Today's Sponsor: The VPAP Team

VaNews Oct. 3, 2019
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Today's Sponsor:


** The VPAP Team
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Saluting the 100+ readers ([link removed]) who have participated in the 36-hour VaNews-a-thon, which ends at 5pm today. There's still time to join them. Donate now! ([link removed])

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** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** GOV. NORTHAM ANNOUNCES EXPANDED PARTNERSHIP TO OFFER REAL IDS TO RETURNING CITIZENS ([link removed])
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WVEC

Virginia's Governor Ralph Northam on Wednesday announced that the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and the Virginia Department of Corrections will partner to offer REAL ID-compliant identification cards to returning citizens at all Virginia Department of Corrections facilities in the Commonwealth. DMV Connect mobile operations teams that serve Virginia’s prison populations have started offering the expanded services on October 1, 2019, which marks one year until the federal law goes into effect requiring a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or ID, or another approved form of identification such as a passport, for domestic travel or access to secure federal facilities.


** DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SELECTS VIRGINIA FOR EXPANSION OF MILITARY CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM ([link removed])
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WTKR

Gov. Ralph Northam announced Wednesday that the United States Department of Defense selected Virginia as one of two states to participate in a pilot expanding a military child care fee assistance program. Previously, only a limited number of community child care providers were able to participate in the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood program, which provides fee assistance to military families unable to access on-installation child care.


** VIRGINIA AG SUPPORTS LEGALIZING RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA ([link removed])
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By JEFF RAINES, VCU Capital News Service

Attorney General Mark Herring tweeted his support for the legalization of recreational marijuana in Virginia Tuesday night. “Virginians know we can do better. It’s time to move toward legal, regulated adult use,” Herring said in his retweet of a study that revealed more than half of Virginians agree with him.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** MCAULIFFE AND SASLAW, AT RICHMOND HOME OF JOE MORRISSEY, SAY DEMOCRATS NEED HIM ON THEIR TEAM ([link removed])
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By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Two of the men who run Virginia’s Democratic Party came to the Richmond home of Joe Morrissey on Wednesday to host a fundraiser for him and make nice with a politician who ousted a Democratic state senator in a primary.


** DAWN ADAMS AND GARRISON COWARD COMPETE FOR VIRGINIA'S 68TH HOUSE DISTRICT ([link removed])
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By BEN PAVIOUR, WCVE

The 68th House District ... includes parts of the Fan and West End in Richmond and stretches south to parts of Midlothian. It used to be a reliably Republican seat, but Democrat Dawn Adams won by a few hundred votes in 2017. This year, she’s up against 29 year-old Republican Garrison Coward, who is a former aide to Congressman Rob Whittman.


** VA. LAWMAKER ANNOUNCES SHE'S PREGNANT WITH HER THIRD CHILD ([link removed])
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By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

First-term state Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler, D-Virginia Beach, said Wednesday that she’s pregnant with her third child. “My husband and I have two daughters and we are choosing to expand our family and we are so excited to announce that we are pregnant with our third daughter,” Convirs-Fowler said in a phone interview.


** DEMOCRATS WINNING FUNDRAISING BATTLE AS ELECTION NEARS ([link removed])
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By RICH GRISET, Chesterfield Observer

Heading into November’s election, a majority of Democratic candidates for Virginia’s General Assembly continue to outraise their Republican opponents in Chesterfield, some by two and three times as much. On Sept. 15, the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project published candidate fundraising figures for July and August, showing that Democratic enthusiasm has yet to wane three years after the election of Republican President Donald Trump. In a county where many of its districts recently became bluer through a redrawn legislative map, Democrats are hoping that gains made in Chesterfield will help them flip both houses of the General Assembly.


** AS IMPEACHMENT LOOMS, POLITICS STAY LOCAL IN VIRGINIA ([link removed])
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By DANIELLA CHESLOW, WAMU

On a recent evening, Democrat Dan Helmer knocks on townhouse doors in a quiet subdivision in Clifton, Va. At one home, voter Arif Said opens the door. He wears a white T-shirt printed with “Go Navy,” and Helmer hurries to make a connection.


** ARLINGTON GOP AIMING TO IMPACT CLOSE LEGISLATIVE RACES STATEWIDE ([link removed])
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Inside NOVA

With control of the General Assembly at stake on Nov. 5, the Arlington County Republican Committee is taking a page from the outreach efforts of its counterparts on the Democratic side. The Arlington GOP is asking volunteers to write personal messages on postcards that are being mailed to Republican-leaning voters in key legislative districts across the commonwealth.


** AFTER CHANGES, REGISTRAR EXPECTS SMOOTHER ELECTION DAY ([link removed])
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By RICH GRISET, Chesterfield Observer

Following long lines, ballot mishaps and other problems last Election Day that prompted criticism from both the local and state Republican Party, Chesterfield’s general registrar says she’s ready for this fall’s election, which will see all of the county’s General Assembly representatives and most of the county’s elected positions on the ballot. “I do not anticipate the same issues this year,” says Constance Hargrove, who recently changed her last name from Tyler following a divorce.


** CONGRESS
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** KAINE: IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY IS 'BEYOND POLITICS' ([link removed])
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By JOSH JANNEY, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., called the impeachment inquiry into President Trump “a very sobering thing” during a stop in the Winchester area on Wednesday. “It’s serious, it’s necessary and it’s unpredictable,” Kaine said at the Hideaway Cafe on the Loudoun Street Mall, where he met with local women to talk about a variety of issues. “There’s just nothing more serious than a president encouraging a foreign nation to interfere in our elections.”


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** RICHMOND FED HOSTS INVESTING IN RURAL AMERICA CONFERENCE ([link removed])
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By RICHARD FOSTER, Virginia Business

In his first 18 months as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Thomas I. Barkin has learned that there are two economies in the Fed’s Fifth District — “one in bigger cities and one in smaller towns.” That led the Richmond Fed to host its inaugural Investing in Rural America conference, held Wednesday at the Hotel Madison & Shenandoah


** TIMBER INDUSTRY EXPECTING MAJOR BOOM ON HEELS OF HENRY COUNTY ANNOUNCEMENT ([link removed])
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By CALEB AYERS, Danville Register & Bee

With more than 40 years in the forestry industry, Kenneth Scruggs has watched forests grow, removed the planted trees at the right time and planted another forest of fast-growing trees to replace them. A timberland manager with the Reidsville, North Carolina-based Gregory Pallet Co., Scruggs serves as a liaison between landowners, loggers and mills throughout North Carolina and Virginia.


** GLOBAL NUCLEAR ENERGY COMPANY BUYS CHRISTIANSBURG CYBERSECURITY FIRM ([link removed])
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By JEFF STURGEON, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

A global nuclear energy company has bought Christiansburg computing firm FoxGuard Solutions. Framatome, the purchaser, is a $3.3 billion French company that designs and supplies nuclear power plants. Its North American operations are based in Lynchburg.


** THREE MONTHS LATER, STIFFED MINERS STILL WAITING ([link removed])
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By JEFF LESTER, Coalfield Progress

Three months after their last paychecks bounced, more than 1,000 Blackjewel LLC coal miners continue to wait for compensation. It looks increasingly likely that court-ordered negotiations between Blackjewel and the miners will give way to a court-ordered mediation presided over by a federal magistrate, according to attorney Ned Pillersdorf, who represents several Blackjewel employees in Kentucky.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** MARTINSVILLE DOCTOR SENTENCED TO 40 YEARS IN 'WORST CASE I'VE EVER SEEN' OF ILLEGAL OPIOID DISTRIBUTION ([link removed])
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By PAUL COLLINS, Martinsville Bulletin

Joel Smithers, a Martinsville-based doctor who prescribed half a million opioid pills in less than two years, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Abingdon on Wednesday to 40 years in prison and ordered to pay a special assessment of $86,000. Smithers, 36, a married father of five from Greensboro, N.C., was convicted in May of 860 counts of illegally prescribing drugs


** A DOCTOR WHO PRESCRIBED 500,000 DOSES OF OPIOIDS IS SENT TO PRISON FOR 40 YEARS ([link removed])
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New York Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A Virginia doctor who prescribed more than 500,000 doses of opioids in two years was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Wednesday for leading what prosecutors called an interstate drug distribution ring.


** DENTIST WHO PRESCRIBED 75,000 MEDICALLY UNNECESSARY PILLS GETS 8 YEARS IN PRISON ([link removed])
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By SCOTT DAUGHERTY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Dr. Gary Hartman had his staff trained. Whenever a pharmacist called about a prescription, they were supposed to contact him immediately. He would then call the pharmacy back himself. The hands-on approach was intended to cover up the hundreds of bogus prescriptions Hartman was writing to feed a painkiller addiction.


** JAMES RIVER GETS B- GRADE AGAIN ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Efforts to improve the health of the James River were dealt a minor setback after record rainfalls last year led an increase in dirty stormwater runoff and a decline in oyster and shad populations. In its biennial State of the James report, the James River Association gives the river an overall health grade of 60%


** ELIZABETH RIVER PROJECT IS HONORED FOR SHORELINE RESTORATION EFFORTS ([link removed])
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By LEE TOLLIVER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Money Point along the shoreline of the southern branch of the Elizabeth River was once so polluted, few thought it could ever be brought back to life. Years of creosote dumping around the point that juts into the river just north of Military Highway left the bottom a gooey mess of toxins that was home to few fish. And those suffered from cancerous lesions.


** LOCAL
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** HUNDREDS TICKETED FOR SPEEDING IN ALEXANDRIA COULD GET THEIR MONEY BACK ([link removed])
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By PAUL DUGGAN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Hundreds of motorists ticketed for speeding in Alexandria, Va., over a three-year period are eligible for more than $300,000 in refunded fines because of flaws in the testing of speedometers used in some city police vehicles, officials said Wednesday.


** FAIRFAX COUNTY ENDS CURBSIDE GLASS RECYCLING ([link removed])
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By NEAL AUGENSTEIN, WTOP

Don’t put glass bottles out at the curb for recycling anymore in Fairfax County. “Glass will no longer be part of the curbside collection program,” said Eric Forbes, director of recycling, engineering and environmental compliance for the county government.


** CITY CHARTER AT ISSUE AS RICHMOND LEADERS DISCUSS LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE ([link removed])
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By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Richmond City Council and Mayor Levar Stoney agree that the City Charter should be tweaked. But what changes should appear in the city’s legislative package for the upcoming Virginia General Assembly Session may divide the two.


** PETERSBURG’S ANNUAL AUDIT IS NEARING FINISH ([link removed])
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By SEAN JONES, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 5 free articles a month)

Despite the city’s yearly audit being now almost a year late, local lawmakers have said they want to be ready to review the report by their first meeting in November. However, auditors have not yet committed to being finished soon.


** DANVILLE BALLOT FEATURES OFF-TRACK BETTING, THREE-WAY RACE FOR CLERK OF COURT ([link removed])
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By JOHN CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

Dan River Region voters will cast their ballots Nov. 5, and residents who haven’t registered have less than two weeks to do so if they want to vote next month. The registration deadline for those who want to cast their ballots in November is Oct. 15 — three weeks before the election, Danville Registrar Peggy Petty said.

Today's Sponsor:


** The VPAP Team
------------------------------------------------------------

Saluting the 100+ readers ([link removed]) who have participated in the 36-hour VaNews-a-thon, which ends at 5pm today. There's still time to join them. Donate now! ([link removed])


** EDITORIALS
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** REMEMBER WHO SAVED CATAWBA HOSPITAL ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Catawba Hospital is expanding. The state plans to add 56 beds to the mental health hospital in Roanoke County — and hire 94 additional employees. There’s a lot of news packed into that paragraph.


** COLUMNISTS
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** SCHAPIRO: A REMINDER - AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE - TO VOTE REPUBLICAN ([link removed])
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By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

By now, you’ve probably seen the latest Republican mailer — courtesy of your state government. It’s a check for $110 for individuals or $220 for married couples — a tax refund engineered this past winter by Republicans desperate to retain the General Assembly this fall.


** POLITIFACT: RODMAN'S "DRAMATIC" PRE-EXISTING CONDITION CLAIM RINGS FALSE ([link removed])
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By WARREN FISKE, WCVE

Del. Debra Rodman is telling voters that the quality of their health insurance is at risk if they re-elect Republican state Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico. “Sen. Dunnavant wrote the Republican bill that would let insurance companies deny coverage for pre-existing conditions,” Rodman, a Democrat, says in a TV ad launched Sept. 20. Rodman made the same charge on at least three glossy mailers she sent to voters in late September.
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