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Opponents to Fourth Baptist Church’s incorporation tie up names with SCC
The rush to incorporate Fourth Baptist Church apparently has slowed after opponents temporarily claimed the church’s name along with eight variations.
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Mayor to deliver State of the City address Feb. 11
First, let’s get the vaccine out to everyone so we can get rid of the virus and the disruption it has caused. Then, let’s craft a recovery that promotes healing and unity and pursues social and economic equity. That’s the message Mayor Levar M. Stoney plans to deliver in his State of the City address, the first of his second term, according to a City Hall official who spoke with the Free Press on the condition of anonymity.
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City plans $3.5M sale of Public Safety Building for new development
Unveiled nine months ago, a $325 million plan to replace the city’s decaying Public Safety Building in Downtown is gathering steam.
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Contract approval expected for GRTC drivers
Ending a stalemate, GRTC and its union have reached an agreement that will boost pay for drivers of regular and Pulse buses by 12.5 percent over three years. The contract also will upgrade pay for other blue collar employees and improve benefits.
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REAL LIFE program expanding
A Richmond-based nonprofit that provides services for the homeless, recovering addicts and former inmates returning to the community from jail and prison is expanding its housing operations.
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Salvation Army delays move to new headquarters
The Salvation Army Central Virginia is keeping its headquarters and shelter at 2 W. Grace St. and has no immediate plans to move to North Side.
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Fired
Kirk Showalter, Richmond’s voter registrar, is dismissed by the Richmond Electoral Board after multiple complaints surrounding the Nov. 3 general election
J. Kirk Showalter’s 25-year reign as Richmond’s voter registrar is over.
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3 ousted in Richmond Police shakeup
Richmond Police Chief Gerald M. Smith overhauled his command staff this week in his first big personnel shakeup since taking office seven months ago.
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Roxie Raines Kornegay Allison, whose activism led to diversity on state boards and commissions, dies at 83
Roxie Raines Kornegay Allison championed Black inclusion in government and public contracting while also opening her heart and her home to children and adults who needed a helping hand.
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Faith leaders issue BHM book challenge to Richmond area residents
Challenge to Richmond area residents: Spend February reading award-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson’s widely praised book, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” then participate in a Zoom discussion of the book 7 p.m. Monday, March 1.
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City facing potential $15M deficit?
Is there a big hole developing in Rich- mond’s budget? And could spending be proposed to shrink in the new 2021-22 budget that Mayor Levar M. Stoney will present in March?
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Sheila K. Mandt, fundraising consultant and wife of former Councilman Chris A. Hilbert, succumbs at 55
Sheila Kavanagh Mandt, wife and political adviser to former 3rd District City Councilman Chris A. Hilbert and a fundraising guru for nonprofits, has died.
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Skipping school
Data show that 40% to 60% of Richmond area teachers are absent from the classroom 11 or more business days a year
Students always seem to be the focus of concern when the discussion centers on the ill effects of class-cutting, truancy and chronic absenteeism on education.
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Algenon L. Brown, longtime educator and member of the Capital Region Airport Commission, dies at 95
Algenon L. Brown, a career educator in Richmond for 36 years who also fought for Black business inclusion in the operation and development of the Richmond International Airport, has died.
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Judge O’Berry apparently out
Judge Pamela O’Berry’s 12-year tenure on theChesterfieldCountyGeneralDistrictCourt likely will end Wednesday, March 31.
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City Council approves new tax amnesty programs
Wait until March to pay any overdue taxes on homes and other real estate to avoid paying interest and penalties as well.
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City General Assembly reps to face primary challengers
Three of the Democratic delegates representing Richmond in the General Assembly will have to get by challengers in the upcoming June 8 primary to keep their seats.
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America’s new day
President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala Harris are sworn into office in an uplifting ceremony
President Joseph R. Biden Jr. issued a ringing call to the nation and began throwing out the damaging, corrosive policies of his predecessor after being sworn into office Wednesday along with his history-making vice president, former U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California.
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Thomas H. Francis, whose political skills aided candidates in Chesterfield and elsewhere, dies at 77
For decades, Thomas Henry Francis pushed to make inroads for Democrats in Republican-controlled Chesterfield County where he lived most of his life.
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Fourth Baptist Church tumult raises concern among congregation
Started in 1859 before the Civil War, Fourth Baptist Church is now a venerable beacon of Christian faith in Church Hill and the fountainhead from which nine other area churches have sprung. But a major dispute between the current pastor and a large portion of the membership over the church’s organizational structure is threatening to tear apart the 300-member congregation as Fourth Baptist prepares to mark its 162nd anniversary.
