COVID-19, Cicadas, Capitol Riot: Top VA News Stories Of 2021

VIRGINIA — From the race to get people vaccinated to the politics of dealing with a pandemic, COVID-19 once again dominated the news in Virginia in 2021.

With the extremely contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus spreading across the country, the pandemic remained a top concern for Virginians as they prepared for gatherings during the holiday season.

Looking back to late spring and early summer, the light at the end of the tunnel started getting brighter as a growing number of Virginians became fully vaccinated. But in July, the arrival of the delta variant put a damper on hopes that the pandemic was nearing its end.

As the year came to a close, the omicron variant became the dominant strain across most of the country. Though omicron is more contagious, scientists are still uncertain whether the strain causes more mild or severe disease than past variants of the virus.

By late spring, almost all COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in Virginia. The District of Columbia took a more cautious approach, waiting until November to lift its indoor mask mandate. But then D.C. officials reinstated the mandate in mid-December when the omicron variant started to spread across the region.

Patch articles about the pandemic and its impact on schools and businesses were among the most-read in 2021. Here are the top pandemic articles of the year, along with other top news items in Virginia.

COVID Vaccines Become More Widely Available

The first available COVID-19 vaccines were given to health care workers and residents of senior living facilities. As the year progressed, larger groups of people became eligible to get the vaccine. By November, children under 12 had a vaccine that could be safely administered to them.

• Married Couple Receives COVID-19 Vaccine At Same Time In NoVA

• First Wave Of CVS Vaccine Appointments Booked In Virginia

• COVID Vaccine For Kids Under 12: Where To Get One In Virginia

COVID-19 Mask Mandates

As the COVID-19 vaccine became available to more Virginians, Gov. Ralph Northam removed capacity limits and social distancing restrictions by May. The governor also eased mask mandates by early summer.

• VA Mask Mandate, Other Restrictions To Be Lifted By Governor

• Face Masks Required For Start Of Fairfax School Year

• Masks Required At Schools, Vaccines To Attend Concerts

• Mask Mandate Reinstated For Indoor Public Spaces In DC

More Contagious COVID-19 Variants

Positive cases of COVID-19 in Virginia started to rise again in Virginia in July as the delta variant spread across the state. The number of delta variant cases peaked in September. As delta variant cases started to wane, a new variant first detected in South Africa, omicron, spread like wildfire across the nation.

• More Contagious Coronavirus Variant Found In Northern Virginia

• Virginia COVID-19 Cases Grow As Experts Warn About Delta Variant

• First Case Of Omicron Variant Confirmed In Virginia

• Omicron Cases Explode In Virginia, DC: See Latest CDC Data

Storming The Capitol

As protesters supporting President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Gov. Ralph Northam sent Virginia National Guard members and 200 Virginia state troopers to DC and issued a curfew for Arlington and Alexandria. In the days and weeks after the storming of the Capitol, several residents of Virginia were arrested and charged with varying offenses related to the event.

• Trump Mob Attacks Capitol; 4 Deaths; 69 Arrests; FBI Seeks Tips

• Northam Sends Virginia National Guard, Curfew For 2 Localities

• Navy Veteran, Cops Among VA Residents Charged In Capitol Riots

Pipeline Cyberattack Causes Gas Shortages

Long lines formed at gas stations across Virginia and D.C. in May after a cyberattack caused Colonial Pipeline to shut down its petroleum products pipeline. Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency on May 11 to address gasoline supply disruptions across the state due to the cyberattack.

• State Of Emergency Declared In Virginia Over Gasoline Shortages

Year Of The Cicada

Billions of cicadas emerged across parts of Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. in May and June. While most cicadas have 13-year life cycles, Brood X was one of several periodical cicadas that emerge from the ground every 17 years. By late July, after the cicadas had stopped making shrieking sounds, residents started feeling the bites of oak leaf mites. The microscopic mites were feeding on the billions of cicada eggs produced across the region and dropping out of trees.

• Billions of 17-Year Cicadas Will Emerge In Virginia in 2021

• Cicadas Strike A Pose With Their Red Eyes, Orange Wings

Racial Reckoning

As part of the state's reckoning with its Confederate past and history of racism, several jurisdictions in Northern Virginia changes the names of schools and highways and took inventory of Confederate symbols.

• T.C. Williams Name Changed To Alexandria City High School

• Confederate Name Replaced With NASA Pioneer's At Fairfax School

• New Names Approved For Routes 7 And 50 In Loudoun County

• Sign Replaced At Renamed Naomi L. Brooks Elementary In Alexandria

• Renamings Of Lee, Lee-Jackson Highways Recommended By Fairfax Task Force

• Loudoun's Inventory Of Confederate Symbols To Involve Public

New Police Chiefs

The two largest jurisdictions in Northern Virginia swore in new police chiefs. In D.C., the U.S. Capitol Police hired a long-time law enforcement chief to serve as the permanent head of the department in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

• Despite Protests, Newsham Sworn In As Prince William Police Chief

• Reform-Minded Fairfax Police Chief Officially Sworn In

• New US Capitol Police Chief Takes Command In Wake Of Jan. 6

Courageous Battles

In 2021, Patch reported on many examples of residents showing great courage in the midst of tremendous adversity. One article was about James Shahryary, who suffered a stroke soon after he was born two years ago, causing serious health issues. The unwavering support from his parents is helping James get treatments and therapies even when insurance cannot cover the costs.

• Pediatric Stroke Survivor Fights For Life With Support Of Family

• Herndon Graduate Student Continues Treatment To Combat Cancer

20 Years Since 9/11

Twenty years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, residents across the region remembered the people who were killed on that terrible day. D.C. police officer Steven Griffin shared his memories of responding to the 9/11 attack at the Pentagon with his son, Patch editor Liam Griffin.

• D.C. Police Officer Recalls Recovering Bodies On 9/11 At Pentagon

Extreme Weather

The 18.8 inches of rain from June through August marked the second-wettest summer of the past decade and the 11th-wettest summer on record, according to the Capital Weather Gang. It was 7.04 inches wetter than the most recent 30-year average of 11.78 inches. The final three months of the year turned out to be drier than normal, although a weather system and high tide in late October caused the worst tidal flooding since 2003's Hurricane Isabel in some Virginia localities.

• Tidal Flooding Moves Into Old Town Alexandria Streets: Photos

Parents vs. School Boards

Northern Virginia was ground zero for the nation's battle by conservative groups against the teaching of Critical Race Theory in schools. Parents and community members held regular rallies in Loudoun County opposing the school system's curriculum and transgender policy. Community members in Fairfax County rallied for the banning of certain books in school libraries, an issue adopted by the campaign of Glenn Youngkin, who won election for governor in November.

• Teacher Who Disputed School's Transgender Policy Placed On Leave

• Foes Of Critical Race Theory In Schools Hold Rally In Leesburg

• Rally Held Against CRT, Transgender Policies In Loudoun County

• LGBTQ-Themed Books Removed From Fairfax County HS Libraries

GOP Sweeps Statewide Offices

Republican Glenn Youngkin, a political unknown in January, pulled off an upset victory against Terry McAuliffe in November's gubernatorial election. Republicans also won the lieutenant governor and attorney general races and reclaimed a majority in the Virginia House of Delegates.

• McAuliffe Concedes VA Governor's Race To Republican Youngkin

• VA Republicans Sweep State Offices As Winsome Sears Makes History

More Metro System Woes

Brighter days were on the horizon for D.C. Metro as the transit system completed station and rail upgrades. Nearly four years ago, Virginia agreed to provide Metro with dedicated funding on an annual basis to help with infrastructure upgrades and other needs. The American Rescue Plan provided Metro with funds to avoid service cutbacks during the pandemic. The infrastructure bill, signed into law in November, earmarked $150 million annually for WMATA through fiscal year 2030. But then a Metro train derailment in October forced the transit system to remove its new 7000-Series trains from service, causing another new headache for Metro riders in the D.C. area.

• Blue Line Train Had Derailed Twice Before On The Same Day

• National Safety Alert Issued Over Wheel Defect On DC Metro

• Metro To Begin Returning 7000-Series Trains To Service

Virginia Serial Killer

In December, Fairfax County police alerted residents to a serial killer. The person who the police suspected of killing several women was already in behind bars in Harrisonburg. Dubbed the "Shopping Cart Killer," the police are seeking the public's help in determining whether the suspect has killed more than the four victims found so far.

• VA Shopping Cart Serial Killer: 4 Victims Found, More Suspected

• Lead On Alleged Serial Killer Victim Pursued In Fairfax County

This article originally appeared on the Falls Church Patch