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Here’s a recap of the top stories on the morning of Friday, September 10, 2021:
Excavation crews worked through the day on Thursday searching for an over 130-year-old time capsule believed to be under the pedestal that, until yesterday, held a statue of Robert E. Lee. Patrick Larsen has more.
A vacancy on the state redistricting commission has been filled. Republican Senator Bill Stanley will join the commission, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, replacing Senator Steve Newman, who withdrew abruptly last week. The commission currently has just over a month to complete new maps for the state’s congressional and legislative seats. The process has already been delayed by an unidentified member of the commission testing positive for Covid-19 in late August.
Since school started in August, hundredsof Chesterfield County students have tested positive for Covid-19. As Ian Stewart reports, for those in quarantine, getting academic help from the school district has been a challenge.
A parent run website dedicated to Covid-19 cases among school children in Chesterfield County is gaining users. Parent and data analyst Grace Olsen started the website last year. Olsen combines information from Chesterfield and Henrico schools with data from the Virginia Department of Health. Her versionfeatures graphs and charts showing breakdowns by age, school and has comparisons to cases in Henrico Schools. Since launching her dashboard, Olsen says the number of visits has grown from just a dozen to thousands. Grace Olsen also posts findings on Facebook under Chesterfield: Project Restart.
With new Covid infections and hospitalizations sharply rising, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association is urging unvaccinated Virginians to get a COVID-19 shot to protect themselves and others. Citing data from the Virginia Department of Health, the organization points out that as of Thursday, hospitals in the Commonwealth are treating nearly 2,200 patients who have been admitted for Covid. That's up from just 195 in early July. Meanwhile, just 0.016 percent of fully vaccinated Virginians have been hospitalized since mid-January. More information about COVID-19 vaccination appointments and locations can be found at vaccines.gov.
The Chickahominy tribe in Charles City County is using money received from the commonwealth to purchase historic tribal lands. The tribe has received over $7 million dollars from the General Assembly in the last three years, according to the Virginia Mercury. The money is to help preserve cultural lands as well as conserve the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The tribe is currently looking at several properties that include ancient tribal villages along the Chickahominy River. The tribe last purchased a stretch of land along the James River in 2019. That land is under an easement to limit development and restore the health of the river.
