The VPM Daily Newscast contains all your Central Virginia news in just 5 to 10 minutes. Episodes are recorded the night before.
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Here’s a recap of the top stories on the morning of March 3, 2023:
Activists question City Council over affordable housing fund
Reported by VPM News’ Jahd Khalil
The Affordable Housing Trust Fund was created in 2008 to provide loans and grants for developers and nonprofits to build affordable housing in Richmond. In 2021, council adopted an ordinance to set aside revenue from expiring real estate exemptions that would go into a special reserve for the AHTF.
But at a recent City Council meeting, members of Richmonders Involved to Strengthen our Communities and a member of the AHTF’s supervisory board said the city wasn’t following its own laws by not investing its dedicated funding stream in the AHTF.
Henrico settles pollution lawsuit, commits $1M to improvements
Reported by VPM News’ Patrick Larsen
Bill Street, president and CEO of the James River Association, said localities all along the river have leaky sewer systems. But big projects — like updating the combined sewer systems in Richmond, Lynchburg and Alexandria — have required completion dates set by the General Assembly.
“We wanted to break that cycle and make sure that the county was doing additional work to really more quickly identify where problems occur, and also plan for the future, knowing that we’re seeing increased rain due to climate change,” Street said.
In other news:
- Community groups seek new ways to operate as Enrichmond collapse remains unresolved (Richmond BizSense)
- Poll: Youngkin trails Trump, DeSantis in Va. GOP presidential preference (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
In case you missed it:
- Richmond's BK Fulton on reinventing himself as producer, storyteller with ties to Broadway and Hollywood (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
- At Liberty University, AG Miyares talks faith, heroes and destiny (The News & Advance)