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Petersburg’s pioneering educator and mayor, Dr. Florence Saunders Farley, dies at 94
Dr. Florence Saunders Farley, a trailblazing psychologist who also served as Petersburg’s first Black female mayor, has died.
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Laptop overload
Despite thousands of unused Chromebooks, RPS plans to buy 4,000 more
Three months ago, the Richmond School Board was told that the school system had enough Chromebooks to provide every student with a laptop “for years to come.” Now the board is being advised that Superintendent Jason Kamras’ administration plans to buy at least 4,000 more Chromebooks using a newly awarded federal grant.
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Plan linking city traffic lights with regional emergency vehicle system stalled
When lights and sirens are activated, drivers of fire trucks and ambulances in Chesterfield and Henrico counties have equipment that can turn traffic lights from red to green as they respond to emergencies. The bottom line: Safer and smoother travel on congested streets, say officials in both counties, which began making the equipment standard in 2000. Not so in Richmond, which has far more traffic lights and more emergency calls.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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City Council committee temporarily sidelines citizen review board to investigate complaints against police
A City Council committee hit the pause button Tuesday on a proposal from Mayor Levar M. Stoney to establish a new Richmond civilian review board to investigate complaints against city police.
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Changing the trajectory
RRHA ushering in new initiatives for jobs, health and safety
Steven B. Nesmith promised to transform the operation of Richmond’s public housing and the opportunities for residents when he assumed leadership of the authority last fall.
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RRHA prepares to launch home-buying initiative
Richmond is preparing to become the first place in the country to test a revamped federal regulation aimed toward making it easier for people who hold housing vouchers or live in public housing to buy homes. Describing it as a “groundbreaking and historic ini- tiative” that would build wealth for those who qualify, Steven B. Nesmith, the chief executive officer for the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority,
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Gov. Northam proposes $25M to transform Monument Avenue and historical sites
The state would provide nearly $11 million to repopulate Monument Avenue with figures of heroes to replace the Confederate statues that once dominated the street under a proposal from Gov. Ralph S. Northam.
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Henrico County man fighting eviction will soon have his day in court
Donald J. Garrett could find out within a week whether he will keep the Eastern Henrico apartment he has lived in since 2011.
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City’s plan leaves fewer people with shelter this winter
City Hall is ending its decades-old effort to prevent homeless people from freezing to death when temperatures plunge.
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Closing of area shelters leave many without shelter
Joe Barrett is back to living on the street. Left paralyzed on his left side by a stroke, the 62-year-old Richmond native is among more than 130 homeless people who lost their shelter beds Saturday.
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William U. Booker Sr., entrepreneur, civic and spiritual leader, dies at age 95
Hard-working, honest, wise, industrious, caring’ were his trademarks
William Ulysses Booker Sr. sought to seize the opportunities that came his way.
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Senate committee’s ‘no’ vote for Morrissey casino bill may mean ‘yes’ for Richmond
With two weeks to go in the 2023 General Assembly session, Richmond appears to be on track to retain the right to hold a second vote on hosting a casino in November. While it could all change, Richmond gained much needed help from a slim majority of the Senate Finance Committee. Last week, the committee voted 8-7 to kill Petersburg Democratic state Sen. Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey’s bill to add the Cockade City to the list of cities allowed to have a casino and authorize that city to host a referendum before Richmond made a second attempt to get voters to approve after a majority rejected a casino plan in 2021. If the majority holds in the Senate Finance Committee, the same fate would await an identical bill that Petersburg Repub- lican Delegate Kim Taylor successfully pushed through the House on Tuesday. Petersburg believed it had a good chance to win after sign- ing an agreement with The Cordish Companies of Baltimore to deliver a casino and related developments worth $1.4 bil- lion. Despite the setback, that city is still is likely to hold a November referendum seeking approval from its voters for the Cordish proposal. Richmond is not guaranteed to retain the right to hold a referendum. With Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin seeking to lift up Petersburg, the Free Press has been told that some of those who opposed Sen. Morrissey’s bill in the committee could use the Petersburg casino measure as a bargaining chip when the House and Senate conferees meet to finalize the budget. A year ago, after Sen. Morrissey’s bill appeared to be dead after losing 9-7 in the Finance Committee, budget language re- vived it. The legislature followed Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan’s
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Report card
Funding, other details still unclear a year after Fox Elementary fire
It will take at least two more years to reopen historic William Fox Elementary School in The Fan — but only if nearly $26 million is available to make it happen.
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Richmond Police detectives indicted on misdemeanor charges
The Richmond Police Department appears to have largely dodged a legal bullet from the actions of its officers during the spate of protests over police brutality and racial injustice during late spring.
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Casino gets green light from Richmond City Council
Richmond is moving closer to achieving its dream of having a gambling resort in South Side.
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‘Best gift ever’
Henrico mother receives the gift of life – a liver transplant – from 21-year-old son
Thanks to receiving from her oldest son what she calls “the best gift ever,” Tashawn D. Jones, 41, is enjoying an especially bright holiday season.
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Lee statue removed in U.S. Capitol; injunction remains keeping Monument Avenue statue
The statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was removed with ease Monday from the U.S. Capitol, but the towering statue of the slavery-defending general will remain on Monument Avenue for now, courtesy of a Virginia Supreme Court ruling.
