TOP STORIES: Rice wins 98th House District, NF Schools vote consolidation, airports disrupted
Republican Andrew Rice is the winner of last night’s special election for Virginia’s 98th House District.
The Virginia Beach Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney pulled in nearly 63% of the vote against democrat Cheryl Smith. Rice now steps into the role held for years by delegate Barry Knight, who passed away in February. Rice will serve the remainder of Knight's two-year term in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Del. Terry Kilgore, the House majority leader, said in a statement, "I am thrilled to welcome Andrew Rice to our Caucus as the newest Delegate from the 98th District. The road back starts here." District 98 covers parts of southeastern Virginia Beach including rural communities like Pungo and has historically leaned Republican.
"As results come in I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who braved the cold working polls, came to vote and supported this dream," Rice wrote on Facebook. "From the bottom of my heart thank you to the Knight family, my beautiful wife, my parents, and most of all the Lord. This has been an incredible journey."
The Norfolk School Board will vote on approving the first phase of their consolidation plan at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Phase 1 will set Norview and Oceanair Elementary schools to close at the start of the next school year, reassigning the students to Bayview, Calcott, and Ocean View Elementary Schools. The Willoughby Early Childhood Center would move into the repurposed Oceanair Elementary building.
Wednesday’s vote will focus on the adjustments of attendance zones and bus routes for the closures. School officials said the goal of Phase 1 is to ensure families understand where students could attend school based on their residential zones.
In January, Interim Superintendent Dr. James Pohl emphasized that the changes would not result in job losses for teachers. He said educators would be encouraged to move with their students when possible to maintain familiarity and continuity. Pohl says the students are set to move to more updated schools.
Many major airports continue to struggle with disruption from reduced TSA staffing, powerful storms on Tuesday and spring break travelers.
Peak wait times at standard security lines Tuesday stretched to 120 minutes at the Atlanta airport, 103 minutes in Houston, and about an hour in Austin and at Chicago's O'Hare airport. At Philadelphia International Airport, additional security checkpoints are set to close starting Wednesday as the partial government shutdown drags on.
More than 1,100 U.S. flights were canceled as of Tuesday night amid storms in the Midwest and East Coast, and over 8,200 flights were delayed, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport saw the most schedule disruptions, with more than 200 flights canceled and more than 500 delayed, including departures and arrivals.
Transportation Security Administration agents are working without pay and missed their paychecks last week. More than 300 TSA staffers have quit since the partial shutdown began, and around 10% of all agents called out sick on Monday, with more than one-third calling out in Houston, Atlanta and New Orleans. Many TSA workers "are coping with eviction notices, vehicle repossessions, empty refrigerators and overdrawn bank accounts," said Aaron Barker, a local leader with the American Federation of Government Employees.
This morning's weather: Chilly again today, Warmer to end the week
Meteorologist Myles Henderson says another chilly day today with highs in the mid 40s, about 15 degrees below normal for this time of year. We will see a mix of clouds today with more cloud cover in the morning and more sunshine in the afternoon.
For the latest weather updates, watch Myles live on News 3 This Morning here.
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For the latest traffic updates, watch Conor live on News 3 This Morning here.
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