Virginia becomes abortion haven for out-of-state women
It is no longer unusual for a pregnant Alabama woman with two kids to be parked overnight outside a Virginia League for Planned Parenthood (VLPP) clinic, waiting for the doors to open. Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said the protection of abortion rights in this state means that women who live where the procedure is banned are making their way to VLPP facilities in Richmond and Hampton Roads.
New weed-sales bill would include minority vendors
Prospects for the General Assembly to approve the retail sale of marijuana could get a big boost from a deal to guarantee Virginians of color gain a significant share of the business opportunity. Unveiled Jan. 18 at a State Capitol press conference, the agreement is between state lawmakers, advocates and the state’s four medical marijuana companies.
School Board election shakeup
After six years on the School Board, Kenya Gibson is seeking to move up to City Council.
Highland Grove development to restart
City Council has cleared the way for the re-start of a shut-down subdivision that is to bring 122 affordable homes to North Side.
Anita G. Lester, former lawyer with Hill, Tucker & Marsh, dies at 64
Anita Gene Lester,65, is being remembered as a caring lawyer who spent part of her career defending those accused of crimes and part of her career prosecuting them.
Richmond church burns
A devastating fire Jan. 9 appears to have dashed the hopes of the congregation of Seventh Street Memorial Baptist Church of returning to their long vacant “home location” in the Highland Park neighborhood in North Side.
Retired Armstrong High School teacher Conrad L. Dandridge, 87, remembered
Conrad Lewis “Mr. D” Dandridge spent more than 35 years teaching and mentoring countless students at Armstrong High School from which he graduated.
Victoria S. Oakley, former RPS educator, dies at age 63
Victoria Stender “Vickie” Oakley, a former principal and instructional leader for Richmond Public Schools, has died.
City Hall offers some reforms on tax collections
Amid the uproar over meals-tax collections, City Hall is rolling out a multiple-step plan in a bid to ease complaints.
City moves access revenue that results in $12.6M surplus
The city of Richmond’s financial team moved $30 million in excess revenue from the 2022-23 fiscal year to the city’s savings account to refund expenses and then officially announced a $12.6 million surplus from the fiscal year that ended June 30.
Business grants announced for East End
Eleven businesses in Richmond’s East End are the latest recipients of supportive grants from a nonprofit development program, it has been announced.
City plans to add shelter space
City Hall is moving forward to acquire a 57,000-square-foot office-warehouse at 10 W. Belt Blvd. in South Side to expand shelter capacity for the homeless.
Patients endure longer waits for ambulances
Virtually every day, ambulances are stacked up at Richmond-area hospitals with paramedics waiting to get the people they have transported admitted to the hospital so they can return to service.
Sold: Mayo Island purchase completed
Mayo Island is now part of the James River Park. The city announced on Jan. 5 the completion of the $15 million purchase of the large James River island from the Shaia family.
Policy issues involving machine games, guns and minors to greet General Assembly
Will Virginia continue to raise the minimum wage? Will the sale of marijuana through retail outlets gain approval? Will a ban on “skill” games be replaced by a taxing regime that would allow the machines to be turned on once more in bars and retail stores? Will gun owners be held criminally responsible if a minor takes their weapon and shoots someone?
From liberated to liberators
‘March forward in God’s name,’ Rev. A. Lincoln James Jr. proclaims on Emancipation Day
“March forward,” the Rev. A. Lincoln James Jr. told about 125 people at the New Year’s Day program celebrating the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, the great Civil War document that took the first big step toward abolishing slavery in this country.
Nye, Lambert are new council officers
Kristen M. Nye thanked her City Council colleagues “for your vote of confidence” after being elected the new City Council president.
Dr. Linwood Jacobs who opened doors for Black Greek organizations at UVA, dies at age 90
Additional roles included community college dean and Gilpin Court mental health provider
Dr. Linwood Jacobs is credited with spearheading the establishment of Black fraternities and sororities at the University of Virginia. And later he focused on student development as the dean of students at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College and helped start a mental health services company based in Gilpin Court.
Janette Lewis Allen, 80, remembered for her work with Carver Elementary students
Whenever one or more Carver Elementary School students needed refuge from a troubled home, guidance counselor Janette Lewis Allen allowed them to spend the night at her house. “She had a passion for education and community service, particularly when it came to children,” said members of her family. The retired educator, who died at age 80 on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, is being remembered for the caring role she played in the lives of the Richmond children with whom she interacted.
City demands $37,000 from takeout restaurant
City Hall is demanding that a Black-owned Richmond sandwich shop pay $37,000 in uncollected meals tax along with penalties and interest after telling the owners not collect the tax when they applied for a business license in June 2021.
Husband and wife retire as credit union leaders
A husband and wife who each ran Richmond-based credit unions have stepped down.
Severely injured man waits 78 minutes for ambulance
J. Maurice Hopkins found out the hard way that the Richmond Ambulance Authority and the emergency dispatch system does not always respond quickly.
Sharon Baptist Church hosts New Year’s Emancipation Day Service
One Jan. 1, 1863, as the Civil War raged, President Abraham Lincoln took the momentous step of abolishing slavery in Virginia and other Southern states that were fighting to break away from the United States. That watershed moment in American history once again will be celebrated in Richmond on New Year’s Day at a service sponsored by the Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Richmond and Vicinity at a new location.
City Council enters new year eyeing new leadership
Fourth District City Councilwoman Kristen M. Nye is anticipated to be the new president of Richmond’s governing body. Next Tuesday, Jan. 2, City Council will hold its organizational meeting to vote on new officers following the departure of Dr. Michael J. Jones.
Attorney Derrick Thomas dies at age 61
Protecting the injured was a calling for Attorney Derrick Thomas.
Musician and mail carrier Harold Lighty Sr. dies at age 90
Harold Ronald “Van” Lighty Sr., who often received standing ovations after making his drums speak, was a fixture on the Richmond jazz scene for more than 60 years.
VCU’s rat de-bait
State senator sounds alarm over Monroe Park rodents
Virginia Commonwealth University claims that rats in Monroe Park can rip open metal trash cans to get to discarded food—even though an inspection of the metal cans show that the bottoms are undamaged. The university, which handles maintenance of the park, issued that claim in response to a query from Richmond state Sen. Ghazal Hashmi about VCU’s expenditure of $2,400 a month to spread poison-bait rat traps throughout the city’s oldest park.
Hanover case tests parental rights
The case of a Hanover County mother is providing a test of the proposition that parents matter — a currently popular Virginia political slogan.
Despite defendants’ inability to pay court fees, many still incur costs
“Anyone charged with a crime that can result in jail or prison time is entitled to legal representation. In the familiar line from the Miranda warning, “You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you.”
On probation
VUU has a year to meet financial accreditation standards
Virginia Union University remains optimistic of lifting the dark cloud that hangs over its accreditation – a key requirement for its students to access federal student loans – despite record enrollment, a strengthened academic program and increased donations.
His home has become a museum
John W. Bynum Jr. loves Black history so much he’s turned his split-level home in Chesterfield County into a small museum.
Retired educator Eva W. Hicks remembered
Eva Mae Wilkins Hicks, whose career as a teacher and guidance counselor for Richmond Public Schools spanned nearly 45 years, has died.
Retired Richmond educator Shirley E.S. Harris dies at age 89
Shirley Estelle Savage Harris spent four decades seeking to instill a love of learning in local Richmond schoolchildren. Mrs. Harris was best known for the more than 30 years she taught at William Fox Elementary School.
Highland Park’s Highland Grove development halted
A long-awaited 122-unit subdivision that is supposed to rise on nearly 40 acres in the 500 block of Dove Street in Highland Park remains shut down.
State Jails Board creates improvement plan for City Jail
Investigation cites 6 deaths, inconsistent inspections and other unmet standards
Only a small staff of deputies is working in the Richmond City Justice Center on any given day, the Free Press is being told, as the number of sworn officers under the command of Sheriff Antionette V. Irving continues to fall.
Audit report dings Finance Department
More than a quarter of registered vehicle owners wrongly assessed penalties, late fees
The Richmond Finance Department wrongly hit owners of 66,057 vehicles with late payment fees and interest in 2022 even though the owners paid by the deadline, a new audit has found.
Nicole Jones appointed as Michael Jones’ interim replacement on City Council
Richmond School Board member Nicole Jones has received a big boost to her campaign for the 9th District City Council seat.
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.
Youngkin proposes millions in child care subsidies
To the delight of beleaguered day care operations and child advocates, Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin is calling for an investment of $484 million a year into child care— with most going to help parents cover the surging costs.
Council meets to discuss Jones’ replacement in 9th District
Next Monday, Dec. 11, eight members of City Council will vote to seat a replacement for outgoing City Council President Michael J. Jones, who is headed to the House of Delegates.
City Charter changes approved
Among the first bills that Dr. Michael J. Jones could patron as a new member of the House of Delegates is one that would usher in changes to the City Charter, or constitution. Now the president of City Council, a post he will give up Dec. 31, he was among six members who agreed Monday to support a package of charter changes and send the package to the Virginia legislature for approval.
Woman says former executive who defrauded city also fooled her
Sharon B. Holmes is relieved that a retired senior executive in the Richmond Department of Public Works is going to prison for engineering a scheme that ripped off the department for $600,000.
School Board to build new Woodville; won’t merge with Fairfield Court
The Richmond School Board plans to keep five elementary schools in operation in the East End in the face of shrinking enrollment that has left at least two schools half empty.
Mayor Stoney jumps into governor’s race
Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney, after months of hinting, this week made it official that he will be in the race for governor in 2025 and quickly began picking up endorsements.
Open for needy
Shelter options few for adults with children despite increase in beds
City Hall has followed through on expanding winter shelter in the Richmond area, but families with children still are being left out in the cold, the Free Press has confirmed. Operators on Richmond’s Homeless Crisis Hotline are advising homeless adults with children that all shelter space reserved for them is full and that they should call back weekly to see if there is an opening.
Staying the course while steadying church’s finances is Rev. James’ mission
The Rev. A. Lincoln James Jr. still isn’t ready to use the “R” word. Rev. James still has a spring to his step, an energetic approach and plenty of words to share with the Trinity Baptist Church congregation he has led for 43 years, or most of his 53-year ministry career.
Councilwoman hopes proposed changes to City Charter find support
Under proposed changes to the City Charter or constitution, City Council would gain new authority over housing subsidies and real estate tax relief to residents with low to moderate incomes, in addition to setting its own compensation and modi- fying zoning. Fifth District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch hopes to gain unanimous support from her eight colleagues at the Monday, Dec. 11, council meeting for the changes she has negotiated with Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration. If passed by the council, the package would be sent to the General Assembly for approval in the upcoming 2024 session. Many of the changes follow recommenda- tions that a council-created Richmond City Charter Review Commission submitted Aug. 2 after a year of study. As the most significant package of charter changes proposed since the 2004 creation of a mayor elected citywide, the amend- ments do not address the current relationship between the council and the mayor ahead of the 2024 elections for the governing body and chief executive. The biggest proposed change could well be the tax and housing initiatives that the charter review commission did not address. The proposed Section 2.09 amendment would allow the city to defer property taxes and tax increases for qualifying low or moderate income property owners, using the definition of such individuals established by the Virginia Housing Development Authority, now known as Virginia Housing. Such a program could allow the taxes to accumulate over time to be paid off from proceeds after the property is sold. In addition, the proposed charter change would authorize the city to create a program that could help such qualifying individu- als buy a home or receive rental subsidies. The city also could use state or federal funds to advance such initiatives. The charter amendment also would declare the creation of programs that could provide funds directly to individuals for housing to be “in the furtherance of a public interest” to get
Absence of motion?
Center City and Diamond District development proposals show little movement
Slow going. That appears to be the situation for the two largest development projects that involve City Hall.
Richmond’s declared mayoral candidates include several business owners
Richmond voters again will have multiple choices for the next mayor of Richmond when they vote in 2024.
The spirit of giving
Meadowbridge market offers free groceries to local residents
Dark and silent most days, the Meadowbridge Community Market comes alive on Saturdays.
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