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Public barred from North Side park
It’s called a public park, but, ironically, the public is barred from entering the small grassy space on North Side without buying a city permit.
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Virginians to be impacted by new laws now in effect
New state laws went into effect Saturday, July 1, that could impact how Virginians drive, what kind of alcohol they buy and what they wear when they go hunting.
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Elon Musk trying to figure out Twitter, by Clarence Page
After closing his $44 billion deal to purchase Twitter, Elon Musk still seemed to be trying to figure out what he had bought.
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VLBC sees progress
The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus announced progress in its legislative agenda in terms of voter rights, criminal justice, education, arrest and confinement, and more.
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Variety of scams targeting all people of color, by Charlene Crowell
Just as the annual holiday season of shopping and celebrating nears, a major federal financial regulator released new research detailing how communities of color not only are targeted by well-known types of predatory lenders, but new forms of fraud seek to exploit consumers in the throes of the COVID- 19 pandemic.
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Henrico police chief to retire
Another area police chief is stepping down as protests continue against police violence and racial injustice.
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Petition drive continues for Put Schools First
Put Schools First is still collecting signatures to get a proposed change to the City Charter on a future Richmond ballot to allow voters to decide whether to pump more tax dollars into school construction and limit financing for the Coliseum replacement project that Mayor Levar M. Stoney has endorsed.
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2 area apartment complexes being revitalized
Two major apartment complexes, one in Richmond and one in Henrico County that largely house lower-income families, are being revitalized.
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Holding on to their faith: Strengthening Black families living with dementia
When Dr. Fayron Epps was growing up in New Orleans, worship services weren’t limited to Sundays.
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Harvard Law Review elects first black woman president
Special to Trice Edney News Wire from Afro American Newspapers ImeIme Umana, one of four daughters born to Nigerian immigrants, was elected as the 131st president of the Harvard Law Review out of 12 candidates, eight of whom were minorities and eight of whom were women.
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Gov. Northam releases progressive 2020-22 budget plan
Smokers might have to shell out an extra 30 cents in tax for a pack of cigarettes to help offset the cost of tobacco-related illnesses that the state must pick up through Medicaid and other health care programs.
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TIME features photo by Regina H. Boone
Award-winning photographer Regina H. Boone has pricked the nation’s conscience with her poignant photograph of a rash-covered child affected by the lead-contaminated water in Flint, Mich. The former Richmond Free Press photographer’s image of 2-year-old Sincere Smith is featured on the cover of the Feb. 1 edition of TIME magazine.
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End of the road for free rides on GRTC?
GRTC’s current free fare program was supposed to remain in place through June 2025, but now is at risk of ending far sooner. The regional bus company eliminated fares soon after the pandemic hit in March 2020 with the help of state and federal grants. That change has helped regular bus riders save thousands of dollars in transit costs. The program appeared on course to be extended for an ad- ditional three years after the state awarded GRTC an $8 million grant five months ago. Now transit advocates are raising alarm that the no fare program could end as soon January 2023 for lack of financial backing, most notably from City Hall. According to transit advocates, Mayor Levar M. Stoney, who has repeatedly stated he would keep GRTC fare-free through his term, has put the zero-fare initiative at risk by failing to keep his pledge to provide the required matching funds for the grant. Without notice, he rejected the request of his new internal Of- fice of Equitable Transit to include $1 million in local matching funds for the state grant in his proposed budget for 2022-23. Nor has he indicated any plans for the city alone, or in concert with its regional GRTC partners, Chesterfield and Henrico coun- ties, to provide the matching $3 million required in 2023-24 and the matching $5 million required in the 2024-25 fiscal year. At a news conference on Tuesday, Mayor Stoney defended his decision. He first told reporters that GRTC has “plenty of money” and can cover the match itself. He said the 2020 hike in the regional sales and gas tax to boost funding for transportation through the new Central Virginia Transit Authority, or CVTA, has increased regional support for public transit to record levels. Later in the news conference, the mayor asserted that his spending plan actually includes the $1 million, which was not broken out. That also was the statement given to the Free Press by the mayor’s press secretary, Jim Nolan. However, the only increase in subsidy his proposed budget plan provides to GRTC is $600,000. His proposal is to increase the current GRTC subsidy of $8 million to $8.6 million, still about half the $16 million the city provided GRTC yearly before the General Assembly created the CVTA two years ago. That $6 million increase, he stated in the budget message he delivered to City Council in early March, is needed to meet a state requirement that was part of the CVTA legislation. Under that requirement, localities in the authority must raise the transit subsidy yearly to reflect the increase in inflation recorded by the Consumer Price Index. Some of that increase in city subsidy also is earmarked for new bus shelters. The first warning that the zero-fare policy might not survive came in an April 18 post on the Greater Washington blog that was filed by Wyatt Gordon, a policy manager for land use and transportation at the Virginia Conservation Network. According to Mr. Gordon, the mayor and his administration rejected the request from the new internal Office of Equitable Transit to provide the $1 million in matching funds, putting the zero-fare initiative at risk. The Rev. Benjamin P. Campbell, GRTC board chairman, confirmed that the free fare service could end sooner than anticipated if additional funds are not provided. He noted that federal CARES Act money that has helped support the program is drying up and the continuation of free fares would require a financial commitment from the city and the two counties to cover the increasing cost. He said the big question for GRTC’s board is whether free fares are sustainable. The advocacy group RVA Rapid Transit is urging City Council to save the zero-fare program for at least another year by adding $1 million to the GRTC subsidy to protect riders — a majority of whom live well below the median income — from a major hit to their pocketbooks. In an email, Faith Walker, the group’s executive director, called on the council to embrace 1st District Councilman Andreas D. Addison’s amendment to add the $1 million when the governing body meets Friday, April 22, to complete its work on the city’s 2022-23 operating budget. That budget goes into effect July 1. Mr. Addison supports fare-free transit and believes the city can afford the cost, but it is not yet clear that he can muster a five-member majority to back the $1 million additional GRTC subsidy. Ms. Walker called it a matter of equity — a topic the mayor has preached about—noting that half the regular bus riders have incomes at or below $25,000 a year, with at least one in four hav- ing incomes of $10,000 a year or less. Removing transit fares has helped boost the standard of living for those riders, she stated. Council members have advanced more than $22 million in budget amendments, including the proposal to boost the GRTC subsidy. But the members have shown little appetite to date for making cuts in the mayor’s spending plan to pay for their proposals, and at this moment, have only about $2.7 million in additional funds to spend.
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Michigan officials face charges in Flint water crisis
Michigan prosecutors on Tuesday charged four former government officials in Flint, including two city emergency managers, with conspiring to violate safety rules in connection with the city’s water crisis that exposed residents to dangerous levels of lead.
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City cuts tax bills on vehicles 20 percent
The value of used vehicles has soared, but the rising prices will have far less impact on the yearly tax that Richmond residents are required to pay on their cars and trucks.
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City Council committee temporarily sidelines citizen review board to investigate complaints against police
A City Council committee hit the pause button Tuesday on a proposal from Mayor Levar M. Stoney to establish a new Richmond civilian review board to investigate complaints against city police.
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Hilbert to mayor: Don’t veto City Council budget
Money allocated to fix potholes or plow streets cannot be used for picking up trash unless Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney secures approval to shift the funds from Richmond City Council.
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Gov. McAuliffe, end new Jim Crow voter suppression tactic
Imagine a wonderful parting gift from Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Imagine if Gov. McAuliffe put an end to Virginia’s strange and inexplicable participation in a GOP voter suppression trick that reeks of Jim Crow. Since 2013, this stealth voter purge program has cost tens of thousands of Virginians of color their right to vote. It’s called Interstate Crosscheck.
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$15M repaving effort underway in city
Cityscape: Slices of life and scenes in Richmond
The promised extra money is starting to flow into repaving streets across the city.
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With passion and purpose
Nearing retirement, Debra Carlotti has helped empower children and parents for decades
Richmond Public Schools educator Debra Carlotti was born in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., a place that is a lot more trendy now than when she grew up there in the 1950s and 1960s, she said.
