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. And if you’re a fan, please forward to three friends who need to know what’s going on in the Commonwealth and tell them to subscribe here.
But First…
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5 Things you need to know today…
- Health officials warn of possible exposure to measles in NoVA – Northern Virginia health districts are informing people who were at several locations on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday that they may have been exposed to a measles-infected child. The locations are Dulles International Airport, the Novant Health UVA Health System Haymarket Medical Center and the Inova Fair Oaks Hospital. If you were at any of these locations at the specified times, make sure you’re vaccinated. If you’re not, contact your local health care provider immediately. Further instructions on what measures to take can be found here and more information on measles can be found here.
- Four days left until the primaries – All 140 seats in the General Assembly will be on the ballot this November, but who appears on the ballot in 35 of those races will be determined on Tuesday during the primary elections. WTVR has put together a primary guide, while the Virginia Mercury did a deep dive on some of the more dramatic primaries and explored the state’s chaotic methods for choosing nominees.
- Senators Kaine & Warner fight to keep Flatwoods Job Corps Center open -Two weeks after the Trump administration announced it would shut down the Flatwoods Job Corps Center in Coeburn, eliminating dozens of jobs and $6 million in local economic activity, Democratic Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine have introduced a bill to prevent that from happening. The bipartisan Job Corps Protection Act would block the Administration from using federal government funds in 2019 or 2020 to close any Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers in the United States.
- Tobacco commission will give recent grads $24,000 if they move to and work in rural Virginia – The Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission has approved a program to help pay off recent college graduates’ student loan debt if they move to one of 40 localities in Southside and southwest Virginia and fill in-demand jobs. The Roanoke Times reports that the Talent Attraction Program will give $24,000 over two years to people willing to live in the tobacco region and fill critical jobs like doctors, nurses, teachers and engineers.
- Virginia regulators try to reduce surprise hospital bills – The State Corporation Commission is trying to cut down on the number of surprise hospital bills that Virginians receive. The SCC proposed a regulation that would require hospitals and other medical facilities to warn a patient if they are likely to receive care from an out-of-network provider. The goal of the regulation is to tackle “balance billing,” which is what happens when people go to a hospital that is in their insurer’s network, but receive care from a doctor who isn’t. The patients are then billed for that treatment, which can often cost tens of thousands of dollars. The measure is limited in scope, however, and would not apply to emergency rooms, which remain a huge source of surprise bills.
