Pete Deaver ~ Guest Writer

     Virginia has passed two new bills that are designed to protect victims from forced sex crimes if they are victims of human trafficking.

     House Bill 2133 was voted on during the 2021 General Assembly and was unanimously approved. It seeks to allow victims of human trafficking who had been, “solicited, invited, recruited, encouraged, forced, intimidated, or deceived by another to engage in acts of prostitution or unlawful sexual intercourse for money or its equivalent” to apply to have convictions as a result of those terms to be vacated. This means that, although the record of that conviction will still be in place, it will be considered dismissed by a court of law.

Cassandra Matthews ~ Assistant Editor

     The Claytor Nature Center is home to the Belk Astronomical Observatory, and work done there furthers the discoveries of the NASA Solar System Ambassador program.

     The NASA Solar System Ambassadors (SSA) website page describes the program by saying, “The NASA Solar System Ambassadors program is a public engagement effort that works with motivated volunteers across the nation to communicate the science and excitement of NASA’s space exploration missions and discoveries with the people in their communities.”

     Trish Cerulli is one of those motivated volunteers. She said, “I became an SSA in Jan. 2021, after hearing about it last year from one of our dedicated docents, Ray Bradley. As the Outreach Coordinator for the Belk Observatory, much of my work there is already aligned with the mission of the SSA program, so I was happy to be selected as a volunteer SSA for NASA! I am the only SSA serving in the Lynchburg, Va., area, and I hope to be able to visit local libraries, scout troops, campus events, and other Lynchburg community opportunities to spread the word about space science and Belk Observatory!”