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 14, 2025:
Richmond's mobile homes crumble as city weighs cutting repair fund
Reported by VPM News’ Keyris Manzanares
The floors are caving in. The roofs are leaking. The walls that lack insulation — invite mold. For residents of Rudd’s Mobile Home Park in Richmond’s Southside, these aren’t just minor inconveniences — they’re daily battles in a place they call home.
Unlike traditional renters, most mobile home residents own their homes. (What they rent is the land or lot under where they live.) That means when things start falling apart, the responsibility to fix them falls on their shoulders. But many say they are barely making ends meet, making expensive repairs out of reach.
Josefina is an older, single woman who works a couple days a week. For her, repairs on her deteriorating mobile home — which she purchased in 2008 — are just not in her budget.
Earlier this month, Josefina and another resident of Rudd’s Mobile Home Park invited Richmond Mayor Danny Avula to their homes, so he could see the issues firsthand. The invitation was extended after Richmonders Involved to Strengthen Our Communities, the organization they are a part of, asked Avula during a January meeting to commit to funding the city’s only mobile home repair program in his fiscal year 2026 budget.
Central Virginia Medicaid recipients advocate for program
Reported by VPM News’ Adrienne Hoar McGibbon
Jeanne Robinson and Katina Moss are just two of the roughly 1.9 million Virginians who rely on Medicaid. The Richmond-area women are also advocates for the program. They’ve been sharing their stories with members of Congress, hoping their experiences will help shed light on the lives of Medicaid recipients.
Republican congressional leaders are considering cutting $880 billion from the federal budget over the next decade. They have said those cuts will not impact Medicaid, but Democrats argue there’s no way to reach that goal without making adjustments to federal Medicaid or Medicare funding. The US House Committee on Energy and Commerce has been tasked with finding areas within its purview to make reductions.
A report released this month by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that in order to achieve this level of cuts within the GOP’s time frame, Congress would be forced to pull portions of funding from Medicaid if they do not touch Medicare — a federal health insurance program for adults 65 and up and others with certain medical conditions.
President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders have publicly committed to protecting the program for America’s seniors.
News you might have missed from around the commonwealth
- Wittman questions gutting of U.S. Department of Education (Richmond Times-Dispatch)*
- Capped landfill in Richmond may become a ‘solar meadow’ (Bay Journal)
- As design committee OKs revised Brown’s Island plan, members weigh corporate vibe vs. ‘wildness’ (The Richmonder)
*This outlet utilizes a paywall.
