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In limbo: City Councilman Parker C. Agelasto casts decisive vote in latest poll on Coliseum project despite looming questions over his qualifications to hold 5th District seat
Richmond City Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, 5th District, is continuing to play a prominent role on the nine-member governing board despite ongoing concerns about the legality of his seat on council since his move last summer to another council district.

Fulton oral histories to be accessible on the Internet
Stone Brewery is unwittingly giving a helping hand to people who want to call attention to historic Fulton. The brewery’s decision to locate its East Coast home in Fulton is focusing public attention on the area and potentially raising interest in the once African-American community that was bulldozed into oblivion nearly 45 years ago in the name of urban renewal. That’s good news for those who are now engaged in posting on the Internet interviews with people who knew the area before the community was razed. The interviews with former residents are being digitized and soon will go online with help from the Valentine Richmond History Center and Virginia Commonwealth University’s library system, according to Spencer E. Jones III, chair of the Legacy Committee of Greater Fulton’s Future.

Overall crime down in Richmond during pandemic
One silver lining during this pandemic is a reduction in crime, according to Richmond Police Chief Will Smith.

Better Housing Coalition to develop affordable apartment complex in Jackson Ward
Another piece of a grand 30-year-old urban renewal plan for Jackson Ward is moving closer to development.

Pandemic puts city assessments, financial picture on hold
New valuations of Richmond homes and businesses have yet to be issued.

Plans in the works to create several 24-hour homeless shelters
Frizzell Stephens wishes he had a roof over his head.

No answers yet on why new Richmond schools costs to be higher than many other locales
Richmond is preparing to spend $140 million to build three new schools financed by an increase in the city’s meals tax — $30 million more than the school system first projected and far in excess of what most school divisions are paying for new buildings.

Dr. Reavis to retire as seminary president
Fifteen years ago, Dr. Ralph Reavis Sr. went to Lynchburg to save his alma mater, Virginia University of Lynchburg. Now the former Richmond pastor is preparing to step down as president of the historically black Baptist college and seminary that he believes has been restored to full health — with more than 10 times the enrollment than when he started. “When I got here, there were only 32 students on campus,” Dr. Reavis said. Today, more than 400 students are taking courses on the campus, online or in a satellite program on the Northern Neck in Eastern Virginia.

Local groups announce back-to-school giveaways
Are you or someone you know struggling to buy school supplies for your children?

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.

Stone Brewing bringing jobs, craft beer to Richmond
More beer, please. That’s what Richmond is getting after California-based Stone Brewing Co. agreed to make Virginia’s capital city the home of its first East Coast brewery and restaurant operation.

Richmond Ambulance Authority sounds funding alarm
A sea of red ink. That is what the Richmond Ambulance Authority warns it is facing.

Company believes it can attract more than 600,000 patrons to new Coliseum
John Page’s company, Spectra, is betting its management can turn Richmond’s proposed 17,500-seat Coliseum into one of the busiest and most successful entertainment centers in the world, if Richmond City Council approves allocating more than $300 million in taxpayer dollars over 30 years to build it.

Eviction protections still in place for Va. renters
Eviction protections are still in place for struggling Virginia renters despite last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that appears to open the floodgates for landlords to go to court to remove tenants who have fallen far behind.

Joe Morrissey fights to save his law license on March 26
Once again, Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey is in a fight to save his law license. A three-judge panel is gearing up to decide his future to practice law.

Herring seeks third term, battles challenger Miyares in attorney general race
Do Virginia voters want an activist attorney general who is ready to use the office’s legal firepower to battle housing discrimination, protect workers’ rights, defend abortion rights for women and pursue criminal justice reform?

‘Tear those statues down’
Richmonders decry mayor’s plan to put Confederate statues ‘in context’
Ora Lomax is still fuming over Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s plans for dealing with the stone and bronze figures that have been defining symbols of Richmond for generations — the statues of Confederate defenders of slavery that punctuate Monument Avenue.

New single-family homes, townhouses to be developed in Highland Grove
It has taken seven years, but a long-awaited mixed-income subdivision is being launched in the Highland Grove community in North Side.

City Council Oks plan for $155M in federal American Rescue Plan funds
Richmond is preparing to pour $64 million into the develop- ment of new and improved community recreation centers in the East End, South Side and Gilpin Court.

GRTC’s planned Bus Rapid Transit already $11.5M over projection
Richmond’s Bus Rapid Transit system is going to cost an additional $11.5 million to develop. But the state — and not Richmond — will pick up the extra expense, GRTC spokeswoman Carrie Rose Pace disclosed Tuesday. “Under the project agreement, the Commonwealth of Virginia will cover any costs that exceed the estimated project budget,” she stated in an email to the Free Press.