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A crisis in quality care: Nursing homes offer ineffectual response to the ill and dying
By Everett Ressler The globally reported health emergency in the Accordius Health long term care facility in Harrisonburg remains a situation for which immediate action is still needed. The situation there uncovers a “crisis in quality care”, an issue deserving greater priority in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordius Health is a privately owned, long-term […]
Clean Economy Act will help Virginia’s economic recovery
By Andrew Gohn While efforts to protect public health remain paramount right now, it is also critical that we look ahead and plan how we are going to emerge from this pandemic and rebuild our economy. Sadly, we’re unlikely to see a quick return to the record employment we enjoyed before the coronavirus sent us into […]
Our leaders protect us when they respect science
By Dr. Samantha Ahdoot and Kendyl Crawford Last week, Gov. Ralph Northam emphasized the importance of data in the plan to reopen Virginia. With almost 17,000 cases now of COVID-19 in Virginia, we are protected when our leaders make decisions based on both compassion and science. In the past months, across the world we have […]
Dominion’s responsibility to shareholders: Abandon the Atlantic Coast Pipeline
By Freeda Cathcart A petition asking shareholders to abandon the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is being circulated. Unfortunately shareholders won’t have the power to do so at this year’s annual meeting today. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has on record two shareholder proposals for the 2020 Dominion annual meeting (Climate Risk and Human Rights and Climate […]
Forgotten first responders: The COVID-19 lockdown has hit Virginia’s child welfare system hard
By Allison Gilbreath The vulnerabilities of our children continue to be exacerbated by COVID-19. From school closures and economic hardships to social isolation and family confinement, the pandemic has added new stressors for families across Virginia. And the reality is that we are just beginning to scratch the surface. While most of our attention has […]
U.S. Supreme Court decision on groundwater discharges is a huge win for the environment
By Bobby Whitescarver When do prepositions protect our groundwater? When the Supreme Court of the United States says so. In County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund et al., Justice Stephen Breyer used the words from and to in declaring that pollution discharged from a point source or its functional equivalent that flows to […]
The USNS Comfort was decidedly irrelevant in New York.
By Thomas King With the recent profound irrelevance of the USNS Comfort’s mission to New York City made abundantly clear, it is time to revive the effort the Navy made in 2018 to retire one of its two hospital ships. Citing the cost of maintaining them, the Navy asked to retire one of the two […]
Virginia can do better for local dogs destined for experimentation
By Daphna Nachminovitch If you’ve never heard of Envigo — a facility on more than 330 acres in Cumberland County that has operated under the radar since 1967 — let me give you a glimpse inside. Last fall, PETA released video footage taken at Envigo’s facility by USDA inspectors, which documented critical violations of federal law. Sick and injured dogs […]
Why we need test-and-trace to get back to work
By Jon Sealy When this crisis is over and history is written, I hope an independent commission is able to uncover all the facts of how we got to this nationwide state of quasi-lockdown. There is plenty of blame to go around, but what strikes me most, as a communications professional, is how many communications […]
There’s an urgent need for global leadership on COVID-19
By Drs. John Austin Lee and Amita Sudhir On a normal day in our emergency department in Charlottesville, we see patients from all over the world. Despite the fact that we do not practice medicine in a large metropolis, we are constantly reminded of the fact that we are part of a global community. Language […]
State Corporation Commission should pause process on natural gas project
By the Stop the Abuse of Virginian Energy Coalition The State Corporation Commission did the right thing when, weeks ago, it chose to officially suspend the disconnection of utility services in light of the pandemic. Now, it should do the next right thing by suspending the consideration of new fossil fuel infrastructure permits, at least […]
Clean air and clean water are more important now than ever
By David K. Paylor In the face of the greatest public health crisis in decades, we are more aware than ever of the connection between environmental protection, public and individual health and a strong economy. As we enter a new decade of environmentalism, it is worth reflecting on how far we have come so we […]