
VCU to replace old Franklin Street gym with new STEM building
The old gymnasium at Virginia Commonwealth University will be replaced with a $121 million, six-story building dedicated to science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM subjects, it has been announced.

Richmond Crusade for Voters hosting candidates’ luncheon and voter registration drive
The Richmond Crusade for Voters is hosting a candidates’ luncheon and a major voter registration drive this month to help voters get ready for the June primary and November general elections. The candidates’ luncheon will be held noon to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 11, at the Cedar Street Baptist Church Banquet Hall, 700 N. 23rd St.

USPS to collect food to help ‘Stamp Out Hunger’
Mail carriers in Richmond and across the country will be picking up paper bags with donations of boxed, canned and bottled food and beverages and cooking oils on Saturday, May 11, it has been announced.

Fulton bus service to improve with several changes planned by GRTC
Beginning Sunday, GRTC will usher in faster rush hour service in the Fulton area of the East End, the company has announced. The bus company also will tweak service to the Randolph community, extend nighttime service on the Bellemeade/Hopkins route serving McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center and make it easier for West End passengers to access the coming Whole Foods grocery store near Broad and Meadow streets.

Councilman Hilbert opposes Salvation Army move to North Side
“I am firmly against this.” That’s the not-in-my-backyard response from 3rd District City Councilman Chris A. Hilbert’s to a Free Press report last week that the Salvation Army is applying for a special use permit to move its combination headquarters and homeless shelter from Downtown to a church building in Mr. Hilbert’s North Side district.

Maternal mortality: Black women far more likely to die giving birth than Caucasians
Last fall, Tanca McCargo, a Chesterfield native, found out she was expecting her second child. Ms. McCargo, who already had a 3-year-old son, discovered early on that her second pregnancy would be different. Her complications began when she experienced light bleeding. “The morning after scheduling an appointment with my OB-GYN, I passed an actual blood clot,” Ms. McCargo said.

Council members concerned about latest utility rate hikes
Like a steady drip, drip, drip, the cost of utility services is continuing to rise in Richmond at a double-digit pace, outpacing inflation and raising concerns among some about affordability.

City Council to seek election to replace Agelasto
Richmond City Council set the stage this week for a special election on Nov. 5 to replace Councilman Parker C. Agelasto as the 5th District representative. The council voted Monday to petition Richmond Circuit Court to set the election to coincide with the November general election in which voters will select representatives to the General Assembly.

Tiger Woods receives Presidential Medal of Freedom
When Tiger Woods won the Masters Tournament on April 14, President Trump declared he was going to award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom and ordered his aides to schedule the event as soon as possible.

In what unique way did your mother show you she loved you?
Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 12. It’s a day for pampering mom with flowers and gifts and taking her to dinner to show her how much we love and appreciate her for all she has done for us.

Burkini to be featured in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue
This year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue is going to feature trailblazer Halima Aden. Ms. Aden will be the first woman to sport a hijab and burkini in the magazine, which hit newsstands on Wednesday, SI revealed this week.

Widow of Mother Emanuel pastor: ‘Much prayer is needed’ four years after attack
Jennifer Pinckney had hoped to be in Bible study on the evening of June 17, 2015. But her 6-year-old daughter had other plans.

God’s gouda: Nuns in Albemarle County make cheese
Tucked in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, down a lengthy stretch off U.S. 250, over a bridge, through the woods and at the end of a gravel road sits Our Lady of the Angels Monastery perched on a hillside. The 13 nuns who live there believe God has a plan for everyone.

Flying Squirrels pitcher hopes 100 mph throws get him to big leagues
Walking to the batter’s box to face Melvin Adon must feel like walking the plank. Few pitchers unleash a fastball with more fury and frightening velocity than the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ bullpen ace.

Shirley J. Logan, former RPS principal, succumbs at 81
Shirley Jefferson Logan was the kind of person who saw the best in everyone, her family said. Her positive approach was important to her work as a principal at the now-closed Clark Springs Elementary School and at Ginter Park Elementary in Richmond.

Minister Abdul Rahman Aquil Muhammad, former Southern Regional Representative for the Nation of Islam, dies at 87
A janazah prayer service for Minister Abdul Rahman Aquil Muhammad, a teacher, organizer and confidante of the late Nation of Islam leader Minister Elijah Muhammad and a longtime aide to his successor, Minister Louis Farrakhan, was held Saturday, April 27, 2019, at the late Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy’s historic West Hunter Street Baptist Church in Atlanta.

Rev. Cessar L. Scott Sr., longtime head of the Baptist General Convention of Virginia, dies at 74
For three decades, the Rev. Cessar L. Scott Sr. ranked among the foremost African-American clerics in Virginia. When Rev. Scott spoke, people listened as he represented more than 1,000 congregations as executive minister of the Richmond-based Baptist General Convention of Virginia.

Personality: Natasha Freeman
Personality: Natasha Freeman
Natasha Freeman, president of Project Yoga Richmond’s board of directors, encourages the community to embrace yoga because the practice allows people “to be fully embodied while grounding and mending our body and spirit.”

What’s better: A Coliseum replacement or a facelift?
Here’s the choice: Spend $25 million to $35 million to revitalize the 13,500-seat Richmond Coliseum or spend $220 million to replace it with a brand new 17,500-seat facility and add another $20 million to $30 million to revamp East Clay and East Leigh streets.

New housing honcho
RRHA’s leader Damon Duncan outlines priorities that will impact city’s 10,000 public housing residents
The new chief executive officer of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority is vowing that the agency will move “expeditiously” to redevelop the city’s decaying public housing.