All results / Stories / Jeremy M. Lazarus
Council approves City Hall gun ban; tighter security plan in the works
Fortress City Hall? Maybe. Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration, shaken by the May 31 massacre in which a Virginia Beach city employee killed 12 people and wounded four others at that city’s munici- pal center, is preparing to roll out a plan that could end the free and unfettered movement of the public inside Richmond City Hall and possibly in recreation areas, libraries and other city property.
Former city worker and union advocate: ‘I had no one to go to bat for me’
Andrew Thomas hoped to build a career in the Richmond Department of Public Utilities. Instead, the 49-year-old Jamaica native has quit the department after seven years.
Fired
Kirk Showalter, Richmond’s voter registrar, is dismissed by the Richmond Electoral Board after multiple complaints surrounding the Nov. 3 general election
J. Kirk Showalter’s 25-year reign as Richmond’s voter registrar is over.
Vacancies hurting Richmond’s emergency operations
Every element of public safety in Richmond is under stress due to manpower shortages.
Larry J. Bland, whose leadership of The Volunteer Choir spanned more than 45 years, dies at 67
Larry Jerome Bland left his mark on gospel music in Richmond and beyond during an artistic career that spanned more than a half century.
Doubling down
Alfred C. Liggins III and Urban One go all in to win voter approval of the $565M casino project proposed for South Side. The referendum is Nov. 2, with early voting going on now.
Do you want a gambling casino built on a 100-acre commercial property in the South Side?
City Council on board with Bus Rapid Transit
Let’s roll on this project. That’s the message Richmond City Council sent this week on Bus Rapid Transit, also known as “Pulse.” Envisioning BRT as a start to creating a modern regional public transit system, council members voted 7-1, with one abstention, to give the green light to the $49 million project to speed up transit service primarily along the Broad Street corridor.
Lead poisoning endangers Richmond children, too
Amid the public outcry over the lead-contaminated public water supply in Flint, Mich., it is easy to forget that lead poisoning remains a threat to children across the country — even in Richmond. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 500,000 young children nationally suffer from lead poisoning that can affect development of their mental capacity, their bones and their organs.
Dr. Earl McClenney Jr., legendary VSU educator and longtime public administrator, dies at 79
Dr. Earl Hampton McClenney Jr. left his mark on public administration in Virginia as an educator and as a Richmond and state official where he fought entrenched racism and sought to aid the underdog.
City to open Friday at a ‘slow and steady pace’
Even with the coronavirus still causing sickness and death, Richmond is finally set to reopen, though gingerly and in a limited fashion, under what the state terms Phase One. It will be far from business as usual.
City erupts
Death of George Floyd in Minneapolis prompts plans for reform by Mayor Stoney and Gov. Northam, including removal of Confederate statues on Monument Avenue
The statues of Confederate traitors are headed for removal from Monument Avenue — ending their long reign as white supremacist icons of Richmond that extends back to 1890.
Thousands of protesters hit the streets
A white Minneapolis police officer’s killing of 46-year-old George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nearly 9 minutes was the final straw.
Balancing act
Richmond City Council designs a new budget that places a 50 cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes, increases funding for schools and expands bus service while giving city employees a 3 percent raise
An exhausted City Council completed work Monday on a new 2019-20 spending plan for Richmond that calls for a 3.6 percent, or $26 million, increase in city spending and is balanced with the imposition of the city’s first tax on cigarettes — a 50 cent levy on each pack effective July 1— and a hike in utility rates.
Problems prevent lead abatement program from advancing
Daniel Mouer has $2.7 million to spend on removing hazardous lead paint lingering in Richmond residences more than 40 years after it was banned.
Parent’s FOIA request shows more to RPS 2018 toilet paper debacle
Richmond Public Schools expects to finish the current school year with plenty of toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning supplies at each of its buildings, according to Michelle Hudacsko, chief of staff to RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras.
Mayor Stoney proposes meals tax hike to support schools
Declaring that Richmond “is strong,” Mayor Levar M. Stoney called for “bold and courageous” action to deal with some of the city’s unmet challenges such as decaying schools and public housing.
New book reveals details about Mary Lumpkin and the slave jail that became VUU
The stories of enslaved Black women largely have been erased from American history.
Jury still out
After a year on the job, Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith has not won over many officers or residents either through style or substance
A year ago, Gerald M. Smith was introduced to the city as an “innovator” and a “reform-minded change agent” as Mayor Levar M. Stoney introduced him as Richmond’s new police chief.
Owners seek return of Maggie Walker papers
Eight years ago, curious students from the College of William & Mary stumbled across a treasure trove of documents hidden in the attic of a vacant building in Gilpin Court.
‘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.
