correspondent cathy lewis of whro in hampton roads brings us this update on how her region is coping. her story is part of our collaboration with public media partners across the country in a series we call "battleground dispatches." >> no more furloughs... >> reporter: these federal civilian workers know furlough notices are coming and they're not happy to lose the work. in the hampton roads region of southeastern virginia, where nearly half the economy relies on federal spending, workers were protesting being forced to take days off without pay between now and september. today's news from the defense department will ease that pain, reducing the number of furlough days from 22 to 14, but this region remains anxious over the impact of sequestration on the local economy. the cuts are the result of the so-called sequestration act-- the automatic, across the board reduction in spending that started to kick in march 1. it mandates roughly $85 billion cut from federal spending by september. >> hey, blow your horn! >> reporter: staying home one day a week adds up. >> it's going to effect my