Portsmouth Police Chief Said To Have Conflict Of Interest In Statue Investigation; Moratorium Vote Delayed; Committee Rejects Bill; More

From the Virginia Mercury:

By Graham Moomaw

August 20, 2020

NEWS TO KNOW
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• Portsmouth City Manager Lydia Pettis Patton said she expected her city’s police department to drop its investigation into the Confederate statue incident and was unaware that felony charges were being prepared against Sen. Louise Lucas. Patton also claimed the city’s police chief acknowledged an unexplained conflict of interest in the matter.—Virginian-Pilot
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• A state Senate committee delayed a vote on an eviction moratorium bill that’s drawn strong opposition from landlords.—Associated Press

• In a “big victory for a coalition of business interests,” a Senate committee overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to require employers to provide two weeks of paid sick leave during public health emergencies.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Waste management workers in Virginia Beach refused to pick up the trash Wednesday after delays in being approved for pandemic hazard pay. “We shouldn’t be treated like trash,” said one worker.—Virginian-Pilot

• In a lengthy Q&A, UVA President Jim Ryan says pandemic-era disruption isn’t an “existential threat” to the institution’s future, but he’ll tell students not to return if he has to. “If things change with the virus, we’re going to have to change.”—Washington Post

• Three Radford University students were suspended for apparently hosting large gatherings in violation of the school’s COVID-19 precautions.—Roanoke Times

• The University of Lynchburg is moving almost all classes online for a week after five students tested positive.—News & Advance

• With the start of the school year approaching, K-12 school districts are beginning to report COVID-19 cases. Hanover County said two students tested positive. Louisa County reported a student and a staff member tested positive.—Richmond Times-Dispatch, Daily Progress

• After a surge of coronavirus cases earlier this summer caused Gov. Ralph Northam to order special social distancing rules for Hampton Roads, the region’s numbers are looking better.—Virginian-Pilot

• About a third of the inmates at a federal prison work camp near Petersburg have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a union representative for the prison staff.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Witnesses testified a former Rockbridge Regional Jail superintendent accepted a $20,000 bribe to give special treatment to an inmate jailed for crashing a car while driving home from a Washington and Lee University fraternity party. The crash killed a 21-year-old woman.—Roanoke Times

• Attorney General Mark Herring and his counterparts in two other states asked a federal judge to validate the Equal Rights Amendment and force it to be added to the U.S. Constitution.—Associated Press

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