Under current law, a parking pass hanging on your rear view mirror could be enough to get pulled over. (Credit: Michael Pope)

Do you have rosary beads dangling from your rear view mirror? Maybe a parking pass?

Police officers can use that as a pretext to stop you and ask to search your vehicle.

Michael Pope reports lawmakers may be about to change that.

Psychology Professor Bob Emery offers advice to couples on surviving and thriving during a pandemic. (Credit UVA)

The pandemic poses unique challenges to each of us – whether we’re single, part of a couple or family.

At the University of Virginia’s Center for Children, Families and the Law, psychologist Bob Emery is taking notes and offering advice.

Sandy Hausman spoke with him and filed this report.

Lawmakers are headed to Richmond to consider a long list of proposed criminal justice reforms.

As Michael Pope reports, one of those proposals would change how defendants are sentenced.

As some Virginia school districts prepare to re-open without students in the classroom at least one county is looking at renting out unused school buildings. And the city of Radford will limit gatherings as college students return for the fall semester.

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.

(Credit: Herndon Police Dept.)

Lawmakers are about to consider a proposal that would limit when police officers can serve warrants.

Michael Pope reports.

As a professor at UVA’s Darden School of Business, Roshni Raveendhran has studied productivity and working at home. (Credit: UVA)

With many of us now working from home, managers face a challenge – how to promote productivity when people aren’t in the office.

Some are turning to sophisticated software to track workers’ every move online.  But a business professor at the University of Virginia says that’s the wrong way to go.

Sandy Hausman spoke with her and filed this report.

Virginia is rolling out a coronavirus exposure app, the first of its kind in the country.

David Seidel explains how it works.

Protesters gather around the Lee Monument earlier this summer. (Credit: Mallory Noe-Payne)

A judge in Richmond has given state officials a victory and a blow in two court cases over the Lee statue on Monument Avenue.

The judge dismissed an earlier lawsuit Monday, while at the same time extended an injunction on a second suit.

Mallory Noe-Payne reports.

Election officials in Virginia are working to prepare for a flood of early voting. And there are accusations in one Virginia county of intimidation and harassment against teachers who want students back in the classroom.

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

More now from Fred Echols.

UVA Professor Emeritus Frederick Hayden and colleagues in Japan say a drug used to treat flu can also prevent it. (Credit: UVA)

Some public health experts worry that the arrival of flu season could be disastrous for hospitals already coping with COVID-19, but a professor at UVA’s School of Medicine says there’s reason to be hopeful.

Sandy Hausman tells why.

(Credit: Alan Graf)

Statues set in stone signify a sense of eternity.  But that view is changing rapidly as recent events demonstrate.

A Virginia Tech sociologist has been exploring how people in communities with Confederate statues relate to them today.

Robbie Harris spoke to her.

One of Virginia’s new gun laws has seen its first real world application. And a Virginia locality has found at least one benefit to the economic slowdown.

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.

In Virginia’s statehouse in Richmond,  a statue of Robert E. Lee was removed Thursday night.

And as Mallory Noe-Payne reports, a state panel voted unanimously Friday to recommend removal of a different statue of Lee, this one in the U.S. Capitol.

Virginia lawmakers are preparing to tackle criminal justice reform in an upcoming special session.

As Mallory Noe-Payne reports they heard hours of testimony Wednesday from law enforcement, activists, and the public.

There are many unanswered questions about when and how Virginia schools will reopen and how students will get there. And at least two local governments have declared that the pandemic relieves them of certain requirements under the Freedom of Information Act.

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.

More than 973,000 jobs in Virginia were spared through the Paycheck Protection Program, according to data released by the U.S. Treasury Department this week.

So what happens if businesses still cut their staff?

Cat Modlin-Jackson has this report.

(Credit: CDC)

An outbreak of COVID-19 at an ICE detention facility in Central Virginia has advocates worried.

More than 100 people detained there have now tested positive for the virus.

Officials say it’s the result of transferring COVID-positive people from other facilities. Mallory Noe-Payne has details.

Housing markets in Virginia are on the mend, but the road ahead is still unclear for renters struggling to recover from the economic devastation of COVID-19.

That’s one takeaway lawmakers heard at a Virginia Housing Commission meeting Wednesday.

Cat Modlin-Jackson has this report.

Housing advocates in Virginia are celebrating landmark anti-discrimination laws that took effect last week (July 1st).

One prohibits landlords from turning away renters based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

And, as Cat Modlin-Jackson found, another could help deconcentrate poverty and racial segregation.

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.

  People line up to be screened and tested for COVID-19 at a event held in Richmond by the public health department. (Credit Mallory Noe-Payne)

Experts agree widespread testing for coronavirus is key to prevent future surges of the virus.

In Virginia an effort is underway to make sure testing is reaching all parts of the state, including communities that may be harder hit by the virus.

Mallory Noe-Payne visited a testing event in Richmond and has this report.

  B. Frank Gupton is CEO of the Medicines for All Institute at VCU and Floyd D. Gottwald Jr. Chair in Pharmaceutical Engineering. (Credit Virginia Commonwealth University)

Making pharmaceuticals is a labor intensive job. So more than 70% of the medications Americans take are coming from China and India, where labor costs are low.

Now, however, Virginia Commonwealth University has set out to bring the process home as Sandy Hausman reports.

Courts are slowly reopening in Virginia, but should they continue collecting fines and fees during the downturn?

Michael Pope reports.

  Holiday Lake State Park in Appomattox.
(Credit: Virginia State Parks)

This weekend many campgrounds in Virginia’s state parks re-open.

Over the past two months day use in the park system has actually increased.

Mallory Noe-Payne has these tips on how to stay safe and healthy outdoors.

  At VCU’s medical center in Richmond, 40% of patients are now being seen via telemedicine. (Credit Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center)

COVID-19 remains a threat here in Virginia, but officials have told hospitals it’s okay to resume normal operations.

That won’t mean going back to the way things were three months ago.

As Sandy Hausman reports, medical care may never be the same.

Confronting the COVID crisis meant big changes for Virginia hospitals — new expenses and cancelation of elective procedures and tests.

Now, those medical centers are trying to recover even as they prepare for the future.

Sandy Hausman reports on their path to financial health.

  The PAP test brought a dramatic reduction in cases of cervical cancer. (Credit University of Virginia)

Fifty years ago, cervical cancer was one of this country’s most common diseases, but development of the pap test and a vaccine have dramatically cut the occurrence and toll it takes.

Now, however, experts say the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the number of women taking preventive action as Sandy Hausman reports.

(Credit: Virginia Dept. of Elections)

Tuesday is Election Day in many places across Virginia.

As Michael Pope reports, it’ll be an election unlike any other.

(Credit: CDC)

Congress is considering a bill that will spend billions of dollars helping set up a system of contact tracing.

And, as Michael Pope reports, a Virginia congressman is supporting the bill in the House.

Many congregations in Virginia are taking a cautious approach to restarting church services. And Arlington County is considering whether to make itself a test case for a new way of deciding close elections.

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.

Many of Virginia’s courts will resume hearing non-emergency cases on Monday. That includes eviction lawsuits.

With judges facing a backlog of cases, tenants and legal advocates are bracing for what’s to come.

Cat Modlin-Jackson has this report.

(Credit: CDC)

Most of Virginia will begin the process of reopening for business Friday, although with strict restrictions from the governor.

Michael Pope has this report about one Virginia sheriff who says he won’t cooperate with enforcement.

  Rod Parker tests asparagus. Behind him H-2A workers sort and pack asparagus after spending the morning in the field picking it. (Credit Pamela D’Angelo)

Virginia’s farms and seafood processors rely heavily on foreign workers.

But the federal visa system to get them is complicated and doesn’t always work, even when there’s not a global pandemic underway.

Pamela D’Angelo reports on the difficulty with H-2A visas.

Virginia’s farms and seafood processors rely heavily on foreign workers with thousands of visas issued each year.

But Chesapeake Bay seafood processors that pick crabmeat and shuck oysters are limited by a different federal visa system that has a history of problems and this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it worse.

Pamela D’Angelo reports on H-2B visas.

As businesses prepare to reopen on Friday, COVID-19 continues to infect Black and Latinx people at disproportionate rates.

Some say the plan is moving too fast and putting communities of color at risk in the process.

Cat Modlin-Jackson has the story.