State and National Government
A Virginia state senator is launching a bid to be the state’s next governor, which if successful would make her the nation’s first African-American woman to ever lead a state. Sen. Jennifer McClellan announced Thursday that she’s running for governor next year. She says she has the right skill set and track record to rebuild Virginia’s economy, safety nets and communities mid a coronavirus pandemic and civil unrest over police violence and systematic racism. In an interview with The Associated Press ahead of her formal announcement, she said she’s a proven problem solver and a “compassionate listener” who will work to build a more inclusive state.
Governor Northam is proposing that Virginia officially adopt Juneteenth as a paid state holiday. Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. Support expressed Tuesday ranged from the senior House of Delegates leader to music start Pharrell Williams. Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States; it is observed each year on June 19th, and like many states, Virginia marks it with a proclamation. Governor Northam says it should become an official holiday, as WFIR’s Evan Jones reports:
Governor Northam is proposing that Virginia officially adopt Juneteenth as a paid state holiday. Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. Virginia already recognizes Juneteenth through yearly proclamations, but not as an official holiday. It will celebrated this year on Friday.
Among those praising Northam at today’s announcement was Virginia native and music star Pharell Williams, who said Juneteenth deserves the same level of recognition in this country as July 4th. House Republican leaders say they support the proposal.
House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert issued the following statement: “I am proud to add my support to proposed legislation marking June 19th, Juneteenth, as an official state holiday. July 4th is the birthday of our nation, but Juneteenth is the day where it truly began to fulfill its promise of freedom for all. For the first time since enslaved Africans landed at Jamestown in 1619, the chains of bondage were finally cast off. The Republican Party was founded with the express goal of ending slavery, and it still celebrates the legacy of Abraham Lincoln to this day. As the greatest part of that legacy, Juneteenth is the day that the God-given gift of liberty for all Americans was finally proclaimed throughout the land, and it is deserving of its own special recognition and observance.”
Northam News Release: RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam today announced that he intends to mark Juneteenth as a permanent paid state holiday, starting by giving state employees a day off this Friday, June 19. Virginia has long marked Juneteenth by issuing a proclamation, but the date has not previously been considered a state holiday.
State regulators are extending a moratorium on utility service shutoffs through August. The State Corporation Commission says it allows the General Assembly time to address COVID-19’s economic impact on utility customers.
NEWS RELEASE: RICHMOND – The State Corporation Commission (SCC)econ has extended the moratorium on service disconnections for utility customers due to unpaid bills caused by the COVID-19 public health emergency. The SCC order extends the ban through August 31, 2020 and gives the General Assembly time to address the economic impact of the crisis on utility customers.
During the crisis period, electricity, natural gas, water and sewer utilities regulated by the SCC must offer extended payment plans with no late fees or reconnection charges to residential and small business customers whose unpaid bill amounts are the result of COVID-19 issues.
Reacting early to the crisis in mid-March, the SCC ordered a 60-day ban on service cut-offs. In a mid-May order, the ban was extended an additional 30 days through June 15.
In explaining the need for an additional extension, the SCC stated, “Our purpose since our original order on March 16th imposing a moratorium on service shut-offs has been to protect Virginia’s utility customers who, through no fault of their own, have been the victims of the devastating economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The Commission added, “While we have acted promptly throughout this crisis to protect customers unable to pay utility bills due to the COVID-19 crisis, the only truly sustainable solution is government action beyond utility regulation in the immediate short term and a restoration of economic health as soon as possible.”
On May 26, the SCC invited comments on whether the service cut-off moratorium should be continued and, if so, how to ensure that the costs of such an extension would not be shifted to other customers who may themselves be struggling to pay bills.
More than 300 comments were received. Commenters included 58 members of the General Assembly, the Governor of Virginia, and numerous utilities, organizations and citizens.
In the May 26 order, the Commission said, “The reality is that a moratorium on all service disconnections due to unpaid bills is not sustainable on an unlimited basis in the absence of programs to ensure that the growing costs of unpaid bills are not unfairly shifted to other customers.”
In approving the latest extension to August 31, the SCC said, “This additional extension will give the General Assembly and Governor time to address the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis on utility customers, an effort alluded to in the letter … from the 58 General Assembly members as well as several other commenters.” The Commission added, “We emphasize that utility regulation alone cannot adequately address what is a much broader socioeconomic catastrophe.”
The SCC will closely monitor progress on reducing bill arrearages and service cut-offs by requiring monthly reporting of key metrics, including data regarding trendlines and amounts of past due accounts, use of extended payment plans, trends of disconnection notices and disconnections for nonpayment, as well as monitoring relevant economic data.
In its latest order, the Commission wrote, “It is our fervent hope that the process of healing the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 crisis will continue. In particular, we hope that jobs and livelihoods will be fully restored … which includes the many Virginia small businesses which have incurred devastating damage.”
22 new confirmed or probable coronavirus cases have been attributed to the Roanoke Valley, according to the latest numbers released this morning by the Virginia Department of Health. State Health officials are reporting 15 new cases in Roanoke City, 3 in Roanoke County, and 4 in Botetourt County. There are no new coronavirus related deaths reported in the Roanoke Valley. Coronavirus numbers in Salem remain the same.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis was torn down along Richmond, Virginia’s famed Monument Avenue on Wednesday night by protesters.
The statue in the former capital of the Confederacy was toppled shortly before 11 p.m. and was on the ground in the middle of an intersection, news outlets reported.Richmond police were on the scene.
About 80 miles away, protesters in Portsmouth beheaded and then pulled down four statues that were part of a Confederate monument on Wednesday, according to media outlets.
Efforts to tear one of the statues down began around 8:20 p.m., but the rope they were using snapped, The Virginian-Pilot reported.
The crowd was frustrated by the Portsmouth City Council’s decision to put off moving the monument. They switched to throwing bricks from the post that held the plaque they had pulled down as they initially worked to bring down the statue.
The Pilot reports that they then started to dismantle the monument one piece at a time as a marching band played in the streets and other protesters danced.
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A flag tied to the monument was lit on fire, and the flames burned briefly at the base of one of the statues.
The actions come amid national protests over the death of George Floyd who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck.
A statue of Christopher Columbus in Richmond was torn down by protesters, set on fire and then submerged into a lake on Tuesday. News outlets reported the Columbus statue was toppled less than two hours after protesters gathered in the city’s Byrd Park chanting for the statue to be taken down.
The death of Floyd, who was black, has prompted similar Confederate monument removals around the nation. Some people say the tributes inappropriately glorify people who led a rebellion that sought to uphold slavery. Others say their removal amounts to erasing history.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam last week ordered the removal of an iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which is four blocks away from where the Davis statue stood. A judge on Monday issued an injunction preventing officials from removing the monuments for the next 10 days.
Rep. Morgan Griffith
Economic uncertainty after the COVID-19 pandemic, what should be done with Confederate Monuments in Virginia, and what can be done to address police brutality against law-abiding citizens. We dove into all those hot-button issues with Salem Republican Congressman Morgan Griffith this morning on The Roanoke Valley’s Morning News:
Governor Northam says he expects Virginia public schools to resume in-person classes when the next academic year begins, but it will be a phased-in reopening; some instruction will be in-person, but some will remain remote. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
Here is a portion of the governor’s Tuesday announcement:
Schools will have to provide six-foot distancing between desks and, in all likelihood, stagger schedules. Northam says daily screenings will be needed for students and staff, and older students will be encouraged, but not required, to wear face masks whenever possible. Each school system will have to submit a plan to the Department of Education before the phased-in reopenings are possible in that city or county.
It comes after Northam issued an executive order March 23rd that closed all public schools over COVID-19 concerns. The governor says all health metrics look positive, numbers that include the number of new cases, testing capacity and hospital beds available statewide.
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NEWS RELEASE: RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam today announced a phased approach that allows Virginia schools to slowly resume in-person classes for summer school and the coming academic year. The K-12 phased reopening plan was developed by the Office of the Secretary of Education, Virginia Department of Health, and the Virginia Department of Education and is informed by guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- Phase One: special education programs and child care for working families
- Phase Two: Phase One plus preschool through third grade students, English learners, and summer camps in school buildings
- Phase Three: all students may receive in-person instruction as can be accommodated with strict social distancing measures in place, which may require alternative schedules that blend in-person and remote learning for students
- Beyond Phase Three: divisions will resume “new-normal” operations under future guidance
- Daily health screenings of students and staff
- Providing remote learning exceptions and teleworking for students and staff who are at a higher risk of severe illness
- The use of cloth face coverings by staff when at least six feet physical distancing cannot be maintained
- Encouraging the use of face coverings in students, as developmentally appropriate, in settings where physical distancing cannot be maintained
(AP Photo/Steve Helber)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A judge in Richmond has issued an injunction preventing Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration from removing an iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee for 10 days.
The temporary injunction order issued Monday says the state is a party to a deed recorded in March 1890 in which it accepted the statue, pedestal and ground they sit on and agreed to “faithfully guard” and “affectionately protect” them.
It is in the public interest to await resolution of the case on the merits prior to removal of the statue, the order says.
The lawsuit was filed by William C. Gregory, who is described in the complaint as a descendant of two signatories to the deed. Named as defendants are Northam and the director of the Department of General Services, the agency tasked with handling the removal.
“(Gregory’s) family has taken pride for 130 years in this statue resting upon land belonging to his family and transferred to the Commonwealth in consideration of the Commonwealth contractually guaranteeing to perpetually care for and protect the Lee Monument,” the lawsuit says.
Northam’s spokeswoman, Alena Yarmosky, said in a statement that the governor’s administration is still reviewing the order.
“Governor Northam remains committed to removing this divisive symbol from Virginia’s capital city, and we’re confident in his authority to do so,” she said.
Northam last week ordered the statue of Lee taken down, citing the pain felt across the country over the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, after a white police officer pressed a knee into his neck.
Motivated by a bystander’s video of Floyd’s agony, demonstrators around the world have vowed to sustain a movement focused on addressing racial injustice and police brutality. In the American South, they’re also advocating for the swift removal of Confederate monuments, with or without the approval of authorities.
Opponents of the monuments say they celebrate white supremacy and gloss over the nation’s history of slavery. Others who advocate for keeping them say they have historical or artistic value and their removal amounts to erasing history.
Authorities have removed other symbols since protests erupted two weeks ago, including a massive obelisk in Birmingham, Alabama, and a bronze likeness of Admiral Raphael Semmes that had stood in a middle of a downtown street near the Mobile, Alabama, waterfront for 120 years. In Fredericksburg, Virginia, a 176-year-old slave auction block was removed from the city’s downtown, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy removed its statue from Old Town, Alexandria.
In other cases, protesters aren’t waiting: In Richmond over the weekend, protesters toppled a statue of Gen. Williams Carter Wickham in a park near downtown, and in Bristol, England, a statue of slave trader Edward Colston met a watery end.
Northam has said the enormous Lee statue would be removed “as soon as possible” and his administration would seek public input about its future.
Crews inspected the statue earlier Monday as part of the planning for its removal.
“The massive statue weighs approximately 12 tons, stands 21 feet tall, and has been on a 40-foot pedestal for 130 years. Meticulous planning is required to remove an aging monument of this size and scale safely,” the Department of General Services said in a statement.
Four other Confederate monuments dot Monument Avenue, a prestigious residential street in Richmond, which was also the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Richmond’s city council has affirmed unanimous support for removing the other four, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Together, they are among the nation’s most prominent collection of tributes to the Confederacy, and their planned removal has been widely praised by black leaders and activists.