Welcome to today’s edition of the Dogwood Daily. We’ve got a round-up of all the Virginia news that’s been happening coming right up.
But First…
Check out this wonderful profile of Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and the potential first ‘first gentleman.’
5 Things you need to know today…
- Minimum wage battle continues — Yesterday was International Workers Day, and while U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta dodged questions on what he thought the minimum wage should be, U.S. Rep Bobby Scott (D-Va.) again called for a raise in the minimum wage. The Dogwood also got into the mix, producing one story on how Virginia’s minimum wage stacks up against other states, and another on whether the state’s minimum wage is enough to live on.
- Virginia congressional delegation split on Mueller report — In a surprise to few, Virginia’s congressional delegation is split on the Mueller report along partisan lines. While Rep. Morgan Griffiths (R-Va.) and his Republican peers are rallying behind President Trump, the Commonwealth’s Democrats, including Rep. Gerry Connolly D-Va.) and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) want more hearings to address their questions and concerns.
- Republican battle continues in the 97th district – While Game of Thrones had the Battle of Winterfell, Virginia has the less exciting, but equally chaotic battle for the Republican nomination in the 97th district. The tension came to a boiling point on Wednesday night, when a Republican Party committee voted to replace a planned convention on Saturday with a party nomination process on June 1 across several locations. This doesn’t mark the end of the battle, though, as that decision will likely go to the 1st Congressional District’s GOP committee for a final ruling.
- Hampton Roads nursing homes face staffing shortages – A Virginian-Pilot investigation found that most Hampton Roads nursing homes have fewer nurses and aides and more violations of health standards than the national averages, putting patients at higher risk of injury or untreated illness. The rest of the report is equally jarring and worth checking out.
- Virginia’s history textbooks don’t paint the full picture — A Virginia Mercury report into the state’s approved history textbooks highlighted how the books feature serious mischaracterizations about major events in African-American history as well as major gaps in that history. Virginia’s Secretary of Education Atif Qarni said the state’s history education guidelines are lacking and that the books don’t give them a full contextual understanding of America’s fraught racial history.
