Dogwood Daily: “Everyone who voted to go home should just stay home and make room for new leaders.”

Welcome to today’s edition of the Dogwood Daily. We’ve got a round-up of all of today’s Virginia news 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. 

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5 Things you need to know today

1. Republicans’ decision to end special session an “insult” to the families of the Virginia Beach victims, lawyer says – Kevin Martingayle, an attorney representing Jason Nixon, whose wife, Kate, died in the Viginia Beach shooting, said that Republicans’ decision to end the special session on Tuesday was an “insult” to the victims’ families. “Adjournment without substantive discussion is outrageous,” said Martingayle. “Everyone who voted to go home should just stay home and make room for new leaders.” – The Virginian Pilot
    
2. Amazon HQ2 continues to drive up prices in Northern Virginia’s housing market – Even though Amazon hasn’t broken ground on its HQ2, the retail giant’s impending arrival is already hitting the region’s housing market. As of June, the median home price in Arlington County was on track to increase by 17.2% by the end of 2019, according to a report by the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors and the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis. This spike in prices has low-income renters concerned about how they’ll afford increasing rent prices. – New York Times
    
3. Northam authorizes help for Blackjewel employees – Gov. Ralph Northam on Wednesday announced multiple efforts to assist the nearly 500 Virginia miners affected by the July 1 bankruptcy of coal mining company Blackjewel, LLC. Northam authorized the employees to file for unemployment benefits and directed the Virginia Employment Commission to waive its usual week-long waiting period for those benefits. He also approved overtime pay for Virginia Career Works representatives to help the miners access job training programs and other job opportunities. – The Virginia Mercury
    
4. Danville Ikea plant to close, leave 300 employees jobless – Ikea will cease operations at Cane Creek Centre industrial park in December, leaving nearly 300 employees jobless. The company announced the decision on Wednesday, saying the cost of raw materials in the U.S. was simply too high to continue production. They will instead move production to existing Ikea manufacturing sites in Europe. – The Danville Register & Bee
    
5. Virginia inmate who allegedly suffered from life-threatening mismanagement of her medication dies – Margie Ryder, 39, an inmate at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, has died after being admitted to a hospital on June 24. Ryder previously sued the state, alleging that she suffered several emergency hospitalizations due to the prison staff’s failure to appropriately manage medication for her terminal illness. Ryder suffered from a terminal illness and was dependent upon her medication. Ryder was set to be released from prison in October. – Richmond Times-Dispatch

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