All results / Stories / Jeremy M. Lazarus
License plate campaign pays homage to Richmond Planet
Reginald L. Carter is within striking distance of scoring another victory for his campaign for Black history and racial justice.
City wins $11M grant from Mellon Foundation for heritage center
Richmond has scored an $11 million grant to help launch the long-stalled Shockoe Heritage Campus, whose key purpose is to remember Richmond’s role as a center of the slave trade before the Civil War.
Local charity to open shelter for deadly cold spell
Commonwealth Catholic Charities was to open an additional 30-bed temporary shelter in Richmond on Thursday, Dec. 22, to keep homeless adults from freezing to death in the Arctic air blast expected to hit Richmond two days before Christmas.
School Board to build new Woodville; won’t merge with Fairfield Court
The Richmond School Board plans to keep five elementary schools in operation in the East End in the face of shrinking enrollment that has left at least two schools half empty.
Council members link truancy to increased violence involving city youths
Richmond Public Schools needs to do more to ensure students are in class rather than roaming the streets, according to concerned members of City Council.
City registrar to seek $1.2M for new voting machines
Richmond is close to resolving its voting machine problem. Less than two weeks after the state banned the touch-screen machines Richmond and 29 other localities have used for 10 years, the city’s Electoral Board has selected replacement equipment.
North Side sees signs of growth, renewal
A new wave of investment is beginning to pour into Richmond’s North Side. During the next two years, private and nonprofit developers are gearing up to invest more than $50 million in new houses and apartments, mostly along 1st and 2nd avenues in Highland Park.
Operation Streets founder calls recreation programs the key to ending youth violence
On the campaign trail, Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney promised to beef up after-school programs and recreational opportunities for youths.
Alley blitz underway to fill potholes
Some of the worst alleys in the city are about to get a facelift. The Richmond Department of Public Works this week unleashed a new alley blitz to redo 1,300 alleys from Church Hill to Walmsley Boulevard in South Side and Highland Park in North Side to the Museum District in the West End.
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.
Annie Giles, community activist, dies at 81
As a minister’s daughter, Annie Marie Turner Giles felt driven to help others overcome problems and challenges in the Whitcomb Court public housing community in the city’s East End.
Senator questions cuts in schools’ maintenance funds
The leader of a state Senate subcommittee that is taking a look at school building needs across Virginia wants to know whether Richmond’s decision to shrink spending on routine school maintenance by millions of dollars violates a U.S. Supreme Court decision and the state Constitution.
New development, residents behind city’s housing value jump
The value of property is climbing in Richmond, most notably in areas such as Church Hill, Blackwell and Highland Park that were once stigmatized as less desirable because they were predominantly African-American and low income.
VCU center developing master plan for historic Evergreen Cemetery
Richmond’s biggest university is taking a role in restoring the historic, but neglected Evergreen Cemetery. The Enrichmond Foundation, the new owner of the 127-year-old African-American cemetery, has hired the center for Urban and Regional Analysis in Virginia Commonwealth University’s Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs to create a master plan for the burial ground, which includes the graves of such notables as banker and businesswoman Maggie L. Walker and newspaper editor and banker John Mitchell Jr.
RRHA poised to name Duncan as new CEO
Damon E. Duncan, a public and affordable housing veteran with 26 years of experience, is to be named the next chief executive officer of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the Free Press has learned.
Congressman Robert C. ‘Bobby’ Scott, four other CBC members expected to lead House committees
Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour is expected to be a top Democratic priority in the next Congress, and U.S. Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Newport News will be in a prime position to lead the charge in January.
Blackwell development to continue with 96 available lots
It has taken 21 years, but the Hope VI redevelopment of Blackwell appears to be moving toward completion.
Coliseum project expected to be key in mayor’s State of the City address
The currently stalled $1.4 billion plan to have Richmond taxpayers build a new and bigger Richmond Coliseum as a way to attract new development to blocks near City Hall is anticipated to be a centerpiece of Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s second State of the City speech.
Virginia House-Senate disagreement threatens proposed minimum wage hike
One of the biggest fights in the waning days of the General Assembly involves raising the minimum wage from the current federal $7.25 an hour.
City Council committee delays action on Arthur Ashe Boulevard, other items
City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray, 2nd District, hit the pause button on her proposal to rename the Boulevard for Arthur Ashe to honor the late Richmond-born tennis great and renowned humanitarian. Saying she wanted to “provide more time for dialogue,” Ms. Gray secured a 60-day delay until Tuesday, Dec. 18, before the plan is to be considered by the Richmond City Council’s Land Use, Housing and Transportation Committee.
