By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Virginia is just a historic signature away from eliminating the death penalty after sometimes emotional debate in the General Assembly on Monday. In 22-16 and 57-42 votes, largely along party lines, the Senate and the House, respectively, passed identical death penalty abolition bills backed by Gov. Ralph Northam. The legislation will end centuries of capital punishment in Virginia, with nearly 1,400 executions since 1608.
By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Democrats who control the House of Delegates moved closer Monday to requiring that public schools across Virginia offer full-time in-person instruction as soon as this summer, advancing a bipartisan bill as Republicans turned up political pressure. The bill goes significantly further than a version Democrats introduced last week that would have required schools to offer an in-person option but did not mandate a full weekly schedule as communities wrestle with the coronavirus pandemic. Under the new language, schools would have to provide in-person instruction “for at least the minimum number of required instructional hours.”
By PETER COUTU, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Thirty alarms sound off throughout a normal school day in Jillian Maclauchlan’s household as she tries to keep her 2nd grader and kindergartner on schedule for their lessons. After nearly a year of virtual classes, Maclauchlan has gotten her kids’ routine — both in special education in Virginia Beach — down to a science. Both of her children have individualized education plans, which are made to ensure that students with disabilities receive specialized instruction and services. Her 6-year-old child has speech therapy, and is largely independent, she said. But her 7-year-old, who is autistic, is still struggling with the virtual environment.
By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury
When the General Assembly voted last year to ramp up Virginia’s minimum wage to $12, agricultural employees were among a handful of groups excluded from the increase — an exemption that traces its roots to Jim Crow-era segregation. Lawmakers in the Senate said Monday they stand by that decision, voting down legislation passed by the House of Delegates that would have extended the state’s employment laws to farmworkers for the first time. “I understand the exuberance and I understand the need to move forward, but we just had a robust discussion on this last year,” said Sen. Lynwood Lewis, D-Accomack, one of 10 lawmakers on the Senate’s Commerce and Labor Committee who opposed the legislation.
By MARK BOWES, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Over the strong objections of Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, his colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted Monday morning to certify embattled Chesterfield County General District Court Judge Pamela O'Berry for reappointment to the bench. O'Berry's election for a third, six-year term now will be sent to the full Senate for consideration. Three days after the State Conference of the NAACP and another organization sought judiciary committee action on O'Berry's certification, Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City, made a motion to certify the judge at the end of the panel's meeting.
By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER AND LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
One candidate for governor carries a gun and a glittery American flag purse but won't wear a mask against the coronavirus. Another is a self-described socialist who got pepper-sprayed by police during racial justice protests last summer. In between is a spectrum of potential nominees that’s bigger and more diverse than any slate of major-party candidates for governor that Virginia has ever seen. So far, six Republicans and five Democrats have filed papers to run. The 2021 Virginia governor’s race is a fitting after-party for the presidential election. Its familiar plotlines will test the fatigue level of voters in a newly blue state with a strong red tradition: the fight for GOP identity, post-Donald Trump; the tension among Democrats between familiar leadership and candidates of color offering something new; both sides battling for the suburbs — all against the backdrop of a coronavirus pandemic that could provide an early test of President Biden and Democratic leadership.
By RACHAEL SMITH, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
Nikeya Brown was one of five Black doulas inducted into Birth in Color LYH, the newest doula program created by Richmond-based Birth in Color RVA. She thinks maternal health care in America is an isolated event but in other cultures, it’s more community-based. “It’s such an important time to have community around you, because there’s so much going on,” she said. “So I just wanted to really be a part of that community. I had a doula with my first child and it was an amazing experience.”
The Full Report
59 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 LAURA VOZZELLA AND GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Two bills to abolish the death penalty in Virginia won final approval in the state General Assembly on Monday and were headed to Gov. Ralph Northam (D), who is expected to sign them. Virginia — historically one of the nation’s most prolific death penalty states — would then become the first in the South to abandon the ultimate punishment. The state Senate approved by a vote of 22 to 16 a House bill that bans executions and establishes a maximum punishment of life in prison without the possibility of parole. A judge would have discretion to suspend part of that sentence — a sticking point for some Republicans, who pushed unsuccessfully to make life without parole a mandatory minimum.
By DENISE LAVOIE AND SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press
State lawmakers gave final approval Monday to legislation that will end capital punishment in Virginia, a dramatic turnaround for a state that has executed more people in its long history than any other. The legislation repealing the death penalty now heads to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who has said he will sign it into law, making Virginia the 23rd state to stop executions.
By MATT JONES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
A bill requiring full-time in-person instruction next school year took another step Monday toward becoming law. The House Education Committee voted 17-3 to report the bill, an amended version of a one-sentence bill passed by the Senate earlier this month, to the full House of Delegates. It could come to floor vote as early as this week.
By SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press
Virginia lawmakers advanced a new version of bipartisan school-reopening legislation Monday, moving to tighten the requirements for in-person instruction that districts must offer in the next school year. The lawmakers negotiating the bill said the latest version aims to require school districts grappling with the pandemic to offer a full-time, in-person option for students, with limited exceptions.
By PETER DUJARDIN, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
Virginia lawmakers are considering scrapping the “mandatory minimum” punishments that have played a prominent role in criminal sentencing for decades. Under state law now, judges are required to impose at least a certain amount of active jail or prison time on a host of crimes — from guns to drugs, from certain DUIs to second and third protective order violations, from raping a child to assaulting a cop. In other words, judges can’t suspend sentences beyond that point. Supporters of the current system contend the mandates are a necessary safeguard against overly lenient judges, ensuring that adequate jail time is served on particular crimes. But critics assert the rules favor prosecutors and strip judges’ discretion.
By JACKIE DEFUSCO, WRIC-TV
A bill to temporarily take away gun rights for some misdemeanor domestic assault convictions is on the way to Gov. Ralph Northam’s desk after winning final approval in the General Assembly on Monday. Under the legislation from Del. Kathleen Murphy (D-Fairfax), violators who knowingly purchase, possess or transport a firearm despite being banned could be charged with a Class One misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of 12 months behind bars.
By PETER VIETH, Virginia Lawyers Weekly (Subscription required for some articles)
Even though the Democrat-controlled House of Delegates largely has ignored the legislative proposal to expand the Court of Appeals of Virginia to allow appellate review for any circuit court judgment, the project remains alive on a legislative back burner, supporters say. The expansion plan seemed to be on a roll early in the year.
By KATHERINE HAFNER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Legislation that will require schools and day cares in Virginia to have at least one carbon monoxide detector sailed through the state Senate Monday, sending the bill to Gov. Ralph Northam for his expected signature. The bill was sponsored by local Democratic Dels. Alex Askew and Kelly Convirs-Fowler, whose districts cover parts of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. It all started almost a year ago, when carbon monoxide leaked at Kids Town Learning Center, a Virginia Beach day care center.
By SARAH RANKIN AND DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press
A Virginia Senate committee on Monday killed a measure that would have made Virginia’s minimum wage requirements apply to farmworkers. The Committee on Commerce and Labor voted against eliminating current exemptions in the law for farmworkers, ending the bill’s chances of passing this year. The bill previously cleared the House of Delegates on a party line 55-45 vote, but met resistance along the way from agribusiness, with lobbyists arguing the bill was unnecessary because they said farmworkers are already well-compensated.
By SARAH RANKIN AND DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press
A bill that would have mandated paid sick leave for a range of essential workers cleared a key Senate committee Monday, but only after it was sharply whittled down to cover only certain home health care workers. The original House bill would have required paid sick leave for grocery store workers, prison personnel, child care providers, farmworkers, poultry workers and others. An amendment by Senate Democrats who did not want to impose such a mandate on private businesses limited the bill to cover only home health care workers serving Medicaid patients.
By ERIC KOLENICH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
On Monday, the Senate approved three bills impacting higher education in the state of Virginia. Two were passed by narrow Democratic margins. One prohibits colleges from asking applicants on an application if he or she has a criminal history, an effort known as “banning the box.” The other requires five universities to identify their enslaved laborers and offer a scholarship or economic program to the descendants of the enslaved. A third bill that passed unanimously requires college governing boards to meet a higher level of transparency.
By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Representatives of Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring backed a bill to strengthen Virginia's laws against sexual harassment and workplace harassment. But a Democratic senator joined Republicans on a committee Monday to stop the proposal from moving forward this year. The Senate had already rejected a similar bill from Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, after a hearing in which men on the Senate Judiciary Committee posed hypothetical scenarios, and McClellan repeatedly asked them to stop interrupting her. But a House version carried by Del. Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, made its way to the Senate where it died in that committee Monday by a vote of 7-6. Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, joined Republicans in opposition, citing fears of how it would affect business.
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The Virginia General Assembly is close to passing a bill that would require app-based delivery companies to work more closely with restaurants before advertising their menu options and delivering their food. Lawmakers want to ratchet up oversight of the industry at a time when food delivery services have surged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
By NOAH FLEISCHMAN, VCU Capital News Service
Adelle Settle learned in 2017 that school lunches were being taken out of children’s hands when they couldn’t pay for the meal. Instead, children were given a cheese sandwich or a snack. Settle was inspired to start Settle the Debt, a nonprofit organization that pays off school meal debt at Prince William County schools. The organization has raised almost $200,000 in almost four years, Settle said.
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
State Sen. Bill Stanley has been on a mission for many years to give dogs and cats loving homes. He’s rescued many dogs, including one that was going to be experimented on. The beagle’s name is Marzy Daisy. “She’s now a treasured member of our home,” Stanley, R-Franklin, said.
By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
State lawmakers approved a bill that would require cities and towns to move their elections from May to November. It now heads to Gov. Ralph Northam, who could sign or veto it. Sixteen cities and 107 towns across the commonwealth currently hold elections for mayor, council and school board in the spring. In Hampton Roads, the bill would affect Williamsburg, Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk and Chesapeake. If Sen. Lionel Spruill’s bill is signed into law, the shift would begin in 2022. The bill passed the Senate late last month thanks to a tie-breaking vote from Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax. Last week, it narrowly passed the House by a vote of 50-44, with one abstention.
By PETER VIETH, Virginia Lawyers Weekly (Subscription required for some articles)
State Sen. Chap Petersen and his litigation client together have been sanctioned for filing what a judge termed a “speculative” lawsuit over business losses by a franchisee. Retired Circuit Judge Joseph J. Ellis – sitting in Fairfax County – ordered Petersen and his client to pay more than $54,000 in attorneys’ fees to the other party in a lawsuit over alleged poaching of customers by two competing franchisees.
By JIM TALBERT, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)
An investigation by the Virginia State Police has cleared a professor at Appalachian School of Law of allegations of election fraud. Prior to the Jan. 23 Republican primary for the 38th District Senate seat, complaints were filed with the voter registrars in Tazewell and Buchanan counties alleging that candidate Chad Dotson did not live in the district. As required by law, both registrars forwarded the complaint to their commonwealth’s attorneys’ offices for investigation.
By BRIAN BREHM, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Jurisdictions in the Northern Shenandoah Valley and throughout Virginia are taking part in a risk-limiting audit (RLA) of local voting machines. Review boards in each of the commonwealth's 133 localities will check a sampling of ballots from the Nov. 6 presidential and senatorial elections to make sure local voting machines accurately recorded the results. Each review will be open to the public, but capacities will be limited in each jurisdiction due to social-distancing requirements necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
By MATTHEW TWIST, WAVY-TV
A poll by Christopher Newport University, majority of Virginia voters believe the 2020 Presidential election was valid. According to a survey released Tuesday by the Wason Center for Civic Leadership at Christopher Newport University, 68% of Virginia voters say President Joe Biden’s election was legitimate, while 26% say it was not. The results are based on interviews of 1,005 Virginia residents, between January 31 and and February 14.
By MICHAEL E. MILLER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
The attorneys general for Virginia, New York and Massachusetts joined a federal consumer watchdog Monday in suing an immigration bond services company accused of preying on undocumented immigrants. The federal lawsuit marked the culmination of a multiyear investigation into Libre by Nexus and its parent company, Nexus Services, according to officials from the three states and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
By SIERRA JENKINS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
A Hampton Roads Regional Jail inmate died Monday, according to a news release. The inmate was found unresponsive around 5:42 a.m, the facility said, and attempts to revive the inmate were unsuccessful. Officials said the inmate had “multiple underlying health conditions.” The investigation is ongoing and the facility has not released the name of the inmate. This is at least the fourth death this year reported by the facility.
By JARED FORETEK, Inside NOVA
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner says he will lobby for additional funding for the region’s transit systems in the upcoming COVID relief bill and is telling the leaders of WMATA, the Virginia Railway Express and others to “think big” about how they could use federal money in an upcoming infrastructure package.
By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The company that owns Liberty Tax is selling it in a deal worth at least $243 million to a recently formed Canadian-based buyer that plans to combine tax prep with loans. That company, NextPoint Acquisition Corp., is also buying LoanMe, a California-based lender that’s been known to issue high-interest loans and have regulatory issues in the past.
By LAUREN LUMPKIN AND NICK ANDERSON, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
One campus, in Maryland, temporarily canceled in-person classes after coronavirus infections surged past 60 cases two days in a row. The other, in Virginia, kept classrooms open even after it logged 229 cases in a single day. The region’s flagship universities — the University of Maryland at College Park and the University of Virginia — have tracked an alarming uptick in the number of viral cases on campus.
By ERIC KOLENICH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Young adults without underlying conditions shouldn’t expect to receive a COVID-19 vaccination until May, a month later than previously estimated, Dr. Anthony Fauci told students at the College of William & Mary last week. The government’s most recognizable face in response to the coronavirus, Fauci previously said April would be “open season” for inoculations. But delays to the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine likely means shots won’t be made available to the general population until a month later.
By MADDIE GIERBER, Fourth Estate
Nearly a year after the campus first shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mason students are still coming to terms with the struggle of the past year’s situation, which many did not anticipate would last so long. “I’m real tired of it,” freshman Melanie Boschen said. “I lost the last few months of my senior year in high school. I’m experiencing a very weird first year of college.” Boschen is currently positive for COVID-19 and has spent the past week isolated in her dorm. For her and others who transitioned to Mason mid-pandemic, the online classes and lack of campus activities made starting the semester less momentous than expected.
By EVA SUROVELL, Cavalier Daily
The University released its decisions on Lawn rooms for the 2021-2022 school year Feb. 12. Forty-seven students have been offered Lawn rooms, while the seven remaining rooms are reserved for specific awards and organizations. Demographic data provided by Dean of Students Allen Groves shows an increase in the number of students of color offered Lawn rooms — from only 32 percent of offers last year to nearly 60 percent this year. Lawn room decisions are made by the Lawn Selection Committee — a 60 person group made up of all students — which is chaired by Moriah Hendrick, senior resident of the Lawn and fourth-year College student. As chair of the committee, Hendrick does not vote — instead, she works to ensure that members feel supported and aren’t overwhelmed while reading applications.
By ETHAN BROWN, Flat Hat
Pending the signature of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, new legislation will require the College of William and Mary to offer some type of tangible benefit to at least one matriculating student who can demonstrate a historical connection to slavery starting during the 2022-23 academic year. The Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program was formally passed by the Virginia Senate on a 22-17 vote the afternoon of Monday, Feb. 22. The legislation compels five public universities in the Commonwealth — Longwood University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia Military Institute and the College — to identify and memorialize the enslaved individuals who built these institutions to the fullest extent possible.
By GEORGIA THOMS, Flat Hat
Wednesday Feb. 17, the Christian Legal Society of the College of William and Mary’s Marshall-Wythe School of Law hosted religious liberties lawyer Kevin Snider, stirring controversy among the law students due to Snider’s work at the Pacific Justice Institute, a legal defense organization that is known to support anti-LGBTQ+ notions. “The speaker event is so controversial because of the organization the speaker works for, which has taken strong anti-LGBTQ stances for decades, including lobbying against same-sex marriage and hate crime protections,” Equality Alliance President Emily Milakovic J.D. ’22 said in an email. “Whatever the personal beliefs of the speaker himself or the CLS board, both are willing to be associated with this organization, showing that the organization’s beliefs aren’t deal breakers for them.” In response to similar concerns, the College sent an email regarding the speaker and the event. The message chastised students as they referred to actions opposing the speaker as bullying conduct.
By STAFF REPORT, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Virginia reported 1,155 new COVID-19 cases Monday, the lowest daily tally since early November. The state’s cumulative case total during the pandemic is now 565,270, the Virginia Department of Health reported. Statewide, the total number of people hospitalized Monday was 23,530, an increase of 49 from Sunday, though the VDH website notes that hospitalizations are underrepresented.
By KATE ANDREWS, Va Business Magazine
Virginia received an influx of more than 300,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses this week, in part due to the weather-delayed delivery of 106,000 Moderna doses that were expected last week. The state also is receiving a bump in doses directed to local health departments and districts, as well as twice as many doses arriving in retail pharmacies, developments announced Friday by the state’s vaccine coordinator.
By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Starting Thursday, Walgreens will join CVS Health in offering COVID-19 vaccinations at some of its pharmacies for Virginians who meet the criteria. The details of how many doses are coming to the state through this federal partnership, the number of stores administering shots, where they’re located and if appointments will sync with Virginia’s registration system remained unclear Monday.
By MONIQUE CALELLO, News Leader (Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)
If your employer registered you and your colleagues with Central Shenandoah Health District for a COVID vaccine, the rules have changed and you're no longer in line for a shot. You are on your own to pre-register. “This is new,” said Laura Lee Wight, Central Shenandoah Health District’s population health community coordinator, about the confusion.
By SABRINA MORENO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Five cases of an inflammatory syndrome that afflicts young people weeks after a coronavirus infection have been found in the Richmond area. More are being investigated. In a media release Monday, the Virginia Department of Health said the increase in these cases “coincides with the surge in cases of COVID-19” in the Chickahominy, Chesterfield, and Richmond and Henrico health districts following a post-holiday spike.
By ROBYN SIDERSKY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
New medical guidance recommends that women should avoid scheduling mammograms around the time they receive COVID-19 vaccinations because the shots cause lymph nodes to swell, falsely mimicking a warning sign of breast cancer. The guidance, from the Society of Breast Imaging, suggests that women get mammograms before their first COVID-19 vaccine shot or four to six weeks after their second dose.
By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)
Virginia health officials are revisiting how COVID-19 vaccine doses are distributed and expect to ultimately make vaccination appointments through the new state call center and portal. Dr. Danny Avula, the state’s vaccine coordinator, made those and other announcements Friday during a phone call with the news media.
By AARON MORRISON, Associated Press
When rioters tore through the U.S. Capitol last month, some of them gripping Confederate battle flags, they didn’t encounter a statue of the most famous rebel general, Robert E. Lee. The Lee statue, which represented the state of Virginia as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection in the Capitol for 111 years, had been removed just weeks before ...
By COLLEEN CURRAN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
When James Millner moved to Richmond from New York in 2009, he wasn’t able to hold his boyfriend’s hand as they walked down Cary Street for fear of being targeted or harassed. “It’s hard to believe that’s how either of us felt,” Millner said. Since then, much has changed for Richmond’s LGBTQ community.
Fauquier Now
Fauquier’s largest spectator event, the Virginia Gold Cup Races will take place under modified conditions in May. Traditionally run the first Saturday in May, the races will move to May 29, with a dramatically-reduced in-person audience because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the event took place June 27 without spectators, versus the typical 50,000. The organizers provided free livestreamed coverage.
By JACK POINTER, WTOP
A Fairfax County, Virginia, family is in quarantine after an elementary school student was exposed to a teaching assistant who tested positive for COVID-19. That student at Sleepy Hollow Elementary is in the individualized education program there, and was among the first group of students to return to classrooms last Tuesday, said the boy’s mother, Kolleen Kennedy. . . . The school employee — who had been within 6 feet of her son for a time longer than 15 minutes — tested positive on Wednesday, Kennedy said, but she wasn’t notified until Sunday.
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The casino sweepstakes has blown wide open in Richmond, with at least four major casino resort projects proposed on some of the most prominent properties in the city. The city hasn't said yet how many proposals it received by its application deadline on Monday afternoon, but aspiring casino developers have announced four projects, including one on the Movieland property in Scott's Addition, another next to Powhite Parkway and Chippenham Parkway, and two along Commerce Road.
By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
With Richmond officials anticipating a budget shortfall at the end of the fiscal year, the City Council on Monday approved a $9.4 million withdrawal from the city’s rainy day fund. The council also reduced the city’s current $744.1 million budget by $1.7 million to balance it through the second half of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.
By JESS NOCERA, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors on Monday pledged to dole out more money for the school system’s next fiscal year, but not enough to meet the needs of a spending plan built on teacher salary decompression. County officials promised an additional $18.2 million to schools, from property and sales tax revenues.
By PETER COUTU, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The remaining older grades will return to in-person classes in Virginia Beach Tuesday, bringing all students back face-to-face for the first time since mid-November. The students, seventh through 12th graders, will return under the same hybrid approach previously used — in person half the time and virtual the other half. Pre-K through sixth graders, as well as special education students, already returned for in-person classes on Feb. 2. Students who have opted to remain virtual would continue to learn remotely.
By JOSH REYES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Out of more than 100 people who applied to be Portsmouth’s city manager, council members said they’ve chosen a handful of finalists who will be interviewed this week. They include ex-councilman Danny Meeks, who lost the election for mayor last year to Shannon Glover. Meeks already got the manager job once — sort of. In an unscheduled vote Jan. 12, Vice Mayor De’Andre Barnes and councilmen Paul Battle, Bill Moody and Christopher Woodard voted to hire Meeks.
By BRYAN MCKENZIE, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Charlottesville’s city credit card use policy is so vague and its oversight so lax that the city’s top prosecutor says intentional misuse of the cards would be difficult to prove in a criminal court case. Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania told City Manager Chip Boyles in a letter sent Monday that there is nearly no way to prove misuse of the cards in court because employees have not been trained on which types of charges are acceptable and which are not.
By ROBIN EARL, Fauquier Times
The Fauquier County School Division surveyed parents last week to find out how many families would want their children to return to school four days a week, instead of two days a week as many do now. Responses representing 5,765 children (78% of those who responded) indicated a desire to attend under the hybrid model, attending in-person classes four days a week; 1,655 responses (22%) indicated a wish to remain virtual. Those who did not respond to the survey were added to the four-days-a-week group, so 8,734 students (84%) could come back to school while 16% would learn remotely. Families can choose to move from hybrid to remote at any time; those who wish to move from remote to hybrid will be accommodated as well. “We’ll try to be flexible,” said Superintendent of Schools David Jeck.
By KATHERINE KNOTT, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Tristan Emmanuel was initially apprehensive about returning to the Blue Ridge School for in-person classes this past fall. “Because it’s a bunch of people from all over the place coming to one place and 500 feet of each other all the time,” he said. But, eventually, Emmanuel’s concerns abated, and he started to adjust to a new normal at Blue Ridge, with outdoor assemblies and students and staff members wearing masks and social distancing.
By TAFT COGHILL JR., Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
As some Bowling Green residents woke up Monday morning, they saw the town’s public utility workers turning off their water. A total of 251 Caroline County homes received notification in the past week that water would be disconnected for nonpayment. There were 78 such notices in the town of Bowling Green and another 173 that went out to other Caroline residents.
By JEFF STURGEON, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine have called for applications for an expected vacancy on the Roanoke-based U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. Applications are due March 8. Judge James Jones announced this month that he will shift to senior status, a form of semi-retirement, on Aug. 30.
Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
During a recent General Assembly debate over school funding that pitted the “haves” against the “have-nots,”, Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax and one of the “haves,” singled out a county in Southwest Virginia for special criticism. He said that Lee County gets more money, per student, than any other school system in the state. “I don’t know why they can’t make better use of it. I don’t see why people can’t take initiative, even in rural and small town Virginia, to solve their own problems.”
Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
Students at the University of Virginia are pleading with the school’s Board of Visitors not to increase tuition for the 2021-22 school year. Their complaint is legitimate. U.Va. is considering a 3.1 percent tuition hike, citing the economic ravages visited on the school by COVID-19 as a key factor.
Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
In a year where a public health crisis has challenged our ability to freely and easily move from place to place, great strides have been made to enhance public transit’s role in creating a more connected Richmond region. In 2020, the General Assembly approved the creation of the Central Virginia Transportation Authority (CVTA). Nine localities — the town of Ashland, the city of Richmond and the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent and Powhatan — came together to create new revenue streams that can fund individual and shared transportation priorities.
By ADAM ROSENBLUM, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
On Feb. 3, the Virginia General Assembly passed a bill (HB2113) to allow some individuals to clear criminal convictions. While automatic sealing of minor offenses after eight years is a good start, it falls far short of achieving justice for those who have been unduly punished by a criminal record. The state needs to consider options to allow a person to apply for an expungement (a process similar to sealing) much earlier to avoid the kinds of post-release pitfalls that can result in a cycle of reoffending.
Rosenblum, Esq. is the founding attorney of Rosenblum Law, P.C., a general law practice with offices in New York City, Albany, Buffalo and Bloomfield, New Jersey.
By OLIVIA NEWBY, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
As an African American nurse practitioner in Hampton Roads, I am very familiar with the struggles my community faces. Whether it’s the current mental health crisis or the lack of access to basic health care providers, we need a permanent solution, and House Bill 1737 will move Virginia in the right direction. My practice is trying to improve the health inequalities our patients experience, but only so much can be done with the strict limitations placed on NPs in Virginia.
Newby is a nurse practitioner with Primary Care Specialists and president-elect of the Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners.
By DAN FRANK, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The Steward School is a JK-12 college preparatory school with 650 students in the city’s West End, and except for one brief pause between Thanksgiving and the new year, we have been open for in-person instruction since the end of August. As we round the corner into the next phase of the pandemic, and more schools get ready to open, it seems a good time to reflect on our guiding principles, the challenges we have faced, and our most significant responses and lessons learned.
Frank is head of school of The Steward School in Richmond.
By NADINE MARSH CARTER AND CASSIE CUNNINGHAM, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Almost everyone can agree we have a moral duty as a society to take care of our community’s children. We share a sense of urgency about ensuring that children are safe, cared for, healthy, educated and prepared to be successful adults. But what happens when we fail to do that? In Virginia, between 450 and 600 youth age out of foster care without a permanent family each year.
Carter is president and CEO of Children’s Home Society of Virginia. Cunningham is policy director of Children’s Home Society of Virginia.
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