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Morrissey seeks to stop printing of primary ballot
Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey is not giving up on his bid to challenge Petersburg state Sen. Rosalyn R. Dance in the June 9 Democratic primary in the 16th Senate District. This week, he asked a Richmond court to block the state Board of Elections from printing primary ballots and to grant him an opportunity to prove the state Democratic Party wrongly disqualified him. As of Free Press deadline Wednesday, the Richmond Circuit Court had yet to set a hearing on his emergency request for an injunction.
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New SCLC chapter chartered in Richmond
The Rev. Dwayne E. Whitehead is the leader of a new Richmond area chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
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McDonnell skirts jail with appeal
Former Gov. Bob McDonnell will remain free on bond while he appeals his conviction on corruption charges. In a win for the one-time Republican star, he will not have to report to prison in two weeks to start his two-year sentence. That’s the result of Monday’s order from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The order approved the request from Mr. McDonnell’s legal team for him to remain free while his jury conviction is challenged. The two-page order also took a slap at U.S.JudgeJamesR.Spencer,whopresided
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Samuels to run for mayor?
Is Charles R. Samuels adding his name to the list of City Council members and others eyeing a run for mayor in 2016? While the six-year council representative insists that’s not the case, others are less certain about his intentions as potential candidates begin to line up. That includes council members Jonathan T. Baliles and Chris A. Hilbert, who both have indicated they are making plans to run. There also is talk that Council President Michelle Mosby also is interested. Richmond Delegate Delores L. McQuinn and state Secretary of the Commonwealth Levar M. Stoney also are being mentioned as potential candidates.
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Fight over Richmond Christian Center property on South Side continues
Henrico County-based Mountain of Blessings Christian Center still wants to acquire the property of the bankrupt Richmond Christian Center in South Richmond. In a suit filed this month, Mountain of Blessings is requesting that U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Keith L. Phillips either enforce an order he signed in December authorizing Mountain of Blessing’s purchase of the RCC property in the 200 block of Cowardin Avenue or order RCC to pay Mountain of Blessings at least $2.7 million in damages.
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Mountain of Blessings ends bid for Richmond Christian Center property
The fight over ownership of the bankrupt Richmond Christian Center in South Side has ended, at least for the time being. An Eastern Henrico Church, Mountain of Blessings Christian Center (MBCC), led by married co-pastors Dimitri and Nicole Bradley, has dropped its suit asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to allow MBCC to proceed in purchasing the RCC’s property in the 200 block of Cowardin Avenue.
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Board asks to throw out schools lawsuit
The Richmond School Board is seeking to dispel a legal cloud hanging over the collective heads of its nine members.
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Gov. McAuliffe announces criminal justice reform
Gov. Terry McAuliffe is proposing changes in state laws that could help reduce the number of people who end up becoming unemployed or who are sent to prison.
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16 to graduate from police academy
The Richmond Police Department is gaining some badly needed reinforcements. Sixteen recruits are to graduate from the training academy this week and immediately join the ranks of the department. They are the first of more than 70 new officers who are expected to join the city police force in the next nine months. “When these recruits entered training July 1, I said that graduation day couldn’t come fast enough. Well, that day has finally arrived, ” Chief Alfred Durham told the Free Press.
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Federal judge finds no ADA violation in Sheriff’s Office hiring decision
A federal judge has found that Richmond Sheriff C.T. Woody Jr. did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act when he declined to reassign a disabled deputy to a vacant payroll position and instead hired someone else to fill the job.
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Announcement expected Monday on new Shockoe Bottom slavery museum
Richmond is preparing to take its first big step toward developing a museum on slavery just north of Main Street Station in Shockoe Bottom.
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VSU shuts down appearance by controversial pyschologist
A controversial figure who promotes black unity, but who also has labeled the gay rights movement a conspiracy to reduce the black population, has been barred from speaking at Virginia State University.
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Battery Park art project on tennis great Arthur Ashe to educate, elevate
Sir James Thornhill has spent the past 11 years enlivening buildings, mostly in Jackson Ward, with murals depicting often forgotten African-American heroes.
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Ashe mural to be unveiled at Battery Park on July 12
It’s unveiling time for a new mural tribute to the late Arthur Ashe, the Richmond-born tennis star and humanitarian.
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Former Prince Hall Shriners top official dies at 88
Earl Haddon Gray, a former national leader of the Prince Hall Shriners, has died. Family and friends paid their final tributes to Mr. Gray on Tuesday, June 20, 2017, at Scott’s Funeral Home Chapel in North Side.
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GRTC to hold meetings on bus route changes
How will GRTC’s overhaul of its bus routes and bus stops affect you? Regular riders and potential transit users can find out at a series of information meetings that kick off Saturday, Aug. 5. The meetings will spell out the changes to be put in place when the new Pulse Bus Rapid Transit System begins operating.
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Delegation of Richmond area black conservatives headed to inauguration
The Rev. Joe Ellison Jr. was an outspoken supporter of Republican candidate Donald Trump before the November presidential election. Now he’s heading to Washington to take part in the inauguration of the next president. However, Rev. Ellison and other area African-American conservatives have more on their minds than cheering the new American leader.
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Jackson Ward development continues with proposed $27M apartment-retail complex
A Jackson Ward parking lot soon could soon be home to a five-story, $27 million building featuring 167 apartments. Richmond area developer Eric Phipps reportedly is proposing to create the new project on a 1-acre parcel on East Marshall Street. The site is on the north side of Marshall between Adams and 1st streets.
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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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New Richmond judge sworn in
With help from her brother, Christian, Mary Elizabeth Langer donned the black robe of a judge. She was formally installed last Friday as the newest judge on the Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. She succeeds Judge Angela E. Roberts, who retired July 29 after 26 years on the bench.
