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School Board mounts effort to contain school construction costs
The Richmond School Board is taking a series of steps in seeking to get a handle on the soaring cost of school construction. The ballooning cost is undermining any hope of modernizing city schools for $800 million over 20 years — the amount the city has promised to provide.
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RRHA negotiating plan to turn over 11 properties to private company
The city’s housing authority is on the verge of giving a New Jersey-based company control of 11 smaller apartment complexes that house families and the elderly as part of its larger plan to modernize public housing by turning over ownership to private companies.
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Local talent to shine in “Minerva Times Change,” an original opera
“It’s a dream come true.” That’s how veteran Richmond actor, dancer and performer Keydron Dunn describes his first opportunity to sing opera.
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GRTC sees rise in riders purchasing passes
GRTC is carrying more people but taking in less money at the farebox.
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Questions raised about charity status of Navy Hill entities
Now stumping for tax increases that he claims will go to pave streets and repair aging schools, Mayor Levar M. Stoney has clearly put a proposal to build a new, larger Richmond Coliseum on the backburner.
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4th Circuit renders decision in battle over Md. cross
For 92 years, a four-story-tall cross has stood at a major intersection in Prince George’s County, Md., paying silent tribute to members of the American military who died fighting in World War I. Now, in the latest church-state battle over public memorials, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond has ruled that the massive memorial violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on the government imposition of a religious faith.
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County official chosen as new city auditor
Richmond City Council this week tapped a veteran of Chesterfield County government to make City Hall operations more efficient and track down waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars. Louis G. “Lou” Lassiter, deputy Chesterfield County administrator, was approved to be the new city auditor at a special council meeting at Free Press deadline Wednesday night.
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Virginia General Assembly
Republicans still in charge
The General Assembly opened a new session Wednesday with Republican M. Kirkland “Kirk” Cox of Colonial Heights in the speaker’s chair in the 100-member House of Delegates.
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City voters overwhelmingly approve schools referendum
“The people have spoken. Now we can only hope that City Hall and the Richmond delegation to the General Assembly were listening.”
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Class action suit filed against BB&T for stop payment request violation
When Ronnie and Christine Gilliam told BB&T bank they were revoking the right of a payday lender to take electronic payments from their checking account, they allege the bank ignored the request.
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Bankruptcy trustee recommends RCC sale to another church
And the apparent winner is United Nations Church International. Aiming to keep the Richmond Christian Center a place of worship, a court-appointed trustee is recommending a sale of the church’s 5-acre property in South Side to Richmond-based UNCI for $2.9 million.
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Gold tapped to launch new grocery in Church Hill
Steve and Kathie Markel refused to be deterred when they could not find anyone interested in opening a supermarket in the $30 million Church Hill North retail-commercial-apartment complex they are developing at 25th Street, Fairmount Avenue and Nine Mile Road.
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AG opines that gun-toting militia groups can face arrest under certain circumstances
Openly carrying weapons is not illegal, even on the grounds of the State Capitol. But members of privately organized militias who assume law enforcement duties without permission can be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor “of falsely assuming or pretending to be” a sworn officer of the law.
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Rekindling memories of childhood and pal Arthur
For one group of men, Arthur Ashe Jr. is more than a tennis superstar and internationally recognized crusader for human rights and bringing awareness and resources to the AIDS epidemic.
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Waiver expansion undermines RPS absenteeism policy
Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras has quietly undermined a Richmond School Board effort to crack down on the serious problem of chronic absenteeism by students.
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RRHA issues request for developer interest in public housing transformation
Damon E. Duncan promised to move “expeditiously” to transform public housing in the city after taking over as chief executive officer of the Richmond Redevelopment Development and Housing Authority two months ago.
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Sources: Mayor Stoney to advance Coliseum project for Downtown
The grand, but still stalled $1.4 billion plan to replace the now-closed Richmond Coliseum and potentially create thousands of new jobs is supposed to include development of nearly 3,000 affordable and market- rate apartments.
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Obamacare still vital
Signature health care law remains intact despite GOP assaults
Don’t panic if you bought individual or family health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. The ACA, a.k.a. Obamacare, is struggling but still alive and will continue to operate, according to experts in the field, despite President Trump’s decision last week to cut off premium subsidies to insurance companies.
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Woman power
Female candidates claim victory in Tuesday’s primary elections
Female political power was on display in Tuesday’s primary elections in the Richmond area. In separate Democratic and Republican party contests, women repeatedly emerged as the candidates of choice among the voters who went to the polls, leaving male rivals in the dust.
