Family of Irvo Otieno agrees to $8.5M settlement
The family of a man who died while handcuffed and pinned to the floor for about 11 minutes as he was being admitted to a Virginia psychiatric hospital has reached an $8.5 million settlement with the state and the county and sheriff whose deputies were involved in restraining him. A judge approved the out-of-court wrongful death settlement Tuesday, according to an agreement filed in Henrico County Circuit Court.
Free community testing for COVID-19 continues
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:
RPS names new leadership at McClenney and Overby-Sheppard elementaries
Richmond Public Schools recently announced two new interim principals.
RPS approves changes in selection process for three high schools
In an effort to enable more underprivileged students to attend Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, Richmond Community High School and Open High, the Richmond School Board approved changes for admissions to those schools on Monday.
Richmond employees gain new benefits
In a bid to ramp up retention of current workers and recruiting of new workers to fill hundreds of vacancies, City Hall plans to improve benefits offered to employees in the area of workforce training and home purchase assistance. Topping the list is a new partnership between the city government and Reynolds Community College’s Community College Workforce Alliance.
VCU names Faye Belgrave as vice president, chief diversity officer
Faye Belgrave, Ph.D., a respected scholar, author and equity advocate, has been named vice president and chief diversity officer at Virginia Commonwealth University, effective Oct. 23.
Early voting begins Sept. 22
The next election is the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 7, and early voting for this election begins tomorrow and ends Nov. 4.
Winter shelter’s opening may be delayed
A planned 150-bed winter shelter for Richmond’s homeless population may not open until Dec. 1, or well after freezing temperatures could hit the city, it has been learned.
‘Walk Through Fire’
Sheila Johnson’s memoir explores love, loss and triumph
For four days and three nights in mid-August, Sheila Crump Johnson, cofounder of Black Entertainment Television and CEO of Salamander Hotels & Resorts, hosted hundreds of guests at her 340-acre Salamander Resort and Spa near Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
Willard Bailey Classic
Panthers return for first home game of season
Bye bye cramped bus seat. Hello Hovey Field. Finally, the road-weary, yet road-conquering Virginia Union University Panthers will merely have to stroll across Lombardy Street to play a football game. Now 3-0 after three long bus rides, Coach Alvin Parker’s squad will play host to Fayetteville State 6 p.m. Saturday under the Hovey lights. It also will serve as the Willard Bailey Classic, honoring the former (and still avid supporter) who posted a 157-73-6 record in two stints of duty, 1971-1983 and 1995-03.
Personality: Sylvia Clute
Spotlight on The Alliance for Unitive Justice president
When former trial attorney Sylvia Clute read the book “A Course in Miracles” in 1987, her concept of justice shifted.
On a mission: LifeNet’s quest to increase organ donations
Black Virginians make up half of the patients on the state’s organ transplant waiting list, despite accounting for 19% of the population
“Don’t take your organs to heaven — heaven knows we need them here.” This phrase, commonly used by organ donation advocates, stuck with Donnetta Quarles-Reese when she first saw it on bumper stickers and license plates in her youth. It would stay with her in the decades that followed, when she agreed to donate the organs of her daughter Clarke Danielle and her husband Charles Michael after their deaths in 2007 and 2017, respectively.
RRHA gets REAL about reducing gun violence
A crime-reduction initiative that Mayor Levar M. Stoney has spurned apparently will come to Richmond after all. The city’s housing authority is partnering with the nonprofit REAL LIFE to implement the same initiative in Richmond that is credited with dramatically cutting shootings and violent crime in Hopewell.
Key Awareness publisher Robert W. Evans Sr. dies at 77
Robert Wright Evans Sr. described life as “a never-ending journey” that is best done with the aim of using God-given gifts and talents “as uplifting blessings with the many souls and spirits encountered along the way.”
Gary Flowers takes his show national
Beginning this Sunday, radio listeners can tune in again to “The Gary Flowers Show.”
Passing the ball
John Marshall basketball hall of famer now trains youths for global stages
Milton S. Bell Jr., 53, began playing basketball at age 7 in the Randolph Community in Richmond’s West End where he grew up. At the time, he didn’t realize that basketball would lead to him becoming fluent in Spanish and take him around the world to play professionally for nine different countries.
The renaissance wasn’t just a concert tour, by Errin Haines
We have just witnessed the Summer of the Black Woman.
Armstrong whomps John Marshall 54-0
Anthony Allen Jr., A.J. Byrd are exciting duo
Life is good these days on Cool Lane in Richmond’s East End.
Richmond Kickers sign Simmonds to USL Academy contract
Nicholas Simmonds isn’t your average 16-year-old athlete. While most soccer players his age would be happy to just make their school team, Simmonds has gone pro with the Richmond Kickers.
Reid’s reach is real in VUU win over Shaw
Panthers beat Bears 26-13
Virginia Union University began this season with a question mark at quarterback. Christian Reid has turned any questions into resounding answers.
