AdvertisementBy The Virginian-PilotOct 18, 2020 at 9:00 amIf you’re watching the coronavirus pandemic by the numbers for signs of improvement, you could get whiplash from one week to the next.Coming off a brief period in which in new infections, Virginia’s caseload appeared to be receding while other states across the country were headed down the opposite path.AdvertisementNow, all but the northern part of the state is having an upward trajectory, based on data collected by the Virginia Department of Health. In Hampton Roads, slow growth was happening in the Hampton, Peninsula and Western...…AdvertisementBy The Virginian-PilotOct 18, 2020 at 9:00 amIf you’re watching the coronavirus pandemic by the numbers for signs of improvement, you could get whiplash from one week to the next.Coming off a brief period in which in new infections, Virginia’s caseload appeared to be receding while other states across the country were headed down the opposite path.AdvertisementNow, all but the northern part of the state is having an upward trajectory, based on data collected by the Virginia Department of Health. In Hampton Roads, slow growth was happening in the Hampton, Peninsula and Western...WW…

AdvertisementBy Associated PressMay 02, 2020 at 8:07 pmRALEIGH, N.C. — A state trooper’s decision to stop a driver who flashed an obscene hand gesture wasn’t justified, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Friday, overturning lower court decisions.The justices ruled unanimously that the evidence showed Trooper Paul Stevens lacked reasonable suspicion to pull over Shawn Patrick Ellis for disorderly conduct on a Stanly County road in January 2017.AdvertisementStevens and a local police officer had stopped to help a stranded motorist out of gas a few days after a snowstorm when Stevens...…AdvertisementBy Associated PressMay 02, 2020 at 8:07 pmRALEIGH, N.C. — A state trooper’s decision to stop a driver who flashed an obscene hand gesture wasn’t justified, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Friday, overturning lower court decisions.The justices ruled unanimously that the evidence showed Trooper Paul Stevens lacked reasonable suspicion to pull over Shawn Patrick Ellis for disorderly conduct on a Stanly County road in January 2017.AdvertisementStevens and a local police officer had stopped to help a stranded motorist out of gas a few days after a snowstorm when Stevens...WW…

AdvertisementBy Guest ColumnistSep 26, 2020 at 6:05 pmThe 1619 Project is gaining more traction in the media since its unveiling last year in the New York Times magazine. Its premise, “to reframe American history by regarding 1619 as our nation’s birth year.” The question is “What would it mean not to seek a ‘new’ history for our country but to acknowledge the already existing history pre-1619?” Why is there talk of reframing history for this country? If anyone has the right to do so it would be the Native Americans of the East Coast of Virginia. The formal beginning of the unborn United...…AdvertisementBy Guest ColumnistSep 26, 2020 at 6:05 pmThe 1619 Project is gaining more traction in the media since its unveiling last year in the New York Times magazine. Its premise, “to reframe American history by regarding 1619 as our nation’s birth year.” The question is “What would it mean not to seek a ‘new’ history for our country but to acknowledge the already existing history pre-1619?” Why is there talk of reframing history for this country? If anyone has the right to do so it would be the Native Americans of the East Coast of Virginia. The formal beginning of the unborn United...WW…

AdvertisementBy Associated PressFeb 10, 2021 at 1:05 pmRICHMOND — Virginia needs sweeping changes to its schools, housing laws, criminal justice system and other areas of policy to remedy the legacy of centuries of government-sanctioned racial oppression, according to a new report the state released Wednesday.It’s the latest effort of a commission empaneled by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, which in 2019 with an examination of racist laws that — though long unenforced — had remained on the books.AdvertisementWednesday’s report, provided to The Associated Press ahead of its public release,...…AdvertisementBy Associated PressFeb 10, 2021 at 1:05 pmRICHMOND — Virginia needs sweeping changes to its schools, housing laws, criminal justice system and other areas of policy to remedy the legacy of centuries of government-sanctioned racial oppression, according to a new report the state released Wednesday.It’s the latest effort of a commission empaneled by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, which in 2019 with an examination of racist laws that — though long unenforced — had remained on the books.AdvertisementWednesday’s report, provided to The Associated Press ahead of its public release,...WW…

By Jan 21, 2021 at 11:41 amAdvertisementNorfolk — Norfolk’s segregation isn’t hard to see.The city is close to half Black and half white, according to the most recent Census data.But there aren’t a lot of neighborhoods where you see that kind of split. By and large, there are Black neighborhoods and there are white neighborhoods, especially in the older core of Norfolk.Decisions made 60, 80 or 100 years ago segregated neighborhoods by race and deprived Black residents of economic and educational resources afforded to those in white neighborhoods.Many Black residents were left trapped in...…By Jan 21, 2021 at 11:41 amAdvertisementNorfolk — Norfolk’s segregation isn’t hard to see.The city is close to half Black and half white, according to the most recent Census data.But there aren’t a lot of neighborhoods where you see that kind of split. By and large, there are Black neighborhoods and there are white neighborhoods, especially in the older core of Norfolk.Decisions made 60, 80 or 100 years ago segregated neighborhoods by race and deprived Black residents of economic and educational resources afforded to those in white neighborhoods.Many Black residents were left trapped in...WW…

AdvertisementBy The Virginian-PilotSep 26, 2020 at 11:24 amNorfolk — Voters already have started deciding whether to approve a new waterfront casino downtown.If approved, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and its partners expect to start construction on the lot next to Harbor Park in 2021 and wrap up sometime in 2023.AdvertisementBut in the meantime, could the tribe host gambling on the lot — perhaps in a tent or trailer — even as the $500 million project is going up?That was a question raised by one Norfolk planning commissioner earlier this month, during a discussion about adding a new...…AdvertisementBy The Virginian-PilotSep 26, 2020 at 11:24 amNorfolk — Voters already have started deciding whether to approve a new waterfront casino downtown.If approved, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and its partners expect to start construction on the lot next to Harbor Park in 2021 and wrap up sometime in 2023.AdvertisementBut in the meantime, could the tribe host gambling on the lot — perhaps in a tent or trailer — even as the $500 million project is going up?That was a question raised by one Norfolk planning commissioner earlier this month, during a discussion about adding a new...WW…

AdvertisementBy The New York TimesOct 01, 2020 at 11:35 amWhen the nation looks back on the presidential debate we witnessed this week, do you think it’ll be remembered as:— A moment that will live on in history, second in historical import only to Lincoln-Douglas.Advertisement— That thing where Joe Biden called Donald Trump “Putin’s puppy.”— The worst television programming since “I Wanna Marry Harry.”AdvertisementReally, you have to go with the puppy quote. Particularly since it was about the nicest thing either of them said.Trump had painted the debate as a virtual death sentence for...…AdvertisementBy The New York TimesOct 01, 2020 at 11:35 amWhen the nation looks back on the presidential debate we witnessed this week, do you think it’ll be remembered as:— A moment that will live on in history, second in historical import only to Lincoln-Douglas.Advertisement— That thing where Joe Biden called Donald Trump “Putin’s puppy.”— The worst television programming since “I Wanna Marry Harry.”AdvertisementReally, you have to go with the puppy quote. Particularly since it was about the nicest thing either of them said.Trump had painted the debate as a virtual death sentence for...WW…

AdvertisementBy Associated PressOct 13, 2020 at 12:24 pmGRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Members of anti-government paramilitary groups discussed kidnapping Gov. Ralph Northam during a June meeting, an FBI agent testified Tuesday during a court hearing in Michigan.Special Agent Richard Trask also revealed more detail about investigators' use of confidential informants, undercover agents and encrypted communication to arrest and charge six men last week with plotting to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.AdvertisementAt an unrelated press conference Tuesday in Richmond, Northam told...…AdvertisementBy Associated PressOct 13, 2020 at 12:24 pmGRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Members of anti-government paramilitary groups discussed kidnapping Gov. Ralph Northam during a June meeting, an FBI agent testified Tuesday during a court hearing in Michigan.Special Agent Richard Trask also revealed more detail about investigators' use of confidential informants, undercover agents and encrypted communication to arrest and charge six men last week with plotting to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.AdvertisementAt an unrelated press conference Tuesday in Richmond, Northam told...WW…

AdvertisementBy The Virginian-PilotNov 28, 2020 at 12:03 pmVirginia Beach — Ricky Johnson was on the fast track to living on the streets for Thanksgiving, during the worst part of the worst pandemic in more than a century.Johnson, a 67-year-old Vietnam vet, has lived in his mobile home for seven years and never had a problem making rent. Until the coronavirus. He still gets his Army pension and disability money, and so does Mike, his brother and roommate. But people are afraid of letting strangers into their home, so the odd jobs Ricky Johnson used to do to make ends meet, such as house...…AdvertisementBy The Virginian-PilotNov 28, 2020 at 12:03 pmVirginia Beach — Ricky Johnson was on the fast track to living on the streets for Thanksgiving, during the worst part of the worst pandemic in more than a century.Johnson, a 67-year-old Vietnam vet, has lived in his mobile home for seven years and never had a problem making rent. Until the coronavirus. He still gets his Army pension and disability money, and so does Mike, his brother and roommate. But people are afraid of letting strangers into their home, so the odd jobs Ricky Johnson used to do to make ends meet, such as house...WW…

AdvertisementBy The Virginian-PilotMay 17, 2020 at 1:18 pmEverything in Norfolk was so dull, Annie Donahoe wrote. The virus had closed almost everything.Schools and businesses were shut, she told her brother, Arthur. Movie theaters were shuttered. The teenager wasn’t even working but hoped her shop would open the next week.AdvertisementThe 16-year-old was listing life in quarantine in 1918.Sound familiar?AdvertisementBobby Clifton of Virginia Beach recently found the three-page letter his mother had written during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...…AdvertisementBy The Virginian-PilotMay 17, 2020 at 1:18 pmEverything in Norfolk was so dull, Annie Donahoe wrote. The virus had closed almost everything.Schools and businesses were shut, she told her brother, Arthur. Movie theaters were shuttered. The teenager wasn’t even working but hoped her shop would open the next week.AdvertisementThe 16-year-old was listing life in quarantine in 1918.Sound familiar?AdvertisementBobby Clifton of Virginia Beach recently found the three-page letter his mother had written during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...WW…