October 24, 2020 - The Virginia Star

Staunton City Schools Latest to Follow Growing Trend of Creating ‘Equity Committees’

October 24, 2020October 24, 2020 Corinne Murdock

Staunton City Schools (SCS) are developing an equity committee to solve achievement and opportunity disparities between students. The twenty members of the committee will focus on “ensuring equitable practices” within curriculum, teaching, student and parent experiences, school policies, and hiring.
Half of the committee will be comprised of individuals involved in the school, with the other half from the surrounding community.

Commentary: Biden’s Campaign Blew up in a Bad Way

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

The fraudulent Biden campaign effectively blew up on Thursday night in Nashville.

After five days of intensive subterranean preparation, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden was coherent and gaffe-free for the first hour and got to the end without any horrifying blunders, though he trailed off into grammatical chaos and jumbled articulation a couple of times. There were relatively few interruptions and no persistent interruptions and neither candidate was acoustically or behaviorally irritating.

Steve Bannon Presents: The CCP and Election 2020

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

An all new LIVE STREAM of War Room: Pandemic starts at 9 a.m. Central Time on Saturday.

Former White House Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon began the daily War Room: Pandemic radio show and podcast on January 25, when news of the virus was just beginning to leak out of China around the Lunar New Year. Bannon and co-hosts bring listeners exclusive analysis and breaking updates from top medical, public health, economic, national security, supply chain and geopolitical experts weekdays from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon ET.

Joe Biden Knew Family ‘Aggressively Leveraged’ His Name to Make Millions, Former Biden Business Partner Says

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

A former business partner of Hunter Biden confirmed in a statement Wednesday night that democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden was in on a lucrative business deal between the Biden family and a shady Chinese Communist energy firm.

Tony Bobulinski, a former Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and CEO of SinoHawk Holdings, said Hunter Biden frequently asked his dad to sign off on his foreign influence peddling schemes.

Bernie Sanders Wants to be Joe Biden’s Labor Secretary According to Report

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is reportedly making a push to be nominated as labor secretary in a potential Joe Biden administration, sources told Politico.

Sanders is interested in having a position in Democratic presidential nominee Biden’s potential cabinet, an unnamed person close to the Vermont senator told Politico Thursday evening. Sanders, who was former Vice President Biden’s main rival during the 2020 Democratic primaries, has specifically expressed interest in leading the Department of Labor, according to the source.

Trump: Sudan to Join UAE, Bahrain in Recognizing Israel

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 The Associated Press

President Donald Trump announced Friday that Sudan will start to normalize ties with Israel, making it the third Arab state to do so as part of U.S.-brokered deals in the run-up to Election Day.

The announcement came after the North African nation agreed to put $335 million in an escrow account to be used to compensate American victims of terror attacks. The attacks include the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania by the al-Qaida network while its leader, Osama bin Laden, was living in Sudan. In exchange, Trump notified Congress on Friday of his intent to remove Sudan from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Commentary: Trump Administration Protects Patients’ Religious Freedom From COVID Lockdowns

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

When hospitals in Maryland and Virginia recently denied patients access to their priests, the Trump administration stepped in to protect the patients’ religious freedom from Covid lockdown overreach.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), it took government intervention to resolve the cases, one involving MedStar’s Southern Maryland Hospital Center (MSMHC) and the second one involving Mary Washington Healthcare (MWHC) in Virginia.

Collins, Murkowski Vote Against Going to Session to Consider Barrett Confirmation

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted against going into an executive session to consider the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett Friday.

The United States Senate voted 51 to 46 to go into executive session to consider the confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. Democratic senators Kamala Harris of California, Doug Jones of Alabama, and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona did not vote.

Trump, Biden Lawyer up, Brace for White House Legal Battle

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 The Associated Press

President Donald Trump’s and Democratic rival Joe Biden’s campaigns are assembling armies of powerful lawyers for the possibility that the race for the White House is decided not at the ballot box but in court.

They have been engaging in a lawyer’s version of tabletop war games, churning out draft pleadings, briefs and memos to cover scenarios that read like the stuff of a law school hypothetical more than a real-life case in a democracy.

Early Vote Count Passes 2016 Total with 11 Days Until the Election

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

Over 50 million Americans have voted early with 11 days remaining until Election Day, far surpassing the 47 million early ballots cast in 2016.

While nearly every state has begun early voting, Texas, California and Florida lead the way, with 6.3 million, 5.8 million and 4.2 million ballots cast in each state, according to the U.S. Elections Project.

Steve Bannon Weighs in on Presidential Debate and the Tony Bobulinski Press Conference Ignored by the Fake News Media

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Julie Carr

Friday morning on The John Fredericks Show, host John Fredricks welcomed Steve Bannon to weigh in on Thursday night’s presidential debate and Tony Bobulinski’s press conference that was ignored by the mainstream media.

Virginia COVID Insights for October 23

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Jack Windsor

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) reported Friday the following COVID numbers on their Daily Dashboard:

New “reported” cases: 1,180
COVID-confirmed hospitalizations: 702
COVID-pending hospitalizations: 310
COVID-confirmed and -pending intensive care unit (ICU) patients: 233
COVID-confirmed and -pending patients on ventilators: 113
COVID confirmed and probable patients in intensive care units (ICU): 233

Henrico Parents Demand Kids Go Back to School

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Eric Burk

After polling parents and holding a public forum, the Henrico County School Board voted 4-1 Thursday for an optional plan to allow in-person learning. The phased approach will allow Pre-K through 2nd grade students to return to school four days a week starting November 30. Grades 3-5 would return on December 7, and older students will return in February.

Virginia’s Second District Candidate Scott Taylor Talks Debate with Opponent Luria and Her Backfiring Smear Ads

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Julie Carr

Friday morning on The John Fredericks Show, host John Fredricks welcomed Virginia House of Delegates candidate Scott Taylor to the show to discuss his debate with incumbent Elaine Luria and her pattern of dishonesty.

Overview of Virginia’s Highly Competitive 5th Congressional District Race

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Jacob Taylor

Two first time candidates Bob Good (R) and Cameron Webb (D) are hoping to fill the empty House of Representatives seat of Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, in what projects to be an extremely close and competitive race.

Good, who served on the Campbell County Board of Supervisors from 2015 to 2019, became the Republican nominee after beating freshman U.S. Representative Denver Riggleman (R-VA-05) in a GOP convention this past June, collecting almost 60 percent of votes.

TRUMPDATE: Latest from the Team Trump Virginia Campaign for October 24

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Jordan Bondurant

Welcome to the Saturday edition of our daily Virginia Trump campaign update! We will provide our readers with daily updates on the Trump Virginia campaign from today to November 3 (and after…if need be!).

It’s officially 10 days until the election on November 3 – and seven days until early voting in Virginia closes.

Increase in Homeschooling, Working from Home Likely to Last

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Eric Burk

Increases in homeschooling and working from home triggered by COVID-19 closures may have permanent impacts, according to University of Virginia (UVA) researcher Hamilton Lombard.

“Based on trends over the past few decades, the number of homeschoolers and telecommuters were both expected to continue growing rapidly even before the pandemic. If Virginia’s homeschoolers were a school division, they would be one of Virginia’s largest school divisions, and easily its fastest growing,” Lombard told UVA Today.

Bill Giving AG Increased Authority to Investigate Patterns of Misconduct by Police Signed into Law

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020 Jacob Taylor

Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill into law on Wednesday that gives the state attorney general additional powers to investigate unlawful patterns or practices by law enforcement officers and file civil action to stop the misconduct.

Introduced by Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), Senate Bill 5024 was one of several bills approved by the governor this week.