Story
City school buses being equipped with safety cameras
Fifty city school buses now are equipped with additional cameras to beef up security inside and to help identify scofflaw drivers who illegally pass the buses when students are getting on or off.
Story
Solar streetlights to stay in Randolph West
Solar streetlights will continue to light the Randolph West subdivision in the West End, according to developer A. Hugo “Al” Bowers Sr.
Story
Former MCV researcher Anna Carr dies at 86
Her attractiveness made her a JET Beauty of the Week. Her intellect enabled her to become a pioneering scientist.
Story
Retired teacher Joyce Johnson dies at 73
Teaching children was Joyce Cole Johnson’s mission in life, according to her family. For 33 years, Ms. Johnson helped Richmond first- and second-graders learn to read, write and do arithmetic, first at Woodville Elementary and then at John B. Cary Elementary schools.
Story
Mayor Stoney, city officials mulling options to reduce crime in public housing
The Mosby Court public housing community — particularly the area around Redd and Accommodation streets — could be considered the epicenter of Richmond’s spike in homicides.
Story
Crusade votes to back city charter change to fix school buildings
In his first budget, Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney essentially sidelined the issue of modernizing the aging and increasingly obsolete school buildings that most city public school students attend.
Story
Maggie Walker statue to be dedicated on her birthday July 15
City officials plan to dedicate the new Maggie L. Walker statue Downtown on July 15, the 153rd birthday of the Richmond businesswoman and great.
Story
Volunteers to help fix up homes for elderly during Affordable Housing Awareness Week
April is here and that means hundreds of Richmond area volunteers soon will pour into neighborhoods to make home improvements for elderly and low-income residents who cannot afford them.
Story
Plan for former Highland Park Catholic school building stalls
The plan to replace a vacant Catholic school on North Side with 80 affordable apartments is on hold as the nonprofit developer seeks to overcome opposition from neighborhood St. Elizabeth Catholic Church and nearby residents. The Free Press reported on the plan in early February, but the proposal has been stalled since an ordinance to support the work was sent to Richmond City Council for approval.
Story
Essex Village flunks HUD inspection
After years of complaints, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is finally reacting to the deteriorating condition of Essex Village, the largest subsidized housing complex in Henrico County.
Story
Free Press wins VPA awards
The Richmond Free Press continues its award-winning tradition. The newspaper was recognized with six awards at the annual Virginia Press Association competition in writing, photography, news presentation and advertising.
Story
Adediran lands provisional post in Petersburg
Dismissed from is job at Richmond’s City Hall, Emmanuel O. Adediran is headed to a job with the Petersburg city government, the Free Press learned Wednesday.
Story
Back on the runway
Renée Lacy has been the modeling guru for thousands of children, teens and adults in the Richmond area and beyond. For 35 years, the bubbly, energetic woman operated a training center in Downtown where would-be models under her tutelage learned the ways of the runway.
Story
Religious order reviewing bids on former Powhatan boarding school property
The future of a historic 2,200-acre property in Powhatan County, where thousands of African-American children once were educated in long-closed Catholic boarding schools, remains in limbo.
Story
Jackson Ward development continues with proposed $27M apartment-retail complex
A Jackson Ward parking lot soon could soon be home to a five-story, $27 million building featuring 167 apartments. Richmond area developer Eric Phipps reportedly is proposing to create the new project on a 1-acre parcel on East Marshall Street. The site is on the north side of Marshall between Adams and 1st streets.
Story
City Council besieged with requests for more money
As it wades into the details of city spending, Richmond City Council, as usual, is finding itself besieged with pleas for additional funding from departments that feel shortchanged by Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s spartan budget proposal.
Story
GRTC gears up for route changes effective Nov. 12
Love it or hate it, GRTC is moving ahead with a major revamp of its city bus routes. The proposed changes to routes are expected to be finalized this week and go into effect on Sunday, Nov. 12, Amy Inman, the city’s transportation planner, told a Richmond City Council meeting Monday.
Story
Dr. Levy Armwood to retire
Ebenezer Baptist Church in Jackson Ward soon will be looking for a new pastor. Dr. Levy M. Armwood Jr. is retiring after nearly 15 years in the pulpit of the historic church that has occupied 216 W. Leigh St. since 1858, three years before the Civil War.
Story
GRTC board fires CARE van company
Cora J. Dickerson’s complaints about the CARE van service that GRTC provides to elderly and disabled riders have produced unexpected results.
Story
General Assembly request holds up Boulevard development project
The General Assembly wants more information before allowing the state’s liquor agency to borrow $104 million to develop a new headquarters and warehouse in a new location.
