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 Sept. 19, 2023:
Regional partnerships key to oyster habitat restoration
Reported by VPM News’ Patrick Larsen
Healthy oyster populations — stacked up into reefs — can help protect against major coastal floods by minimizing storm surges and reducing everyday erosion of buffer wetland habitats.
That’s one of the reasons Leslie Townsell is conducting graduate research on oyster populations at the University of Georgia. It’s also one of the reasons that Black in Marine Science — the nonprofit where she serves as community director — joined the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance earlier this month.
SNAP benefits increase food access at farmers markets in rural Virginia
Reported by VPM News’ Henry Brannan
Food access is more than just how close a person is to a store. Due to poverty, about 1 in 10 Virginians are food insecure, according to the Federation of Virginia Food Banks.
To address this — and their reputation for being expensive — more than 100 farmers markets in the commonwealth and thousands around the country accept EBT SNAP benefits as payment.
Those benefits — formerly known as food stamps — allow customers to purchase meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, baked goods and more with their SNAP debit card. And the SNAP program isn’t alone. Seventy-five markets now accept Virginia Fresh Match, a program that gives SNAP recipients coupons to buy produce to double their SNAP funds.
In other news:
- About $2M in 'dark money' poured into Virginia campaigns (Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism)
- Pechin, city’s deputy planning director, leaving City Hall for federal job (Richmond BizSense)*
- Va. Dems outraise GOP, but Youngkin’s White House buzz helps close gap (The Washington Post)*
In case you missed it:
- JMU [Board of Visitors] sees new member resignation, discusses six-year plan (Daily News-Record)*
- Efforts to extend broadband to rural Virginia are being stymied by railroads, officials say (Cardinal News)
*This outlet utilizes a paywall.