City tackling polluted water
Richmond’s most heavily polluted watersheds that drain into the James River will get some extra attention, thanks to a $1 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, it has been announced.
Medicaid enrollment jumps
More than 182,000 Virginia adults — or nearly half of the 400,000 projected to be eligible — have enrolled in Medicaid health care coverage that will begin Jan. 1, Gov. Ralph S. Northam announced.
Information blackout in new city ambulance permit case?
The Richmond Ambulance Authority has, for now, avoided competition for non-emergency transports that help financially support its crucial emergency service.
Criminal justice reform bill signed into law
The widespread unhappiness across the nation over President Trump’s partial federal government shutdown at Christmas may have all but overshadowed the guarded praise surrounding a bipartisan victory for Congress and the president.
Contractors claim they are left out of city lead removal contracts
Small African-American contractors like Anson Bell and Nathan Beyah claim they are being locked out of work to remove from 150 Richmond homes and apartments toxic lead paint that yearly damages the developing brains of dozens of young children.
New Year’s holiday closings
In observance of New Year’s Day, Tuesday Jan. 1, please note the following:
In observance of New Year’s Day, Tuesday Jan. 1, please note the following:
Chief Durham reflects on his tenure in Richmond
Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham is done. He wrapped up Dec. 20 by issuing promotions to 12 officers, including naming three deputy chiefs and tapping one, William C. Smith, to serve as acting chief.
Gentrification: The ‘Negro Removal’ program displacing black people, culture
Gentrification has emerged as a major threat to black communities that have been centers for black business and economic development, cultural and civic life for generations.
Councilwoman to seek state help on Agelasto residency issue
Parker C. Agelasto’s future as the 5th District representative on City Council apparently will depend on whether the General Assembly or another state entity gets involved.
National NAACP suspends Frank J. Thornton, Henrico Branch president
In an extraordinary action, national NAACP President Derrick Johnson has suspended for a year the membership of Frank J. Thornton, president of the Henrico Branch NAACP and son of Frank Thornton, chairman of the Henrico County Board of Supervisors.
$ for schools
Mayor Levar M. Stoney announces $800M plan to fully fund school construction over next 20 years
The mayor announced a plan on Dec. 20 to provide the $800 million that Richmond Public Schools wants to improve and modernize schools, a majority of which are 60 or more years old and seven of which are 100 years old.
VUU spokesperson blasts claims by doctoral student as ‘false, ill-advised, arbitrary and capricious’
Virginia Union University is pushing back against a student-written letter and online petition calling for an investigation and the removal of VUU President Hakim J. Lucas and Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, chair of the VUU Board of Trustees.
‘Young, gifted and dead’
The gregarious 9-year-old Alabama girl was just that, a girl, a little girl, a brown-skinned baby girl with braids or, in one picture, a side ponytail. Her family described her as “bubbly,” but bubbles burst, sometimes in the worst way.
Rep. Karen Bass new CBC chair
In January, the most ethnically and culturally diverse Congress in United States history will be seated. Among the historic “firsts,” the Congressional Black Caucus will exceed 50 members for the first time in its 47-year history and Rep. Karen Bass of California has been elected its chair.
What the world needs now
May all of us remember that God sent his son to show us how to make the world a better place.
City Councilman Michael J. Jones responds
The Free Press included in an article regarding City Councilman Parker C. Agelasto an implication that I might own residential property outside the city of Richmond.
Navy Hill-Coliseum project: Subsidized gentrification?
I applaud Richmond City Council for approving the creation of a committee to review the Navy Hill-Coliseum proposal. The project has been hailed by the city administration as a game-changing economic empowerment project, one that is immune from the potential, yet familiar, negative consequences of costly development projects. But this is simply too good to be true.
28th Annual Capital City Kwanzaa Festival slated for Dec. 29
James Small, a former professor at the City University of New York who is an expert on African and African-American world history and politics, will be the keynote speaker at the 28th Annual Capital City Kwanzaa Festival on Saturday, Dec. 29.
Deshauna Barber, Miss USA 2016 and VSU alumna, keeps it real for VSU fall graduates
Miss USA 2016 Deshauna Barber, a Virginia State University alumna and captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, provided some valuable life lessons during VSU’s fall commencement, which was held last Saturday at the school’s Multi-Purpose Center.
