Welcome to Wednesday. The rest of the week should be warmer, but bundle up because it is cold this morning! Here are the top news stories of the day.
Women in academia report increased gender gap amid COVID-19 – Virginia Scope
By Katharine DeRosa
Capital News Service
RICHMOND, Va. – Political science professor Deirdre Condit put up a sheet as a makeshift door for her home office to maintain privacy when she started teaching from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Condit, who has taught at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond since 1994, knows what it’s like to juggle work and home life. She said that while the house is often thought of as a woman’s space, women tend to have less places designated for productivity. “Man caves” have existed in family life, Condit said, and women are beginning to claim spaces such as “she shacks” to cultivate home territory.
“It’s harder to build that separation,” Condit said.
The pandemic’s invisible toll: Experts see surge of mental health need for Black and Latino kids in Richmond – Richmond Times-Dispatch
by Sabrina Moreno
The five words were strung together in group chats on school-issued laptops. Emails. Homework assignments. Repeatedly, the monitoring system alerted administrators of the chilling digital trail Richmond Public Schools students were leaving behind in virtual learning.
“I want to kill myself.”
Then, came six words, flagged at least once.
“I have access to a gun.”
Rail advocates hope Virginia’s new authority will take ‘politics out of our rail policy’ – Virginia Mercury
by Wyatt Gordon
When former Gov. Doug Wilder sold off the state’s interest in hundreds of miles of track and rail right of way in the early 1990s, the move was applauded by the Republican-dominated legislature as a prudent divestment to help balance the annual budget.
Since then, though, the state has spent millions more on track improvements benefitting railroad corporations in exchange for every increase in passenger train service Virginia has sought. To avoid another such flash sale of Virginia’s rail infrastructure and to oversee an increasing focus on boosting passenger rail capacity to combat congestion, this March the General Assembly created the brand new Virginia Passenger Rail Authority.
Terry McAuliffe to seek a second term as Virginia governor – Washington Post
by Laura Vozzella
Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who mixed business-friendly politics with liberal social policies over four hard-charging years as Virginia governor, will announce Wednesday that he wants his old job back.
McAuliffe, 63, is scheduled to formally kick off his bid for a second term Wednesday morning in Richmond, according to four people with knowledge of his plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them.
Virginia Beach state Sen. Bill DeSteph sues over constraints of 2021 General Assembly session – Virginian Pilot
A GOP state senator in Virginia is suing over plans by Democratic leaders to limit public access to lawmakers’ offices during next year’s legislative session.
Virginia Beach Sen. Bill DeSteph announced his lawsuit Tuesday, saying plans to keep a state office building open only to credentialed staff and lawmakers during the legislative session is a violation of the First Amendment.
Warner pushes for $908 billion in COVID-19 relief, hears concerns of not enough tests while cases soar in SW Va. – Roanoke Times
byLuanne Rife
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner heard Tuesday that testing supplies and exam gloves could soon be in short supply in Southwest Virginia as surging cases of COVID-19 show no signs of slowing just as federal relief funds run out.
Warner hosted a virtual meeting with health officials from Southwest Virginia to let them know he is pushing for passage of a $908 billion COVID relief bill and to hear what is happening in the rural mountainous part of Virginia that is severely stressed by the disease.
Congress set to strip Confederate names from U.S. military bases, flouting Trump veto threat – Virginia Mercury
by Ariana Figueroa
WASHINGTON—Congress this week is expected to pass a massive defense policy bill that President Donald Trump has threatened to veto because it would remove the names of Confederate generals from military bases across the South.
Members of the House and Senate forged a bipartisan agreement to rename the 10 bases in the annual must-pass defense measure, and Republican leaders such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California have expressed their support. Bases in Louisiana, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama and Texas would be affected.
Terry McAuliffe wants to be governor again. Women: Not so fast. – Politico
By SABRINA RODRIGUEZ and MAYA KING
Terry McAuliffe has long signaled he wants his old job back as Virginia governor. But a slew of political groups focused on women and Black voters have a message before he jumps in the race: It’s not your time.
McAuliffe’s 2021 run — he is planning to announce on Wednesday, POLITICO confirmed — has rankled a number of groups across the commonwealth and country. They argue he shouldn’t be trying to reclaim the post he vacated three years ago when there are already two Black female candidates in the field— state Sen. Jennifer McClellan and state Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy.
More Links:
- To address lags in Chesterfield Schools salaries, it would cost $46 million over three years, study finds
- Officials prepping for COVID-19 wave
- Skaters lobby Charlottesville City Council
- Manassas School Board will not discuss returning students to school until January
- State plans to award VMI investigation contract to national law firm
