But this time, he was seeking to benefit others, too.

“In these last 10 years, I went through a divorce, I moved, and just had a lot of personal stuff that I went through,” Scott said. “So turning 50 feels kind of more reflective. I wanted to do something big, but I wanted to do it in a way where I could give back.”

So now, Scott is riding his bicycle 588 miles across Virginia — and raising money for charity — to celebrate his 50 years.

It all began in early 2023, when Scott — a former college English teacher who now runs a fledgling business called Fennario Coffee Roasters — began talking to one of his new customers at the Farmer’s Market in Hilton Village.

That customer, Caroline Dutle, is the director of development at THRIVE Peninsula, a nonprofit that provides food and financial, housing and utilities assistance for those in need.

When THRIVE received a large whole-bean coffee donation a few months later, Dutle thought of her “coffee guy” and asked Scott if he’d be willing to grind the beans down before it’s given away.

“Most of our clients can’t afford coffee, let alone a coffee grinder,” Dutle said. “So a donation isn’t too helpful if it’s in bean form.”

Scott immediately said yes.

“He came to check out our facility, and has been really active and involved in supporting us ever since,” Dutle said. “So it all started with coffee beans.”

Scott took the beans home, ground them up and returned them in packages, ready for distribution. Though most consider coffee a staple, she said, for others it’s a “luxury item.”

“Any time we can provide things beyond the necessities, it’s a real treat for our clients,” Dutle said.

THRIVE Peninsula was founded 50 years ago by several churches in Newport News’ Denbigh section, and still considers itself a Christian-based organization. But Scott said he was drawn to the fact that the nonprofit helps people of all faiths — or no faith.

“I am sensitive to people telling me what to do or trying to evangelize me,” Scott said. “But (faith) doesn’t affect who gets help or who doesn’t get help. The only thing that you have to do is qualify financially.”

“And once I saw how selfless and giving these people are, the volunteers, I was like, ‘Man, I’ve got to be involved in this somehow.’ ”

THRIVE has a pantry where people can come once a month by appointment and get about a week’s worth of groceries. It also offers financial assistance and coaching.

So when it came time for Scott to mark his 50th birthday, he decided he wanted THRIVE to be the recipient of a charity event. He came to Dutle with a concept: He’d bike 500 miles to raise $5,000 and 500 pounds of food — all multiples of 50 — to benefit the organization.

Dutle liked the idea, and helped him put the plan — and the fundraising mechanisms — into action.

It began Saturday morning at Breaks Interstate Park near the Kentucky and Virginia border. Scott will then trek the Virginia portion of the TransAmerica Trail — 588 miles — over nine days. That’s about 65 miles a day.

The route will take him south to Damascus, then northeast to Radford, Christiansburg and Lexington. He will hit the Blue Ridge Parkway, then Charlottesville, Ashland and Richmond before heading back to Hampton Roads.

Scott can be followed online in real time — at www.tinyurl.com/heathwatch — as he makes his way through the commonwealth.

Though Scott has done lengthy rides in the past, this will be the longest. He said the first several days — where the route is most mountainous — will be the most challenging.

Luckily, Scott is no stranger to physical exertion. He has been an ultra distance runner in the past. And over the past couple years, his coffee business includes a guarantee to deliver the java the next day anywhere in Newport News by bike. That also ensures he’s getting in his daily rides.

“Rain and snow doesn’t stop me,” he said. “I had a broken rib last year, and was out delivering on the bike … so it’s gonna take a lot to stop me.”

THRIVE, for one, is appreciative.

“I think it’s just such a superhuman feat that Heath is taking on, and this is just an amazing opportunity for us to be recognized in this way,” Dutle said Friday. “He’s really garnered a lot of support within the community, and it’s been very helpful to THRIVE.”

Scott will carry a tent and sleeping bag, and plans to camp on his route. It’ll be a mixture of “stealth camping” — finding a spot in wooded areas along the way — and campgrounds, and a hotel for his night in Richmond.

He’ll bring a couple days’ worth of trail food with plans to replenish in small towns along the way.

“It’s all back roads, and you’re never more than an hour or two ride from any kind of convenience store,” Scott explained.

A friend plans to meet him Thursday at the Blue Ridge Parkway to help him resupply and offer moral support. Scott’s wife, Woodside High School art teacher Heidi Compton, will meet him in the evenings starting that same night.

He plans to be back on or about Sept. 15 — his 50th birthday.

Road construction on the Capital Trail will prevent Scott from finishing at the end of the cross-country TransAmerica trail in Yorktown. So he plans to end the route at the THRIVE building on Nettles Drive in Newport News, likely arriving by way of Warwick Boulevard.

Scott has already surpassed his initial $5,000 fundraising goal. That’s in large part because of Priority Bicycles, the New York-based company that makes the bike he’s riding, a belt-driven Priority 600.

“I’ve seen them do charitable work, on everything from suicide prevention to getting kids on bikes,” Scott said of the company. “I sent them a letter explaining what I was doing, and they didn’t hesitate. They got back to me within 24 hours and said, ‘We’d love to help out.’ ”

Scott asked Priority to donate a less expensive bicycle than the $2,500 one that Scott will be riding. “And they came right back and said, ‘No, let’s do the Priority 600,’ They completely donated it, no strings attached.'”

The bike will be raffled off as part of the fundraising effort. Tickets are selling for $25 apiece or five for $100, with all proceeds counting toward the $5,000 goal. And last week, an anonymous local family kicked in $2,630 — at the time just enough to hit the $5,000 mark.

“Their anonymity will be respected, but we can assure you that they are one of the most wonderful families we’ve had had the honor to get to know,” Scott wrote on his coffee company’s Instagram page. “They are true models of how to be a good human.”

The fundraiser is now up to $5,370 and counting, with 100% of the proceeds going to THRIVE.

Canned goods and other non-perishables are being collected at THRIVE (12749 Nettles Drive) or Village Bicycles (9913 Warwick Blvd.). Both are in Newport News.

“I’m just really excited,” he said Friday before leaving for the Kentucky border. “I’m pretty humbled by the outpouring of support from folks and the interest from folks. I was doing this as a kind of a small way to help try and raise some money, and the swell of support that I’ve gotten from the community, it’s just been unbelievable.”

THRIVE will host a community day Sept. 22 with Scott, featuring refreshments, a mobile coffee bar and an opportunity to learn more about the organization’s mission. That’s also when the donated bicycle will be raffled off.

To contribute or buy a raffle ticket for the bike, go to the donation website, “50 to 5000: Heath’s Trans-Virginia Birthday Ride for THRIVE,” at givebutter.com/HeathsRide4THRIVE.

“Trading river views for mountains tomorrow,” Scott wrote Thursday on Instagram, with a picture of his bicycle near the James River. “Who knows what adventures lay ahead?”

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com

Autumn Cleveland would quietly set the mug on her mother’s nightstand so she could start her day with a hot cup of coffee.

“When she picked you, when she loved you, family or otherwise, there wasn’t any other love like hers,” Renee Cleveland said in a phone interview. “Her love languages were different than most. She showed you in tiny ways.”

The 23-year-old from Newport News had packed up her car late Aug. 29 to move to Maine, a state she had fallen in love with, her mom said.

She stayed in touch with her family through the evening of Aug. 31 and texted her parents that she loved them, said father Michael Cleveland. But after a few days went by and her family couldn’t reach her, they posted on social media that she was missing and asked a search team to help find her.

“Every ounce of us thought we were going to come up here … and see her, spoil her and make sure that she was good to go,” Renee Cleveland said. “My heart hurts.”

Her body was found Monday afternoon in her parked car in Dayton. Maine State Police continue to investigate her death and are awaiting autopsy results.

Her parents said Autumn was shy, soft-spoken and anxious, but had a few close friendships. She was very selective about who she let into her life, her mom said.

She loved Taylor Swift, cats and every type of sweet treat, especially chocolate. Her sister, Brooke Cleveland, said they always stopped at the closest ice cream shop after going hiking. Autumn never tried a flavor she didn’t like, her sister said.

“If she ever shared any of (her sweets) with you, you knew you that you were in her good graces,” Brooke said.

When she was comfortable, Autumn could be the loudest person in the room. Even her own laugh could catch her off guard, her mother said.

“When she would bust out laughing, or she knew that she was going to do something … funny, she would turn really red,” Renee Cleveland said.

She excelled in school and made the Dean’s List at Liberty University, which she attended for a year before deciding she wanted to travel.

She was born in Oregon, but spent much of a her childhood in Virginia. Her family moved a lot, and she became used to traveling when her parents split. She “had a bedroom everywhere,” whether it was with her parents, her sister’s couch in Virginia, with her brothers in Washington or her aunt’s spare bedroom in Oregon, which was always reserved for her.

She was especially close with Brooke and younger brother Christopher, her father said.

“My sister is very selfless,” Brooke said. “It wouldn’t matter if she was having the worst day ever, if somebody else was having a slightly bad day she would make sure to be there for them.”

After stuffing her bags with gifts for her relatives, she decided to move to Tampa last September. Autumn Cleveland always was prepared with research and itineraries, her mother said. And by the time she got there, she had a job and a room rented, her father said.

When she decided to move on a few months later, she joined her dad on a cross-country road trip and then headed to Virginia, where she stayed until she packed up to move to Maine.

Autumn Cleveland wanted to see the world before establishing her roots, her mother said. She wished for a future and a family, to someday be married and have children. She made plans to visit her family in the coming months to go wedding dress shopping for her sister, for holidays and her birthday Nov. 14.

“Anybody that met her fell in love with her,” Michael Cleveland said. “I know dads say that about all of their daughters, but it truly is true.”

Neopestalotiopsis disease, which first appeared several years ago in Florida, can cause light to dark brown spots on plant leaves and rotting of the fruit. To avoid it, some local growers started getting their plants from a supplier in Canada. But now, major nurseries there are also seeing symptoms, and they’ve recently warned the fruit growers.

“They are basically canceling orders (and in many cases refunding the deposit) or telling plug plant producers and farmers to take plants at their own risk — no reimbursements for bad or infected plants delivered this year,” said Phil Brannen, a professor in the Plant Pathology Department at the University of Georgia, in an Aug. 21 post on the university’s cooperative extension’s website.

It’s not the first time Hampton Roads has dealt with a strawberry disease, but this one could have a major impact on growers who count on the popularity of the fruit.

“That’s a major crop that draws the consumers to the farms,” said Jayesh Samtani, associate professor and small fruit extension specialist at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center. “It’s the first crop that gives you fruit in the spring season.”

The disease can reduce a grower’s harvest by as much as 50%, Samtani said.

“It’s scary for sure,” said Roy Flanagan, Virginia Beach’s agricultural extension agent and owner of Flanagan Farms, which offers u-pick strawberries in the spring. “It’s a new enemy of the plant that you’ve got to figure out to combat.”

Virginia Beach is the commonwealth’s largest producer of strawberries thanks to the area’s temperate climate and nutrient-rich soil. The value of the crop in Virginia Beach ranges from $750,000 to $1 million per year. Meanwhile, a strawberry farm in Virginia Beach sees an estimated 1,500 visitors each week in May, according to the city.

Some area farms were able to order healthy cutoffs, or bare root plants, from California this year before they sold out, according to Samtani. Flanagan Farms and Cullipher Farm are among those. Others will take the risk with the Canadian plants or cancel their orders.

The situation likely will have long-lasting repercussions.

“The disease has a tendency to stay in the soil from one season to another,” Samtani said. “Even next year, if your plants come in clean, it would not be advisable to use the same site.”

Cindy Weatherly, who operates a farm in Pungo and Cindy’s Produce, a farm stand on Harpers Road, will skip growing strawberries this year to avoid contamination.

“This is an aggressive strain,” Weatherly said. “I don’t want to introduce a disease into my soil that I know nothing about until I watch someone else take care of it.”

To help stave off the disease, which thrives in warm climates, some growers will receive their plants a little later than normal, Samtani said. Strawberries in southeast Virginia are typically planted from last week of September through the first week of October. Chandler, Sweet Charlie, and Ruby June varieties are mostly grown locally.

Samtani plants berries at the research center each year. He’s expecting strawberry plants to arrive Oct. 10.

The Henley family is one of the city’s largest strawberry producers, growing them across 10 acres. They received the tips of strawberry plants from a supplier in Nova Scotia and have been rooting them in trays, said farm owner Barbara Henley. She’s already noticed some signs of the disease in one of the varieties, but is on track to plant in three weeks.

“Ours look fairly good,” Henley said, also a City Council member. “I’m afraid to say too much.”

The research center is advising growers about how to mitigate the disease if plants are infected. One option is fumigating the soil, which involves injecting a synthetic chemical gas. Sanitizing clothing, equipment, machinery and pruning tools also will be critical.

And fungicidal treatments can also help keep the disease under control. However, the most effective chemical — thiram — is being phased out by the Environmental Protection Agency, Samtani said.

Some factors, like weather, will be out of the control of growers. A dry, mild spring could keep the disease at bay.

“We don’t really know what’s going to happen until it all unfolds and the season progresses,” Samtani said.

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com

“You don’t want to wait until a week before the election and then decide to put it in the mail,” said Stephanie Iles, the city’s director of elections and general registrar. “There is a possibility that we might not get it in time.”

The United States Postal Service has faced nationwide slowdowns in the past few years due to strains from the pandemic and operational cutbacks. Virginia was hit hard, as Richmond served as a guinea pig for Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s cost-cutting plan of consolidating individual processing centers into larger regional hubs.

Local and state election officials are subsequently pushing absentee voters to request and return their mail-in ballots as soon as possible to avoid missing the deadline.

“I think we are all concerned about it,” Iles said.

Christine Lewis, Virginia Beach’s director of elections and general registrar, said she noted slower services during recent elections.

“It’s taking about three to five days for people to receive their ballots in the mail,” she said. “I would have said pre-COVID, it would usually take people about two days.”

Election Day is Nov. 5 but early voting starts Sept. 20.

To be counted, absentee ballots returned by mail must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by the general registrar’s office by noon on the third day following the election. If possible, Iles and Lewis encouraged absentee voters who are approaching the deadline to consider dropping ballots off at the registrars’ office or a drop-box location.

“If I had to name what my biggest concern is with the 2024 general election, it would be the operational performance of the United States Postal Service,” she said, adding the department raised concerns prior to last year’s election. “We started hearing from registrars that they were having issues with mail ballots not being delivered to voters, not getting them back in time or ballots coming back as being undeliverable.”

Beals said absentee voters should get started on the process early so any mishaps or delays can be addressed.

“I know folks sometimes get their ballot and go ‘Well I’m just going to let it marinate here and think about it’ — you can’t do that this year,” she said. “You need to make sure that you mail it back (immediately) or drop it off.”

Absentee voting is a popular option nationwide, according to Elliott Fullmer, a political science professor at Randolph-Macon College. Fullmer, who researches voting and elections, said about 40% and 32% of voters used that method in 2020 and ’22, respectively.

He believes it’s always a good idea to take an earlier approach to absentee voting and said officials’ concerns should never be dismissed.

“I am glad they are voicing those concerns now because if there is something that is hurting the processing of ballots, it’s better to flag that now than before it is too late,” he said. “What I am encouraged by is that, despite the significant concerns that everybody had in 2020, I feel like the system worked well.”

Fullmer said Virginia has also made it easier to vote since the pandemic by expanding the number of voting methods.

Although Virginia ranked worst in the nation this year for postal service, there also have been improvements amid pushback from residents and lawmakers. Several federal legislators in Virginia, including Republican Rep. Rob Wittman of Yorktown and Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, met with Dejoy in July for an update.

The on-time delivery rate of first-class mail in Virginia improved from 66% to 77.4% during the first quarter of this year, according to a release about the meeting from Kaine’s office. But this fell short of the goal of 93%.

“The numbers are getting better,” Kaine told The Virginian-Pilot last month. “We still have some parts of the Richmond distribution area out around Charlottesville where it’s bad.

“Then the postal service frightened everyone last week by saying it might have to curtail services in rural areas (in 2025). Rural America relies more on the postal service than urban America does so that went over very poorly — so we have more work to do.”

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com 

They posted on social media, hosted community events and held a rally for the 28-year-old mother and pediatric nurse. Within days of her disappearance, community members began to apply public pressure on her husband, Naresh Bhatt.

“My friend called me and said, ‘What do you think?’ and I said, ‘Let’s talk about it,’ so we initiated a group chat and then the movement was started,” said Bina Khadkalama, a member of the local Nepali community in Northern Virginia.

Bhatt was arrested about three weeks after his wife disappeared and charged with concealing a dead body. A prosecutor later said in court that the amount of blood found in Bhatt’s home indicated injuries that were not survivable.

Though his wife’s body remains missing, Naresh Bhatt waived his right to grand jury proceedings on Thursday, paving the way for him to head to trial by early 2025. The trial date is expected to be set during Bhatt’s next hearing in Prince William Circuit Court on Sept. 16.

Prince William Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew Sweet described the waiver as a tactical move by Bhatt’s attorneys that limits prosecutors’ time to build their murder case — a process that typically takes longer than six months.

“We have multiple agencies, multiple witnesses who are out of the state — out of the country — that we have to prepare for,” Sweet said in court.

Chief Public Defender Tracey Lenox argued that Bhatt was still entitled to a speedy trial, despite prosecutors’ wish for more time, adding that his defense couldn’t control whether the arrest was premature.

“They chose to charge in this,” Lenox said, adding: “I understand the inconvenience to the Commonwealth, but this is where we are.”

On Thursday, Manassas Park police said they were searching for evidence in the investigation at a nearby school, multiple parks and other community areas.

The investigation has drawn international attention to the small Northern Virginia community, where homicide cases are rare. In the courtroom, more than a dozen community members sat among the benches, wearing pink pins printed with Bhatt’s face.

“We’re always thinking about her, we’re doing so much here,” Khadkalama said. “The case is a 24-hour topic for us … I go to work, I drive home, I think about Mamta.”

Holly Wirth, a nurse who used to work with Mamta Bhatt, has been vocal in the case, hoping to gain accountability for her friend. She described Naresh Bhatt’s waiver of grand jury proceedings to be “legal gymnastics,” but said she believed prosecutors would still have ample time to prepare this case or other charges that they could be pursuing.

“Mr. Bhatt thinks he is smart, but I guarantee you, the weight of justice is leaning hard on him, and we are going to see this come to fruition,” Wirth said.

___

Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

The Republican submitted a statement of organization with the Virginia Department of Elections. Any individual seeking public office in Virginia must file a statement of organization within 10 days of accepting or spending campaign funds or appointing a campaign treasurer. The paperwork states that a contribution was first accepted, and an expenditure made, on Wednesday.

Then she made her formal public announcement Thursday night in front of at least 200 supporters at Chick’s Oyster Bar restaurant in Virginia Beach, including city Mayor Bobby Dyer.

“With your support we can secure the future of Virginia and make sure that the values that we cherish remain strong for generations to come. So let’s roll up our sleeves. Let’s get to work, let’s get to work, lets get to work!” she told the crowd.

Dyer was among the opening speakers, and he led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.

“How about this folks? How about we take this November’s election and victory and let’s put a Marine in the Governor’s Mansion next year!” he said.

Earle-Sears was elected lieutenant governor in 2021. She is the first woman to hold the position in Virginia and the first Black woman to hold statewide office.

Earle-Sears is the first Republican to announce a bid, although state Attorney General Jason Miyares is expected to run as well. He released a statement on social media Thursday saying the party should be focused on winning races this year.

U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger is the only declared Democratic candidate so far. She has raised about $7 million as of June 30, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan organization that tracks campaign donations.

Earle-Sears told the story of her father’s immigration from Jamaica in 1963, just days before Martin Luther King Jr.‘s “I Have a Dream” speech.

“It was the height of the Civil Rights Movement, but folks, it is no longer 1963. This is two-zero-two-four,” she said. “Things have changed, have they not? Of course they have, because how else could I be second in command in the former capital of the Confederate states? The Klan is turning over in their grave.”

Earle-Sears served four years in the Marines, working as an electrician. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Old Dominion University and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Regent University.

In a Thursday news release, Democratic Party of Virginia Chairwoman Susan Swecker criticized Earle-Sears as a far-right “extremist.”

“If elected governor, she’d unleash her radical agenda: outlawing abortions, rolling back gun safety measures, dismantling LGBTQ+ rights, gutting healthcare for millions, and slashing funding for public schools,” Swecker said.

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com

Gavin Stone, gavin.stone@virginiamedia.com

Photos: Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears announces run for governor

More than two years ago, former Rocky Mount Police Sgt. Thomas Robertson originally was sentenced to seven years and three months of imprisonment for joining a mob’s Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Prosecutors urged U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to preserve the original sentence, but the judge imposed the shorter prison term Wednesday after agreeing to dismiss Robertson’s conviction for obstructing the congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

Robertson was the first Capitol riot defendant to be resentenced after the dismissal of a conviction for the obstruction charge at the center of the Supreme Court’s ruling in June, according to Justice Department prosecutors. The high court ruled 6-3 that a charge of obstructing an official proceeding must include proof that a defendant tried to tamper with or destroy documents — a distinction that applies to few Jan. 6 criminal cases.

“I assume I won’t be seeing you a third time,” the judge told Robertson at the end of his second sentencing hearing.

Robertson, who declined to address the court at his first sentencing hearing, told the judge on Wednesday that he looks forward to returning home and rebuilding his life after prison.

“I realize the positions that I was taking on that day were wrong,” he said of Jan. 6. “I’m standing before you very sorry for what occurred on that day.”

A jury convicted Robertson of all six counts in his indictment, including charges that he interfered with police officers during a civil disorder and that he entered a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, a large wooden stick. Robertson’s jury trial was the second among hundreds of Capitol riot cases.

Robertson traveled to Washington on that morning with another off-duty Rocky Mount police officer, Jacob Fracker, and a third man, a neighbor who wasn’t charged in the case.

Fracker, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and agreed to cooperate with the government, was sentenced in 2022 to probation and two months of home detention.

Jurors who convicted Robertson saw some of his posts on social media before and after the riot. In a Facebook post on Nov. 7, 2020, Robertson said “being disenfranchised by fraud is my hard line.”

“I’ve spent most of my adult life fighting a counter insurgency. (I’m) about to become part of one, and a very effective one,” he wrote.

After Jan. 6, Robertson told a friend that he was prepared to fight and die in a civil war and he clung to baseless conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen from then-President Donald Trump.

“He’s calling for an open, armed rebellion. He’s prepared to start one,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi told the judge.

Prosecutors said Robertson used his law enforcement and military training to block police officers who were trying to hold off the advancing mob.

Defense attorney Mark Rollins said Robertson made bad choices and engaged in bad behavior on Jan. 6 but wasn’t trying to “overthrow democracy” that day.

“What you find now is a broken man,” Rollins said.

The town fired Robertson and Fracker after the riot. Rocky Mount is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Roanoke, Virginia, and has about 5,000 residents.

Gunter “Garshon” Morgenstein, 88, bought Boar’s Head liverwurst July 30 from a Newport News Harris Teeter, and consumed some of it over the next several days.

Morgenstein’s son said his father would typically spread the liverwurst over a bagel, just like he did as a boy growing up in Germany in the 1940s.

But a few days later, Morgenstein began to feel weak and short of breath and developed a fever.

“As his condition deteriorated, he began to look increasingly ill, and his family called emergency services,” according to the lawsuit.

An ambulance took him to Riverside Regional Medical Center on July 8. While hospital staff thought Morgenstein would be out within a couple days, he didn’t improve.

“For the first few days the hospital staff was perplexed by his worsening condition,” the lawsuit said.

Hospital staffers took a blood culture July 11. It came back positive for bacterial meningitis, with the presence of listeria monocytogenes. Morgenstein’s red blood cell count kept dropping, and his fever continued unabated, the lawsuit. Though the hospital took “aggressive measures” to save him, he died July 18 at Riverside.

After surviving the Holocaust in Germany, Morgenstein emigrated to Canada in 1954, according to his family’s obituary. He moved to Newport News more than 50 years ago and became a “master hair designer.” He leaves behind a son and two daughters, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

His son, Garshon “Shon” Morganstein, 49, of Virginia Beach, said the family “put two and two together” when they saw news reports about a massive recall involving Boar’s Head meats.

The lawsuit was filed in Sarasota County, Florida — where Boar’s Head Provisions is based — by Ron Simon & Associates, a Texas law firm. It was filed on behalf of Morgenstein’s wife, Margaret “Peggy” Morgenstein, and son.

The complaint doesn’t seek a specific dollar amount, but asks for a jury to determine damages.

According to the lawsuit, the U.S. Food and Drug Administraiton, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state regulatory agencies began on July 19 investigating a multi-state listeria outbreak that was resulting in sicknesses and deaths.

Listeria most affects older people and those with weakened immune systems, federal regulators said.

“Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria usually look, smell, and taste normal, meaning that a consumer has no warning of contamination,” the lawsuit added.

Invetigators ultimately traced the illnesses to the Boar’s Head liverwurst “as the likely source.” As part of that investigation, the Maryland Health Department got an unopened meat package from a Baltimore grocery store, with its contents testing positive for listeria monocytogenes.

On July 26, Boar Head Provisions Co., based in Jarrett — about 75 miles west of Norfolk — recalled the Boar’s Head Strassburger Brand Liverwurst, made at the plant between mid-June and mid-July. The meat has a shelf life of 44 days, with “sell by” dates ranging from late July to late August.

The company also recalled ham and bologna products made on the same line, with more than 200,000 pounds of meat ultimately recalled.

According to the lawsuit, 57 people in 18 states have been hospitalized from the liverwurst, with nine people dying from the illnesses. But the true number of victims is likely “much higher,” the lawsuit asserted, in part because some who got sick were able to recover without medical care.

Boar’s Head Provisions Co. has posted an extensive post on its website about the recall.

“We deeply regret the impact this recall has had on affected families,” the statement said. “No words can fully express our sympathies and the sincere and deep hurt we feel for those who have suffered losses or endured illness.”

Production has been paused at the Jarratt plant and won’t resume “until we are confident that it meets USDA regulatory standards and Boar’s Head’s highest quality and safety standards,” Boar’s Head added. The company said it’s conducting an extensive examination to determine how the contanination happened to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

So far, the company said, only the liverwurst has been found to have been adulterated. “You have our promise that we will work tirelessly to regain your trust.”

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com

The Democrat submitted a statement of organization with the Virginia Department of Elections. Any individual seeking public office in Virginia must file a statement of organization within 10 days of accepting or spending campaign funds or appointing a campaign treasurer. The paperwork states that a treasurer was appointed Aug. 28.

Surrounded Monday by campaigning Democrats at U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott’s annual Labor Day cookout, including Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff, Jones declined to comment on his campaign.

“Jay remains solely focused on the critical elections in November, which is why he is in Newport News today campaigning for the Harris-Walz ticket,” Chief of Staff Lesley Stewart wrote in a Monday email. “Any formal announcement will come after those elections have concluded.”

Jones, an attorney, lost the Democratic primary for attorney general in 2021 to two-term incumbent Mark Herring, who was defeated in the general election by Republican Jason Miyares. The former Virginia Beach delegate has not announced whether he intends to seek reelection.

Jones served in the House of Delegates from 2018-21. He won reelection in November 2021, but announced his resignation a month later, explaining he and his wife were expecting their first child. He said at the time that he planned to return to politics.

“Let me be clear, our work is not done and I intend to serve the people of Virginia for years to come,” Jones said then. “And that work may well mean a run for attorney general in 2025.”

Jones will face against at least one other Democrat. Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor announced in June she is seeking the office. Taylor has raised $293,325 as of June 30, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan organization that tracks campaign funds.

Jones’ family has a history of public service. His father, Jerrauld Corey Jones, held the same Norfolk House seat from 1988 to 2002. His grandfather, Hilary H. Jones Jr., was the first African American appointed to the Norfolk School Board and the Virginia Board of Education.

Reporter Trevor Metcalfe contributed to this report.

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com 

The 47-year-old mother and 29-year-old man, who live in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County, told police they would chain the 9-year-old boy and his 7-year-old sibling by the ankle to “’scare them’ so they wouldn’t leave the apartment,” according to court charging documents in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

The two were arrested Aug. 16. According to court records, the 9-year-old borrowed a cellphone from a roommate in the apartment, who is not charged. The 9-year-old used the phone to send a photo of his chained foot to an older sister, who called 911.

Police said when they knocked on the apartment door they could hear chains rattling in the apartment.

The roommate told police the two kids were routinely chained when both the 47-year-old and the 29-year-old were not home, according to a search warrant affidavit.

The boys are now in the custody of their father, who did not live in the apartment and was not charged, according to WRC-TV, which first reported on the arrests. He said his sons did not tell him when they visited him that they were being chained.

“When I heard, I was like, ’Wow, why did this happen?’ Children don’t deserve to be treated like this. We don’t have the right to treat them like this. Maybe a criminal, but not innocent children,” he told the station in Spanish.

Last month’s arrest was not the first time the mother’s parenting drew attention from authorities. Court records show that in 2019, a then-16-year-old daughter of the mother obtained an emergency protective order, and that the mother was charged with misdemeanor assault. The disposition of that case was not clear from juvenile court records.

The public defender’s office, which represents the mother, did not immediately return a call Tuesday morning seeking comment. A phone listed for the court-appointed attorney who represents the 29-year-old man was not working Tuesday.

The mother has been released while she awaits trial. The 29-year-old man remains jailed.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 2.