Juliette Stephens Hamilton, retired nurse, dies at age 104
“Live one day at a time and enjoy that one.” Juliette Stephens Hamilton, one of Richmond’s oldest residents, called that the secret to a long and healthy life.
New law hopes to quiet loud music, noise
Artist and composer Paul Rucker long has been frustrated by the loud music that blasts into his Downtown residence from nearby clubs. He is among those thrilled that City Council on Monday unanimously approved a major overhaul of the city’s noise ordinance that will allow police officers armed with sound meters to start issuing costly tickets to businesses and residents that are disturbingly loud.
City reportedly has a $70M general fund surplus
Richmond’s treasury is bulging with unspent dollars, according to two members of City Council.
Trailblazer
Bettie Elizabeth Boyers Cooper’s actions spurred City’s full school desegregation
Bettie Elizabeth Boyers Cooper, who helped end Richmond and Virginia’s determined efforts in the 1950s to maintain racially segregated public schools, has died.
‘We can no longer remain silent’
Coalition wants Bon Secours to increase investments in area’s poor communities
Sparked by a New York Times expose, a new coalition hopes to rally the East End community to pressure nonprofit Bon Secours Mercy Health to rebuild critical care services at Richmond Community Hospital and better meet the health needs of low-income communities.
Midterm elections 2022
Democrats defeat ‘red tide’ forecast by Republicans
The battle for Congress remains up in the air, with vote counting still underway in numerous states and a final determination whether Democrats or Republicans secure a majority in one or both houses potentially still weeks away.
City requests applications for Coliseum-area development
City Hall is taking a fresh step in trying to replace the Richmond Coliseum nearly four years after it was shuttered.
Adjustments in City’s pension plan may take six or more years
City Hall’s 4,200 retirees likely may wait years before seeing another cost-of-living adjustment in their pensions.
County voters approve bond issue for building, expansion projects
Voters in Chesterfield and Henrico counties overwhelmingly approved the plans of each county to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars for school, public safety, parks, libraries and other infrastructure needs.
City approves funds to temporarily house homeless
The first major cold snap is forecast to hit Richmond this weekend, but City Hall is still struggling to provide shelter for the homeless who have no where to go.
Voters support abortion rights in several states; legalizing marijuana sees small gains
Voters in three states enshrined the right to an abortion in their constitutions Tuesday night while marijuana legalization won in two more states.
Mabel Lighty, gifted math teacher, dies at 83
Mabel Eunice Caster Lighty taught math to two generations of Richmond high school students and then went on to teach math for another 14 years at Reynolds Community College.
James River Park gains key acreage at trailhead
Private property that provides an entry to a popular trail in James River Park is being donated to the city.
Richmond’s eviction filings surpass pre-pandemic levels, says legal aid litigator
Deputies from the Richmond Sheriff’s Office had a packed schedule of 126 evictions to oversee this week.
Worries grow about City’s policy for sheltering the homeless
For apparently the first time in a decade, City Hall did not open a temporary shelter for the homeless when the temperature, including the wind chill, recently fell below 40 degrees.
CoStar expansion a shining example
Tuesday was a banner day for Richmond as ground was broken on one of the biggest single private developments in city history.
Chesterfield and Henrico voters to decide on bonds for schools, other projects
Voters in Henrico and Chesterfield counties are being asked to allow their governments to borrow a half-billion dollars apiece to spend on schools, libraries, public safety and other infrastructure needs.
New name for Lee Bridge withdrawn
For now, the name of slavery-defending Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee will remain on the Route 1 bridge over the James River in Richmond.
City Council to consider real estate tax rate
The question of whether Richmond property owners will see a cut in the real estate tax rate is still up in the air.
Virginians now may register and vote the same day
Hard to believe, but Virginia now allows people to register and vote when they go to the polls, even on Election Day.
Richmond voters have few voices in next week’s midterm elections
The country is just a few days away from an election that will determine whether Democrats or Republicans will control one or both houses of Congress.
Educator Charles L. Walker, 71, dies
Charles Len “Herm” Walker spent more than 35 years involved with the education of Richmond children.
Reunion planned for RPS’ 1972 high school graduates
Fifty years ago, thousands of Richmond students were daily boarding school buses to carry out a federal court order to integrate the city’s public schools.
High job hopes
Nonprofit offers former convicts free solar training for brighter futures
Criminal convictions can be a real barrier to finding work.
Businessman and civic activist Anson L. Bell, 69, dies
Anson Lloyd Bell, a Richmond contractor and businessman who was active in community affairs, has died. Mr. Bell, who crusaded for Black inclusion in city contracts and on other issues, died Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. He was 69.
Police Chief Gerald Smith resigns
20-year-veteran Richard Edwards becomes acting chief
The troubled tenure of Police Chief Gerald M. Smith is over.
Judge rules City can remove A.P. Hill statue
The last statue of a slavery-defending Confederate still standing in Richmond can be removed after 130 years.
Study shows Richmond and Petersburg can each support a casino
Richmond and Petersburg could both support casinos.
What’s in a name?
Efforts to rename the Lee Bridge rise again, bounded by slave-holding ties
Instead of a slavery-defending general, a key bridge over the James River could soon bear the name of a plantation where enslaved people labored.
Suspension lifted for VSU’s cheerleading squad
The Woo Woos, Virginia State University’s cheerleading squad, was temporarily suspended from Trojans football games as the result of a complaint that veterans were hazing new members, the Free Press has learned. However, the suspension already has been lifted as the Woo Woos are now shown as participating when the Trojans are scheduled to travel to Elizabeth City State University for a game at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22.
Operation Bold Blue Line
Youngkin plans to reduce homicides, shootings with more police, higher pay
What’s the solution to the spate of shootings and violence that appears to be on the upswing in Richmond and across the state?
Gilpin Court community to undergo major change
The city’s housing authority has begun a search for a master developer to transform Gilpin Court.
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
Jermoine Royster defeats opponent, continues winning streak
Richmond boxing phenom Jermoine Royster boosted his pro boxing record to 3-0 with a third round TKO in his most recent bout.
Columbus Day is now Indigenous People’s Day
Richmond officially wiped out the Columbus Day name from the October holiday and also saluted a Black sorority that is preparing to mark its 100th birthday.
Delivering help to those in need
Most people are still asleep when Joseph E. “Joey” Matthews starts his collection run Sunday mornings.
Saturday parking enforcement
People have always enjoyed free weekend parking in Richmond – but that is about to change in limited areas with metered spaces.
Plans to house homeless citizens gain ground pending City funding
City Hall is preparing to shell out $615,000 to Commonwealth Catholic Charities (CCC) and other nonprofits or churches that have agreed to provide space to shelter the homeless during inclement weather, particularly the cold weather period that runs now through mid-April.
City Council approves creation of Civilian Review Board
Richmond Police officers hit with complaints could soon have a civilian panel reviewing the details. Monday night, City Council capped two years of debate by voting unanimously to approve the creation of a Civilian Review Board, rejecting calls for delay from advocates disappointed at the limited role the eight-member group will have.
Test of state law on police discrimination to proceed
The Town of Windsor is set to become a test case for a state law that bars localities from engaging in a “pattern of discriminatory policing” affecting Black people and allows the Attorney General’s Office to take action to end such practices.
Early childhood educator Joyce R. Cosby dies at 83
For decades, Joyce Randolph Cosby played a key role in helping 3- and 4-year-olds in Richmond prepare for kindergarten.
Technical Center sees lack of classes
Teachers have little to do other than monitor halls
For decades, hundreds of Richmond high school students have been bused daily to the Technical Center on Westwood Avenue to learn everything from barbering to vehicle repair and construction trades. After those courses, students then were bused back to their schools to take regular classes.
Fate of VUU sign, Confederate statue at standstill
On hold. That’s the status of two landmarks — Virginia Union University’s lighted logo signs that sit atop the 165-foot Vann bell tower on the campus, and the last Confederate statue still standing in the city.
Training grounds
Former tobacco factory may become teaching site for construction workers
Along with a huge investment to transform the 67-acre Diamond District, the private development team that has been awarded the project also is proposing to invest in a construction training center and in other projects that could benefit the Black community.
Jefferson Davis Highway lives on with postal service
Jefferson Davis Highway no longer exists in Virginia, but the name of the president of the slavery-defending Confederacy lives on in the database of the U.S. Postal Service.
Ambitious development plan for Diamond District gains city council approval
Done deal. With an 8-0 vote, City Council on Monday approved the projected $2.4 billion Diamond District in North Side that promises a new baseball stadium plus offices, hotels, homes, apartments, retail space, a public park and a gusher of construction and permanent jobs targeted to city residents.
Fire Department’s grant funding will help reduce overtime hours, offset vacancies
The Richmond Fire Department is headed toward full staffing after securing a $13.7 million federal grant.
‘It is immoral to profit off the backs of Black and Brown residents under the guise of health care’
Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s response to New York Times report on Bon Secours
Calling the practice “immoral,” Mayor Levar M. Stoney this week called on the federal government to crack down on nonprofit hospitals’ diversion of savings on medications away from the low-income communities it was designed to benefit. Mayor Stoney issued his call for reform of the program known as Section 340B in reaction to a stunning New York Times article citing Bon Secours Mercy Health’s Richmond operations as a prime example of the misuse of the revenue from the drug pricing program.
Greening project at South Side church designed to reduce pollution
Nearly 50 trees are now growing in a portion of the parking lot of Branch’s Baptist Church, 3400 Broad rock Blvd. in South Side.
