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Here’s a recap of the top stories on the morning of Tuesday, November 23, 2021:
The jury will meet behind closed doors for a third day of deliberations, in the civil trial against over a dozen white nationalist leaders and groups connected to the 2017 Unite the Right rally. Patrick Larsen reports.
The City of Richmond is soliciting bids to remove the monument and grave of A.P. Hill in the Northside neighborhood. According to city documents, the contractor selected will also be responsible for removing as many as nine pedestal bases. The A.P. Hill statue is the last remaining confederate monument in the city. About a dozen other statues and Lost Cause symbols were removed in the summer of 2020. Bids will be accepted through December 6.
After a more than 40-year hiatus, the Armstrong-Walker Classic will return with a parade this Saturday. Maggie Walker and Armstrong high schools faced off in a football game on the Saturday after Thanksgiving for decades. These Richmond high schools were the only ones that served Black students during segregation. The game sometimes drew more than 30,000 people to City Stadium. But it ended when Maggie Walker closed due to declining enrollment in Richmond following desegregation. The parade starts at 10 a.m. Saturday. It will run down Leigh Street and end at Virginia Union University, where there will be a ceremony honoring alumni.
After 2020’s isolating holiday season, travel experts say the number of people leaving home for Thanksgiving may be as high as before the pandemic. AAA predicts 1.4 million Virginians will hit the road, which is an 11 percent increase compared to last year. Virginia’s busiest road will be I-95. To avoid traffic, AAA Mid-Atlantic officials say people should start driving to their Thanksgiving location after 9 p.m. Wednesday and head home Sunday morning.
Some state agencies are having trouble weaning themselves off single-use plastics. According to the Virginia Mercury, state agencies and universities began moving away from single-use plastics after Governor Ralph Northam issued Executive Order 77 in March. The order directs departments to eliminate their use by the end of 2025, in the hopes of reducing debris along Virginia’s coasts and waterways. Officials with the Department of Corrections say issues with following the order stem from vending machines, where some drink items come in plastic bottles. In another example, some state parks don’t have recycling facilities nearby. A spokesperson for Governor-Election Glenn Youngkin did not respond to the Virginia Mercury about whether there are plans to change the order.
