New Richmond Police stables put on hold
Samson, Scooter and Toby, the horses in the Richmond Police Department’s Mounted Unit, will not be getting a new home. Without any fanfare, City Hall has dropped plans for developing a modern 12-stall stable at Crestview and Government roads in the East End.
VUU and VCU create dual-degree program
Students at Virginia Union and Virginia Commonwealth universities will be able to earn dual bachelor’s degrees from both schools in engineering and science through an initiative to launch next fall.
RRHA tenants still facing heating problems
At least 50 public housing tenants are hoping the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority will be able to fully restore their heat ahead of the bitter cold set to slam Richmond this week. The RRHA, buoyed by the end of the government shutdown that threatened its financial well-being, reported major progress in restoring heat to tenants.
Honorary street sign for late businessman Clarence L. Townes Jr. to be unveiled Sunday
An honorary street sign will be unveiled this weekend to salute the late Clarence L. Townes Jr., a Richmond businessman who played major roles in city government and political affairs for decades.
Thousands march for education
As thousands of teachers and supporters from around the state marched to the state Capitol Monday to call for higher salaries and more funding for Virginia’s public schools, legislative leaders announced they would include a 5 percent pay raise for teachers in the proposed state budget.
City Council expands VCU Police jurisdiction
A packed Richmond City Council meeting turned unruly Monday night as residents and council members clashed over an ordinance to expand the jurisdiction of Virginia Commonwealth University Police.
Brook Road bike lanes get the green light
Cars and trucks will have to surrender half of their lanes on Brook Road to cyclists. That’s the final decision of Richmond City Council, which voted 6-3 to install bike lanes and uphold a nearly 4-year-old approved plan for developing biking infrastructure in the city.
Coliseum project expected to be key in mayor’s State of the City address
The currently stalled $1.4 billion plan to have Richmond taxpayers build a new and bigger Richmond Coliseum as a way to attract new development to blocks near City Hall is anticipated to be a centerpiece of Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s second State of the City speech.
Black history Month calendar
From films to speakers to talent shows and panel workshops, area organizations, churches, schools and museums are holding a plethora of events in February to celebrate Black History Month.
Enrichmond Foundation now owns East End Cemetery
Twenty months after buying historic Evergreen Cemetery with state assistance, a city-created charity has taken ownership of a second neighboring African-American burial ground, East End Cemetery.
Quarterbacks Tom Brady, Jared Goff betting on a Super Bowl win
What would the Super Bowl be without betting and, with that, the office pool? You can lay a friendly wager on just about anything, ranging from who wins the coin flip, to how long the national anthem takes, to when — if ever — stoic New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick cracks a smile, to the game’s champion.
Personality: Stephan A. Hicks
Spotlight on founder of nonprofit My Brother’s Keeper of Greater Richmond
“Men are the greatest resource in our city. However, services focusing on men in Richmond are severely lacking. When it comes to helping men get on their feet, there is little offered.”
Weathering addiction
Spencer Christian, Va. native and former national television weatherman, has been haunted by a gambling addiction for decades
Growing up in Charles City County in the last decades of legally mandated racial segregation in Virginia, Spencer Christian did not think as a child he would someday become a top nationally known television weather forecaster. As a young adult in a new American era, he became a well-recognized television personality as part of ABC’s “Good Morning America” team for 13 years.
Former Mayor Walter T. Kenney Sr., who worked across racial, political and regional lines, dies at 88
Former Richmond Mayor Walter T. Kenney Sr. would have been out of step in today’s polarized politics. Mr. Kenney, a proud Richmond native who died Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in a local hospital at age 88, is being remembered as the “consummate gentleman” of city politics who would talk with everyone, no matter their political leanings.
$14M slice
RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras releases plan to cut $14M from city schools; $13M from central office alone
Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras wants to strip $13 million from the school system’s budget by making cuts to the central office.
Virginia’s ‘big falsehood'
Re Editorial, “Encouraging,” Free Press Jan. 10-12 edition: How sad and dismaying to watch our elected black leaders, along with black-oriented newspapers like the Richmond Free Press, leap to embrace Virginia’s big falsehood that seeks to erase some of our black history. What is that big falsehood?
State NAACP on the move
I have watched the Virginia State Conference NAACP up close over a number of years as a result of my membership initially in the Chesterfield County Branch NAACP and now the Richmond Branch NAACP.
The shutdown and collateral damage
As I write this, our federal government has been shut down for more than a month. At first, it seemed like a gamesmanship joke, like who was going to blink first.
The authentic King
The Rev. Bernice A. King is the youngest daughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and echoes the passion and promise he voiced for America.
The ‘authentic King’
The Rev. Bernice A. King is the youngest daughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and echoes the passion and promise he voiced for America.
