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 April 18, 2025:
Reimagining solutions for Virginia’s juvenile justice system
Reported by VPM News’ Keyris Manzanares
Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center, like many other youth detention centers across the country, is in crisis. Critically low staffing has reportedly forced the facility to restrict school, therapy and enrichment programming — leaving youth idle, bored and isolated.
Earlier this month, Virginia DJJ Director Amy Floriano acknowledged in her 130-page presentation to lawmakers that the department has exhausted staffing remedies within their control.
But Tom Woods, senior associate at the youth-focused Annie E. Casey Foundation, said there are too many children incarcerated at Bon Air JCC: “It’s not just a staffing problem. It’s a safety problem.”
In Part 4 of the VPM News series ‘Idleness and Boredom,’ we explore some of the offered solutions.
State health department finds years of ‘neglect’ behind Richmond water crisis
Reported by VPM News’ Dean Mirshahi
Dealing with January’s power outage at Richmond’s main water treatment plant should have been routine for the city’s Department of Public Utilities, but the state health commissioner said years of “neglect” led to the regional water crisis.
State Health Commissioner Karen Shelton shared this assessment with Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Richmond Mayor Danny Avula in an April 15 letter outlining the findings of an investigation led by the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water.
The issues that caused the plant failure — which ultimately kept the city from delivering water to residents and nearby counties for days — include unaddressed systematic concerns, old backup batteries at the plant and “a complacent and reactive organizational culture.”
“The reality is the Department of Public Utilities did not do its job,” Dwayne Roadcap, director of VDH’s drinking water office, said during a virtual press conference Thursday. “It failed.”
News you might have missed from around the commonwealth
- 'Feeling heat': Wittman, Kiggans oppose cuts to Medicaid (Richmond Times-Dispatch)*
- Council, administration clash over potential budget reductions (The Richmonder)
- VMI selects controversial Youngkin donor as new interim board president (The Washington Post)*
- Virginia Housing to build new $15M parking deck across from Allianz Amphitheater (Richmond BizSense)*
- New FEMA review process muddies the timeline for disbursement of Helene recovery funds (Cardinal News)
*This outlet utilizes a paywall.
