Across Virginia
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – A judge has ordered rapper Kanye West’s name to be removed from presidential ballots in Virginia. Richmond Circuit Court Judge Joi Taylor issued an order Thursday saying West was disqualified because he had failed to meet the requirement that 13 people in the state pledge support for his campaign. The West campaign submitted 13 such “Elector Oaths,” but the judge declared 11 of them invalid. The judge added that some were obtained “by improper, fraudulent and/or misleading means.”
A Virginia man says he was fired from his job at a shipyard for wearing a Donald Trump hat. The Virginian-Pilot reports that Dave Sunderland was fired last week from Newport News Shipbuilding. The private firm builds the nation’s aircraft carriers and some of its submarines. Sunderland said the human resources department said he violated a policy that bars yard workers from “campaigning” while on the job. Sunderland wore the hat as he walked from his car to his work area inside the gates, and sometimes during a safety meeting at the beginning of his shift. A spokesman for Newport News Shipbuilding said it does not allow political campaign or partisan political activities on company property.
Governor Northam is pointing to southwest Virginia as the state’s most worrisome region right now for increased COVID-19 cases, but he is not yet ordering tighter restrictions. Northam says the daily number of statewide cases is “moderately contained”, but he pointed with concern to the count in the southwest region, which has risen from about 80 a day on average two months ago to about 220 now. The region includes several large colleges, including Radford and Virginia Tech. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Gov. Ralph Northam said Tuesday that COVID-19 is “moderately contained” in Virginia, but he’s not ready to make any changes to existing restrictions on gatherings or businesses before Labor Day.
“Now is the time to double down on what we know is working so we can set ourselves up for success this fall,” Northam said at a news conference in Richmond.
Northam implemented tighter restrictions on the Hampton Roads region in late July, citing an increase in new cases of COVID-19, hospitalizations and positive tests. Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer recently asked the governor to loosen them ahead of the holiday weekend, The Virginian-Pilot reported.
“I understand from a business perspective the importance of Labor Day, but we have come too far to go back,” he said.
Northam said Virginia’s positivity rate hovering around 7% shows the state is doing fairly well in containing the virus.
“Large gatherings are still not a good idea,” he said, urging people to socialize outdoors, wear face coverings and stay at least 6 feet (2 meters) apart from others. He also recommended Virginians make plans to get the flu shot.
The governor also announced he was extending by 60 days the validity of driver’s licenses, learner’s permits and ID cards set to expire in August, September and October, giving people more time to renew them.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A commission in Virginia has found that history learning standards in the state’s schools “continue to be incomplete with regards to incorporating African American history into the larger narrative.”
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Monday that the conclusion was made in the final report by the Virginia African American History Education Commission.
The commission said that the state should make immediate technical changes to learning standards related to African American history. It also said that Virginia should explore broader changes during a formal standards review at a later time.
Gov. Ralph Northam created the commission in August 2019 and tasked it with examining Virginia’s history standards. It is made up of teachers, principals, superintendents, policy experts, history professors, parents and community leaders.
The commission opposes African American history being taught separately. And it proposes standards that will include key themes to ensure that an African American perspective is presented. Those themes would include colonialism and systemic racism.
According to the latest numbers released this morning from the Virginia Department of Health there are 52 new probable or confirmed coronavirus cases being attributed to the Roanoke Valley. State health officials report 29 new cases in Roanoke City, 19 new cases in Roanoke County, 3 new cases in Salem, and 1 new case in Botetourt County. This comes a day after the Roanoke Valley saw 32 new coronavirus cases.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Commonwealth University is reporting 58 active cases of coronavirus among students and 12 employee cases. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that’s an increase from earlier this week when VCU reported 25 cases and 11 employees cases.
Thirty-nine residential students currently are in isolation on-campus and 57 residential students currently are in quarantine on campus.
The university reopened on Monday.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A new effort is underway to help Virginians who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic get training for in-demand work.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that a coalition of 20 businesses across the state is providing financial backing for a nonprofit called Virginia Ready. It aims to get tens of thousands of Virginia residents into job training programs by providing cash payments to out-of-work people who complete courses for various jobs through the Virginia Community College System.
Recipients of the incentives will get $1,000 payments after completing courses and passing credential exams in the Virginia Community College System’s Fast Forward program.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced Friday that a federal court has approved a consent decree negotiated by his office that promotes “safe absentee voting” in November’s general election.
In a news release, Herring said that under the consent decree, Virginia will accept absentee ballots without the signature of a witness “for voters who believe they may not safely have a witness present while completing their ballot.”
“This agreement is another big win for Virginia voters and for democracy, and it’s another important step in ensuring that we can have free, fair, safe elections this fall despite the challenges presented by the COVID pandemic,” Herring said.
The order was approved by Judge Norman K. Moon, who noted objections to absentee ballots raised by the Republican Party of Virginia.
A group of voters had sued Virginia election officials in May over a loosening of restrictions on absentee ballots for the June primary, arguing that the state can’t allow voters to use the pandemic as an excuse to vote by mail.
Moon wrote that despite the GOP objections to the agreement, “every indication before the Court is that the June primary was conducted without the witness signature requirement and without any corresponding increase in voter confusion or election fraud.”
Herring previously reached an agreement, also approved by Moon, to promote safe voting by mail for the June 23 primaries by allowing acceptance of absentee ballots without a witness signature.”
The board of Liberty University has chosen an interim leader, days after Jerry Falwell Jr. began a leave of absence. Liberty University’s board announced Jerry Prevo’s appointment on Monday, three days after Falwell began his leave. Prevo has served as chairman of the school’s board of trustees since 2003. Falwell’s departure came after he posted a photo on social media showing him posing with his pants unbuttoned, stomach exposed and his arm around a young woman who was not his wife. He apologized for the photo, which he said was taken during a costume party. Falwell has led the university founded by his evangelist father, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, for 13 years.
NEWS RELEASE: RICHMOND – The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) continues to safely reopen customer service centers for specific services by appointment only. Another five locations will reopen on August 17. Appointment opportunities are now available at the following locations:
Bedford (1128 E. Lynchburg Salem Turnpike, Suite 950, Bedford, VA 24523)
Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m.-noon
Kilmarnock (110 DMV Drive, Kilmarnock, VA 22482)
Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Lorton (7714 Gunston Plaza, Lorton, VA 22079)
Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m.-noon
Pulaski (1901 Bobwhite Boulevard, Pulaski, VA 24301)
Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m.-noon
West Henrico (9237 Quioccasin Road, Richmond, VA 23229)
Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m.-noon
For a complete list of customer service centers and DMV Connect visits open to the public, visit
dmvNOW.com.
DMV is working hard to equip and safely reopen offices as quickly as possible. Three months of appointments slots are available at any time on the calendar. Each day, throughout the day, additional appointments are added to the end of the available 90-day period. Customers are encouraged to check back regularly to view the updated availability as locations reopen and appointments are added daily. Road skills testing appointment opportunities are also now available to those eligible. Two months of appointment slots are currently available on the calendar and additional appointments are added daily. Customers must first pass a knowledge exam before they are eligible to take the road skills test. Additionally, those under age 18 must complete a state-approved driver education program, rather than taking a road skills test at DMV. For more information, visit dmvNOW.com/skillstest.
Reopened DMV offices are providing specific services that generally require an in-person visit. These transactions include original driver’s licenses and identification cards, original titles, original vehicle registrations, disabled parking permits, and vital records. If a transaction can be conducted by another method, such as online or by mail, customers should use that method. For a complete list of appointment services currently available visit dmvNOW.com/appt.
DMV is reopening offices across the Commonwealth as it is able to put appropriate precautions in place. The phased reopening plan balances DMV’s service mission with the need to protect the health and wellbeing of customers and employees by enacting social distancing protocols and other best practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Virginia Department of Health. In an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19, per Executive Order Sixty-Three, the Commonwealth of Virginia will require Virginians to wear face coverings in public indoor settings.
As DMV reopens more offices across the Commonwealth, customers with expiring credentials have been assisted by an executive directive put in place by Governor Ralph Northam which extends the validity of some driver’s licenses, identification cards, and vehicle registrations. The validity of driver’s licenses and identification cards due to expire on or before July 31, 2020, is extended for an additional 90 days, not to exceed October 31, 2020. This extension is in addition to the prior extension of up to 90 days not to exceed August 31, 2020. This means that a customer whose credential expired between March 15 and April 30 will have an additional 90 days added to the prior 90 days, effectively 180 days, beyond the expiration date to renew. Those with credentials expiring between May 1 and July 31 will have up to 180 days beyond the expiration date, not to exceed October 31, 2020. If a credential expires after July 31, it must be renewed before its expiration date. Vehicle registrations expiring March-July are extended for up to 180 days, not to exceed October 31, 2020. In addition, the federal enforcement date for REAL IDs was moved to October 1, 2021.