Black Women in Tidewater Virginia More Likely to Die of Breast Cancer; AG Miyares’ Oliver Hill Externship; Speaker Don Scott Endorses for '25; Photos: Mayor Phillip Jones
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🚩 10 days until early voting in Virginia: Sept. 20
🚩 56 days until Election Day Nov. 5
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Black Women in Tidewater Virginia More Likely to Die of Breast Cancer, Above National Average
By Leah Small for the Virginia Mercury - In the U.S., Black women die from breast cancer more than any other racial group. They are slightly less likely than white women to develop breast cancer but are about 42% more likely to die from it. Breast cancer deaths for all women in the U.S. have decreased, but the mortality gap between Black and white women persists.
As a group, Black women diagnosed before age 50 are 50% more likely to die from the disease than white women diagnosed before age 50.
In Virginia, the situation is worse. The state has the nation’s ninth highest breast cancer death rate and is one of only four states in which Black women develop cancer at a higher rate than white women, according to recent data from the Leroy T. Canoles Jr. Cancer Research Center at Old Dominion University and the American Cancer Society.
Virginia’s eastern Tidewater region, where Cade lives, is one of the ten metro areas in the U.S. with the highest number of Black women dying from breast cancer, a 2021 report by Susan G. Komen shows.
In 2020, Black women in Tidewater were 60% more likely to die of breast cancer than white women, up from 41% in 2014, according to data from Komen. Suffolk and Chesapeake stand out for having the biggest gap between Black and white women in late-stage diagnosis and survival rates. READ ENTIRE
AG Miyares’ Oliver Hill Externship Program
AG Jason Miyares completed his annual Oliver Hill Externship Program at the Office of Attorney General (OAG). This is the 3rd year that Miyares has hosted HBCU students for this program. Attorney General Miyares gave the students a tour of the General Assembly. The law firms and attorney associations hosting the HBCU students were Troutman Pepper, Williams Mullen, McGuire Woods, Gentry Locke and the Virginia Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.
The program is an effort to expose HBCU students to the legal industry and the law school application process. The externship program welcomes undergraduate students to participate in a week-long job shadow program at the OAG. It also includes daily lectures and Q&A’s with senior officials within the office and accomplished attorneys and judges from across Virginia.
Despite Less Than Progressive Moments, Speaker Don Scott Endorses Spanberger for ‘25 Gov Race
After the August 5, announcement from Virginia’s Lt. Governor Winsome Sears that she will be running for Governor of Virginia in 2025, Virginia’s first Black Speaker of the House of Delegates, Don Scott of Portsmouth, is announcing he’s backing Rep. Abigail Spanberger for Governor in 2025. Speaker Scott’s endorsement was first reported by The Virginia Mercury. Rep. Spanberger announced she was “truly grateful for Don Scott’s endorsement” on social media this morning.
Speaker Scott has emerged as a top fundraiser in Virginia and a top leader in the Democratic Party of Virginia after Democrats lost all three statewide positions in 2021. But in a comeback for team blue, Speaker Scott’s leadership and fundraising power led to Democrats winning the majority in the Virginia House of Delegates in 2023. Speaker Scott has outraised the two previous Speakers in the House of Delegates and continues to raise on a level few others can come close to.
HERE COMES 2025. So far, only one candidate has declared they’re running for Governor in 2025 on the GOP side, Lt. Gov. Sears. Likewise on the Democratic side only one candidate has announced for Governor: Rep. Spanberger. But others may enter the race including a candidate from the Hampton Roads are which is a vital block of votes in statewide races.
🚩 RELATED: Spanberger Can’t Make Judgement on Whether Trump is Racist - Richmond Times Dispatch, Aug. 2019
During her six years in Congress, Spanberger built a brand around being a “moderate” Democrat who can work in a bipartisan way with Republicans. Spanberger voted against Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi for House Speaker twice. She joined the less-than-progressive wing of U.S. House Democrats led by Rep. Terri Sewell for a “regional minimum wage” that would exempt certain areas of the U.S. from an increase based on regional economics.
In 2020, Spanberger complained on a recorded Democratic House Caucus call about how police reform policies of progressive leaning members of the U.S. House was problematic for Democrats. The call took place six months after the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s murder set in to motion a short-lived “racial reckoning” in the U.S.
“We lost members who shouldn’t have lost… the number one concern that people brought to me is defunding the police. I’ve heard from colleagues that it’s the language of the streets and we should respect that. We’re in Congress. We’re professionals. We are supposed to talk about things in a way where we mean what we’re talking about. If we don’t mean we shouldn’t defund the police then we should say that,” Rep. Spanberger said on the November 2020 call as reported by The Washington Post. Spanberger had just survived a close 50-49 race against Republican Delegate Nick Freitas.
In May 2022, Spanberger authored a bill to increase the pay and hiring of police officers along with South Carolina Republican Tom Rice.
Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones at the Annual Southeast Community Day Parade on Sept. 7
On Saturday September 7 in southeast Newport News, the annual community event’s Grand Marshall was Congressman Bobby Scott. Below Newport News Mayor Phil Jones is seen talking to members of the community. The parade takes place every year on Jefferson Avenue in December.
The next candidate forum featuring the candidates running to be the next Mayor of Richmond is tonight:
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