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Private contractors costing city big $ for snow removal
When snow falls in Richmond, City Hall is forced to pay big bucks to private contractors to clear the streets. The reason: Up to half of the aging fleet of city dump trucks that double as snowplows are usually parked, awaiting repairs, according to a new report from the Department of Public Works.
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Case against VUU president in Florida appears stalled
Bethune-Cookman University in Florida appears to have halted its legal effort to hold former top officials accountable for their alleged role in saddling the Daytona Beach school with an overly expensive dormitory.
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A helping hand is just a call away
Need help with housing or utility costs? Want to learn about child care options? Looking for employment? So many people say they don’t know where to start to get the answers they need.
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Community advocate raises concerns about City’s new Confederate shrine
Even as Mayor Levar M. Stoney and City Council revive a citizen commission to help Richmond eliminate slavery-defending Confederate names from streets and bridges, the city Department of Public Utilities has created a new shrine to fallen Civil War rebels.
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Under scrutiny, Trump announces plans to dissolve his foundation
President-elect Donald Trump said he intends to dissolve his charitable foundation, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which has been under investigation by the New York attorney general. The president-elect gave no timeline for winding down the foundation, but said in a statement released on Dec. 24 that he wanted “to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as president.”
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Natural gas price down again in city
Natural gas customers in Richmond are enjoying another plunge in the price of the fuel they use to heat their homes, cook and generate hot water. For the third time in eight months, the city is passing along savings to residents for the price it is paying to buy and bring the fuel to Richmond.
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Obamacare still vital
Signature health care law remains intact despite GOP assaults
Don’t panic if you bought individual or family health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. The ACA, a.k.a. Obamacare, is struggling but still alive and will continue to operate, according to experts in the field, despite President Trump’s decision last week to cut off premium subsidies to insurance companies.
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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.
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Housing authority buys Grace Place
The city’s housing authority has purchased a failing 11-story apartment building in Downtown in a bid to keep it as an income-restricted property offering lower than market rents.
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School Board deadlocked over Kamras’ contract
The Richmond School Board apparently is deadlocked on how long to extend Superintendent Jason Kamras’ contract that ends June 30.
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What dreams come true
City’s ownership of Mayo Island appears within reach
City Hall is jumping to buy a major James River island that the city has dreamed of owning for 40 years to expand parkland.
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Richmond gets Sassy
Richmond’s global connections: Blending culture and fashion to fight famine, menstrual poverty
When Sassy Jones opened a flagship location in Short Pump Town Center last October, it gave the brand’s loyal online community a home they could come to and enjoy shopping the products they loved in a new way — in person.
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African dance company eyeing former Jackson Ward church building
Could the vacant former Sharon Baptist Church in Jackson Ward become a performing arts center for an African dance company and other arts groups?
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HOME explains role in RRHA housing issue
Re “Prospect of home ownership escapes 70-year-old Randolph resident,” Free Press June 29-July 1 edition: The role of Housing Opportunities Made Equal in the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s scattered site process was to provide education and counseling. HOME is not a lender and does not provide financing.
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GRTC unlimited fare passes start Sunday
GRTC passengers can begin using unlimited ride passes Sunday, Nov. 15, according to Carrie Rose Pace, the transit company spokesperson.
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Disparity continues in homeownership
Columnists
Nearly 90 years ago, Kelly Miller, a black sociologist and mathematician, said, “The Negro is up against the white man’s standard, without the white man’s opportunity.”
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CBC head backs America’s College Promise Act
“Some people believe HBCUs are no longer needed and are irrelevant. They are under assault.” That was the sobering message U.S. Rep. George Kenneth “G. K.” Butterfield, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, delivered on the state of historically black colleges and universities.
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Chesterfield to stay in recycling program through Dec.
The Richmond region’s recycling program will remain intact at least through December. Chesterfield County is still mulling its future with the program and has agreed to participate for the rest of the year in the 10-year-old operation run by the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority.
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RRHA prepares to launch home-buying initiative
Richmond is preparing to become the first place in the country to test a revamped federal regulation aimed toward making it easier for people who hold housing vouchers or live in public housing to buy homes. Describing it as a “groundbreaking and historic ini- tiative” that would build wealth for those who qualify, Steven B. Nesmith, the chief executive officer for the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority,
