The ongoing national debate over policing is raising new questions in Virginia about local government spending on public safety.

Michael Pope reports.

Virginia lawmakers in both parties say they’re frustrated policing reform efforts have stalled on Capitol Hill.

Matt Laslo reports that besides the finger pointing, lawmakers still think a deal can be reached.

The City of Danville is making plans to accommodate an increase in air travel if it gets a casino. And an iconic landmark in Staunton will soon have a new name.

Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link.

More now from Fred Echols.

DeShanta Hairston at her bookstore in Martinsville. (Credit: Cat Modlin-Jackson)

As people across the world took to the streets to declare that Black Lives Matter, the owner of a small bookstore in Martinsville shared a message that rocked the internet.

Cat Modlin-Jackson has the story.

Virginia’s Department of Health has reversed course, announcing it will release more data on COVID-19 outbreaks at long term care facilities.

Mallory Noe-Payne has more.

Click here for the data

Protesters gather around the Lee Monument (Credit: Mallory Noe-Payne)

Virginians waiting for the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond to come down will have to wait a while longer.

As Mallory Noe-Payne reports, a judge extended an injunction Thursday barring the state from removing the statue.

Last week, Virginia’s Department of Health released a backlog of tens of thousands of COVID-19 test results. This week, it provided more race and ethnicity data.

Trying to communicate state data on the disease to the public every day is a formidable task.

To better understand recent data dumps, tweaks and changes the state is managing, Pamela D’Angelo talked with the woman behind the numbers.

When the Appalachian Trail asked hikers to leave the trail because of Covid-19 not all of them were willing and able to comply. And technological advances are leading to questions about where some new models of bicycles should be allowed.

Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link.

More now from Fred Echols.

According to the Virginia Department of Education more than 40% of preschools and daycares in Virginia are still open. And yet a tiny percentage of parents have opted to use them.

That’s the finding of a recent survey by Voices for Virginia’s Children.

Mallory Noe-Payne reports

On Saturday, Republican leaders in the Fifth Congressional District are holding a convention to nominate a candidate.  And it could knock Representative Denver Riggleman out of his job.

Correspondent Matt Laslo has this story on how same-sex marriage and privacy issues are imperiling the first term Congressman.

  Qasim Rashid (left) and Rep. Rob Wittman speak at the end of Monday’s march.
(Credit Pamela D’Angelo)

On Monday evening in the tiny rural town of Montross on the Northern Neck, Republican Congressman Rob Wittman marched with about 100 of his constituents in a peaceful protest of racism and honoring George Floyd.

Pamela D’Angelo was there.

Virginia has been dramatically underreporting the number of Hispanic workers collecting unemployment benefits.

As Michael Pope reports, the corrected data shows the economic crisis has hit the Hispanic community particularly hard.

Protesters surround the Lee monument in Richmond. (Credit: Mallory Noe-Payne)

The details and timeline still need to be ironed out, but Governor Ralph Northam made clear today the Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond will come down.

Northam says he’s directed the Department of General Services to remove the state-owned statue as soon as possible.

Mallory Noe-Payne reports.

  Protesters march through Richmond Friday night.
(Credit Mallory Noe-Payne)

Police swarmed Richmond Sunday night, forcefully enforcing an 8 p.m. curfew using tear gas and armored vehicles. They arrested dozens of protestors.

It was the latest in a long weekend of anger and frustration over the killing of black men and women by the police.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has declared a state of emergency, and Richmond’s curfew is in place through the middle of this week.

Reporter Mallory Noe-Payne has this look at how a weekend of demonstrations across the state unfolded.

If schools in Virginia reopen this August it’ll be up to local leaders to make sure students can be brought back safely. And a plan to build wind turbines on a ridge in Botetourt County is generating increased opposition.

Those have been among the most read stories over the past week at the at the Virginia Public Access Project’s Va. News link.

More now from Fred Echols.

(Credit: Mallory Noe-Payne)

Starting this weekend, 39 CVS pharmacies in Virginia are now offering self-swab coronavirus testing at their drive through windows.

Reporter Mallory Noe-Payne tried it out and has this story about the experience.

Click here for a list of testing locations

(Credit: CDC)

Since the Virginia Department of Health began reporting the ethnic breakdown of coronavirus cases, data has shown a consistently disproportionate hit in Latinx communities.

As Cat Modlin-Jackson found, there’s more to the impact than what the numbers show.

For 33 years, Diane Woolard headed the Virginia Department of Health team that watched for emerging diseases.

Now, after a year of retirement, she’s back lending a hand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pamela D’Angelo reports.