Green light shines on Diamond District
The huge plan to redevelop 67 acres of publicly owned land around The Diamond baseball stadium has a green light — despite questions about the soundness of its financial structure.
New labyrinth in South Side
A new community labyrinth was dedicated Saturday at the headquarters of United Parents Against Lead, 4809 Old Warwick Road.
Burn notice: Council approves Fire training in park
The Richmond Fire Department won its fight to replace 2 acres of lawn at the Hickory Hill Community Center in South Side with a concrete pad and a fire training facility where recruits can get experience dousing blazes.
Starting date nears to replace George Wythe
The first construction work on a replacement for the aging George Wythe High School could begin by late summer.
Fire training center topic returns
A controversial plan to have the Richmond Fire Department build a training facility on a two-acre section of the lawn at the Hickory Community Center that the Planning Commission rejected has returned to City Council’s agenda.
Moving on up
Creighton Court developer’s $300M plan may cost $410,400 per unit
The most expensive housing development in Richmond is headed to a neighborhood in the East End that has ranked high in poverty.
John Fitzhugh Jones Jr., educator and child advocate, remembered
Retired Army Reserve Lt. Col. John Fitzhugh Jones Jr., who spent three decades sched- uling classes and counseling students in Richmond Public Schools, has died.
Teen shootings raise questions about school attendance
Another shooting involving Richmond students has once again focused attention on the high level of truancy the city schools experience.
Early voting to begin for General Assembly seats
The battle for General Assembly seats is about to begin.
Moon family establishes scholarships
Sisters Enjoli and Sesha Moon are already making an impact on Richmond.
Construction to begin on North Side apartments at site of former church
Enterprise Community Development was scheduled to formally launch construction on a four-story complex of 66 affordable apartment units in North Side, on Thursday, May 4.
Police union up for a vote
Hundreds of officers in the Richmond Police Department are voting on whether to make the Richmond Coalition of Police their union bargaining agent, the Free Press has learned.
City police officer convicted for vehicle fatalities
Richmond Police Officer Richard Johnson was responding to a burglary call on April 7, 2022, when he ran a red light and slammed into a car advancing on the green light at Bells and Castlewood roads in South Side. The crash resulted in the deaths of the two teenage occupants, Jeremiah Ruffin, 18, and Tracey Williams, 19, and left the officer with a traumatic brain injury. Now Officer Johnson is facing prison time as a result of those deaths.
Sheriff Irving continues to lose deputies amid reports of recent inmate stabbing
‘We don’t know what else we can do,’ says councilwoman
The issue of inmate and staff safety inside the Richmond City Justice Center continues to bubble as Sheriff Antionette V. Irving’s roster of deputies keeps shrinking.
Council says ‘no’ to ‘warehouse creep’ proposal
City Council on Monday night rejected a nonprofit housing group’s plan to build a warehouse in South Side to assemble affordable modular replacements for worn-out mobile homes that mostly Latino residents occupy in the city.
It’s a deal
City and RVA Diamond Partners finalize $2.44B agreement; council vote comes next
The Diamond District – Richmond’s biggest ever development – is now at the starting gate after seven months of negotiations between the city and RVA Diamond Partners LLC (RVADP), the private developer.
William U. Booker Sr., entrepreneur, civic and spiritual leader, dies at age 95
Hard-working, honest, wise, industrious, caring’ were his trademarks
William Ulysses Booker Sr. sought to seize the opportunities that came his way.
City builds Confederate shrine for sole citizen’s use
A resident asked for it. That’s why the Richmond Department of Public Utilities spent upward of $16,000 to create a shrine to Confederate soldiers on the grounds of a utility substation located in the 2400 block of Wise Street in South Side, according to City Hall’s No. 2 official.
Chief sounds off on noise ordinance
The noise ordinance that Richmond City Council passed five months ago replaces criminal charges with significant fines for people who disturb their neighbors with loud parties and audible disruption. It may sound like good intentions, but the new rule is tone deaf on enforcement, according to Acting Police Chief Richard “Rick” Edwards.
Council finalizing City budget
Ambulance trip costs rise, City Hall offices primed for upgrades
Richmond Public Schools must live with the $21 million increase from city taxpayers, and retired city employees, for now, will not get an anticipated 5 percent bonus. Also, there will be no new funding to aid the city in battling climate change. However, the Richmond Ambulance Author-
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.
Swansboro Baptist partners with nonprofit to offer free meals
For Kevin Alston and dozens of other hungry South Side residents struggling with food costs, Swansboro Baptist Church is now the place to go for a free hot lunch.
RPS students show minimal progress with math, reading scores
Richmond public school students in the third to eighth grades continue to struggle with reading comprehension and with understanding math concepts, according to results from the state-mandated Virginia Growth Assessment (VGA).
GRTC drives starting pay by 43 percent
GRTC boosted starting pay for bus drivers by a whopping 43 percent, effective immediately, with double-digit increases for most current drivers as well.
City plans to purchase Mayo Island
Richmond is moving rapidly to complete the purchase of Mayo Island, which a 2012 city plan described as the “green jewel” of the Downtown riverfront.
City approves scholarship program with Reynolds
City Council on Monday cleared the way for a pilot Pathways scholarship proposed by Mayor Levar M. Stoney that would cover tuition and provide a monthly stipend to Richmond high school graduates attending Reynolds Community College.
Street Knowledge: Local leaders honored with signs
A ceremony to unveil an honorary street sign recognizing the late Richmond religious leader Dr. Paul Nichols will take place noon Friday, April 14, at 28th and R streets.
City hires first woman for top legal post
Laura K. Drewry is the new city attorney and first woman to hold City Hall’s top legal post.
Supply and demand
City’s ‘housing crisis’ calls for 23,000 affordable living spaces
Seeking to put fresh emphasis on an issue that has been on the agenda for at least a decade, City Council on Monday followed through and joined Mayor Levar M. Stoney in “declaring a housing crisis in the city of Richmond.”
Margaret Elizabeth Cooper Osei remembered for her selfless roles in civic, social and church organizations
For more than 30 years, Margaret Elizabeth Cooper Osei helped root out discrimination against employees in Virginia government offices as an Equal Employment Opportunity investigator for the state Department of Human Resources Management. But Ms. Osei was better known for assisting people with securing good-paying jobs, her family said.
What dreams come true
City’s ownership of Mayo Island appears within reach
City Hall is jumping to buy a major James River island that the city has dreamed of owning for 40 years to expand parkland.
City’s first Black pastor of a ‘megachurch’ and others still largely unknown
The Rev. James Henry Holmes remains one of the unsung notables of Jackson Ward who has not been recognized with a City Council resolution and honorary street sign.
Planning Commission rejects fire training facility
A controversial proposal to install a training facility for Richmond firefighters on a major section of lawn at the Hickory Hill Community Center again has been rejected.
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.
Hope for healing
7 months after New York Times exposé, healthy equity advocates, Bon Secours report progress
Bon Secours Richmond is starting to receive positive feedback from advocates who had harshly criticized the hospital system for allegedly failing to re-invest income from a federal discount pricing program into low-income communities, most notably Richmond Community Hospital and low-income residents living nearby.
Community advocate raises concerns about City’s new Confederate shrine
Even as Mayor Levar M. Stoney and City Council revive a citizen commission to help Richmond eliminate slavery-defending Confederate names from streets and bridges, the city Department of Public Utilities has created a new shrine to fallen Civil War rebels.
Bagby wins Va. Senate special election
Henrico Democratic Delegate Lamont Bagby, as anticipated, crushed Republican rival Stephen J. “Steve” Imholt in Tuesday’s voting for a Richmond-area seat in the state Senate.
RRHA seeks additional funds to maintain public housing
The city’s public housing authority needs to invest $42 million to fix the most urgent problems with roofs, boilers, plumbing, wiring and other aging infrastructure in the apartment communities it operates in Richmond, according the chief executive, Steven B. Nesmith.
Richmonders want funding for schools, housing, less gas
Fund the full request for Richmond Public Schools. Improve our parks. Fully fund the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and fund repairs for decaying mobile homes. Protect the environment by planning for elimination of the city’s gas utility. Those were among the ways that least 20 speakers urged City Council to amend the 2023-24 budget plan at a public hearing Monday night.
Richmond’s Randall Robinson reshaped American’s foreign policy, forced change in South Africa
Seared by the segregation he grew up with in Richmond, Randall Maurice Robinson championed change in American policies toward African and the Caribbean nations that he considered unjust and undergirded by racial bias.
Hickory Hill community opposes planned fire training facility
In a retreat from a two-year-old policy of expanding parks and green space in overly hot South Side, Mayor Levar M. Stoney and his administration are quietly pressing to replace 2 acres of lawn at the Hickory Hill Community Center in South Side with a $1 million fire training building.
Lamont Bagby viewed as favorite in Tuesday’s special Senate election
Henrico Democratic Delegate Lamont Bagby is poised to become the newest state senator from the Richmond area.
Youngkin announces affordable housing loans
The state will lend more than $18 million to create 10 affordable, income-restricted housing developments in the Richmond area, Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin has announced.
Helen Harris, a leading voice for Henrico County’s Black residents, remembered
‘Her leadership and tireless advocacy made the county a more inclusive and equitable place’
Thanks to Helen Virginia Epps Harris, Henrico County annually celebrates the holiday in honor of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and also has dramatically increased its hiring of Black employees. Her impact on public policy is just part of the influence she wielded during a life that her family said was devoted to service to others and fueled by a desire to see Black people advance and thrive. Mrs. Harris’ multiple contributions to community betterment are being remembered following her death on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at age 83.
VDOE says it will work with federal special education office on compliance issues
The Virginia Department of Education is prepared to cooperate with a federal office that found the state agency failing to comply with elements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Is popular PAL program ‘in limbo’?
Will the Richmond Police Athletic League offer spring and summer programs for the city’s youths?
Rev. Clifford B. Chambliss Jr. dies at 81
The Rev. Clifford Boss Chambliss Jr. was just 25 when he was tapped to lead a new job training initiative that more senior Black min- isters were organizing to help people find work and escape poverty.
Ambulance charges may dramatically increase
$600 trips to medical centers could more than double
City Hall is pressuring the Richmond Ambulance Authority to nearly triple its charge for transporting patients to hospitals or other treatment centers based on a consulting firm’s recommendation, the Free Press has learned.
