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North Side church to be razed for community garden
A community garden soon will replace a once treasured, but now vacant, century-old church building in North Side that is about to be demolished.
SCC bans most utility cutoffs until Aug. 31
Virginians who have fallen far behind in paying their electric bills have gained a two-month reprieve from disconnections.
Richmond Public Library ends fines for overdue materials
Forget being hit with a fine for the late return of a book, recording or other item borrowed from the Richmond Public Library.
Design competition open to re-imagine Monument Avenue
How would you re-imagine Monument Avenue? That’s the question behind a new design competition called “Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion.”
Bourne to push schools referendum in Gen. Assembly
A Richmond Democrat has volunteered to promote legislation to approve city voters’ call for Mayor Levar M. Stoney to craft a fully funded school modernization plan.
Habitat for Humanity accepting applications for home repair assistance
A nonprofit group known for building affordable houses also will repair dwellings for lower-income elderly and disabled homeowners and others in difficult circumstances.
80¢ cigarette tax goes up in smoke at City Council
Richmond smokers will not have to pay an extra 80 cents for a pack of cigarette. After hearing from more than 50 speakers and nearly an hour of debate, Richmond City Council, with a 6-3 vote, killed a proposal to impose a city tax on cigarettes that Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, 5th District, had spearheaded.
Economic injustice?
Report shows city spending with minority-owned businesses has dropped nearly 48 percent since 2014
From the mayor’s office to key positions at City Hall, African-Americans continue to play big roles in Richmond’s government. But the issue of city spending with black businesses and the promotion of black inclusion, inexplicably, appears to be taking a backseat to other priorities, with Mayor Levar M. Stoney having publicly spoken little about inclusion and economic justice during his 18-month tenure.
General Assembly completes work on budget, criminal justice reform
Fairer sentencing for people convicted of crimes and a Marcus crisis alert system to improve the response to mental health emergencies are among the criminal justice reforms that have emerged from the General Assembly’s special session.
Bon Secours breaks ground on new $11M medical office building in East End
Coming soon: A new Bon Secours Mercy Health medical office building in the East End that will house up to 100 doctors, nurses and other staff and include space to provide group therapy for mentally ill addicts.
Pay them, but not her
RPS spends extra to win bill dispute
The Richmond School Board paid a white law firm $31,000 in legal fees to avoid paying a Black professional’s $27,000 bill for doing consulting work in the case of a disabled student, half of which was to be paid by the state.
Daily dangers, including physical assaults on deputies, allegedly occur at city jail
Seven months after Richmond Sheriff Antionette V. Irving was sworn into her second four-year term, concern is mounting over her control of the still short-staffed Richmond City Justice Center, as the jail located in Shockoe Valley is called.
State Police to probe handling of city contract to remove rebel statues
Did Mayor Levar M. Stoney violate the state’s procurement law when his administration provided a sole-source emergency contract worth $1.8 million to remove city-owned Confederate statues?
On the way out
Gov. Ralph S. Northam orders removal of 40-foot granite pedestal that held Confederate Robert E. Lee’s statue on Monument Avenue, and for the land to be turned over to the city
When the giant monument of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee went up 131 years ago, fiery Richmond Planet editor John Mitchell Jr. described it as monument that would hand down to future generations “a legacy of treason and blood.”
Gerald G. Poindexter, a Surry County county attorney and prosecutor, dies at 80
Gerald Glenn Poindexter, a legal institution in Surry County where he served 23 years as county attorney and another 20 years as commonwealth’s attorney, has died.
Affordable housing for whom?
Next week, City Council plans to declare an affordable housing crisis in Richmond as rents and house prices soar, leaving many with below average incomes unable to afford housing. However, neither the council nor Mayor Levar M. Stoney who has pushed the resolution to be voted on Monday, April 10, plan to mention the ways he and the governing body have quietly reduced funding to support development of housing for families with incomes of $40,000 or less a year.
Alston out
Surprise move blocks African-American judge from Va. Supreme Court
Surprise move blocks African-American judge from Va. Supreme Court
City DPW head quits over Harvard dispute
Since he arrived in 2011, James A. Jackson has pushed for change in the Richmond Department of Public Works. Instead of top-down leadership, he has spearheaded a team approach, worked to replaced outdated equipment and sought to address the backlog of citizen complaints about services.
Court rules that Christian-only prayers at government meetings are OK
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that governments do not violate the church-state barrier when elected community leaders exclusively deliver Christian prayers to begin meetings.
Fight for $15
Workers to unite in city for living wage national conference
Richmond is about to become the national focal point for advocates of a $15 minimum wage. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of low-wage workers from across the country are expected to pour into the city April 12 and April 13 for the third annual Fight for $15 National Convention.
