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EGACY
INSIDE
• Exploring traps to prison- 2 • Historic Medicaid enrollment - 3 • Let’s not put your health at risk- 4
Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.
WEDNESDAYS • July 8, 2020
Richmond & Hampton Roads
LEGACYNEWSPAPER.COM • FREE
Washing the gray from RVA’s Monument Ave. REX SPRINGSTON News Analysis
It was always about Lee. The most beloved of Confederates, Gen. Robert E. Lee, got the first and tallest statue on Richmond’s Monument Avenue, one of the most sacred places for rebel aficionados in the country. With Mayor Levar Stoney following through on his pledge to quickly remove monuments under city control, and the fate of the state-controlled Lee tied up in court, Lee would fittingly be the last man standing. And that would set up one final, dramatic cleansing to wash the gray out of the avenue. Protesters knew Lee was the man. Over the past few weeks they adorned his once-solemn monument with graffiti — variously foul, funny and heartbreaking — saying black people are tired of racial injustice. And lots of white people, too. Many Richmonders are delighted at the current scene around the monument, which resembles — during the day, at least — a street festival, with people registering voters, playing music and taking photos with their kids in front of the now multi-hued Lee. “When I gaze upon the defacement of these statues, my heart swells with joy that maybe this time real change is happening,” wrote a woman on Facebook in response to a Lee photo I posted. At the same time, many people see the treatment of the six-story Lee monument as unpunished lawlessness. “It breaks my heart to see history being destroyed,” wrote another woman. It seems clear that how you feel about the Lee monument’s treatment depends largely on how you feel about Lee himself. The dispute about defacing, and ultimately removing, the monument really boils down to two questions: Is Lee worthy of continuing veneration? And will removing his monument destroy history? Let’s see what the historians say. Is Lee worthy? Generations of Virginians, including me, were
taught by schoolbooks and peers that Lee was the greatest Civil War hero — so honorable as to be almost Christ-like. “General Lee was a handsome man (who) sat straight and firm in his saddle,” said the fourthgrade text “Virginia’s History.” It was one of three Confederate-friendly history books used in the state from the 1950s well into the 1970s. It added that Lee’s horse, Traveller, “stepped proudly, as if he knew that he carried a great general.” A lot of people cling today to that view of Lee, almost desperately. Some of them are my friends. But anyone willing to open their minds and read things written over the past few decades can see there’s a darker truth about Lee. Lee was a white supremacist. As historians told me for a story on slavery myths, Lee denied that the African-American was “as capable of acquiring knowledge as the white man is.” Asked by a congressional committee what future
he desired for the formerly enslaved, Lee replied, “I think it would be better for Virginia if she could get rid of them.” White supremacy was widespread in the 1800s — in the South and only slightly less so in the North. Some say it’s unfair to judge Lee by modern values. But even during Lee’s era and before, some Virginians recognized that slavery was wrong. For example, George Wythe, who signed the Declaration of Independence, believed in equality of the races. There’s a myth that Lee opposed slavery, based on an 1856 letter from Lee to his wife. Lee wrote that “slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil.” What’s often left out is that Lee went on to say slavery was a greater evil for whites than for blacks. Lee wrote that black people were better off here than in Africa. He said the time to free the enslaved was best left up to God — which could mean in a year, or a thousand years. And he himself had a reputation as a cruel master. The late Lee biographer Elizabeth Brown Pryor said Lee “disliked the institution (of slavery) — more for its inefficiency than from moral repugnance — yet defended it throughout his life.” But didn’t the large majority of Virginians defend slavery before the war? I’m ashamed to say I thought so for a long time. College of William & Mary historian Melvin Patrick Ely enlightened me not long ago: “When people talk about ‘Virginians’ supporting the Confederacy or defending slavery, they’re leaving out half the state’s people — the Afro-Virginians and the people who lived in what’s now West Virginia.” So it’s a trick question. Who ever thinks about what enslaved people wanted? Lee supporters say he did good things as an educator after the war. Among other efforts, as the president of struggling Washington College, Lee established a journalism program. This is not fake news.
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The LEGACY
2 • July 8, 2020
‘Writing Our Way Out’ podcast explores traps and turning points that can lead to prison in America BRIAN MCNEIL Dean Turner is recounting a pivotal and terrible moment from his childhood. Speaking into a microphone before a small audience in a Virginia Commonwealth University classroom — before the pandemic shut down campus — Turner begins his story by saying that he can’t recall what made his mother so angry, but that he remembers vividly what happened next. “She’s frustrated because I’m hiding under the bed,” Turner said. “Knowing she can’t get a good hit with the belt makes her even madder. So my mother leaves the room to go get reinforcement. Now I’m thinking that she’s going to get my stepfather, but she returns with scissors and begins stabbing in different places. I can’t believe it. My mom is going to kill me. What have I done that is so bad that she wants to hurt me like this?” Turner was reading from a memoir he wrote that was included in the 2015 book “Writing Our Way Out: Memoirs from Jail.” That book grew out of a writing class taught in the Richmond City Jail by David Coogan, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of English in the College of Humanities and Sciences at VCU. Turner was one of 10 co-authors who tell their stories in the book edited by Coogan, revealing the conditions, traps and turning points that put them on the path to imprisonment as well as their ultimate journey to reentry. “Writing Our Way Out” is now being adapted into a podcast, hosted by Coogan and featuring many of the book’s co-authors. In the podcast’s first season, episodes explore early moments — such as Turner being stabbed by his mother — that may have played a role in determining the co-authors’ fate. “I’m a big fan of podcasts and I was just thinking it through and
A live recording of the “Writing Our Way Out” was held on VCU's campus in February. PHOTO: Julia Rendleman realizing, well, the stories in the book are compelling,” Coogan said. “What if I remix them so that it’s not retelling the whole book, but just select moments in people’s lives beginning with childhood, and tell those stories in the first season that sets a person in this direction, in a path towards the criminal justice system?” Since the book came out five years ago, “Writing Our Way Out” has been adapted as a play and a musical performance, and led to a criminal justice diversion program offered in partnership with Richmond’s Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney. The program gives lowlevel offenders a chance to take Coogan’s class, “English 366: Writing and Social Change,” alongside VCU students instead of serving time in jail. Coogan and the co-authors have done more than 60 public events about the book and its message of the redemptive power of memoir. “We’ve had many, many encounters
with audiences who are just hungry to talk about the cycle of crime, the cycle of addiction, and the prospect of building a better life through writing,” Coogan said. “But there’s a lot of people that don’t come to book events. A lot of people that don’t read books or buy books. And we wanted to reach more people with this message that you can write your way out.” Most episodes pull stories from the book, and a special guest helps provide expert analysis. Turner’s episode, for example, featured Zewelanji Serpell, Ph.D., a VCU psychology associate professor and developmental psychologist. After Turner read his story from “Writing Our Way Out,” Serpell reflected on a passage in which Turner describes having conflicted feelings about his mother after the stabbing, both caring for her and wanting to protect her from the police while also feeling betrayed, hurt and unsafe. “We know from our understanding
of how children develop that trust and the sense of love and belonging is very, very important. And so there are things about physical punishment or that whooping or that beating that keep you in line but also communicate caring,” Serpell said. “In this particular incident, the type of physical discipline she used was unfamiliar. It was more severe than you had experienced before. It was different.” Serpell said Turner’s experience captures key findings from research into physical discipline on children. On one hand, physical discipline can lead to compliance, she said, but when it crosses the line into abuse, it can lead to negative outcomes. “It keeps your child in check but that can escalate and move to a place where it is shocking like the way that you described it. It’s an anomaly. It feels scary. It doesn’t feel like it’s keeping you in check anymore,” she said. While the show’s first season is
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July 8, 2020 • 3
Virginia sees historic Medicaid enrollment KATE MASTERS Virginia’s Medicaid enrollment has increased by 55,000 more people than anticipated since a March 12 declaration of emergency at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid climb in enrollment numbers comes with questions about how the state will shoulder the costs if federal aid ends before Virginia’s economy fully recovers from the weight of the crisis. Participation in the program typically rises during periods of recession, according to state Finance Secretary Aubrey Layne. But experts say the surge over the last three and a half months is different, driven not just by the global pandemic and accompanying economic downturn, but by the state’s recent Medicaid expansion, which allows more residents to take advantage of the medical safety net. “It’s even more of a reason to celebrate — that we’re able to protect more people during this pandemic,” said Karen Kimsey, director of the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services, which administers the state’s Medicaid program. “For people to have that security in knowing that if they need care, it’s there for them.” The current surge is even more significant compared to the last major recession in 2008. From the start of the downturn in December 2007 to its official end in June 2009, 63,735 Virginians enrolled in the program — a significant increase compared to the previous 18-month period, which saw enrollment drop by a little more than 3,000 people. Since the March 12 state of emergency, a total of 92,000 residents have enrolled in Medicaid, Kimsey said — the equivalent of roughly 900 new members a day. One in six Virginians now are enrolled in the program. Some of that growth was expected based on overall increases since eligibility was expanded, in January 2019, to include all adults aged 19 to 64 below a certain income bracket. But Kimsey said Medicaid
expansion likely fueled the current recession-based surge. Hundreds of thousands of Virginians have filed for unemployment since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2008, only some of those residents would have been able to regain health insurance through the program, which was previously limited by what she described as both “categorical and financial” requirements,
“You had to meet the financing requirements,” she said — an income below 138 percent of the federal poverty line. “And at the same time, you had to meet one of the categories of eligibility, which meant you had to be a pregnant woman or you had to be a child or you had to be a senior or a person with a disability.” Under expansion, any Virginian with an income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level is now
eligible for Medicaid. It’s led to greater enrollment in general, Kimsey added, but even more so during the current recession as thousands are losing job-based health insurance. DMAS is currently working to separate demographic information for new enrollees to determine how much of the increase is directly related to COVID-19 versus overall expansion-based growth.
(from page 2) focused on early formative stories from childhood, future seasons will delve into stories of the co-authors’ fall into crime, their time in jail and reentry. The first episode, “The Race Question,” asks what happens when African American children first encounter the reality of racism, and how those encounters can influence behavior. The second, “The Meaning of Manhood,” explores childhoods and upbringings, early experiences, and how early backgrounds can shape men’s adult lives. Producing the podcast is Robb Crocker, a former journalist with stops at The Washington Post, Richmond.com, WTVR-TV and WRIC-TV. Crocker received degrees in mass communications in print and broadcast journalism from VCU in 2001 and 2002, and a master’s degree in communications from Rutgers University in 2012. He completed a bachelor’s degree in English from VCU this year and is currently a student in VCU’s interdisciplinary doctoral program in Media, Art and Text. Crocker started his own sports podcast, “RobbUnfiltered,” a few years ago and suggested Coogan consider adapting “Writing Our Way Out” into a podcast after Crocker took the criminal justice diversion class that Coogan taught. “The mission of the book — and the podcast — is that writing is cathartic and writing can help you change your life, just by putting things down on paper and getting it out there,” Crocker said. “The biggest takeaway from what I’m doing with
Dean Turner, left, tells his story while host David Coogan, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of English, listens. this is combining my skills with media, multiplatform storytelling and social justice and rhetoric. It’s a combination of all of those things coming together.” During the pandemic, the podcast has been on a temporary hiatus. In recent weeks, however, Coogan has been posting new episodes with a retooled format. The show’s “Season 1.5: The Quarantine Episodes” feature just Coogan, and focus a bit more on the process of writing and memoir. “… [T]his show, will take you through the experience of touching the relics of childhood, holding them up to the light, turning your memories around in your mind as you grip down in the truth about what happened, contend with problems that you have known, the
punishments or consequences that came your way after you developed a story about yourself from that history and started to act a certain way, to expect things a certain way, to see people a certain way,” Coogan says in the first episode. “This show is going to take you through that process until you can land softly in the hopeful possibilities, flourishing in the vitality of the life you envisioned, the one that eluded you for so long.” Crocker and Coogan plan to continue posting episodes through the summer, and expect to resume recordings at live events and with in-person guests when it’s safe. “Writing Our Way Out – The Podcast” is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and at writingourwayout.com.- VCU News
4 • July 8, 2020
Op/Ed & Letters
The LEGACY
Let’s not put our health at risk J.C. WATTS Washington, D.C., city attorney George Valentine was black, brilliant, and fit. But after contracting COVID-19, he became so weak, he had trouble moving and even speaking. When it got to the point where he could barely breathe, George called an ambulance and waited on the steps of his house for it to arrive. Every second he waited must have seemed like an eternity. Two days later, George died. He was 66 and had suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure before getting sick with the coronavirus. New research seems to confirm that, across the nation, the coronavirus has disproportionately impacted black people, with death rates more than twice as high as that for any other race. Why is this happening-and can we do anything about it? There are several explanations for the disparity, and most have to do how we live, where we work, and our underlying health conditions. There are also factors that are within our immediate control that we can all do right now to protect ourselves, but that many in our community are failing to do. The LEGACY NEWSPAPER Vol. 6 No. 28 Mailing Address P.O. Box 12474 Richmond, VA 23241 Office Address 105 1/2 E. Clay St. Richmond, VA 23219 Call: 804-644-1550 Online www.legacynewspaper.com
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cite several possible reasons that black Americans are more affected. One is that many of us live in more highly populated areas where it's more difficult to practice physical distancing from one another. Many of us also live in multi-generational households where it's easier for younger family members to spread the virus to more vulnerable elderly members. This is especially true for lower-income households with smaller living spaces. Another reason is that a large percentage of African Americans hold frontline service industry jobs as food servers, cleaners, and personal-care providers, and in fields such as nursing that are all considered essential during the pandemic, and they bravely continue to go to work each day. One other big factor is that, sadly, our people also tend to have more underlying medical conditions-like obesity, diabetes, and hypertensionthat make us more vulnerable. While many of these factors are difficult to change in the near term, we can do some things immediately to reduce our risks. In my own community in Oklahoma, I’ve witnessed many black folks not wearing masks or practicing any degree of physical distancing in public. A lot of people just plain aren’t following recommendations to keep The LEGACY welcomes all signed letters and all respectful opinions. Letter writers and columnists opinions are their own and endorsements of their views by The LEGACY should be inferred. The LEGACY assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. Annual Subscription Rates Virginia - $50 U.S. states - $75 Outside U.S.- $100 The Virginia Legacy © 2016
themselves and their families safe. Let’s be real for a minute. Some of this stems from past experiences with government that make people skeptical about what they're hearing from public officials. For some, it's the bitter memories of governmentenforced segregation and other racist policies. For others, it’s the fact the young black men have more negative encounters with the police, and people don't want to wear masks and give anyone an excuse for mistaking them for criminals. For others, it’s that politicians have made promises to us for decades and have failed to make good. Why trust them now? Despite all this, please don’t put your health at risk. We have to do all we can to protect our communities and our loved ones from being exposed to infection. First, avoid close contact with people who are sick. Being in the same enclosed room with somebody who has the virus can lead to infection. Second, keep at least six feet between you and others if you have to leave home. People can be infected even if they’re not showing symptoms. Third, wash your hands or sanitize them often and for at least 20 seconds. Also avoid touching your face, mouth, and eyes with unwashed hands. I know the advice about wearing
masks is a tough one for many folks, but perspectives have changed during this pandemic. So cover your mouth and nose with a bandana or other face covering if you have to leave home. The mask provides some protection for others in case you’re infected and don't know it. Finally, be sure to get medical help if you have any flu-like symptoms or have trouble breathing, persistent pain in your chest, a fever, or a dry cough. As I write this, The Heritage Foundation's National Coronavirus Recovery Commission, of which I’m a member, is wrapping up its final report offering recommendations to help us all recover from this pandemic. The commissioners are deeply concerned that COVID-19 has hit minority communities so hard and are urging medical researchers look into how we can prevent this disproportionate impact in the future. The commission is also recommending ways that our churches and community institutions can be a positive force for encouraging people to take preventative actions to stop the spread of COVID-19. I’m hopeful that our nation will conquer this disease and that together, we will emerge from this chapter in our history stronger than before. But ultimately for that to happen, the cure must start with us.
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July 8, 2020• 5
P.T. Hoffsteader, Esq.
Obama’s negation
Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “The First White President,” is an indictment of white America — and white punditry. Donald Trump’s ascent was fueled by the racism of much of the white electorate. Trump’s candidacy, election, and presidency, following the first election following two terms of the nation’s first black president, represents nothing less than an effort to eradicate the very fact that America elected a black president in the first place. Coates argues that we must forthrightly confront the wretched reality that Trump won because he framed his candidacy, overtly, as a “negation” of the first black presidency and a promise to cancel it as a kind of historical accident. Trump launched his rise with the “birther” charge that Barack Obama’s presidency was illegitimate. and vowed to erase the Obama legacy, i.e., to obliterate all historical evidence of the first black president’s successes and the reassertion of white supremacy as the rightful American order.” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promised Trump Obamacare repeal, funding
for the wall and tax reform, all by the end of August 2017. December 2017 came and the Republican leaders placing the bet — which seemed reasonable at the time — was not delivered because of President Trump. Passing bills required looking away from the uglier aspects of Trump’s racial appeal — his Twitter transgressions, his appallingly violent rallies, his rule by ridicule intimidation and harassment, anti- muslim, Mexican immigrants, semitic, and black insults. Because Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wanted to pass their conservative agenda, the wager was large, and they lost with no major legislation passed. the only thing done (in the first 11 months) was the systematic reversal of President Obama’s executive orders, the decline of the U.S. as a global leader, isolation of the U.S., alienation of our close allies, and cede power to China and Russia. Blacks and other fair-minded Americans started to see president number 45 white supremacy disavow hype because of His lies and “con games.” He only represents the white supremist and KKK. Trump was/is supported by the exploitation of the conservative “right” by right wing media such as Fox and its racist hosts who has created and attracted angry white men trump loyalists. Trump’ ideals, platforms and statements which are rhetoric and beliefs of the white supremacy communities and organizations. Take note that President George Bush at the end of his eight years
presidency had less than 800 lies vs number 45 who has over 20,000 plus in 31/2 years! Walt Hill
Avoiding the police
If you have to call 911 in an emergency you are typically glad when a policeman shows up. When someone smashes into your car you are happy for a policeman to show up and cite the driver of the car who smashed you. When someone has wrecked on the highway and the traffic is blocked for miles you are happy for the officer to show up and start the process of the traffic moving again. Typically, you are glad to see a police car go through your neighborhood indicating the police are present. Often, the presence of the police is a deterrent to a would be criminal. When there is a domestic violence issue, an unruly person at a ballgame or gunshots heard down the street, you are normally glad for an officer to be on the scene to help resolve the problem. For the most part police officers are our friends who show up and sometimes even risk their lives to help us. Most of them are not overpaid and in many cases are very underpaid. A deputy told me recently he made $12 an hour with no benefits, not even medical insurance. Currently, we are in a police bashing stage in our society. Police have been caught making some bad judgements. Lives have been needlessly taken by some cops and others needlessly harassed by police. No one likes to see needless death.
No one wants to be harassed by police. Too many instances have come out in public view of police doing the wrong thing. This has incited a nation of people who have reported they have had similar experiences and are sick and tired of police brutality and harassment. However, we say we want police to show up when we are being hurt or robbed or treated badly by an evil person. Some of the ways then to avoid confrontations with the police is to don’t’ drive drunk. Drunk drivers kill people and Americans want drunks off the highway. Don’t try to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. Store owners don’t want your bogus money. It’s illegal. Don’t shoplift. Don't be involved in looting stores. Don't vandalize property. Don’t hurt people. Don’t deface property that does not belong to you. Monuments are set up with a combination of public, private and tax dollars. They are not set up for a hoodlum to deface. If they need to be taken down there are proper channels for removing a monument. Don’t buy, sell or use illegal drugs. You'll end up in jail. Don’t drive 80 mph in a 60-mph speed zone. You increase your chances of being pulled over by a policeman and receiving a citation and a confrontation you probably want to avoid. Overall there are a lot of good police and troopers in America. They work hard and aren't receiving much affirmation right now. If you don't like them and want to avoid them at all costs then don't break the law. Glenn Mollette
6 • July 8, 2020
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July 8, 2020• 7
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Legal Notice NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF AN APPLICATION BY VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY D/B/A DOMINION ENERGY VIRGINIA FOR APPROVAL OF A RATE ADJUSTMENT CLAUSE RIDER GV, GREENSVILLE COUNTY POWER STATION CASE NO. PUR-2020-00100 •Virginia Electric and Power Company d/b/a Dominion Energy Virginia (“Dominion”) has applied for approval to revise its rate adjustment clause, Rider GV. •Dominion’s request represents an increase of $153,650,000 million annually, which would increase the bill of a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month by $0.25. •A Hearing Examiner appointed by the State Corporation Commission will hold a hearing in this case on November 10, 2020. •Further information about this case is available on the SCC website at: https://scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information. On June 1, 2020, Virginia Electric and Power Company d/b/a Dominion Energy Virginia (“Dominion” or “Company”), pursuant to § 56-585.1 A 6 of the Code of Virginia (“Code”), filed with the State Corporation Commission (“Commission”) an annual update of the Company’s rate adjustment clause, Rider GV (“Application”). Through its Application, the Company seeks to recover costs associated with the Greensville County Power Station (“Greensville County Project” or “Project”), a 1,588 megawatt nominal natural gas-fired combined-cycle electric generating facility in Greensville County, Virginia, and 500 kilovolt transmission lines, a new switching station, and associated transmission interconnection facilities located in Brunswick and Greensville Counties, Virginia. In Case No. PUE-2015-00075, the Commission approved Dominion’s construction and operation of the Greensville County Project and also approved a rate adjustment clause, designated Rider GV, for Dominion to recover costs associated with the development of the Project. The Greensville County Project began commercial operations in December 2018. In this proceeding, Dominion has asked the Commission to approve Rider GV for the rate year beginning April 1, 2021, and ending March 31, 2022 (“2021 Rate Year”). The two components of the proposed total revenue requirement for the 2021 Rate Year are the Projected Cost Recovery Factor and the Actual Cost True Up Factor. The Company is requesting a Projected Cost Recovery Factor revenue requirement of $133,981,000 and an Actual Cost True Up Factor revenue requirement of $19,669,000. Thus, the Company is requesting a total revenue requirement of $153,650,000 for service rendered during the 2021 Rate Year. For purposes of calculating the revenue requirement in this case, Dominion utilized a rate of return on common equity of 9.2%, approved by the Commission in Case Nos. PUR-2017-00038 and PUR-2019-00050. If the proposed Rider GV for the 2021 Rate Year is approved, the impact on customer bills would depend on the customer’s rate schedule and usage. According to Dominion, implementation of its proposed Rider GV on April 1, 2021, would increase the bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month by approximately $0.25. The Company indicates it has calculated the proposed Rider GV rates in accordance with the same methodology as used for rates approved by the Commission in the most recent Rider GV proceeding, Case No. PUR-2019-00086, with the exception that in this case the Company did not remove federal customers’ and retail choice customers’ load and usage for the purpose of designing rates. This Application is one of six filings Dominion made on or about June 1, 2020, for recovery of funds related to capital projects. If the revenue requirements in these filings are approved as proposed, the cumulative impact would be a monthly increase of approximately $0.96 for a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month. Interested persons are encouraged to review the Application and supporting documents for the details of these and other proposals. TAKE NOTICE that the Commission may apportion revenues among customer classes and/or design rates in a manner differing from that shown in the Application and supporting documents and thus may adopt rates that differ from those appearing in the Company’s Application and supporting documents. A public hearing on the Application shall be convened on November 10, 2020, at 10 a.m., to receive the testimony of public witnesses and the evidence of the Company, any respondents, and the Staff. Further details on the hearing will be provided by subsequent Commission Order or Hearing Examiner’s Ruling. The Commission has taken judicial notice of the ongoing public health emergency related to the spread of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, and the declarations of emergency issued at both the state and federal levels. In accordance therewith, all pleadings, briefs, or other documents required to be served in this matter should be submitted electronically to the extent authorized by 5 VAC 5-20-150, Copies and format, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (“Rules of Practice”). Confidential and Extraordinarily Sensitive information shall not be submitted electronically and should comply with 5 VAC 5-20-170, Confidential information, of the Rules of Practice. For the duration of the COVID-19 emergency, any person seeking to hand deliver and physically file or submit any pleading or other document shall contact the Clerk’s Office Document Control Center at (804) 3719838 to arrange the delivery. Pursuant to 5 VAC 5-20-140, Filing and service, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice, the Commission has directed that service on parties and the Commission’s Staff in this matter shall be accomplished by electronic means. Please refer to the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing for further instructions concerning Confidential or Extraordinarily Sensitive Information. An electronic copy of the Company’s Application may be obtained by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company, Lisa R. Crabtree, Esquire, McGuireWoods LLP, Gateway Plaza, 800 East Canal Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, or LCrabtree@mcguirewoods.com. Interested persons also may download unofficial copies from the Commission’s website: https://scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information. On or before November 10, 2020, any interested person may file comments on the Application by following the instructions found on the Commission’s website: https://scc.virginia.gov/casecomments/Submit-Public-Comments. All comments shall refer to Case No. PUR-2020-00100. On or before September 1, 2020, any person or entity wishing to participate as a respondent in this proceeding may do so by filing a notice of participation. Such notice of participation shall include the email addresses of such parties or their counsel. The respondent simultaneously shall serve a copy of the notice of participation on counsel to the Company. Pursuant to Rule 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, Participation as a respondent, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice, any notice of participation shall set forth: (i) a precise statement of the interest of the respondent; (ii) a statement of the specific action sought to the extent then known; and (iii) the factual and legal basis for the action. Any organization, corporation, or government body participating as a respondent must be represented by counsel as required by Rule 5 VAC 5-20-30, Counsel, of the Rules of Practice. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2020-00100. On or before September 29, 2020, each respondent may file with the Clerk of the Commission and serve on the Staff, the Company, and all other respondents, any testimony and exhibits by which the respondent expects to establish its case, and each witness’s testimony shall include a summary not to exceed one page. In all filings, respondents shall comply with the Commission’s Rules of Practice, including 5 VAC 5-20-140, Filing and service; and 5 VAC 5-20-240, Prepared testimony and exhibits. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2020-00100. Any documents filed in paper form with the Office of the Clerk of the Commission in this docket may use both sides of the paper. In all other respects, except as modified by the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing, all filings shall comply fully with the requirements of 5 VAC 5-20-150, Copies and format, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice. The Company’s Application, the Commission’s Rules of Practice, the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing, and its Order Nunc Pro Tunc may be viewed at: https://scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information. VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY d/b/a DOMINION ENERGY VIRGINIA
Virginia: Open with care. COVID-19 isn’t over. We’re making progress, but we can’t leave behind all the safety measures we’ve been taking. They’re working! That’s why, when you visit your local stores, restaurants, and places of worship, they’ll only allow in half as many people as before. And they need all of us to do our part to keep them safe. Please continue to:
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More at vdh.virginia.gov, or call 2-1-1 for help with food, shelter or safety. (from page 1) In fact, he was wounded by his own men at the But privately, Pryor wrote, “Lee remained bitter and worked to obstruct societal changes brought about by the war, including the enfranchisement of African Americans.” John Coski, a historian at the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, said in an interview: “Lee’s a man, a complicated man, and to me that makes him more interesting.” Bringing out Lee’s flaws amounts to revisionist history, admirers say. But history — indeed, nearly all thought — is constantly being revised. If you are sick, do you want leeches? As Civil War historian and former University of Richmond president Ed Ayers told me: “I want revisionist history just like I want revisionist medicine, complete with the best thinking and the latest discoveries.” Lee was a near-perfect gentleman the way that leeches were good for you. Will removing the Lee monument destroy history? With many monuments, you get a “a subjective, almost always agenda-driven interpretation of history,” Coski said in a talk on YouTube. “You can’t trust the history you get on a monument.” For example, the Jackson monument said the Confederate general was killed at Chancellorsville.
famous Rebel victory and died well behind friendly lines. That’s not a huge goof, but a newspaper reporter who made that kind of mistake would have to write a correction or clarification. A fellow reporter at The Richmond News Leader back in the day got called on the carpet for writing Leigh Street as “Lee Street.” His defense was something like: “Everything else in this town is named after the guy.” Sixty-one feet tall, Lee looks down on the other men on Monument Avenue, although a strange lady named Vindicatrix, aka “Miss Confederacy” (it sounds like a woman in a leather hoop skirt) may stand a few feet higher at the Jefferson Davis monument. When the Lee monument was unveiled in 1890, the Civil War remained a raw wound in Richmond. Many whites were still dealing with the devastation of the war and the massive loss of Confederate lives. But those whites who revered the Confederacy also held the reins of power. Monuments to Lee and other rebels would not have gone up — certainly not in large numbers — if black people had possessed any leverage, Coski said. The Lee monument wasn’t erected specifically to project white supremacy, in Coski’s view, but he
sees why many people think that. “It’s depicting someone who, whatever his admirable personal virtues and military leadership, put those in the service of the perpetuation of slavery. For some people, that alone is enough to say it’s a white supremacy monument. …I see it as more nuanced.” However, taking down one or two monuments is not erasing history, Coski said. But if we remove almost all of Richmond’s rebel-related monuments, “that’s getting toward erasure. … It’s almost like trying to wipe out the fact that this city ever supported the Confederacy.” Protesters toppled Davis last month. The city removed Jackson last Wednesday, oceanographer and Confederate naval leader Matthew Fontaine Maury the followng day and vows to take down the other monuments it controls. For Lee and his former Confederate comrades, anything short of a disappearance act looks like a lost cause. - Va. Mercury