backed into the hallway to maintain an appropriate social distance, her wide smile apparent even behind her mask.
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** ‘They basically abandoned us,’ Sussex County Health Department closed as the pandemic hit Virginia ([link removed])
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By KERRI O'BRIEN, WAVY-TV

Just as the pandemic took hold of Virginia, the state shut down a health department leaving local leaders to wonder how they would protect their residents. Without warning in March of last year, the Sussex County Health Department suddenly shut their doors. Sussex County Board of Supervisor Eric Fly says the state basically abandoned the community. “They just quite frankly disappeared,” Fly said. “They shut the doors and went away. We had no notification, there wasn’t an email, a phone call, a text.”
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** Federal stimulus sends $524 million to Virginia for rent relief ([link removed])
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By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Virginia’s pot for rent relief has grown by more than half a billion dollars, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday. A $524 million infusion of federal funding will bolster the state’s effort to aid tenants who have fallen behind on rent or utility payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of households around the state owe back rent with a federal moratorium on evictions for nonpayment scheduled to expire at the end of next month.
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** Va. House panel rejects bill to require more precise absentee voting data ([link removed])
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By GRAHAM MOOMAW, Virginia Mercury

After more than half of Virginians cast absentee ballots last year, officials won’t be required to change their vote-counting procedures this year to make sure those ballots are reflected in neighborhood-level election data. On Tuesday, a Democratic-led House of Delegates subcommittee rejected a bill that would have instructed local registrars to count absentee ballots by the voter’s home precinct rather than grouping them together in one county-level tally. The bill had passed the state Senate with bipartisan support, but House Democrats said they wanted to take more time on the issue to make sure election officials are equipped to carry out what’s being asked of them.
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** Census data delay could freeze Virginia House districts and mean elections for three straight years ([link removed])
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By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Delays in U.S. census data have disrupted plans to draw new districts for this year's elections of all 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, raising the possibility that the races will be run under the old political map. On top of that uncertainty, the General Assembly has passed legislation to move all local and municipal elections to November, which could force more than a dozen cities and more than 100 towns around the state to reschedule council and school board elections that usually take place in May.
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** Outsiders are looking for gold in Buckingham. Locals hope they don’t find it. ([link removed])
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By AMELIA DELPHOS, Cville Weekly

The Warminster Baptist Church sits on the corner of Warminster Church and Sycamore Creek roads in Buckingham County. The historic Black church was established in 1866; the congregation has worshiped in three different buildings, but never strayed far from the plot of soil where their traditions began. ...The property that sits directly next to both the Wayne family and the church is owned by Weyerhaeuser, a timber and wood products company that grows and harvests forests. For the past four years, Weyerhaeuser has partnered with Aston Bay Holdings, a Canadian gold exploration company, which has quietly conducted exploratory drilling on the Weyerhaeuser land.
The Full Report
51 articles, 26 publications
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** FROM VPAP
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** VPAP Visual Trump's Post-Election Virginia Haul ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

In the eight weeks following his defeat in November, Donald Trump raised $2.6 million from Virginia donors through the Trump Make America Great Again Committee. This visual presents a timeline and an interactive map that shows which Virginia localities had the most post-election Trump donors per 10,000 residents.
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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 announces federal funds for rental assistance ([link removed])
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By GABRIELLA MUÑOZ, Washington Times

Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday that Virginia has received $524 million in federal assistance for renters, saying that families across the state are still struggling to keep a roof over their heads due to the unprecedented economic impact of the pandemic. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have prioritized efforts to keep Virginians safely in their homes,” Mr. Northam said. “There continues to be an overwhelming need for additional relief to help those struggling to make ends meet.”


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** Virginia General Assembly close to passing major consumer data privacy legislation ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Your online activities, your purchases, your travel and your political views all have been a commodity for many years now. That data is bought, sold, shared and used in ways you probably aren’t even aware of, and you can't do much about it. Virginia lawmakers are trying to give consumers more power over their data — sort of. The General Assembly is close to giving final approval on the Consumer Data Protection Act, which would give Virginians certain rights over the data that large companies and data brokers collect.
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** Virginia set to become second state to pass data privacy law ([link removed])
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By GOPAL RATNAM, Roll Call

Virginia is set to become the second state, after California, to pass data privacy legislation. The bill could become law as soon April when Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to sign a measure that has passed both chambers of the state legislature but is awaiting a few last-minute tweaks. Known as the Consumer Data Protection Act, the law would go into effect Jan. 1, 2023 and would apply to all business that control or process data for at least 100,000 Virginians, or those commercial entities that derive at least 50 percent of their revenues from the sale and processing of consumer data of at least 25,000 customers.
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** Virginia lawmakers weigh bill to forgive overpayments by state’s unemployment insurance program ([link removed])
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By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury

A proposal that would halt efforts to claw back millions of dollars in unemployment benefits mistakenly paid to out-of-work Virginians is advancing in the General Assembly — one of the only surviving measures aimed at addressing the state’s struggle to administer jobless benefits amid the pandemic. The bill would forgive an estimated $18 million in overpayments made since March as a result of errors by the Virginia Employment Commission. The measure’s sponsor, Del. Sally Hudson, D-Charlottesville, presented the idea as a logical and compassionate alternative to sending already-struggling residents to collections.
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** Bill to define sexual and workplace harassment in Va. is facing opposition ([link removed])
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By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Legislation to strengthen Virginia’s laws against sexual and workplace harassment is in trouble in the legislature, with opposition coming from some Democratic senators. The powerful Virginia Chamber of Commerce previously had concerns about how the legislation would affect employers, but now says it is neutral. A Senate version of the legislation died on Feb. 5 after three male Democratic senators joined Republicans to kill it in a floor vote.
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** Retirement savings bill passes Senate panel with reduced scope ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

A revised proposal to give working Virginians the opportunity to save for retirement passed the Senate budget committee on Tuesday, despite opposition from business groups that claim the state-sponsored program would be burdensome and unfair. The Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee voted 12-1, with two members abstaining, to endorse the Virginia Saves Act, sponsored by House Appropriations Chairman Luke Torian, D-Prince William. The legislation would require private employers to offer their employees the option of contributing to an individual retirement account through a program administered by Virginia529, which runs the 25-year-old college savings plan program for families.
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** General Assembly votes to repeal ban on abortion coverage by plans on state insurance exchange ([link removed])
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By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury

Virginia lawmakers voted Tuesday to repeal a state law that prohibits plans on the state’s health insurance exchange from covering abortions. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, and Del. Sally Hudson, D-Charlottesville, now heads to Gov. Ralph Northam’s desk. “Abortion was the only legal and safe medical procedure that was explicitly prohibited for coverage on our state exchange,” Hudson said in an interview last month.
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** Virginia Senate panel advances campaign finance reform bill ([link removed])
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By SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press

A Virginia Senate committee advanced a House measure Tuesday that would prevent politicians from putting campaign funds toward personal uses, with an exception for child care-related expenses. The bill’s continued advancement this year seems to be a breakthrough on an issue lawmakers have previously been reluctant to tackle. Virginia has one of the least restrictive and policed campaign finance systems in the country, with lawmakers only barred from using campaign funds for personal use once they close out their accounts.
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** Free community college plan nears the finish line ([link removed])
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By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

A proposal to make community college free for low- and middle-income Virginians seeking jobs in high-demand fields is nearing the finish line, pending whether budget leaders can work out some differences. Titled “Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back,” or “G3,” the program would cover tuition, fees and textbooks for around 40,000 students across the state.
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** Bill would require scholarships for descendants of enslaved laborers ([link removed])
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By BRIELLE ENTZMINGER, Cville Weekly

For nearly a year, Isabella Gibbons has peered over Charlottesville. Inscribed into the rough-hewn granite of the University of Virginia’s Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, her eyes not only draw attention to the cruel realities of slavery—but ask what we are going to do to rectify them. As UVA continues to atone for its racist history, a form of reparation may finally be on the way for the living descendants of enslaved laborers like Gibbons, who helped build and maintain the university for decades.
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** Will the House put the brakes on the electric school bus bill again? ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

For the second year running, Senate legislation that would expand an electric school bus program being piloted by Dominion Energy is losing momentum in the House of Delegates. The bill was abruptly put on hold for the day Tuesday as it came up for a final vote in the House after passing the Senate earlier this month. Small groups of Republicans have consistently opposed the school bus electrification proposals. However, opponents say the current bill is also facing resistance behind the scenes from Democratic delegates unhappy with the vote by a Senate committee Monday to kill a slate of utility reform bills, though none would discuss that dynamic on the record.
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** Virginia Voters May Weigh in on Marijuana Legalization ([link removed])
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By BEN PAVIOUR, WCVE-FM

Legal marijuana could be coming to Virginia as early as July 1 under legislation approved Tuesday by both chambers of the General Assembly. But the bill crafted by Democrats in the state Senate would also put the issue to voters in a move critics say is designed to simply boost Democrat voter turnout this November. Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax County) said his idea for a non-binding ballot referendum fit into a broader strategy in the Senate that would require lawmakers to revisit most parts of the legalization bill next year.
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** Senate Greenway Bill Passes General Assembly ([link removed])
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Loudoun Now

Senate Bill 1259, intended to curb toll increases and close financing loopholes on the Dulles Greenway, has now passed both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate passed the bill on Feb. 1. On Tuesday, Feb. 16 the House of Delegates passed the bill 97-1-1, with only vote vote against and one abstaining. If its identical companion bill, House Bill 1832, passes through the Senate without amendments, the bill will head to Gov. Ralph Northam’s desk to be signed into law. That bill passed the House 99-0 on Jan. 29, and is currently in a Senate committee.
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** Bipartisan teen driving safety bill passes Virginia General Assembly unanimously ([link removed])
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By KAYLA GASKINS, WAVY-TV

Virginia Republicans and Democrats have come together in the General Assembly for a cause everyone could get behind. A teen driver safety bill introduced by local Del. Martha Mugler passed unanimously through both the House and Senate. Mugler (D-Hampton) represents York County, Poquoson and Hampton for Virginia’s 91st House of Delegates District. She worked on the teen driver safety bill with local mother Tammy Guido. Guido lost her 16-year-old son Conner in a car crash after the homecoming dance at Tabb High School in 2019. The crash claimed the lives of three teenage boys.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** Cox calls for returning $730 million in extra revenues to Virginians as tax rebate ([link removed])
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By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Del. Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, said Tuesday that the state should use around $730 million in additional projected revenues to cut checks for Virginians to the tune of $190 for individuals and $380 for families. Cox, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, pitched the proposal as a way to shore up Virginia families struggling as a result of the pandemic.
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** Jennifer Carroll Foy Almost Died After Childbirth Because—Like Many Black Women—Her Pain Was Dismissed ([link removed])
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By LAURA BASSETT, Elle

Jennifer Carroll Foy, a public defender and mother of twins who’s running for governor of Virginia this year, was trying to deliver a stump speech via Zoom from her home on Thursday night when one of her 3-year-old sons burst into the room, flicked off the lights and ran off cackling. “It’s 8 o'clock, I’m trying to get the crowd riled up virtually, and suddenly the whole room is dark,” she tells me in a Zoom interview the next morning. “I jumped up from the table trying not to fuss, trying to find the light switch. This is my life.” She isn’t complaining, though—the fact that she and the twins all even survived to get to this point is a small miracle.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** ‘I realized I wasn’t alone:’ Seeking help for mental illness in Hampton Roads ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

She was the kid with only one friend. The one who’d walk into a locker at high school and apologize to it when the migraine meds kicked in too hard, whose antics made classmates laugh and call her crazy. And when, three decades later, Adriane Spence-Townsend finally had a doctor tell her what really was wrong, she decided to tell others in her church choir — many of them her high school classmates — that she had bipolar disorder. “They all just kind of drifted away,” she said.
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** Comprehensive Policies Proposed To Protect Transgender Students ([link removed])
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By MEGAN WILLIAMS, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

On March 13, life came to a halt for much of Virginia. Gov. Ralph Northam closed schools and many other aspects of life were put on hold as the COVID-19 pandemic raged. But for one Harrisonburg High School student, life was changing in another way — it was his birthday, legally an adult, and he was getting his name and gender marker changed to reflect his identity as a transgender man. The HHS student came out to his parents as trans when he was in ninth grade. The news was at first met with mixed feelings from his mother.


** CONGRESS
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** Amid pandemic challenges, new Monacan tribal office offers support ([link removed])
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By RACHEL MAHONEY, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Three years after federal recognition opened up a wealth of new opportunities, the Monacan Indian Nation now finds itself with a robust community center that’s poised to help hundreds of its members and others in the local community in need with a variety of programs. Members on Tuesday welcomed U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, who supported the resolution recognizing the tribe, for a tour of the new Monacan Highview Complex near Monroe in Amherst County.
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** Hampton’s VA Medical Center is cutting wait times. But there’s more to be done, Sen. Mark Warner says. ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Hampton’s VA Medical Center has made major progress towards cutting waiting times for patients, Sen. Mark Warner said Tuesday after one of his periodic visits to one of the nation’s busiest veterans’ facilities. Hampton, which once posted some of the longest waiting lists in the country, has cut its average waiting time for primary care visits to 15 days — well below the 25-day goal Warner dared the hospital to meet a few years back, and the 42-day average it hit in late 2019.
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** Warner says federal funding could be available for slave heritage museum in Shockoe Bottom ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

As Richmond looks to build a slave museum and memorial campus in Shockoe Bottom, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Tuesday that federal funding could soon be available to help. Warner discussed the possibility of a congressional allocation during a visit to Lumpkin’s Jail with Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus in honor of Black History Month.
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** Wexton: COVID-19 vaccine clinic at SU should be model for state, beyond ([link removed])
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By ANNA MEROD, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-10th, has heard lots of positive things about the COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Shenandoah University, so she went to see it in action on Tuesday morning. “I wanted to see it for myself and it’s every bit as impressive as I expected it to be,” she said after touring the clinic, which opened last month in the university’s James R. Wilkins Jr. Athletics & Events Center in partnership with Valley Health and the Lord Fairfax Health District. “This is an amazing model.”


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** Tribune, owner of Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, agrees to purchase by hedge fund for $630 million ([link removed])
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Associated Press

The newspaper publisher Tribune has agreed to be sold to Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for cutting costs and eliminating newsroom jobs, in a deal valued at $630 billion. Tribune Publishing Co., which owns the Virginian-Pilot, Daily Press, Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News, the Baltimore Sun and other newspapers, said Tuesday it has agreed to sell its shares to Alden for $17.25 apiece, in cash. . . . Alden owns one of the country’s largest newspaper chains and is known for consolidation and cuts in fixed costs, including newsroom jobs, to squeeze out profits.
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** Power contract keeps third-party solar out of reach ([link removed])
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By TIM THORNTON, Va Business Magazine

More than 40 years ago, local governments in Appalachian Power’s service area banded together to negotiate rates. Now, Rocky Mount Town Manager James Ervin, chair of the steering committee that leads negotiations, says that’s worked out well. “We pay a rate that is considerably less than a comparable private sector business,” he says. But there can be complications. Last year, the General Assembly passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which allows Appalachian Power customers to pursue third-party power purchase agreements and limits third-party power generation to 40 megawatts.
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** Moog to create 75 jobs as part of Falling Branch Corporate Park project ([link removed])
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By YANN RANAIVO, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Moog Inc. will invest $10.7 million to transfer existing jobs and equipment from one of its Blacksburg facilities to a building in Montgomery County’s Falling Branch Corporate Park. The latest details of this project, which Gov. Ralph Northam’s office announced Tuesday, will give Moog substantially more space to address increased demand and to focus on the production of its slip ring products for the industrial marketplace. The project is anticipated to create 75 new jobs.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** UVa bans in-person events as cases surge ([link removed])
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By BRYAN MCKENZIE, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

University of Virginia officials on Tuesday banned all in-person events and gatherings on and off Grounds and shuttered recreational centers, citing a sudden surge in student COVID-19 cases related to failure to follow health guidelines. Administrators noted the arrival of the more contagious U.K. variant of the virus on Grounds in announcing the restrictions, which took effect Tuesday at 7 p.m. They will be in effect until Feb. 26.
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** U-Va. temporarily bans in-person gatherings, unveils other restrictions as virus cases rise ([link removed])
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By LAUREN LUMPKIN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The University of Virginia implemented new restrictions after a “troubling rise” in coronavirus cases, including the arrival of a more contagious variant, officials said Tuesday night. The campus reported 121 new cases of the novel coronavirus Monday, according to the university’s coronavirus tracker. There are 376 active cases among faculty, staff, students and contract employees, the data show.
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** SCHEV releases updated goals for higher ed in Va. ([link removed])
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By SYDNEY LAKE, Va Business Magazine

The State Council of Higher Education (SCHEV) on Tuesday released an updated statewide strategic plan, which focuses on making higher education more “equitable, affordable and transformative.” The Pathways to Opportunity: The Virginia Plan for Higher Education (The Plan) is reviewed every six years.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Vaccine registration system opens with minor setbacks, major language accessibility concerns ([link removed])
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By SABRINA MORENO AND MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Virginians seeking to register for a COVID-19 vaccine can now do so through a statewide system that went live Tuesday. While the portal, launched two months after the first COVID-19 vaccine was administered in Virginia, sputtered to a start at 8 a.m. when the site was slow or impossible to load, those problems were largely resolved by midday.
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** Virginia launches new vaccine portal, asks for patience on adding names ([link removed])
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By CATHY DYSON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Some Virginians who checked the state’s new portal on Tuesday didn’t find their names on the list, but the Virginia Department of Health says not to worry. While officials had hoped to move all the information into the new system over the long President’s Day weekend, the task may continue for the rest of the week, the state health department announced on Tuesday.
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** Virginia launches statewide vaccine registration system yesterday ([link removed])
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Associated Press

Virginia’s state health department has launched a centralized website where people can pre-register for the COVID-19 vaccine. The website went live Tuesday. Previously, Virginia’s local health districts were handling pre-registration. The state says Virginians who have already pre-registered will be automatically imported into the new system and do not need to sign up again.
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** D.C. region sees lowest number of new coronavirus infections since November ([link removed])
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By REBECCA TAN AND DANA HEDGPETH, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Coronavirus cases are falling across D.C., Maryland and Virginia, although not at equal rates. As government officials continued to manage the rollout of vaccinations Tuesday, the Washington region recorded a seven-day average of 3,819 new infections, the lowest since mid-November. Test positivity rates in D.C. and Maryland have dipped below 5 percent, in a range that experts say is necessary to begin lifting restrictions on social and commercial activity.
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** UVA research: Two out of three people in the summer were asymptomatic ([link removed])
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By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Researchers who tested nearly 4,700 Virginians from June to mid-August for traces of a prior coronavirus infection found that only about 2.4% had previously been sick. But two out of three of those who had contracted the virus didn’t have any symptoms. And when adjusted for population, the numbers were nearly three times higher than summer reports of positive tests on the Virginia Department of Health website.
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** Black pastors partner with Chesapeake hospital to give out 2,000 vaccine doses ([link removed])
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By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

If Bishop Kevin White had 10,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to give, it probably still wouldn’t be enough to meet the type of demand he was getting. For now, 2,000 will have to do. That’s how many will be handed out during a two-day clinic that kicked off Tuesday in South Norfolk, an event aimed at helping the neighborhood’s elderly Black residents get access to the coronavirus vaccine.
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** Dentists, med students can give COVID-19 vaccines in Va. ([link removed])
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By LUKE LUKERT, WTOP

In Virginia, dentists will be among those eligible to administer COVID-19 vaccines after Gov. Ralph Northam signed new legislation into law that expands the eligibility of health care workers who can administer vaccines during the pandemic. The law will expand the pool of those who can administer the coronavirus vaccine to dentists, medical students and other clinicians, giving the state additional assistance with vaccine distribution. Dr. Norm Oliver, the Virginia Department of Health’s deputy commissioner for population health, said training vaccinators takes “just a few hours.”
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** COVID-19 Cases Level Out as Fairfax County Works Through Vaccine Waitlist ([link removed])
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By ANGELA WOOLSEY, Reston Now

COVID-19 case rates in Fairfax County have leveled off over the past week after appearing to trend downward since mid-January, when a record 1,485 cases were reported in a single day. . . . Tuesday also marked the launch of Virginia’s new statewide COVID-19 vaccine registration system, though Fairfax County is not participating for the time being. Based on a registration data dashboard that went live on Feb. 12, Fairfax County has made slow but discernible progress in its efforts to vaccinate older adults, some groups of essential workers, and other eligible populations. The Fairfax County Health Department has whittled its waitlist of people who have registered but haven’t been given an appointment yet down to 105,268 people, as of 10 a.m.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** ACLU of Virginia urges removal of fencing around Lee statue ([link removed])
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WWBT-TV

The ACLU of Virginia is urging that the fencing around the Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond be removed. The ACLU of Virginia sent a letter regarding the matter to the Director of the Department of General Services Joe Damico. “The ACLU of Virginia has significant concerns that the fencing erected around the Lee Monument grounds is unnecessarily infringing on the public’s First Amendment rights while these legal battles play out in the courtroom. . . .


** LOCAL
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** Students return to in-person learning in Fairfax, Loudoun counties ([link removed])
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By NEAL AUGENSTEIN, WTOP

Some students in two of Virginia’s largest school systems — Fairfax and Loudoun counties — are returning to classrooms Tuesday. For some, it’s the first time since a December 2020 spike in COVID-19 cases that sent all students home to learn, and others for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began last March. In Fairfax County, the largest school district in the commonwealth, several small groups of students will be back in school buildings.
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** RPD Chief Re-Ups Commitment to Reform ([link removed])
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By CLARA HAIZLETT, WCVE-FM

Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith outlined some of the reforms he is making in the department during a press conference Tuesday. This comes as Mayor Levar Stoney is expected to release the city’s new equity agenda, which will cover public safety. Smith was appointed last summer, amid protests and clashes between citizens and Richmond’s police force. Protestors demonstrated against police brutality and called for greater accountability in the RPD. In response to the unrest, Stoney convened the Task Force for Reimagining Public Safety in July of last year.
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** York County to have all grades back March 8 as Peninsula schools eye early-March return ([link removed])
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By MATT JONES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

All grades in York County will have the option of in-person learning by March 8, the district announced Tuesday. A message to families Tuesday evening said 11th grade is scheduled to return next Monday, 7th and 9th graders on March 1 and 8th and 10th graders on March 8. The timeline brings the county in line with many of its neighbors, which are pushing to have more students in schools by early March.
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** Fredericksburg takes steps toward more renewable energy ([link removed])
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By TAFT COGHILL JR., Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Fredericksburg officials have taken what they consider a significant step toward their goal of operating the city completely on renewable energy by 2035. City and school leaders met with state officials and private vendors recently to request proposals to analyze and reduce energy consumption in municipal buildings. They also started the process of contracting with a qualified energy services company to assist with evaluating potential improvements to school and city facilities.
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** 800 Fauquier acres put under easement in 2020 ([link removed])
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Fauquier Now

Private landowners in Fauquier last year placed 800 more acres under conservation easements, according to the Warrenton-based Piedmont Environmental Council. That brings the Fauquier total to 109,487 acres permanently protected from development — representing 26 percent of the county. The new acreage placed under easement here in 2020 dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade. Fauquier had averaged 1,728 new acres per year from 2011 through 2019.
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** SW Va. outpaces state in vaccinations, but pace has slowed ([link removed])
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By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

About 15% of far Southwest Virginia residents have received their first vaccination against the novel coronavirus, which ranks above state and national averages. Nearly 48,000 people living in this region’s 10 counties and two cities, or 14.9% of more than 321,000 residents, have received the initial injection of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines through Tuesday, according to the Virginia Department of Health. Virginia’s statewide average is 12.3%.

Today's Sponsor:


** The Virginia Lottery
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Circumstances change, but their mission doesn’t, giving back 595 million dollars to Virginia’s K through 12 public schools last year. Learn more at valottery.com/givingback ([link removed])


** EDITORIALS
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** Funding standards is critical ([link removed])
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Daily Progress Editorial (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Under the state Constitution, and implemented in the Code of Virginia, are what are called the Standards of Quality for the state’s K-12 education. The “Standards of Quality … encompass the requirements that must be met by all Virginia public schools and school divisions,” the Virginia Department of Education says on its website.
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** Will we see a new type of Republican emerge? ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

After the planet Uranus was discovered in 1781, astronomers realized that its orbit could only be explained if there was another, yet unseen, planet somewhere beyond it. Based on that, the great French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier publicly predicted the existence — and location — of the planet we now know as Neptune, making it the first planet predicted before it was ever seen. In that same vein, today we predict the emergence of a type of politician we have yet to see — one that will likely emerge from rural America, perhaps even rural Virginia.
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** Incarcerated felons shouldn't get to vote ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

According to Article II, Section I of the Constitution of Virginia, a person who is tried and convicted of a felony offense automatically loses the right to vote: “No person who has been convicted of a felony shall be qualified to vote unless his civil rights have been restored by the Governor or other appropriate authority.” That’s the case in most of the United States. Convicted felons retain their right to vote only in the District of Columbia, Maine and Vermont.


** OP-ED
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** Egan: Virginia lawmakers should focus on economic relief, not raising auto insurance costs ([link removed])
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By NANCY EGAN, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

With many Virginians struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers need to focus on ways to lower costs and safely reopen our state’s economy during the 2021 Legislative Session. Instead, certain lawmakers are pushing through a slate of legislation that will raise auto insurance costs at a time when individuals, families and businesses can least afford it.

Egan is assistant vice president and Virginia state government relations counsel for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.
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** DuBois: Change to Pell grant options will serve Virginia community colleges ([link removed])
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By GLENN DUBOIS, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

As the chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges, I’ve seen firsthand how access to postsecondary education can elevate the lives of our students, including incarcerated Virginians. I’m grateful for the leadership of Virginia Congressman Bobby Scott, D-3rd,for passing federal legislation to lift the longstanding ban on Pell grants for incarcerated students in state and federal prisons, making postsecondary education available to all.

DuBois is the chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges, a position he has held since 2001.
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** Perrigan: Budget proposals must promote equity ([link removed])
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By KEITH PERRIGAN, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

The recently released budgets from the House of Delegates and Virginia Senate have promise. A 5% raise for teachers as proposed by the House and increased funding for support staff as proposed by the Senate are steps in the right direction. These and other budget recommendations greatly are appreciated and needed. However, an equity mindset is missing from both proposed budgets.

Perrigan is superintendent of Bristol Public Schools and president of the Coalition of Small and Rural Schools of Virginia


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