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Virginia’s progress reducing overdose deaths is worth celebrating
Virginians have reason to feel encouraged by the latest reports from state and federal officials of the death count in the ongoing battle against fatal overdoses of fentanyl and other drugs. In April, the Virginia Department of Health Office of the Chief Medical Examiner announced that deaths from fentanyl overdoses in the commonwealth were down 44% from the previous year. They are down 46% from the worst year on record, 2021.
National Airport, Pentagon hotline had been disconnected for three years
A hotline connecting air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport and their counterparts at the Pentagon has been “inoperable” since March 2022, a Federal Aviation Administration official confirmed Wednesday, further evidence of poor safety coordination between federal agencies responsible for the airspace where a midair collision in January killed 67 people. The line is maintained by the Defense Department, and the aviation agency was not aware of the outage during the three years it was down, Franklin McIntosh, the FAA’s deputy head of air traffic control, testified at a Senate hearing Wednesday.
Democrats running for attorney general say Virginia needs to challenge Trump
Democrats will choose between a longtime prosecutor from the Richmond suburbs and a former lawmaker from a politically active Hampton Roads family in the primary race for attorney general. Former state delegate Jay Jones and Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor are facing off in the Democratic primary. Democrats are hoping to win big this year. Virginia is considered to be a bellwether state because its statewide elections are held the year after the presidential election.
Levar Stoney goes on TV with six-figure ad buy in lieutenant governor race
Former Richmond mayor Levar Stoney — one of six Democrats seeking the party’s nomination for lieutenant governor June 17 — will appear on TV commercials played across Virginia in a new TV ad blitz starting Thursday. Four different spots will run in the expensive Washington media market as well as in Richmond and Norfolk. The ad buy is “well into the six figures," according to his campaign. Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe appears in two of the four ads.
Earle-Sears: Right to work is still under threat
Virginia’s right-to-work law that says people cannot be required join a union is still under threat despite Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger’s recent promise that she would not sign a full repeal, her Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, said. In a letter to more than 350 Virginia business leaders, Earle-Sears said the law, dating to the 1940s, is critical to Virginia’s economy.
Dominion proposes cuts to credit for homes’ solar panels
Dominion Energy wants to cut the credit that customers with solar panels on their rooftops can get on their monthly power bills, a move that could make installing them less attractive to homeowners and businesses. Dominion currently values electricity flowing from residential rooftop solar panels at about 14 cents per kilowatt hour. The company proposes dropping this credit to 9.553 cents per kilowatt hour, the rate the utility pays for solar power from large-scale facilities. ... The proposal also is likely to spark one of the biggest clashes at the State Corporation Commission this year because it makes the economics of installing solar panels a lot more challenging, said Josephus Allmond, a staff attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit that aims to protect ratepayers and the environment.
Amazon fulfillment center in Goochland to create 1,000+ jobs
Gov. Glenn Youngkin participated Wednesday in a ceremonial groundbreaking for Amazon.com's 3.1 million-square-foot robotics fulfillment center in Goochland County, which is expected to create more than 1,000 full-time and part-time jobs. The fulfillment center will have a 650,000-square-foot footprint on a 107-acre parcel, according to the governor’s office, and will be Amazon’s fourth robotics fulfillment center in the state, joining others in Henrico County, Suffolk and Virginia Beach.
Growing tension boils over in Martinsville council meeting
The temperature began to rise Monday at one of many budget work sessions and boiled-over Tuesday night with a disruption by a city employee and a near altercation between two council members. ... The Bulletin published a report on Tuesday showing Martinsville government employees had spent more than $1.4 million on city credit cards over 15 consecutive months ending in March. The statements show thousands of dollars in expenses involving travel, hotel stays, food, and conferences, including trips to Las Vegas and luxury resorts.
Lynchburg midwives lead resurgence in maternity care provider options
Lynchburg has a long history of midwifery and is once again at the forefront of advocating for midwives who care for women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. Katie Page, a staff midwife at Centra Medical Group Women’s Center in Lynchburg, has been pushing for legislation to advance midwifery in Virginia and help the women for whom midwives provide care. Through her leadership role with the Virginia affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives, Page was instrumental in the passage of a bill this year in the General Assembly that will bring greater equity in insurance reimbursement for all classifications of midwives.
Tempers, tensions, racism, lawsuits dot Hopewell City Council agenda
Tensions continue to boil over the firings of Hopewell’s city manager and city clerk, with the most recent City Council meeting erupting in chaos after demands for resignations, a description of some councilors as a “cancer” on Hopewell and the city’s mayor being called a “b***h” by a citizen while being escorted out. The May 13 council meeting was a potpourri of events that often turned up the temperature inside Hopewell’s council chambers.