skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Housing Advocates Pledge to Lower VA's Skyrocketing Eviction Rates

play audio
Play

Thursday, May 24, 2018   

RICHMOND, Va. — After a recent New York Times article revealed Richmond has one of the highest eviction rates in the country, housing advocacy groups gathered this week to figure out how to solve the problem.

The data from Princeton University's Eviction Lab showed that half of the 10 largest cities in the U.S. with the highest eviction rates are right here in Virginia. They are not quite sure why, but a new coalition formed the Campaign to Reduce Eviction to bring down those eviction rates in Richmond, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Chesapeake.

Christie Marra is a staff attorney with the Virginia Poverty Law Center who's leading the campaign.

"We are trying to look at all the different aspects of what might be causing the high number of evictions and we are collecting stories right now,” Marra said. “We have a website, reduceevictions.org. "

Advocates at the meeting said the high rates are fueled in part by a shrinking supply of affordable housing and by housing that's not subsidized enough. The group will do a deep dive by analyzing data, providing resources such as legal aid and counseling services to help those who are currently in need.

Marra said housing is considered affordable when it costs no more than 30 percent of income, so the issue affects tenants across all income levels. However, the data shows a disproportionate impact in certain communities.

"We know in Richmond, at least, that the neighborhoods being affected are neighborhoods where we have high African-American population,” she observed.

Some property managers say that filing an eviction is their only recourse when tenants have not paid. The coalition is expected to propose legislation to help tenants fight evictions.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021