All results / Stories / Jeremy M. Lazarus
New VSU president shares vision, receives support at official introduction
Brimming with confidence and eager to get started, the new president of Virginia State University is promising to first listen to students, faculty and staff and then roll out a “strategic vision that will be bold and purposefully challenging.” Among other things, Dr. Makola M. Abdullah wants VSU to be known for providing “a quality education,” to invest in specialty academic areas that would make the university more attractive while continuing to be “an opportunity university” for students who might not be admitted elsewhere.
Morrissey preps for trial that could be ‘career-ender’
On Friday, Dec. 12, Delegate Morrissey pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
RRHA residents in ‘buy or move’ spot
Charlene C. Harris hoped to live out her years at 1600 Colorado Ave., the single-family brick cottage that she and her family have called home for 47 years. But now the retired 68-year-old state employee is being told she must either purchase the two-bedroom home from her landlord, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, or face moving. “It’s a terrible situation,” she said. “RRHA has told me I have to put up $500 to begin the process and to get a mortgage by December. Otherwise, I would have to accept relocation.”
Savings vs. service
City’s 2014 audit shows millions sent to rainy day fund despite critical needs
Is Mayor Dwight C. Jones saving too much money while starving City Hall of the monetary resources needed to provide services to Richmond residents?
Morrissey fails to withdraw officially
Two weeks ago, attorney Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey told the Free Press and other news outlets he was ending his campaign for the state Senate because of a health issue.
‘Why is this happening?’
Newborn baby taken from mother in hospital
Newborn baby taken from mother in hospital
VSU, NSU have smallest freshman classes in years
Enrollment is continuing to retreat at Virginia’s two historically black public universities, Norfolk State and Virginia State. Both institutions apparently have admitted their smallest freshman classes in at least a decade, and total enrollment has declined to levels not seen in at least 15 years or longer.
Senate race may prove crucial in chamber control
Richmond will be in the center of the high-profile political fight to replace retiring Republican state Sen. John Watkins in the General Assembly. Both major political parties are expected to go all out to capture the 10th Senate District seat that appears to be the key to control of the closely divided state Senate where Republicans now hold sway. The GOP already has selected its candidate, Glen H. Sturtevant Jr., an attorney and a member of the Richmond School Board since 2013.
Legality of severance pay to ex-mayor’s appointees questioned
In November 2004, as Richmond City Hall prepared for the change to an elected mayor-council form of government and to abolish the city manager’s office, the outgoing City Council rushed to approve an ordinance that authorized the council or the mayor to give severance pay to appointees whose jobs were eliminated or who were terminated for non-criminal reasons.
Election Day less than smooth for local voter
Eugene M. Price finally has been told his vote will count, six days after the Nov. 8 election. The 73-year-old Richmond auto mechanic said Monday he got a call from the city Voter Registrar’s Office telling him that the provisional ballot he cast was accepted and would be included in the city’s total vote after it was determined that he was properly registered to vote and that his name should have been on the voter rolls.
‘When is enough enough?’
Slaying of Va. State Police Special Agent Michael T. Walter grips Mosby Court
At an April community meeting, residents of Mosby Court pleaded with Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham for a crackdown to end the violence in the section of the public housing community located off Accommodation Street in the East End.
Mayor seeks to lease part of park to Chesterfield for county drinking water
Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney apparently is seeking to overturn a 16-year-old ban on development in a public park in South Side.
Pay raise problems resolved
The salary snafu at City Hall has been resolved. Police officers and firefighters are to receive their delayed raises on Friday, Aug. 11, when the next city paychecks are issued, according to Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s press secretary, Jim Nolan.
Bank business turns ugly for local man
Every two weeks like clockwork, Jeffrey Perry has deposited his paycheck at the Wells Fargo bank branch in Mechanicsville located a few blocks from his workplace.
Back on the runway
Renée Lacy has been the modeling guru for thousands of children, teens and adults in the Richmond area and beyond. For 35 years, the bubbly, energetic woman operated a training center in Downtown where would-be models under her tutelage learned the ways of the runway.
Mayor Stoney, city officials mulling options to reduce crime in public housing
The Mosby Court public housing community — particularly the area around Redd and Accommodation streets — could be considered the epicenter of Richmond’s spike in homicides.
NAACP lawsuit alleges black and disabled students bear brunt of punishment in city schools
Richmond Public Schools — dominated by African-American administrators and teachers — is being accused of fueling the “school-to-prison pipeline” through a regime of discipline that punishes mostly African-American students, particularly those with disabilities.
SOL test scores decline in 4 of 5 core subjects
One big reason was cited when the Richmond School Board hired Dr. Dana T. Bedden as superintendent in December 2013 — his track record for increasing academic performance among students in the school systems he had led in Georgia and Texas.
CARE van service eyed by City Council due to complaints
GRTC is acknowledging that its CARE van operation is providing “unacceptable” service to the hundreds of elderly and disabled people who rely on the specialty door-to-door transportation to get to dialysis or to work, see doctors, go shopping or handle other business.
Manchester Courthouse renamed to honor Henry and Harold Marsh
Civil rights was central to the law firm that Henry L. Marsh III organized with the late legal giants Oliver W. Hill Sr. and Samuel W. Tucker.
