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RRHA resident’s chilly 3-year ordeal
For the past three years, Tina Marie Shaw has had to rely on an electric space heater to keep the winter cold out of her public housing unit in Creighton Court. “I worry about the heater starting a fire,” said Ms. Shaw, who looks after her 9-year-old grandson, Xavia, her pride and joy and an honors student at a Richmond elementary school. To avoid risk to herself and the child, “I unplug (the heater) at night when I go upstairs to bed, and turn it on in the morning.”
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City finishes with money loss on UCI bike race
Remember the world bike races that dominated Richmond for nine days in September? To Mayor Dwight C. Jones and other officials, the races were an unparalleled success, creating an economic boost for the region and putting the area in the world cycling spotlight.
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$5.5M gift gives Dominion naming rights to CenterStage
Utility giant Dominion Resources soon will plant its flag on the downtown performing arts complex now known as Richmond CenterStage. With a $5.5 million gift from its charity arm, the Dominion Foundation, the company is to gain naming rights to the complex that includes the Carpenter Theatre, the Libby S. Gottwald Playhouse and other arts operations.
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New Fulton housing development on drawing board
Richmond’s apartment boom is heading east into the Fulton community. The former Robert Fulton Elementary School, long a haven for artists, is proposed to be a centerpiece of a 266-unit, $38 million apartment complex to be called Studio Row.
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CAO scraps plan to use energy savings for upgrades
Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration has killed a plan to use energy savings to finance critical improvements to more than 30 aging city buildings, the Free Press has learned. The city’s chief administrative officer, Selena Cuffee-Glenn, quietly made the decision in the past few weeks. She did so after Siemens, the company the city hired to provide a detailed proposal, offered to undertake $13 million in improvements to city buildings that would be repaid over time from savings the city achieved from cutbacks in electricity and natural gas use.
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Longtime Broad St. business to close
For 70 years, Moore’s Auto Body and Paint Shop Inc. has been a fixture at 401 W. Broad St. But that is about to change as one of the city’s oldest African-American-owned businesses prepares to close. Owner Jesse Moore, 71, disclosed Monday that he has sold the nearly quarter-acre property and will shut down the auto body operation there at the end of the month.
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Church must boot Parson to clear bankruptcy
The future of an embattled South Side church may hinge on whether it can completely cut ties with its founding pastor. As part of a financial plan clearing the way for the once giant Richmond Christian Center to emerge from bankruptcy, the church had to agree to one stipulation — that Pastor Steven A. Parson Sr. “have no contact” with the worship center he founded in his living room more than 32 years ago.
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Coffee shop reopens on Brookland Park Blvd.
The Streetcar Café on North Side is back in business under new management. The coffee shop at 10 E. Brookland Park Blvd. turned on the lights and began serving patrons again Dec. 14, two weeks after the previous operators departed.
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Va. NAACP elections on hold in wake of national investigation
In a surprise move, the national NAACP has put the Oct. 31 election results for the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP on hold as it investigates claims of irregularities in the vote. Among other things, the national office is seeking to determine whether youth delegates were wrongly denied ballots in the vote for officers.
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Strange fruit?
Critic: Oak evokes lynching image at Walker statue site
The fight over the tree in the planned Maggie L. Walker plaza isn’t over. Gary L. Flowers, a Richmond native and national political and civil rights operative living in Jackson Ward, has jumped into the fray with a petition drive opposing the live oak that now dominates the gateway into Jackson Ward where the monument to the great lady is to stand.
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City election officials called on the carpet
The Virginia Department of Elections has a software upgrade that could have prevented voters in precincts split into two or more election districts from receiving the wrong ballots, the Free Press has learned. The finding comes at the same time the state Board of Elections, which oversees the department, has asked City of Richmond election officials to appear Jan. 8 before the state board to explain a series of problems that cropped up during the Nov. 3 election.
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John Marshall’s ‘Baby-faced Bomber’ morphs into ‘J-Rock’
It seems fitting Jeremy Carter-Sheppard goes by two surnames. That’s because he’s about twice as hard to guard as most teenagers. John Marshall High School’s hyphenated hero can wow you in so many ways. John Marshall Coach Ty White was asked if his senior star was most effective popping from outside, driving to the basket or dishing to teammates. Coach White’s quick reply: “All of the above.”
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New VSU president shares vision, receives support at official introduction
Brimming with confidence and eager to get started, the new president of Virginia State University is promising to first listen to students, faculty and staff and then roll out a “strategic vision that will be bold and purposefully challenging.” Among other things, Dr. Makola M. Abdullah wants VSU to be known for providing “a quality education,” to invest in specialty academic areas that would make the university more attractive while continuing to be “an opportunity university” for students who might not be admitted elsewhere.
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Recount confirms Roscoe Cooper as School Board winner
It’s official. The Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper III is confirmed as the winner of the Fairfield District seat on the Henrico School Board — by 42 votes.
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City Council greenlights Maggie Walker statue at triangle
Forget Monument Avenue and Abner Clay Park. The future statue of Richmond’s great lady, Maggie L. Walker, will stand at the intersection of Brook Road and Broad and Adams streets, the gateway to historic Jackson Ward where Mrs. Walker lived and won acclaim for her entrepreneurial spirit. Richmond City Council voted 6-1, with two abstentions, Monday night to reconfirm that decision for the third time in 15 years, clearing the way for the project.
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Voter supression or simple snafu?
City man given wrong ballot in Nov. election
Edward A. Adams went to the polls Nov. 3 eager to cast his ballot for Dan Gecker, the Democrat who ultimately lost in the hotly contested race in the 10th Senate District. But the 59-year-old postal worker wound up casting a ballot for unchallenged incumbent Sen. A. Donald McEachin in the 9th Senate District — even though Mr. Adams’ residence at 612 W. Franklin actually is listed on the poll books as being in the 10th Senate District.
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School Board election recount set for Dec. 10
The Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper III is expected to learn this week whether his 43-vote victory will stand for the Fairfield District seat on the Henrico County School Board. The Henrico Circuit Court has ordered a recount Thursday, Dec. 10, to formally settle the race, according to county election officials.
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Library board tables decision on armed guards at branches
The board of the Richmond Public Library is not ready to approve armed guards at its branches. The issue of deploying guards with guns was discussed at the board meeting last week after two disturbing incidents at the North Avenue Branch recently shook up staff and patrons.
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Accreditation sanction lifted from NSU; extended at VSU
Eddie N. Moore Jr. is wreathed in smiles, while Dr. Pamela V. Hammond is frowning. That’s how the interim presidents of Norfolk State and Virginia State universities, respectively, are greeting the latest word from the accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges (SACS) based in Decatur, Ga.
