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City Council rejects turning over design funding for new George Wythe High
Will a new George Wythe High School ever get built?
Shelter in place?
Homeless advocacy group says many unaware of warm housing when temperatures drop
As temperatures plunged into the 30s this week as fore- cast, a reluctant City Hall at the last minute grudgingly opened two overnight shelters – one for 50 single men and one for 50 single women, but none for those with children. Mayor Levar M. Stoney and his administration quietly sent email notices to some home- less groups about opening, but refused to issue any public statement in an apparent bid to reduce demand — follow- ing the script from the Sept. 30 tropical storm when only 12 homeless people managed to find the unannounced city shelter to get out of the heavy downpour. As was the case Sept. 30, most people who needed a warm place never got the word, ac- cording to a homeless advocacy organization, which decried the fact the city waited until 6 p.m. to announce the two shelters had opened an hour earlier. The shelters at United Na- tions Church, 214 Cowardin Ave. in South Side, and at the
No wrongdoing
Mayor Levar M. Stoney cleared in special prosecutor’s probe of the city’s awarding of $1.8 million contract to remove Confederate statues
No bribes. No kickbacks. No evidence of corruption in the use of taxpayers’ dollars. That’s the conclusion of a six-month probe to determine if Mayor Levar M. Stoney engaged in any wrongdoing in the award of a $1.8 million contract to a contractor to take down the city’s Confederate statues in July 2020.
Old forgotten cemeteries dot the city
Peggy Stoots made an urgent call to the Richmond City Attorney’s Office just two days before a vacant quarter-acre parcel in South Side was to be auctioned off to recover more than $2,000 in past due property taxes. Ms. Stoots, who has lived near the property for 60 years surprised a staff member by saying, “You can’t auction that property. It’s a cemetery.”
Mayor Stoney details plans for using $155M in American Rescue Plan funds
Mayor Levar M. Stoney on Monday called for using the $155 million inAmerican Rescue Plan funds pouring into City Hall coffers to increase the inventory of homes and apartments that are more affordable for lower-income residents; beef up recreation facilities and improve access to the James River; invest in child care programs and in health programs; improve public safety; and provide $3,000 bonuses for first re- sponders.
RPS lists 5.5 percent fewer students since 2019
Enrollment in Richmond Public Schools continues to decline amid population growth in the larger community.
Voters reject casino bid a second time
No way. No how. That was Richmond voters’ resounding response to the question of whether a $562 million casino-resort should be developed in South Side.
Eureka!
FDA approves milestone treatments for sickle cell disease
Two breakthrough gene therapies can now be used to treat and possibly cure sickle cell anemia, the genetic blood disorder that afflicts 100,000 mostly Black Americans and 20 million people worldwide. But the announcement from the Food and Drug Administration of approval of the treatments — the first use of medicines to address an inherited disease — drew cheers and caution flags from those in the field.
Public safety on front burner in mayor’s budget plan
Mayor Dwight C. Jones is proposing to pour millions of dollars into wage increases for city employees, most notably police officers and firefighters. He also wants to equip the police with body cameras and modernize the 911 emergency communications system at a cost of more $50 million.
Services sacrificed in council’s $ plan
Richmond Public Schools is on track to gain an extra $9 million to help meet critical needs in the coming year. Police officers and firefighters also are on track to gain bigger raises of roughly 2.5 percent to help reduce turnover in public safety.
No charges filed against Wisconsin police officer in teen’s death
A Wisconsin police officer who fatally shot an unarmed biracial teenager in March, prompting several days of peaceful protests, will not be charged, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Officer Matt Kenny used justified lethal force in the March 6 shooting of Tony Robinson, 19, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said.
New VSU president shares vision, receives support at official introduction
Brimming with confidence and eager to get started, the new president of Virginia State University is promising to first listen to students, faculty and staff and then roll out a “strategic vision that will be bold and purposefully challenging.” Among other things, Dr. Makola M. Abdullah wants VSU to be known for providing “a quality education,” to invest in specialty academic areas that would make the university more attractive while continuing to be “an opportunity university” for students who might not be admitted elsewhere.
Broadcast legend ‘Tiger Tom’ Mitchell dies
“Tiger Tom” Mitchell built his life on the spoken and written word. For more than 30 years, the celebrated broadcaster entertained untold thousands of listeners with his radio show on long-gone WANT AM 990.
Bank business turns ugly for local man
Every two weeks like clockwork, Jeffrey Perry has deposited his paycheck at the Wells Fargo bank branch in Mechanicsville located a few blocks from his workplace.
Back on the runway
Renée Lacy has been the modeling guru for thousands of children, teens and adults in the Richmond area and beyond. For 35 years, the bubbly, energetic woman operated a training center in Downtown where would-be models under her tutelage learned the ways of the runway.
Tom Joyner, the 'hardest working man in radio,' retires
The “fly jock” and “hardest working man in radio” has hung up his microphone.
Henry L. Marsh III to introduce his memoir
He had his sights set on making his living as a truck driver. Then Henry L. Marsh III went with a group of high school buddies to hear a school desegregation case in Richmond, and that experience changed his life.
Warehouse owner left with waste collected by CVWMA
Warehouse 25 at Clopton SiteWorks on South Side is the best evidence that the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority has failed to keep its promise to properly dispose of old and broken TVs and computer monitors that are filled with toxic metals.
City challenged to find $ for new school buildings
The likelihood that City Hall will rush to build new school buildings under a plan the Richmond School Board is advancing appeared to dim at an Education Compact meeting Monday with Mayor Levar M. Stoney and Richmond City Council.
