Across Virginia
According to the latest numbers released this morning by the Virginia Department of Health there are 663 new confirmed or probable coronavirus cases statewide bringing Virginia overall total to 100,749. State health officials are reporting one new case in Botetourt County bringing the overall total there to 215. Totals in Roanoke City, Roanoke County, and Salem remain the same.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Renovations have been delayed at the municipal building in Virginia Beach where a mass shooting happened last year.
The Virginian-Pilot reports that city officials don’t have enough money to pay for it now because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter this week, the mayor of Virginia Beach asked the state legislature to consider allocating $10 million toward the renovations.
Employees who worked in the building where 12 people were killed have been working at home and in offices across the city.
The city plans to turn Building 2 into the headquarters for the police department. Plans also call for renovating several other buildings to bring former Building 2 employees back to the municipal center, so the Departments of Public Works, Public Utilities and Planning can again offer citizens services in one place.
MGN
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake rattled parts of four states Sunday morning. It struck near Sparta, North Carolina around 8:00 am. Sparta is near the Virginia line about 80 miles southwest of Roanoke.
Initial reports indicate little to no damage. No injuries have been reported.
People report feeling the effects of the earthquake in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.
Magnitude 5.1 is at the low end of earthquakes considered “moderate”. At 5.1, such tremors are often felt but rarely cause significant damage.
SPARTA, N.C. (AP) — Officials say an earthquake – the strongest in more than 100 years – shook much of North Carolina early Sunday, rattling homes, buildings and residents.
The National Weather Service in Greenville said the 5.1-magnitude temblor struck at 8:07 a.m., following a much smaller quake several hours earlier.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Karen Backer was in her Greensboro apartment when she heard initially mistook banging in her kitchen for her roommate.
“Nope, it was the cabinet doors ‘clinking’ open and closed! My neighbors on the other hand said they felt our apartment building shaking,” Backer said. “Well, sadly, nothing surprises me in 2020, but a hurricane and an earthquake in the same week is crazy.”
It was the largest earthquake to hit the state since 1916, when a magnitude 5.5 quake occurred near Skyland, the weather service said.
The U.S. Geological Service said the quake’s epicenter was about 2.5 miles (four kilometers) southeast of Sparta, just south of the Virginia-North Carolina border. The USGS said the population in the affected region resides in structures “that are resistant to earthquake shaking, though vulnerable structures exist.”
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia panel has recommended moving the state’s statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee at the U.S. Capitol to the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that historian Ed Ayers made the motion to ask whether the museum wants to take ownership of the statue. He says the museum has “the institutional capacity” to deal with accepting the statue and “the curatorial expertise.”
Emily Lucier is a spokesperson for the museum. She told the newspaper in an email that the museum has not yet received a formal request from the commission and will comment when that happens.
The eight-member Commission for Historical Statues in the United States Capitol voted unanimously last month to take down the Lee statute. Like every other state, Virginia has two representatives in the Statuary Hall Collection. The other is George Washington. Virginia picked Lee for one of its statues in 1909.
The panel has recommended replacing Lee with another yet-to-be named Virginian amid national discussions about removing controversial symbols.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia high school will no longer use a Confederate-related nickname, officials announced.
Douglas S. Freeman High School in Henrico County will drop the name “Rebels” based on the results of a community poll and a recommendation from a school committee that supported the change, news outlets reported Thursday.
Nearly two-thirds of the poll’s 1,500 respondents voted to change it, The Richmond Times-Dispatch said.
The nickname and the mascot were inspired by Douglas Southall Freeman, the Richmond journalist, historian and author that the school was named after, news outlets said. Freeman received a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Principal John Marshall said the name was not representative of the school’s goal to be “an inclusive, welcoming community” for everyone, according to an email sent to the school community that was obtained by news outlets.
“We want every member of our community to proudly cheer the name of our teams from the sidelines without wondering if they are hurting their classmates or betraying their identity,” Marshall said in the email.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia Supreme Court has granted a request from Gov. Ralph Northam to suspend judicial proceedings related to evictions for tenants who can’t pay rent.
The court ruled 4-3 on Friday to grant a moratorium on evictions through Sept. 7 as the state grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.
That will give the General Assembly and governor time to pass a rent relief package in a special session that is set to start later this month.
The high court instituted a moratorium in March, but allowed it to expire earlier this summer.
Northam requested another statewide moratorium in late July, noting that there had been 6,000 eviction hearings scheduled between July 20 and August 7. He also said there’s been “concerning increases” in cases in the Hampton Roads area and spikes in other parts of the state.
Photo: Alexandria PD
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Police in Virginia say that a rape suspect released from jail in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic went on to kill the woman who had accused him.
The Washington Post reports that Ibrahim E. Bouaichi was tracked down by authorities on Wednesday. But he shot himself and was in grave condition on Thursday.
Bouaichi was indicted last year on charges that included rape, strangulation and abduction. He was jailed without bond in Alexandria.
The woman testified against him in Alexandria District Court in December.
When the pandemic hit, Bouaichi’s lawyers argued that he should be freed awaiting trial because the virus endangered both inmates and their attorneys. He was released on $25,000 bond over the objections of a prosecutor.
Circuit Court Judge Nolan Dawkins released Bouaichi on the condition that he only leave his Maryland home to meet with his lawyers or pretrial services officials.
Alexandria police say that Bouaichi, 33, fatally shot the woman in late July.
Authorities said that federal marshals and Alexandria police spotted and pursued Bouaichi in Prince George’s County on Wednesday. He crashed his vehicle and apparently shot himself, authorities said.
Judge Dawkins retired in June. He did not respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment. Judges are often prohibited from commenting on pending cases.
Bouaichi’s attorneys, Manuel Leiva and Frank Salvato, said in a statement that they were “certainly saddened by the tragedy both families have suffered here.” The lawyers said they “were looking forward to trial. Unfortunately the pandemic continued the trial date by several months and we didn’t get the chance to put forth our case.”
Police said the woman was a native of Venezuela and did not have family in this country. The Washington Post reported that very little information about her was available. The Associated Press does not identify persons who may have been sexually assaulted.
NEWS RELEASE: (Richmond, Va.) — Today, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced that the COVID-19 data numbers that will be posted on Friday, August 7 will contain a significant increase due to a data backlog from earlier in the week.
Today’s data will indicate 2,015 new cases. This figure includes information that should have been reported on Wednesday and Thursday of this week as well as the regular numbers for Friday.
Late Thursday, VDH’s Office of Information Management, which helps manage VDH’s COVID-19 databases, identified and rectified the technical issue, which was a system performance configuration.
To follow the number of new cases by day of symptom onset, please refer to the graph, “Number of Cases by Date of Symptom Onset.”
(Liberty University photo)
A top House Republican lawmaker who serves on a music faculty advisory board at Liberty University says school President Jerry Falwell Jr should resign following the discovery of a suggestive photo. Congressman Mark Walker, a former pastor and the Vice chair of the House GOP said in a tweet yesterday that Falwell Jr’s ongoing behavior is appalling and while none of us are perfect, LU students, faculty, and alumni deserve better. Falwell Jr has since apologized for the photo that shows him with his pants unzipped standing next to a young woman during a party on his yacht while on vacation.