Across Virginia

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — C.J. Mayhue gave up a run on three hits with no walks and two strikeouts over 5 innings, Josh Moylan and Justin Wilcoxen each hit a home run and top-seeded ECU beat No. 2 seed Virginia 4-2 on Saturday night.

No. 8 national seed ECU (44-18) — which has won 20 in a row, the longest active win streak in the nation — plays the winner of a loser-out game between Virginia and Coastal Carolina on Sunday for a trip to the super regionals.

Moylan hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second to make it 2-0 and the Pirates led the rest of the way.

The Cavaliers (39-18) cut their deficit to a run in the top of the fifth and the seventh but ECU responded in the home half of the inning each time. Chris Newell hit a two-out homer for Virginia before Wilcoxen led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo shot. Ethan Anderson’s groundout scored Kyle Teel to make it 3-2 before Alec Makarewicz scored on a sacrifice fly by Zach Agnos to give the Pirates a two-run lead heading into the eighth.

After Devin Ortiz struck out to lead off the top of the ninth, Teel and Casey Saucke hit back-to-back singles before Agnos, who started the game at shortstop, came on to pitch. He walked Anderson to load the bases before striking out Newell on three pitches and Max Cotier struck out swinging to end it.

Brian Gursky allowed three runs — two earned — on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings for Virginia.

ABINGDON, Va. (AP) — A southwest Virginia county recently rededicated two Confederate monuments after relocating them from a downtown courthouse lawn to make way for construction.

A ceremony was held Friday at a new park in Abingdon that was paid for by community donations, the Bristol Herald-Courier reported. One marker honors local Civil War generals. The other is a statue of a soldier holding a rifle.

The dedication included an honor guard and a gun salute, according to TV station WCYB, with some attendees dressed in period attire.

Many communities across Virginia have been removing Confederate monuments since the General Assembly gave them the ability to do so in 2020.

From Roanoke College – The Institute for Policy and Opinion Research (IPOR) at Roanoke College interviewed 648 adult residents of Virginia between May 15 and May 26 in a survey addressing
topics such as the war in Ukraine, abortion, political anxiety and general feelings about current and former elected officials. The survey has a margin of error of 4.7%.

Approvals, Favorable/Unfavorable, Direction of Virginia, Country

Nearly five months into his term as governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin’s approval rating has increased to 53% (from 50% in February) while disapproval, at 35%,
is down from 41% in February. More Democrats (41%) approve of Youngkin’s performance now than they did three months ago (30%), while approval in Youngkin’s own party is down (84% approval in February versus 75% approval now). Approval of President Joe Biden’s
job continues to decline according to the Roanoke College Poll, now at 37%, down from its previous low of 41% in February. That decline is seen across all Virginians regardless of political party affiliation.

About 46% of Virginians have a favorable view of Gov. Youngkin, with 37% having an unfavorable view. Again, the Poll found that Democrats have a more favorable view
of Youngkin now (29% now versus 20% in February) and Republicans currently view him as less favorable than before (75% now versus 84% in February). Former Gov. Ralph Northam’s favorability has dropped to 34% from 41% in February. President Biden’s ratings
continue to fall, with only 38% of Virginians having a favorable impression and 56% view him unfavorably. Former President Trump has a 34% favorable and 59% unfavorable rating among Virginians as his favorability in Virginia declines due to the feelings of
both Republicans and Independents.

When asked about the country, only 21% of Virginians say that things are going in the right direction while 77% say that things have gotten off on the wrong track,
which is the second lowest “right direction” rating in the Poll’s history (August 2020 provided the lowest rating at 16%). Regarding the Commonwealth itself, Virginians feel that situations have improved since February when citizens were split. Now, 50% say
that things are going in the right direction and 44% say that things are on the wrong track.

Russia and Ukraine

For the most part, Democrats and Republicans in Virginia are united regarding their thoughts on the ongoing war in Ukraine. More than three-quarters (76%) of Virginias
are following the news regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine either very or somewhat closely and nearly two-thirds (66%) feel that the worst of the war is yet to come. With regards to the effectiveness of sanctions on pressuring Russia to end the war, 40%
of Virginias feel that sanctions will be very or somewhat effective; Democrats are more optimistic that sanctions will work (54%) compared to Republicans (30%). About half (47%) of respondents said that the United States should offer more support to Ukraine,
but not at the risk of our country getting into a war with Russia. Fewer, at 33%, said that the U.S. is already doing enough to support Ukraine, while even fewer, 17%, said that we should offer more support even if it risks getting our country into a war with
Russia. Of note, only 22% of Democrats felt that the U.S. was already providing enough support, while 40% of Republicans felt that way.

The Poll asked Virginians whether they felt Russian President Vladimir Putin is a war criminal or not. Most, 84%, agreed that he is, while 11% said he is not. Interestingly,
Democrats (90%) and Republicans (86%) are virtually united on this issue, while Independents, at 77%, were less likely to use “war criminal” to describe Putin.

Abortion and the Supreme Court

With abortion in news headlines due to the recent leak of an early draft opinion from the United States Supreme Court that has the potential to strike down abortion
protections afforded by the Roe v. Wade decision from the Court in 1973, the Roanoke College Poll asked Virginians when abortion should be legal. Over a third (35%) felt that abortion should be legal under any circumstances (up from 31% in August of 2015),
more than half (53%) felt that it should be legal only under certain circumstances (up from 46% in 2015), and only 11% felt that abortion should be completely illegal. Overall, 88% of Virginias feel that abortion should be legal under some or all circumstances,
up from 77% seven years ago. By party, 54% of Democrats say that abortion should be legal in all circumstances, while only 16% of Republicans and 33% of Independents feel that way. Only 2% of Democrats would make abortion entirely illegal, while 23% of Republicans
and 10% if Independents would.

Almost a third (32%) of Virginians agree with the early draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade (22% for Democrats and 46% for Republicans) while 56% disagree.
We asked respondents about their favorability impression of the U.S. Supreme Court and found that 46% have a favorable impression (42% for Democrats and 55% for Republicans) while 42% have an unfavorable impression of the Court.

Political Anxiety

Since the middle of 2016, IPOR has tracked political anxiety in the Commonwealth and last reported on results in November 2021. In the Roanoke College Poll conducted
in May 2022, 80% of Virginians report trusting the federal government to do what is right only some of the time or never, unchanged from November. A slight majority (52%) thinks that ordinary citizens can do a lot to influence the federal government, down
from 60% in November. The Poll found that nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents think their side is losing more than winning in politics today, an increase since November (58%) and the largest “losing more than winning” rating seen since political anxiety
has been tracked. Disaggregated by party, 33% of Democrats feel they are on the winning side, while only 21% of Republicans feel that way.

Fewer than half (44%) believe that the country’s best years are ahead, while a majority (52%) believe its best years have passed. This marks the first time that a
majority of respondents have felt that our best years are behind us since IPOR began asking this question. Overall, a large majority of Virginians (85%) continues to see the nation divided regarding the important issues facing the country.

A majority of respondents (52%) is also dissatisfied with how the federal government is (or isn’t) working. Another 21% are angry, but 21% are satisfied and 3% are
enthusiastic. In the aggregate, each of these measures has remained relatively stable over time, but the responses of subgroups have varied, particularly those of Democrats and Republicans, depending upon which party is in power. See the crosstabs at the end
of the topline, linked at the end of this release for more.

Six of these questions regarding political anxiety are used to construct our Political Anxiety Index and data since late 2017 and appears in the graph above. Higher
numerical values represent less anxiety, with an index maximum value of 300 and minimum possible value of -300.

While political anxiety overall (gray line) had not changed much over the past four years, that is no longer true. Anxiety increased since November, moving from -65.7
to -109.5 in May. As usual, a large gap between Democrats (-34.6) and Republicans exists (-161.2) with Independents solidly in the middle (not shown as Independents roughly following the overall line). Values in November for Democrats and Republicans were
40.4 and -174.4, respectively, noting that anxiety has decreased slightly among Republicans but decreased immensely among Democrats.

Analysis

“No surprise, but very few people are happy with government these days,” said Dr. David Taylor, director of IPOR. “Political anxiety has remained low
for Republicans and increased for both Democrats and Independents as the federal government struggles to get meaningful things accomplished. Approval of President Biden is down and the percentage of Virginians that feel the country is on the wrong track is
at an almost all-time high. Almost two-thirds of the residents of the Commonwealth feel that their ‘side’ is losing more often than it is winning, and almost three-quarters of us are dissatisfied or angry at the federal government.”

“Here in Virginia, though, just about five months into his term as governor, Glenn Youngkin’s approval ratings have improved, most notably among Democrats,
and many more Virginians feel that the Commonwealth is going in the right direction compared to the country.”

“The war in Ukraine is one area where Democrats and Republicans in our state seem united. While Republicans tend to believe that sanctions against Russia
will not be effective and feel that the United States is already doing enough to support Ukraine, respondents from both parties fear that the worst of the war is yet to come and brand Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal.”

“More Virginians than not have a favorable opinion of the United States Supreme Court despite a majority disagreeing with the leaked early draft of an
opinion that would potentially overturn part or all of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision regarding abortion. Our poll asked when abortion should be legal— in all circumstances, under certain
circumstances, or never — back in
2015 and again now. In those seven years, Virginians have become more progressive regarding abortion, with more residents believing it should both be legal in all situations and legal in certain situations (and, of course, fewer residents, at 11%, believing
it should illegal altogether).”

Methodology

Interviewing for The Roanoke College Poll was conducted by The Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia between
May 15 and May 26, 2022. A total of 648 residents of Virginia, 18 or older, were included in this study. Telephone interviews, conducted in English, comprised 403 of the respondents and 245 responses were drawn from a proprietary online panel of Virginians.
The landline sample consisted of random-digit numbers generated in proportion to the Virginia population so that all residential telephone numbers, including unlisted numbers, had a known chance of inclusion. Cellphone samples were purchased from Marketing
Systems Group and comprised 59% of the completed telephone interviews. Lucid, LLC, facilitated the online panel.

Questions answered by the entire sample of 648 respondents are subject to an error margin of plus or minus approximately 4.7% at the 95% level of confidence.
This means that in 95 out of 100 samples such as the one used here, the results obtained should be no more than 4.7 percentage points above or below the figure that would be obtained by interviewing all Virginia adults who have a home telephone or a cellphone.
Where the results of subgroups are reported, the margin of error is higher.

Quotas were used to ensure that different regions of the Commonwealth were proportionately represented. The data were statistically weighted for gender,
race, and age and done to match Virginia census data. The design effect was 1.517; the reported margin of error above reflects this design effect.

The Institute follows the American Association for Public Opinion Research’s Code of Professional Ethics and Practices and is a charter member of that
association’s Transparency Initiative.

FINCASTLE, VA – On May 31, 2022, at 4:25 P.M. a 32-year-old male inmate was found unresponsive in his cell from an apparent suicide attempt. The inmate was found by a deputy minutes after performing a previous security check. The deputy immediately called for emergency medical assistance and rendered life saving measures until Emergency Medical Services arrived. The inmate was transported to Roanoke Memorial Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on June 2, 2022, at 12:12 A.M.As is our standard practice, the Virginia State Police, Salem Division has been asked to complete the investigation.

UPDATE

Roanoke isn’t the big easy but starting Friday it’ll be significantly easier to catch the summer sun while enjoying an alcoholic beverage in downtown Roanoke. WFIR’s Camden Lazenby has more.

Posted at 8:00 –

DORA is coming to downtown Roanoke – that is, a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area that will allow patrons over 21 to purchase alcoholic beverages from a participating establishment and carry them in a marked open container – within a clearly defined area within downtown. The zone will be in effect from 11am to 8pm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, from June 10th through July 31st. Campbell, Church, and Salem Avenues, Williamson Road and Market Street are among the DORA boundaries.

 

 

 

 

Officials in Virginia say two women are missing after a group of people in rafts and on paddleboards went over the Bosher Dam on the James River. WWBT-TV reports that 12 people were involved in the accident Monday afternoon. One of them managed to get out of the river and reach a nearby house for help. Assistant Fire Chief Jeffrey Segal said kayakers in the area helped rescue nine more. But Segal said two women in their 20s are unaccounted for despite a very thorough search. They planned to keep looking Tuesday morning.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) – A jury found a Virginia man guilty on Friday of strangling his ex-girlfriend almost four years in front of the couple’s young toddlers. The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk reports Lamont Johnson was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Bellamy Gamboa in July 2018. The jury also convicted Johnson of two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for leaving the couple’s 20-month-old toddlers home alone while he disposed of Gamboa’s body. Jurors resumed deliberations Friday afternoon to determine the sentence for Johnson. The murder charge carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.

(Update 6-6) The victim of the May 28 house fire on Brookridge Road has died as a result of her injuries. Charges against suspect Caleb Firebaugh have been upgraded to first degree murder

(Roanoke County, VA) – On Saturday, May 28, 2022, at approximately 1:43 pm the Roanoke County Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call about a house fire where the homeowner had been assaulted in the 4000 block of Brookridge Road. Roanoke County Fire & Rescue and Roanoke County Police responded to the scene. Upon arrival, flames were showing from the house and a victim was found in the front yard. The victim was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. The fire was extinguished by responding fire personnel from Roanoke County and Roanoke City Fire-EMS. A suspect and a suspect vehicle were quickly identified and the information was relayed to area law enforcement. About forty-five minutes after the initial 911 call the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office advised that they had received a call about the suspect vehicle being involved in a car crash in the Boones Mill area of Franklin County. The suspect fled on foot from the crash and was taken into custody by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia State Police. The suspect Caleb Firebaugh, 25, of Roanoke County was arrested and charged with Aggravated Malicious Wounding and is being held without bond at the Roanoke County/Salem Jail. The Roanoke County Police would like to thank the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia State Police for their assistance. Detectives from the Roanoke County Police Department and investigators from the Roanoke County Fire Marshal’s Office continue to investigate this incident. If anyone has information about this crime they are asked to call the Roanoke County Police at (540) 562-3265.

(Richmond, VA) — Yesterday, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced the first presumed monkeypox case in a Virginia resident. The initial testing was completed at the Department of General Services Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services. VDH is awaiting confirmatory test results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The patient is an adult female resident of the Northern region of Virginia with recent international travel history to an African country where the disease is known to occur. She was not infectious during travel. She did not require hospitalization and is isolating at home to monitor her health. To protect patient privacy, no further information will be provided. The health department is identifying and monitoring the patient’s close contacts. No additional cases have been detected in Virginia at this time.

“Monkeypox is a very rare disease in the United States. The patient is currently isolating and does not pose a risk to the public.” said State Health Commissioner Colin M. Greene, MD, MPH. “Transmission requires close contact with someone with symptomatic monkeypox, and this virus has not shown the ability to spread rapidly in the general population. VDH is monitoring national and international trends and has notified medical providers in Virginia to watch for monkeypox cases and report them to their local health district as soon as possible. Based on the limited information currently available about the evolving multi-country outbreak, the risk to the public appears to be very low.”

Although rare, monkeypox is a potentially serious viral illness that is transmitted when someone has close contact with an infected person or animal. Person-to-person spread occurs with prolonged close contact or with direct contact with body fluids or contact with contaminated materials such as clothing or linens. Illness typically begins with fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, and swelling of the lymph nodes. After a few days, a specific type of rash appears, often starting on the face and then spreading to other parts of the body. Symptoms generally appear seven to 14 days after exposure and, for most people, clear up within two to four weeks. Some people can have severe illness and die. As with many viral illnesses, treatment mainly involves supportive care and relief of symptoms.

If you are sick and have symptoms consistent with monkeypox, seek medical care from your healthcare provider, especially if you are in one of the following groups:

Those who traveled to central or west African countries, parts of Europe where monkeypox cases have been reported, or other areas with confirmed cases of monkeypox during the month before their symptoms began,
Those who have had contact with a person with confirmed or suspected monkeypox, or
Men who regularly have close or intimate contact with other men.
If you need to seek care, call your healthcare provider first. Let them know you are concerned about possible monkeypox infection so they can take precautions to ensure that others are not exposed.

On May 20, 2022, VDH distributed a Clinician Letter to medical professionals reminding them to report any suspected cases of monkeypox to their local health department as soon as possible and implement appropriate infection prevention precautions.