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City is canvas for Arts in the Alley
Chris and Jeanine Guidry are changing the face of Richmond’s alleys and streets one mural at a time. During the past two weekends, the husband-and-wife team completed their 100th project through Arts in the Alley, a nonprofit Ms. Guidry co-founded eight years ago to clean and decorate neglected alleys as a way to better the city. Aided by a dozen volunteers, they added three colorful murals to building walls in the retail corridor of Barton Heights at North Avenue and Brookland Park Boulevard. The largest, a mural about hope, now fills a wall outside Dream Academy, a nonprofit high school at 2 E. Brookland Park Blvd.
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School Board votes to merge Elkhardt, Thompson
With full backing from the Richmond School Board, Superintendent Dana T. Bedden pulled a rabbit out of his hat this week with a move that closes one old and decrepit middle school and changes the accreditation status at two academically struggling middle schools.
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Transparency, accountability
As Richmond City Council wrestles with the critical task of completing a budget for the city for 2015-16, we call on Mayor Dwight C. Jones to address unsettling issues regarding the expensive outsourcing of city work to outside companies.
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Mechanicsville pastor, church receive $50,000 renewal grant
Dr. R. Neal Siler, pastor of First Shiloh Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, is taking a leave of absence from his congregation beginning this month for some recreation, relaxation and spiritual renewal. The 63-year-old pastor, who has led First Shiloh for 27 years, is scheduled to spend time in Italy, France, Chicago and New Mexico before returning to the pulpit in mid-August.
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Superintendent says $26.5 M increase needed for city schools
Pay now or pay later in negative repercussions that would largely impact the city’s most vulnerable residents. That was the urgent plea Richmond schools Superintendent Dana T. Bedden issued Dec. 14 as he unveiled an estimate of needs for the district for fiscal year 2017. He requested about $26.5 million more than the current budget contains and that would raise the total schools budget to $298 million.
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VSU ending dual-enrollment program
Virginia State University is junking most of its dual-enrollment program that allowed hundreds of high school students to gain college credits from the four-year institution near Petersburg. Beginning this fall, VSU no longer will partner with high schools to offer college algebra, biology, technology and other science courses.
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Portrait of civil rights giant in Governor’s Mansion
Oliver W. Hill used the law to battle segregation and to promote justice and equality in Virginia in schools, in the workplace, the courthouse and a host of other areas.
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A cue from Frederick Douglass
As our nation prepares for its annual celebration of Independence Day, I re-read Frederick Douglass’ Fourth of July speech delivered 163 years ago in Rochester, N.Y. I look at it with a specific eye toward what we can learn from it in the wake of the recent tragedies of Charleston and North Charleston, S.C.; Cleveland; New York City; Ferguson, Mo; and Sanford, Fla. Frederick Douglass observed, “Oppression makes a wise man mad. With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression…The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nation’s history—the very ringbolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destiny…Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance.
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Richmond Kickers given 40-year lease to operate City Stadium
Wrapping up its four-year term, Richmond City Council rushed Monday to give the Richmond Kickers, the area’s professional soccer team, control of the 20,000-seat City Stadium in the West End.
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McDonnell, wife free; facing $10M legal bill
Former Gov. Bob McDonnell is officially a free man, but he paid a heavy price to get there. Federal prosecutors announced late last week they will not pursue a second trial against Mr. McDonnell or his wife, Maureen McDonnell, on corruption charges. The decision, announced Sept. 8, comes more than two months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction.
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Ready or not, 2016 Olympics to open Friday
The 2016 Summer Olympics open Friday in Rio de Janeiro. But the typical opulence and spectacle of the opening ceremony will break from tradition. Organizers in Brazil will depart from the recent tradition of large-scale and expensive shows, and instead will feature a low-emissions cauldron and an “analogue” experience, executive producer Marco Balich said Monday.
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Control the agenda
Sexual boasting, emails, tax returns, deplorables — the second presidential debate Sunday featured insults wrapped up in put-downs. This debate was held within miles of Ferguson, Mo., but it was never mentioned. The citizens offered questions about issues — health care, the U.S. Supreme Court, energy. The moderators peddled scandals — and elicited insults.
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City Council seeks to allocate surplus
Just in case the city ends up with another big surplus when the 2017 fiscal year closes on June 30, Richmond City Council is trying to limit the mayor’s ability to put the extra money into a “rainy day” fund, or unassigned account, to make it off limits.
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Justice not served
After decades of struggles and sacrifices, civil rights legislation enacted in the 1960s won federal promises to ensure that discrimination is illegal and would not be tolerated. Unfettered access to housing, voting rights, fair credit, public accommodations and more was marked and celebrated as hard-fought victories for black Americans and other people of color. In later years,
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Fair Housing Act 48 years later
“Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal. This deepening racial division is not inevitable. The movement apart can be reversed. Choice is still possible. Our principal task is to define that choice and to press for a national resolution … [It] will require a commitment to national action —compassionate, massive and sustained, backed by the resources of the most powerful and the richest nation on this earth. From every American it will require new attitudes, new understanding, and, above all, new will.” — Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (The Kerner Report), 1967
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GOP lawmakers to meet with HBCU presidents
Republicans are planning to meet with leaders of historically black colleges and universities in the nation’s capital to discuss ways to help the schools survive in challenging times.
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Protection against predatory lending gone, by Charlene Crowell
As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc throughout the country, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently took an ill-advised and untimely action.
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Dominion leadership changes lead to promotions for African-Americans, women
African-Americans and women will play more prominent roles in the operation of Dominion Energy in the wake of a leadership overhaul at the Richmond-based energy giant following its abandonment last month of the $8 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project.
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D.C. Statehood is a racial justice issue by Ben Jealous
The District of Columbia is the one spot where there is no government for the people, of the people and by the people, the great abolitionist and D.C. resident Frederick Douglass once wrote.
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Achieving real power
Many people are highly insulted by Confederate statues and monuments, and they want them taken down and/or destroyed.
