Virginia Lee (Hadley) Hall

Coralville

Virginia Lee (Hadley) Hall, 99, of Coralville, Iowa, formerly of Manchester, passed away peacefully Sunday morning, June 23, 2024, with her two youngest daughters by her side, at Grand Living of Bridgewater in Coralville.

Survivors include a son, Robert Hadley Hall (Carol) of Leavenworth, Kansas, and three daughters, Mary H. Kroninger, of Fresno, California, Eileen L. Hall of St. Louis, Missouri, and Elizabeth H. Bolin (Don) of Iowa City; three grandsons, Jay K. Nevin, (Amanda), Ian R. McGowan, and Clayton Hadley Hall, one granddaughter, Natalie Hall-Krishnamurthy (Akshay); two great-granddaughters, Abigail R. Nevin and Kavya Hall-Krishnamurthy; and one great-grandson, Benjamen R. Nevin.

Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church in Manchester, Oskaloosa, Iowa City, or to the charity of one’s choice.

Online condolences may be sent to www.leonard-mullerfh.com.

Visitation: 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, at First Presbyterian Church in Manchester, Iowa.

Memorial Service: 11:00 a.m., on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, at First Presbyterian Church in Manchester, Iowa.

Private Family Inurnment: Oakland Cemetery – Manchester, Iowa.

Saying that this has been a huge month for Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry in terms of recruiting would be a major understatement. Recruiting has been going very well and on Sunday afternoon, the third-year Hokies coach picked up another key commitment.

Six days after Green Run edge Zeke Chinwike committed to Virginia Tech in the Class of 2025, the Hokies got a second commitment in the class from an edge, this time Sherrod Henderson. The Rocky Point, N.C. native is a three-star and picked Virginia Tech over Virginia, Pittsburgh, Duke, Michigan State, West Virginia, and others.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Heide Trask High School is the 20th-ranked player in North Carolina according to 247Sports and he visited Blacksburg last weekend as his last visit of the month. Previously, he visited Duke on May 31, Michigan State on June 7, and South Florida on June 14.

A duel-sport athlete, Henderson had 75 tackles last season as a junior, including 12 sacks and 15 tackles for a loss. Offensively, he rushed for over 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also is a standout on the basketball court.

Henderson gives Virginia Tech two legitimate edge rushers in the defensive line room in the Class of 2025 with Chinwike. Also committed in the class on the defensive side of the ball are linebacker Brett Clatterbaugh, safety Sheldon Robinson, defensive lineman Christian Evans, cornerback Knahlij Harrell, and linebacker Noah Chambers.

The Hokies are moving up the ranks in terms of recruiting in the Class of 2025 and they are doing it mostly with three-star recruits with Clatterbaugh being a four-star. It would not be surprising to see some of the other players in the class be four stars before ending up on campus. Not to be outdone, the Class of 2026 is off to a good start with quarterback Peyton Falzone committing Saturday night.

The House of Delegates voted unanimously to repeal changes to a program that provides free tuition to the families of those killed on active duty or who are at least 90% disabled.

Dozens of veterans and family members were in the gallery while the House voted. Delegates to completely repeal the changes. The House then voted to add back $20 million a year that was included in the budget to help public universities off-set the cost of the program, which serves more than over 6,000 veterans and their families.

“I’m a veteran myself. And so making sure that we take care of our veterans is my highest priority,” Speaker of the House Don Scott, D-Portsmouth.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin called a special session of the legislature after public outcry from veterans’ groups when the cuts were passed as part of the state budget in May without a separate public hearing.

Though Youngkin signed the changes as part of the budget, he ended up calling for a complete repeal and created a state task force to look at potential cuts.

“We’ll look at what the governor’s task force says and what changes, if any, are necessary,” Scott said.

Meanwhile, the Senate has wrestled with keeping some of the changes in place.

The cost of the program rose from $12 million in 2019 to $65 million in 2023. The Senate set up its own subcommittee to look at changing the program.

The committee took testimony Friday from veterans and the families of first responders who are disabled or were killed in the of duty, who are also covered under the program.

Ella Hestser, 20, of Virginia Beach told a Senate committee that college may be unaffordable if she and her brother become ineligible for the program. Both of her parents were in the military. Her mother suffers from PTSD.

“I’ll be in massive amounts of debt, as well, as I’m sure all these other families who were promised this benefit,” Hestser said.

The Senate is scheduled to return Monday, July1.

Lawmakers could bring the session to a close if they chose to pass the repeal language approved by the House of Delegates, or vote on their own bill, which would trigger a round of negotiations with leaders in the House.