Story
GRTC board OKs service expansion to Short Pump, airport and Amtrak station
GRTC is promising faster daily service on the Pulse bus rapid transit line, new service to Short Pump and more service to Richmond International Airport effective Sunday, Sept. 16.
Story
Chief Durham refutes claims that smell of weed falsely being used for searches
Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham said he has sought to hold his department to high standards and to impose discipline when he finds officers fail to uphold them.
Story
Supplies surprise: $200 shopping spree helps teachers get ready for school
Wednesday was a big day for about 200 teachers from the three city public schools that sit along Forest Hill Avenue in the 4th Council District.
Story
First black Virginia child to be remembered
In 1624, the newly born William Tucker was baptized in the Anglican Church in Jamestown. What made the event special is that he was the first child of African descent documented as born in the English colony that became the United States.
Story
‘Deeply disappointing’
RPS superintendent reacts to city SOL scores showing 2 of every 5 students unable to pass one or more tests
The good news: More than half of Richmond’s public school students passed one or more state Standards of Learning tests in 2018 and are meeting state objectives in the core subjects of reading, writing, math, science and history/social studies.
Story
Plan collapses for South Side homeless shelter and services center
It’s back to the drawing board for City Hall and Commonwealth Catholic Charities in seeking a new space for a shelter and resource center for the homeless in Richmond.
Story
Signs of 2019 shutdown for Coliseum
The 47-year-old Richmond Coliseum could go dark next year even in the face of continuing uncertainty about a private group’s proposal to tear it down and replace it with a new $220 million arena.
Story
Design competition open to re-imagine Monument Avenue
How would you re-imagine Monument Avenue? That’s the question behind a new design competition called “Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion.”
Story
New regulations to help people with sickle cell anemia
It’s official. Sickle cell anemia sufferers now can get high doses of potentially addictive pain medications without any limitations in Virginia. The treatment exemption for people who live with the pain from the genetic blood disorder — mostly African-Americans — became effective when the state Board of Medicine’s new regulations governing physician use of opioids were published in the Virginia Administrative Code earlier this month.
Story
Lux Church moves into Sharon Baptist Church’s former Jackson Ward home
Last Sunday was a big day for Pastor Victor Immanuel “Manny” Peña and the 100-member congregation of Lux Church. Bubbling with enthusiasm, the 35-year-old pastor led the rejoicing as church members held their first service in the church’s new home at 22 E. Leigh St., the former home of Sharon Baptist Church.
Story
Discounts available after Sunday storm cancels Richmond Jazz Festival
JMI is offering a discount on the purchase of general admission tickets for the 2019 Richmond Jazz Festival after an early evening thunderstorm caused the festival to be canceled last Sunday.
Story
Rev. Nathaniel Morris, gospel singer, playwright, minister, dies at 67
The Rev. Nathaniel “Nat” Morris went from singing in a Richmond church as a child to the Broadway stage as an adult. An ordained minister, playwright, actor and singer, Rev. Morris was 18 when he made his debut in 1968 as a cast member in the rock musical “Hair” when it went to Broadway.
Story
Dr. Katie G. Cannon, renowned scholar who elevated role of black women in theology, dies at 68
Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon made history in 1974 as the first African-American woman to be ordained a Presbyterian minister in the United States. Dr. Cannon would use that breakthrough to become a driving force in creating the womanist theology that promotes the inclusion of women of color in shaping the understanding of faith.
Story
ACLU calls for prohibition of ‘marijuana smell’ warrantless searches
Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring is aware that police officers are using the claim of “I smell marijuana” to justify pat-downs of people and car searches, particularly “in poor communities of color.”
Story
Neo-Confederates returning to city
4th rally in a year
Once again, Richmond must deal with a potentially volatile gathering of neo-Confederates seeking to preserve the Confederate statues on Monument Avenue.
Story
GRTC proposes service improvement to Maymont-Randolph area
A modest plan to restore a portion of the bus service that was cut from the Maymont-Randolph area as part of GRTC’s overhaul of bus routes is headed to the board of the transit company for approval.
Story
Mitchell named GRTC interim CEO
GRTC has never had a female chief executive. Nor did any of its predecessor public transit companies. That is not changing as the bus company moves to replace David Green, who announced last week that he would step down as GRTC’s chief executive officer at the end of the month.
Story
UR religion professor honored for 54 years
There is one word in the English language that Frank Edwin Eakin Jr. never utters: “Retirement.” Dr. Eakin has spent 54 years teaching religious studies courses, including 52 years at the University of Richmond, and he’s still going strong.
Story
Plan launched to rename the Boulevard for tennis great Arthur Ashe Jr.
A new effort is underway to rename the Boulevard in honor of Richmond-born humanitarian and tennis great Arthur Ashe Jr. Richmond City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray said this week she plans to introduce legislation in September to change the street’s name to Arthur Ashe Boulevard.
Story
‘Smell of marijuana’ new police tactic?
A new police tactic is opening the door to warrantless searches of individuals, vehicles and homes. To generate the “reasonable suspicion” that courts require for police to conduct such a search, officers are claiming to smell marijuana, possession of which is still illegal in Virginia, according to defense attorneys and area residents.
