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Fox Elementary employee to plead case before School Board
Robin Spears, a 15-year social worker, who has been on paid leave since November 2021 is going to the School Board in hopes the members will reject a recommendation that she be fired for failing to report to a position she said she was never offered.
Patients endure longer waits for ambulances
Virtually every day, ambulances are stacked up at Richmond-area hospitals with paramedics waiting to get the people they have transported admitted to the hospital so they can return to service.
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.
Private money dries up for Kanawha Plaza project
Last July, Richmond City Council gave Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration the green light to overhaul 35-year-old Kanawha Plaza, the three-acre park that sits across from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The council acted after being assured that virtually all of the $6 million cost would come from gifts from big corporations and law firms located near the park.
Public housing residents sheltered, temporarily, from eviction
Will there be a flood of eviction cases next month?
Health systems securing naming rights to GRTC’s Pulse
Richmond area taxpayers apparently will not have to spend as much to subsidize rides on GRTC’s new bus rapid transit service, also known as Pulse, thanks to two area health care giants, VCU Health System and Bon Secours Richmond Health System.
State elections board investigating allegations involving city Electoral Board’s handling of Nov. 3 election
Did theDemocratic-controlled Richmond Electoral Board break state law in trying to produce results after the Nov. 3 election amid challenges from COVID-19?
Mayor to propose $35M to fix schools
Mayor Dwight C. Jones will propose spending $35 million to pay for major fixes for Richmond’s decaying school buildings when he delivers his two-year budget plan to City Council. While the mayor is keeping mum, Norman Butts, the city’s chief financial officer, disclosed at a City Council committee meeting Mayor Jones’ plan to address school maintenance in the budget he is scheduled to present Friday, March 13. Mr. Butts, who is involved in the budget preparation process, described the impending proposal as “a high priority” for the mayor.
Finally — City Council ready to vote on new budget May 15
Veteran Richmond police officers and firefighters are in line for major raises after July 1 in a bid to slow their departure to surrounding localities that pay more.
City goes dim on solar streetlights
Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones has boasted many times during the last seven years about the solar streetlights that were installed in a West End neighborhood with taxpayers’ dollars.
Black Business Alliance calls for inclusion in city-supported projects
A. Hugo “Al” Bowers Sr. is leading a fresh charge to ensure that black-owned businesses gain a significant share of work on construction projects that the city pays for or infuses with taxpayer support.
City eliminates $240,000 admissions tax debt of Richmond Jazz Festival
Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration has quietly eliminated the estimated $240,000 in admissions taxes that the popular Richmond Jazz Festival owed the city, three highly placed sources have told the Free Press.
Victoria S. Oakley, former RPS educator, dies at age 63
Victoria Stender “Vickie” Oakley, a former principal and instructional leader for Richmond Public Schools, has died.
GRTC continues free bus rides through June 2024
GRTC will retain zero fares for at least 18 more months – saving regular riders $1,000 or more in yearly transportation costs.
City eyeing sale of parking operations to raise millions
City Hall has been considering using its parking operations as a way to raise $150 million for school construction, street paving, sidewalk development and other unaddressed capital needs. Norman D. Butts, the city’s top financial officer, confirmed that there have been discussions about awarding a long-term conces- sion to an undisclosed private group willing to pay big bucks for a 30- to 40-year concession to operate the city’s 20 parking lots and garages.
RPS bus service for preschool program not in full operation
The free bus service that was supposed to drive more parents to enroll their 4-year-old children in a Richmond Public Schools preschool program has yet to fully materialize despite administrative promises.
RPS officials offer free bus service in bid to boost preschool enrollment
Free bus transportation. That’s the carrot the Richmond School Board is offering in a bid to boost enrollment in its shrinking preschool program called the Virginia Preschool Initiative, or VPI.
Preschool transportation plan may be more extensive, expensive than RPS planned
The free bus service Richmond Public Schools will offer to get more low-income parents to enroll their 4-year-olds in a state- supported preschool program is likely to have to be more extensive and potentially more expensive than originally envisioned.
Gov. Northam alleged target of anti-government militia group
Gov. Ralph S. Northam is calling on President Trump to stop encouraging extremists after an FBI agent disclosed in a Grand Rapids, Mich., courtroom Tuesday that Virginia’s chief executive had been mentioned as a potential target for abduction by a paramilitary group under arrest for conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
New courts, new spirit
Call it Sharmar “Simba” Hill Jr.’s new house. Last Saturday, a huge, colorful basketball court was dedicated in honor of the 3-year-old who was killed by a stray bullet in February 2020 while playing outside his family’s home in the Hillside Court public housing community in South Side.
