
Justice Center brings technology to inmates
Computer tablets are making it easier for families and inmates at the Richmond Justice Center to stay connected.

RPS bus service for preschool program not in full operation
The free bus service that was supposed to drive more parents to enroll their 4-year-old children in a Richmond Public Schools preschool program has yet to fully materialize despite administrative promises.

Broken promises end legacy at 17th Street Farmers’ Market
They have been fixtures at the 17th Street Farmers’ Market in Shockoe Bottom for decades, just like their parents and grandparents before them. Now, sisters Evelyn Luceal Allen, 84, and Rosa L. Fleming, 80, have closed their stand beside the market from which they daily sold greens, tomatoes, watermelons, potatoes and other produce grown on their land in Hanover County.

Growing rift
City Council members angered by their colleagues’ action on Coliseum replacement proposal
The divisions among City Council members over the Coliseum replacement plan appear to be hardening.

'Take Your Community Back' motorcycle and auto ride Sept. 28
LaTasha S. “Tasha” Kenney is hoping hun- dreds of people will take part in an upcoming anti-violence action aimed at benefiting the families of two children who were victims of gun violence.

Daily Planet marks 50 years of vital service to the community
In 1969, concern about an epidemic of runaway and disaffected teens led to the creation of an organization offering a caring place with shelter, meals, health clinics and counseling without judgment.

Hearing on Coliseum referendum petitions set for Sept. 30
The leader of a drive to allow voters to weigh in on the proposed Coliseum-replacement plan will get a chance to prove he submitted enough signatures to get a referendum on the proposal on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Life interrupted: Kitchen fire throws Richmond family into upheaval, uncertainty
Kitchen fire throws Richmond family into upheaval, uncertainty
It just took a small fire on the stove on Aug. 23 to upend the lives of sisters Celieto L. and Janice F. Lewis.

Civil rights exhibit at City Hall
The words and photographs of 28 area residents who participated in the Civil Rights Movement in Richmond are now on display in City Hall.

Federal appeals court ruling sets precedent in 'unreasonable' search case
Can police officers stop and search a random group of people found near a location where the officers believe gunshots have been fired? And even if the shooter is not among them, can they arrest an uninvolved person who turns out to be carrying a gun illegally as the result of a felony record?

Middle schools now offering electives, PE after flouting state standards
After five years of parental lobbying, middle schools in Richmond appear to be on track with offering an array of elective courses that meet state requirements.

City Council approves anti-litter, anti-conversion therapy resolutions
It took five months, but Richmond City Council is finally putting its anti-plastic stance on record.

Blackwell developer and mortgage executive facing federal fraud charges
An energetic entrepreneur who with his wife sought to upgrade housing in the Blackwell community and add new businesses to Manchester’s old downtown along Hull Street is facing federal fraud charges.

Gov. Northam appoints 'diversity czar,' boards in upholding promise after blackface scandal
Dr.Janice Underwood will be the state’s first “diversity czar.”

Coliseum review panel stalled after attempt to add VUU president
New twists occurred this week in the ongoing saga of the Navy Hill District Corp. proposal to replace the Richmond Coliseum.

HOME to begin eviction diversion program
Richmond’s first ever program aimed at helping people avoid eviction is about to get a home base.

Israeli company introduces recycling bins for CVWMA made from recycled waste
Plastic made from banana peels, dirty diapers, discarded vegetables, mixed paper and other household waste? That’s right.

Hearing on Coliseum referendum petitions still up in the air
Richmond Circuit Court Chief Judge Joi Jeter Taylor so far has not set a new hearing to consider whether city Voter Registrar Kirk Showalter wrongly threw out more than 2,000 petition signatures and keeping a nonbinding advisory referendum on the Richmond Coliseum replacement project off the Nov. 5 ballot.

Saving the past
Bradford family descendants, supporters work to protect old Sons and Daughters of Ham Cemetery
Dense woods fill much of a largely uncelebrated and essentially abandoned African-American burial ground in Henrico County that had been best known in recent years as a practice area for University of Richmond runners.

Yes, no and maybe: Coliseum vote likely would fail if vote was taken today
The Navy Hill District Corp. plan to replace the Richmond Coliseum and bring more than $1 billion in new development nearby has yet to gain the backing of City Council.

Court rules denomination can be sued over child sexual abuse by church employee
One of the nation’s largest Pentecostal denominations can be sued for failing to protect one of its child members from a pedophile who worked closely with the children in a member church, the Virginia Supreme Court has ruled.

Federal judge upholds city ambulance monopoly
Richmond has won its legal fight to maintain a monopoly over providing emergency and non-emergency ambulance service after Richmond City Council forced Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration to mount a vigorous defense.

AG opines that gun-toting militia groups can face arrest under certain circumstances
Openly carrying weapons is not illegal, even on the grounds of the State Capitol. But members of privately organized militias who assume law enforcement duties without permission can be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor “of falsely assuming or pretending to be” a sworn officer of the law.

School Board votes to demolish school building
A historic Richmond elementary school building that dates to the 1880s and was the first built to serve African-American children in Church Hill appears to be headed for demolition.

2 area apartment complexes being revitalized
Two major apartment complexes, one in Richmond and one in Henrico County that largely house lower-income families, are being revitalized.

State NAACP president dismissed, listening tour stopped in shake-up
The president of the Virginia State Conference NAACP was abruptly dismissed and the civil rights group’s statewide “Listening Tour” has been halted in changes announced last weekend by the state administrator.

City finishes fiscal year with surplus
By the numbers
If Richmond City Council approves, retired city employees such as Elmer Seay and Daisy Weaver might receive a 1 percent increase in their city pensions — the first cost-of-living increase since 2008.

8 candidates vying for Agelasto’s City Council seat
And the race is on. Eight people successfully qualified to compete for the 5th District seat on Richmond City Council from which Councilman Parker C. Agelasto plans to resign on Nov. 30.

Goldman has until Aug. 30 to show signatures on Coliseum referendum were wrongly rejected
Paul Goldman is refusing to give up on his effort to allow Richmond voters to weigh in on the huge and costly plan to replace the Richmond Coliseum.

James River Park System now part of the Old Growth Forest Network
One of the Richmond region’s favorite parks has become part of an exclusive club, the Old Growth Forest Network, it has been announced.

Local organization part of federal suit challenging EPA's new lead standards
A Richmond woman who has fought to end lead contamination in homes and drinking water in the metro area is taking on the Trump administration for allegedly undermining the regulation of the health-damaging metal.

Moving on up or out? Mayor Stoney submits to City Council $1.5B Coliseum replacement and Downtown development plan
Five months ago, Mayor Levar M. Stoney was singing the revenue blues as he introduced his latest budget. He told city residents that revenue was growing too slowly to keep up with the overwhelming demand for resources, and without a major increase in the property tax, the city couldn’t adequately address major challenges ranging from fixing city streets to funding public education and replacing worn-out police cars and fire trucks. Mayor Stoney now has changed his tune as he introduces his long-awaited grand development plan for Downtown.

$6M: Richmond spending much more than Chesterfield on new schools
Richmond apparently will spend at least $6 million more on building two new elementary schools than Chesterfield County is having to pay, according an update report the Joint Construction Team provided to the city School Board Monday night.

Coliseum referendum hearing slated for Aug. 15
Richmond Circuit Court Judge Joi Jeter Taylor will determine next week if Richmond voters will have a say on the proposed $1.5 billion Coliseum project that Mayor Levar M. Stoney is asking Richmond City Council to approve.

Chesterfield apartment complex to change rental policy under discrimination settlement
An apartment complex in Chesterfield County has agreed to change its blanket ban on renting to people with criminal records after being hit on June 4 with a federal lawsuit challenging the policy as a violation of the federal Fair Housing Act.

Sources: Mayor Stoney to advance Coliseum project for Downtown
The grand, but still stalled $1.4 billion plan to replace the now-closed Richmond Coliseum and potentially create thousands of new jobs is supposed to include development of nearly 3,000 affordable and market- rate apartments.

Church merger leads to new roles for Rev. Whitehead, Dr. Cardwell
After 25 years at the helm of New Canaan International Church that he founded in Eastern Henrico County, minister and educator Dr. Owen C. Cardwell, 72, has passed the pastoral baton to a younger protégé, the Rev. Dwayne E. Whitehead.

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.

4 more candidates announce for 5th District City Council race
Four more candidates have jumped into the race to replace 5th District City Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, who has announced he will resign Nov. 30 as a result of moving out of the district.

Randolph Pool, splash pad at Ann Hardy Plaza reopened
The Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Com-munity Facilities is making some needed fixes.

REAL LIFE opens women's home for recovering addicts released from jail
Three single women now have a stable place to stay as they continue their recovery from the addictions that sent them to jail and left them homeless. The women are the first tenants of a group home opened this week by the nonprofit organization REAL LIFE.

Hearing set for Aug. 8 on Agelasto removal
Former 5th District City Councilman Henry W. “Chuck” Richardson finally may get a hearing on his motion to oust the district’s current council representative, Parker C. Agelasto, from office because Mr. Agelasto lives outside the district.

Winner of next week's Democratic primary likely shoo-in for city commonwealth's attorney
Next week, Richmond residents can take part in deciding who should be the city’s next commonwealth’s attorney — Colette W. McEachin, who currently holds the office, or her challenger, Alexander L. “Alex” Taylor Jr., a former member of the office.

Conservative school rezoning calls for no closures in city
North of the James River, Richmond appears to have too many school buildings and could easily close one high school, a middle school and at least one elementary school in Church Hill.

City demands East End church pay delinquent taxes
Nearly 30 years ago, Mount Olivet Church went on a buying spree and acquired 12 properties adjacent to the church in the 1200 block of North 25th Street in the East End.

Equifax settles in security breach that affected more than 4M Virginians
Consumer credit information giant Equifax has agreed to pay up to $700 million for allowing hackers to breach its computers and grab the personal information of nearly 150 million people.
Va. Supreme Court upholds revocation of Morrissey’s law license
Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey is just one election away from returning to the General Assembly as a state senator.

Wilder contests student’s claim of sexual impropriety
L. Douglas Wilder is fighting back against a reputation-tarnishing finding that he kissed an unwilling 20-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University student when she worked in the university building named for him and where he has his office.

City Council appoints leaders of Coliseum advisory commission
Two Richmond residents with extensive experience in development have been named to lead an advisory commission to review the $1.4 billion proposal to replace the Richmond Coliseum.