LIBERALS TEE UP VA. JUSTICE MEASURES

A burst of bills put forward by Virginia lawmakers would reinstate parole and create a new public defender’s office. Some newly elected prosecutors plan to drop charging for marijuana possession. And the attorney general has unveiled a plan to make the justice system more equitable.

VIRGINIA ADVOCATES AND LAWMAKERS PUSH PAID FAMILY LEAVE. BUSINESS GROUPS ARE OPPOSED.

Prince William County resident David Larrimore still remembers the taste of chemotherapy drugs in his mouth as he worked — or tried to — through six months of cancer treatment. He had to, like the thousands who don’t take the family medical leave that a 26-year-old federal law promises won’t cost them their jobs, because he couldn’t afford to pay his bills if he stopped working — including the medical bills that eventually outran his health insurance coverage.

VIRGINIA BILL OFFERS PROTECTIONS FOR TENANTS WHO USE HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHERS

Housing choice vouchers contribute to areas of concentrated poverty, because so few landlords accept them according to a report published by Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) this year. A new bill that Virginia lawmakers will take up in January would offer protections to tenants relying on government assistance. Del. Jeff Bourne (D-Richmond) said housing choice vouchers are often stigmatized, and can be limiting for residents looking for places to live in.

TO COMBAT SMUGGLING, VIRGINIA BEACH LAWMAKER WANTS TO BAN DRONES NEAR JAILS AND PRISONS

Saying he wants to fix a void in the law, a Virginia delegate who spends a lot of time in the air wants to stop drones — some of which carry drugs or other contraband — from flying near jails and prisons. Del. Barry Knight, R-Virginia Beach, is a helicopter pilot who flies several times a week and said he is concerned about drones.

DEMOCRATIC GUN CONTROL LEGISLATION MAY BAR GUNS FROM STATE CAPITOL

Every year in February, Capitol Square is flooded with advocates for and against gun control. The opposing rallies are staggered on Martin Luthur King Day, one in the morning and then another in the afternoon. The pro-gun rally features advocates wearing their guns on their backs and their sides. But that might come to an end. Democratic Senator Adam Ebbin of Alexandria has introduced a bill outlawing guns in Capitol Square.

AHEAD 2020 GENERAL ASSEMBLY, SWVA GUN ADVOCATES PLAN TO MOBILIZE AND GUN SALES ARE UP

Gun rights advocates plan to fill at least one bus and head to Richmond for Lobby Day on Jan. 20. Organizer Roman Blevins said mobilizing is a way to give a voice to Southwest Virginians. He referred to Second Amendment issues as the catalyst for organizing the day trip.

LOCAL SCHOOL OFFICIALS, LEGISLATORS WORK TO ADDRESS BUS DRIVER SHORTAGE

A $645,000 push from Albemarle County Public Schools to stem a persistent shortage of bus drivers is seeing positive results, but the division is eyeing a legislative change to further help with the issue.

GAS TAX HIKE FUNDS ONE LOCAL I-81 IMPROVEMENT

A 2.1% increase in the state’s gasoline tax took effect July 1 in areas along the Interstate 81 corridor, including Winchester and Frederick County, to help fund $2 billion in improvements to the highway. Yet the only improvements planned locally as a result of the increase are widening I-81 by one lane between exits 313 (Millwood Pike) and 317 (Martinsburg Pike), northbound and southbound, in the county.

BRISTOL EXCLUDED FROM LATEST VIRGINIA RAIL PLAN

Virginia’s recently unveiled passenger rail plan includes no provision for expanding service to Bristol, but building a new gateway into Washington, D.C., would allow for future growth. Last week Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and officials of CSX Transportation announced a proposed $3.7 billion agreement that includes funding for a new Virginia-owned Long Bridge across the Potomac River, with tracks dedicated exclusively to passenger rail.

THE LOST HISTORY AND LEGACY OF AMERICA’S INDIAN SCHOOL

Several years ago as debate raged over whether two feathers stuck in the College of William & Mary logo was racist, anthropologist Danielle Moretti-Langholtz began getting phone calls from tribes out West. But the callers weren’t asking about the logo — they were asking about the Indian school that hasn’t existed at the college for more than 200 years. “We used to be there,” the callers said. “Can we come back?”

LONGEST PEDESTRIAN SWINGING BRIDGE IN NORTH AMERICA WILL CONNECT VA AND KENTUCKY

The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority awarded an up to $433,000 grant to Breaks Interstate Park to be used for infrastructure and improvements at the park. Among the plans for the grant funds is the construction of an approximately 725-foot pedestrian swinging bridge across the Russell Fork gorge from the Virginia side of the park to the Kentucky side of the park. The bridge, when complete, will be the longest pedestrian swinging bridge in North America, according to park officials.

NEW POLICY IN FAIRFAX LETS STUDENTS SKIP CLASS TO PROTEST

One of the nation’s largest school districts will allow students time off to participate in protests, a novel policy that proponents argue is the only way to handle a wave of student activism roiling the nation. Starting Jan. 27, Fairfax County Public Schools in Northern Virginia will permit students in seventh through 12th grades one excused absence each school year for loosely defined “civic engagement activities,” school system spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell said.

U.VA. TUITION HIKE 5X INFLATION RATE

Some things are eternal. Place ever-rising college tuition and fees alongside death and taxes. Earlier this month, the University of Virginia Board of Visitors set tuition and fee rate hikes for 2020–21 at 3.6 percent for in-state students. Anticipated state budget cuts and a number of increased costs were given as reasons for the increase.

VIRGINIA NEEDS A STATEWIDE BAN ON USING HANDHELD CELLPHONES WHILE DRIVING

Almost everyone knows somebody or of someone who’s been involved in a traffic accident involving a cellphone. We’ve seen drivers, phone in hand, talking away, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings as they narrowly avoid striking another car, a pedestrian or a bicyclist.

WHAT SHOULD VIRGINIA NAME AFTER BALILES?

Ours is a state that likes to remember the past — at least certain parts of it. Our state capital has an entire avenue dedicated to monuments of men deemed great in their times. More recently, Virginia dedicated seven new monuments, all to great women from our state’s past — with five more scheduled to be erected.

VIRGINIA IS A HEALTHIER PLACE TO LIVE

A national health nonprofit group has some good news for Virginia in its latest state-by-state ranking on public health. It also has useful information, including insights into areas where the commonwealth still has much work to do.

WILLIAMS: VIRGINIA'S SECOND AMENDMENT ATTACK

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam apologized for his medical school blackface stunt, but he will have much more to apologize for if he signs into law a bill that attacks Virginia citizens’ Second Amendment rights. The measure is Senate Bill 16, which would ban “assault” firearms and certain firearm magazines. Since Democrats have seized control of Virginia’s General Assembly, they are likely to push hard for strict gun control laws.

Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He is a columnist for Creators Syndicate.

HANER: CARBON TAXES CHANGE POLLING RESULTS

Have you seen the ad for the company that will haul away your unwanted junk? “All you have to do is point!” the owner says. We’ve used that company and he’s half right: All you have to do is point and pay. You always have to pay. It is like that with the various clean energy programs floating around Virginia (and the world) that are touted as saving the planet. They are highly popular with voters because nobody mentions the cost, but when people see what it does to their family or company budget, enthusiasm evaporates.

Stephen D. Haner is senior fellow for state and local tax policy with the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy

JORDAN: WE DON’T NEED TO BE RENAMED 757; WE NEED A UNIFIED MARKETING PLAN

Who wants to live in a number? 757, the proposed “new” name for this region, sounds like a cell block in a monster prison or maybe a place with no past and not many real people. Judging from comments by citizens involved in choosing the name, it seems the committees were more interested in picking a name to suit young people already here. I was under the impression that a name is used to attract new businesses and tourists.

Ida Kay Jordan is a correspondent and columnist.

TWELVE MILLION PHONES, ONE DATASET, ZERO PRIVACY

Every minute of every day, everywhere on the planet, dozens of companies — largely unregulated, little scrutinized — are logging the movements of tens of millions of people with mobile phones and storing the information in gigantic data files. The Times Privacy Project obtained one such file, by far the largest and most sensitive ever to be reviewed by journalists. It holds more than 50 billion location pings from the phones of more than 12 million Americans as they moved through several major cities, including Washington, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.