Across Virginia
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Virginia’s attorney general has set up a hotline and online reporting form for victims of clergy sex abuse. The new reporting tools come in response to a grand jury report released in August documenting decades of sexual abuse of children and cover-up by priests and church leaders in Pennsylvania. Attorney General Mark Herring is now investigating whether sexual abuse of children may have occurred in Virginia and whether any church officials may have covered up or “abetted any such crimes.” The hotline and reporting form, virginiaclergyhotline.com , will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The toll-free hotline will allow people to report abuse anonymously and will be staffed by Virginia State Police investigators during regular business hours.
The company that operated a now-discontinued gasoline pipeline to Montvale says some people who live near it might hear loud noises as part of the decommissioning process. Colonial Pipeline officials say that process involves filling the line with nitrogen, and that sometimes involves a loud blowing sound. Colonial ceased operations of the spur from Richmond to Montvale in late September.
From the Colonial Pipeline website:
- Colonial has completed its final delivery on Line 25 and is in the process of decommissioning the line from service.
- Colonial will continue to maintain the decommissioned line, which runs underground from Columbia, Va., to Montvale, Va. – a distance of approximately 90 miles.
- Colonial announced in August of 2017 that the line would be taken out of service due to concerns over its long-term viability.
- Before decommissioning is complete, Colonial will purge the line of product and fill the line with an inert gas, nitrogen.
- Residents who live within a half mile of Line 25 will receive letters detailing the timing of this work and the potential for a loud blowing sound as excess nitrogen is vented from the line.
- Once the line is decommissioned, activities on the right of way that were prohibited while the line was in service will remain prohibited. This includes digging in the vicinity of the pipeline without calling 811, placing buildings on the right of way, and planting trees or large shrubs.
- Any excavation in the vicinity of the line requires a call to “811” before you dig. Pipeline markers will remain in place to designate the approximate location of the line.
- Normal maintenance activities, such as periodic inspections, aerial overflights, and mowing the right of way, will be ongoing to ensure the line’s continued safety.
- Landowners with questions about right of way activities may submit their questions to Line25@colonialpipeline.com.
Senator Tim Kaine continues to hold a comfortable lead in all statewide polls, and that helps him campaign for something else in next month’s elections — control of the House of Representatives. His campaign is running ads aimed at black and Hispanic voters as part of the effort to boost turnout in several Virginia Congressional districts Democrats hope to flip this year. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story:
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia voters have just over a week left to request an absentee ballot to complete by mail.The state doesn’t have early voting but allows absentee voting if you can’t make it to the polls on Election Day for a variety of reasons. The deadline to request an absentee ballot to be mailed to you is 5 p.m. Oct. 30. You can do so online or by contacting or visiting a registrar’s office.Absentee ballots must be returned to your local general registrar’s office by 7 p.m. on Election Day, which is Nov. 6. Voters can also complete an absentee ballot in person through Nov. 3. Qualifying reasons for absentee voting include pregnancy, a religious obligation or personal business or vacation outside where you live on Election Day.
As those big lottery jackpots keep growing, one ticket bought in our area is presumably a pretty good consolation prize — a $1 million winner. The Virginia Lottery reports it was a MegaMillions ticket purcased at the Whistle Stop along Route 40 east of Rocky Mount in Franklin County. And somebody bought a ticket at the Towne Square Kroger in Roanoke worth $10,000.
From the Virginia Lottery: More than 336,000 tickets bought in Virginia won prizes in the Friday, October 19, Mega Millions drawing. But no ticket in Virginia or anywhere else matched all six numbers to win the jackpot, so the jackpot for the Tuesday, October 23, drawing grows to a jaw-dropping $1.6 billion.
Two Virginia tickets each won $1 million in Friday’s drawing. Those tickets were bought at:
- Gum Spring BP, 911 Cross Country Road in Mineral
- Whistle Stop, 11729 Old Franklin Turnpike in Union Hall
Two Virginia tickets each won $20,000. They were bought at:
- Parham Pit Stop, 807 East Parham Road, Henrico
- 7-Eleven, 615 East Market Street, Leesburg
Five tickets bought in Virginia won $10,000 apiece. They were bought at:
- 7-Eleven, 14517 Jefferson Davis Highway, Woodbridge
- Rite Aid, 4720 Lee Highway, Arlington
- Sunrise Family Market, 4140 Lankford Highway, Exmore
- 7-Eleven, 1001 East Main Street, Richmond
- Kroger, 5050 Rutgers Street, Roanoke
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence has stumped in Virginia with three Republican congressional candidates ahead of midterm elections 2½ weeks away. He traveled to Richmond to rally Republican voters with Rep. Dave Brat, Ryan McAdams and Denver Riggleman. The candidates met Pence at Richmond’s international airport.
Pence tweeted a photo from a Saturday rally for McAdams, describing the longshot to unseat incumbent Democratic Rep. Don McEachin as a “strong conservative.”
He also rallied support for Brat and Riggelman. Brat is a two term incumbent in a closely watched race against ex-CIA operative Abigail Spanberger. Riggleman is trying to succeed retiring Rep. Tom Garrett in the 5th Congressional district.
Pence then headed to West Virginia to support state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in his bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — The new president of the University of Virginia has promised free tuition for students in families earning less than $80,000 a year. President James Ryan made the pledge Friday during his inauguration.
He said he envisions a community that “opens wide the door to opportunity” for first-generation, low- and middle-income students.
Ryan also pledged that students from Virginia families earning less than $30,000 will get both free tuition and free room and board.
Ryan did not give a precise timetable, saying “there is more work to be done … but we might as well get started.”
Ryan graduated from UVA’s law school in 1992 and spent 15 years as a UVA law professor before joining Harvard in 2013.
Current tuition for in-state students at UVA is about $13,700 a year.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia environmental regulators approved engineering plans for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline on Friday, a move that means the project has the state’s permission to begin construction.
Developers will now ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for authorization to start construction in Virginia, pipeline spokesman Aaron Ruby said. Work is already underway in West Virginia, where the natural gas pipeline begins, and in North Carolina.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality announced late Friday afternoon it had approved the project’s erosion and sediment control, stormwater management and karst protection plans, which outline engineering designs intended to protect water quality during and after construction.
The sign-off on the plans, which had been under review for over a year, means a water quality permit takes effect and the project has Virginia’s permission to start construction along the 300 miles it will cross in the state, the department said in a statement. The terrain it will cross includes steep slopes and hundreds of water bodies.
Environmental groups have argued the plans should not be approved, and they have filed legal challenges against a number of other permits, which have led to project delays.
Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Matthew Strickler acknowledged in a statement that the Atlantic Coast and similar Mountain Valley pipeline have “raised concerns.”
He said the plans had been carefully reviewed, modified and “intensified” before being approved.
“We remain dedicated to holding them to the highest environmental standards possible pursuant to state authorities,” Strickler said.
Ruby called the approvals a “major step forward.”
“Thousands of hardworking Virginians and local businesses across the state will soon be hard at work building this transformational project,” he said in a statement.
Richmond-based Dominion Energy is the lead developer of the pipeline, which supporters say will create jobs, lure new manufacturers to the area, lower energy costs and help utilities transition away from coal.
Opponents say it will degrade water quality, trample on property rights and commit the region to fossil fuels when it should be investing in renewable energy instead.
“We simply don’t need hundreds of miles of costly and environmentally destructive gas infrastructure to keep the lights on in Virginia, but sadly, this approval is a step toward marrying Virginia to a future of higher energy costs and volatile fossil fuels for years to come while Dominion Energy profits handsomely at our expense,” Lee Francis, deputy director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, said in a statement.
Developers have previously said they were aiming to have the pipeline in service during the fourth quarter of 2019. Ruby said Friday they are evaluating whether legal challenges that have led to halts in construction have had any long-term impact on that timeline.
Virginia is preparing to accept applications for people newly-eligible to receive health coverage under Medicaid expansion. The signup period will begin November 1st for coverage that will become effective January 1st. It will cover men and women between 19 and 64 who are not eligible for Medicare and who fall within certain income requirements.
From Governor Northam’s Office: Governor Ralph Northam today announced that beginning on November 1, 2018, state agencies will accept applications from Virginia adults newly eligible for health coverage under Medicaid expansion. “When both sides of the aisle came together earlier this year to pass Medicaid expansion, the Commonwealth set a realistic, aggressive timeline for implementation and I’m proud to report the remarkable progress we’re making on these goals in close coordination with our federal partners,” said Governor Northam. “Virginia will begin accepting applications for expanded health coverage on November 1. I encourage all Virginians to get acquainted with the new eligibility rules and learn how they and their family members qualify for access to quality health coverage.”
Eligible adults will begin receiving services starting January 1, 2019. The new coverage is available to men and women ages 19 through 64 who are not eligible for Medicare and who meet income requirements, which vary by family size. For example, a single adult with an annual income at or below $16,754 may be eligible for coverage. An adult in a three-person family with a total household annual income at or below $28,677 may be eligible.
More information about the new health coverage and eligibility rules is available at www.coverva.org. The website includes an eligibility screening tool to help individuals assess whether they may qualify for coverage. Visitors to the website can sign up to receive regular information through email and text about the new coverage and enrollment process. Information is also available by calling 1-855-242-8282. Individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired can call 1-888-221-1590.
The remains of Hurricane Michael may be long gone, but the after-effects continue for VDOT. Officials say well over 100 roads in the Lynchburg District alone remained closed Monday, most of them secondary roads in Pittsylvania, Halifax, Prince Edward and Charlotte Counties. Major highway closures include portions of US 58 in Halifax and Pittsylvania Counties. As WFIR’s Evan Jones reports, some of the closures may last months: