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    The claim that even negative publicity is still worthwhile publicity bounces hard off the wall in the case of former Rocky Mount Police Officer Jacob Fracker and his one-time mentor, former Rocky Mount Police Sgt. Thomas “T.J.” Robertson.

    A little-heralded Virginia legislative reform has yielded insights into which of the commonwealth’s communities endure the most far-reaching effects of mass incarceration — a term that serves as shorthand for the United States’ propensity to put people in prison rather than address underlying social issues that set people on the path to a life behind bars. The U.S. imprisons more people than any other nation in the world, eclipsing even China, and when comparing national incarceration rates — the number of incarcerated residents per 100,000 population — the U.S.A. is also No. 1.

    Absorbing the coverage that emerged from the aftermath of the May 14 shooting at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store, and now the July 4 mass shooting during a Highland Park, Illinois, parade, one comes away with the impression that so-called red-flag laws — which allow a judge to bar someone ruled a danger to themselves or others from having firearms — should have stopped those shooters from getting their hands on guns, but somehow the statutes fell short.

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    In late May, the Washington Commanders stoked great curiosity with the purchase of 200 acres of land in Woodbridge. After months of legislative debate over the creation of a stadium authority to help publicly finance a new facility, the NFL franchise seemed to be inching closer to establishing a home in Virginia.