Tag: Amanda Chase

Categories
News

In brief: Vaccines for the frontline, Wade for City Council, and more

PC: Eze Amos

Vaccine scene

Charlottesville Fire Department Captain Lance Blakey was the first to receive a coronavirus vaccine at the Blue Ridge Health District’s new vaccination facility in the Kmart parking lot last week. The city continues to move through phase 1A of vaccinations, which includes doctors, nurses, EMTs, pharmacists, social workers, and other frontline health care personnel. As of Tuesday morning, 9.2 million doses of the vaccine had been distributed in the U.S. In Virginia, 191,000 people have received their first shot, and 15,000 of those people have also gotten a second shot, which is administered around a month after the first. Virginia ranks 36th out of 50 states in the percent of the population that has been vaccinated, according to The New York Times. So far, 3,893 Albemarle County residents have been vaccinated, and 3,643 Charlottesville City residents have been vaccinated.

Freshman lawmaker Bob Good is facing calls to resign after voting to contest the 2020 presidential election. PC: Publicity photo

Off to a no-Good start

That was fast: Bob Good has been in congress for less than two weeks, and he’s already facing calls to resign. The Republican was one of the members of the House of Representatives who voted last week to formally contest the results of the 2020 presidential election in six states. That vote came on the heels of Wednesday’s deadly attack on the Capitol—later, when Democrats began the process of impeaching President Trump for his role in the insurrection, Good released a statement calling the effort “destabilizing and offensive.”

Indivisible Charlottesville held a rally outside the county office building on Friday, calling for Good to step down after his vote to contest the election. And last week, the editorial board at the Danville Register & Bee penned an op-ed to the same effect. “We hope you have taken time to watch the video of how Wednesday unfolded,” the board writes. “We hope guilt has seared a hole in your soul.”

_________________

Quote of the week

“All of the people surprised by the events of yesterday live
outside of Charlottesville. I promise you, we knew.“

—Activist Don Gathers in a tweet about the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol

__________________

In brief

Home schooling

The Charlottesville school board voted last week to postpone in-person classes until at least March 8. Earlier in the winter, the district had hoped to return to in-person learning as early as January 19, but moved the start date back as local COVID cases continue to rise. Albemarle’s school board will meet this week to make a decision on how to handle the next few weeks.

Chased out?

Virginia state Senator and 2021 gubernatorial candidate Amanda Chase was among the seditionists on the scene at the Capitol attack last week. Soon after, the Virginia Senate’s Democratic Caucus called on Chase to resign, saying she “galvanized domestic terrorists.” Many Republicans are sick of Chase, too—former Republican representative Barbara Comstock was among a handful who called on the Virginia General Assembly to expel the lawless lawmaker.

Virginia state Senator Amanda Chase joined the march to the U.S. Capitol that resulted in a riot last week. PC: Publicity photo

Vaccines for inmates

Virginia announced last week that people in state prisons and local jails would be included in Phase 1B of COVID vaccinations. The decision was praised by justice reform advocates who have watched with horror as correctional facilities around the nation have become COVID hot spots. Phase 1b also includes people aged 75 or older and frontline workers like firefighters and K-12 teachers.

Wading in

Charlottesville City School Board member Juandiego Wade announced that he’s running for City Council this year. Wade, a school board member since 2006, was awarded the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Paul Goodloe McIntire Citizenship Award in 2019. Certainly, it takes a person with real character to run for council after watching how city government has worked for the last few years.

Categories
News

In brief: Turkey time, planner peace out, and more

Volunteers hand out birds at the We Code, Too turkey drive on Saturday. PC: Zack Wajsgras

Turkey time

Community is hard to come by these days, especially as we’re all hunkering down for a long winter indoors. But at the Jefferson School on Saturday, the community put on an impressive show. During the annual We Code, Too turkey drive, 200 birds were handed out to those in need ahead of the holiday. Some of the turkeys were contributed by retailers, and many more were purchased using money from individual donations. Cars snaked through the parking lot, as recipients remained socially distant during distribution. It’s the seventh year in a row that the drive has taken place, proving that even in difficult times, some things remain constant.

Planner says peace out 

Charlottesville city government’s staffing woes continue. On November 4, the city announced that Parag Agrawal had been hired as the Director of Neighborhood Development Services. Agrawal even made an introductory appearance at a press conference the next day. But less than two weeks later, Agrawal is gone, after announcing last week that he’s taken a job as the planning director in Prince William County instead. There’s been a lot of turnover at City Hall recently, but this is a new record.

Looking on the bright side, at least the city won’t have to pay Agrawal a severance package. Mike Murphy got nine months of additional pay after spending a year as interim city manager, and former city manager Tarron Richardson got a $205,000 lump sum after less than a year and a half at the helm. Maybe it would’ve been in Agrawal’s best interest to stick around for another week or two—who knows what he might have walked away with.

After 16 months on the job, former city manager Tarron Richardson walked away with $205,000 in severance pay. PC: Eze Amos

_________________

Quote of the week

“Quite honestly, I just don’t have the time to address every crazy thing she says. It would be a full-time job.”

—Virginia Senate Republican Mark Obenshain, when asked to respond to Republican gubernatorial candidate Amanda Chase’s latest remarks

__________________

In brief

White House bound?

After just two years as UVA president, Jim Ryan may be moving on to the White House—at least, if Nicholas Kristof has his way. The New York Times columnist floated Ryan as a secretary of education pick for Joe Biden’s cabinet last week, praising his “strong moral compass” and more than a decade of experience in higher education. Ryan was “flattered” by the mention, but said, “My focus has been and will continue to be leading the University of Virginia.”

Durty deal

You can get anything on Craigslist—even a much-loved Charlottesville bar. Durty Nelly’s Pub is for sale, and last week the whole shebang was briefly posted on the online classified board with a price tag of $75,000. Durty Nelly’s is still open and doesn’t plan on closing, but the post suggested that the owner is looking to move on.

Pass it around

After Governor Ralph Northam’s recent announcement that he would support marijuana legalization in next year’s General Assembly session, State Delegate Lee Carter proposed that money generated from pot sales be spent on reparations for Black and Indigenous Virginians. It’s “a moral commitment our history demands of us and a necessary first step in Virginia,” Carter wrote in a press release.

Bottom lines up

It’ll come as no surprise that one business in particular is thriving during the pandemic: Virginia ABC stores have reported record sales through the last few months, turning in $22 million more in revenue in October 2020 than during October 2019. Usually, restaurants make up roughly 20 percent of the ABC stores’ businesses, but the liquor shops are having no trouble making ends meet even with that flow interrupted.

Categories
News

Hey, hey, hey, goodbye: As protests continue, Richmond will remove Robert E. Lee statue

Protesters gather at the Robert E. Lee statue on Richmond's Monument Avenue. Photo: Sanjay Suchak

 

The six-story-tall equestrian statue of Robert E. Lee has towered over Richmond’s Monument Avenue since 1890. Soon, it’ll be gone, replaced by empty sky.

“That statue has been there for a long time. But it was wrong then and it’s wrong now. So we’re taking it down,” said Governor Ralph Northam during a June 4 press conference. 

The announcement comes after the death of George Floyd sparked a week of national protests against police brutality. Demonstrators in Richmond have targeted the Lee statue since the protests began, spray painting “Black Lives Matter” and other slogans across the statue’s base. When Richmond police tear-gassed peaceful protesters at the site on Monday night, the statue became an even more charged symbol of oppression.

Richmonders have re-contextualized other Confederate spots in the city as well—the United Daughters of the Confederacy building, just a few blocks from the Lee statue, was lit on fire on May 31, with the word “Abolition” written next to its steps. 

Zyahna Bryant, the Charlottesville student activist who started the petition to remove Charlottesville’s Lee statue in 2016, spoke at Northam’s press conference on Thursday. 

“I want to make space to thank the activists in Charlottesville who have put in decades of work to get us to where we are today,” Bryant said. “Without them, we wouldn’t be here.”

Charlottesville, ground zero for the fight over Confederate monuments, could see its statues of Lee and Stonewall Jackson removed later in the summer. This year, the General Assembly finally passed a rule allowing localities to remove their Confederate monuments. The law will go into effect July 1, and then City Council will have to vote on their removal, hold a public hearing, and offer the statues to any museums that want them—a total of 60 days worth of legislative hoops to jump through—before the monuments can legally come down. At an event in March, local activist Don Gathers said he thought it best not to schedule the removal ahead of time, so as to avoid any potential violence.

Richmond’s Lee statue, by contrast, sits on state property, and can be removed without public comment or review. Northam says the cranes will roll in “as soon as possible” and put the statue in storage.

Amanda Chase, the only Republican who has so far announced a 2021 run for governor, called Northam’s decision a “cowardly capitulation to the looters and domestic terrorists” that’s aimed at “appeasing the left-wing mob.” A statement from a collection of Virginia’s Republican state senators said the statue should remain where it is, but called Chase’s statement “idiotic, inappropriate, and inflammatory,” reports WSLS 10 News. (Republicans have not won a statewide election in Virginia since 2009.)

The Lee statue in Richmond is one of five Confederate statues on Monument Avenue. The other four, which Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said Wednesday he also wants removed, are on land controlled by the city of Richmond. To take down those monuments, Stoney would have to follow the same process that’s required in Charlottesville.

Elsewhere in the country, many Confederate memorials have been torn down informally. People in Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama, have toppled statues during demonstrations, and monuments have been spray-painted and otherwise altered in countless other cities. In Alexandria, Virginia, even the United Daughters of the Confederacy got in on the action, removing a statue of a soldier that it owns from one of Alexandria’s central streets. 

“Make no mistake,” Northam said at the press conference, “removing a symbol is important, but it’s only a step.”

“I want to be clear that there will be no healing or reconciliation until we have equity,” Bryant said. “Until we have fully dismantled the systems that oppress black and brown people.”

Categories
News

In brief: 1619 Project comes to town, Chase announces governor bid, and more

Acclaimed New York Times Magazine writer Nikole Hannah-Jones speaks with Times columnist and local resident Jamelle Bouie about the 1619 Project at The Haven on February 17. PC: Eze Amos

Get serious: Talking reparations, monuments, and more

What does it mean to confront the truth? To not be complacent in an unjust system? To seek justice for those who’ve been oppressed by that system for over 400 years?

Acclaimed New York Times Magazine writer Nikole Hannah-Jones grappled with these questions­—and more—during a discussion with Times columnist (and local resident) Jamelle Bouie at The Haven on February 17.

“So much about the society that we’ve developed has been touched by [slavery], but we treat it as very marginal,” says Hannah-Jones, who also spoke at the Rotunda with UVA President Jim Ryan earlier in the day. Charlottesville “is a place that’s clearly still grappling and struggling with that legacy. And so I think it was important to have that conversation here.”

Hannah-Jones, who originated the magazine’s ongoing 1619 Project on the legacy of slavery, connected the project’s work to the years-long controversy surrounding the city’s Confederate statues, which she described as monuments to white supremacy.

“I just find it appalling that black folks pay to maintain statues to white supremacy and enslavement,” she says. “If you can’t get rid of monuments to people who fought [for slavery], then you’re not actually serious about making larger repairs.”

Hannah-Jones also addressed economic reparations for the descendants of slaves, saying “you cannot repay centuries of stolen capital without capital.” 

After reading Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America in high school, Hannah-Jones says she could not stop thinking about the mass erasure and misrepresentation of black history. After years of reporting on de facto school segregation and other racial justice issues, she pitched the 1619 Project to paint a broader picture of the long-lasting impact of slavery.

Hannah-Jones said 1619 has been criticized by some as “too pessimistic,” and she does not think there is a real desire for change, as “people aren’t willing to do the work,” especially when it personally affects them. 

Yet she encouraged community leaders, activists, and others to keep up the fight. 

“We do have to believe we can destruct the system that we have,” she said. “If you don’t believe it, then you can just sit comfortably where you are.”

About the 1619 Project

The 1619 Project was launched by The New York Times Magazine in August 2019, with a special issue devoted to tracing the legacy of slavery in America (which began 400 years earlier), and its impact on our current inequalities. The multimedia project now includes a podcast, teacher resources, and a forthcoming book, and aims to “reframe the country’s history,” the magazine says, “by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.”    

____________

Quote of the Week

“Fairfax needs to resign…Granting Fairfax the honor of speaking at the gala sends an exculpatory message I do not believe is merited.”

­—Charlottesville-based Dem super-donor Michael Bills, who withdrew a sponsorship when Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax was invited to speak at the Blue Commonwealth Gala 

____________

Ban banned

Charlottesville’s state Senator Creigh Deeds was one of four Democrats who voted to reject a bill that would ban the sale of assault weapons in Virginia. The bill had been supported by Governor Ralph Northam, and its failure is a rare victory for a gun-rights crowd that has loudly voiced its grievances in recent weeks. Deeds, whose district includes rural areas in Bath County, continues to earn his reputation as one of the most gun-friendly Democrats in the legislature.

Tessa Majors update

A 14-year-old middle school student was arrested in New York City February 14 for the fatal stabbing of Barnard freshman and St. Anne’s-Belfield alum Tessa Majors. The teen was charged with one count of intentional murder, one count of felony murder, and four counts of robbery. He will be tried as an adult.

Funke business

Hajo Funke, a German professor specializing in far-right extremism, was supposed to spend a semester teaching at UVA—but his visa has been delayed indefinitely, reports the Cavalier Daily. The professors who hoped to collaborate with Funke speculate that his work on far-right politics, criticism of Unite the Right, or a recent passport stamp from Iran might have caused the delay, but the consulate has kept mum. Foreign students and professors have had increasing difficulty entering the country since Trump took office, reported The New York Times in June.

Chasing power

State Senator Amanda Chase, who recently called Democrats “traitors” for passing modest gun restrictions, is the first Republican to announce a 2021 candidacy for governor. She says she has “brass balls’’ and will fight “the liberal, socialistic agenda that has taken control of the Capitol.” Chase says she’ll run as an independent if she can’t secure the Republican nomination, which actually might be a smart electoral play—Republicans have not won a statewide election in Virginia since 2009.

Virginia state Senator Amanda Chase has announced her bid for governor. PC: senate.virginia.gov