Dogwood Daily: Democrats trying to keep USDA jobs in Virginia

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. 

But First…

The annual NBA Draft took place in Brooklyn last night and saw former Virginia Cavalier De’Andre Hunter selected fourth overall by the Atlanta Hawks. Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Virginia Tech was also selected 17th by the New Orleans Pelicans and Hunter’s former teammate, Ty Jerome, went 24th overall to the Phoenix Suns.

5 Things you need to know today…

1. Virginia Democrats try to stop Trump administration from moving USDA offices out of D.C. area – Virginia’s Democratic Rep. Don Beyer and Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner are fighting to stop the Trump administration from moving two of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s scientific research agencies out of the Washington D.C. area. The Virginia Mercury reports the move would force many Virginia-based employees to either move to Kansas City, where the new offices would be, or lose their jobs. Beyer, Kaine and Warner are using every tactic possible to block the move, while Republicans largely support the administration’s decision.
    
2. Protecting Hampton Roads from rising sea levels would cost more than $4.6 billion – Building seawalls to protect the cities within the Hampton Roads region from rising sea levels would cost more than $4.6 billion, according to a new study from the Center for Climate Integrity. As the Virginian-Pilot reports, the project ranked estimates of how much it would cost to build seawalls in coastal communities in 22 states and Washington D.C. Virginia ranked as the fourth most expensive state, with all of the state’s seawalls costing more than $31 billion.
    
3. Virginia public defenders embracing ‘holistic defense’ to prevent recidivism -Some Virginia public defenders have embraced the practice of “holistic defense,” a type of legal representation that goes far beyond the typical duties of a public defender by connecting clients with resources to address underlying issues like substance abuse, mental illness, and housing instability. The Virginia Mercury reports that public defenders in Richmond, Charlottesville, Staunton and Fairfax County have embraced holistic practices, which they say decreases the odds of recidivism.
    
4. 97% of nursing homes in Hampton Roads have deficiencies in care -Inspectors found violations of state standards of care at 62 of 64 nursing homes in Hampton Roads, according to the Daily Press. Despite these findings, regulators only fined or suspended Medicare or Medicaid payments to 14 of the 62 facilities that had issues. On average, inspectors found more than 10 violations at each home, with Sentara Nursing Center in Norfolk having the most, with 32.
    
5. Metro chair Jack Evans to resign after ethical violations come to light – D.C. Councilman Jack Evans said he will resign from his job as chair of the Metro board next week. His announcement came hours after the Washington Post publicized a confidential legal memo which revealed that Evans “knowingly” violated ethics rules to help friends and clients instead of serving the interests of the WMATA.