NEW VIRGINIA GUN LAWS -- After months of contentious arguments on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol, on city council daises and in campaign speeches, a slate of new state gun control laws took effect July 1. The topic of gun control dominated the General Assembly’s most recent legislative session, with Democrats — newly in the majority in both chambers and armed with the support of fellow Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam — pushing through a slew of bills they said were necessary to stop gun violence, including expanding background checks to all firearm sales, capping handgun sales to one a month, prohibiting a person subject to a permanent protective order from possessing a firearm, and allowing localities to ban firearms from certain buildings and events. Virginia also will join other states with “red flag” laws with one to allow courts to temporarily ban people from possessing firearms if there are clear signs that they pose a danger to themselves or others. Gun owners will have to report their lost or stolen firearms within 48 hours of discovering they are missing, and in-person training will be required for obtaining concealed carry permits.

VIRGINIA RENT AND MORTGAGE RELIEF PROGRAM -- The Virginia Rent and Mortgage Relief Program launched on June 29 and will offer financial assistance in the form of rent and mortgage payments on behalf of households who are experiencing financial instability due to the pandemic. See http://www.nelsoncounty-va.gov/2020/06/30/virginia-rent-and-mortgage-relief-program/

COVID UPDATE -- The Virginia Department of Health, reported as of July 2, 63,735 in the state, 888 hospitalizations, 1,816 deaths. 18 cases in Nelson County and 0 deaths, 120.6 cases/100,000 people. Because of limited testing, the actual number of cases in Virginia is likely much higher. Access VDH’s online symptom checker, CovidCheck at www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/covidcheck/.

Find testing sites at www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/covid-19-testing/covid-19-testing-sites/.

TESTS RATES LOOK GOOD — Virginia's daily testing averages have fallen off slightly since a peak of averaging 10,501 tests over a 7-day average in early June but figures continue to look strong heading into the final days of the second phase of reopening. Last Sunday morning, the Virginia Department of Health reported it had conducted 6,645 tests on Saturday, a number that will grow as more results filter in over the coming days.

NURSING HOME COVID CONCERNS -- As Virginia reopens, nursing homes walk tightrope between safety and calls to lift restrictions. Families are pleading with nursing homes to allow in-person visits. Some facilities are tentatively lifting restrictions, while others are still grappling with coronavirus outbreaks. As Virginia approaches the third phase of its recovery plan on Wednesday, nursing homes and assisted-living facilities say they are fearful of a resurgence of cases.

 MASK COMPLAINTS -- A little more than a month after Gov. Ralph Northam implemented a statewide mask mandate, the Virginia Department of Health has fielded more than 3,000 complaints related to the order.

 SCOTUS WIN – In a 5-4 decision, the Court struck down a Louisiana law that would have made it nearly impossible to obtain an abortion. Many were surprised by this outcome considering that Chief Justice John Roberts, who joined the four liberal justices to uphold the law, is famously hostile to abortion. But let’s be clear: Chief Justice Roberts made his decision based on a technicality (that the Court should abide by precedent), not because he believes that women or trans folks who need abortions deserve to make decisions for themselves. Roberts wrote that he thought the previous case was wrongly decided, he deferred to that legal precedent, sending a strong signal that he wants his court to defend the rule of law.

SCOTUS LOSS – The justices ruled that the way the Consumer Financial Protections Bureau is structured is unconstitutional. The CFPB (an independent agency whose jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, mortgage-servicing operations, foreclosure relief services, debt collectors and other financial companies operating in the United States) is headed by a single director who is confirmed by the Senate and serves a 5-year term. Before this decision, there were reasonable limits on the president’s power to fire the CFPB director. But the conservative justices on the Supreme Court disagreed. Now, the director of the CFPB can be fired at-will by the president, doing away with that whole promise of keeping the CFPB independent from the executive. It remains to be seen how this case might be applied to other independent government agencies that are structured the same way (like the Federal Reserve) -- but for now it’s a pretty big gift to presidential power.

UNMASKED -- Joe Biden said that if he wins in November, he “would do everything possible to make it required that people had to wear masks in public.” Conversely, dozens of sheriffs across the South and the West are rebelling against state-imposed mask requirements. “Don’t be a sheep,” one sheriff said. And Vice President Pence, in the first White House coronavirus task force briefing in nearly two months, minimized the record daily case counts in some states as “outbreaks in specific counties.” He asserted: “We did slow the spread. We did flatten the curve. We’re in a much better place.”

 IN VIRGINIA, BIDEN OUT-RAISES TRUMP 2:1 -- Joe Biden has raised $3.5 million from Virginia residents this year through May, nearly twice as much as reported by President Donald Trump's campaign. The comparison may be misleading, however, because of a lag in reporting by the Trump campaign.

 GEN. STONEWALL JACKSON CAME DOWN last Wednesday in a sudden thunderstorm and a burst of mayoral muscle, becoming the latest Confederate monument toppled amid a national reckoning on racism and injustice. Hundreds gathered to watch crews dismantle the statue, one of five honoring Confederate icons on Monument Avenue in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy. Onlookers cheered, and bells rang out from the nearby First Baptist Church.

FORMER VIRGINIA GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE RAISED $1.7 MILLION in political cash over the past two months, the strongest sign yet that the Democrat intends to seek the state’s top political office in 2021.