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On today’s show:
COVID numbers in Virginia are in post-holiday surge
Delegate Lee Carter seeks Democratic nomination for Governor
City Parks and Recreation begins bird walking course this week
Since the last newsletter on Thursday, the Virginia Department of Health has reported 20,454 new cases of COVID. To put that in perspective, it took six weeks in the early pandemic for Virginia to hit that amount. The seven-day average for new daily cases is 4,480 and the seven-day average for positive test results has gone from 13.2 percent on December 31 to 15.8 percent today.
Today the VDH reports another 3,771 cases, based on about 18,000 tests processed yesterday. The current seven-day average for daily tests is 30686 a day.
In the Blue Ridge Health District, there have been 350 additional cases and four more deaths. So far, 96 people have died in the district since the pandemic began.
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Another Democrat has entered the race for that party’s nomination. Delegate Lee Carter (D-50) made his announcement on New Year’s Day.
“It’s no secret that Virginia is divided, but it’s not divided between red and blue, and it’s not divided between big cities and small towns,” Carter said. “Virginia is divided between the haves and the have nots.”
Carter joins a field of announced candidates that includes former Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy, Senator Jennifer McClellan, and former governor Terry McAuliffe. In an ad announcing his campaign, Carter leaned into his message of Democratic socialism.
“For everyone with a stack of bills on the kitchen table waiting to get paid, I’m running for Governor so the rest of us can finally get what we need,” Carter said over top an audio bed of him at a recent rally. “So we can get what we deserve.”
One way to keep track of the election is through the Virginia Public Access Project. The Democrats will select a nominee in a primary on June 8. Republicans will choose their nominee in an unassembled convention. Delegate Kirk Cox and Senator Amanda Chase have announced their candidacies.
There is one declared independent in the race, Princess Blanding. She’s the sister of Marcus-David Peters, a man shot by Richmond police in May 2019.
Tomorrow will see two special elections for vacant seats in the House of Delegates. One is for District 2, from which Carroll-Foy resigned to run for Governor. The other is House District 90, from which Joe Lindsey resigned in November to become a judge in Norfolk.
There will need to be another special election at some point this year to the fill the vacancy left by the death on New Year’s Day of Senator Ben Chafin (R-38). He died of COVID-related complications.
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We’re about to hit the ten month mark of the pandemic, and there’s no sign of when recreational centers operated by the city of Charlottesville will reopen. But the Parks and Recreation Department is doing what so many have done to adapt. They’ve pivoted to offer new kinds of activities. Lucy Hartley is a program specialist with the department who at 9:30 this Wednesday morning will lead the first of our four bird walks.
“The first one is going to be at our city park Riverview which is right along the Rivanna River so we can pick up some great blue herons and maybe some other waterbirds,” Hartley said. “The next one on January 20 at Darden Towe Park. February 3 at Ivy Creek and February 17 at McIntire Park.”
Each one will likely include different birds, as there are microhabitats all across the area. The walk this Wednesday at Riverview passes through many types of terrain.
“Some of the walk will be in a meadow habitat so we’ll see some of the sparrows and finches and birds like that that like to eat the seeds,” Hartley said. “We’ll be close to the water so we might see some of the ducks and grebes and other water birds. The blue heron of course. And it’s winter so there are certain species that are only here in the winter time so the juncos and the white-throated sparrows, sapsucker woodpeckers and there are certain things you can only see this time of year.”
Hartley said it is easier to see birds because trees have lost their leaves. And before they come back, this is a good time to start a new hobby. She said they began the program in order to offer something new.
“When we’re planning programs we’re looking at trends out there and we’ve all read about the surge in interest in people biking, kayaking and all those outdoor activities,” Harley said. “But when people were home in March, and it was a little quieter because there wasn’t as much traffic and people were definitely hearing birds and noticing things about birds that they might not have been tuned into before, so there is a growing interest in birding and we wanted to try to capitalize on that and give people the tools they need to learn the bird sounds and resources and how to identify them and get some basic.”
Each walk is $6 for city residents and $8 for every one else. Register online. There are eight slots available. And if you decide to go, let me know.
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Today in meetings, the Albemarle Architectural Review Board meets at 1 p.m. for a virtual meeting with design review of an auto repair facility on Ivy Road and a new WaWa at U.S. 29 and Proffit Road. There will also be a discussion of how to bring several county-designated Entrance Corridors into state compliance, as well as an overview of the architectural standards on U.S. 250 West. (meeting info)
At 5 p.m. the Louisa County Board of Supervisors meets in person. One of the items on their agenda is a discussion of panhandling in the county. (agenda packet)
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January 4, 2021: Lee Carter runs for Virginia Governor; Charlottesville Parks and Rec offers intro birding course