All results / Stories / Jeremy M. Lazarus
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/10/26/Skill_Games_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
Virginia Supreme Court bans ‘skill games’
Playing so-called “skill games” at gas stations, retail shops and convenience stores could soon come to a screeching halt in the wake of an Oct. 13 order from the state Supreme Court.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/07/27/ArcGIS_-_Fall_Line_Trail_map_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
City Councilwoman says rumors of eminent domain in North Side ‘not true’
A hoax that created a small uproar over the Richmond leg of the $266 million regional Fall Line Trail is being dispelled.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/09/07/kristen_Nye_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
City Council weighs employee pension proposal
City Hall is proposing that new employees be enrolled in the state’s pension system effective Jan. 1, according to a lengthy report City Council received Tuesday.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2014/08/29/Filler-Strip_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
Woody Foundation, Military Retirees at odds over admissions tax
For at least 10 years, Christopher J. Woody Sr. raised money for his charity, The Woody Foundation, by throwing at least 17 parties and events a year at the Military Retirees Club of Richmond in North Side, a large private space that permits alcohol.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/11/30/Rev._A._Lincoln_James_jr_Rev._Wendy_Bullock_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
Staying the course while steadying church’s finances is Rev. James’ mission
The Rev. A. Lincoln James Jr. still isn’t ready to use the “R” word. Rev. James still has a spring to his step, an energetic approach and plenty of words to share with the Trinity Baptist Church congregation he has led for 43 years, or most of his 53-year ministry career.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/09/07/us_census_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
Census shows city’s Black population declining
The Black community’s share of Richmond’s population is continuing to fall, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/04/13/Glenn_Youngkin_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
Changes in Youngkin administration
Kay Coles James has stepped down as Secretary of the Commonwealth, and Harold W. Clarke is retiring as director of the state’s prison system. The departure of the two senior Black state officials will usher in new leadership at several agencies in Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin’s administration.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/08/03/Screen_Shot_2023-08-03_at_11.39.43_AM_r100x80.png?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
Music week features folk, hip-hop, jazz, metal, pop, rock, R&B and more
Entertainment will be in the spotlight during the first ever Richmond Music Week.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/11/16/Screenshot_2023-11-16_at_6.45.21AM_r100x80.png?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
Casino vote aftermath
Stoney, Spanberger declare bids for governor; Paul Goldman proposes charter change
Mayor Levar M. Stoney is brushing himself off after Richmond voters for the second time rejected the $562 million casino-resort plan he fully backed and gearing up to run for governor in 2025. Separately, Paul Goldman, who led both successful no casino campaigns, is now focusing on securing public support for a change to the City Charter or constitution that would require the mayor and the City Council to put the city’s children first when it comes to spending tax dollars.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2024/01/25/Marijuana_Plant_SS_010721_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
New weed-sales bill would include minority vendors
Prospects for the General Assembly to approve the retail sale of marijuana could get a big boost from a deal to guarantee Virginians of color gain a significant share of the business opportunity. Unveiled Jan. 18 at a State Capitol press conference, the agreement is between state lawmakers, advocates and the state’s four medical marijuana companies.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/06/22/City_Hall_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
3 City Hall unions in place
A major share of City Hall’s 4,000 employees have selected their union bargaining agents who will take the lead in contract talks with the city on wages, benefits, health insurance, holiday pay, working conditions and other issues.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/06/22/City_Hall_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
City’s switch to VRS approved
Richmond city employees could soon have the option of becoming members of the Virginia Retirement System.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2021/07/08/Paul_Goldman_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
Goldman prepares to sue over casino
In mid-June, Richmond City Council voted 8-1 to select RVA Entertainment Holdings LLC as its preferred choice to operate a resort casino in the city — setting the stage for a second attempt to win city voter support for a gambling operation that was defeated two years ago. However, political strategist Paul Goldman believes the no-bid award to the company could violate a provision of the state constitution as well as the Virginia Public Procurement Act. He said he is preparing a lawsuit to test whether the city was required to go through a bidding process before making what amounts to a perpetual right for that company to operate the casino.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/10/26/Screen_Shot_2023-10-26_at_3.33.47_PM_r100x80.png?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
RVA Bandits compete for football championships this weekend
Darryl H. Johnston fondly remembers playing youth football growing up in Richmond. Frustrated that the city’s parks and recreation department was no longer fielding a team at the Broad Rock Sports Complex where he played as a child, the 32-year-old Atlantic City, N.J., native started a program in August.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/07/27/CASINO_LIGGINS_ALFRED_PRESS_080822_RHB14_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
Thumbs up: Circuit court OKs casino referendum for Nov. 7 ballot
Voters have the power to change South Side’s ‘economic trajectory,’ says Mayor
Richmond voters are all but certain to have a second chance to decide whether the city should host a casino resort.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/07/06/Screen_Shot_2023-07-06_at_11.11.57_AM_r100x80.png?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
RRHA approves developer’s plans for Jackson Ward hotel
$35M project among largest awarded to a Black-owned firm
Michael A. “Mike” Hopkins is on track to achieve his 20-year-old dream of developing a hotel in Richmond.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/12/07/Sharon_Holmes_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
Woman says former executive who defrauded city also fooled her
Sharon B. Holmes is relieved that a retired senior executive in the Richmond Department of Public Works is going to prison for engineering a scheme that ripped off the department for $600,000.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/11/02/Mike_Jones_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
Mike Jones endorses Nicole Jones as his replacement on City Council
Outgoing City Council President Michael J. Jones is hopeful that a Jones will continue to fill the 9th District seat after he gives it up to prepare to serve in the General Assembly.
![Tease photo](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/09/21/RVA_Reynolds_Pando_Photo_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
Richmond employees gain new benefits
In a bid to ramp up retention of current workers and recruiting of new workers to fill hundreds of vacancies, City Hall plans to improve benefits offered to employees in the area of workforce training and home purchase assistance. Topping the list is a new partnership between the city government and Reynolds Community College’s Community College Workforce Alliance.