Tag: COVID-19
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Arlington Scraps Sidewalk Restrictions
by James A. Bacon Apparently, motorcycle riders and MAGA hat wearers are not the only people who resist complying with measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Yesterday the Arlington County Board repealed its ordinance restricting sidewalk gatherings after it was met “with defiance, confrontation and hostility,” reports the Washington Post. The Board…
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Assembly May Add Unpaid Power Bills to Yours
By Steve Haner The General Assembly is moving toward a second method of transferring money from electricity customers who can pay their bills to those who cannot. A Senate bill up today will allow Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power to simply add yet another “rider” to everybody’s monthly bill for their uncollected accounts receivable.…
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Ray of Hope in Virginia Senate
by Kerry Dougherty It’s not much. But it’s something. An anemic attempt to rein in some of the unfettered emergency powers that are being exercised by Virginia officials. I’m referring to the unanimous vote to pass SB5025 late last week by the Virginia Senate. This is one of the very few measures before the General Assembly…
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School Closings Reflect Ideology, Not Safety
by Hans Bader Schools in liberal northern Virginia and the state’s other metropolitan areas are currently educating students only online. In Virginia’s most conservative counties, students usually have access to some instruction in-person. In-person instruction is easier for elementary school students. They often have difficulty with remote learning, which can require mastery of electronic devices and concentrating…
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The Homeschool Surge
by James A. Bacon Home schooling has been on the rise in Virginia for many years. The number of homeschooled students reached nearly 45,000 in 2019; if homeschoolers were a school division, they would have comprised the seventh largest of Virginia’s 133 school divisions. Demographer Hamilton Lombard at the Demographics Research Group at the University…
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Is a COVID Surge Coming in October?
by Carol J. Bova Statewide, the R0 (R-naught) value for COVID-19 moved up to 1.004 because of surges in the Near Southwest and Northwest for the week ending August 22, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s latest COVID-19 Model Weekly Update. If the RO is above 1, it indicates the potential for exponential increases…
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When Online Learning Works
by James A. Bacon Trenell “Tre” Milana, a Richmond-area teen, has a number of learning disabilities including autism. His local school system tried mainstreaming him, but he couldn’t keep up with other students. Despite low grades, the system socially promoted him through the 6th grade. “With the processing delay, you would tell him something and…
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“Quarantine Leave” Bill Exempts State Employees
By Steve Haner Employees caught in this pandemic with no paid time off for health issues have been in a deep bind, and many of those with reasonable leave available have probably burned it all. It is one of several problems exacerbated by this government-led economic crash. Congress, in a bipartisan response supported by President…
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Vitamin D and COVID-19
by Carol J. Bova Researchers at the University of Chicago have found that Vitamin D deficiency is associated with a higher likelihood of contracting the coronavirus. In combination with other Vitamin D research, the results may point the way to a quick and inexpensive way to reduce COVID-19 deaths among African-Americans and Hispanics. David Meltzer,…
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Reporting in on the Virtual Learning Experience
By Dick Hall-Sizemore I am taking a course this fall from J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. Virtual, of course. The experience leaves a lot to be desired. First of all, I need to stipulate that I have little ground on which to complain because I do not have to pay any tuition. The state has…
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Job Recovery Is Not the Special Session’s Focus
By Steve Haner With the Virginia General Assembly’s “Cops and COVID” special session moving into its third week, it seems likely to impede rather than assist the state’s economic recovery from the pandemic. It may also greatly expand COVID-19’s financial burdens in the years to come. The highly publicized issues of unpaid rents and utility…
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Football Is Played Outdoors. Open the Stadiums.
by Kerry Dougherty Had this been an ordinary Saturday afternoon in September, I would have scanned the “crowd” at the Marshall v Eastern Kentucky football game and shaken my head. Attendance was sparse. People were seated in knots of small groups throughout the stands. Some were solo. It looked as if the Joan C. Edwards…
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It Matters Where You Seek COVID Data
By Steve Haner Even when there is no intent to twist the data, it still matters where you look if you want to see Virginia’s status in dealing with Our Permanent Pandemic. The chart on the daily death count, for example, looks dramatically different on the Virginia Department of Health’s website when compared to the…
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Also Chillin’
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Like Jim, I am taking a week off and chilling out. Except I am in Sandbridge (Virginia Beach) with my wife, our daughter and her family. (Those are the grandkids in the photo.) Sandbridge is pretty isolated from the rest of Virginia Beach. That is what I like about it. We have…
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COVID-19’s Long-Term Changes in Virginia
by DJ Rippert In the long run… Over the past eight months COVID-19 has dramatically impacted the world, the United States and Virginia. One hundred and twenty thousand cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Virginia Over 2,500 people have died from COVID-19 . The cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to grow in the Old…