- 60 National Guard members to be deployed in Virginia to support ICE
- Uncertainty remains in Virginia’s spending priorities
- Chesterfield Planning Commission greenlights nuclear fusion plant
- Earle-Sears touts her role in Youngkin policy wins — but is light on details
- Students, faculty, lawmakers call for a more transparent board at UVA
Providers and families fear the effects of federal Head Start funding cuts
Southwest Virginia is recognized as a child care desert. In Giles County — which has over 800 children under the age of 5, according to the US Census Bureau — there are only three licensed child care providers. One of those providers is the Giles Health & Family Center in Pearisburg, which hosts a Head Start center.
Head Start is the longest-running national school readiness program in the country. Providers and parents and guardians alike say that Head Start, which serves about 14,000 children ages birth to 5 in Virginia, is a crucial support system that must be protected.
That’s why there’s been a great deal of fear about potential federal funding cuts, after an internal document leaked earlier this year proposed eliminating the program entirely. (President Donald Trump’s budget proposal for next year ultimately left the program intact, but Congress has not yet signed off on funding for the next federal fiscal year.)
VPM News early childhood education reporter Megan Pauly and photographer Shaban Athuman traveled to Southwest Virginia to talk to child care providers, parents and experts about why Head Start is so important — and what they fear will happen if budget cuts eventually come to pass.
BizSense Beat: Riverfront Plaza lawsuit, ACAC expansion
BizSense Beat is a weekly collaboration between VPM News and Richmond BizSense that recaps the region’s top business stories.
This week, VPM host Benjamin Dolle and BizSense reporter Mike Platania link up to talk about a lawsuit that threatens to put a downtown Richmond office complex into foreclosure and Charlottesville-based gym chain ACAC buying a building at Libbie Mill — where it plans to open a third location in the Richmond area.
This week in VPM News Shorts: RVA immigration advocates, Finding Joy preview
What happened this week in VPM News Shorts?
On Tuesday, Keyris Manzanares reported on immigration advocates calling for Richmond City Council to make concrete policy changes to protect immigrants from federal enforcement actions.
And we closed the week with a preview of our special summer series, which will dive into the people, places and activities bringing joy across Central Virginia. (The series will launch Monday — visit vpm.org/joy for more!)
Don’t forget, you can watch all our Shorts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Our award-winning work is made possible with your support. Visit vpm.org/donate for more information.
