All results / Stories / Jeremy M. Lazarus
Customers left hanging after dry cleaner shuts down
Lonnie McLaurin took two jackets, two shirts and two pair of pants to a dry cleaner in Highland Park at the end of April. When he returned a week later to pay his bill and pick up his clothes, he hit a surprising roadblock — a padlock on the front door of the shop. He could see his clothes covered by plastic hanging on a rack in the front of the store, but no one was there to let him in.
A vote may soon come on George Wythe High School contract design
The Richmond School Board is poised to award a design contract for a new 1,600-student building to replace aging George Wythe High School in South Side, the Free Press has learned.
Nerves on edge as smoking ban takes effect in RRHA housing
Gwendolyn Harris doesn’t smoke. But the 54-year-old Creighton Court resident is concerned that friends in the East End public housing community who do soon may have to choose between their nicotine habit or facing fines and potential eviction.
Confidentiality breach: Teacher’s file contains personal info on others
If you teach or have taught for Richmond Public Schools, your colleagues may have access to your personal information. The disclosure that the RPS Human Resources Department is failing to guard confidential records came from a former teacher who found her personnel file contained information it should not have, including Social Security numbers of other teachers.
Rental car scene blows up to jail time for city man
Arthur H. Majola went to pick up a rental car his insurance company was providing after his vehicle, which had been damaged in an accident, went into a repair shop. But he wound up spending 54 days in jail where he became celebrated for engaging in a hunger strike that nearly killed him but forced his release.
At 'Camp Cathy' tent city for the homeless, people live by the rules
Rhonda L. Sneed is proud of creating the most affordable housing community in Richmond — a tent city located on Oliver Hill Way across the street from the Richmond Justice Center.
School Board starts process for VCU to take over historic Moore Street School
Virginia Commonwealth University has gained a boost for its plan to take over the historic and vacant Moore Street School to expand the day care operation that its School of Education operates on the Monroe Park Campus. The Richmond School Board voted 8-1 Monday night to start the process of enabling VCU to obtain the building.
City prosecutor to review Marcus-David Peters case
The Marcus-David Peters case is getting another look.
VSU spring enrollment brings optimism
Enrollment at Virginia State University has dropped less than initially projected — good news for the school and a relief to Dr. Pamela V. Hammond, the interim president. The latest figures indicate nearly 4,500 students are en- rolled and validated as meet- ing their financial obligations. That’s about 130 students fewer than projected for the spring semester in the university’s budget. Earlier this month, Dr. Hammond and VSU’s board of visitors were advised that fewer than 4,250 students might be enrolled this semester. Dr. Hammond told the Free Press last week the higher enrollment means she will not have to consider additional personnel actions to balance the budget. After taking office Jan. 1, she ordered a freeze on hiring and other spending to stabilize finances and those freezes are still in place. She said the freezes should keep spending in line with revenue through the rest of the fiscal year.
School Board members introduce teacher collective bargaining resolution
Is collective bargaining coming to Richmond Public Schools?
The spirit of giving
Meadowbridge market offers free groceries to local residents
Dark and silent most days, the Meadowbridge Community Market comes alive on Saturdays.
‘I was handed a death sentence’
Advocates help NAACP stalwart Ora Lomax receive life-saving dialysis after a Henrico center moves to terminate her treatment
Getting kicked out of a dialysis clinic is the worst thing that can happen to a patient with failing kidneys. But that is what 86-year-old Ora M. Lomax has been facing.
Dr. Robert L. Pettis Sr., longtime pastor or Zion Baptist Church, dies at 67
Dr. Robert Lee Pettis Sr., a well-regarded minister who was in his fifth decade of leading Zion Baptist Church in South Side, has died.
Court rules denomination can be sued over child sexual abuse by church employee
One of the nation’s largest Pentecostal denominations can be sued for failing to protect one of its child members from a pedophile who worked closely with the children in a member church, the Virginia Supreme Court has ruled.
Closing of area shelters leave many without shelter
Joe Barrett is back to living on the street. Left paralyzed on his left side by a stroke, the 62-year-old Richmond native is among more than 130 homeless people who lost their shelter beds Saturday.
Morrissey announces Senate bid as G.A. officials close his House office
Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey once again is injecting drama into staid Virginia politics. In a fresh twist to his political career, the combative legislator quit the House of Delegates this week to begin his quest to replace incumbent Rosalyn R. Dance of Petersburg in the state Senate. His move comes barely two months after he defied Democratic and Republican House leaders and won a special election as an independent to keep his seat in the 74th House District after being convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor. That conviction forced him to commute to the legislature from jail on work release, the first Virginia delegate ever to do so.
Prospects dim on third city charter school
Plenty of words are expected to be spilled next week when supporters and foes of a proposed boys-only charter school appear before the Richmond School Board to speak about the combination middle-high school. But the public hearing that the Richmond School Board has scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, March 16, could be an exercise in futility for charter school organizers such as Tunya Bingham, a corporate tax expert who has spent three years trying to get the Metropolitan Preparatory Academy open.
Rayford L. Harris Sr., longtime educator, policymaker, adviser and GOP activist, dies at 97
Rayford Lee Harris Sr., who touched the lives of untold thousands of Virginia students as an educator and policymaker, has died.
Pulse of the city
Ridership, confusion up as GRTC’s new bus rapid transit line starts
Mayor Levar M. Stoney calls it “progress” and “one of the most exciting and progressive public transportation projects in Richmond history.”
