Masks Recommended for 27 Virginia Localities

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, universal masking is now recommended for 27 Virginia communities, including Metro Richmond (CDC). According to the Department of Health, new cases in climbed by 2% this week, while 73.7 percent of  are completely vaccinated against the virus. COVID cases in the United States have grown, and 82.7 percent of the country’s overall population (those aged 5 and older) has gotten at least one vaccination shot.

Dyke was part of a team at McGuireWoods that looked into the racial origins of Virginia zoning rules and made recommendations for improving matters. One of the main recommendations, according to Jonathan Rak, a land-use attorney with the company, is for local governments to incorporate housing equity in their comprehensive plans.

“So that they can start monitoring the degrees of economic and racial segregation in their communities,” Rak continues, “so that they can start implementing policies and analyzing the performance of those policies to attempt to lessen the levels of segregation.” The paper uses Roanoke as an example of a municipality that has effectively addressed its racial past and included language in its comprehensive plan to break the poverty cycle.

According to a new analysis, Virginia zoning restrictions have helped to maintain racial segregation. In addition, the writers give recommendations for resolving the issue. The focus of Virginia zoning rules has always been racial segregation, beginning in Richmond and Ashland, where white and black residents were obliged to live in separate zones. One of the causes, according to James Dyke of McGuireWoods Consulting, is that Black wealth is one-eighth of white wealth.