Top of the class
Richmond Public Schools is turning out scholars. The highest-achieving students in the Class of 2019 at each of the city’s high schools were celebrated at the annual Valedictorian Luncheon held May 30 at the Science Museum of Virginia. Theme for …
Armstrong graduation figures better than initial report
Armstrong High School is providing best evidence that more seniors are graduating from Richmond Public Schools this year than the public could have expected given the pessimistic projections released three weeks ago by Superintendent Jason Kamras and his staff.
Agelasto’s council fate may rest with hearing
Parker C. Agelasto’s service on Richmond City Council is now in the hands of a Richmond Circuit Court judge after months of controversy over the 5th District councilman’s move to a home outside the district.
Saying goodbye
More than 1,000 people from across Metro Richmond came out to honor the life of 9-year-old Markiya Dickson, the Chesterfield County third-grader who was shot and killed at Carter Jones Park in South Side during the Memorial Day Weekend.
RPS official says LEED standards haven’t returned big savings
Richmond Public Schools’ chief operating officer confirmed a Free Press finding that building new schools to a national energy standard has failed to pay off in energy savings. Darin Simmons told the Richmond School Board on June 3 that building …
RPS attendance officers cut without placement assistance
Butler Peterson has spent the past five years visiting families of truant Richmond Public Schools students to improve their attendance. That’s just one of the jobs he has held in his 18 years with RPS and why he hoped to …
Facial hair? Richmond Police uniformed officers now have the OK
If you see uniformed Richmond Police officers sporting beards and mustaches, they have the OK of the top brass. Interim Police Chief William C. Smith made it possible. He quietly amended the department’s grooming policy to allow patrol officers to …
Bike lanes proposed for 1st Street
Busy 1st Street in Jackson Ward would be reduced to one lane for traffic under a city proposal to install bike lanes on the west side of a roadway that is a significant link between North Side to Downtown and …
Sledge named city’s director of economic development
Leonard Sledge, who previously led economic development in Hampton and an Atlanta suburb, has been named the new director of economic and business development for Richmond.
HOME challenges Chesterfield apartment complex policy in federal court
How far can a landlord go in banning people with felony or serious misdemeanor convictions as tenants? A new federal lawsuit seeks to find out. The fair housing watchdog Housing Opportunities Made Equal filed the suit in U.S. District Court …
Rally calls on Gov. Northam to remove Lee statue from Monument Ave.
More than two dozen people called on Gov. Ralph S. Northam to remove the statue of Confederate Robert E. Lee from Monument Avenue during a recent rally in Richmond. The contingent, which included members of the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, …
Retired judge honored with Carrico Award
For 32 years, Judge Wilford Taylor Jr. served on the bench in his hometown of Hampton. State judges have saluted the retired jurist with the 2019 Harry L. Carrico Outstanding Career Service Award for his work on the bench.
‘Hill of Heroes’
Nearly 12,000 flags fill the “Hill of Heroes” at the Virginia War Memorial on Belvidere Street. Planted by nearly 80 volunteers next to the Shrine of Memory, the flags recall the Virginians killed in conflicts since the start of World …
School Board gives final approval to $418M spending plan
Backed by a $25 million boost in contributions from city taxpayers, the Richmond School Board Tuesday approved spending a record $16,814 for each of the 24,800 students projected to be served in the 2019-20 budget year that begins July 1.
Funeral service Friday for 9-year-old Markiya
As the family of 9-year-old Markiya Dickson prepares to lay her to rest, Richmond Police are still searching this week for three men wanted in connection with her shooting death.
