N. Virginia COVID-19 Cases Trending Down, Westmoreland County Cases Surge, New Richmond Police Chief’s Vision For The Department; More

From the Virginia Mercury:

By Graham Moomaw

July 14, 2020

NEWS TO KNOW
Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere.

• Virginia Tech is blasting a Trump administration policy that might force international students to go home if their campuses don’t open in the fall. Southwest Virginia Congressman Morgan Griffith, a Republican, is defending it.—Roanoke Times

• Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker said UVA’s plan to bring students back to campus grounds is a “recipe for disaster.”—Daily Progress

• As coronavirus cases spike elsewhere, numbers in Northern Virginia are “hovering at the lowest point in more than three months."—Washington Post

• Virus cases in the Northern Neck county of Westmoreland are surging, driven by two outbreaks, though the local health officials won’t say where they happened.—Free Lance-Star

• Del. Hala Ayala, D-Prince William, is running for lieutenant governor.—Washington Post

• Richmond’s new police chief, the third since May, laid out his vision for the department.—NBC12

• A Fairfax police officer facing charges after firing his Taser at a Black man who didn’t appear to pose a threat failed to turn in his body camera footage of the incident.—Washington Post

• Eleven commonwealth’s attorneys have pledged their support for “meaningful reforms” in criminal justice and policing.—WTOP

• Two inmates, including a convicted killer, allegedly choked a guard unconscious and escaped from Bon Air Juvenile Correction Center in Chesterfield, the first escape from the facility in 20 years.—WTVR

• An immigration attorney is suing over a Prince William jail’s continued cooperation with ICE after local officials voted to end an 11-year partnership with the agency.—Prince William Times

• A descendant of Confederate cavalry commander J.E.B Stuart wants the statue that used to be on Monument Avenue moved to his birthplace in Patrick County.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• The president of the Danville Historical Society resigned after his Facebook account posted a racist screed against Richmond’s “Rumors of War” statue. He claims someone else was using his phone.—Danville Register & Bee

• Two apparent suicides have taken place within the past five days at a Hanover shooting range.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Dog the Bounty Hunter was searching for someone in Central Virginia.—CBS19

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