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New COVID-19 vaccine warnings show the system to report side effects is working
By Justin Vesser, University of Virginia While the COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the U.S. have been proved to be safe and effective, recent reports of rare adverse events, or side effects, have raised concerns. On July 12, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved an update to the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine fact sheet […]
Why the PRO Act makes sense for workers and the middle class
By Thomas King Over the past few months, advocates, including the Democratic Socialists of America, labor unions and other groups, have made more than a million calls to encourage voters who support labor rights to call their senators in support of the PRO Act (Protecting the Right to Organize). Since we began, Sens. Joe Manchin […]
For Virginia, climate action is a matter of faith
By Karen McElfish This past year has challenged Virginia in unforeseeable ways. Our faith communities have been tested by not one, but four converging crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic recession, racial inequalities and the climate crisis. As the nation hoped and prayed for a better future, it was the wisdom and guidance of our […]
As coastal flooding worsens, some cities are retreating from the water
By A.R. Siders, University of Delaware and Katharine Mach, University of Miami When the tide gets exceptionally high in Charleston, South Carolina, coastal streets start to run with seawater. Some yards become ponds, and residents pull on rain boots. The city also gets a lot of rain. After homes in one low-lying neighborhood flooded three times […]
Mentally ill patients, and their families, deserve better from Virginia government
By Margaret Rood The Mercury’s story on mental health hospitalizations in Virginia evokes some worrisome questions concerning the direction our legislature intends to pursue in addressing the commonwealth’s mental health crisis. Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax, said “Right now, I think the sense is we don’t want to build more beds if that’s not what we […]
Virginia’s Congressional delegation should support the president’s tax justice proposals
By Chris Wodicka As the immediate crisis of the pandemic and recession abates, Congress has a rare opportunity to address long-standing needs, including many that pre-dated the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Biden administration and congressional negotiators have reached a bipartisan agreement to fund physical infrastructure improvements — like roads and bridges — additional legislation has been […]
Eviction prevention is not housing investment
By Michelle Krocker America has a housing crisis — an affordability crisis, as well as a housing-supply crisis. Recently, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing that over the last 20 years new housing starts (new residential construction projects) fell 5.5 million units short of long-term historical levels. “The scale of the problem […]
Hampton Roads is on its way to becoming a wind capital
By Katharine Kollins In the year since the enactment of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, Virginia has been on its way to achieving 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, aided by a planned 5,200 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. As a testament to VCEA’s success, Virginia has become one of the national leaders in […]
Six surprising facts about the Declaration of Independence
By Woody Holton, University of South Carolina Editor’s note: Americans may think they know a lot about the Declaration of Independence, but many of those ideas are elitist and wrong, as historian Woody Holton explains. His forthcoming book “Liberty is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution” shows how independence and the Revolutionary War […]
Mountain Valley Pipeline follows familiar playbook: Push pollution into poor and minority communities
By Elizabeth Jones and Queen Shabazz As we prepare to give much-needed attention to our national infrastructure and align federal energy policy with the escalating climate crisis, we should remember former Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas’s observation that infrastructure projects seem always to cut “through the poor area of town, not through the area […]
Home care workers allow me to keep a roof over my head. They deserve a better deal.
By Kimberly Crawley I’m a single mom. My son Isaac spent 11 of his first 13 months in a hospital ICU. By his first birthday, he had undergone more than a dozen surgeries that aimed to give him a functioning esophagus. At just 14 months old, he had reached his $2 million lifetime max in health benefits. […]
Thomas Jefferson’s admissions results show equity and merit can go hand in hand
By Makya Renée Little Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, currently ranked the No.1 high school in the nation, has released admissions statistics for the Class of 2025. The results are groundbreaking and a model for the nation: Admissions reform increased diversity on almost every metric without compromising the quality of the incoming […]