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City Council president seeks to ensure successor
Outgoing City Council President Michael J. Jones plans to keep his 9th District seat until Dec. 31, according to a letter of resignation he submitted to his colleagues and the City Clerk. That appears to represent a change in the timing for the council departure of the full-time minister, who is headed to the General Assembly after winning his uncontested election to represent
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Richmond’s declared mayoral candidates include several business owners
Richmond voters again will have multiple choices for the next mayor of Richmond when they vote in 2024.
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Retired Richmond educator Shirley E.S. Harris dies at age 89
Shirley Estelle Savage Harris spent four decades seeking to instill a love of learning in local Richmond schoolchildren. Mrs. Harris was best known for the more than 30 years she taught at William Fox Elementary School.
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Labor Day holiday prompts no public celebrations for City workers now represented by unions
Cookouts, parties at breweries and restaurants and free admission to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Those are among the events planned for Labor Day in Richmond on Monday, Sept. 4, according to websites listing events. Missing from the list are parades, celebrations or other activities related to working people and labor unions — even though this holiday was created to celebrate workers.
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Former MCV researcher LaVerne Wingo Cooper dies at age 92
LaVerne Amelia Wingo Cooper devoted her life to trying to find cures for diseases as a clinical researcher at the Medical College of Virginia – most notably sickle cell anemia, a genetic blood disorder that is most prevalent among African-Americans.
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HumanKind’s direct cash funds may soon dry up
Concern is growing over the dwindling money in a family crisis fund that Richmond created to provide direct cash payments.
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RPS superintendent opposes new contract for beleaguered school social worker
First, Richmond Public Schools accused her of beating a child in her care, but that charge was twice dismissed in court after witnesses who saw the incident testified that it never happened.
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Shielding from responsibility?
City mum on funds diverted to police
Mayor Levar M. Stoney joined community partners Tuesday to announce the city is all for trying to prevent the killings that leave bodies in the street and families in mourning. However, during his City Hall press conference, the mayor didn’t mention that just a few weeks ago his administration gained approval from
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Plans for fire training center collide with zoning issue
The Richmond Fire Department’s plan to replace 2 acres of park land at the Hickory Hill Community Center with a new fire training center has run into a surprising roadblock – zoning.
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Malinda S. Jones, who worked to spread faith, dies at 88
For 24 years, Malinda Smith Jones organized weekly revivals in Richmond in church parking lots and other open spaces from June through August.
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Richmond city attorney to retire
City Attorney Haskell C. Brown III will immediately leave City Hall’s top legal post in the wake of his arrest for drunken driving, the Free Press has learned.
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Sharon Baptist Church hosts New Year’s Emancipation Day Service
One Jan. 1, 1863, as the Civil War raged, President Abraham Lincoln took the momentous step of abolishing slavery in Virginia and other Southern states that were fighting to break away from the United States. That watershed moment in American history once again will be celebrated in Richmond on New Year’s Day at a service sponsored by the Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Richmond and Vicinity at a new location.
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3 receive scholarships in Jail-VCU program
Three current and former inmates at the Richmond Justice Center have won the first scholarships awarded through the city jail’s unique college programs. Christian Brackett, Pinetta Fleming and William “Billy” Scruggs were awarded scholarships for a class at Virginia Commonwealth University, which partners with the jail in a college-level program called Open Minds.
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RRHA eyes Jackson Place for Fay Towers residents
The city’s housing authority is promising a fresh attempt to redevelop a chunk of Jackson Ward that was cleared for urban renewal nearly 25 years ago, but continues to be vacant.
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City Council Finance Committee recommends hold on property tax rate
Take the money. That’s the recommendation of Richmond City Council’s Finance Committee chaired by Councilwoman Kathy C. Graziano, 4th District.
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City Council approves zoning change to spur North Side development
Richmond is rolling out the welcome mat for developers, investors and businesses willing to consider projects in centerpiece commercial districts in majority African-American areas of North Side.
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GRTC fuel savings may reduce push to raise fares
Diesel fuel is a lot cheaper these days — and that’s good news for public transit companies such as GRTC. Richmond’s public transit company expects to save $1 million a year through 2018 as the result of a $1 per gallon decline in the fuel’s price.
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Short-term fix restores power to Fay Towers residents
Elderly and disabled residents of Fay Towers can once again turn on the lights and enjoy a hot shower in their units. A big generator is temporarily providing electricity to the 200 units in the 11-story high rise in Gilpin Court while permanent repairs are made. Squirrels are being blamed for knocking out power to most of the building Sunday. The pesky rodents chewed up a main line into the building, according to Carol Jones-Gilbert, acting chief operating officer for the building’s landlord, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
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Richmond NFL Hall of Famer donates $500,000 to Morgan State University
Morgan State University was good to Willie Lanier. Now Mr. Lanier is being good to Morgan State. The historically black university in Baltimore announced that Mr. Lanier has given a $500,000 gift to establish the Willie E. Lanier Sr. Endowed Lectureship in Business Ethics.
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$1M upgrade at Main Library in Downtown
Every day, dozens of people flood into the Main Library in Downtown to use public computers. They come to check emails, seek employment, do research and handle other activities in the online world, including paying bills and applying for visas.
