On the Line: A visual journey along Virginia’s rail system, exploring the past, present and future

November 2, 2022 Chris Tyree

Russell Hopkins, 20, of Iron Gate, Va., waves as a coal carrying train heads southeast, out of town.

Using gravity, and some rather strong mules, self-taught civil engineer Moncure Robinson moved a cart of coal along a set of rail tracks he designed in 1831. From a coal seam in Midlothian, Robinson guided his cargo 13 miles away to Manchester's wharves on the James River—making Virginia’s Chesterfield Railroad one of the first to operate in the United States and stoking Virginia’s economic engine.

Towns built on the rails became strings of small, economic dynamos stretching across the commonwealth, supporting good jobs - in transportation, manufacturing, extraction industries and even tourism.

For many of these hamlets, the hey-days are long past. What happened to Virginia’s railroad towns? Who lives by the tracks today? How deep is the poverty? Where are there signs of regrowth and hope? Have old dividing lines between the right and wrong sides of the track changed?

Scrimp, scroll, square off: First-time homebuyers in Virginia face rising prices and fierce competition

October 23, 2022 Louis Hansen

Ellie Jernigan, 27, and her dog Gracie at a home for sale in Henrico County. She and her husband, Zach, are first-time homebuyers and have been looking for months to purchase a home so they might start a family.

The hopes and dreams of young first-time buyers often crash into the waking horror of today’s real estate market. Driven by an influx of millennials, low interest rates and the scarcity of “for sale” signs planted in the suburbs and cities, Virginia housing prices rocketed during the pandemic. Supply has scraped record lows, driving bidding wars on properties even as interest rates have more than doubled in the past year.

Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO awarded ProPublica Grant

October 20, 2022 Chris Tyree

The Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO has been awarded a Local Reporting Network grant from ProPublica. The grant will support work by journalist Brandi Kellam, an Emmy-award winning reporter who has produced national stories for CBS News.

Housing in Hampton Roads is less affordable than Northern Virginia - and many other pricey areas

October 19, 2022 Guest User

Hampton Roads has long had a reputation as an affordable alternative to Richmond or Northern Virginia. A WHRO data analysis shows the region is one of the most unaffordable in the state. *Photo by Cameron Houck.*

In a comparison of housing prices and local wages, Hampton Roads is less affordable than other major Virginia metros, similarly sized metro areas on the East Coast and even the Washington, D.C. area.

A generational challenge - Where are Virginia’s Black male doctors?

October 5, 2022 Leah Small // VCIJ at WHRO

Jaz-Munn “Jaz” Johnson plays with a child during a healthy baby clinic at the Whitcomb Court Park and Recreation Center, 2302 Carmine St, Richmond, Va. Whitcomb Court is a public housing community.

Despite historic changes in educational and economic opportunities, the share of U.S. physicians who are Black men has remained unchanged since 1940. Virginia medical schools are still struggling to attract talented young men – a key to building trust between healthcare providers and the Black community.

VCIJ has a new home at WHRO Public Media

September 9, 2022 Chris Tyree

The Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism is excited to announce that it has become part of the growing news operation at WHRO Public Media.

Launched in 2019 by veteran Virginia journalists Christopher Tyree and Louis Hansen, VCIJ has been offering enhanced news coverage and in-depth reporting on issues vital to residents of the commonwealth.

“VCIJ started as an effort to bring quality, independent journalism to growing news deserts in the state,” Hansen said. “Investigative journalism is vital to a functioning democracy. We want to bring to light issues that have been under-covered, and serve as a watchdog for the community. Our partnership with WHRO enhances and expands our mission.”

“It was clear after talking with citizens, that Virginians wanted a trustworthy news source looking out for them,” Tyree said. “As an independent news organization with a statewide focus, our coverage of important issues will continue to give Virginians the information and tools they need to be active participants in our representative democracy.”

Spearhead Trails – Path forward for Southwest Virginia, or a slippery slope?

September 5, 2022 Chris Tyree

A headwater stream above Laurel Fork – a New River tributary – muddied by erosion and runoff from ATV use on Spearhead Trails’ Original Pocahontas Trail System in Tazewell County. The environmental and economic health of the trail system has been a source of controversy and bitter division in Southwest Virginia. *Photo courtesy Wally Smith.*

The state created a new recreational agency to breathe life into struggling Appalachian communities once dependent on coal for jobs. But has a sprawling ATV trail network ignored environmental rules and met its economic promise?

A new focus on Charlottesville’s trauma

August 31, 2022 Chris Tyree

Documentary photographer, Eze Amos, stands at the site where the equestrian statue of Stonewall Jackson once stood near the Albemarle Country Circuit Courthouse. *photo by Christopher Tyree // VCIJ at WHRO*

After years as a street photographer, Eze Amos turned his lens on the upheaval in his adopted hometown of Charlottesville.

In 2017, Amos photographed the series of demonstrations and protests leading up to the violence of the Unite the Right rally.

He captured the quaint college town’s quick transformation into a frenzied battlefield on August 12. He shot defining photos of James Fields, the white supremacist who drove a car through peaceful protesters on the mall, killing Heather Heyer.

Amos took more than 9,000 photos of the demonstrations, searing violence and ensuing public ceremonies. And then, he ignored them for years.

“That left a big, big, big black eye on the community,” said Amos, a 47-year-old native of Nigeria. “That's stuff that we're still living with today.”

He revisited the photographs several months ago, just before the fifth anniversary of the demonstrations. He discovered, amidst the violence, moments of humanity, fellowship and strength.

What the end of rent relief means for Virginia tenants

August 26, 2022 Guest User

Pandemic-era protections aimed to slow down the eviction process have expired and could displace thousands of struggling, low-income Virginians in the coming months. Photo taken at Friendship Court, a low-income housing development in Charlottesville, Virginia, August 25, 2022. Photo by Christopher Tyree // VCIJ

While still about half the pre-pandemic levels, the number of eviction filings across the state shot up by 88% between January and June, according to civil court data compiled and analyzed by the Legal Services Corporation. And now, pandemic-era protections aimed to slow down the eviction process have expired, as thousands across the state face the possibility of missing their next rent payment and sliding into homelessness.

The resurgence of evictions will displace thousands of struggling, low-income Virginians in the coming months, straining local governments and safety net providers who aid people experiencing homelessness at a time when rental housing is getting more and more costly, particularly for families, advocates say.

How a former nightclub singer became Virginia’s most powerful and tireless advocate for inmates

August 1, 2022 Guest User

John Coggeshall – or “Cog,” as most knew him — played many roles in his 71 years: actor, musician, nightclub singer, occasional political candidate and dogged defense lawyer.

His tireless devotion to one client, wrongfully sentenced Travion Blount, offered a final role: successful crusader for dozens of inmates unjustly trapped in harsh prison terms. He helped change laws — and dozens of lives — in Virginia and beyond.

Coggeshall died June 19. The cause was cancer, family members said. His wife, Aileen, died just months before his passing.

Few Virginia Employers Pay Fines for COVID-19 Violations

August 30, 2021 Chris Tyree

Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round gold particles) emerging from the surface of a cell cultured in the lab. SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the virus that causes COVID-19. Image captured and colorized at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana. Credit: NIAID — **Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2**
This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round gold particles) emerging from the surface of a cell cultured in the lab. SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the virus that causes COVID-19. Image captured and colorized at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana. *Credit: NIAID*

An analysis of federal and Virginia worker safety records by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism found a dramatic increase in workforce complaints, coupled with a steep decline in inspections since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020.

Workers and a federal watchdog say the lack of adequate oversight has left employees in front-line jobs at a higher risk for infection. The virus has taken the lives of more than 11,600 Virginians.

For some Virginia frontline workers, a struggle for Covid-19 compensation

May 6, 2021 Chris Tyree

Arlington Public Schools (APS) provides Grab-and-Go Meals during the COVID-19 closure at Kenmore Middle School. Frontline workers who contracted Covid at work may struggle for compensation. USDA photo by Tom Witham

Gov. Ralph Northam last month signed two bills into law that will make it easier for some frontline workers who become sick with the coronavirus to collect workers’ compensation benefits. The new laws create a presumption that medical personnel, law enforcement officers and firefighters sickened with Covid-19 acquired the disease at work, making them more likely to be covered for lost wages and health care costs.

But these measures leave tens of thousands of low-paid frontline workers without favorable recourse: Cleaners, grocery workers, home health aides, meat and poultry workers.

A year into Covid, Virginia school reopenings still in doubt

March 11, 2021 Chris Tyree

Cassie Gilboy, a first grade teacher at Broad Rock Elementary in Richmond, is concerned about returning to in-person instruction. Photo by Scott Elmquist — Cassie Gilboy, a first grade teacher at Broad Rock Elementary in Richmond, is concerned about returning to in-person instruction. *Photo by Scott Elmquist*

A year into the Covid pandemic, educators and lawmakers across Virginia are still grappling with how to provide a safe, stable and enriching in-person instruction for 1.2 million public school students. Some families worry about the long-term consequences caused by a year of spotty, virtual learning. Others feel safer to ride out the pandemic and school year at home, concerned whether schools can keep their children free from the virus.

Commonwealth

February 9, 2021 Chris Tyree

Joseph Rogers portraying James Apostle Fields at Point Comfort, Hampton, Va. August 2019

In the quiet, in-between moments, though, I could feel living history all around me, breathing on my neck. Every artifact, every shadow was whispering about the past, saying it was “present.” This little collection of images is my diary of those feelings. It is open to your interpretation - how do you see your place in the history we make today?

Virginia Voices // In Virginia prisons, fear spreads with virus

December 9, 2020 Chris Tyree

David Braxton, 45, has spent nearly half his life behind bars in Virginia prisons. The Covid-19 pandemic has added another threat to the state's overcrowded prison system, with more than 5,000 prisoners testing positive for the virus. Braxton, at Augusta Correctional Center, says the crisis has put inmates on edge.

In Coal Country, a Political Journey from Blue to Deep Red

November 1, 2020 Chris Tyree

Empty coal cars sit on the tracks outside of Grundy, Virginia. Photo by Mason Adams

Southwest Virginia once voted reliably Democratic, and its transition to clean-sweep Republican within a generation demonstrates the partisan realignment that Trump accelerated, and which the 2020 election looks set to entrench for another generation.

Making their voices heard

October 28, 2020 Chris Tyree

In 2016, the only age group to see an increase in the percentage of voters was youth aged 18-29. Still, this group lagged far behind all other age groups. Only 46.1% of eligible voters in this age demographic voted according to the US Census Bureau.

VCIJ asked a dozen first-time voters in a presidential election to share what is motivating them to vote in Virginia during this election cycle. They also share what issues they care about, how they get their information and why they feel voting is important.

Season of Uncertainty

October 26, 2020 Chris Tyree

Migrant farm workers on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, harvest tomatoes earlier this summer.photo courtesy of farm worker — Migrant farm workers on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, harvest tomatoes earlier this summer.
*photo courtesy of farm worker*

Gaps in farmworker protections elevate covid risks for Virginia’s migrant workers.

More than 10,000 migrant farmers travelled to Virginia this year during the deadly pandemic to plant and harvest crops at more than 250 Virginia farms and orchards, according to the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC). Despite the health crisis, the influx of migrants this year changed little from previous harvests, according to VEC estimates.

The immigrant workers -- overwhelmingly Latino -- drive one of the commonwealth’s key industries. Now, they face some of the greatest risks of covid infection through crowded work and living conditions.

Virginia Voices // Education in the time of Covid

August 28, 2020 Chris Tyree

Eliana Nachman, 18, at her home in Henrico. Nachman is starting her freshmen year at Mary Washington University -- but she doesn't think the experience will be the same without in-person classes and living on campus.

Eliana Nachman, 18, is a recent graduate of Hermitage High School in Henrico, VA, and has been accepted to Mary Washington University this fall, where classes start on Aug. 24.

The university initially planned a hybrid of online and in-person instruction to minimize the risk of spreading the coronavirus. But as infections grew, the university announced on Aug. 13 that classes would be entirely online until at least mid-September.

The pandemic has upended a year full of promise for Nachman and her friends: “I was hoping it would kind of be all wrapped up by August. I guess I was just being naive.”