State and National Government
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A federal freeze on most evictions enacted last year is scheduled to expire Saturday [today], after President Joe Biden’s administration extended the original date by a month. The moratorium, put in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September, was the only tool keeping millions of tenants in their homes. Many of them lost jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and had fallen months behind on their rent.
Landlords successfully challenged the order in court, arguing they also had bills to pay. They pointed out that tenants could access nearly $47 billion in federal money set aside to help pay rents and related expenses.
Advocates for tenants said the distribution of the money had been slow and that more time was needed to distribute it and repay landlords. Without an extension, they feared a spike in evictions and lawsuits seeking to boot out tenants who were behind on their rents.
Virginia’s Rent Relief Program helps tenants suffering financial hardship from the pandemic. Fairfax and Chesterfield Counties administer their own programs. As of July 14, more than $308 million had been paid out statewide to support more than 48,000 households, according to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Virginia and its local governments will ultimately have access to about $1 billion in funds to help renters. The state has launched an awareness campaign, while legal aid attorneys and others are offering to help tenants navigate the application process.
The state is also requiring courts to grant a 60-day continuance for an eviction proceeding when a tenant can demonstrate that their failure to pay was due to the effects of COVID-19. That protection expires at the end of September.
AP/John Minchillo
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the pretrial detention of a former police officer from Virginia who is accused of ordering guns after he was charged with participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper agreed Wednesday to keep Thomas Robertson jailed, ruling the former Rocky Mount police officer violated terms of his pretrial release by possessing firearms.
The judge rejected Robertson’s suggestion that 34 guns he ordered before June 29, when FBI agents searched his home, are simply World War II collectables. A government inventory of the guns shows that many of them are recent vintage military-style assault weapons, including three M4 shotguns, Cooper said.
A gun dealer in Roanoke, Virginia, told the FBI that Robertson had 34 guns waiting for him to pick up and that he had recently visited the store to handle them. “Here, a reasonable person could draw the inference that Robertson acted with consciousness of guilt in ordering firearms and ammunition for delivery to the gun dealer. It appears that Robertson may have attached the label ‘Wedding Photos’ to a Venmo transaction that was actually for ammunition, suggesting an effort to avoid detection,” the judge wrote.
The town of Rocky Mount fired Robertson and a second officer, Jacob Fracker, accused of storming the Capitol. Robertson has pleaded not guilty to a charge of obstructing an official proceeding. Robertson was freed after his initial arrest but arrested again July 7 after prosecutors urged the judge to revoke his pretrial release.
The judge noted that Robertson is not accused of engaging in any violence on Jan. 6 but said the “strong weight of the evidence” shows he participated in the Capitol riot. “Since that incident, both before and after his indictment, Robertson has expressed pride in his role and enthusiasm for the prospect of future political violence,” Cooper wrote.
(note: Robertson and Fracker have been offered an undisclosed plea deal they have until Aug. 11 to accept)
Governor Northam plans to use more than $862 million in federal COVID relief funding to replenish Virginia’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, which took a big hit paying benefits during the pandemic. Northam also proposes another $147 million for upgrades and improvements to help the Virginia Employment Commission better handle unemployment claims. By many measures, Virginia was at or near the bottom of all states in the length of time to process claims requiring adjudication. And a state agency recently reported the commission is still not responding to the most of the calls coming in.
Republican leaders in the General Assembly say they are being entirely excluded from the process of determining how Virginia should allocate more than $4 billion in federal COVID relief money coming to Virginia.. State lawmakers will decide where that money should go in a special session that begins Monday. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
Rep. Ben Cline. Ian Price photo
Over the past decade the number of veteran-owned businesses has dropped by more than 20 percent. So said 6th District Republican Congressman Ben Cline live in studio this morning. Last week he introduced the “Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of 2021,” which would allow qualified military veterans with solid business plans to access GI Bill grants for their start-up companies. Hear much more from Congressman Ben Cline on this and other topics, on the link below; watch it on our Facebook.
99 days — that is now the time remaining before Virginia selects its next governor, and it is already clear that the campaign funding and results have a national following. The money raised so far by the major party campaigns already tells part of the story, more than $40 million through June, way ahead of any previous campaign for Virginia governor — and a lot of it from out of state. Virginia Tech professor and WFIR Political Analyst Bob Denton says that’s because the parties will look the election results here for possible clues to next year’s nationwide congressional races. He spoke with WFIR’s Evan Jones:
WFIR/Evan Jones
State transportation officials are considering a new passenger rail route that would link Roanoke and the New River Valley with Richmond and Hampton Roads. This is separate and apart from plans to expand Roanoke Amtrak service to two round-trip trains a day, trains connecting the region with Washington and the Northeast Corridor. For starters, the Department of Rail and Transportation has set up an on-line survey. Click here to answer the survey.
One of the General Assembly’s Republican leaders wasted no time criticizing the COVID-related guidance issued to schools across Virginia. It recommends that all students and staff in elementary schools wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert says that guidance is inconsistent with science, it passes the buck to local school systems, and it will lead to widespread confusion. Gilbert says there is “nothing to indicate that requiring an eight-year-old to wear a mask .. will substantially reduce the transmission of COVID.”
GILBERT STATEMENT: “Governor Northam failed Virginians throughout the pandemic, and this new guidance is just another example. It is inconsistent with science, passes the buck to local school divisions, will spark mass confusion, and will make it more difficult as our students return to the classroom this fall. It’s an especially cruel requirement for young children, and will only make it more difficult for our teachers to inspire a love of learning in students.
“To be clear, I urge Virginians to get vaccinated if at all possible, so we can continue to move past this disease, keep our economy open, and return to normal. But there’s nothing to indicate that requiring an eight-year-old to wear a mask while taking a math test will substantially reduce the transmission of COVID, or any new variant that is emerging.
“At the upcoming General Assembly special session, Republicans will once again push our Democratic colleagues to take responsibility and take legislative action against any kind of mask mandate in our schools.”
We are not even into August yet, but the two major-party candidates for Virginia governor have already raised more than $43 million for their campaigns, making it all but certain that this year’s race will far and away be the most expensive ever. Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s campaign reports raising more than $23 million through last month, Republican Glenn Youngkin just under $20 million, and both are way ahead of any previous campaign for governor at this point. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
Virginia’s DMV is returning closer to normal in another way today as driver skills testing goes back on the road at more locations. Until last year, if you took the driver skills test as an adult, you probably were on the road as the examiner sat in the vehicle next to you. COVID changed that to the examiner standing outside the vehicle in a closed parking lot and issuing instructions to you through the open window. But as of today, more DMV centers are returning to the road, now including Bedford, Rocky Mount, Lexington and Pulaski. For now, however, Roanoke and Lynchburg testing remains in parking lots. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more: