By Chloe Voss, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. – The housing market in Virginia’s 4th District is turbulent on many fronts, but reelected Democrat U.S. Rep. Donald McEachin says he will fight to ease the crisis for his constituents. 

McEachin for a third term will represent a district that generally encompasses a swath of territory stretching from parts of Henrico County down south past the city of Emporia, westward to Brunswick County and east over to Surry County. 

McEachin secured a victory with almost 65% of the vote against previous Republican challenger Leon Benjamin, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.

“I am going to continue fighting for forward-looking policy solutions that address the issues most important to Virginians: rising costs and inflation, job creation, the right to choose, gun violence, and housing insecurity,” stated McEachin in an email.

The most populous areas of the 4th District have faced a tumultuous few years in almost every aspect of the housing market. 

• Richmond City experienced a 14% rent increase on the low end and Henrico County experienced a 28% rent increase on the high end from 2021 to 2022 according to CoStar data published in March.

• Evictions have increased 678% in Chesterfield County, 340% in Henrico, 513% in the city of Hopewell, 582% in the city of Petersburg and 751% in Richmond from 2021 to 2022 according to data from the RVA Eviction Lab.

• Median home sale prices have increased 3.7% in Richmond, 8.7% in Henrico and 12.5% in Chesterfield from September 2021 to September 2022 according to data from Redfin.

• The median household income varies throughout the 4th District, but a recent market value analysis report shows most homes are unaffordable.

McEachin’s campaign did not tout housing reform or relief as a platform issue, but he said he is aware of the problems in Virginia.

“I will continue fighting to expand and improve affordable housing, bolster rental assistance and other resources and explore additional legislative avenues to help tackle our nation’s housing crisis,” McEachin stated in an email. 

House lawmakers have introduced several bills to combat housing insecurity, which have not yet come to a vote, but McEachin’s staff said he is committed to helping those in need through policy. 

“Rep. McEachin remains committed to advancing smart policies that will provide much-needed assistance to renters and home buyers, as well as improve and expand affordable housing,” stated Shahid Ahmed, McEachin’s communication director, in an email. 

 McEachin helped secure $1.6 million in Housing and Urban Development funding to combat youth homelessness earlier in the year, along with almost $400,000 from Veteran Affairs to help with housing for homeless veterans.

“My staff and I will also continue to keep our localities apprised of federal grants and other funding opportunities to help improve affordable housing and reduce housing insecurity,” McEachin said.

The RVA Eviction Lab conducted through the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University released its third quarter data last month showing evictions are quickly climbing in the Richmond metro area.

State lawmakers began tackling housing reform legislation the year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, after five Virginia cities ranked in the top 10 for national eviction filing rates, including Richmond, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Chesapeake. 

Renters have more legal protections in place than before the pandemic, but emergency housing protections that expired in June were most effective at keeping evictions at bay.

“I think there's certainly a risk that that could happen [pre-pandemic eviction rates] based on how it's already happened in certain places, but it's by no means inevitable,” said Ben Teresa, RVA Eviction Lab co-director. 

There is still time for policymakers and advocates to help prevent the situation from worsening, Teresa said. 

While housing aid may be available, the conversation around fiscal aid does not address helping those in need more permanently, according to Jatia Wrighten, an assistant professor of political science at VCU.

“This is the conversation of the deserving and undeserving poor,” Wrighten said. “Virginia actually does a pretty good job of allotting funds for social programs like housing, but they are very difficult to gain access to.” 

 A lot of housing solutions are going to be temporary, according to Wrighten. “Temporary is sort of the name of the game as it relates to social welfare programs.”

Resources for those in uncertain housing situations can see if they are eligible for aid on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s website. 

By Darlene Johnson, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. – William H. “Bozo” Winston Jr. was athletic and family oriented up until the day of his murder in 1986. He was 23 years old.

“We played football, basketball — whatever — together,” said Taras Winston Sr., William’s brother and youngest of four siblings. “When he had a chance, he would always pick me, put me on his team.”

William played football at Armstrong High School and basketball at the Powhatan Community Center in Richmond, his brother said. He also played baseball and was a lifeguard.

Taras Winston had a good relationship with his brother until William started selling drugs, he said.

 “He just got involved with the wrong gang and it cost him his life,” said brother Darryl Winston.

On the morning of March 12, 1986, Taras Winston told William he loved him and would see him after school. William was not there when he returned home.

Taras Winston was home alone that night when Henrico County police rang the doorbell. Police held William’s ID. Taras Winston thought William was in trouble with the law, but police eventually told him William was found dead near a creek. 

William was shot in the head and multiple times all over his body. He was the first murder victim in the county that year, according to a video about the case made by Henrico County. His case remains unsolved almost four decades later.

Virginia State Police partnered this year with enforcement agencies across the state to create a database of unsolved, or “cold” cases. The database, launched in June, includes unsolved homicides and unidentified and missing people cases. The Winston family hopes the database could surface more leads to find William’s killer.

Tragedy struck the Winston family again almost a year later when they lost their cousin Judson Calvin to gun violence. The Winston brothers think Calvin’s murder was connected to William’s murder. They believe Calvin, whose case also remains unsolved, may have been murdered for what he knew about William’s murder.

Del. Danica Roem, D-Manassas, had unanimous support from both chambers for her 2020 measure to create the statewide database. She introduced the bill in 2018, but it was killed in appropriations. Lawmakers appropriated over $100,000 to create the database and fund a full-time employee to maintain the website. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, budget spending was put on pause because of economic uncertainty, Roem said. Virginia State Police began designing the website based on unsolved case databases in other states, such as Connecticut and Florida.

“We put this [the bill] in because other states have existing precedence or other cases being solved because other states have cold case databases,” Roem said.

The database could bring closure, accountability and justice to unsolved crimes, Roem said. It was also important that the public knows about unsolved cases, she said, to make this information accessible while maintaining “government transparency and government accountability.”

The database has expanded to over 100 cases and more will be added over time. There have been over 100 clicks to the website since its launch in July, stated Corinne Geller, Virginia State Police public relations director, in an October email reply.

News coverage, along with promotion from law enforcement, state prosecutors and courts will help garner attention to the database and cases, Roem believes.

Darryl and Taras Winston said news, media and digital billboards should be utilized to raise awareness for unsolved cases. 

The state police’s goal is to “keep increasing awareness of the cold case website and its reach among the public,” Geller stated.

“Just because the murders haven’t [been] solved doesn’t mean they’re not still relevant,” Roem said.

Darryl and Taras Winston hope to see Williams’s case put into the database. Henrico County, where William was murdered, is not one of the 15 law enforcement offices listed on the site as database contributors. 

The discussion of Henrico County police joining the state database is ongoing, Lt. Matthew Pecka stated in an email. Spreading information about these cases is important to generate leads and new discussions, he stated.

“We’re looking for something to be done about it,” Taras Winston said. “Any help that we can get at solving my brother’s case, we’ll greatly appreciate that … the smallest thing might be the thing that breaks the case open.”

Key witnesses sometimes wait “years later” until they feel safe to speak to law enforcement, or sometimes suspects make a “deathbed confession,” Geller stated.

“Sometimes a person's conscience gets the better of them and prompts them to turn themselves in,” Geller stated.

Darryl Winston believes witnesses may have been worried about their own encounters with law enforcement. He hopes people will be more comfortable coming forward now since 36 years have passed.

People can contribute tips — even anonymous tips — through the website, or contact the lead law enforcement agency investigating a case.

An unsolved homicide case dating back to 2003 received new leads thanks to the database, according to a report from The Roanoke Times.

“It’s effective and it works,” Roem said, “but it will only be effective and it will only work if the public knows about it and if the public engages with it.”

Other cold cases out of Henrico County currently not in the database are the violent murders of Mike Margaret and Donna Hall in August 1984. Margaret, 21, and Hall, 18, were found stabbed to death with their throats cut in a wooded area that is now a suburban landscape. The narcotic sedative Demerol was found in their blood, police said. There has long been speculation they knew their attackers and that the couple were dabbling in drug use with possible interest to purchase a larger quantity. 

Police have never unearthed any clear motive for the gruesome murder. Investigators had limited access to DNA from the crime scene, due to heavy rains between when the murders likely took place and when the bodies were found by a dog walker. 

Scott Margaret, Mike’s brother, is satisfied with police work on the case “in a lot of ways,” but he thinks “too much red tape” gets in the way of solving the crime. Some agencies might not want to work together because they want to solve the cases on their own, he said.

“The quicker you get outside help in some of these cases, the quicker you will be able to solve a lot of them,” Margaret said.

To raise more awareness for unsolved cases and the database, Margaret suggested ads on local news stations, pop-up ads online and information on interstate billboards.

Margaret will request his brother and Hall’s case be added to the unsolved case database.

Roem recommends citizens visit the website at least once, to see if they recognize a case or have a tip to contribute. 

“Don’t just see this as a nice gesture from the state,” Roem said. “There is potential for positive outcomes as awareness of the database grows.”

Cases are displayed on the homepage at random to ensure all victims are highlighted equally, according to state police. Cases are also spotlit on associated anniversary days.

“Enhancing the website to include additional features is a goal of ours we hope to achieve over time,” Geller stated in an email.

Citizens can search cases by name, date, location, reporting agency and type of case — and case pages can be shared. People can request a case to be included in the database by contacting the lead agency of the case. People can leave questions or comments on the website, and choose to remain anonymous. There is also an option to be emailed back.

“The stories are screaming out silently right now and they’re waiting to be retold,” Roem said.

Chloe Hawkins, Capital News Service 

RICHMOND, Va. – Thousands of Virginians used a warm November Saturday to cast ballots on the final day of early voting.

Lawmakers passed a series of election reform measures in recent years that expand the voting period and allow for no-excuse absentee voting, or early voting.

Virginia voters will elect a member to the U.S. House of Representatives in all of the state’s 11 congressional districts, with varying districts also voting on local candidates and initiatives. Over 1 million absentee ballots were requested, according to the Virginia Department of Elections. Over 940,000 ballots have been received as of Nov. 7. Over 680,000 ballots were returned in person, and over 226,000 ballots were mailed. 

Polls were open on weekdays except for the two Saturdays preceding the election. A steady line of people waited five to 10 minutes outside the Henrico County Western Government Center to vote Saturday. Some people waited longer than they might on Election Day, but appreciated the convenience of checking voting off their to-do list.

Henrico County general registrar Mark Coakley has held the position for 18 years, he said. Coakley, who studied political science in college, said he chose to be a part of the political process because it’s been a passion of his since he was a young adult.

“I’m really excited for voters showing up,” Coakley said. “Today, and on Election Day.”

Voters are happy with this shift, he said.

“With early voting, the voters get to choose to wait in line at 8:30 on a Saturday morning,” Coakley said. “It’s their choice — they’re not forced to vote on a Tuesday after a long workday.”

Alan Wagner is a voter who lives in Henrico County, parts of which are in congressional District 1. Wagner is concerned about crime, and the economy—especially the rising costs of items due to inflation, he said.

“I’m afraid to go into downtown Richmond sometimes,” Wagner said. “And the gas and food prices are outrageous.” 

This is the first year Wagner voted early, in four decades of voting, he said. He decided to vote early due to the uncertainty of his work schedule on Election Day. 

“I’m really busy working 10-hour shifts,” Wagner said. “I don’t know what the lines will look like at the precinct after 5 o'clock on Tuesday.” 

Virginia residents have more of a voice in elections such as midterms, Coakley said, when they choose representatives to speak on their behalf in Congress. But, turnout is always higher in a presidential election. Almost 2.7 million early votes were cast in 2020 in Virginia, according to the state’s Department of Elections. For the gubernatorial election last year, over 1.1 million people voted early, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, or VPAP. 

Although voter turnout in the 2018 midterm election was historic, an expanded time frame for early voting did not exist, Coakley said, which makes turnout comparisons more difficult.

“These laws weren’t put in place in 2018,” Coakley said. “But they have caused an increase in early voting.” 

For example, over 330,000 early votes were cast in 2018 in Virginia, and that number will likely be at least three times higher this year, according to data from the Virginia Department of Elections. But, 1.2 million more people voted in 2018 than the previous midterm election. It remains to be seen if turnout this year will reach similar participation.

There is a 70% return rate of absentee ballots overall in Virginia as of Nov. 7, with the lowest district return rate at 64% and the highest at 76%, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.

Election Day is Nov. 8. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by that date and received by noon three days after the election to count. Voters can find their polling place on the Virginia Department of Elections website. Voters can also register to vote on Election Day, though they will be given a provisional ballot.

By Meghan McIntyre, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. -- The Food and Drug Administration added Adderall to its drug shortage website last month, and doctors say Virginia patients being treated for ADHD are feeling the impact. The leading reasons for the shortage, which primarily affects immediate-release Adderall and similar generic versions, are manufacturing delays and insufficient supplies to meet market demands, according to the FDA.

Virginia patients with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder have “absolutely” been impacted by the shortage, said Dr. Dorothy O’Keefe, outpatient clinic director for the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Virginia Treatment Center for Children.

Dr. Kara Beatty, an adult psychiatrist with her own private practice and the president of the Psychiatric Society of Virginia, said her office is “getting phone calls left and right” from patients who say their Adderall prescriptions can’t be filled.

Stimulants such as Adderall are the most commonly used medications to treat ADHD in children and adults, according to prescription price comparison service GoodRx.

Stimulant prescriptions dispensed in Virginia rose 11% from the start of 2021 to June 30 of this year – the largest increase of all controlled substances overseen by the state’s Prescription Monitoring Program, according to its most recent report. The active ingredients in Adderall are some of the stimulants monitored in the program, O’Keefe said. Child psychiatrists or pediatricians are unlikely to use stimulants for any other indication than ADHD, she said.

Data is not recorded in a way to determine the exact percentage of each type of stimulant monitored by the program, stated Diane Powers, director of communications for the Virginia Department of Health Professions, in an email.

Patients treated for ADHD in Beatty’s practice typically start off with prescriptions for Adderall or Ritalin, another stimulant monitored in the program, Beatty said.

Nationwide, Adderall prescriptions for patients ages 22-44 jumped 15% from 2020 to 2021, according to Trilliant Health, a firm that provides market analytics to the health care industry. Other age groups remained relatively stable.

Doctors can prescribe some controlled substances such as Adderall through online telehealth services since the federal government declared a public health emergency in spring 2020, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. The health emergency has been renewed several times since the pandemic began, most recently last month.

As a result there was an uptick in online mental health care startups that began prescribing Adderall, Beatty said. Mental health startup Cerebral is currently being investigated by the federal government for potential violations of the Controlled Substances Act, according to CBS.

The Virginia Board of Pharmacy “would like to caution consumers to the risk of purchasing drugs online or through social media from rogue outlets preying on increased demand during drug shortages,” Powers stated.

Meaghan, 43, works in insurance and was diagnosed with ADHD three years ago. She requested to have her last name withheld because she said there is a stigma around ADHD and its treatment. She knows firsthand what it’s like to not be able to access her prescribed Adderall for days due to shortages.

“I’m not going to accomplish what I could have the days that I did have my medication,” Meaghan said. “It’s life changing for a lot of people.”

Children without access to their prescribed Adderall can struggle in school and social relationships, O’Keefe said. Their behavior might become problematic as a result.

“The biggest thing I would say for people with ADHD, besides being impulsive and wanting to do things instantly, is to be able to do the time management,” Meaghan said. “That’s a coping mechanism a lot of people have to develop.”

Going without medication can be “like an inability to function,” Beatty said. There are other types of treatments for people with ADHD, she said, but transitioning from one to another can be frustrating.

Some patients make the switch to Ritalin or nonstimulant medications due to the shortage, but O’Keefe said it can be a gamble whether the new medicine will be as effective.

“If we are forced to make the change because they can’t get the product that they’re used to, it may turn out just fine,” O’Keefe said. “But it may turn out that they end up with a medicine that doesn’t work as well or causes more side effects.”

Patients by law can only get a 30-day supply of Adderall. They can have a difficult time managing insurance policies and trying to figure out which pharmacy has the drug in stock each month, O’Keefe said.

Meaghan’s pharmacy has run out of stock of her prescription several times, she said, and as a result has gone days without it. Some people notice when she hasn’t taken her medication, she said.

“I’m a little quicker on responses, more impulsive in my responses,” Meaghan said. “I tend to get distracted easier than I would without my medication.”

The shortage primarily affects instant release Adderall, according to the FDA, although it depends on the manufacturer and the dosage strengths. Some manufacturers aren’t experiencing any shortage as of Nov. 1, according to the FDA’s drug shortages website.

“We are still writing the prescriptions because it’s not that nobody can get it,” O’Keefe said. “We don’t necessarily know when I write your prescription.”

Teva Pharmaceutical is the largest seller of Adderall in the U.S Their products are estimated to be in short supply anywhere from now until December, according to the FDA. The company “has been supplying above typical forecast due to increase in market demand,” according to a statement on the FDA’s drug shortages website.

“Even though it’s not a deadly consequence,” O’Keefe said, “it is a disruption in their lives.”

By Gabriela de Camargo Gonçalves, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. -- Gun rights advocates fear a new merchant code for firearm purchases is an unnecessary attack on their civil liberties, while gun safety advocates say the code just levels the playing field.

The International Standards Organization approved last month a petition from New York-based Amalgamated Bank for a new merchant code. The ISO is Geneva-based nonprofit with global members who establish best practices across a range of subjects, according to its website.

The new code categorizes gun sales at gun and ammunition stores, which will allow banks to report suspicious activity and illegal gun sales, according to a press release from Priscilla Sims Brown, president and CEO of Amalgamated Bank.

Visa, Mastercard and American Express credit cards plan to adopt the new code, according to multiple reports, though it is unclear how widespread implementation will work. 

“This action answers the call of millions of Americans who want safety from gun violence and we are proud to have led the broad coalition of advocates, shareholders, and elected officials that achieved this historic outcome,” Brown stated. 

Credit card providers categorize purchases under merchant category codes, or MCCs, that classify businesses by their predominant business activity, according to the IRS. Categories cover many industries, including many types of building contractors, travel and leisure services, entertainment and recreation, and even escort services.

A Mastercard reference booklet from 2020 listed firearms under the MCC “durable goods — not elsewhere classified.” Other items in the same MCC include wood chips and musical instruments. Firearms and ammunition stores also appear in the same booklet under the MCC “miscellaneous and specialty retail stores,” along with sunglasses shops, magic stores and beauty supply stores.

The new code allows for the separate categorization of firearm purchases.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League lobbies the General Assembly for “good gun rights” and to stop gun control measures, according to Philip Van Cleave, the organization’s president. 

“Gun owners are not in the mood for anything that — in any way, shape or form — implies that we’re being monitored, or our rights are attempted to be curtailed,” Van Cleave said.

The code will not be useful for gun control, Van Cleave said.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares joined 23 other attorneys general from across the country in a letter against the new merchant category. Miyares is against the collection and tracking of private data by “big government and big businesses,” his office stated in an email comment.

“This new policy will do little more than put Virginians’ privacy at risk,” Miyares stated, “and discourage law-abiding citizens from exercising their constitutional right to purchase a firearm.”

The purchase of firearms should be “no one’s business but their own,” Miyares stated.

“To reduce gun violence, we need to get violent, repeat offenders off our streets instead of tracking lawful purchases at Bass Pro Shop,” Miyares stated.

The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, an organization that works to prevent gun violence through legislation, offered research to Amalgamated Bank in the development of the category code. There shouldn’t be “special treatment” for gun stores since the same rules already apply to other businesses, according to Adam Skaggs, chief council and policy director at the Giffords Law Center.

This code won’t necessarily lead to any new laws, rather it levels the playing field, Skaggs said. However, it could help detect illegal activities like gun trafficking, according to Skaggs.

Gun rights advocates worry the code may flag, or not be able to distinguish, high-dollar purchases from stores that sell firearms. Van Cleave used the example of a boat purchased from a store that also sells firearms, and voiced concern over the possibility of unnecessary scrutiny. 

The code is for gun stores and stores that sell firearms and ammunition. Stores that sell other merchandise, like Bass Pro Shops and Walmart, could have “dedicated cash registers” to use the code and keep purchases separate, Skaggs stated. Pharmacies, Skaggs pointed out, keep track of separate transactions for prescription drugs and general merchandise.

“I do think it’s a tool, and given the levels of gun violence and how much illegal gun trafficking and gun crime we see in this country, every tool that should be used to improve the situation is a way that we should pursue,” Skaggs stated.

The “small change” could help prevent huge tragedies, said Nick Suplina at a New York press conference announcing the new code. Suplina is the vice president of policy and law with Everytown for Gun Safety. He pointed to the thousands of dollars spent on guns and ammunition used in the mass shootings in Aurora, Colorado; Orlando, Florida; and Las Vegas, Nevada. Such expensive and multiple purchases could in theory be flagged under the new code, Suplina said.

Virginia had a firearm mortality death rate of approximately 13 people per 100,000 in 2020, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The lowest ranked state was Hawaii, with a mortality rate of approximately three people per 100,000. The highest ranked state was Mississippi, with approximately 29 deaths per 100,000.

Attorneys general for all but one of the top 10 states with the highest firearm mortality rate signed the letter expressing concern over use of the merchant code, according to an analysis by Capital News Service.

The idea that credit card companies will try to block lawful gun purchases couldn’t be “further from the truth,” Skaggs said. The merchant code is not a method to keep tabs on individuals, as the code does not provide product specific data, but could ultimately help law enforcement with investigations, he said.

“You would think the chief law enforcement officer of the commonwealth of Virginia, the attorney general, would side with law enforcement instead of mass shooters, but apparently that’s not the case,” Skaggs said.

By Cassandra Loper, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. -- Roughly three years ago, Maria Reynoso determined local policy issues and election information were not readily available or easily digestible to the average voter, and especially younger voters. 

Reynoso now runs We Vote Virginia, a nonpartisan digital media resource to help voters become more informed. 

“What my focus when creating the organization, and I guess my mission, was really to make it incredibly accessible and fun and engaging to learn about local politics,” Reynoso said. 

The most critical change happens in local and state politics, according to Reynoso. Virginia voter turnout traditionally drops off between presidential elections. Candidates are vying for U.S. House of Representatives seats in Congress this year, with other local races and initiatives on the ballot throughout the state’s districts.

Political organizers and candidates are watching to see if they pull younger voters to the polls in an election that could change the balance of power in Congress. They hope that more education on the importance of voting, and how to vote, can develop a consistent habit among young voters whose participation can be a wildcard.

Virginia Commonwealth University’s VCU Votes Student Coalition is a network of the university’s students, faculty and staff that promote voter engagement on campus, according to the VCU Votes website.

“Younger voters are considered a wildcard because they're still very new to voting, and I think also, they're still new to the democratic process as a whole,” said Cameron Hart, director of partnerships for VCU Votes Student Coalition.

Young voters understand the urgency of issues, such as climate change, according to Hart, and it can motivate them to the polls. 

Both the Democratic and Republican parties of Virginia could do more in terms of encouraging young people to vote by making appearances on college campuses, Hart said.

Generation X, millennials and Generation Z make up over 46% of the Virginia population, according to American Community Survey data by the U.S. Census Bureau. That percentage is totaled from the provided categories of ages 20-54, although the generations are ages 10-57. Gen Z and millennial eligible voters ages 20-44 account for over a third of the population, based on the census data. 

Virginia young voter turnout ages 18-29 has been a mixed bag in the past few elections, according to Tufts Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, or CIRCLE. That age group is most commonly used by researchers, versus a precise snapshot of voter participation by generation. 

• The 18-29 voter turnout more than doubled in the 2018 midterm election, according to CIRCLE (13% to 33%). Virginia voters are inconsistent when it comes to midterm elections, in general. Since 2000, anywhere from almost 32% to almost 60% of voters participated, according to the Virginia Department of Elections website.

• The 18-29 voter turnout was 56% in Virginia in 2020, according to CIRCLE, up from 48% in 2016. Voter turnout for the 2020 presidential election was the highest turnout of the 21st century, overall. 

•  The 18-29 voter turnout decreased in the 2021 gubernatorial election, according to CIRCLE, from 34% in 2017 to 27%. 

Social media is a great way to engage young voters, according to Reynoso. The We Vote VA Instagram account launched in late 2019. The account now has nearly 16,000 followers and is one of the organization's primary methods of reaching voters. It features easy to read and visually appealing posts containing information about polling locations, important dates, redistricting background and more. The concept is to inform and help create a habit of voting.

“It is so important that young voters know their facts,” Ellie Sorensen, press secretary for the Republican Party of Virginia, stated in an email.

Young voters may think their vote doesn’t matter because some policy issues might not directly impact them, according to Sorensen. 

“Sometimes, voters just vote based on what other people around them vote, but if they are taught the importance of voting and the facts about what they are actually voting for, it will encourage younger people to vote,” Sorensen stated.

Voting can become a habit, especially when voters can see the “good it can do,” according to Gianni Snidle, press secretary for the Democratic Party of Virginia. 

“If we’re not actively participating in our democracy, then we’re failing,” Snidle said.

Nonprofit organization Rock the Vote has worked to make voting a habit among young voters since 1990. It launched with a public service announcement featuring singer, songwriter and actress Madonna.

Rock the Vote serves as a one-stop shop for all things voting, Carolyn DeWitt, president and executive director of Rock the Vote, stated in an email. Voters can check registration status, request an absentee ballot, get election reminders and view election deadlines through the website.

The organization had direct channels to young voters through their partnership with MTV, and through concert venues where the organization would register people to vote. 

Rock the Vote has adapted through the decades and was the first to launch an online voter registration platform in the late ‘90s, according to an L.A. Times report. The organization reports that they’ve helped register 14 million people to vote. 

The new generation of voters are extraordinarily in touch with their values, according to DeWitt.

“But over the past few years, they’ve witnessed our political culture become increasingly volatile and our democracy threatened on multiple counts,” DeWitt stated.

Young people know their value and they keep showing up despite the obstacles put before them, according to DeWitt.

State lawmakers have made voting more accessible in recent years. Virginia voters are no longer required to show photo identification at the polls. Voters can prove their identity with things such as a driver’s license, passport, college student ID and even a current bank statement or utility bill that contains the voter's name and address. Same-day voter registration can be done up to and on Election Day, although voters receive a provisional ballot.

Voters can find local polling places and request an absentee ballot on the Virginia Department of Elections website.

Early voting started Sept. 23 and will end on Nov. 5. Absentee ballots must be requested by Oct. 28 and postmarked by Election Day on Nov. 8.

By Faith Redd, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. – Klay Porter, 32, recalls overdosing alone at his aunt's house five years ago from heroin laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. He remembers slipping away and thinking “this is it.”

Porter isn’t alone. Opioid overdoses led to more than 9,900 emergency room visits in Virginia in 2020, a roughly 30% increase from 2019, according to the Virginia Department of Health. Fatal opioid overdoses increased roughly 260% in a decade, from 2011 to 2021. Fatal drug overdoses have increased almost every year in that time frame and have been the leading method of unnatural death in Virginia since 2013, according to VDH.

 Fentanyl is the driving force behind the increase in Virginia’s fatal overdoses, according to VDH. Three out of every four overdoses in 2020 included fentanyl. Fentanyl is mixed with other drugs such as heroin, illegitimate prescription opioids, and cocaine to increase potency, resulting in the likelihood of a fatal interaction, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal depending on a person's size, tolerance and past usage. That amount could fit on the tip of a pencil, according to the DEA. Over 9.5 million counterfeit pills—imitations of prescription medication— were seized by the DEA in the fall of 2021, more than the last two years combined. There has been a “dramatic rise” in the number of counterfeit pills containing a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl, according to the DEA.

 To understand the scope of drug overdose deaths, the second leading cause of unnatural death in Virginia is gun-related fatalities. There were about twice as many fatal overdoses as gun-related deaths in 2020 and the health department forecasts the state is on track for that to happen again once 2021 numbers are final. 

As overdoses sharply increase, addiction treatment and recovery advocates, lawmakers and government officials are working to save lives and combat the opioid epidemic. 

Recovery centers

Porter survived his 2017 overdose and is now a volunteer and recovery coach at the Henrico County-based McShin Foundation, a recovery community organization. McShin is Porter's second attempt at recovery. After his initial stay at another recovery program he went straight to his dealer's house and relapsed, he said. 

Porter was attracted to McShin because he was able to define what works for him with the provided tools and resources without being forced to follow a specific way of recovery. McShin offers a 28-day residential program and partners with physicians for drug and alcohol detox.

Most staff members at McShin have experienced addiction or have close connections with someone who has, according to McShin CEO Honesty Liller. The peer-to-peer program is the most helpful in the recovery process, she said.

“There's nothing like a hug,” Liller said. “There's nothing like someone with lived experience with the disease of addiction but also recovery.”

Porter's most recent drug charge caught up to him after a year and a half of staying at McShin, he said. He turned himself in to avoid 10 years incarceration, he said.

Porter's sentence was reduced to two months, which he only completed 52 days of. He was released early on bond because of his sobriety. He continued his sobriety throughout and after his sentence. When he returned to McShin he was hired as a peer recovery specialist.

“I've had multiple rock bottoms,'' Porter said. “I've struggled for a good, long while. I've lost everything multiple times.”

Porter has struggled with addiction since age 11, starting with alcohol and moving to hard drugs. 

“I didn't know how to cope with the world around me, and the best thing I could think of was to check out, disassociate or black out,” Porter said. “Detach myself from the world around me.”

Porter said he has been sober for about 21 months. The death of many loved ones as a direct result of substance use has motivated him to stay sober, he said.

The county still needs more resources to assist individuals seeking recovery.

A $12 million detox facility is set to open in 2024. Henrico County was granted $1 million in federal funding for the Henrico County Detox and Recovery Center. The center will provide same-day inpatient detox services with “no barriers based on income or other resources,” Tyrone Nelson, county supervisor said during a press conference earlier this year.

“The center is meant to be a resource for the county to have a place to bring people who are in the middle of a substance abuse-related crisis,” said U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., who helped secure the funding.

Henrico County created a roundtable in 2019 to recommend ways to strengthen local addiction and recovery programs, which included the detox center. The roundtable’s 2020 report noted that when Henrico Police responded to a drug overdose, they were likely to charge people who overdosed with possession because they could detox in jail, where detox and treatment services were available. 

“Henrico Police reported to the Roundtable that if they had the option to take drug users to a treatment center instead of the jail, this would be preferable,” the report stated. “However, no such drop-off facility currently exists.”

The Chesterfield County Police Department launched the Helping Addicts Recover Progressively, or HARP, program in 2016, in response to rising overdoses in the county. The program is run out of the jail and provides addiction-recovery and mental health resources to participants. The first part of the program takes six months to complete and the second phase involves a transition process and participation in work release or home incarceration. HARP has received federal grant money over the years. 

Root causes

The Loudoun County Sheriff's Department is working diligently to reduce overdoses, according to 2nd Lt. Kevin Tucker.

The department has worked with federal, state and local partners to prosecute drug dealers, according to Tucker. Loudoun County also offers mental health and substance abuse help and provides the D.A.R.E program to fifth grade students.

“This is somebody's father, mother, son, brother and so my opinion on the opioid epidemic is it's an absolute shame,” Tucker said. “It really is. It shows a deeper sort of systemic problem.”

Tucker believes finding the root of drug use is the beginning to solving the drug crisis in Virginia.

“If you want to solve the problem, you have to start asking the question ‘why?’” Tucker said. 

Solely targeting the individual illegally selling drugs won't get to the root of the problem, according to Tucker. The start to solving the crisis is understanding the long term effects of why someone suffering with addiction got to where they are currently.

“We've routinely seen that people who overdose, and kind of find themselves in the same situation that they were before the overdose, are very likely to overdose again,” Tucker said.

Save a Life

Richmond and Henrico health districts offer free fentanyl test strips to reduce the risk of overdose. The strips are used to test for fentanyl in injectable drugs, powders and pills. Test strips are available at in person Narcan training and community dispensing events, according to VDH.

Recovery advocates, families and friends also want to stop overdoses. Opioid overdose reversal medication known as naloxone, often called Narcan by brand name, can be accessed through pharmacies, local community organizations, licensed emergency medical service agencies and health departments, according to VDH.

Loudoun County implemented a Heroin Operations Team initiative in 2015 to promote the pilot program of deputies carrying Narcan, according to Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.

“The county does a pretty good job of getting Narcan out to people who have sort of high recurrence,” Tucker said. “It's on request. Family members can request and have requested.”

REVIVE! is a virtual opioid overdose and naloxone education training program offered weekly for Virginia residents. The program offers two types of training. One trains participants to better understand opioids, how opioid overdoses happen, risk factors for opioid overdoses, and how to respond to an opioid overdose emergency with naloxone, according to the program’s website.

The other training prepares a person to become a REVIVE! instructor and train others. 

A person can receive a REVIVE! kit and Narcan nasal spray free of charge after attending the training, according to VDH.

Richmond recently introduced a spike alert program to indicate the presence of illegal or diverted prescription drugs in the community that may be potent or cause overdose. The program allows people in the greater Richmond community to be notified of overdose occurrences in the area, according to VDH. People can sign up for the alerts, here.

Legislation

Lawmakers in 2015 began efforts to increase access to medicine that reverses overdoses. Over the past seven years, lawmakers have also expanded protections to people who report overdoses.

The Good Samaritan law went into effect last July and expands on legislation initially introduced in 2015. A person reporting an overdose will not be arrested or prosecuted for public intoxication, underage drinking, or purchasing or possession of a controlled substance or drug paraphernalia. A person also has immunity if they administered CPR or naloxone while another person reported the overdose. The individual must remain on scene and identify themselves to law enforcement.

“We cannot charge for possession,” Tucker said. “It doesn't matter how bad that one possession is. If it's just a possession it is exempt under the current code.”

The General Assembly established drug courts, which exist within the judicial system, to assist individuals in drug or drug-related cases and provide an alternative to incarceration. Drug courts are reported to reduce recidivism by allowing individuals to go through intense treatment options while under heavy supervision, in effort to increase recovery rates.

Lawmakers last year unanimously passed a joint resolution that designated Aug. 31 as an International Overdose Awareness day in Virginia. The U.S. and Virginia flags are to be lowered to half-mast in memory of people who have lost their lives to addiction. In the 20-year period between 1999 and 2019, over 770,000 people died from drug overdoses, according to the resolution. 

The resolution acknowledges addiction is a medical disease. The dedicated day is intended to raise awareness and encourage the discussion of the prevalence of addiction, implement new policies, remove barriers to treatment and overdose prevention and address the evolving need for support and resources relating to substance use disorder, according to the measure.

Although the recent resolution declared addiction a disease, Porter stresses that he’s an individual not defined by substance abuse. He said he loves art and creative expression. He's always wanted to go to art school and plans on doing something to utilize his artistic talents after he stabilizes his life and gets off probation.

"We're all some very talented people,” Porter said. “They have worth, but all that gets overlooked because of substance use or the alcohol addiction.”

By Larin Brink, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. — “It’s free cooking gas,” said Monica Alinea. 

Monica Alinea and her husband, Tim, are proud owners of a HomeBiogas system. 

Situated in the sunny backyard of their Pensacola, Florida home, the system looks like a 7-foot rectangular, black balloon. But it’s not inflated with air, it’s methane. 

The Alineas use HomeBiogas, a product that transforms household food waste into cooking gas through a composting process called anaerobic digestion. The product became commercially available in 2016, according to the HomeBiogas website.

Shakira Hobbs is an assistant professor of civil engineering at the University of Kentucky and did her postdoctoral research at the University of Virginia. Hobbs researches sustainable environmental engineering and compares anaerobic digestion to the human digestive system. 

“If I eat an apple, I chew it up and I break it into smaller pieces, and then it goes down my esophagus and eventually into my stomach,” Hobbs said. “I have these natural enzymes that will further break down that food waste and process it through my digestive system [to] produce two things, a solid and a gas.”

The Alineas take food waste, like vegetable scraps or banana peels, and feed it into the anaerobic digester through a tube. The waste collects in a large chamber and within a few hours, the microorganisms in the chamber begin decomposing the food waste which releases methane. The gas rises and collects in a flexible tank and can be piped directly into their kitchen to fuel a stove top burner, providing them free cooking gas.

The Alineas are part of a growing group of avid home chefs and gardeners in the nation who seek self-reliance and use food waste to tackle climate change. 

“We hate to waste things,” Tim Alinea said, “and we knew our food scraps could be used for good.” 

The environmental impact of methane

The Environmental Protection Agency reports that carbon dioxide and methane are the most abundant greenhouse gasses emitted from human-influenced actions. This can impact global temperatures, changes weather patterns and contributes to human health problems. 

But methane can be 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, so decreasing methane emissions could have rapid and significant positive effects. Landfills are the third largest source of methane emissions in the U.S.

“Composting produces methane,” said Bruno Welsh, founder of Compost RVA, “but it produces far less methane than a landfill.” 

The EPA estimates that in 2018, the most recent year of available data, U.S. households generated 25 million tons of wasted food; 66% was landfilled while just 3% was composted. The remainder went to wastewater management or combustion services. 

When food waste goes to a landfill, it decomposes with inorganic materials like plastic and metal. Consider a kitchen garbage bag. Air flow is diminished and the food rots, slowly leaking methane into the atmosphere. 

But when captured, methane can become a form of renewable energy called biogas. It can be converted to electricity or used as fuel for cooking and heating. 

“We can produce [BioGas] in about 10 days, depending on the substrates and the conditions,” Hobbs said. This is in contrast to natural gas, a commonly used non-renewable form of energy, which could take millions of years to form. 

Benefits of household biogas

Zak Dowell’s suburban home sits in the rolling hills of Blacksburg, Virginia. Dowell, who has a background in building science and environmental design, is a Virginia Tech BioBuild fellow researching anaerobic digestion systems for household use. He’s built several anaerobic digesters in his backyard over the past decade, but he also purchased a HomeBiogas system a few years ago. 

“I’ve got a 6,000-watt solar system on my house,” Dowell said, “but I’m doing my part for the environment more by sorting my food waste and disposing of it responsibly.” 

Dowell diligently composts for his family of four and hasn’t thrown away a scrap of food in almost 15 years.

Dowell views anaerobic digestion as an eco-innovation. Most anaerobic digestion users say they spend several hours a week feeding and maintaining backyard digesters. 

For people interested in anaerobic digestion, it’s possible to build a system using commonly found hardware store supplies. HomeBiogas produces a system for residential, backyard use. 

The basic HomeBiogas system costs less than $1,000 and can generate up to two hours of cooking fuel per day, according to its website. But that timeframe depends on other factors, like climate and how consistently the system is fed. Warm weather allows for faster decomposition and methane creation.

“The HomeBiogas, it’s meant for Florida; you can drop that thing in the warm weather and it will produce gas, it’s an awesome product,” Dowell said. But people in Northern U.S. climates may be limited to only using a digester during the warmer months, or be forced to build a greenhouse to keep temperatures up during the winter.

Michael and Britney Maness live on a 6-acre farm in Puerto Rico and use renewable energies including solar and biogas.

“I like to drink tea daily, and I no longer have to feel bad for boiling water,” said Brittney Maness with a chuckle. 

She grows her own tea and uses biogas for cooking which provides a sustainable way to do something she enjoys, Maness said.

Byproducts and limitations of anaerobic digestion

The EPA explains how anaerobic digestion also produces digestate, which is a bio fertilizer or effluent. When considering the human digestive system analogy, this would be the “solid we all produce,” Hobbs said. 

“A big plus is the bio fertilizer,” Mike Maness said. “That stuff is really good for plants.” 

The Manesses have a passion for horticulture and noticed significant improvement in their crop yields since using the digestate.

But for households without a robust vegetable garden or small farm, the bio fertilizer may turn into buckets of sludge that must be dealt with.

Some municipal wastewater management facilities and large-scale farms in the U.S. have been producing biogas and digestate for decades. 

When Roy Vanderhyde installed an anaerobic digester on his Southwest Virginia dairy farm in 2008, he wanted to use the digestate as a pathogen-free bedding for his animals. But he soon found the value in the biogas.

The digester’s only input was manure and the biogas was converted on-site into electricity. Vanderhyde’s electric bill was $13,000 per month before the digester, he said. 

“[It] was generating enough electric power that I did not have an electric bill,” Vanderhyde said. “Plus, I would sell enough kilowatts for the average 300 homes.” 

The Central Marin Sanitation Agency in Northern California is a wastewater treatment plant that runs two 80-foot anaerobic digesters. The biogas is transformed on-site into electricity and powers the facilities for an average of 19.3 hours per day, according to the agency’s Green Business Report for fiscal year 2021. The digestate is processed and used locally as fertilizer and daily landfill cover.

Food waste from local restaurants and grocery stores were added to the agency’s digesters in 2014. The agency now accepts nearly 6 tons of food waste each day. The digesters created about eight hours of electricity per day before food waste was used, which is less than half the energy it currently produces, according to General manager Jason Dow.

But anaerobic digestion has other drawbacks in addition to managing the digestate. Systems often have complicated pieces that could require sophisticated engineering to troubleshoot. Residential users, such as the Alineas, cite the time commitment to feed the system as a limitation. The Manesses find the system to be water intensive. 

Posters on the HomeBiogas System Owners’ Facebook group frequently visit the page to troubleshoot system problems. Owners have experienced leaks, insufficient methane production, trouble inoculating new systems, and pH imbalance, according to user posts. Since HomeBiogas is headquartered in Israel, receiving new parts can be time consuming for Americans, some U.S. users say. 

Engineering obstacles are not isolated to individuals doing backyard anaerobic digestion. One of the two digesters at the Marin County wastewater treatment facility experienced a failure in 2021 which halted electricity generation for over six months, Dow said.

The pre-formed concrete dome on Vanderhyde’s digester collapsed in November 2017 due to a buildup of sulfuric acid, according to Vanderhyde. This ended his nine-year production of renewable energy and sparked a four-year legal battle with his insurance company on whether the system was covered. 

Despite the potential shortfalls, experts and users like Dowell still find the technology magical.

“Being able to see something that’s considered to be waste … be able to produce energy, was eye opening to me,” said Hobbs, who first learned of anaerobic digestion in college. 

Hobbs has since earned a doctorate in the field of sustainable environmental engineering and started a nonprofit called BioGals, which seeks to empower women of color and engage communities to co-create solutions for a more sustainable world. According to its site, a major project for the organization is building and implementing anaerobic digesters.

Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University's Robertson School of Media and Culture. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.