This dog was found on Race Track Rd. in Melfa. If you know this dog, please call the Esracf Melfa facility to find out how to reclaim your dog 757-787-7091.
In person absentee voting at the Northampton County Registrar’s Office Sept 29-Oct 31
In person absentee voting at the Northampton County Registrar’s Office, located at 16404 Courthouse Rd. in Eastville is scheduled for September 29 thru October 31 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In-person absentee voting will be a little different this year due to new legislation and our continuing efforts vote safely during Covid-19 restrictions.
The new legislation allows voters to vote in person before the election without having to have a reason or excuse. So, voters will not have to fill out an application to vote in person, as was done in the past. Voters will now simply show their ID at the check in desk and then vote. New legislation has also ended the requirement to have a photo ID to vote. Your best bet is still a Virginia drivers license, which is valid even if expired. The voter ID list below details your other options.
Voter ID List (PDF)
Covid-19 restrictions are still in effect for the Northampton County Administration Building, so a mask is required to enter the building to vote. If you do not have a mask on, or if you are not wearing it properly, you will vote outside. This is not up for debate. On the porch leading to the voting entrance, you will see markers for social distancing. Your cooperation with these Covid-19 restrictions will help us run a more orderly election and keep the line moving.
HELPFUL HINTS FOR A GREAT EARLY VOTING EXPERIENCE
- Enter the building using the walk way that leads to the porch facing the Eastville Inn. There will be signs to help you.
- Wear a mask and bring a valid ID.
- We are still offering curbside voting. Please have your helper come into our office and show us your ID, and we will bring the ballot to you in the car.
- Please review the referendums before entering the office to vote. We are sworn to be impartial
and cannot help you figure them out. - Likewise, any political speech or campaigning is prohibited in the office. You may wear campaign gear, but you cannot advocate for a candidate or party in the office.
- Don’t bring your dog or other pet.
- Please respect your fellow voters so we can all have an enjoyable time voting.
History Notes this week of Sept 20
622 A.D.: Traditional date of Mohammad’s first arrival in Medina, after being driven out of his hometown in Mecca.
1187: The great Saracen general Saladin invades Jerusalem in a bid to break the nearly 100 year reign of Christian kings over the city.
1519: Portuguese explorer and navigator Ferdinand Magellan, on commission Spanish King Carlos I (later Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire), departs on a voyage of circumnavigation in order to confirm a westward connection between Spain and the Spice Islands of the South Pacific. Magellan’s fleet consists of five ships and 270 men.
1598: English playwright and poet Ben Jonson is briefly jailed for manslaughter after killing an actor in a duel. He is released after reciting a Bible verse and getting a tattoo on his thumb. Jonson’s career did not suffer from the episode, and he went on to become one of the most popular men of letters during the Elizabethan era in merrie olde England. He was a peer and theatrical competitor of William Shakespeare, and although he always considered himself the better intellect, he eulogized Shakespeare as the “Sweet Swan of Avon” and “Soul of the Age!”
1641: The British merchant ship Merchant Royal founders at sea and sinks off of the coast of Cornwall, with a cargo of £100,000 of gold, 400 bars of Mexican silver, and 500,000 pieces of eight. It has not been found.
1664: As part of the run up to the Second Anglo-Dutch War, four British frigates array themselves off the shoreline of Nieu Amsterdam and demand the surrender of the city. Governor Peter Stuyvesant agrees, and the British take control of the strategic seaport for the first time.
1776: Death of twenty-one year old American patriot Nathan Hale (b.1755), hanged as a spy after being caught scouting around the British encampment of British General William Howe on Long Island. His final words as the noose was placed around his neck: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”
1780: Arrest of British major John Andre, General Clinton’s primary aide-de-camp, who coordinated Benedict Arnold’s treasonous surrender of West Point. Andre was captured inside American lines while wearing civilian clothes, along with Arnold’s handwritten copy of the defensive plan for the fort tucked into his stockings. He was tried and convicted as a spy, and with the bitter memory of Nathan Hale still fresh, was sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead instead of being shot like a soldier.
1806: Leaders of the 1803 Corps of Discovery, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, arrive in Saint Louis three years after their westward departure, completing their epic exploration and recording of the United States’ new Louisiana Territory.
1845: In New York, the Knickerbockers Baseball Club is formed, becoming the nation’s first professional baseball team.
1861: Birth of Robert Bosch (d.1942), who came into prominence in the nascent automobile industry with his invention of a dependable magneto for spark plug ignition. He continued to invent and manufacturer a line of the highest quality electrical equipment in his Stuttgart plant. Today, the company that bears his name has added retail electrical tools and equipment to its product line.
1893: American bicycle maker and inventor Charles Duryea, along with his brother Frank, perform a road test on their first gasoline powered vehicle, a 4 horsepower single-cylinder model. It worked. They performed a second test in November, and then decided to go commercial with the idea. You’ll notice in the second picture below that the Duryeas recognized the marketing potential of racing.
1904: Death of Chief Joseph, last leader of the Nez Perce tribe of the Pacific Northwest (b.1840).
1927: Heavyweight boxing champs Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey clash in the famous “Long Count” re-match for the title championship. Exactly a year prior (less one day), Tunny defeated Dempsey in a ten round unanimous decision. Promoting a second competition between the principals created a great deal of buzz, and the fight met all expectations. The popular name of the match grew out of a furious set of blows that drove Tunney to the mat during the seventh round. Dempsey stood still over his opponent, per the old rules, ready to knock him down again. The referee did not start the count until Dempsey returned to a neutral corner, which gave Tunney an additional few seconds to recover and continue the fight, hence: the “long” count. Tunney in turn knocked Dempsey down in the eighth, and finished in complete control for his second heavyweight title. At the completion of the fight, Dempsey raised his opponent’s arm and said, “You were best. You fought a smart fight, kid.” Controversy endures to this day that Dempsey could have won the title if he had gone to the corner sooner, allowing the count to begin right away.
1939: Death of Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (b.1856), who gave us such useful tools such as: the Freudian Slip; the use of free-association as a means to identify the relationship between the unconscious self and conscious actions; the Id and super-ego; the Oedipus Complex; and the famous and universally un-answered question, “What do women want?”
1942: First flight of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, a pressurized, high altitude bomber which provided the Army Air Corps with a dramatic increase in range and payload over their B-17s and B-24s. Of the 3,970 built (1943-46) there are only two still in flying condition. I had the privilege of seeing one of them in action in 1976 at the then-named Confederate Air Force (CAF) air show in Harlingen, Texas. Now that I’m thinking about it, that show caused a bit of a burp in relations between us and Japan. Here’s the story- The show’s organizers figured the Bicentennial would be a great time to get as many warbirds into the local airspace as possible. For the “European Theater” display they had dozens of P-40s, P-51s, Hurricanes, Spitfires, B-25s and a couple B-17s roaring around the field with a JU-88 and a couple ME-109s thrown into the mix (one of the 109s skidded into the infield pretty dramatically). For the “Pacific Theater” they swarmed a bunch of Corsairs, Hellcats, Wildcats, SBDs, a real ZERO and a couple T-6s dressed up as Zeros, and most importantly for this long digression, the world’s only flying B-29 [at the time] orbiting high overhead, with none other than Paul Tibbets in the cockpit with the regular CAF crew. As the fighters exited from the scene, the B-29 made progressively lower and lower passes down the show line, and on the last one the guys running the show set off a huge gasoline bomb in the midfield as he flew over, creating a big, oily mushroom cloud to end the flight demonstration. The crowd went wild. When the plane taxied in, US flags flying out the upper hatches, the crowd went wild again. You might say it was a jingoistic moment, and you’d be right. Later in the week, the State Department was forced to issue a statement assuring Japan that we really did respect them as an ally, etc., etc., etc. In any event, highly modified versions of the B-29 continued to perform significant actual (non-bombing) missions well into the 1960s as the B-50, with variants used as tankers, passenger planes, weather reconnaissance, “Guppy” air cargo, regular cargo, X-1 mother ship, and the like. It is probably worth noting as well that during the war years, the B-29 had an abysmal non-combat mishap rate: ~40/100k flight hours (compared to 34 & 35 for the B-17 & B24 (N.B. compare this to the entire USN 2013 mishap rate of 0.95)). The engine replacements that turned the airframe into the B-50 made a huge dent in that statistic.
1945: Death of German physicist Hans Geiger, for whom the counter is named.
1960: Launch of the United States’ first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CVAN-65), just up the river a couple miles from here at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. The complexity of this vessel cannot be overstated, beginning with its EIGHT nuclear reactors that produce the steam to both drive the ship and launch the airplanes, in addition to all the other stuff steam does on these ships. NOTE: Current carriers only have two reactors- an improvement in itself- in addition to removal of the bridle arrester horns at the ends of the cats. Although today the ship technically remains “in commission,” she was functionally deactivated in 2012, and is currently undergoing a systematic dismantling up at the Newport News Shipyard. Once everything is off that can come off, the ship will be buttoned up for an open-ocean tow all the way around the Americas for her final reactor dismantling (hot parts going into storage at Hanford, WA) and scrapping at the naval shipyard in Bremerton. 2019 UPDATE: The last of the reactor fuel was removed in December, 2017. Decommissioning occurred 3rd February, 2018 and she was immediately stricken from the Navy list. Scrapping plans have been in a state of flux since then. As of today, the hulk is tied safely to its berth at NNS&DD Co., awaiting someone’s economical idea on how best to scrap it. CVN-80, the third ship of the new Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) class will carry on the great heritage of the Enterprise name.
1964: As long as we’re talking about pushing the technological envelope, today also saw the first flight of the Mach 3 North American XB-70 Valkyrie supersonic bomber. One of the two prototypes was destroyed in a mid-air collision (DLH 6/8). The Soviets were worried sick* about this thing, with good reason. FYI- I had the pleasure a couple years back of visiting the AF museum in Dayton. The remaining XB-70 looms over several dozen other experimental aircraft crammed into a hangar too small for the task. It is simply a magnificent piece of machinery. [The business end; typically graceful takeoff; in flight- note the SIX afterburner plumes showing the actual business of the business end; in flight with wingtips in the high speed configuration (which did two things: a) improved longitudinal stability, and; b) moved the center of lift forward at supersonic speeds, minimizing the nose down pitch)]; landing- the cockpit probably had a separate radar altimeter.
1981: The Senate unanimously confirms Sandra Day O’Connor as the first female Justice of the Supreme Court.
Public Meeting for Hampton Roads Sanitation District
A Public Meeting in Northampton County Circuit Court will be held on Friday October 2nd at 2 p.m. to discuss the Northampton joining the Hampton Roads Sanitation District. Below is the full notice from court:
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF NORTHAMPTON IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF THE HAMPTON ROADS SANITATION DISTRICT COMMISSION, A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, TO ADD THE ENTIRE GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARY OF THE COUNTY OF NORTHAMPTON, VIRGINIA TO SAID DISTRICT PURSUANT TO § 21-291.2 OF THE 1950 CODE OF VIRGINIA, AS AMENDED, INCORPORATING BY REFERENCE CHAPTER 66 OF THE 1960 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY, AS AMENDED. CASE NO. CL20000073-00. ORDER OF PUBLICATION: This action comes before the Circuit Court for the County of Northampton on the Petition of the Hampton Roads Sanitation District to add to said District the entire geographic area of the County of Northampton, Virginia; a copy of which Petition is attached hereto.
UPON CONSIDERATION WHEREOF, it is hereby ORDERED that a public hearing shall be held in this Court on the 2nd day of October, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. on the question of the addition of the entire geographical area of the County of Northampton to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District. At such hearing, the Court shall receive and hear any objections of interested persons to the addition of such territory to the District or to any defect in the Petition, and the Court may then or thereafter grant such petition with such modifications, if any, as it may deem advisable and which do not enlarge the territory proposed to be added to the District. All such objections shall be made in writing, in person or by attorney, and filed with the Court at or before the time or adjourned time of such hearing. Any such objections not so made shall be considered waived.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Order shall be published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in the Eastern Shore Post, a newspaper of general circulation in the area proposed to be added to the District, and shall also be posted in such public places within such area as shall be designated by this Court, the first of such publications and positing not to occur less than thirty (30) days prior to the date fixed hereby for a public hearing. Entered this 10th day of August, 2020.
Traci L. Johnson, Clerk for the Circuit Court for the County of Northampton
Virginia Safe from Offshore Drilling…for now.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – President Donald Trump will expand the moratorium on an offshore drilling ban to the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina.
He made the announcement during his “Make America Great Again” campaign rally at the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport.
“About a month ago I signed an order prohibiting offshore drilling on the Florida, Georgia and South Carolina coasts. And because I happen to like the state a lot, I said, ‘What about Virginia? What about North Carolina?'” the president said. “So, I’m extending the moratorium to North Carolina and Virginia.”
NOAA: 9 Things you may not know about Aquaculture
1. It’s Not Just for Fish
Many aquaculture producers in the United States don’t raise fish, despite the industry’s popular image of fish farming. In fact, oysters were the most commercially valuable domestic farmed marine species in recent years. In 2017, oyster farmers harvested 36 million pounds valued at $186 million. And clams ranked number two in production value in 2012–2017. Other top U.S. marine aquaculture products include mussels, shrimps, and salmon.
In recent years, a growing number of entrepreneurs are also turning to kelp to supply sustainable seafood and coastal jobs.
2. More than Half of the World’s Seafood Comes from Aquaculture
Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing forms of food production. Global marine and freshwater aquaculture production rose by 527 percent between 1990 and 2018 according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Although most of that production happens outside the United States, farmed products still make up a large portion of American’s seafood diet. We import more than 85 percent of our seafood, and half of that is from aquaculture. In contrast, U.S. marine and freshwater aquaculture accounts for only a small portion of our domestic seafood supply.
3. Farmed Seafood is Rich in Omega-3s
The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend eating at least two 4-ounce servings of seafood a week. That’s in part because seafood—farmed or wild caught—is the only natural source of two long chain omega-3 fatty acids that promote heart and brain health. Research suggests that these essential fatty acids, known as EPA and DHA, may also reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and rheumatoid arthritis and aid in the development of muscle tissues.
The level of omega-3 fatty acids in fish largely depends on what that fish ate while alive. Different species have different levels. Two servings of the same wild-caught species might also have different omega-3 content depending on where the fish lived and when it was caught.
For farmed fish, feed is the biggest contributor to a fish’s omega-3 content. And many farmers work to match or even exceed the levels found in wild species.
4. Farming Fish Is an Efficient Way to Produce Protein
All raised animals have to eat, but fish require a lot less food than most. Because they are cold-blooded and live in a buoyant environment, fish don’t have to take in the calories livestock use to stay warm or fight gravity. It takes a little more than a pound of feed to produce a pound of salmon. By comparison, roughly twice as much feed is needed to produce a pound of chicken, and producing a pound of beef requires around 9 pounds of feed.
This is one of the reasons aquaculture has the potential to meet the protein needs of a growing global population with less of a demand on limited natural resources like fresh water and farmable land.
5. U.S. Marine Aquaculture Operates Under Comprehensive Environmental Regulations
As with many forms of production and development in the United States, marine aquaculture is regulated by a suite of regulations to protect the environment. These include the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and Marine Mammal Protection Act, among others. All aquaculture operations in U.S. marine waters must meet the requirements of these regulations. Farms operating or planning to operate in state waters must also comply with the laws and regulations of that state.
NOAA Fisheries works closely with other government agencies and coastal managers to improve the efficiency and predictability of permits for marine aquaculture. We do this while also meeting our marine stewardship mission.
Aquaculture regulation and policy
6. Antibiotic Use is Limited and Strictly Regulated in the United States
Treating disease with medicine can be necessary when raising animals. But aquaculture drug use is also strictly regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and the use of antibiotics for anything other than treating disease is against the law.
Antibiotics are considered a method of last resort for controlling bacterial diseases. Farmers instead rely mostly on responsible best management practices—like proper siting, limited density, and high-quality diets—probiotics, and vaccines as preventative measures to raise healthy fish.
7. U.S. Aquaculture Supports Coastal Economies
The United States has a small but vibrant aquaculture industry supported by world-class research and technology. Nationwide production was valued at $1.5 billion in 2017. As aquaculture grows in the United States, the industry continues to create jobs, foster resilient coastal communities, and provide new international trade opportunities.
Aquaculture also has the potential to provide significant economic opportunities for Americans as the domestic and global demand for seafood grows. Aquaculture accounts for just 21 percent of the value of domestic fishery landings, and the country ranks 17th in global aquaculture production. Increasing production responsibly could result in tens of thousands of jobs in coastal communities.
8. Sustainable Aquaculture Strengthens Ecosystems
The benefits of sustainable marine aquaculture—like we have in the United States—go beyond food production. Oyster farms, for instance, provide valuable habitat for juvenile fish and invertebrate communities. They transform the flat, featureless bottoms of some areas into complex habitats that attract species seeking food and refuge.
Shellfish aquaculture can also improve water quality. Oysters, clams, and other shellfish eat by filtering nutrients from the water. They remove excess nitrogen from ecosystems, helping to prevent an overgrowth of algae that can lead to dead zones.
How shellfish farms interact with the environment
9. Aquaculture Is Vital to Restoration Efforts
Natural resource managers and scientists rely on hatcheries to rebuild wild populations and restore coastal habitats. The practice is called restoration—or restorative—aquaculture, and it involves cultivating marine plants and animals to one day transplant them into the wild.
For example, in November 2019, scientists completed the first release of white abalone grown in captivity off southern California. The release was an important step towards bringing endangered white abalone back from the brink of extinction. Restorative aquaculture is also being used to rebuild populations of salmon and trout in the Columbia and Snake River system.
Congresswoman Elaine Luria’s Bill to Help American Veterans Passes the Senate
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, the Senate passed Congresswoman Elaine Luria’s bipartisan bill, H.R. 6168, the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2020.
The Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Act of 2020 would put more money in the pockets of American veterans by increasing compensation rates for certain benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The COLA includes compensation, clothing allowance, and dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) benefits. This bill would base increases in these benefits on the cost-of-living increase for Social Security recipients.
“As a 20-year Navy veteran, I understand how important it is to ensure that veterans’ benefits reflect the rising costs of living,” said Congresswoman Elaine Luria. “I’m pleased that my colleagues in the Senate passed this critical bill, which will provide a cost of living adjustment to disabled veterans who depend on their benefits to pay for necessities. Through this legislation, Congress is honoring its commitment to the heroes who sacrificed for our nation to preserve the freedoms we enjoy at home.”
This is the second time Congresswoman Luria has championed this vital bill for veterans. Last year, she introduced the Veterans’ Compensation Cost of Living Act of 2019, which became law with overwhelming bipartisan support.
Ginsberg’s death adds fuel to the 2020 Fire…but why??
Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get any worse, RBG passes away.
Right in the middle of the worse political chaos in 60 years, the recent death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is taking things up a notch
Given that it’s an election year, Republicans are eager to nominate a new Justice before the election. But past decisions, such as Mitch McConnel having refused to vote on a nomination by outgoing President Barack Obama, are exacerbating the political tension.
We even have political commentators, like CNN’s Don Lemon, calling to “blow up the entire system.”
A few years ago, a comment like this would have been fringe, but in 2020 it’s mainstream.
This raises the question(s), why the extreme reactions and what do they say about the state of the American political system?
In an article, Dan Sanchez notes that, “The presidency, the Supreme Court, and the federal government in general have come to matter far too much to Americans.”
Sanchez further explains, “The central government has grown too big and important. It has too much inescapable power over too many lives. There is too much on the line for any given presidential election and Supreme Court appointment.”
With so much riding on every political decision, it’s no wonder there’s a pervasive “anything goes” mentality leading to street battles and calls to burn down the system.
Sanchez writes to heal our political schism and extinguish the chaos plaguing our streets, a return to our country’s tradition of federalism would do the trick.
It may be worth a try???
Vile. Monstrous. Repugnant: Left Attacks Catholic Faith
President Donald Trump on Saturday announced his nomination of federal Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court to fill the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barrett was selected from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is believed to be a top candidate.
Right on cue, Democrats roll out the “working moms who go to church and Bible study are weird” platform.
So, media outlets have begun digging into her background, many of them with the intent of finding unfavorable information about the woman who could become President Donald Trump’s third Supreme Court appointment of his first term. Barrett’s Catholic faith has been a primary focus.
Newsweek published an article that claimed in the headline that a Catholic group Barrett is a member of was the inspiration for “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a novel by Margaret Atwood that was recently made into a television show. This is not true, and Newsweek had to issue a correction.
“Correction: This article’s headline originally stated that People of Praise inspired ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. The book’s author, Margaret Atwood, has never specifically mentioned the group as being the inspiration for her work,” the correction read.
Note: I can’t say I’m an expert on the Handmaid’s Tale. Does the plot involve a woman graduating from law school, getting high-powered clerkships, becoming a highly regarded law professor and jurist, then possibly ascending to the highest court in the land?
The whole thing made Democrats seem dumber than usual. Amy Coney Barrett’s Catholic group that referred to women members as “handmaids” refers to the Annunciation in Luke’s Gospel. In the passage, where Mary is told she will be bearing Jesus Christ, Mary signals her submission to the will of God and says: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
The passage is about faith and obedience to God, not sexism. Besides, the group dropped the use of the word “handmaid” anyway. Not because it was wrong, but because, like abortion, the group knew it was hopeless to expect secularists to understand.
There are 51 million Catholics in the United States.
Corruption: Report Shows Obama ignored Biden Ties to Ukraine Oligarchs
Former President Barack Obama’s administration ignored “glaring warning signs” when then-Vice President Joe Biden’s son joined the board of a Ukrainian energy company owned by a corrupt oligarch, according to a report released on Wednesday.
Hunter Biden’s position with the Burisma natural-gas firm — which paid him “as much as $50,000 per month” — “created an immediate potential conflict of interest” because his dad, now President Trump’s Democratic opponent in the Nov. 3 election, was involved in US policy toward Ukraine, the report says.
The report, released by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, also says the younger Biden’s job “was problematic and did interfere in the efficient execution of policy with respect to Ukraine.”
“Hunter Biden’s role on Burisma’s board negatively impacted the efforts of dedicated career service individuals who were fighting to push for anti-corruption measures in Ukraine,” the report says.
Hunter Biden also received a $3.5 million wire transfer from Elena Baturina, the richest woman in Russia and the widow of Yury Luzhkov, the former mayor of Moscow, Senate Republicans revealed in their report on the younger Biden’s work in Ukraine.
Baturina is referenced in the report which was released Wednesday, addressing her payment to Biden’s investment firm in early 2014.
“Baturina became Russia’s only female billionaire when her plastics company, Inteko, received a series of Moscow municipal contracts while her husband was mayor,” it said in providing background on the businesswoman.
The report described her involvement with Biden as “a financial relationship,” but declined to delve deeper into why the wire transfer was made.
The probe also found that Baturina sent 11 wires transfers between May and December 2015 to a bank account belonging to BAK USA, a tech startup that filed for bankruptcy in March 2019.
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