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GOP senators block truth, by Ben Jealous
Republicans in the U.S. Senate are a threat to our democracy.
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Police send Peters shooting report to commonwealth’s attorney
The Richmond Police Department has turned over its report on the investigation of the fatal shooting of Marcus-David Peters to the Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
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Rendering by Kendall/Heaton Associates Changing the skyline Work began Monday on this 20-story, sail-shaped office tower that Dominion Resources is constructing in Downtown. The building, …
Published on December 16, 2016
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The city rundown:
$1.2B needed to maintain infrastructure
The City of Richmond needs to borrow $1.2 billion during the next 10 years to maintain its streets, provide sidewalks, ensure dozens of bridges remain usable and keep its 84 buildings in good shape, according a mayoral task force examining the future borrowing needs of the city government.
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GOP takes another swipe at Obamacare
Jay Stout considers himself lucky that he was on the health insurance plan that his mother purchased through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace.
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Demands for better staffing, racial literacy course continue as VCU begins semester
Virginia Commonwealth University students moved into the residence halls last weekend amid ongoing calls for the university’s leadership to address issues regarding firings, hirings tuition increases and on-campus living conditions.
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School Board backs resolution to protect school funding in Coliseum financing plan
The Richmond School Board approved a resolution Monday requesting that City Council allow them to opt out of the funding plan for the controversial Coliseum replacement and Downtown redevelopment proposal.
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Council approves new housing, shelter policies
Overshadowed by the debate over renaming the Boulevard, Richmond City Council Monday night unanimously approved policy changes that will impact affordable housing and the use of city property for cold weather shelters.
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MJBL, Hampton U. part of hurricane relief efforts for the Bahamas
People in Richmond and across the state are lending a hand to help residents of the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian settled over the islands, killing at least 44 people, leaving around 70,000 people homeless and causing billions of dollars in damage.
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Foundations buy Ebony and JET photo archives for preservation at Smithsonian
The sale of the photo archive of Ebony and JET magazines chronicling African-American history is generating relief among some who worried the historic images may be lost.
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Richmond fireman Rodney Jermaine Coles, 49, dies
The Richmond Fire Department has announced the death of a 15-year veteran, Rodney Jermaine “Cup” Coles.
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16th Annual Richmond Folk Festival comes alive virtually Oct. 9 through 11
The 16th Annual Richmond Folk Festival, a celebration of music and culture from around the globe, will take place virtually Oct. 9 through 11.
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Secure health info profiles can help first responders in emergencies
Richmond residents can create a digital health profile that paramedics and other emergency personnel can access after a health emergency strikes, the city Department of Emergency Communications has announced.
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Capital City Kwanzaa festival to go virtual beginning Dec. 26
Like many other holiday events, the Richmond area’s largest Kwanzaa festival is going virtual and also will provide evening shows online during the full seven days of the holiday that begins Saturday, Dec. 26, it has been announced.
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City police, firefighters seek $8.9M for simpler, more competitive pay plan
The Richmond Fire Department is so short of trained manpower that it plans to impose mandatory overtime later this month to ensure adequate coverage for fires and medical emergencies, firefighters told Richmond City Council on Monday night.
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Prison gerrymandering hurts black poliical power by Marc H. Morial
“When districts with prisons receive enhanced representation, every other district in the state without a prison sees its votes diluted. And this vote dilution is even larger in the districts with the highest incarceration rates. Thus, the communities that bear the most direct costs of crime are therefore the communities that are the biggest victims of prison-based gerrymandering. The Census Bureau’s decision to count incarcerated people in the wrong place interferes with equal representation in virtually every state.” — Prison Policy Initiative, The Prison Gerrymandering Project
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Coliseum project expected to be key in mayor’s State of the City address
The currently stalled $1.4 billion plan to have Richmond taxpayers build a new and bigger Richmond Coliseum as a way to attract new development to blocks near City Hall is anticipated to be a centerpiece of Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s second State of the City speech.
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Free students from burden of college debt
Columnists
The reaction — shock, joy, disbelief, euphoria — revealed the importance of billionaire Robert F. Smith’s stunning gift, when he announced unexpectedly that he would pay off the college debts of Morehouse College students graduating this year. His gift literally changed the prospects and the lives of the vast majority of those 396 graduates.
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Work begins in Creighton Court
Work is finally underway to restore heat in 12 buildings in the Creighton Court public housing community, a failure of a basic service that has come to symbolize the deteriorating state of Richmond’s “public housing stock.”
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Operation Bold Blue Line
Youngkin plans to reduce homicides, shootings with more police, higher pay
What’s the solution to the spate of shootings and violence that appears to be on the upswing in Richmond and across the state?