All results / Stories / Jeremy M. Lazarus
VSU, NSU have smallest freshman classes in years
Enrollment is continuing to retreat at Virginia’s two historically black public universities, Norfolk State and Virginia State. Both institutions apparently have admitted their smallest freshman classes in at least a decade, and total enrollment has declined to levels not seen in at least 15 years or longer.
City Council approves commission to review $1.4B Coliseum project
City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray scored a signal victory in securing an 8-1 vote Monday in support of her plan to create a commission of citizen experts to review the $1.4 billion plan to replace the Richmond Coliseum and redevelop at least 10 blocks of Downtown near City Hall.
Legal weapon
City’s plans for Ashe Center unlikely to win in court, says pro bono lawyer
City Hall would violate state and city laws if it moves to tear down the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center and sell the site without the permission of the Richmond School Board.
GRTC seeks public’s ideas at four meetings
Imagine GRTC buses arriving every 15 minutes on major city thoroughfares such as Chamberlayne Avenue and Hull Street? That’s the idea the bus company and the City of Richmond are considering as officials ponder ways to improve public transit in Richmond.
Bobb caught in seesaw hiring decision
He was in, he was out and now Robert C. Bobb apparently is in again in Petersburg.
Changes at 2 North Side funeral homes
They may deal with death, but two venerable, African-American-owned funeral homes in North Side are getting new life. The former W.S. Watkins & Son Funeral Home at 2700 North Ave. has new owners who vow to rebuild the 84-year-old business.
Marching for dollars
City Council takes first steps to give more to RPS
Before dozens of students, parents and teachers began pleading, berating and challenging Richmond City Council to beef up funding for city schools, the nine members of the governing body had already taken the first step. In a 9-0 vote Monday night, in front of a packed council chamber of school supporters, the council approved an ordinance requiring the city administration to give to the schools real estate tax money collected from surplus property previously owned by the school system.
With legislative control at stake, House of Delegates races take on more urgency
Can Democrats hold the Virginia House of Delegates after two years of control?
New RPS teachers to earn $51,182 annually; bus drivers will earn $23 per hour
Starting pay for Richmond schoolteachers will top $50,000 for the first time after July 1.
City to pay $350,000 settlement in employee overtime lawsuit
City Hall has agreed to collectively pay $57,371 to 11 mostly former city Finance Department employees who alleged they were forced to work overtime without being paid.
City Council president seeks to ensure successor
Outgoing City Council President Michael J. Jones plans to keep his 9th District seat until Dec. 31, according to a letter of resignation he submitted to his colleagues and the City Clerk. That appears to represent a change in the timing for the council departure of the full-time minister, who is headed to the General Assembly after winning his uncontested election to represent
New Virginia license plate honoring Dr. King?
Can Delegate Dawn M. Adams find 450 Virginians willing to pay $25 to $35 for a specialty license plate honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Monday, Jan. 7?
Officials break ground for new off-track betting parlor in South Side
A vacant, former K-Mart store in South Side is being transformed into a $30 million center for betting on horse racing called Rosie’s.
Governor vetoes bills ahead of April 10 deadline
Richmond and other localities can still, if they choose, require employers with government contracts to pay workers a “living wage” that is well above the current $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage. However, the state will not be creating an experimental, independent school system where students in kindergarten through 12th grade could take all of their classes on a home computer or laptop.
City day care program rolls out with waiting list
The new school year launched Tuesday with all classes online in Richmond, but the promise of a robust, city-supported day care program for children of working parents and for parents with weak links to the internet has yet to be fulfilled — and it is unclear when it will be.
Richmond Public Library’s main branch goes through overhaul in way space is used
“We’re shaking off the dust,” said Scott Firestine, director of the Richmond Public Library. That’s his description of the changes sweeping through the Main Library in Downtown.
Richmond voters have few voices in next week’s midterm elections
The country is just a few days away from an election that will determine whether Democrats or Republicans will control one or both houses of Congress.
Margaret Elizabeth Cooper Osei remembered for her selfless roles in civic, social and church organizations
For more than 30 years, Margaret Elizabeth Cooper Osei helped root out discrimination against employees in Virginia government offices as an Equal Employment Opportunity investigator for the state Department of Human Resources Management. But Ms. Osei was better known for assisting people with securing good-paying jobs, her family said.
Burn notice: Council approves Fire training in park
The Richmond Fire Department won its fight to replace 2 acres of lawn at the Hickory Hill Community Center in South Side with a concrete pad and a fire training facility where recruits can get experience dousing blazes.
GOP at it again
Republican leaders seek to hold Va. governor in contempt for restoring voting rights of 13,000 former felons last week
Gov. Terry McAuliffe once again is under attack from Republican leaders in the General Assembly who are determined to halt his efforts to restore the voting and political rights of hundreds of thousands of felons who have served their time. In a new filing Wednesday, GOP leaders asked the Virginia Supreme Court to hold the Democratic governor in contempt for restoring the political rights of 13,000 felons last week and for trying to do so in coming months for more than 200,000 others who have completed their sentences.
