Story
State Jails Board creates improvement plan for City Jail
Investigation cites 6 deaths, inconsistent inspections and other unmet standards
Only a small staff of deputies is working in the Richmond City Justice Center on any given day, the Free Press is being told, as the number of sworn officers under the command of Sheriff Antionette V. Irving continues to fall.
Story
Dominion Energy to partner with VSU on energy storage project
There is a push to transform the energy sector and find ways to generate and deliver power through renewable energy sources. Dominion Energy is building the largest offshore wind project in the U.S. and has solar farms around the state. However, to transition reliably and effectively requires a critical component sometimes overlooked in the discussion — battery storage.
Story
60 years after the March on Washington, please read Dr. King’s full ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, by Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan
It’s been 60 years since the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. One of the most famous speeches in American history, it is named for its most quoted line: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Story
Heads up for a head start?
$19M from projected Casino revenue proposed for child care needs
An already short supply of child care operations could soon grow worse in Richmond and across the country, experts say. But the good news is City Hall has a solution, even though it could take three years to fully come to fruition.
Story
RPS approves changes in selection process for three high schools
In an effort to enable more underprivileged students to attend Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, Richmond Community High School and Open High, the Richmond School Board approved changes for admissions to those schools on Monday.
Story
The need for food and shelter grows for city’s homeless
“The need has tripled,” Rhonda Sneed said. “More and more people are experiencing a crisis at this time, and so many with food insecurity. I am seeing more people seeking some form of nourishment from a trash receptacle.”
Story
City leaders, groups propose housing crisis solutions
Following months of rising rent costs, a high number of evictions and growing housing scarcity, Richmond officials have declared that the city is in an affordable housing crisis.
Story
Coming Together Virginia to explore impact of racism on mental health
For the next three months, Coming Together Virginia (CTVA) will host its Racism at Work (RAW) series to tackle how racism affects physical and emotional well-being. Founded by Danita Rountree Green and Martha Rollins in 2014, the nonprofit’s vision is of “a racially healed world of thriving, equitable and just communities.”
Story
Music Review: Beyoncé's epic 'Act II: Cowboy Carter' defies categorization, redefines American style
“Nothin’ really ends / For things to stay the same they have to change again,” Beyoncé sings on “Act ll: Cowboy Carter,” the opening lines of the opening track, “Ameriican Requiem.” “Them big ideas, yeah, are buried here / Amen.”
Story
RPS school board member Jonathan Young responds to student allegations
The Richmond School Board plans to revise its standards of conduct policy following an independent attorney’s investigation into School Board Member Jonathan Young’s behavior toward a 15-year-old student, according to a WTVR-CBS 6 news report.
Story
The confounding case of O.J. Simpson
There are a lot of things in this country that can make some people reach their boiling point.
Story
President Biden signs $95B bill for war aid in Ukraine
Funds include $26B in aid for Israel, $1B in for Palestinians in Gaza
President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he was immediately rushing badly needed weaponry to Ukraine as he signed into law a $95 billion war aid measure that also included assistance for Israel, Taiwan and other global hotspots.
Story
Palpable relief doesn’t ease the pain
For anyone who owns a home or land, it has become common to receive a text or letter from a persistent real estate agent or investor offering to purchase their property. In most Black communities, where homeowners have labored long and hard to acquire a home for themselves or family members, the response to such predators is a polite — or not so polite — “no.”
Story
Movie review: ‘The Color Purple’ is a stirring big-screen musical powered by its spectacular cast
Exuberant performances from a cast led by Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson and Danielle Brooks breathe life into Blitz Bazawule’s stirring “The Color Purple,” adapted from the Tony-winning Broadway production.
Story
Biden and Trump dominate Super Tuesday races, move closer to a November rematch
President Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, romped through more than a dozen states on Super Tuesday, all but cementing a November rematch and pushing the former president’s last major rival, Nikki Haley, out of the Republican race.
Story
Political pilgrimage to Selma
Ninety-five members of Congress will make a civil rights pilgrimage to Alabama next week. The delegation of House members and senators will spend Friday, March 6, through Sunday, March 8, in Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma and Marion for the 50th anniversary of the historic voting rights marches in 1965. President Obama will join them March 7 in Selma to commemorate “Bloody Sunday,” when state troopers attacked marchers as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge on their way to Montgomery to demand voting rights for African-Americans.
Story
City betting millions on brewery
In its California hometown, Stone Brewery is a standout in San Diego’s burgeoning craft beer market, with Stone’s two beer gardens ranking as important tourist lures. The company boasts that only the renowned San Diego Zoo and the LEGOLAND amusement park attract more visitors to the Navy port city with 4 million people in the metropolitan area or four times the population of metro Richmond.
Story
Move may force Morrissey to lose House seat
Henrico Delegate Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey might have to give up his current seat in the General Assembly. A provision of the Virginia Constitution would force Delegate Morrissey to resign from the House of Delegates if he proceeds, as anticipated, to challenge freshman Petersburg Sen. Rosalyn R. Dance in the 16th Senate District. It would be a startling outcome after the fight he waged to remain a delegate. He gained pariah status in the legislature because of his criminal conviction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The conviction left him serving in the last General Assembly session on work release from a Henrico jail.
Story
VUU hopes for NCAA bid despite takedown
Here is the good news/bad news update on Virginia Union University football. Unsettling news is that by losing 23-19 last Saturday at Bowie State University, VUU is now a long shot to win the CIAA Northern Division title and advance to the CIAA title game.
