Today's Sponsor: Jeff Finch, Director of Legislative Management System, International Roll-Call®

VaNews July 31, 2019
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Today's Sponsor:


** Jeff Finch, Director of Legislative Management System, International Roll-Call®
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"The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty." James Madison

Read Online ([link removed]) 10 Most Clicked ([link removed])


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** JUSTIN FAIRFAX TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ACCUSERS, AS STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS APPARENTLY EXPIRES ([link removed])
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By GARRETT TENNEY, BROOKE SINGMAN, Fox News

Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax is planning to take legal action against the women accusing him of sexual assault and is arguing that the allegations were made to do “nothing more” than smear his reputation and political career, Fox News has learned. It is not clear what type of legal action Fairfax plans to take or when details of those plans will emerge. His spokeswoman suggested it could be anywhere from the next few weeks to the next few months.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** PRESIDENT TRUMP SPEAKS IN JAMESTOWN TO MARK 400 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY ([link removed])
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By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Donald Trump became the first sitting president to address the Virginia General Assembly in its 400-year history Tuesday, condemning slavery and congratulating lawmakers on four centuries of representative democracy. “By the devotion of generations of patriots, it has flourished throughout the ages,” he said, addressing members of the General Assembly in attendance. “And now that proud tradition continues with all of you.”


** AMID BOYCOTTS, TRUMP SAYS 'WE ARE NOT RULED FROM AFAR' AT JAMESTOWN EVENT ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ AND MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Amid boycotts and protests from some of Virginia’s elected leaders, President Donald Trump delivered a speech Tuesday to mark the birth of American democracy, pronouncing that “in America we are not ruled from afar, Americans govern ourselves, and so help us God, we always will.”


** PRESIDENT’S VISIT ROILS JAMESTOWN COMMEMORATION ([link removed])
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By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, MICHAEL E. RUANE AND LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The racial tension at the roots of the American experiment bubbled over Tuesday at the place where it all started, as the mere presence of President Trump turned festivities marking 400 years of representative democracy at Jamestown into a theater of protest. Trump himself was well-behaved, sticking largely to a recitation of history and praise for the British settlers who formed a government in Jamestown on July 30, 1619.


** MUSLIM VIRGINIA LAWMAKER HECKLES TRUMP DURING JAMESTOWN SPEECH ([link removed])
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By SARAH RANKIN AND DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press

A heckler who interrupted a speech by President Donald Trump during Tuesday’s commemoration of 400 years of American democracy is a new Muslim lawmaker from Virginia angered by the president’s race-related rhetoric. Del. Ibraheem Samirah, a 27-year-old Democrat, held up three laminated protest signs at Trump’s appearance in Jamestown


** NORTHERN VIRGINIA STATE DELEGATE INTERRUPTS PRESIDENT TRUMP’S SPEECH IN JAMESTOWN ([link removed])
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By NATHANIEL CLINE, Loudoun Times

Virginia Del. Ibraheem Samirah (D-86th) interrupted President Donald Trump’s speech Tuesday in Jamestown. Trump was speaking at the 400th Anniversary of the America's First Representative Legislative Assembly, but the president was stopped by Samirah a few minutes into his speech. “I disrupted the President's speech in Jamestown because nobody's racism and bigotry should be excused for the sake of being polite,” Samirah said in a prepared statement.


** TRUMP STAYS 'ON SCRIPT' AT JAMESTOWN EVENT BUT DEMOCRATIC DELEGATE DOES NOT ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ AND MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The newest member of the House of Delegates stood and shouted in protest on Tuesday during President Donald Trump’s speech about the birth of representative democracy, a breach of protocol that Republican leaders said violated House rules and fellow Democrats defended as free speech. Del. Ibraheem Samirah, D-Fairfax, was escorted by Capitol Police out of the ceremony commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Virginia General Assembly, carrying a sign that said, among other things, “Deport Hate.”


** COX CALLS DELEGATE OUTBURST IN JAMESTOWN ‘DISRESPECTFUL' ([link removed])
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By BILL ATKINSON, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 5 free articles a month)

A member of the House of Delegates who disrupted President Donald Trump’s speech at a commemorative legislative session in Jamestown violated the chamber’s rules of decorum and could be subject to a censure, a spokesman for House Speaker M. Kirkland Cox said late Tuesday.


** DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS REMEMBER ARRIVAL OF FIRST AFRICAN SLAVES AT EVENT TO COUNTER JAMESTOWN FESTIVITIES ([link removed])
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By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Close to 20 state lawmakers who chose not to attend events commemorating the 400th anniversary of democracy in Virginia instead attended a ceremony in Richmond recognizing the 400th anniversary of slavery. The ceremony, organized by Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Richmond, was held at the Lumpkin's Slave Jail site in Shockoe Bottom, the second largest hub of the slave trade in America before the Civil War.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** MAPPING 2018 CRIME TRENDS IN VIRGINIA BY CITY AND COUNTY ([link removed])
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By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury

Every summer, the Virginia State Police publishes an annual compendium of crime in the commonwealth that tallies offenses ranging from arson and assault to prostitution and drug possession. The latest 500-page report, released earlier this month in PDF form, shows violent crimes and property crimes are down while vice offenses are creeping up.


** CONGRESS
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** VIRGINIA'S SENATORS CREATE LEGISLATION TO TRANSFER FORT MONROE COASTAL LAND TO PARK SERVICE ([link removed])
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By LISA VERNON SPARKS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia’s U.S. senators proposed legislation Tuesday that would transfer 44 acres of coastal land to the Fort Monroe National Monument — the same swath rejected by a federal official a year ago. Sen. Mark R. Warner and Sen. Tim Kaine, both democrats co-sponsoring the bill, say the transfer would unify sections of Fort Monroe and achieve an unbroken coastline along the Chesapeake Bay that would be federally managed, according to a news release.


** LOCAL GOP COMMITTEE PASSES MOTION OF NO CONFIDENCE IN RIGGLEMAN ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

A local Republican committee passed a motion of no confidence in Rep. Denver Riggleman on Monday night because he officiated a same-sex marriage. The Cumberland County Republican Committee was chaired by Diana Shores, who was involved in a failed effort on Saturday to have Riggleman, R-Nelson, censured for similar reasons.


** TRUMP SIGNS REP. BEN CLINE'S LEGION ACT INTO LAW ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

President Donald Trump signed legislation from Rep. Ben Cline into law on Tuesday that will open the American Legion’s doors to thousands more veterans. The Let Everyone Get Involved in Opportunities for National Service, or LEGION, Act allows any honorably discharged veterans who has served since Dec. 7, 1941, to join the American Legion.


** 500,000 STUDENTS COULD LOSE FREE MEALS DUE TO FOOD STAMP CHANGES, CONGRESSMAN SAYS ([link removed])
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By KATE SULLIVAN AND LAUREN FOX, CNN

Rep. Bobby Scott says the US Department of Agriculture concealed data showing that its recent proposed changes to the food stamp program could result in more than 500,000 low-income students losing free meals. In a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Scott, a Virginia Democrat who’s the chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, writes that the impact on school meal eligibility was not included in the Trump administration’s formal proposal revising who qualifies for the food stamp program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.


** REP. WEXTON, DEL. HOLMES NORTON CALL FOR AN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY AGAINST TRUMP ([link removed])
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By JENNA PORTNOY, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Rep. Jennifer Wexton (Va.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting representative in Congress, on Tuesday added their names to the list of House Democrats calling for an impeachment inquiry against President Trump.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** THE PORT OF VIRGINIA WOULD FACE SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS FROM PROPOSED TARIFFS ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL POPE, WVTF

Like ports across the world, the Port of Virginia is now installing new gantry cranes. Built to handle longer and wider container ships, these ship-to-shore cranes are popping up along the Atlantic seaboard and across the Pacific. But there’s a problem: a proposed 25% tariff of Chinese imports, and most of these new gantry cranes come from China. Kurt Nagle at the American Association of Port Authorities says the tariff would cut into infrastructure improvements.


** BLOOD-TESTING LAB IN RICHMOND FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY AND LAYS OFF EMPLOYEES ([link removed])
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By JOHN REID BLACKWELL, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A blood-testing company that has been operating a laboratory formerly run by the now defunct Health Diagnostic Laboratory has filed for bankruptcy protection and has laid off some of its employees in downtown Richmond. Texas-based True Health Diagnostics LLC notified state and local officials of the job cuts on Monday and warned that the company may be forced to close its operations entirely.


** 22202 ZIP CODE IS EPICENTER OF AMAZON IMPACT ON LOCAL REAL ESTATE ([link removed])
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Inside NOVA

If there is a bull’s-eye when it comes to the impact of the pending Amazon arrival on the local real-estate market, it is ZIP code 22202 in the Crystal City area. Listing prices are up significantly. When available properties can be found, that is. “This severe lack of inventory in 22202 could be the result of homeowners waiting for their property values to peak as the official opening of HQ2 grows closer,” said Chris Finnegan, vice president of marketing and communications for Bright MLS, which tracks real-estate data across the Mid-Atlantic region.


** PIPELINE VITAL FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE CUSTOMERS OF ROANOKE GAS, COMPANY SAYS ([link removed])
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By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Natural gas from a pipeline being built through Southwest Virginia is needed to reliably serve the customers of Roanoke Gas Co. and to meet future demand, the company says. Without drawing from the Mountain Valley Pipeline, company President Paul Nester said in pre-filed testimony with the State Corporation Commission, the utility is concerned that it could not provide gas to all of its customers on the coldest days of the year.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** A NEW TICK PLUS A NEW DISEASE EQUALS A DOUBLE THREAT TO VIRGINIA CATTLE ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

The cause of the seven cows’ deaths wasn’t immediately clear. All of the animals died between late summer and fall of 2017 in Albemarle County, the prosperous, semi-agricultural county that surrounds the city of Charlottesville. Another cow on the property, sick but alive, was found with signs of anemia, weakness and respiratory distress.


** PRIESTS ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT SERVED AT CHURCHES IN DAN RIVER REGION ([link removed])
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By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

At least four Catholic clergymen accused of sexual assault against minors once served at churches in Danville and Pittsylvania County. All of the clergymen — including three priests and a monsignor — are dead, according to the Catholic Diocese of Richmond’s website that includes a list of the accused clergy.


** LOCAL
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** NAVY SAYS NO TO NORFOLK AIRPORT'S DESIRE FOR SECOND RUNWAY ([link removed])
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By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

For Norfolk International Airport to keep growing, officials and local leaders have said it needs another runway. Its Navy neighbors, though, say no way. On Monday, Navy Rear Admiral Charles W. Rock, commander of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, provided the first formal indication that the Navy opposed building a second runway to run parallel to the airport’s main runway.


** A PORTSMOUTH CASINO COULD BRING IN ALMOST $400 MILLION A YEAR, CONSULTANTS TELL CITY ([link removed])
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By ANA LEY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A pair of gaming consultants from California flew to Portsmouth this week to tell public officials that a new casino — a coveted anchor to an entertainment district the city wants to build — could make about $145 million in profit its first year after opening.


** WEATHER, OTHER FACTORS DELAY AIRPORT TERMINAL PROJECT ([link removed])
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By DON DEL ROSSO, Fauquier Now

With most of the work done, the Warrenton-Fauquier Airport director hopes the new terminal building will be completed by mid-September. Fauquier officials had planned to open the two-story, 10,000-square-foot structure along Route 610 near Midland in late July and conduct a ribbon-cutting ceremony next month.


** EDA, COUNTY AUDITS ARE EIGHT MONTHS OVERDUE ([link removed])
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By JOSH GULLY, Northern Virginia Daily

The Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority has not finalized its fiscal year 2018 audit, which is nearly eight months overdue. The delay in finalizing the audit comes amid a vast embezzlement scandal allegedly perpetuated by Jennifer McDonald, former EDA executive director, who is in jail without bond on 14 felony counts of embezzlement and obtaining money by false pretenses.


** HARRISONBURG’S ELECTRIC UTILITY IS CHARTING A ROADMAP TO ENCOURAGE SOLAR POWER ([link removed])
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By RYAN ALESSI, Harrisonburg Citizen

After deciding earlier this summer on a policy to continue crediting customers who install solar panels, the members of the Harrisonburg Electric Commission made it clear that their conversation about solar energy’s future in Harrisonburg wasn’t done. “This is not off the table. This is not going away. This is something we will continue to discuss,” said Daphyne Thomas, the commission’s chair, near the end of the utility commission’s June 26 meeting.

Today's Sponsor:


** Jeff Finch, Director of Legislative Management System, International Roll-Call®
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"The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty." James Madison


** EDITORIALS
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** JAMESTOWN AND THE PARADOXES OF AMERICAN PROGRESS ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

When 22 burgesses of the Virginia colony congregated in 1619, little did they know self-government would be as complicated, if not more so, in 2019. On Tuesday, local, state and national figures descended on Jamestown to commemorate the first legislative assembly in the Western Hemisphere. On the sacred grounds of the first permanent English settlement, the paradoxes of American progress were on full display.


** VIRGINIA IS IN THE FAST LANE. MARYLAND, NOT SO MUCH. ([link removed])
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Washington Post Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The economic fortunes of Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland are linked, but nothing ensures that they march in lockstep. An array of variables will translate into unequal distributions of prosperity, prospects and population going forward — not least the divergent approaches the two have taken to their most critical highways.


** PLUMBING THE DEPTHS OF A DRUG EPIDEMIC ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Virginians continue to overdose and die in alarming rates at the hands of opioids. The pain-masking drugs come as prescribed pills and patches, and they are bought on the street as heroin and in synthetic forms such as fentanyl. Combined they killed 1,241 Virginians in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It will take years to address the lingering effects of this epidemic,


** I-95 STUDY CONFIRMS SMART SCALE FAILURES ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Last week, Virginia Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary Nick Donohue released the results of the first phase of VDOT’s latest study of the 179 miles of Interstate 95 that run through the Commonwealth of Virginia. But the results certainly weren’t news to local officials in the Fredericksburg region or area commuters, all of whom are intimately familiar with the commonwealth’s failure to keep traffic flowing on the East Coast’s most important interstate highway.


** HELP BEACH PLAN FOR RECURRENT FLOODING ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Sea-level rise caused by global warming and climate change, along with land subsidence, pose an existential threat to Virginia Beach, as they do to the rest of Hampton Roads. As the average temperatures of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean increase, the water will occupy more space — meaning that low-lying areas will be flooded more frequently


** KEEP COSTS LOW AS POSSIBLE FOR PUBLIC DATA ([link removed])
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Daily Progress Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

As the saying goes: “Freedom isn’t free.” Under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act, you might have to pay for that freedom. Or, more specifically, for information that is your right to view as a member of the public.


** EARLY EDUCATION EFFORTS WILL PAY DIVIDENDS ([link removed])
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Daily Press Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Early interventions will ensure children’s needs can be addressed even before they reach kindergarten... Gov. Ralph Northam announced in downtown Hampton last week that he is taking steps to make early childhood education accessible to all 3 and 4-year-olds.


** OP-ED
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** GATLING: THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF "MEDICARE FOR 'ALL' " ([link removed])
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Published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

I was encouraged to see that several of the 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls promote economic policy changes as a way to confront racism and lessen racial disparity. Unfortunately, the consideration didn’t find its way to the protracted health care discussion.

Jewel Gatling of Richmond is a community organizer with Brown Virginia, specializing in civic engagement.
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