Dogwood Download: Things You Should Know For Wednesday, Feb. 10

Daily Number

5 – That’s the number of Republican candidates running for governor, after another person joined the field this week. (Yes, we’ll tell you who it is. In fact, look directly below this statement.)

Doran Joins Crowded GOP Field in Governor’s Race

And then there were five. Arlington resident Peter Doran announced Tuesday that he wants to be this year’s Republican nominee for governor.

Doran previously worked as the CEO for the Center for European Policy Analysis. The group’s website says they are “a non-partisan think-tank dedicated to re-inventing Atlanticism for a more secure future.” Based out of Washington, they provide analysis like this six-part series on “The Evolution of Russian Hybrid Warfare.”

This marks Doran’s first run for elected office. He joins a Republican field including former Virginia Speaker Kirk Cox, current Virginia State Sen. Amanda Chase,  former Carlyle Group CEO Glenn Youngkin and current Disruptor Capital executive Pete Snyder. The Democratic side also includes five candidates. They are current Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, former governor Terry McAuliffe, current State Sen. Jennifer McClellan, current Del. Lee Carter and former Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy.

Dogwood FAQ: Why Do We Need a Second Vaccine Dose?

This is something we’re going to be doing on a regular basis. Anyone can email questions to [email protected] and we’ll try to track down answers.

In this case, several readers have asked us why the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines need a second dose to be effective. UVA’s Dr. Bill Petri spoke with Dogwood’s Amie Knowles and detailed an answer, as well as the science behind it.

Arlington County Distributes Almost All Vaccine

While some of the vaccine news in Virginia was a bit depressing this week, there were a couple bright spots. To find one of them, we head to Arlington County, where heath district officials give out 97% of their weekly vaccine supply on average.

The other 3% doesn’t disappear. Instead, district officials set it aside, but only for a few days. The idea is to have a few doses on hand, in case there’s a problem with the next week’s shipment. That way they can continue the vaccination program regardless.

Dogwood’s Amie Knowles went more in detail about the program and you can read her work here.

Important Dates Coming Up

• General Assembly Special Session Begins (2/10)
• Charter Day Ceremony for William & Mary (2/11)
• CVS Vaccination Registration Starts for those 65 and older (2/11)
• Tax Season Starts After Delay (2/12)

Despite Pandemic, The Show Goes On at Bassett High

Can you hold a play in a pandemic? Can you perform or even watch while staying socially distant and following other restrictions? One high school in southern Virginia took that idea on as a challenge.

The Bassett High Theatre Department picked a one-act play, tested different ways of performing and when students return in March, the group will be ready to perform, as Amie Knowles explains.

So What Do You Think?

Every day, we pose a question to all of our followers on Twitter. Sometimes we get thousands of replies, while other times we just get a handful. It’s a way to find out what you think about a certain subject.

From now on, we’ll start posting them here in the Download as well, so you can weigh in as well. Like take this question, for example. The Richmond City Council agreed to let Virginia Commonwealth University’s police department use its new database.

Some local residents are concerned due to the fact SOMA Global, the company that provided the new system, is known for “predictive policing.” That means examining data about previous crimes to predict where future issues will happen. The idea is to then allocate more police resources to those areas and fewer resources to other locations.

Local residents believe it will just lead to more profiling of Black and Brown communities. So with that information in hand, where do you stand? Would you have voted for the proposal? Against? Or just don’t know enough to say?