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VPM Daily Newscast March 9, 2021

VPM's daily newscast contains all your Central Virginia news in just 5 to 10 minutes. Hosted by Benjamin Dolle, episodes are recorded the night before so you can wake up prepared.

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 Tuesday, March 9, 2021:


  • This week marks one year since the global coronavirus pandemic began. Today, the Northam administration will provide an update on the state’s response. More than 586,000 Virginians have been diagnosed with COVID-19 over the past 12 months, and 9,683 have died. VPM will stream the governor’s COVID-19 update at 2 p.m.

     

  • More than 13,000 Chesterfield County middle and high school students are expected to return to the classroom on Tuesday. Despite the return to in-person learning, over 20,000 secondary students will stick with virtual learning, including nearly two-thirds of high schoolers.

     

  • All Richmond and Henrico residents in Phase 1b can start making appointments to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The localities have been in Phase 1b since January, but low vaccine supply meant they were only vaccinating those 65 and older as well as some essential workers. With supply increasing, the districts will now also vaccinate people between the ages of 16 and 64 with pre-existing conditions and additional categories of essential workers.

     

  • The first case of the South African variant of the coronavirus was identified in Central Virginia Monday. According to theVirginia Department of Health, it was found in an adult who had no recent travel history. While this mutation is more contagious, experts say there’s no evidence it’s more severe. This is the 11th case of the South African variant found in Virginia. VDH says 31 cases have also been reported of the mutation originally identified in the UK. As of now,experts say the vaccines are effective at protecting against both of these variants.

     

  • According to the VDH, over 1,700 people died from drug overdoses during the first nine months of 2020, the highest number in state history. Centers who help those suffering from substance use disorder have been forced to quickly adapt not only to the rising demand but also to pandemic realities.

     

  • Richmond Public Schools is holding a series ofvirtual town halls over Zoom this week to gather more public input on the superintendent’s year-round calendar proposal. The town halls will be divided by region, East End residents were the first to give their input yesterday. RPS will hear from residents in the West End tomorrow, the North Side on Wednesday and from the South Side on Sunday. Spanish interpretation will be available. The district previously sent out a survey to families and teachers about the extended calendar, but many raised concerns, saying it underrepresented certain communities. The superintendent agreed and said more input was needed.

     

  • Virginia Republicans seemed to have settled on how they would nominate a candidate for governor, voting to hold a convention at parking lots owned by Liberty University. But after hesitancy from the Lynchburg school, they’ve walked back those plans, leaving the nomination process in doubt.

     

VPM News is the staff byline for articles and podcasts written and produced by multiple reporters and editors.