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“Nursing school is no joke to begin with. When you couple that with trying to work and raise a family, that's very, very challenging. So those students who want to continue to work full time and go to school part time now have that opportunity here.” — Greg Hodges, president Patrick & Henry Community College
A healthcare worker training mannequin rests in a bed in a classroom at Eastern Shore Community College. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
By Charlotte Rene Woods
Seven community colleges in what the Virginia Community College Association dubs the state’s “rural horseshoe” have received $5.93 million to train more healthcare workers.
Virginia has so far disbursed $122 million of its $198 million in Rural Health Transformation Fund money to organizations around the state. Associations, foundations and the state Health Department have been fielding applications from interested parties.
Dr. Bryan Watts, a researcher at William & Mary checks an osprey nest for eggs on the Ware River. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
By Shannon Heckt
Ospreys in the Chesapeake Bay recorded their worst breeding season on record, according to the Center for Conservation Biology at William & Mary.
The number of birds laying eggs has dropped 20% to 30%, a steeper decline than during the height of the DDT crisis in the 1970s and ‘80s, when the osprey population was decimated by the powerful insecticide that was widely used then before it was later banned.
A digital dashboard tracks the affordability status of housing around Virginia that uses federal tax credits. (Courtesy Housing Forward Virginia/Virginia Housing Alliance/Locus Impact)
By Charlotte Rene Woods
A newly launched digital dashboard spotlights affordable housing properties whose affordability terms are set to expire, so that local governments can preserve them if they wish.
Housing Forward Virginia, in partnership with Virginia Housing Alliance and Locus Impact, collaborated to craft the tool. The groups approached the state’s housing authority to get the data they needed last summer and worked on crafting the interactive dashboard, which launched this month.
By Shannon Heckt
Virginia farmers struggling with drought-damaged pastures will be able to receive larger hay deliveries under a state of emergency declared by Gov. Abigail Spanberger Wednesday.
Spanberger’s Executive Order 21 temporarily exempts over-width hay deliveries from certain transportation restrictions, allowing hay to reach farmers more quickly to feed their livestock. Persistent drought conditions that began last winter have led to an estimated hay shortfall totaling 500,000 tons.
NEWS TO KNOW
Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere.
“Spanberger is bullish about Virginia House races even without a favorable map.” | The Washington Post
“Virginia casinos’ August take is $97.6M.” | Virginia Business
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