Gilliam steps down from Virginia redistricting panel, which will pick replacement from Norment s list newsadvance.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsadvance.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
ChildSavers hosts seminar to navigate pandemic mental health challenges (FILE) (Source: Associated Press) By Sam Fowler | May 3, 2021 at 5:03 PM EDT - Updated May 3 at 5:03 PM
RICHMOND, Va. It has been a long year since the pandemic upended life last March, including for parents and caregivers.
The Richmond-based nonprofit ChildSavers aims to help parents and caregivers navigate mental health challenges amid a return to in-person learning, with solutions that include transparency and communication with children about the pandemic.
In addition to the work ChildSavers does with local schools, it also provides support for parents and caregivers. The organization is offering seminars to help caregivers plan for school reopening, as well as other activities that involve interaction with others.
Sometimes government appears to move maddeningly slow. Right now, though, the machinery of Virginiaâs new redistricting process is whirring right along at an exceptionally brisk pace.
On Nov. 3, Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment that takes the power of drawing new district lines out of the hands of the majority party in the General Assembly â right now Democrats â and gives it to a special commission.
This commission is, by design, evenly split between legislators and non-legislators and then evenly split again between Democrats and Republicans and split yet one more time between the House of Delegates and state Senate. In December, party leaders in each chamber appointed their eight members â two from each party in each chamber.
Jan 8, 2021
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)- A panel of judges has selected eight citizens who will join eight legislators on a bipartisan commission that will redraw Virginia’s legislative boundaries for the next decade.
The eight citizens chosen by the judges at Tuesday’s meeting are Greta Harris, Richmond; Sean Kumar, Alexandria; Mackenzie Babichenko, Mechanicsville; Jose A. Feliciano, Jr., Fredericksburg; James Abrenio, Fairfax; Brandon Hutchins, Virginia Beach; Marvin Gilliam, Bristol; and Richard Harrell, South Boston.
A referendum approved by voters in November creates the 16-member commission to draw lines for Virginia’s seats in Congress and the General Assembly. The judges selected four names each from lists submitted by Democratic and Republican legislative leaders.
Virginia State Capitol Building (Photo: Craig Carper/VPM News)
A panel of retired judges chose eight Virginia citizens on Wednesday to make up the un-elected portion of the commonwealth’s new redistricting committee.
The committee was approved when voters approved an amendment to the state constitution in November, and is tasked with drawing new voting districts. It is made up of 16 people: The eight citizens selected today and eight lawmakers appointed by party leadership.
The panel of judges was headed by Pamela Baskervill, a retired Petersburg circuit court judge.
Before starting the selection process, she highlighted the state measures that guide their work, saying, “in making our selections, we are to ensure the citizen commissioners are, as a whole, representative of the racial, ethnic, geographic and gender diversity of the commonwealth.”