Kickoff of mayor’s race // Dr. Claude G. Perkins, president of Virginia Union University, shakes hands with moderator Robert Holsworth as he welcomes 12 Richmond mayoral candidates to a forum Wednesday night in the university’s Allix B. James Chapel. The candidates attending the event are, from left, Brad Froman, Rick Tatnall, Michelle Mosby, Lawrence Williams and Lillie Estes. To Dr. Perkins’ left are candidates Chris Hilbert, Joe Morrissey, Alan Schintzius, Bruce Tyler, Jon Baliles and Chad Ingold. Jack Berry, who announced his plans to run Tuesday, attended the forum but is not pictured. Forum host L. Douglas Wilder, a former Richmond mayor and governor, is seated behind the podium. A standing room only crowd of more than 600 people listened as the candidates made their debut in the contest for the city’s top post. Richmond voters will choose the mayor in the November general election.

Carefree // As her friend looks on, Shaniy Smith, 6, maneuvers her skateboard down steps along a walkway in Richmond’s Gilpin Court as they joyfully played Monday in the sunshine. In the background, Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham and other officers walk through the public housing community meeting with neighbors to talk about their safety concerns. They later convened at the Calhoun Community Center to talk about a sudden spike in major crimes, especially gun violence, this year. Chief Durham conducted a similar walk Tuesday in the Randolph community.

Yellow tape now blocks the granite steps leading into the Richmond Public Library’s Main Branch in Downtown. Over the years, winter’s cold has cracked the steps, making them dangerous, according to Clay Dishon, interim library director. The city Department of Public Works is planning needed repairs so patrons can once again use the stairway at 101 E. Franklin St.

Honoring slain trooper // Angela Courteau and her daughters, Elara, 5, and Nina, 1, place flowers on the car of slain Virginia State Police Trooper Chad P. Dermyer last Friday at State Police headquarters in Chesterfield County. People from Metro Richmond and around the state and nation paid their respects to the 37-year-old Michigan native who was fatally shot during a counterterrorism training exercise last Thursday at the Richmond Greyhound bus station. Authorities said other troopers inside the bus station then shot and killed the gunman, James Brown III of Aurora, Ill. Two women were wounded, including an athlete from the University of Binghamton in New York who was headed to a track and field event in Williamsburg. They were hospitalized with injuries described as not life threatening. Gov. Terry McAuliffe and police officers from 20 states were among the thousands of mourners at Trooper Dermyer’s funeral Tuesday in Hampton. He was buried in Gloucester County.

Dandelion