
Area police encrypt scanner broadcasts
Richmond area residents — including news reporters working on stories — no longer will be able to monitor police scanners after this week.

City Council members file legislation to halt bike lanes in North Side
Two City Council members want to kill City Hall plans to turn one travel lane on both sides of Brook Road over to bicycles between Azalea Avenue and Charity Street.
Work to begin in Jackson Ward on Fay Towers replacement
Heavy machinery will soon start moving into a block of Jackson Ward where 154 apartments are to rise over the next year or so, according to Orlando C. Artze, interim director of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

Jehovah's Witnesses convene in Downtown
As national and world events cause polarization and despair, there’s a need for individuals to have a source of release and a positive outlook for the future. The Jehovah’s Witnesses plan to address the issues in a series of weekend conventions through August in Richmond.

City Council approves church site for new school
Calvary United Methodist Church in Fulton has won approval to become the new home of a nonprofit Montessori preschool.

Churches, nonprofits to be hit with taxes under new federal code
Republicans have quietly imposed a new, but limited tax on churches, synagogues and other nonprofits, a little-noticed and surprising change that could cost some groups tens of thousands of dollars.

Jackson family patriarch dies
Joseph “Joe” Jackson, the patriarch who launched the musical Jackson family dynasty, died Wednesday morning, June 27, 2018, in a Las Vegas hospital.

Lydia M. Jiggetts, prayer warrior and activist, dies at 70
Dr. Lydia Mercedes Jiggetts sought to help people in multiple ways. In the 1970s, she was part of a team of activists that helped force Richmond area radio and television stations to end their whites-only employment policies and open their doors to African-American talent.

After changing his life, Neblett hopes to change others
Raymond Neblett, the former basketball standout who once took a costly wrong turn, continues to make up for lost time.

Trinity Episcopal's Bacot helps national team win gold
Armando Bacot has lifted his basketball game to the international level.

NBA draft roundup
The NBA draft has come and gone and only time will tell who will rise to stardom and who will sink.

VCU’s Justin Tillman still working toward NBA contract
Former Virginia Commonwealth University standout Justin Tillman has one foot in the NBA door.

Pulse of the city
Ridership, confusion up as GRTC’s new bus rapid transit line starts
Mayor Levar M. Stoney calls it “progress” and “one of the most exciting and progressive public transportation projects in Richmond history.”

Kentucky 8th-grader already pulling in scholarship offers
Such football powers as Alabama, Florida State and Louisiana State University are convinced Kiyaunte Goodwin will someday be a college star — even though he hasn’t yet begun high school. The 6-foot-7, 350-pound Goodwin just completed eighth grade at Olmstead North Middle School in Louisville, Ky.

Fireworks to light up area skies on July 4
Fireworks will occur over Richmond skies and those in the counties in celebration of the Fourth of July holiday and the United States declaring independence from Great Britain 242 years ago.

Winners announced in Miss Virginia Pageant
Envelope please. And the winner of the 2018 Miss Virginia Pageant is Emili McPhail, Miss Arlington.

Community High celebrating 40 years
Richmond Community High School’s alumni, students, past and present faculty and others are celebrating the school’s 40th anniversary Saturday, June 30, with a day of activities sponsored by the Friends of Richmond Community High School.

Oprah Winfrey exhibit opens at National Black History Museum
One of the most recognizable openings in television history blares on a video screen: “I’m Oprah Winfrey, and welcome to The Oprah Winfrey Show!” The crowd goes wild. At the center of it all, a dancing young Oprah.

Opportunity time
Looking around the city, the signs of change and growth are visible. Bulldozers and cranes are visible throughout Downtown. Construction equipment abounds in the East End. And work is happening in South Side and Scott’s Addition and planned for Jackson Ward.

Obama Elementary School
What’s in a name? A lot, we believe. And so we were more than pleased when the Richmond School Board voted last week to rename the elementary school on Fendall Avenue in North Side for the nation’s 44th president — Barack Obama.