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New Averett president says school is ‘so far from closing’ despite year of financial challenges
Averett University’s new president says he has a plan for financial recovery that includes repaying the school’s vendors and endowment, and could include further limiting academic options and selling more real estate. But the school’s ongoing financial issues are “not fatal,” and Averett will not close, Thomas Powell said. “As I meet people in town, the first question they ask me is, ‘Are you closing?’” Powell said. “Well, we are so far from closing.” The Danville school has been consumed by financial issues since last spring, when it revealed that financial mismanagement had led to a budget deficit.
Warner gets an earful at event with Richmond seniors
Virginia Senator Mark Warner was in Richmond Thursday morning to meet with seniors and groups that aid them. Many of the residents gathered in the basement of the Randolph Place senior living facility were angry with what was happening in Washington. Kate Ruby is with the Birdhouse Farmers Market, a local food source for folks who can get their SNAP funds doubled thanks to federal grants. That is until July when, thanks to cuts in Washington, Ruby said the grant funds run out. And while she was angry at the loss of funding, she was also angry about something else: “I don’t feel like we’ve got a good opposition party. I’m seeing a lot of angry noises and chest pounding, but not any real opposition!”
Lynchburg business owners keep pressure on city council behavior
Lynchburg business leaders brought their concerns about the conduct of elected officials to City Hall on Tuesday, letting council members know their patience has run out and they want to see changes that will allow the city to move forward. The criticism ramped up after the previous city council meeting on May 13 when Dave Henderson ... sent an email to city leaders and the business community letting them know about his worries about council’s actions possibly costing the city business. During the public comment period Tuesday, business owners told council about the messages of support they received after they decided to speak out about council in response to Henderson’s email.
Ice cream sandwich maker investing $5.8 million in facility, adding jobs
Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches is outgrowing its space after getting picked up by Kroger and is expanding to a new production facility at 2807 Transport St. in Richmond. The locally owned company is investing $5.8 million in its new manufacturing facility, which offers more than 28,000 square feet of space. “Nightingale has doubled in size year over year and is bursting at the seams at our current facility ...
Program cuts costs of health insurance in Va.
Virginia's innovative reinsurance program for health coverage is reducing the monthly bill for each person covered by an Obamacare policy by nearly $100 a month, the State Corporation Commission reports. The state program reimburses health insurers for some of the costs of relatively large claims for payment from the hospitals, physicians and other health care providers treating policyholders. By doing this, the SCC projects average monthly bills this year will be $519 for each covered individual, compared with $617 if the program were not in place.
Radford Arsenal says new incinerator delayed eleven months; new completion date is 2026
The Radford Army Ammunition Plant is pushing back its completion date for a new incinerator that had been scheduled to be in operation by July. The Arsenal, as it’s commonly called, now expects to complete construction of the new facility by next June. The Radford Arsenal first announced plans to build a new energetic waste incinerator in 2018. Justine Barati is director of public affairs for the Army’s Joint Munitions Command, which oversees the Arsenal. She said they are delaying the completion date for the new incinerator until next summer, due to heavy rains and changes to the design of the new facility.
Mills: Don’t cut farmers (like me) off at the knees
As a young farmer raising tobacco, small grains, cattle and chickens alongside my dad in rural Virginia, I’ve learned one lesson very clearly: To survive as a farmer in the Southeast, you’ve got to be creative. Commodity prices swing like a pendulum, and profit margins vanish overnight. For my family, flue-cured and dark tobacco are the stabilizers — the crops that help us weather the storm and stay on the land. That’s why I’m sounding the alarm about a little-noticed piece of the reconciliation bill making its way through Congress — one that proposes to carve tobacco out of the duty drawback program.
Virginia hits lowest recidivism rate in the United States, VADOC says
The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) recently hit a milestone, with a new study showing the Commonwealth has the lowest recidivism rate in the country. VADOC Director Chad Dotson announced Thursday that recent data shows there is a 17.6% three-year reincarceration rate for inmates in state custody. The FY2020 rate is Virginia’s lowest in more than 20 years and an improvement from FY2019, when it was at 19%. VADOC noted that the state has had the lowest or second-lowest recidivism rate in the nation for 12 consecutive years.
Tata: Virginia must reshape its child welfare system
When I joined Virginia’s House of Delegates four years ago, improving outcomes for kids in foster care became one of my top priorities. I’ve had the privilege of meeting hundreds of incredible young people involved with our foster care system. In my conversations with them, I always focus on casting a vision that their best days are ahead. To truly make this vision a reality, much work is needed to transform our child welfare system, which faces major challenges. Last year, there were almost 95,000 reports of child abuse and neglect, about one-third higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Yancey: 10 ways Democrats can decide who to vote for in the lieutenant governor and attorney general primaries
In 1977, Virginia Democrats went into the voting booth of a party primary and came out with a statewide ticket that didn’t make any sense. Voters nominated the most liberal candidate for governor (Henry Howell) and the most conservative candidate for attorney general (Ed Lane, not just the most conservative but an actual conservative) and a candidate for lieutenant governor (Charles Robb) who was closer to the center than anyone else. To put the best face on this unusual ticket, Democrats declared it the “Rainbow Ticket.” ... General election voters were not impressed, rejecting two of the three Democratic candidates. Only Robb was elected. The choices in this year’s Democratic primaries for lieutenant governor and attorney general are more demographically diverse than in 1977, when all the candidates were white men, but less ideologically diverse ...