• Home
    • News
    • Uprooted
    • Working Virginia
    • Virginia Voices
    • Democracy at Work
    • Who We are
    • Shining a Light on Our Story
    • Editorial Independence
  • Contact
  • Virginia News Service
  • SIGN UP
  • DONATE
  • News Tips
Menu

Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism

Street Address
City, State, Zip
7574063478

Your Custom Text Here

Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism

  • Home
  • Our Stories
    • News
    • Uprooted
    • Working Virginia
    • Virginia Voices
    • Democracy at Work
  • About
    • Who We are
    • Shining a Light on Our Story
    • Editorial Independence
  • Contact
  • Virginia News Service
  • SIGN UP
  • DONATE
  • News Tips

Dollar Tree, a Virginia corporate success, faces new pressures over its history of violations

June 13, 2024 Guest User

Federal and state records show that Dollar Tree has a higher percentage of safety inspections that flag violations than retailers of similar size.

OSHA has issued $22.7 million in penalties to Dollar Tree from federal inspections between 2017 and April 2024.

Read more
In Economy, Social Justice Tags Dollar Tree, corporations, business

In Norfolk, broken neighborhoods and broken trust 

April 25, 2024 Guest User

Zenobia Wilson stands outside of her apartment in Norfolk, Virginia. Her life has been disrupted by plans to reconnect her old, isolated community with the city. Photo by Christopher Tyree. // VCIJ

A $1.6 million federal grant could unscramble the I-264 ramps in downtown Norfolk. But would it reopen an isolated, Black community?

Read more
In Social Justice, Economy Tags Black neighborhoods

Fifth Virginia casino in Richmond casino isn’t a sure bet

October 12, 2023 Guest User

Urban CEO Alfred Liggins addresses supporters at a block party organized by his company and Churchill Downs, Richmond, Va., Sept. 30, 2023. The two companies are urging voters to approve a $562 million resort casino in Virginia's state capital. Photo by Jimmy Cloutier/VCIJ

Results of the Nov. 7 referendum may shape the future of gambling resorts in the commonwealth

Read more
In Economy, Social Justice Tags Casinio

Ante up: $8 million casino referendum in Richmond breaks state record

September 22, 2023 Guest User

Illustration by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO.

Out-of-state developers have poured a record $8.1 million into a referendum campaign to allow the construction of a resort casino in Richmond, far-and-away the highest sum for a local election in Virginia.

Read more
In Economy, politics Tags Casinio, lobbying

Norfolk leaders, losing patience, consider new options for stalled casino project

July 10, 2023 Chris Tyree

Original proposal for the Pamunkey casino on the left and the revised first phase version on the right. Renderings of the HeadWaters Resort & Casino. (Courtesy of HeadWaters Resort & Casino provided to the City of Norfolk)

A scaled-down Norfolk waterfront casino proposal is facing choppy waters from city leaders who have lost patience with the much-delayed project.

Norfolk City Council members in a recent closed session discussed options for scuttling the city’s agreement with the Pamunkey tribe, which submitted an application for a phased development with a $150 million initial investment, far shy of the upscale $500 million resort hotel, marina, entertainment space, and casino showcased to voters during a 2020 referendum.

Read more
In Economy, Environment Tags Casinio, Sea Wall, Pamunkey tribe

Scrimp, scroll, square off: First-time homebuyers in Virginia face rising prices and fierce competition

October 23, 2022 Louis Hansen

Ellie Jernigan, 27, and her dog Gracie at a home for sale in Henrico County. She and her husband, Zach, are first-time homebuyers and have been looking for months to purchase a home so they might start a family.

The hopes and dreams of young first-time buyers often crash into the waking horror of today’s real estate market. Driven by an influx of millennials, low interest rates and the scarcity of “for sale” signs planted in the suburbs and cities, Virginia housing prices rocketed during the pandemic. Supply has scraped record lows, driving bidding wars on properties even as interest rates have more than doubled in the past year.

Read more
In Housing, Economy Tags Housing, millennials

Housing in Hampton Roads is less affordable than Northern Virginia - and many other pricey areas

October 19, 2022 Guest User

Hampton Roads has long had a reputation as an affordable alternative to Richmond or Northern Virginia. A WHRO data analysis shows the region is one of the most unaffordable in the state. Photo by Cameron Houck.

In a comparison of housing prices and local wages, Hampton Roads is less affordable than other major Virginia metros, similarly sized metro areas on the East Coast and even the Washington, D.C. area.

Read more
In Economy, Housing, Pulitzer Center Housing Tags Housing, economy

What the end of rent relief means for Virginia tenants

August 26, 2022 Guest User

Pandemic-era protections aimed to slow down the eviction process have expired and could displace thousands of struggling, low-income Virginians in the coming months. Photo taken at Friendship Court, a low-income housing development in Charlottesville, Virginia, August 25, 2022. Photo by Christopher Tyree // VCIJ

While still about half the pre-pandemic levels, the number of eviction filings across the state shot up by 88% between January and June, according to civil court data compiled and analyzed by the Legal Services Corporation. And now, pandemic-era protections aimed to slow down the eviction process have expired, as thousands across the state face the possibility of missing their next rent payment and sliding into homelessness.

The resurgence of evictions will displace thousands of struggling, low-income Virginians in the coming months, straining local governments and safety net providers who aid people experiencing homelessness at a time when rental housing is getting more and more costly, particularly for families, advocates say.

Read more
In Economy Tags Housing, evictions, economy

Few Virginia Employers Pay Fines for COVID-19 Violations

August 30, 2021 Chris Tyree
Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round gold particles) emerging from the surface of a cell cultured in the lab. SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the virus that causes COVID-19. Image captured and colorized at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana. Credit: NIAID

Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round gold particles) emerging from the surface of a cell cultured in the lab. SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the virus that causes COVID-19. Image captured and colorized at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana. Credit: NIAID

An analysis of federal and Virginia worker safety records by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism found a dramatic increase in workforce complaints, coupled with a steep decline in inspections since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020.

Workers and a federal watchdog say the lack of adequate oversight has left employees in front-line jobs at a higher risk for infection. The virus has taken the lives of more than 11,600 Virginians.

Read more
In Health, Economy Tags Covid, workers, Virginia Government

For some Virginia frontline workers, a struggle for Covid-19 compensation

May 6, 2021 Chris Tyree
Arlington Public Schools (APS) provides Grab-and-Go Meals during the COVID-19 closure at Kenmore Middle School. Frontline workers who contracted Covid at work may struggle for compensation. USDA photo by Tom Witham

Arlington Public Schools (APS) provides Grab-and-Go Meals during the COVID-19 closure at Kenmore Middle School. Frontline workers who contracted Covid at work may struggle for compensation. USDA photo by Tom Witham

Gov. Ralph Northam last month signed two bills into law that will make it easier for some frontline workers who become sick with the coronavirus to collect workers’ compensation benefits. The new laws create a presumption that medical personnel, law enforcement officers and firefighters sickened with Covid-19 acquired the disease at work, making them more likely to be covered for lost wages and health care costs.

But these measures leave tens of thousands of low-paid frontline workers without favorable recourse: Cleaners, grocery workers, home health aides, meat and poultry workers.

Read more
In Economy, Health Tags Covid, Labor

In rural Virginia, the paradox of a pandemic

July 2, 2020 Chris Tyree
Main Street in Hot Springs, Virginia, sits nearly empty on a Friday afternoon in late June—ordinarily the town's busy season.

Main Street in Hot Springs, Virginia, sits nearly empty on a Friday afternoon in late June—ordinarily the town's busy season.

The coronavirus paradox of rural Virginia — Bath County has no confirmed COVID-19 cases, yet the unemployment rate soared to a state-high 20.5% in April, before dropping back to 15.8% in May. State-ordered pandemic restrictions have stirred community tensions in a region already burdened with decades of job losses and population decline.

Read more
In Health, Economy Tags Covid, Unemployment, tourism

©virginia center for investigative journalism & WHRO

Privacy and NONDISCRIMINATION policy