Virginia Focus

After the pandemic, Virginia fourth graders had the largest decline in the country for both math and reading -- three times worse than the national average according to Secretary of Education Aimee Rogstad Guidera. Governor Glen Youngkin worked to address the student's needs by announcing in March 2023 the availability of $30 million in Learning Acceleration Grants to be used for qualifying education services. On this episode, we're learning how to access these grants and what the money can be used for.

May is National American Jewish Heritage Month - a time to celebrate Jewish heritage and recognize the history of Jewish contributions to American culture. Virginia Governor Glen Youngkin signed a bill formally adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism. The move hopes the definition will be used as a tool and guide to identify instances of antisemitism as well as to train first responders, educators, and other public servants how to respond to antisemitism and prevent hate crimes from happening. Let's learn more about the Jewish community by talking to Dov Wilker, the Regional Director of the American Jewish Committee Atlanta and AJC's National Director for Black Jewish Relations.

If you pay insurance premiums‚ you’re already a victim of insurance fraud. The FBI says because of the number of people committing Insurance Fraud, the result is it costs the average U.S. family hundreds, if not thousands per year in the form of increased premiums. The Virginia State Police believe that together, through education and accountability, we can reduce the number of insurance fraud cases and lower premiums in the commonwealth. Seasoned insurance fraud investigator Senior Special Agent Tony Royall helps us learn more.

Being aware of your blood pressure can be very valuable to your health. May is High Blood Pressure Education Month, and there is no better time to learn about the importance of monitoring your blood pressure. Half of all Americans have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. It develops when blood flows through your arteries at higher-than-normal pressures. Let's learn more from Dr. Larry Fine, Program Officer within the Clinical Applications and Prevention Branch at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health.

America's fastest growing sport is a combination of tennis, badminton & ping-pong. Rumored to be named after the creator's dog, Pickleball started in 1965. With more and more people of all ages heading out to a court, it's not surprising that there's also a Pickleball Magazine. But did you know that there are so many Richmond residents playing that the website Offer.bet listed them in the top ten Pickleball obsessed cities in America? Let's talk to Gretchen Andsager to learn more.

Thousands of children across the state of Virginia are victims of child abuse. In the Children Protective Services 2020-2021 annual report that runs from July to July, Richmond reports that 103 children were abused. In Henrico, there were 256 cases. Chesterfield saw 58 and Hopewell had 53. Healthy Families is just one organization in the commonwealth trying to prevent child abuse by reaching expectant mothers and families with children 5 and under. Let's learn more by talking with Shantae Wheeler the Program Director.

Americans are capable of extraordinary things when we have the freedom to do so. Americans for Prosperity holds that as their core belief. Headquartered in Virginia, Americans for Prosperity wants parents to have more options for the education of their students besides the outdated educational models that prevent them from discovering and exploring their full potential. On this episode, we're talking to State Director C J Sailor and Legislative Director Ben Knotts.

Being elected to a local political office does not mean you never need to leave home in order to serve your community. Last week many elected city officials met in Washington DC during the National League of Cities convention. Harrisonburg's Vice Mayor, Laura Dent, was one of the elected officials from Virginia who attended. She tells us about her experience and why it's important to her and the community she serves.

Oral history stems from the tradition of passing information of importance to the family or tribe from one generation to the next. Before the majority of people knew how to read and write, this was how everyone learned about the past. Since Frederick Murphy was a youngster, he always enjoyed talking to his elders and hearing stories of family history. In 2016, he founded History Before Us, a project centered on capturing, preserving and advocating influential history primarily from the African-American community. Let's learn more about his work.

Americans lose billions of dollars to scams. Today's scammers use AI to mimic your loved ones voice or they pretend to be a familiar business or government agency to entice you to trust them and turn over your personal information. To learn more about how to spot scams, we talk to
Emma Fletcher, Senior Data Researcher with the FTC.