Virginia
Henrietta Lacks statue to replace Robert E. Lee monument in Virginia
A bronze statue of Henrietta Lacks, whose “immortal” cells have been taken with out her permission after which utilized in a number of medical breakthroughs, will likely be erected in her honor in her hometown of Roanoke, Virginia, taking the place of a monument to Accomplice basic Robert E. Lee.
The statue, which was designed by artist Bryce Cobbs, will stand in Roanoke’s Henrietta Lacks Plaza — previously Lee Plaza.
Civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump stated on the unveiling of the statue’s preliminary sketch that honoring Lacks is a chance to “proper a historic unsuitable” and shine a light-weight on the various contributions Lacks made to trendy medical science.
“Right this moment, right here in Roanoke, Virginia, at Lacks Plaza, we acknowledge that she was not solely important, she was literate and she or he is as related as any historic determine on this planet in the present day when you think about problems with genetic justice, reproductive rights and stem cell analysis,” Crump stated at Monday’s press convention.
Vice-Mayor Trish White-Boyd started fundraising for the Lacks monument by the Roanoke Hidden Histories undertaking, gathering almost $184,000 to design and assemble the sculpture, which is predicted to be accomplished by the top of 2023.
Lacks’ son, Lawrence, and grandson, Ron, have been in attendance throughout Monday’s unveiling. Ron stated his household is completely satisfied to see his grandmother acknowledged and acknowledged as extra than simply her cells.
“I feel they’re seeing her extra as a human being, a spouse, a mom,” he stated. “I imply it is nice now that we’re reaching out and acknowledging her as a human being.”
In 1951, Lacks went to The Johns Hopkins Hospital the place she was recognized and handled for cervical most cancers. One among her docs, who usually collected the cells of his sufferers to check them, was shocked to see Lacks’ cells double each 20 to 24 hours as a substitute of dying, as his different sufferers’ cells had, in response to Johns Hopkins.
The cells, referred to as “HeLa” cells, have since been used to check the affect of poisons, medication, hormones and viruses on the expansion of most cancers cells — with out the necessity for testing or experimentation on people.
They proceed for use in the present day and even performed an vital function within the design and improvement of the polio and COVID-19 vaccines.
“I simply assume it is so becoming within the state of Virginia, the place we all know how vital statutes have performed a task, the place prior to now we commemorated numerous males with statues that divided us — that right here in Roanoke, Virginia, we may have a statue of a Black lady who brings us all collectively,” Crump stated.
The Roanoke Hidden Tales undertaking can also be engaged on a digital actuality expertise designed to teach individuals about Lacks and different historic Black American figures utilizing immersive know-how.
“Each time considered one of her cells regenerates, I would like you all to know that Henrietta lives, Henrietta lives, Henrietta lives,” Crump chanted.
Lacks’ statue is the most recent in a sequence of strikes to switch or take away monuments devoted to Accomplice figures.
In 2020, former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam introduced {that a} well-known statue of Lee in Richmond could be eliminated after it had been vandalized throughout protests that erupted after the homicide of George Floyd. The choice to take away Lee’s statue had been controversial — with the problem reaching all the best way to the Virginia Supreme Courtroom.
The USA Army Academy this week introduced it will be eradicating 13 “13 accomplice property and memorabilia” by December 2023.
Virginia
School closures, delays for DC, Maryland, Virginia for Wednesday, January 8
WASHINGTON – The first major winter storm of 2025 brought up to 10 inches of snow to parts of the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area, prompting school closures on Monday and Tuesday.
As the frigid weather persists, the snow isn’t going anywhere, so some school districts have already announced closures and delays for Wednesday as well.
See the latest closures below.
Having trouble viewing the closures? CLICK HERE for the full list.
Virginia
Where Maryland and Virginia rank on annual U-Haul’s migration list – WTOP News
South Carolina tops the list of states where people are moving, according to a new state migration list from U-Haul, while Virginia drops out of the top 10.
South Carolina tops the list of states where people are moving, according to a new state migration list from U-Haul, while Virginia drops out of the top 10.
Each year the do-it-yourself moving company ranks the states for inbound and outbound migration, and the southern state topped the list for the first time, having the widest gap between truck rentals for moving to the state versus rentals for moving out of state.
Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee round out the top five for inbound immigration growth states.
Virginia ranked No. 17 down from No. 10 last year. Maryland is No. 42, up from 44 last year. Each had a narrow inbound advantage over outbound moves. U-Haul’s annual report does not provide specific numbers.
For the fifth year in a row, California had the greatest net loss of do-it-yourself movers, based on U-Haul equipment rentals for moves out of the state.
“State-to-state transactions from the past year reaffirm customer tendencies that have been pronounced for some time,” stated John “J.T.” Taylor, U-Haul International president.
The Southeast and Southwest saw continued inbound migration as families weigh the cost of living, job opportunities, and other factors, Taylor said.
“Out-migration remains prevalent for a number of markets across the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast — and particularly California,” Taylor added.
U-Haul bases its rankings on each state’s gain or loss of customers using one-way U-Haul equipment rentals in 2024, including trucks, trailers, and U-Box moving containers. This year’s list included more than 2.5 million rentals.
Texas, which lost its No. 1 position to South Carolina in 2024, has ranked first or second every year since 2016. Florida has been fourth or higher every year since 2015.
U-Haul also ranked the top 25 metro areas for inbound moves, which were lead by Dallas, Charlotte, Phoenix, Lakeland, Florida and Austin, Texas. The D.C. metro was not ranked in the top 25.
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Virginia
Virginia's statehouse control hinges on 3 key special elections
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Three special elections taking place on Tuesday to fill seats in the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates will determine whether Democrats or Republicans have control of the Statehouse in Republican Glenn Youngkin’s final year as governor.
In northern Loudoun County, Republican Tumay Harding and Democrat Del. Kannan Srinivasan are vying to succeed Suhas Subramanyam in the state Senate after the Democrat was elected to the U.S. House in November. Also on the ballot are Democrat JJ Singh and Republican Ram Venkatachalam, who are racing to replace Srinivasan in the state House of Delegates after he vacated his seat to run in the special Senate election.
In central Goochland County, Republican Luther Cifers is up against Democrat Jack Trammell, a college professor, in a state Senate race. They hope to succeed U.S. Rep. John McGuire, who clinched Virginia’s 5th Congressional District after narrowly defeating former U.S. Rep. Bob Good by less than a percentage point in a bitter primary, which led to a recount in August.
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The special elections are being closely watched by outside observers to gauge voters’ moods after November’s presidential race, which left many Democrats reckoning with the party’s losses in federal elections. In Virginia, Senate Democrats have a narrow 20-18 majority since McGuire and Subramanyam’s resignations, making the special elections key to the party’s efforts to preserve a majority in both chambers. In the House of Delegates, Democrats have a 50-49 lead following Srinivasan’s departure.
Srinivasan, the first Indian American immigrant elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, and Singh, a Virginia native and the son of Indian immigrants, are hoping to hold the Democratic seats within a county where data shows that Vice President Kamala Harris received 57% of the vote in her failed bid against President-elect Donald Trump. Both Singh and Srinivasan have largely centered their campaigns around abortion rights in Virginia. It comes at a time when state Democrats are working to enshrine a constitutional right to an abortion in the state.
“What motivates me is the high-stakes election,” Srinivasan said. “The Senate majority is on the line. The constitutional amendment is on the line.”
Harding, the daughter of Turkish Uzbek immigrants and Venkatachalam, an Indian American immigrant, aim to flip the senate and house seats from Democrats. Both candidates, who each unsuccessfully ran for the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors in 2023, have centered their state campaigns along party lines, such as parents’ rights, crime and the economy.
“Our schools are faltering and riddled with politics and division, our neighbors have been made victims of illegal migrant crime, and our families are struggling to afford groceries, gas, and housing,” Harding said in a statement when launching her campaign. “All of this could change if we win this election and give Governor Youngkin a new majority in the Senate.”
In the 10th State Senate district, conservatives are putting their weight behind Cifers to succeed McGuire following a lengthy, multi-ballot primary among Republican voters last month. Cifers, a Prince Edward County resident and president of a Virginia kayaking business, said he never envisioned himself running for office but wanted to bring a different perspective to the legislature, particularly regarding housing and the economy.
“I’m much more concerned about doing the right thing, making sure that we’re constitutionally minded and respecting the will of the voters before I’m super interested in getting into party politics,” Cifers said.
Trammell, who unsuccessfully ran for the 7th U.S. House District in 2014, is hoping to flip the Republican stronghold, which supported Trump by more than 25 points in November, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. Trammell said he partly decided to run for office because he believed his community should have a competitive electoral process.
“There are factors that are transforming District 10,” he said. “To call it a monolithic, traditional-rural Republican district is a little bit of a disservice to the people who are actually living there, working there and raising families there now.”
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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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