All results / Stories / Jeremy M. Lazarus
Graduation rate in city inches up
Richmond awarded diplomas to 1,156 students in June, or 81.4 percent of the 1,421 students in the Class of 2015, new data from the Virginia Department of Education shows. The good news: That is Richmond’s best showing since the state began reporting systematic graduation results for each class in 2008.
Annual checkup
A year after scathing New York Times article, Bon Secours’ prescription for East End community includes jobs, training, upgraded facilities
Richmond Community Hospital continues to buzz with construction as its owner, Bon Secours, builds up operations at the East End health care center.
Consultants find Petersburg is nearly broke
For interim Petersburg City Manager Tom Tyrell, Christmas and New Year’s cannot come too soon. That’s when property owners are supposed to pay their next quarterly bill for real estate taxes — and steer fresh revenue into the depleted Petersburg coffers.
Bonuses arriving for bypassed city employees
Pandemic bonuses of up to $3,000 apiece are on the way to Richmond city employees who were excluded from the first round.
Planned Fire Training Center clears final hurdle
The Richmond Fire Department can proceed with building a new training center on a 2-acre section of lawn at Hickory Hill Community Center in South Side, despite the property being zoned as residential.
VUU working to find housing for student overflow
Virginia Union University is overflowing with students ahead of the start of the fall semester on Thursday, Aug. 13 — and has run out of housing on its campus.
July 3 riverfront fireworks canceled
Richmond will have two fireworks shows to celebrate In- dependence Day on July 4th — the city’s traditional show in Byrd Park and the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ annual blast at The Diamond baseball stadium.
City Council approves 1% pension hike for retirees starting Jan. 1
As anticipated, Richmond City Council unanimously approved a 1 percent pension increase for retired city employees, beginning Jan. 1, during a special meeting on Monday.
State auditor concludes city doesn’t need state intervention
Richmond can handle its financial problems without the state needing to hold its hand. That’s the conclusion the state auditor of public accounts reached after reviewing the city’s information on its financial operations and holding discussions with the city’s finance officials.
Mayor Stoney proposes free bus service on Election Day
Mayor Levar M. Stoney wants to spend $24,310 to provide Richmond residents with free GRTC bus rides on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Carol Swann-Daniels, a trailblazer integrating Richmond schools in 1960, dies at 73
Sixty-one years have passed since Carol Irene Swann, 12, and her friend, Gloria Jean Mead, 13, blasted an opening in the racially segregated schools of Richmond.
Training grounds
Former tobacco factory may become teaching site for construction workers
Along with a huge investment to transform the 67-acre Diamond District, the private development team that has been awarded the project also is proposing to invest in a construction training center and in other projects that could benefit the Black community.
City plans $3.5M sale of Public Safety Building for new development
Unveiled nine months ago, a $325 million plan to replace the city’s decaying Public Safety Building in Downtown is gathering steam.
New coalition offers blueprint for more affordable housing
A coalition of Richmond groups is advancing a policy agenda they hope can be a blueprint for City Hall’s efforts to reduce evictions and make affordable apartments and homes more available.
JLARC report shows the cost of child care adds up in Virginia
Most Virginia families, particularly single-parent households, currently spend far more than 7% of household income on childcare, or well above the percentage the federal government defines as affordable, according to a new state report.
Mayor to seek referendum on school funding
Raise taxes or cut services. Those, said Mayor Dwight C. Jones, are about the only options Richmond has if it is to boost spending on public education by the tens of millions of dollars Richmond Public Schools is requesting. And he said he would explore with Richmond City Council “the idea of an advisory referendum on the November ballot to determine whether the public wishes to raise its taxes and by how much.”
A steal for the Squirrels?
Baseball team gets sweet deal with city’s five-year lease at The Diamond
Virtually free rent. That’s what the minor league baseball team, the Richmond Flying Squirrels, got in their new five-year lease deal on The Diamond.
Closing of area shelters leave many without shelter
Joe Barrett is back to living on the street. Left paralyzed on his left side by a stroke, the 62-year-old Richmond native is among more than 130 homeless people who lost their shelter beds Saturday.
Heads up for a head start?
$19M from projected Casino revenue proposed for child care needs
An already short supply of child care operations could soon grow worse in Richmond and across the country, experts say. But the good news is City Hall has a solution, even though it could take three years to fully come to fruition.
The need for food and shelter grows for city’s homeless
“The need has tripled,” Rhonda Sneed said. “More and more people are experiencing a crisis at this time, and so many with food insecurity. I am seeing more people seeking some form of nourishment from a trash receptacle.”
