Like its clients, drug center is recovering

Things are looking up for Sherry Sanderson; the 40-year-old mother of three is a year sober after enrolling in Rubicon Inc.’s Women and Children’s Treatment Center. Photo by Mark Robinson.

A bronze medallion bearing the letters “NA” – for Narcotics Anonymous – hangs from Sherry Sanderson’s neck. She tears up as she looks down and reads the message engraved on it.

“That no addict seeking recovery need ever die,” she says.

The 40-year-old mother of three smiles. One year sober. She’s the first to say her recovery is only beginning, but now the clinic she credits for helping her turn her life around is in the midst of a recovery of its own.

Read the full story courtesy of Capital News Service. 

Assembly approves anti-abortion amendment

RICHMOND – The General Assembly on Wednesday narrowly approved an amendment by Gov. Bob McDonnell that will prohibit certain health insurance companies in Virginia from providing coverage for women seeking an abortion.

McDonnell added the anti-abortion amendment to House Bill 1900, sponsored by Del. Thomas Davis Rust, R-Herndon. The assembly passed the bill in February to comply with the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Under the system, Virginians who cannot afford health insurance will participate in a federally operated health insurance exchange.

Spin the bottle: What happens after you drop that glass into the recycling bin?

Photo by Amber-Lynn Taber.

That bottle you just tossed into your green recycling bin won’t be there long. For that matter, it won’t even be a bottle for long.

Read the full story courtesy of Henrico Monthly magazine.

Heads up, Nats fans: Here’s your home plate

RICHMOND – It’s a high fly ball hit deep into center field – going back, back … gone!

Washington Nationals fans living in Virginia have something to cheer about even before the 2013 Major League Baseball season officially begins. Gov. Bob McDonnell has signed into law legislation creating a Washington Nationals specialty license plate. Here’s how it happened:

On streets of D.C., students gain perspective on privilege

Through the Alternative Spring Break program, five VCU students spent 48 hours living on the streets of D.C. Photo by Mark Robinson.

Washington D.C. – Five young people loiter by the McPherson Square Metro Rail station entrance in downtown Washington D.C., across the street from the Hilton Garden Inn, where the man behind the desk let some of them use the bathroom.

It’s a prime spot: covered, well-lit, frequent police patrols. They stake their claim.

As the daytime traffic dies down, they piece together flattened out cardboard boxes retrieved from a nearby dumpster, careful to make sure they completely cover the cold brick ground. They place a layer of moving blankets on top of the cardboard and lie down, one by one.

Huddled together, they pull more blankets from the trash bags they’ve lugged around the city all day. As they cover themselves, some take off their shoes and hide them behind their head — a makeshift pillow, but more importantly, assurance they won’t be stolen in the night.

At 10 p.m., the sounds of the city are not yet silent. A diesel truck idles nearby. The occasional car horn blares. Passersby talk on their cell phones. It’s noisy and cold — about 35 degrees with a chilling wind. Temperatures are expected to fall below freezing after midnight.

It will be a difficult night’s sleep, but they signed up for it.

Read the full story courtesy of The Commonwealth Times.

One year later, impact of student’s death still felt

Gabrielle Atkins, left, prays with her head bowed at a Monday night rosary at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. Photo by Mark Robinson.

In the cavernous sanctuary of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Gabrielle Atkins clutches a strand of beige rosary beads and a prayer booklet in her hands.

With her head bowed, she closes her eyes, signs the cross and whispers the Apostles’ Creed, then the Our Father. Three Hail Marys follow and a Glory be to the Father.  She is one of two people at the scheduled Monday night rosary.

As dictated by the Catholic ritual, the first mystery is announced: “Agony in the Garden,” the first of the five Sorrowful Mysteries. They dedicate it to all those lost in the past year.

The Our Father and a round of 10 Hail Marys follows. As each is complete, Atkins slides her index finger and thumb up a bead on her strand. She rocks back and forth rhythmically, meditating. The pair’s whispers echo in the empty labyrinth of pews. Two tea candles flicker in front of a cross at their feet.

They complete the Hail Marys and repeat the Glory be to the Father. Atkins kisses the cross on her rosary beads and another round of prayer begins. Her voice blends in unison with the friend next to her, but another voice is missing.

That voice would have belonged to Carolina Perez, a VCU student killed in a drunken driving crash last February. Before she died, Perez would lead the Monday night rosary at the Cathedral.

Atkins recalled how Perez, a native Spanish speaker, would fumble through the prayers in English.

“She’d trip up on her English whenever she’d pray the rosary,” Atkins said. “She’d just give up and do it in Spanish.”

Hearing Perez recite the prayers in her native language gave Atkins a sense of a greater connection to the wider Catholic community. Now, the feeling is different.

“Whenever I hear it in Spanish, I hear it in Carolina’s voice,” she said, quietly. “And it hurts. It hurts now.”

Read the full story courtesy of The Commonwealth Times.

Gun control advocates rally at Capitol

Some protesters were emotional during a recounting of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December. Photo by Mark Robinson.

RICHMOND – Calls for stricter gun laws after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December did not persuade the Virginia General Assembly to pass such legislation during its 2013 session.

But as legislators adjourned Saturday, protesters at the state Capitol said the fight is just beginning.

About 35 people marched to the General Assembly. Some held signs bearing the names of lost loved ones. Others picketed with signs referring to the 26 people killed in Newtown, Conn., two months ago and the 32 killed at Virginia Tech in 2007.

“It’s the last day of the session, but the conversation on gun laws in America and Virginia is just starting,” said Gena Reeder, a spokesperson for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, formerly known as One Million Moms for Gun Control.

McDonnell touts success of state’s clinical trials

RICHMOND – Gov. Bob McDonnell on Monday praised the findings of a new study that says clinical trials of new drugs and other medical treatments in Virginia have boosted the state’s economy and created 76,000 jobs over the past 13 years.

Lawmakers divided by redistricting controversy

RICHMOND– Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, and Sen. Emmett Hanger Jr., R-Mount Solon, are friends. And they’ll remain friends, Deeds says, even if a controversial measure Hanger voted for costs Deeds his seat in the Virginia Senate.

Deeds is the odd man out of the redistricting measure passed on Monday by Senate Republicans. The measure would combine his and Hanger’s districts and create a sixth majority-African-American Senate district.

“What the Republicans did is unconstitutional,” Deeds said by phone after the vote. He also took to his Twitter account to address the issue.

Read the full story courtesy of Potomac Local, the Scott County Star and Leesburg Patch.

Coalition for Virginians with Mental Disabilities Rally

Supporters of mental health reform joined people with mental and physical disabilities at the Capitol on Jan. 21 to lobby lawmakers for policy changes.

A supporter of mental health reform holds a fist in the air to show his support of the National Alliance on Mental illness in Virginia.

Multiple organizations came together at the rally to support mental health reform, including the National Alliance on Mental illness in Virginia and The Arc Virginia.

In between speakers, a band entertained a crowd of about 150 at the rally.

Commissioner of the Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services Jim Rothrock, left, chants ‘We are all Virginians’ at the end of his address to the crowd.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli speaks with a supporter after his speech about the importance of addressing mental health issues in the commonwealth.

Click here to see more photos from the rally.