The VPM Daily Newscast contains all your Central Virginia news in just 5 to 10 minutes. Episodes are recorded the night before.
Listeners can subscribe through NPR One, Apple Podcasts, Megaphone, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.
Here’s a recap of the top stories on the morning of Nov. 20, 2024:
Parents in Virginia community college program juggle coursework, expenses
Reported by VPM News’ Megan Pauly
Ashlie Butler is studying early childhood education at Brightpoint Community College and says she’s able to study at the Chester campus — even with her 2-year-old in the same room. She’s used the space a couple of times to study with her kids: Akhai, 2, and 5-year old Ace.
“As a parent, you learn to muffle out the background noise,” Butler said. “Him being occupied, actually, is what keeps me being able to do my work.”
It’s part of a new program that started last summer for single parents like Butler. It’s called the College Attainment for Parent Students program and offers an array of support for this group of students, including a $2,000 financial stipend every semester that participants can use for child care or other expenses.
“We've seen there's a huge need for it,” said Anne Rogers, CAPS manager at the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education, which launched and is funding the program. “There are a lot of students who are juggling families, studies, jobs, and they need support.”
Floyd County judge rules Virginia's RGGI exit was illegal
Reported by VPM News
A circuit judge has ruled in favor of the Association of Energy Conservation Professionals that Virginia’s 2023 exit from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative was, in fact, illegal.
As VPM News previously reported, the AECP filed suit against the Air Pollution Control Board, the Department of Environmental Quality and DEQ director Mike Rolband by alleging that state officials lacked the ability to remove Virginia from the 10-state carbon market.
The case was initially heard in September following multiple state-led attempts to toss the case out failed. According to Judge Designate C. Randall Lowe's five-page opinion, dated Monday, the AECP's claims that leaving RGGI demonstrably hurts its members have merit and that the decision to exit was "beyond the statutory authority" of the commonwealth — and therefore illegal. (Lowe, who is retired, was assigned to oversee the case after a Floyd County judge cited a conflict of interest.)
"By its very language, the RGGI Act explicitly circumvents the Air Board. It instructs the DEQ to incorporate its provisions into the RGGI Regulation and exempts said incorporation from the provisions of the Virginia Administrative Process Act," Lowe wrote.
Christian Martinez, Youngkin’s press secretary, said the governor plans to appeal.
In other news:
- Richmond medical marijuana company among seven businesses suing state over lucrative cannabis license (The Richmonder)
- 2022 UVA shooting suspect pleads guilty to first-degree murder (The Associated Press)
In case you missed it:
- Va. lawmakers will consider teacher compact to stem shortage (Virginia Mercury)
- GOP to pick nominee for McGuire's Senate seat in Dec. 12 mass meeting (Richmond Times-Dispatch)*
*This outlet utilizes a paywall
