DroneUp Expands Virginia Beach Headquarters, Expects to Deliver Packages for Walmart by End of Year

RICHMOND, Virginia — A drone delivered a small package to Virginia’s Executive Mansion on Wednesday morning as part of an announcement that Walmart partner DroneUp is expanding with 655 new jobs plus a drone pilot training facility at Richard Bland College. In May, DroneUp announced that it would deliver to 34 sites across the U.S. by the end of 2022. Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer said that would include customers near three Walmart drone delivery hubs in Chesapeake, Chesterfield County, and Chester.

“Our delivery capacity will be four million homes by the end of this year. Our goal is 30 million by the end of next year,” DroneUp CEO Tom Walker told the media. “Our partnership with Walmart is unique because there’s 4,700 Walmarts. 92 percent of the U.S. population lives within 10 miles of a Walmart. So as we work with the FAA and negotiate that broader range, we’re starting to go three, four, five, ten miles. It’s not long before 92 percent of the U.S. population can be receiving products.”

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Candidate for Virginia Beach Mayor Launches Recall Effort Against Mayor Bobby Dyer

Latasha Holloway is working to recall Mayor Bobby Dyer, citing malfeasance. She also plans to file campaign paperwork to run for mayor.

“This is something I’m doing after all the outcry from the citizens of Virginia Beach,” Holloway told The Virginia Star. “It’s based on misuse of justice and neglect of duty. So basically what I am highlighting is the incompetence that Mr. Dyer has demonstrated in the position of mayor.”

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Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer Wins Re-Election

By the early morning hours of November 4, Virginia Beach mayor Bobby Dyer had secured his re-election by defeating both Jody Wagner and Richard Kowalewitch. Dyer won by about nine points against the runner-up, Wagner – an even larger margin than his 2018 victory.
The incumbent cruised ahead comfortably within the first hour, holding a 30 point lead at 27 percent of votes. Dyer gained two points from his lead at around 9 p.m. EST, which reflected 74 percent of voters. In two hours, Dyer retained his lead despite a 14 percent increase in voters factored. By two in the morning, the incumbent had winnowed down to an eight point lead representing 97 percent of voters.

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Hundreds of ‘Adorable Deplorables, Chumps, and Uglies’ Show Up to Virginia Beach Trump Rally

Well over 200 people showed up on a rainy, gray Sunday to a Trump Rally supporting their Republican candidates: Scott Taylor for Congress and Daniel Gade for Senate. The rally took place inside the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach. 

Virginia Beach attorney Tim Anderson hosted the rally, with The Star editor-in-chief and Trump Virginia Delegation Chairman John Fredericks emceeing.

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Democratic Party of Virginia Invests Heavily in Virginia Beach Mayor’s Race

Virginia Beach mayoral candidate Jody Wagner out-raised incumbent Bob Dyer in September; Wagner received $321,799, while Dyer received $72,240, according to The Virginia Public Access Project. Furthermore, $167,349 of Wagner’s receipts were in-kind donations from the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA).

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Despite Letter from Virginia Beach Mayor, Northam Opts to Keep Eastern Virginia’s Enhanced COVID-19 Restrictions Through Labor Day

Governor Ralph Northam will not relax COVID-19 restrictions in Eastern Virginia before Labor Day. In a Tuesday press conference, Northam said he wants to avoid a post-holiday surge of cases, like those following Memorial Day and the Fourth of July earlier this year.

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