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$1M upgrade at Main Library in Downtown
Every day, dozens of people flood into the Main Library in Downtown to use public computers. They come to check emails, seek employment, do research and handle other activities in the online world, including paying bills and applying for visas.
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Attention deficit?
Busy school superintendent wants to teach college course
Busy school superintendent wants to teach college course
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5th Street traffic detour expected through mid-August
A portion of North 5th Street was closed Wednesday to start the second phase of work on the bridges beside the Richmond Coliseum.
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Race for the Cure Runners flood through the starting gate on Byrd Street in downtown to launch the Susan G. Komen race for the Cure. …
Published on May 15, 2015
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Mobile homes must meet city code
Re “Mobile home residents allege city’s actions discriminatory in HUD complaint,” May 7-9 edition:
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The criminalization of poverty
The recent U.S. Department of Justice report on police and court practices in Ferguson, Mo., put a much needed spotlight on how a predatory system of enforcement of minor misdemeanors and compounding fines can trap low-income people in a never-ending cycle of debt, poverty and jail. This included outrageous fines for minor infractions, such as failing to show proof of insurance and letting grass and weeds in a yard get too high. In one case, a woman who parked her car illegally in 2007 and couldn’t pay the initial $151 fee has since been arrested twice, spent six days in jail, paid $550 to a city court and, as of 2014, still owed the city $541 in fines, all as a result of the unpaid parking ticket. The Department of Justice found each year Ferguson set targets for the police and courts to generate more and more money from municipal fines. And Ferguson isn’t alone. The criminalization of poverty is a growing trend in states and localities across the country.
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First Lady tells Tuskegee to ‘rise above’
I hope people who attended Tuskegee University’s commencement May 9 got First Lady Michelle Obama’s message. I hope they paid more attention to what she said than how some news media organizations portrayed the First Lady’s speech to graduates of the historically black Alabama school. I don’t want them to think People magazine got it right when it ran as the headline her dismay over being pictured as a fist-pumping Black Panther on a cover of The New Yorker in 2008. It didn’t. And neither did CNN, which put this headline on its report of that speech: “Michelle Obama says she was held to different standard in ’08 campaign due to her race.” What she told Tuskegee’s graduates was much more profound.
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First Lady connects
First Lady Michelle Obama delivered an authentic, unfeigned and inspiring message to graduates at Tuskegee University’s commencement on May 9. Here are excerpts:
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Judge Spencer to VUU grads: Don’t let others deter you
“Make your haters your motivators.” That was the message Judge James R. Spencer delivered to 320 graduates at Virginia Union University’s commencement Saturday at Hovey Field. Judge Spencer, a senior U.S. District Court judge who presided over the recent corruption trials of former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, spoke of his own tribulations of overcoming low expectations from others to reach his position on the bench.
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President calls on religious groups to speak out on poverty
The African-American boy who grew up with an absent father, who started his work life as a community organizer on the payroll of a Catholic agency and who later became U.S. president had plenty to say about poverty in our “winner-take-all” economy. President Obama spoke Tuesday of “ladders of opportunity” once denied to black people and now being dismantled for poor white people as their difficult lives get that much more difficult: “It’s hard being poor. It’s time-consuming. It’s stressful.”
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VUU’s Hamilton slugs her way to All-CIAA
Taylor Hamilton swings a powerful bat in the middle of Virginia Union University’s softball lineup. The junior infielder/outfielder from Willingboro, N.J., slugged 10 homers, drove in 40 runs and batted .435 this past spring, leading VUU to a 16-11 record. Her slugging percentage was a robust .848. Hamilton made All-CIAA and the All-CIAA Tournament Team.
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Personality: Sixto M. Cancel
Spotlight on White House ‘Champion of Change’ honoree
Virginia Commonwealth University senior Sixto Martin Cancel is headed to the White House next week, where he will be recognized for making a difference in the community. He is one of 12 former foster youths from around the nation who will be saluted Tuesday, May 19, as a “Champion of Change.”
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No charges filed against Wisconsin police officer in teen’s death
A Wisconsin police officer who fatally shot an unarmed biracial teenager in March, prompting several days of peaceful protests, will not be charged, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Officer Matt Kenny used justified lethal force in the March 6 shooting of Tony Robinson, 19, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said.
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Girl Scouts executive stepping down
Viola O. Baskerville is ending her tenure as chief executive officer of the Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of Virginia (GSCV). Mrs. Baskerville, 63, who formerly served as state secretary of administration, a member of the House of Delegates and on Richmond City Council, is retiring Friday from the regional Girl Scouts post after three years.
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Advocacy groups plan housing, services safety net for foster youths
Janeva Smith has seen many of her friends in foster care suddenly become homeless when they turn 18. They have nowhere to go, few life skills and little hope for the future. “I’ve had many friends who tried to commit suicide,” said Ms. Smith, who was 18 months old when she initially was placed in foster care in Plainfield, N.J. She was 14 when she entered foster care in Virginia, moving between foster families, group homes and shelters.
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Giles hopes to boost services to troubled teens
Shunda T. Giles has been preparing for her transition from lawyer for the Richmond Department of Social Services to its top manager. On Monday, the 41-year-old attorney took over the leadership role of the department of more than 400 staffers and a $74.5 million annual budget, all aimed at strengthening families and providing services to meet essential human needs.
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Plenty of jobs, not enough workers
Commission recommends aligning training with opportunities
Talk about a huge surprise: Four job openings exist in Richmond for every job seeker in the city, according to government data. In fact, more jobs in the city go begging for qualified workers than anywhere else in the Richmond region, which overall has 1.5 job openings for every job seeker, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated in its December report.
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Sunset over The Carillon in the West End
Published on May 8, 2015
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Mallory Hasen of Jackson Ward: “I would buy my mom a house. She was a single mom raising my sister and me, and she always …
Published on May 8, 2015
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‘Who are the thugs?’
Who are the “thugs” in Baltimore and other cities in America? I have watched with deepest regret the aftermath that has followed the death of Freddie Gray, who was in Baltimore police custody at the time of suffering severe spinal cord damage that resulted in his death. Even worse, why did it take so long to get a police report on what took place? It is strange how long it takes to get police reports on certain incidents when black men are killed by police? That alone raises a red flag. Do these people have a conscience that tells them right from wrong?
