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Drakes: School nurses could be the cure to chronic absenteeism
Chronic absenteeism in K-12 schools is at an all-time high in Virginia as the public education system continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Chronic absenteeism is defined as students who miss more than 18 days of school, and this number has doubled across the commonwealth since 2019. The Virginia Department of Education has launched a campaign in response to this issue, as gaps in learning have been revealed by the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) test scores.
McElwain: As other states ban abortion, Va. remains a beacon of hope
In a small town in Florida, a half-day drive from Richmond, a woman takes a pregnancy test after realizing her period is a couple of weeks late. If she goes into her nearest Planned Parenthood in Tallahassee to seek an abortion, she may be too late now that Florida’s six-week abortion ban has taken effect. Even if she makes it into the health center prior to the cutoff, she will have to come back again at least 24 hours later due to Florida’s mandatory waiting period. As Florida’s near-total ban on abortion takes effect, our hearts go out to all impacted. In these troubling times, I want to assure those seeking care: Virginia is here for you.
VPAP Visual Governor’s Amendments Adopted
When the General Assembly reconvened this year to consider Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s recommendations, it adopted only 53% of his amended bills, a record low since 2006. See how this compares with recent years in VPAP’s latest visual.
Virginia casinos attract promised out-of-state visitors
In 2019, a state study forecast that if the General Assembly allowed five casinos to operate in five economically disadvantaged Virginia cities — Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Richmond — that one-third of the revenue generated would stem from out-of-state visitors. In other words, if you build it, casino backers sang out to the commonwealth’s legislators, they will come.
As internet data centers multiply, efforts to control them are growing
A backlash against internet data centers has triggered a wave of laws around the country to restrain the rapidly growing industry that uses massive amounts of energy to make cloud computing and smart technology possible. In Northern Virginia, home to the world’s largest concentration of data center buildings, Prince William County last week increased its tax rate on the equipment inside data centers by 72 percent, a response in part to complaints about too many of the football-field-sized facilities being built there. Neighboring Loudoun County — which is home to most of the data centers in Northern Virginia — is moving to keep the buildings away from homes and some commercial corridors, in part by making all data center projects subject to the county board’s review instead of allowing them as a “by right” development in certain areas.
Faltering weather service infrastructure needs urgent upgrades
Even among natural disasters, only hurricanes can come close to inspiring the terror of a tornado. A powerful funnel cloud can form quickly, move unpredictably and often gives those in the path of destruction only minutes to take shelter. So much depends on the timeliness of warnings from the National Weather Service, whose alerts can be the difference between life and death. But recent outages have shown the fragility of NWS infrastructure, making its improvement a matter of national urgency.
Initiative aims to address child care crisis, workforce shortages in Lynchburg
In Lynchburg, there is a pressing need for affordable child care, with a current shortage of licensed slots impacting the workforce. The United Way of Central Virginia (UWCV) is launching an initiative to tackle workforce and child care issues in the Greater Lynchburg area. Inspired by a successful project in Southwest Virginia, UWCV plans to establish the Childcare and Workforce Development Center.
Virginia Beach council to vote on collective bargaining for employees
Allowing city employees to negotiate over their wages and benefits will be up for a vote by the City Council Tuesday. The council will be presented with two options, at the request of the mayor: To allow collective bargaining or to allow a “meet and confer” process whereby employee committees will be able to regularly share concerns with the city manager. If the council approves collective bargaining, city staff will negotiate with city workers’ unions to draft a new law, which could take months, according to City Attorney Mark Stiles.
Richmond School Board violating state agreement on professional training
The Richmond School Board is out of compliance with part of its agreement with the state and could lose some state funding if board members do not come together to meet its contractual obligations to attend annual training. The agreement, called a memorandum of understanding, is in place because of the district’s troubled schools. State Superintendent Lisa Coons sent a letter to the Richmond School Board on Wednesday to notify its members of their requirement to fulfill annual professional development and training requirements.
Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority to sell 148-acre property for $6.2 million
The Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority found a buyer to take its 148-acre property for $6.2 million. The EDA board of directors voted at its meeting on Friday to approve a motion to enter into a contract with Plein Smith for three, undeveloped plots totaling 148 acres on Progress Drive in the Happy Creek Technology Park. Plein Smith has agreed to buy the plots for $6,260,000 per the contract. ... The sale of the property helps the EDA pay down its multi-million-dollar debt incurred under a previous executive director, Jennifer McDonald ...