On Friday, a federal judge ruled against Franklin County wedding venue Belle Garden Estate and its owner Charles Russell, who sued Gov. Ralph Northam in an attempt to expand the number of people who could attend a wedding under the state’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Under current executive orders, businesses can host only 25 people outdoors if it’s a private booking, or 10 people indoors. Northam announced this week that the restrictions on weddings would be loosened April 1 to allow 100 people outdoors and 50 indoors, but Belle Garden Estate and Russell still pursued the suit, which sought to allow wedding venues to operate at 30% capacity, up to 1,000 people outdoors or 250 indoors, as allowed at baseball stadiums and other entertainment venues. With the April 1 policy changes, those caps will rise to up to 5,000 attendance in outdoor venues and 1,000 indoors.
Northam has said that weddings are riskier than other kinds of gatherings because of family members and friends hugging and dancing. On Tuesday, the governor said he will revisit lifting other restrictions on a monthly basis, as long as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline. He re-emphasized that outdoor wedding venues will continue to be limited to 100 attendees for the time being.
Judge Thomas T. Cullen of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, ruled against a preliminary injunction, saying in his order that the governor is likely immune from a civil suit and that the wedding venue has not demonstrated a viable First Amendment claim or equal protection claim. Cullen also said that Belle Garden did not show “irreparable injury” to the business due to monetary losses. In terms of public health impact, the judge wrote, “If the court issues a preliminary injunction in this case, there is a reasonable likelihood that more people will become infected and/or die than if it does not.”
Tim Anderson, a Virginia Beach attorney who has represented other clients seeking injunctions against the governor’s executive orders, said in a statement that although the ruling was disappointing for his client, “Belle Garden Estate believes this suit helped move the needle in how wedding venues are being unfairly treated by the governor of Virginia.” He added that Russell will take the weekend to review the order and decide whether he wants to appeal to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Belle Garden fervently believes that allowing a concert venue to be capped at 30% occupancy and outdoor graduations to have as many as 5,000 attendees but restricting an outdoor wedding venue to 100 is a violation of the equal protection clause,” Anderson added. “Such restrictions serve no legitimate public interest and only prejudices the $8 billion wedding industry in Virginia, which has suffered tremendously with the COVID lockdowns.”
U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced Friday that 26 community clinics in Virginia will receive $79 million in funding through the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan federal stimulus package. Warner also introduced legislation this week to support other community clinics — most run by health systems in the state’s rural areas — by closing a Medicare payment loophole.
Warner and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, are co-sponsoring Senate legislation that would fix a “sudden and unexpected Medicare payment rate change” included by mistake in the December 2020 COVID-19 relief bill, which excluded any clinics established after December 2019 in a freeze on Medicare payment rates. Nearly 30 clinics in Virginia are impacted, including 18 owned by Carilion Clinic.
“The language in question would have significantly reduced payments to rural health clinics across the country, potentially causing many to face financial uncertainty,” said Carilion Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Don Halliwill in a statement. “This technical fix will allow us to better sustain, and even increase, access to health care in the rural communities we serve. For us and hundreds of other rural health providers, this change will make it easier for us to continue to invest in communities where access to care has been identified as a need.”
Sentara Healthcare and Valley Health also own impacted clinics and have given their support to the measure. The legislation, known as the Strengthening Rural Health Clinics Act of 2021, would amend existing law to grandfather clinics at their current Medicare payment rates if the clinics were in existence or in “mid-build” by Dec. 31, 2020, or if an organization had submitted an application or binding agreement for establishing a rural clinic by the end of 2020.
Sen. Mark Warner. AP Photo/Steve Helber
“In the past year, rural health clinics have played an essential role in bringing urgent and lifesaving care to some of our most vulnerable communities. Unfortunately, this crisis has served to further throw these facilities into financial distress,” Warner said in a statement. “By fixing a legislative error, our bill will help avoid further financial volatility and allow rural health clinics in Virginia and across the country to continue serving the communities that need it the most.”
Under the American Rescue Plan, the following nonprofit community clinics and health services organizations will receive $79 million in federal funding for expanding COVID-19 vaccination and testing, as well as providing preventive and primary care for people at higher risk of becoming seriously ill. Health centers also can use the funds to expand operational capacity, such as improving infrastructure or adding mobile units.
Central Virginia Health Services Inc. (Buckingham County), $8.8 million
Neighborhood Health (Alexandria), $7.8 million
Eastern Shore Rural Health System Inc., $5.7 million
Greater Prince William Area Community Health Center Inc., $4.6 million
Peninsula Institute for Community Health Inc., $4.6 million
Johnson Health Center (Lynchburg), $4.3 million
Loudoun Community Health Center, $3.9 million
Piedmont Access to Health Services Inc. (Danville), $3.6 million
Healthy Community Health Centers (formerly Harrisonburg Community Health Center), $3.4 million
Southwest Virginia Community Health Systems Inc. (Smyth and Washington counties), $3 million
St. Charles Health Council Inc. (Lee County), $3 million
Portsmouth Community Health Center Inc., $2.7 million
Kuumba Community Health & Wellness Center Inc. (Roanoke), $2.4 million
Southern Dominion Health Systems Inc. (Lunenburg County), $2.3 million
Virginia’s unemployment rate continued to edge lower in February, dropping from 5.3% in January to 5.2% last month, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday. However, the state saw a decrease of 3,700 nonfarm payroll jobs and a decline in employed people during February.
The nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.2% in February, and the state’s jobless rate last month was 2.7% higher than in February 2020, when it stood at 2.5%. The number of employed Virginians fell by 8,808 to 4 million in February.
According to Megan Healy, the state’s chief workforce development adviser, the last time the state saw an unemployment rate of 5.2% was in 2014, as Virginia’s economy was recovering from the 2008-09 Great Recession. “Looking ahead to our recovery in 2021, the Virginia Employment Commission will continue working to help people gain employment or enter training programs that match their skills and career goals, focusing resources to align with the emerging opportunities we are seeing in post-pandemic job market trends.”
“While our unemployment rate is moving in the right direction, the economic impacts of this pandemic continue to challenge workers and businesses in Virginia and across the country,” Northam said in a statement. “Our administration remains committed to providing additional relief to those most in need, helping Virginians return to the workforce, and making targeted investments to build back key sectors of our economy.”
From February 2020 to February 2021, the private sector lost 161,600 jobs, while the public sector lost 35,700 jobs.
Herndon-based national security contractor Peraton Inc. has been awarded a potential $360.4 million contract to assess safety risks of the U.S. Air Force’s intercontinental ballistic missile software, an agreement that could extend 18 years.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense announcement Thursday, the company will support nuclear safety analysis and evaluation in Utah and California, with work set to be completed by March 2039. The first two task orders of $2.1 million in operation and maintenance funds and $5.4 million in missile procurement funds will be due at the time of the award from the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
Peraton has made two major purchases in recent months, including its $7.1 billion acquisition of Chantilly-based federal contractor Perspecta Inc. and Northrop Grumman’s integrated mission support and IT solutions business for $3.4 billion, now known as Peraton Remotec, a Tennessee-based subsidiary.
In 2017, the former government services business Harris Corp. became Peraton after it was acquired by Veritas Capital. Peraton, through the U.S. federal contracts, provides systems development and mission capability integration.
The cities of Hampton and Newport News opened a new low-interest loan program for COVID-affected businesses on Thursday. Known as the Peninsula Cares Act Fund, it will lend a total of $1.5 million in amounts ranging from $7,500 to $375,000.
Eligible businesses can use the funds for purchase and installation of machinery and equipment, building rehabilitation costs, refinancing of certain existing loans, facility remediation and cleanup, gap financing, infrastructure, marketing, working capital and other costs contributing to the value of a project’s fixed assets.
The relief fund, with money provided through a federal CARES Act Recovery Assistance Grant, will be distributed through direct loans with flexible rates and terms. According to the city of Newport News, the fund makes fixed interest loans generally between 0% and 2% (only applicable until all funds have been disbursed or June 30, 2022, whichever occurs first). The maximum term is 10 years for fixed asset loans and four years for working capital loans.
Pitch Preview’s first event is scheduled April 29 from 1-3 p.m. via Zoom. Participants commit to 30-minute time slots with a 15-minute pitch, and for those not ready to take that step, the Central Virginia SBDC will soon offer a preparation and practice session. Other Pitch Preview events are scheduled July 29 and Sept. 30 and may be virtual and in-person, hosted in Charlottesville. Five applicants will be selected for each event.
“The number of startups in America doubled from Q4 2019 to Q4 2020,” Rebecca Haydock, director of the CVSBDC, said in a statement. “That trend is clear in Virginia as we see more valuable innovation-based startups seeking funding. Unfortunately, too many don’t succeed because their pitches aren’t adequately prepared or delivered. Offering feedback from experienced angel investors is a win-win as CAN members get to meet bright entrepreneurs early in the process, while the entrepreneurs hone their skills for successful fundraising.”
Blacksburg-based Torc Robotics has hired Eddie Amos, a former Microsoft and GE Digital executive and software developer, as its chief transformation officer, the company announced Thursday.
In a statement, Amos said his new job is to “translate the lessons learned in 35 years of software disruption into best practices for commercializing self-driving trucks.” Torc is an independent subsidiary of Daimler Trucks, a division of Daimler Group, that is working toward bringing automated trucks to the commercial market. In August, Torc announced it was planning to invest $8.5 million and create 350 jobs in Montgomery County, near its Blacksburg Industrial Park location.
Amos, who came out of retirement to join Torc, has been part of the GO Virginia Region 2 Council since 2019, helping with their efforts to bring more high-tech jobs to Roanoke and the New River Valley region.
He previously served as chief technology officer at Meridium, a startup company later purchased by GE Digital. After its acquisition, Amos was named GE’s senior vice president of digital engineering.
“The Torc team is one of the smartest sets of people I’ve ever worked with in my life,” Amos said in a statement. “The world’s going to be amazed at what this group of individuals is going to do.”
The number of initial unemployment claims filed during the week ending March 20 were 60% lower than they were this week a year ago when the COVID-19pandemic‘s impact first began to be reflected in Virginia’s unemployment statistics.
The Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday that 17,560 people filed initial claims last week, an increase of 2,035 from the previous week. Continued claims totaled 58,233, a 2.9% decrease from the previous week but 36,605 higher than continued claims a year ago. People receiving unemployment benefits through the VEC must file weekly unemployment claims in order to continue receiving benefits.
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner wrote a letter to Gov. Ralph Northam on Thursday, urging him to speed up benefits to Virginia unemployment claimants now that the federal $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan has been passed. The act includes compensation for long-term unemployed people, self-employed and gig workers, as well as a new category that targets people with mixed sources of income.
“It is my understanding that, following earlier passage of congressional legislation to extend these programs in December, constituents in Virginia faced many delays and communication problems with the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC),” Warner wrote. “With the knowledge that these benefit systems were originally set to expire on Dec. 26, I worked with a bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers in the U.S. Congress to pass a relief package shortly before Christmas because it was understood that loss of benefits at this time of the year would be particularly cruel. Now, several months later, I hope you can agree that for constituents still experiencing delays the lack of pandemic unemployment insurance is unconscionable.”
Citing constituents that have called his office with complaints, Warner asked in the letter for the VEC to report on its plans on how to disburse the new federal funding for unemployed Virginians, as well as how the commission plans to improve communication efforts with claimants and employers.
“From Newport News to Henrico to Alexandria, constituents are contactingmy officefrom every corner of the commonwealth with desperate requests for relief,” Warner wrote. “Some of them have waited three months, others have waited 11 months, and many are struggling to feed their children and keep a roof over their heads.”
More than half of the claimants who filed for benefits last week (and the prior four weeks) reported being in the accommodation/food service, administrative and waste services, retail trade and health care and social assistance industries, according to the VEC.
The regions of the state that have been most impacted continue to be Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads.
Below are the top 10 localities, listed by number of initial unemployment claims, for the week ending March 20:
Nationwide, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims last week was 684,000, a decrease of 97,000 from the previous week’s revised level, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. There were 2,920,162 initial claims during the same week last year.
The company attributed its decision to “adverse market conditions” that “did not allow an adequate valuation of DRS,” according to a news release. “DRS remains a core part of Leonardo’s business portfolio and the IPO will potentially be revisited when market conditions are more favorable and a successful IPO at an appropriate valuation for this strategic business can be achieved.”
The company added that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission but that it has not yet become effective, meaning that the securities cannot be sold until it goes into effect.
Earlier this month, Leonardo announced it would list a minority stake of Leonardo DRS on the New York Stock Exchange, with the IPO valued at $2.54 billion. Leonardo US would remain the majority shareholder of Leonardo DRS, and the company was expected to enter a proxy agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense to allow Leonardo DRS to continue to compete and perform on classified programs.
Leonardo DRS is the largest U.S. subsidiary of the Italian defense/aerospace conglomerate and is a military defense tech contractor with $2 billion in annual revenue. The company works with customers including the U.S. Army, Navy and intelligence community. In 2020, the company won a $120 million U.S. Navy contract to provide engineering design and software testing for aircraft protection systems.
The city of Richmond has rejected three of its six casino proposals. The Pamunkey Indian Tribe, Golden Nugget Hotels & Casinos and Wind Creek Hospitality are no longer in the running, the city confirmed Wednesday night.
In late February, the city announced that six casino projects had been submitted for consideration. Still under consideration are projects proposed by Rhode Island-based Bally’s Corp., Baltimore-based Cordish Cos., and a partnership between Colonial Downs and Maryland-based media company Urban One Inc.
“The Pamunkey Indian Tribe was extremely disappointed to learn directly from the city of Richmond that its casino proposal would not receive any further consideration in the Richmond casino selection process,” Pamunkey Chief Robert Gray said in a statement Wednesday evening released ahead of the city’s announcement. “The timing of the decision, which comes before the public comment period has even concluded, seriously undermines confidence in the selection process and suggests a predetermined outcome has been reached. The timing of this decision also suggests that public and community input will not be seriously considered in this process.
“Further, it appears that the city of Richmond did not afford the Pamunkey Indian Tribe the optional preference in state law that recognizes the Pamunkey Tribe‘s ancestral heritage in the region. The Pamunkey Indian Tribe submitted the only 100% minority-owned, Virginia-based proposal. We were shocked to learn of our early dismissal from a process occurring in our native region and state, particularly in light of the fact that the tribe was one of the first entities — if not the first — to talk to the city about gaming before commercial gaming was legalized in the commonwealth.”
Wind Creek Hospitality released the following statement Wednesday evening: “We are disappointed to learn that Wind Creek Hospitality will not be considered for the Richmond casino project. We strongly believe that Wind Creek sets itself apart from other operators by not only building casino resorts, but by building up the communities our properties are located within. We wish the best of luck to the other operators and to the city of Richmond as they continue through the selection process.”
A rendering of the proposed Richmond resort and casino provided by Pamunkey Indian Tribe, now out of consideration.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney’s office confirmed the narrowing of the field in a news release Wednesday night. “These proposals did not advance due to factors such as lack of site control, concerns about the feasibility of financial projections, lack of organizational experience and/or deficiency of the proposal,” according to the statement. “The top-ranked proposals stood out because the operators provided strong proposals with detailed financial and operational analyses to support their vision for a resort casino in Richmond. The evaluation panel will enter into the next phase of evaluation and begin negotiations with these operators, while continuing to engage the Richmond community.”
The mayor’s office named seven city employees and two Richmond City Council members earlier this year to serve as an advisory panel that will recommend one proposal, which will then be considered by the council and ultimately by city voters on the November ballot. The panel is expected to make its recommendation to City Council by late May or June, and has been holding virtual public meetings to answer questions and receive input from Richmond residents.
City Council is expected to select a preferred casino operator this summer but Richmond voters will have the final word in a November referendum, judging whether to grant approval to the casino to operate in Richmond. Voters in Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth overwhelmingly approved casinos in each of those cities in November 2020 local referendums.
With Wednesday’s news, the three remaining casino proposals are:
Bally’s $650 million, 1.6 million-square-foot casino with sportsbook, performance space, a hotel and dining and retail outlets on a 61-acre parcel of land south of the James River near the city’s western border, which also includes a $100 million one-time payment to the city. Former NFL linebacker Willie Lanier, a Richmond resident, and Reston entrepreneur Warren Thompson, the founder, president and chairman of Thompson Hospitality Corp., are also involved in the project.
Urban One’s $517 million ONE casino. Urban One owns and operates 55 radio stations and the TV One cable network, and it has paired with Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, Colonial Downs Group’s owner and the Rosie’s Gaming Emporium franchise owner. This project, including a sportsbook, 150 hotel rooms, a 3,000-seat theater, 90,000 square feet of gaming space, and 12 bars and restaurants, would be built on 100 acres owned by Altria Group Inc. on Richmond’s South Side, a largely industrial area.
Baltimore-based The Cordish Cos., which owns casinos in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Florida, proposed the $600 million Live! Casino & Hotel Richmond resort on Richmond’s North Side, near The Diamond baseball stadium on the current Movieland theater property. The resort would include a hotel with 300 rooms and 30 suites, a 4,000-seat entertainment venue and 250,000 square feet of gaming space.
Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins released this statement Wednesday night: “ONE is honored and excited to be selected as one of three finalists to develop a resort casino project in the city of Richmond. We are convinced our selection is based on having the absolute best location in an industrial area off Interstate 95 in South Richmond; having the most diverse group of more than 50 investors providing opportunity for minority ownership and wealth-building in the Richmond community; and offering the most robust amenities, including 50 acres of green space for Richmond to enjoy, a music venue and a first-class casino and hotel.”
Bally’s President and CEO George Papanier said in a statement Wednesday night, “The Bally’s Richmond is truly a Richmond-first project, dedicated to supporting local businesses and minority organizations by driving job creation and developing sustained economic opportunities. We are confident that our proposal will provide incomparable economic benefits to the greater Richmond community, and we look forward to continuing our dialogue to prove to the city and its various stakeholders that Bally’s is for RVA.”
And Zed Smith, chief operating officer of The Cordish Cos., said in a statement Wednesday, “Live! Casino & Hotel Richmond will maximize jobs, tax revenues and community impacts for the city. The project will generate over $7.5 billion in overall economic benefits, $1.5 billion in tax revenue and over $200 million in incremental community benefit payments to the city over the first 15 years of the project. These payments will help fund critical community services such as infrastructure, education, healthcare, parks & recreation, workforce development and affordable housing.”
Out of the running
The Pamunkey tribe’s $350 million proposal, which included a 300-room, four-diamond hotel tower, a spa, pool, fitness center and several restaurants, was the least expensive of the projects submitted, and its proposed location was on the city’s South Side, off Interstate 95 and south of the Bells Road exit on 24.5 acres. Wind Creek, affiliated with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, proposed its $541 million casino on Richmond’s South Side as well, with 100,000 square feet of gaming space, a 67,000-square-foot entertainment center, a spa, indoor pool and seven food and beverage locations. Golden Nugget’s $400 million proposal was for the same property as the Bally’s proposal, north of Powhite Parkway and east of Chippenham Parkway.
The Pamunkey project was the only one submitted by a Virginia-based entity, and it was the tribe’s second casino proposal, with construction set to begin on its $500 million Norfolk casino this year.
Golden Nugget did not respond to emails seeking comment.
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