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EGACY Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.

WEDNESDAYS • Dec. 6, 2017

ERICK JOHNSON The last time Roosevelt Myles was a free man was in 1992. George H.W. Bush was president and people communicated with pagers.

That year, in the early hours of Nov. 16, Myles was at a friend’s house in Chicago when several blocks away, a couple was robbed at gunpoint. After a 16-year-old was shot twice in the torso, police scrambled to find the gunman. They found Myles, a drug addict, who was walking to the store to buy cigarettes.

Today, Myles sits in a cell nearly 200 miles southwest of Chicago. For more than two decades at the Illinois River Correctional Center in Canton, IL, Myles has been serving a 60-year sentence for a murder he did not commit 25 years ago.

Broke and scared, Myles, for decades, has been a victim of not only a notorious police interrogation unit in the Chicago Police Department, but also of a criminal justice sentence that has forced him to wait nearly 17 years just for a hearing he was granted back in 2000.

Since then, Myles has gone through a string of public defenders who have racked up 70 delays for a hearing, while a judge who had the power

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INSIDE Mom no longer facing felony - 2 GRTC expands services to RIC - 5 RVA ministry offers hope, healing - 8 Homelessness among seniors is abuse - 15 Environmental advocates gather in RVA - 17

Richmond & Hampton Roads

to move forward with the case did nothing. In the interim, both of Myles’ parents have died, as have several witnesses whose accounts could have helped to free him.

Two weeks ago when Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx vacated 15 convictions, Myles’ case was left out —a staggering blow to a man who has suffered and waited so long for freedom.

His case has dragged on and on in the Cook County justice system where overworked and underpaid public defenders work under a mountain of cases. Year round they toil under pressure from tight budget constraints while trying to serve poor clients who can’t afford to hire an attorney.

Despite being guaranteed a speedy trial by the Sixth Amendment, defendants are often stuck with numerous delays, postponements and continuances that keep them in jail for long periods of time. For Myles, justice delayed is the same as justice denied.

Myles’ case shows how bad the problem is, as he has tried for many years to clear his name by having his conviction overturned. With nothing to show for years of effort, his situation may be an extreme case of abuse or neglect in a broken criminal justice system fed by a police department badly in need of reform.

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After drawing criticism from activists who viewed her first year as mixed at best, on Nov. 15, Foxx vacated the convictions of 15 individuals who say they were framed by rogue cops who operated for years on Chicago’s South Side.

It was an unprecedented move by Foxx, who ousted her predecessor, Anita Alvarez, promising to reform the justice system in the wake of the Laquan McDonald scandal.

While many rejoice over Foxx’s latest move, the clock is still ticking for Foxx to do something about Myles’ case. In September, Foxx announced that the case would be assigned to her newly-formed Conviction Integrity Division, which reviews cases of people who have been wrongly convicted. If all goes well, Myles could soon be a free man, but Foxx hasn’t set a timeline for the review. For Myles, it’s a painful reality that requires more waiting for an uncertain verdict on a wrongful conviction that has ruined his life.

A prominent New York lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, has wrestled Myles’ case out of the hands of Cook County’s web of public defenders, but Foxx’s exoneration would be a much quicker end to his life behind bars and a long, exhaustive legal battle

that seems to have gone nowhere.

So far, that possibility seems distant and Foxx remains silent on the case.

“I don’t know why this case has gotten this far in the first place,” said Bonjean, the attorney who is representing Myles for free. “He should have never been convicted.”

Myles’ problems began on Nov. 16, 1992. Court documents show that prosecutors said at 2:45 a.m., Myles fired two shots into the torso of 16-year-old Shaharian “Tony” Brandon during a robbery attempt at the home of Brandon’s girlfriend, Octavious Morris, who lived on the West Side. Shaharian later died.

Sandra Burch, an eyewitness, saw the shooting while sitting in a car, according to reports.

Several blocks away, Myles heard the gunshots that killed Brandon as he left the apartment of his friend, Ronnie Bracey. On his way to buy cigarettes from a corner store, police stopped him and took him to the police car where Morris was waiting.

Morris said Myles didn’t shoot her boyfriend and police released him.

More officers interviewed Burch as Brandon was at the hospital, dying. Morris and Burch repeated

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The LEGACY

2 • Dec. 6, 2017

News

Mom no longer facing felony for recording school bullies STAFF & WIRE A Virginia mother is no longer facing a felony charge after trying to help her 9-year-old daughter who complained of being bullied in school.

Sarah Sims, 47, of Norfolk, had placed a digital audio recorder in her daughter’s backpack in September in hopes of capturing audio from the fourth-grader’s classroom. Ocean View Elementary School officials confiscated the device after finding it.

“The next thing I know, I’m a felon.

Felony charges and a misdemeanor when I’m trying to look out for my kid,” Sims told a reporter from WAVY-TV in Portsmouth. She said she had resorted to using the electronic device after calls and emails to officials at her daughter’s school went unanswered.

In November, Norfolk police charged Sims with intercepting wire, electronic or oral communications — a felony — in addition to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, based on the September confiscation of the device, according to published reports.

(from page 1) that Myles was not the shooter. And while Morris said there were two assailants, Burch said there was one.

Despite their statements, reports show that after officers reinterviewed the two, Burch and Morris’ accounts gradually became more similar. Burch eventually told police Myles was the shooter, despite telling officers earlier she did not see the shooter’s face.

Morris changed her story, too.

She originally gave police detailed descriptions of two people who she believed were responsible for the shooting. But three weeks later, Morris said she didn’t see any of the shooters. Morris also said that she knew immediately that Myles was the killer, but claimed otherwise because she feared him.

Myles was arrested the next day.

While in police custody, Myles said Anthony Wojcik, a 29-year veteran officer, hit him repeatedly with a flashlight and phone to force him

Sara Sims However after reviewing the case, last week the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office decided not to prosecute. It asked a judge to dismiss all the charges.

“I can breathe,” Sims told reporters after a hearing. “This boulder I’ve had on my chest for weeks was just alleviated. I slept pretty good for a solid three hours.”

Amanda Howie, spokeswoman for to confess, according to an affidavit filed with the Independent Police Review Authority, the agency that investigates controversial shootings and police misconduct.

Myles’ story is similar to other cases where Wojcik and another former detective, Sgt. Ronald Watts, coerced suspects into confessing crimes that they didn’t commit.

Both officers worked in the same unit under disgraced retired Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara, who was also accused of forcing confessions. All three officers have left the force. Wojcik is being investigated for 13 cases in which he allegedly coerced subjects into confessing crimes. All of the defendants were convicted and face prison sentences.

Wojcik is also among five officers accused of lying to protect Officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot Laquan McDonald 16 times in 2014. Before he left the force, Wojcik had 41 citizen complaints, but only three were determined to require discipline.

the attorney’s office, said that the office decided against prosecuting the case despite having evidence to support the charges.

Virginia is a one-party consent state, according to Digital Media Law. That means “you may record a conversation or phone call if you are a party to the conversation or you get permission from one party to the conversation in advance.” But Sims wasn’t present during the recording, so what’s is not immediately clear is whether Sims’ 9-year-old daughter could legally have been that one party who gives consent because she is a minor.

Other states, such as neighboring Maryland, require all parties to a conversation to consent to be recorded.

Almost 6,000 people signed a change.org petition and 18,000 signed a Care2 petition calling for the charges against Sims to be dropped.

Similarly, the Virginia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union and other social media users jumped to Sims’ defense.

Norfolk Public Schools officials said they take any accusation of

bullying, whether by a student or staffer, seriously and conduct a thorough investigation, according to a statement that school district officials released last week.

Sims is a student at Norfolk State University and said her action was the best way to protect her daughter.

“I’m a full-time student, so I don’t always get the opportunity to be on the premises, and I thought that this would be a good way for me to learn the environment,” she said in a televised interview.

She was facing five years in prison.

“School officials, and the police who are aiding them, are doing far more harm than Sims did or could have done,” said Julie Mastrine who authored the Care2 petition..

“Not all disputes need to be handled by police, especially with our country's problem of overcriminalization for nonviolent crime,” Mastrine noteD. “It’s egregious that school administrators did not just sit down with Sims to discuss the issue and instead opted to potentially ruin her life pursuing charges.”

Despite the discrepancies, prosecutors persuaded a jury to convict Myles of first-degree murder in 1996.

He was sentenced to 60 years in jail.

On Dec. 29, 2000, Appellate Court Judge Dennis Porter granted Myles a hearing after Myles argued that one of his public defenders failed to bring forth three people—Michael Hooker, Hubert Floyd and Derrick Floyd— who would have testified that they were with Myles at Bracey’s house at the time of the shooting.

Questions remain as to why Porter did not set or enforce deadlines to stop the delays. Judges are prohibited from discussing cases according to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Myles’ problems were first reported byBuzzFeed, in August.

The Cook County Public Defender’s office was spared from major cuts when the county’s $5.2 billion budget, was approved last month. Cook County Public Defender Chief of Staff Lester Finkle said the department had several vacancies for public defenders, but now they won’t be filled.

He said the department has 410 public defenders who work on at least 150,000 misdemeanor cases and 30,000 felony cases a year.

Finkle went on to say cases take time to handle because of the time investigators must spend to gather evidence, secure affidavits and locate witnesses. He acknowledged that Myles’ case was “unusual” because of the length of time it has taken for the courts to review it in the postconviction stage.

“I understand where the criticism is coming from, but it takes time to get these cases done,” he said. Finkle also stated that “the urgency that these cases should get are [sic] not given the treatment that they should.”

Bonjean took Myles’ case after helping free many Chicago citizens who were framed by Chicago police.

Bonjean said she has seen many cases languish in the courts for years, but “16 years is preposterous.

They didn’t do any work on this case.

Nothing. It took me two months just to get his files.”

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

Dec. 6, 2017 • 3

GRTC to offer expanded service to RIC Arriving soon by riding GRTC, there will be even more ways to connect across Greater Richmond and beyond. When GRTC launches a new transit network and new GRTC Pulse (Bus Rapid Transit) service in 2018, there will be significantly enhanced bus service to and from Richmond International Airport (RIC).

Today, GRTC in partnership with Henrico County, offers three trips every weekday to RIC on the Route 56 South Laburnum. Once the new Route 7 A/B Nine Mile Henrico begins service, there will be a GRTC bus servicing RIC in Henrico County every 30 minutes, Monday to Friday between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Route 7 A/B Nine Mile Henrico, highlighted in light blue above, will provide service from Downtown Richmond to Henrico County’s East End, also connecting with popular destinations like White Oak Village and the Walmart shopping center.

“GRTC is excited to partner with Henrico County and RIC on this service expansion, which will enable more of RIC’s workforce to conveniently and reliably reach their jobs at the airport,” said David Green, GRTC Chief Executive Officer.

Approximately 2,500 employees are based at RIC, working for airlines, rental car agencies, concessionaires, federal agencies such as the FAA and the TSA, as well as for the Airport Commission.

Troy Bell, Director of Marketing & Air Service Development, explains, “Richmond International Airport expects that improved GRTC bus service to the airport will not only provide benefits in terms of workforce access to a major employment center, but will also offer a consistent public transit option to travelers visiting the Richmond Region.”

“The additional benefit of this Henrico County service enhancement is for the carry-on only traveler. If you’re traveling light with up to two personal items, then you can fit on a GRTC bus, ride to RIC, and take off for national and international destinations. Henrico County is

David Green

committed to connecting residents and employees with Greater Richmond and beyond,” says Todd Eure, Transportation Development Division Director for the Henrico County Department of Public Works.

New bus stop signage and amenities, as well as the bus stop location, are currently being reviewed with RIC and Henrico County, and additional directional signage will

be added inside and outside the terminal to guide passengers from the airport to the bus stop.

The Route 7 A/B Nine Mile Henrico is funded by Henrico County, with annual operating matches from Virginia, as well as farebox recovery from riders. GRTC notes that this route will be the largest enhancement to RIC in GRTC’s history when it begins.

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF AN APPLICATION BY VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY FOR APPROVAL TO ESTABLISH EXPERIMENTAL COMPANION TARIFF, DESIGNATED SCHEDULE RF, PURSUANT TO § 56-234 B OF THE CODE OF VIRGINIA CASE NO. PUR-2017-00137 On October 23, 2017, Virginia Electric and Power Company (“Dominion” or “Company”) filed with the State Corporation Commission (“Commission”) an application (“Application”) for approval to establish an experimental and voluntary companion tariff, designated Schedule RF, Environmental Attributes Purchase From Renewable Energy Facilities (Experimental) (“Schedule RF”) pursuant to § 56-234 B of the Code of Virginia (“Code”) and Rule 80 of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (“Rules of Practice”), 5 VAC 5-20-10 et seq. According to the Application, Schedule RF will be a voluntary companion tariff to an approved embedded cost-based tariff, currently including Rate Schedules GS-1, GS-2, GS-2T, GS-3, GS-4, and Rate Schedule 10, under which participating customers will be serviced concurrently.

Dominion states that Schedule RF will be available to eligible existing or new commercial and industrial customers who (i) wish to bring incremental load to the Company’s system that will support the development of new renewable energy generation facilities; and (ii) commit to support the development of such facilities by enhancing their cost-effectiveness for all customers in exchange for the environmental attributes, including, without limitation, renewable energy certificates associated with these new facilities in an amount that corresponds to up to 100 percent of the energy they produce. The Company states that new renewable generation facilities constructed in connection with this experimental offering will serve as system resources. The Company further states that neither the approvals for construction of any such facilities, nor the recovery of costs associated with any such facilities, are being sought in connection with this proceeding. According to the Application, the Company intends the revenue stream associated with Schedule RF to be credited back to all Company customers through one or more future cost recovery mechanisms, as determined by the Commission in future cost recovery proceedings.

As proposed, Dominion would open enrollment in Schedule RF for a period of five years from the initial effective date of Schedule RF. The Company states that each participating customer’s Schedule RF charge will be based on a price that is to be separately negotiated and memorialized in a the Confirmation between Company and the customer.

The Application states that participating customers will enroll in Schedule RF, but no charges will be incurred under Schedule RF unless and until all necessary approvals have been obtained and the renewable facility identified in the Confirmation is constructed, becomes operational, and begins to generate renewable energy. Dominion states that in the event the Commission does not grant necessary approvals of the construction, operation or cost recovery for any new renewable generation facility, any applicable Confirmation – and the customer’s correspondening enrollment in Schedule RF – will terminate.

According to the Application, Schedule RF is necessary to provide information about demand for the development of new renewable generation facilities and support for their development through environmental attribute purchases by existing and new commercial and industrial class customers of the Company, with associated economic and environmental benefits, which is in furtherance of the public interest pursuant to Code § 56-234 B. Finally, the Application notes that one new customer, Scout Development LLC (“Facebook”), a subsidiary of Facebook, Inc., has provisionally committed to subscribe to Schedule RF, subject to the provisions of an agreement between Facebook and the Company.

Interested persons are encouraged to review the Application and supporting documents for the details of these and other proposals.

The Commission entered an Order for Notice and Hearing that, among other things, scheduled a public hearing on March 6, 2018, at 10 a.m., in the Commission’s second floor courtroom located in the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, to receive the testimony of public witnesses and the evidence of the Company, any respondents, and the Commission’s Staff. Any person desiring to testify as a public witness at this hearing should appear in the Commission’s courtroom fifteen (15) minutes prior to the starting time of the hearing and contact the Commission’s Bailiff.

The Company’s Application, as well as the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing, are available for public inspection during regular business hours at each of the Company’s business offices in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Copies also may be obtained by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company, Lisa S. Booth, Esquire, Dominion Energy Services, Inc., 120 Tredegar Street, RS-2, Richmond, Virginia 23219. If acceptable to the requesting party, the Company may provide the documents by electronic means.

Copies of the Application and other documents filed in this case also are available for interested persons to review in the Commission’s Document Control Center located on the first floor of the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, between the hours of 8:15 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Interested persons also may download unofficial copies from the Commission’s website: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case.

On or before February 27, 2018, any interested person wishing to comment on the Company’s Application shall file written comments on the Application with Joel H. Peck, Clerk, State Corporation Commission, c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118. Any interested person desiring to file comments electronically may do so on or before February 27, 2018, by following the instructions on the Commission’s website: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. Compact disks or any other form of electronic storage medium may not be filed with the comments. All such comments shall refer to Case No. PUR-2017-00137.

On or before January 11, 2018, any person or entity wishing to participate as a respondent in this proceeding may do so by filing a notice of participation. If not filed electronically, an original and fifteen (15) copies of the notice of participation shall be submitted to the Clerk of the Commission at the address above. A copy of the notice of participation as a respondent also must be sent to counsel for the Company at the address set forth above. Pursuant to Rule 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, Participation as a respondent, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice, any notice of participation shall set forth: (i) a precise statement of the interest of the respondent; (ii) a statement of the specific action sought to the extent then known; and (iii) the factual and legal basis for the action. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2017-00137. For additional information about participation as a respondent, any person or entity should obtain a copy of the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing.

The Commission’s Rules of Practice may be viewed at http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. A printed copy of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and an official copy of the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing in this proceeding may be obtained from the Clerk of the Commission at the address above.

VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY

The LEGACY

4 • Dec. 6, 2017

The rise of an epidemic: Opioids, their impact on Virginians, & efforts to combat the crisis NIDHI SHARMA RVA-MAG - Kim grew up on the west end of Richmond, a young girl with big blue eyes living in the nice part of town — bad things didn’t happen to girls like her, not in the suburbs.

By 14, though, she had started experimenting with weed and alcohol. As a freshman at Hermitage High School, Kim moved onto bigger and better drugs. Forget her school colors of red and blue, she’d found white — in prescription opiate pills and powdery bleached cocaine.

At 19, her mother dropped her off at a 12-step program in Richmond.

She walked in the front door and straight out the back.

Kim started shooting up heroin.

Her biological mother had died of a heroin overdose weeks before Kim was born, but those things didn’t seem to matter at the time. Kim was addicted. There was no choice but to leave her family, leave her life behind. Until July 8, 2010.

Kim was living in a recovery home with 13 other women, sandwiched between one addict reading from the bible and another woman blasting Eminem. It was then that she decided she’d finally had enough.

So she got help, and she got out.

Today, she works at the Virginia Center for Addiction Medicine (VCAM). Unfortunately, not everyone’s as lucky as Kim, though.

Only two weeks ago, President Trump declared the opioid crisis plaguing the nation a public health emergency, and the number of opioid overdoses has only increased since then.

“Every three weeks, 3,000 people die from this opioid epidemic,” said Chantal Thompson, a representative of VCAM. “There’s a 9/11 that happens every three weeks. Think about that. Every three weeks, the same number of people who died on September 11, 2001, die in the US because of an opioid overdose.”

And yet, doctors regularly prescribe opioids for pain relief. According to the Virginia Department of Health, 1,268 people in Virginia died in 2016 from overdosing on opioids.

465 of those deaths were caused by prescription opioids.

With statistics like these, it’s

important to know the science behind the drugs. Moreover, it is especially important to question why doctors are prescribing opioids so willingly in the first place, knowing the associate risks.

“The number, the recklessness, with which doctors have started prescribing opiates began in the late 1990s,” said James Thompson, the CEO of VCAM. “Traditionally, doctors were careful not to overprescribe opioids because of the risk of addiction.”

A movement generated by concern for those suffering from chronic pain, Thompson said, changed the way doctors prescribed opioids for good. “People were living longer and surviving diseases, but then going on to live lives of chronic pain,” he said. “So doctors began routinely prescribing opioids for pain.”

According to Thompson, doctors were also encouraged by pharmaceutical companies like Purdue that released self-funded studies in the 1990s, suggesting that the risk for opiate addiction was not high, not for patients that were truly in chronic pain.

Opioids, the drugs in question, are all derived from the natural opium poppy. The old standby derivative is morphine, and morphine has been modified to make products such as codeine and heroin. Then there are the synthetic opiates that are similar to morphine molecules, like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and hydro/ oxymorphone.

“What happens is that opioids, after they are administered inside your body, they bind to something called a receptor, which are proteins usually found on the membrane of a cell,” said Shannon Jones, a biology professor at the University of Richmond. “They are able to

recognize different substances and activate specific pathways that create a response in the body by activating specific genes.”

In the case of opioids, after binding to the receptor called GPCR, the opioids recruit a protein within the pathway called a G-protein. These G-proteins can affect either an activating or an inhibitory pathway.

Adrenaline, for one, binds to GPCR receptor proteins and recruits the G-protein that ultimately activates a fight or flight response within the body. Opioids also bind to the GPCR receptor, but they recruit a structurally different G-protein that ultimately inhibits pain receptors, enabling the body to feel little to no pain.

That’s why prescription opioids became so popular with both doctors and patients during the opiate movement — they block out our biological capacity to feel pain at all. Sore limbs, old wounds, nagging toothaches; it all just fades away.

Thompson, as a young doctor in the early 2000s, experienced this shift firsthand. “When I was in medical school, we were kind of taught that if we were underprescribing opiates, we were undertreating pain and that we were basically guilty of malpractice.”

He went on to say, “In the past, some opiates were prescribed only for brief periods of time after injury or surgery. It was rare to have someone prescribed opiates for a long period of time. By 2001, it became okay to give someone who had something as common as say, arthritis or fibromyalgia, a prescription for lifelong opiate use.”

All this may seem like a gift for patients with arthritis, migraines, and other diseases that cause chronic pain. Underneath the pretty wrapping paper, however, is something far more sinister.

“There are three types of opioid receptors in our bodies,” said Jones.

“Two of those receptors lead to pain relief. One of the receptors overstimulates a pathway that can cause respiratory depression — it slows down your breathing.”

And that’s where, Jones said, the danger of overdosing lies. “You’ve slowed down your breathing so much that you could die,” she said.

So opioids have become the

quintessential example of a doubleedged sword. No pain, no hurt, but an extra pill or two slipped unthinkingly into the back of your throat could leave you breathless.

Despite this, hospitals and medical practices in the 1990s continued and still continue to prescribe opioids daily, all across the U.S. Why? Because along with moral motivations to eradicate pain, doctors also had a monetary incentive to keep prescribing opiates.

“This movement began to grow at around the same time hospitals and medical practices began using the internet to get feedback,” said Thompson. “There were people who would give bad reviews to doctors who weren’t joining in on the prescribing frenzy.”

Thus, doctors had a strong incentive to prescribe painkillers.

According to Thompson, getting good reviews meant getting making more money. Reimbursements were connected to customer satisfaction and pain relief was linked to customer satisfaction, so there was a huge draw to prescribe opioids.

This paradox is explored famously

by Sam Quinones in his book, Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic.

In his book, he describes this situation, “Our desire as American health consumers to have an easy solution to a complicated problem has played a role in the opioid crisis,” he said.“Sometimes pain is only fixable if you, as a patient, do a lot of the work yourself but we as a country, culturally, have not made those choices.”

It is Quinones’ opinion that doctors have come to rely on prescription drugs because of the relative ease of prescribing a pill as opposed to suggesting that the patient work out, eat better, sleep better, drink more water.

Undeniably, the saturation of opiate prescriptions in American society is alarming enough when all you are considering is the threat of overdose — but there are still more layers. Opioid addiction, which has devastated the lives of so many, is another risk that looms ominously over our heads.

In November 2016, McAuliffe released a statement declaring

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Dec. 6, 2017 • 5

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Va. marks opening of wider I-64

Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently marked the opening of a wider I-64 on the peninsula with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. McAuliffe’s office said that unlocking one of the Peninsula’s biggest bottlenecks has been a priority for him and the recent completion of the Segment I widening work marks a significant step forward in the overall project.

Segment I of the widening effort was completed on time and on budget.

“My administration has worked tirelessly to relieve the gridlock in Hampton Roads and I am proud to celebrate the widening of I-64 on the Peninsula, which came in on time and under budget,” said McAuliffe at the ribbon cutting ceremony. “This important project was truly a team effort between the state, regional and local government, the private sector and the community. The widening of I-64 on the Peninsula is yet another step forward in our efforts to build a transportation system that helps our new Virginia economy thrive.”

Nearly six miles of Interstate 64 between Jefferson Avenue and Yorktown Road is now open with an additional travel lane and shoulder in each direction. The widening work was completed by Shirley Contracting Company of Lorton and is the first of three independent segments to be widened. The fasttracked project was delivered in 22 months at a cost of $122 million.

The project was the first to make use of Hampton Roads Transportation Fund revenues, with $44 million of funding provided by the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission.

“Today’s event is truly a celebration of these types of significant improvements, which is exactly what is needed to build and

maintain a reliable transportation systems that are essential to growing the new Virginia economy,” said Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne.

Segment I work also included the repair and widening of four bridges at Fort Eustis Boulevard and the Lee Hall Reservoir, the lengthening of on-and-off ramps at Fort Eustis Boulevard, and the addition of lowmaintenance landscaping along the corridor’s median.

Work is already underway on the widening of Segment II to Route 199.

Over the next four years, another travel lane and shoulder will be added in each direction along 15 miles of I-64, all the way to exit 234 (Lightfoot).

Layne also recently announced the delayed opening of the 64 Express Lanes in Norfolk. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) had planned to open the Express Lanes in December.

However, the opening has been delayed in order to complete additional testing of electronic tolling equipment.

“There’s no room for error, especially in Hampton Roads – a region that’s seen poorly executed toll collections,” said Layne. “VDOT and its contractors were to conduct exhaustive testing to ensure the unique characteristics of the 64 Express Lanes would function as expected. Based on its latest update, VDOT is not in a position to open this new facility. I have directed the agency to conduct an additional 60 days of testing, because this facility’s credibility will not be called into question.”

The 64 Express Lanes are designed to help make better use of the existing highway capacity.

6 • Dec. 6, 2017

Op/Ed & Letters

The LEGACY

Common sense gun solutions REV. AMANDA HENDLER-VOSS My son points the stick like he’s just back from the shooting range.

“Pow,” he says, a mischievous glint in his eye. He already knows the family policy his older brother rattles off ambivalently: no gun play. I know what I’ve done, ushering in the romance of taboo, leaving unsatiated that great boy-hunger to play cops and robbers. They make do with swords and wrestling. My four-yearold lowers the stick and explains with excruciating patience, “Mama, I’m just pretending.”

But I’m jumpy, having just returned from Charlottesville, where people of faith and good conscience showed up to face down the doughy faces of a new generation of white supremacists. Those boys-tryingto-be-men who marched in helmets with bats, whose lips curled with disgusting sneers, they were once small boys too. What did their mothers say, or fail to say? How did their hearts atrophy into hatred?

The guns got to me--I’d never seen so many on an American street. The militia stood, legs wide, on the slope between Emancipation Park and the road, semi-assault rifles slung over their shoulders, white supremacists at their back.

The clergy, unarmed, knelt in the street, Cornell West’s mutinous hair defying the breeze as they chanted, “Love has already won!” I

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stood behind him, praying for safety as tensions mounted. Media and onlookers huddled in small groups against the hum of unease, a parking lot of armed police officers stood strikingly still, a helicopter droned overhead. Later, there would be a military tank and riot gear, their armor contrasted against clergy collars, flesh, and sweat.

This was a New-Old America, rife with guns and ready to rumble. A clergy colleague who works in global hot spots confirmed: It was a war zone in those streets. She did not speak in metaphor.

Las Vegas, too: A war zone. Pulse Night Club. Sandy Hook. As time creeps by, too many are inaugurated into this New-Old America, incident by armed-to-the-teeth incident. My child comes home from school saying, we practiced sitting in a closet with

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the lights off, we pushed the desk against the door.

When did the right to purchase guns without background checks, to own and openly carry assaultstyle weapons--when did these socalled rights trump the safety of our children?

Our kids face a preventable public health crisis: seven are shot and killed daily. Americans own 42 percent of the world’s privately held firearms, and over half of them owned by just 3 percent, so-called “super owners” who average 17 guns each. Homes with guns experience more suicides, accidental shootings, and homicides than those without.

States with more guns have more gun deaths. The math adds up.

Most Americans believe the second amendment affords the right to own guns. Most also support common sense gun laws: universal background checks linked to a federal database, preventing domestic abusers and suspected terrorists from purchasing guns, a ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines. The gaping breach between broadly held gun solutions and their enactment is deepened by the giant wedged between them: the NRA. Not only has it catapulted the right to carry concealed guns into places like churches, day cares, and public parks, it also pushed stand your ground laws which protect

those who shoot in fear for their lives (even if such fear is grounded in scurrilous prejudice). Currently, the NRA offers Carry Guard insurance for such incidents, emboldening gun-owners to act first and sort out the details later with the help with “clean-up costs.” They are a Goliath of our times.

And yet as I look into the eyes of my child and see also the eyes of my father, I remember: they once said Tobacco was too big to fail and Nixon was decent, Harvey Weinstein just last month reigned over the film industry like a preening king never to be crossed.

Times change, especially when whistles are blown, shenanigans investigated, and voices raised.

This New-Old America where armed militia roam, where boys with helmets toss nasty chants like grenades, where rashes of shootings break out in churches, schools, and country music concerts, where our children cower in dark closets and our president hurls threats toward a nuclearized North Korea--this NewOld America; when will we muster the public will to say enough?

Guns don’t save lives, they don’t protect us. Only we can do that.

Hendler-Voss is a writer and an ordained, former pastor in the United Church of Christ. She resides in northern Virginia with her family.

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

Dec. 6, 2017 • 7

P.T. Hoffsteader, Esq.

Tax talk

The Senate just passed its abysmal tax plan.

Now, it comes back to the House for the ‘reconciliation’ process to iron out differences between the House Republican plan and the Senate Republican version.

The GOP tax bill is terrible for every hardworking family in Virginia – and for working and middle-class families across America.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated several days ago that poor Americans will suffer the most from this coldhearted plan.

It gives more than a trillion dollars in tax cut rewards to the wealthiest 1 percent, while forcing working families to pay more.

The average household income in our district – the 4th Congressional District – is just over $42,000. We’re going to be hit hard by this tax bill, just so Republicans can give a massive handout to big corporations and wealthy contributors.

The Senate Republican tax bill also guts affordable health care, slashes Medicaid, and blows out our deficit by more than a trillion dollars over the next 10 years.

It makes it almost impossible for students to afford college, promotes wealthy business owners over seniors, takes away the federal deduction for state and local taxes, and gives billions of dollars in incentives for big corporations to send American jobs overseas.

Along with my Democratic colleagues in the House, I will keep fighting to stop this truly awful tax legislation. We must have genuine reform lifting the tax burden from the hardworking families.

Rep. Donald McEachin ***** Media are being dishonest about Republican tax bill’s treatment of the middle class.

“The New York Times editorial page crossed the line from spirited opinion journalism to outright activism by tweeting phone numbers of key senators and urging constituents to demand lawmakers oppose the Republican tax bill. Sadly, the publication’s activism has polluted its news coverage.

“The Times ran a front-page story on Thursday with the breathless headline, ‘G.O.P. Tax Plan Could Reshape Life in the U.S.’ Though it was dubbed ‘analysis,’ that doesn’t excuse this line, which was widely-cited on social media: ‘By 2027, people making $40,000 to $50,000 would pay a combined $5.3 billion more in taxes, while the group earning $1 million or more would get a

$5.8 billion cut, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office.’ It isn’t merely misleading, but factually inaccurate. And it’s indicative of a lot of media coverage about the tax bill...

“The first thing that stands out is the myopic focus on the year 2027, without any other context. The reason is that the plan makes major changes to the individual tax code that would undeniably reduce taxes in every income group through 2026.

That’s the conclusion of the CBO and JCT. Even the Tax Policy Center, which Democrats love to cite, concluded of the version of the Senate bill that cleared committee, ‘We find the bill would reduce taxes on average for all income groups in both 2019 and 2025.’

“The key issue is that the bill’s changes to individual taxes will go away after 2026. So, cumulatively, over the standard 10-year budget window, it’s clear that every income group would see a tax cut. It’s one thing to challenge Republicans for making the corporate tax cuts permanent and the middle-class tax cuts temporary. But to focus merely on the final year, without even mentioning the previous nine years of lower taxes, is misleading.

“A more glaring factual error is the assertion that immediately follows the mention of 2027: ‘people making $40,000 to $50,000 would pay a combined

$5.3 billion more in taxes.’

Anybody who takes the time to click on the source cited will notice that the figure comes from a table titled, ‘Allocation of Changes in Net Federal Revenues and Spending Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.’ In plainer English, what this means is that it’s a measure of how the tax bill affects various income groups when tax changes are combined with spending changes, rather than by looking at tax changes alone.

“The main issue is that the bill eliminates the penalties associated with the individual mandate. Because of this, the CBO assumes that fewer people would choose to purchase health insurance. That means the government will be paying fewer subsidies to insurance companies to help individuals purchase insurance. Some of those subsidies go to individuals earning $40,000 to $50,000, thus leading to a reduction in government spending for individuals in that group. So what the Times is doing is saying a person who chooses to go uninsured and thus does not claim subsidies toward the purchase of coverage is the same as a person who has to write a check to cover ‘more in taxes.’ If the authors still wanted to argue that this is a distinction without a difference, at least explain to readers what the numbers represent.”

Philip Klein

8 • Dec. 6, 2017

Faith & Religion

The LEGACY

Ministry offers hope, healing and meals to those in need ZOE PHILLIPS AND ANNA RICCI CNS - On a bright and brisk Friday afternoon, slices of homemade pizza sizzled in the oven while volunteers scurried around the kitchen and dining room. Workers tossed house salads in cumbersome stainless steel bowls, stocked tables with colorful fruits and filled glasses with iced tea and water. This was the scene as Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church prepared to serve the homeless and the hungry who walked through its red doors, which the parish does every Friday.

The Rev. Kimberly Reinholz, the associate for service, campus ministry and pastoral care, grabbed a microphone to address the line of people waiting for food, which extended down the hallway and out the door. She announced there would be enough homemade pizza for everyone and assured them it would be delicious.

“I might have had a little taste earlier, so I know,” Reinholz joked.

The line slowly started to shrink once the kitchen started serving food.

The guests poured into the cafeteria where they found a seat at one of the many round tables so they could enjoy their hot meal. Some sat alone, others in groups. Noise of friendly conversation filled the air. In the back corner, a small band of guitar and vocals started playing a lively soundtrack.

Reinholz looked over the crowd with a smile on her face. She was still dressed in her long white robe, which she had worn during her 30-minute pre-lunch service in the chapel, which was open to anyone.

“We always invite people, so we invite both our guests and volunteers, to come to worship and to participate in our life as a community. It is not a requirement for anybody to come to worship. If you’re interested, that’s great. If not, that’s fine, too” she said.

A dozen people decided on this particular Friday to attend the service and they were handed a bulletin upon their arrival.

“Dear Children of God, Welcome to Red Door Ministry’s Healing Service. We want you to know that you are safe here. You are invited to

Emily Bennett, the Rev. Kimberly Reinholz and Jordan Cooke believe in the church's mission to feed the hungry at Grace and Holy Trinity. participate in worship to the extent that you would like... We are glad you joined us today. Please join us for lunch. God bless you,” the front page of the bulletin read.

During the service, people were encouraged to light a candle at the front of the chapel in remembrance of someone they had lost. Four people slowly made their way from their pews to the candles at the front of the chapel, as Reinholz continued to read through the bulletin.

“When we are angry and tears become our food, O Christ, lead us home,” Reinholz said as she started to tear up.

Reinholz finished the service with a blessing: “Merciful God… look with compassion on all who are bound by sorrow and pain and help them to find sure trust and confidence in your resurrection power.”

In closing, Reinholz encouraged everyone in the chapel to stay for a complimentary lunch, which was put on by the Red Door Ministry.

The Friday ministries started more than 32 years ago by women who were part of Grace and Holy

Trinity Episcopal Church, Reinholz said. It started as more of a soup kitchen, which served the same meal every week, but three years ago the leadership decided to switch up the menu.

“Our numbers have been going up since we started not serving only bean soup,” Reinholz said with a smile.

But as Richmond becomes increasingly known for its restaurant scene, thousands are still left hungry and homeless. More than 912,000 Virginians are left not knowing where their next meal will come from every day, the Virginia Federation of Food Banks reported.

“We’ve been doing this a long time and the need is still here,” Reinholz said, gesturing toward the cafeteria full of hungry guests.

“We feed between 80 and 150 people every week, depending on the week, depending on the season, depending on the weather.”

There is a pretty regular community that attends the program weekly, she said.

“There’s some that I know by name,

(continued on page 9)

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

Dec. 6, 2017 • 9

(from page 8) there’s some that I know by face, there’s some that I’ve never seen before, and there are others that have my cell phone,” Reinholz said.

People tend to learn about Red Door Ministry through Street Sheet

by Homeward, on which they are listed as a local Feeding Ministry, and through word of mouth, said Reinholz.

Ricardo King, a guest of the program, who was wearing a gray sweatshirt and ripped jeans, sat alone at a table near the back wall of the room. When asked about his life, he said: “I just did my 21 years in a federal penitentiary. When I got out of prison, I really had no family, nothing… when you don’t have nothing, it is what it is.”

He said he found out about the program through the Healing Place, a local residential recovery facility.

“They basically tell us where to go out and about and this is one of those places,” he said.

Melissa Farrakhae, another guest, who was wearing a floral blouse, headscarf and big hoop earrings, enjoyed her homemade pizza while she sat next to the volunteer band.

She said she attended the program because she thinks people at churches can help her to reach her goals.

“I would really like to go back

Symbol for the “Red Door Church”. to school because I dropped out of school in 10th grade, and I know that some of the people at these churches can help me,” she said.

David Haskins, a middle-aged guest who was sitting with others at a round table, said he comes to the program every once in awhile and his favorite part of it is the church service. During his life, he said he was shot, beaten up, and left for dead. He got cancer and now struggles with sleep apnea. The prelunch sermons help him to gain a new sense of spirituality, he said.

“Right now, I am trying to get

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things back into perspective” he said.

“I’ve been through everything there is to go through.”

Haskins said the program also seems to facilitate a good chance for community. “Everybody in here know each other,” he said.

Guests are able to interact as much or as little as they desire, but to the volunteers, the social aspect of the Red Door Ministry seems to be vital.

Caitlyn Turner, a volunteer, said she thinks it is beneficial for the volunteers to get to know the people they are servicing, as it gives them a friendly face.

Emily Bennett and Jordan Cooke, both seniors at Virginia Commonwealth University, volunteer every weekend at the front table, checking people in. Both of them echoed Turner’s sentiment.

“The people that we feed on Fridays we refer to as our ‘Friday Friends’ and I love getting to interact with them on a weekly basis. I love hearing their stories, and just how they’re doing,” Cooke said.

Bennett nodded and said, “I like getting to know people who I normally wouldn’t really get to know in another circumstance - it’s probably my favorite part.”

Although the volunteers believe that they have made connections with the guests, Reinholz would like to see the relationships between the volunteers and the guests deepen.

“What I want to encourage people to do is to do what I call ‘front of house’... coming out and having conversations with guests and getting to know them and building relationships with them,” she said.

Many of the volunteers see other places for improvement, as well.

Turner said the church provides attendees with shower supplies, such as washcloths, soap, shampoo and conditioner, but she wishes the church would also provide them with a place to shower.

Bennett said that she would like to see the Church bring in medical screenings for the guests.

“We offer medical aid, so we write checks for people to get their medication, but I think it would be good if we could start bringing screenings here,” Bennett said.

Cooke believes it is the church’s responsibility to take care of others.

“I feel like everyone should help others,” Cooke said. “I feel like it is one of the really important parts

of the church, especially in the Episcopal Church. I think actions speak louder than words, so I think helping others is what we are meant to do.”

Reinholz feels that obligation.

“In scripture, we’re told feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give water to the thirsty, visit a prisoner,” she said. “So yes, the church should do those things. How the church does these things is up to every individual denomination and congregation.”

Churches are not the only ones aiding the homeless and the hungry in the Richmond area.

Homeward is a non-religious organization that plans and coordinates homeless services in the greater Richmond region. Homeward states on its website that its mission is to “prevent, reduce, and end homelessness by facilitating creative solutions through the collaboration, coordination and cooperation of regional resources and services.”

The Virginia Homeless Solutions Program (VHSP) is a state and federally funded program that supports Continuum of Care (CoC) strategies and homeless service and prevention programs, according to its website. VHSP states that their goals are to “reduce the number of individuals/households who become homeless, to shorten the length of time an individual or household is homeless, and to reduce the number of individuals/households that return to homelessness.”

For people who do not have access to food, FeedMore’s Meals on Wheels program serves more than 900 people throughout the greater Richmond area, according to its website.

Hunger Fight, which was founded in 2012, has made it their mission to “provide nutritious meals to children and families deemed food insecure and hungry in (their) local communities with an emphasis on school backpack programs,” according to its website.

While religious congregations often take responsibility for people in need in their respective communities, more nonreligious initiatives to help the homeless and the hungry are springing up around metro Richmond. Turner finds this to be a positive change.

“It (helping others) should be everyone’s responsibility,” she said.

“Everybody should want to do it.”

10 • Dec. 6, 2017

The LEGACY

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Ask Alma

My ex takes care of our

daughter, financially.

Now he wants to see her. Should I let him?

Dear Alma: I had a baby in my twenties when I was dealing with this guy, who was in the military, stationed close to where I live. I thought that we would get married and live happily ever after. Obviously, that didn’t happen. He relocated and eventually we stopped talking. He did however send money to take care of our daughter. I get a check in the mail from him every month and I’m forever grateful for it.

I was heartbroken when he moved away and I don’t think I ever really healed. I was in relationships here and there and eventually got married.

When that marriage ended, I just shut down. I let myself go and made some not so good decisions.

I put on weight, because I’ve been depressed and I just try not to bring attention to myself. I’m a great cook and all my daughter’s friends and my family usually come over when they want a good home-cooked meal. Recently, a knock came on the door and it was my daughter’s father. He asked if she lived there and then he asked if her mother was home; he didn’t even recognize me. I just said that she wasn’t home and that I’d give her the message.

He said, “Okay” and I shut the door.

I was so hurt afterward, I just cried and cried. I don’t know how to feel.

I haven’t told my daughter yet, because I don’t know if I want to see him again. What’s your advice Alma? Should I give my daughter her father’s contact information or

Dec. 6, 2017 • 11

should I just pretend like he never stopped by?

Reunited...

Dear Reunited, The question you asked has nothing to do with the answer you need, but because of the circumstances, I’ll offer you a two-fer.

First, let me get this straight.

Your daughter’s father consistently provides for her and although he didn’t stay connected, his coins come regularly to help you take care of her. He recently stopped by to reconnect, but didn’t recognize you and you think that’s enough reason to keep him away from her? Okay, I’ve gotta stop rightchia: I’m sorry Sweet Pea, I don’t mean to kick you when you’re down, but this ain’t about you. It’s about your daughter and her father reconnecting—period.

Run to your pocketbook, pour out your belongings and give the contact information to you daughter, plain and simple.

Now, scooch over and let me sit, here’s part two: Aint no doubt about it, it can seem like forever to spoon your way out of a dark, deep ditch, but you can do it. Once you get started, your spoon becomes a spatula, the spatula becomes a ladle and then the ladle becomes a shovel—you feel me?

What you thought you couldn’t do, suddenly becomes natural to you, but first you’ve got to change your mind, change your thinking. It’s been a long time since your old flame has laid eyes on you, that doesn’t mean you didn’t look the same.

It just means he didn’t initially recognize you. Let that go, use it as the fuel you need to get back to your best. If you can’t find the strength in yourself, do it for your daughter.

Whenever you get tired, don’t let “Ms. Easy” rule your decisions. Ms. Easy will lead you back to eating fried chicken, mac & cheese a drinking milkshakes, but don’t do it. No excuses. Today is the day you are #sickntired of being #sickntired.

Start walking. You own your mind and body; nobody should love you more than you love yourself. Stop allowing the pains of your past to deter you from making yourself a priority. Go find the happy you, the fabulous you, the confident you and reintroduce yourself. When you start healing your mind, your body will follow. And once that happens, a heap of friends and family members won’t recognize you, but that’s okay, because it’ll be for all the right reasons.

‘Let them fight’ top cop said at C’ville rally

Al Thomas, Charlottesville chief of police. Read story on page 13

12 • Dec. 6, 2017

The LEGACY

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As fights first broke out, Chief Al Thomas said, ‘let them fight, it will make it easier to declare an unlawful assembly’.

STAFF & WIRE The independent investigation into the violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that found serious police and government failures in responding to the chaos also said state and local police agencies refused to cooperate with the investigation. The findings of former U.S. Attorney Tim Heaphy’s monthslong investigation was recently released.

Virginia State Police commanders who were on the ground at the Aug. 12 rally weren’t made available for interviews, the report alleged, and the agency refused to turn over most documents requested.

Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas also deleted relevant text messages the report said, and made officers fear retaliation for talking with investigators.

Thomas’ lawyer denied texts were deleted. He spoke at a news conference in which community activists peppered Heaphy with questions and shouted at Thomas, illustrating the deep distrust between some of Charlottesville's citizens and law enforcement after white nationalists descended on the Virginia city over its decision to remove a Confederate monument.

“We are a community divided.

We are still a community in crisis,” Thomas said.

The report’s findings come a little over three months after the rally, which was believed to be the largest gathering of white nationalists in at least a decade. Street fights erupted between white nationalists and counterdemonstrators before the event officially began, and the brawling lasted nearly an hour in view of officers until authorities forced the crowd to disband.

Later, as counterdemonstrators were peacefully marching downtown, a car drove into the crowd, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring many more.

Heaphy’s report was sharply critical of Thomas' response as the violence began to escalate that day.

According to the report, as brawling first broke out, Thomas said, “let them fight, it will make it easier to declare an unlawful assembly.”

Thomas did not recall making

that statement, which was cited in accounts by two other police employees, though he confirmed he waited to “see how things played out” before declaring an unlawful assembly, the report said.

“Chief Thomas’ slow-footed response to violence put the safety of all at risk and created indelible images of this chaotic event,” it said.

The report also said Thomas initially tried to limit access to certain information by directing subordinates not to answer certain questions. And it said Thomas and other Charlottesville police command staff deleted text messages relevant to the investigation.

Kevin Martingayle, an attorney for Thomas, said the chief disputes that.

Heaphy, now in private law practice, said he eventually got the information needed from city police, but that wasn’t the case with Virginia State Police.

Virginia’s Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran was initially willing to cooperate, Heaphy said, but Moran’s office later invoked executive privilege over certain information amid concerns about possible litigation against the state.

State police allowed Heaphy’s team to interview the agency’s leader and two troopers not present Aug. 12. But the report said state police refused requests to interview four others “important to our evaluation” and turned over just one document.

Heaphy’s team, however, said it obtained a second document, a detailed plan for state police resources on Aug. 12, after copies were accidentally left behind in a staging area.

Moran and State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The investigation — which involved around 150 interviews and a review of photos, video and more than half a million documents — found a lack of coordination between state and city police and a passive response by city officials to the chaos.

The report also found police removed an officer from the area where the car smashed into counterdemonstrators, leaving only a small sawhorse in place at the time.

The report also said the fact that

officers were dressed in everyday uniforms, not riot gear, at the outset of the day caused problems. Their helmets and shields were staged behind barricades, not beside officers, Heaphy said, requiring them to leave conflict areas to retrieve that

equipment.

“Supervisors devised a poorly conceived plan that under-equipped and misaligned hundreds of officers.

Execution of that plan elevated officer safety over public safety,” the report said.

14 • Dec. 6, 2017

The LEGACY

Virginia to dissolve deceptive veterans charity In an effort to combat deceptive charities that target Virginians supporting veterans, Attorney General Mark R. Herring recently announced a settlement between 24 states and VietNow National Headquarters, Inc., an Illinois charity that falsely represented that donations would help local veterans, resulting in the organization’s dissolution.

“Virginians are caring, big-hearted people who want to help veterans who risk their lives for this country.

Charities that dishonestly solicit funds from donors who wish to help veterans are wrong and will be held accountable for their efforts to mislead Virginians,” said Herring.

“This action will send a strong signal to other organizations to be honest

when they ask for money for such causes, and make sure they follow through on their promises.

Since March 2015, VietNow-which also uses the name VeteransNow-had been raising money using deceptive telemarketing solicitation scripts.

The scripts told potential donors that VietNow gave funds back to veterans in the donors’ state; other scripts stated that donations helped local veterans in the donors’ state. Despite these representations, VietNow admitted to the states that it had not funded programs that assisted veterans as represented, nor did VietNow have local programs in most states. Other VietNow scripts falsely claimed that VietNow provided “medical facilities and treatment” to veterans.

(from page 4 the opioid crisis a public health emergency. According to the press release, in the first half of 2016, the total number of fatal drug overdoses in Virginia increased 35 percent from 2015, and fatal drug overdoses became the number one cause of unnatural death in the state.

One of the most popular opioids, Percocet, is a combination of oxycodone and acetaminophen.

In 2015, more than four million Americans reported abuse of oxycodone-containing pain relievers like Percocet.

Musicians across the U.S. have been waxing poetic about the inconceivable high these drugs give you for years, but what does that high really entail, and why is it so addictive?

“Biochemically speaking, synthetic opioids mimic natural opiates your body produces, like endorphins,” said Jones. “These opioids bind to the reward pathways in your brain that bring about that feeling of euphoria commonly associated with these drugs.”

According to Jones, opioids have the highest rate of addiction out of any drug group in existence.

When you take an opiate, your body is flooded with the drug, and your cells try to cope with the onslaught– they pull their receptors away from the surface so that the opiates can’t bind and create their effect, a dangerous mix of euphoria and

AG Mark Herring breathlessness.

Jones explained this further, “Drug users will take more and more drugs, trying to achieve the high they had the first time they took an opiate.”

He also explained how taking opioids is about diminishing returns, once your body’s cells have adapted and become desensitized to the drug, “still, people keep trying and trying anyways, constantly chasing a high they’ll never feel again.”

It’s the reason drug cartels buy heroin from processors that make it out of morphine and mix it with powerful synthetics like fentanyl.

Because, in Thompson’s experience, it makes for an attractive product — and addicts with hollow eyes and bruised veins will come from all over, will search for the powerful high born from a mixed, street-made drug that has caused many an overdose.

The settlement resolves the allegations and investigations by appointing a receiver to dissolve VietNow. The settlement also obtains injunctive relief against VietNow's directors and officers and requires their cooperation in investigations of VietNow’s professional fundraisers.

Upon dissolution, VietNow’s remaining funds will be paid to two national veterans’ charities, Fisher House Foundation and Operation Homefront. Four of VietNow’s directors and officers will also be permanently enjoined from serving as charitable fiduciaries or acting as professional fundraisers.

Virginia’s settlement is in the form of a Consent Judgment filed for approval in the Circuit Court of the

city of Richmond.

This matter was handled by Herring’s Consumer Protection Section. In 2016, Herring announced the completion of a reorganization of the OAG Consumer Protection Section to more efficiently and effectively enforce Virginia's consumer protection laws, provide exceptional customer service in resolving complaints and disputes, and provide robust consumer education to keep Virginians from being victimized by fraud, scams, or illegal or abusive business practices.

During Herring’s administration the OAG Consumer Protection Section has recovered more than $234 million in relief for consumers and payments from violators.

It’s also the reason that Thompson will have weekends in Virginia when he ends up with a bunch of overdoses caused by the same product, sold by the same person, to people just trying to get their fix.

“Your brain informs you of your decisions constantly, whether you’re conscious of it or not, and it is a powerful learner,” he said. “Using opiates over and over changes the impulses and drives you have. It can make it so that your desires, wishes, goals, they all revolve around the drug. Even if you can’t admit that to yourself.”

Still, Thompson has made it clear that the solution to this nationwide opioid crisis does not lie in banning the drug. For him, education, not restriction, is the solution.

“About half of the patients I see started out being prescribed opiates for a medical issue, and quickly became addicted from their first exposure,” he went on to say. “That doesn’t mean doctors should never prescribe opiates — it just means we should help people to better understand the risks of addiction and that doctors should be more mindful of what may happen if they prescribe opioids.”

In October, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine introduced a bill that would invest $45 billion into prevention, detection, surveillance, and treatment of opioids. Should the bill pass, it would also include nearly $5 billion for substance abuse programs in individual states from 2018 through

2027.

Over the last few years, focus on policies concerning the opioid crisis has expanded exponentially, both nationwide and in Virginia specifically. In an interview with RVA Mag, Attorney General Mark Herring discussed his efforts over the years to curb the epidemic, and provide the public understanding of opioid addiction that Thompson advocates.

“I have known from the very beginning that this is not a problem we are going to solve with arrests,” Herring said in the interview. “Many of our drug policies of the past have not worked well and we need to take a fresh look at [the issue]. Drugs are not going after one particular demographic. It isn’t an urban, suburban, or rural problem. It’s happening everywhere.”

And according to Herring, Virginia is trying its best to solve the problem everywhere — it is part of a 41-state investigation into pharmaceutical manufacturers, to see if they are engaging in any unlawful practices regarding their marketing and distribution.

“These drugs are incredibly powerful, and devastating the lives of so many families,” Herring said. “The opioid crisis is a national tragedy and a problem that is decades in the making — and it has its roots in the medicine cabinet much more than it does in the streets.”

Dec. 6, 2017 • 15

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

Homelessness among senior citizens is a form of elder abuse Here’s a startling statistic from the Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD]: “the homeless population is aging faster than the general population in the United States.”

Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC], calls it “a shameless embarrassment in a country with a tradition of helping the needy. Growing old is a condition we all have to live with. But too many of America’s elderly are aging on the streets. They need our help.”

Weber points out that there are more than 300,000 seniors who are homeless. It is a daunting number, he says, but it is not hopeless and there may be solutions. He cites University of Pennsylvania Professor Dennis P. Culhane, a recognized expert on the homeless, who is a proponent of Permanent Supportive Housing.

“In other words, programs that provide housing assistance can significantly alleviate the impact of homelessness among the elderly.

It's a concept with a proven track record, according to HUD. Not only does it deal with the problem of putting a roof over the heads of the homeless but such programs are generally less costly quick fixes and they help deal with the serious health issues associated with chronic homelessness. The good news is that

Dan Weber a variety of private sector initiatives are underway to alleviate chronicle homelessness,” the AMAC chief notes.

For example, numerous private philanthropic organizations such as the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Tipping Point Initiative have set aside tens of millions of dollars in recent years to fund sustainable solutions.

Weber believes that a permanent, cost-effective solution in aid of the elderly homeless is a must. He said government cannot do much more than provide Band-Aid approaches to the homeless emergency the country faces. Shelters and street outreach programs do not deal with the underlying issue-the need for a stable home environment.

Weber said “we need to wake up to the fact that more seniors are homeless than ever before and to

3rd Dem candidate files recount The campaign of Democratic nominee Josh Cole (HD-28) has now joined the campaigns of Donte Tanner (HD-40) and Shelly Simonds (HD-94) in filing for a recount of votes cast in the Nov. 7 election.

Cole’s request was filed in the Stafford Circuit Court.

In HD-28, 147 people were given ballots for the wrong House District, while only 82 votes separate the two candidates. Further legal action, in addition to the recount, is possible as the recount will not take into account those 147 disenfranchised voters.

“We remain concerned that 147

voters were disenfranchised in this election, especially with the margin between the two candidates only being 82 votes,” said House Democratic Leader David J. Toscano and Caucus Chair Charniele Herring.

“By filing the recount, Josh Cole has taken the next step in ensuring the accuracy of the electoral process.”

In HD-40, Democrat Donte Tanner trails Republican Tim Hugo by 106 votes and in HD-94, Democratic Shelly Simonds trails Republican David Yancey by 10 votes.

Tanner and Simonds both requested recounts.

take to heart the needs of these hapless lost souls. And, we need to focus on their plight and let the truth be told, loud and clear. Everyone needs to pitch in if we are to solve this problem, which only grows bigger with each passing day.”

He said that homelessness among senior citizens is a form of “elder abus” and dealing with it needs to become a matter of urgency. “We must expand the availability of housing for low income seniors.”

Weber said that despite the strides that the economy has made over the past year, many citizens particularly senior citizens - are still struggling with the impact of the Great Recession. “It is particularly difficult for those who are old because their prospects for recovering lost incomes can be futile. Some reports indicate that as many as 30 percent

of people over 65 years of age in the United States have no retirement income or pensions.”

Professor Culhane, in an article he wrote for the publication, Aging Today, said that “among the more troubling aspects of contemporary homelessness is that the problem has been concentrated among people born between 1953 and 1965. This was true in 1990 when the peak age of adults who were homeless was 30, as it is today, with a peak age of 55. Adults who are homeless have a much reduced life expectancy compared to their housed peers, and can expect to live to a mere 64 years.

That means that advanced agingrelated illnesses and disabilities are confronting this population in increasing numbers, and end-of-life issues will soon come to the forefront of concerns.”

PSA As a person who is passionate about Alzheimer’s disease, and, as an Alzheimer’s Association volunteer, I have started a campaign for an revenue sharing ALZHEIMER’S LICENSE PLATE through DMV. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, anyone with a brain should be concerned about Alzheimer’s and, the license plate is a great way to raise funding for awareness and support.

Since 2000, deaths from Alzheimer’s disease have increased by 89 percent. Alzheimer’s is the only cause of death in the top 10 that cannot be prevented or treated and has no cure. This must change.

Today, 130,000 Virginians are living with Alzheimer’s, and 400,000 are caregiving for someone who has it. We must effectively prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease soon and support those impacted by it until researchers achieve this goal.

We need your help! Together all Virginians can help us get the required 450 prepaid applications needed to be able to get DMV to produce the ALZHEIMER'S LICENSE PLATE. Amanda Chase, Senator, has agreed to present this license plate bill to General Assembly in January 2018 once 450 applications are collected.

Once 1000 license plates are in circulation in the state of Virginia, $15 of the annual $25 cost for the ALZHEIMER’S LICENSE PLATE will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association. *REGISTER TODAY* Online registration available at www.vaendalz.com!

Email: vaendalz@gmail.com for information about the license plate.

Katy Reed, Louisa, VA - 540-967-7098

16 • Dec. 6, 2017

Calendar

The LEGACY

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

12.7, 11 a.m.

Pine Camp Arts Center in collaboration with Field Studio, LLC presents a new documentary film, “The Hail-Storm:John Dabney in Virginia” on Dec. 7.

John Dabney, a giant of the 19th century Richmond high society, renowned for his extravagant mint juleps, terrapin stew and canvasback duck. Remarkably, spent 41years of his life enslaved-and yet able to save enough from tips to buy the freedom of his wife and infant son, when they threatened to be sold. The Hail-Storm produced by the Richmond’s independent filmmakers of Field Studio, LLC has two free screenings at 11a.m. & 7p.m. at Pine Camp, 4901 Old Brook Road, Richmond. Free parking.

RSVP with Pine Camp Guest Services, 804-646-3677 or e-mail Cultural Arts Community Liaison, Ann-Marie.Williams@richmondgov.com .

12.7, 6:30 p.m.

Participants can learn about the process of purchasing a home and obtaining a mortgage at a free seminar offered by Virginia Credit Union.

The First-time Homebuyers Seminar will be held at Virginia Credit Union in the Boulders Office Park, 7500 Boulder View Drive, Richmond. Mortgage experts will be on hand to answer specific questions.

To register to attend, call 804323-6800 or visit vacu.org .

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12.10, 5 p.m. & 8 p.m.

Dr. Tracey Gendron from VCU Gerontology will be giving a free onehour ‘Disrupt Ageism’ presentation on Dec. 7 at 10:30 a.m. at Westminster Canterbury in Richmond. Developed here in Richmond, Dr. Gendron and colleagues have been invited to give this educational, eye-opening presentation all over the country. This presentation will be filmed, and will also be the premiere of Disrupt Ageism’s new look!

The event takes place at Westminster Canterbury, 1600 Westbrook Ave. Richmond. All are welcome, and RSVP at http://bit.ly/2AunkOe to let organizers know you’re coming.

This offering is a taste of the kind of programming Greater Richmond Age Wave Supporters will have access to in 2018.

Mobile free clinic provides care for the uninsured The Bon Secours Care-A-Van, which provides free, bilingual, general medical services to uninsured adults and children throughout the region will visit several Newport News locations in December. Community partners, including free clinics, local health agencies, and numerous faith-based community organizations, collaborate with Bon Secours to provide the free services that include routine evaluations, treatment of common acute illnesses, sports physicals, children's health insurance enrollment, and health education services. Care-A-Van services are designed to provide vital medical care in a timely manner to those who need it – a free clinic on wheels. Patients with medical conditions that are beyond the team's scope of care are referred to another care setting.

The Care-A-Van is visiting the following locations. Registration begins each day at 8:30 a.m. and continues until the clinic is full. Patients are seen on a first come, first served basis.

- Dec. 12 - Our Lady Mount Carmel, 144 Harpersville Rd. - line up at St. Michael’s Hall for registration; and - Dec.19 - New Beech Grove Church, 326 Tabbs Ln. To learn more about Care-A-Van services, call Bon Secours Care-A-Van at 757-889-CARE (2273) or go online to Care-A-Van.

Submit your calendar events by email to: editor@legacynewspaper.com.

Include who, what, where, when & contact information that can be printed.

Submission deadline is Friday.

The greater Richmond community is once again invited to celebrate the holidays with the 44th annual “Candlelight Festival of Lessons and Carols” in Cannon Memorial Chapel at the University of Richmond.

A partnership between the Department of Music and the Office of the Chaplaincy, the services feature singers of the university’s Schola Cantorum and Women’s Chorale performing new and familiar Christmas carols and anthems in the tradition of the “Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols,” which was first held at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, England, on Christmas Eve 1918. The services conclude with the lighting of candles by the congregation and the singing of “Silent Night.” Prelude music will begin 20 minutes before each service.

Two identical community services will be offered. Typically, the 5 p.m. service has standing room only, so if guests are able to adjust their plans, they may want to attend the 8 p.m. service to ensure seating.

Ongoing

The University of Richmond Downtown is hosting a new exhibition, “RVA Cures: Conquering Childhood Cancer.” The exhibition was part of September’s National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Organized by Connor’s Heroes Foundation, the exhibition tells the stories of local children, caregivers and researchers who are facing cancer, the number one disease killer of children.

The exhibition features photographs by Richmond artist Kristin Seward and 100 zebrafish painted by children and local artists.

The zebrafish is the symbol of pediatric cancer research conducted in Richmond.

“RVA Cures” is on view at UR Downtown’s Wilton Companies Gallery, 626 E. Broad St., Richmond, through through Jan. 19, 2018.

Dec. 6, 2017 • 17

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

Environmental advocates surround Capitol, urge officials to reject fracked-gas pipelines Some 500 Virginians from all across the state joined with elected officials, a statewide coalition of environmental advocates, and indigenous tribal leaders last week in Richmond for a historic demonstration against the proposed Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines. Holding hands and ribbons of blue, the participants encircled the Capitol Grounds and called on state leaders — including Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Gov.-elect Ralph Northam — to protect Virginia’s water and reject the fracked-gas pipelines.

The “Water is Life Rally & Concert” comes four days before the State Water Control Board begins a series of public meetings on the Mountain Valley (Dec. 6 and 7) and Atlantic Coast (Dec. 11 and 12) pipelines, at which the board is expected to decide whether to approve water quality certifications for the projects. The idea for the event sprang from the local groups along both pipeline routes as a way to unify their voices and send a single, strong message to state regulators that Virginians stand in solidarity to oppose the dangerous and unnecessary frackedgas pipelines.

Several speakers rallied the crowd, including Del. Sam Rasoul of Roanoke, one of several candidates who refused money from Dominion Energy — lead developer of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline — and other fossil fuel companies during the election.

“I have the responsibility to speak up on behalf of my constituents and speak out against the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines,” said Rasoul. “I want to ensure that our communities' drinking water remains safe, and our water sources are not jeopardized. Virginians know these pipelines would bring more harm than good. I urge Gov. McAuliffe and the Water Control Board to reject the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines.”

After the rally,, the crowd followed an enormous Water Spirit Puppet created by All the Saints Theater Company to The National theater

Del. Sam Rasoul, left, joined other lawmakers and advocates for the ‘Water is Life Rally & Concert”. for a free concert. Del.-elect Jennifer Carroll Foy of Woodbridge was the keynote speaker.

“More than ever, we need to protect our water and environment,” said Foy. “At Possum Point, only a few miles from my home, an old coal plant continues to leak toxic metals into our water supply because the coal ash has not been stored properly. We owe it to all of the families living in this area, including my husband and my infant twin boys, to fight for clean, safe drinking water.”

“I continue to have grave concerns about the clean water certificate approval process by Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality for both the pipeline projects,” said Del.-elect Chris Hurst, of Giles County. Both Hurst and Foy also refused Dominion money during the elections. “The proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline could irreparably harm the drinking water of thousands of people in the Roanoke and New River Valleys.

I will continue to speak out for my constituents and neighbors to advocate that more research and evaluation is done before DEQ allows this experimental project to continue.”

The concert featured a presentation by the First Nations Voice, including representatives of the Nottaway

and Pamunkey tribes, a coalition of many Virginia tribes speaking out to defend their sacred ground and water, and performances by Lobo Marino, No BS! Brass Band and The Wild Common. The concert also featured a participatory water protection ritual in which children and landowners gathered water offerings from every corner of the state and made pledges on the way to go forward.

Other speakers at the event included: Mary Beth Coffey, landowner in Bent Mountain, who said: “The fracking companies behind Mountain Valley Pipeline said they have an ‘interest’ in my land.

I know what this means: they're condemning my property. I’m saying no. Our water in Bent Mountain is irreplaceable. This is our mother’s land. We intend to protect it for our Mother Earth.”

Brennan Gilmore of The Wild Common, a new band formed to welcome former President Barack Obama to Virginia in October: “We are here today to stand up against two unnecessary and dangerous pipelines that represent corporate interests but threaten the Virginia whose hills and valleys and rivers gave birth to the musical traditions that we represent.”

David Sligh, former senior engineer at the Virginia Department of

Environmental Quality and current conservation director at Wild Virginia: “The pipelines cannot be built as proposed in ways that will comply with the Clean Water Act period. That judgement is based on many years of experience by experts in a variety of technical and scientific disciplines. Where the McAuliffe administration has failed in its duty, we now must trust that the seven members of the State Water Control Board, citizens who have a solemn duty to obey the law and defend all citizens’ rights, will heed the clear scientific evidence and legal guidelines and reject these harmful projects.”

Pastor Paul Wilson, minister of Union Hill Baptist Church: “These pipelines are an atrocity of justice.

The fracking companies want to poison the communities least equipped to speak up and fight for themselves.

I refuse to allow them to treat my neighbors like sacrificial lambs.”

The “Water is Life Rally and Concert” was put together by a broad coalition of organizations, including All the Saints Theater; Appalachian Voices; ARTivism Virginia; Augusta County Alliance; Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League; Bold Alliance; Bold Appalachia; Chesapeake Climate Action Network; and Charlottesville Rising, among others.

The LEGACY

18 • Dec. 6, 2017

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Dec. 6, 2017 • 19

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A withdrawal of bid due to error shall be in accordance with Section 2.24330 of the Code of Virginia. All forms relating to these solicitations may be obtained from the above listed address or for further information call (757) 727-2200. The City of Hampton reserves the right to reject any and all responses, to make awards in whole or in part, and to waive any informality in submittals.

Minority-Owned, Woman-Owned and Veteran Businesses are encouraged to participate.

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*Individual plan.

Product not available in MN, MT, NH, RI, VT, WA. Acceptance guaranteed for one insurance policy/certificate of this type. Contact us for complete details about this insurance solicitation. This specific offer is not available in CO, NY;call 1-800-969-4781 or respond for similar offer. Certificate C250A (ID: C250E; PA: C250Q); Insurance Policy P150 (GA: P150GA; NY: P150NY; OK: P150OK; TN: P150TN)

6096F

MB16-NM001Fc