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‘Defunding police’ rejected
Richmond City Council kills proposal to examine police funding in social, mental health and community services and move the money to other departments
No to reducing the Richmond Police budget to assuage demonstrators’ demands to “defund police.”
Free GRTC bus service being eyed
Free rides on GRTC buses? That idea has begun to percolate as a proposal by Richmond Delegate Delores L. McQuinn to create a regional transportation authority to provide new funding for roads and public transit moves through the General Assembly.
Navy Hill ship sinking?
Scrutiny of Coliseum replacement plan reveals major gaps
The grand plan Mayor Levar M. Stoney is pushing to replace the Richmond Coliseum with $1.5 billion in new Downtown development does not appear to include enough affordable housing to meet a City Council requirement.
Community organizer and strategist Lillie A. Estes succumbs at 59
Lillie Ann Estes set the standard for community organizing in Richmond.
City Council approves expansion of real estate tax relief
Elderly and totally disabled homeowners won increased relief from real estate taxes beginning in January 2020.
More taxes
Mayor Stoney proposes tax hikes on real estate, cigarettes and utility rates to generate more money for city needs
More money, more money, more money.
GRTC provides more protective gear to drivers
It took nearly two months, but GRTC is ramping up virus protection for drivers who have kept the public transit system rolling during the pandemic.
Turnout expected to be key in race for governor
Virginia is for lovers of close elections, as one wag put it, and one more is just about to happen.
Regional computer programming school proposed
Ten school districts, including Richmond, Chesterfield and Henrico, are embarking on a bold educational experiment aimed at overhauling career training for area high school students, particularly those struggling in traditional classes. The first step: Creation of a regional school that would give students the skills to become computer programmers and open doors to careers in engineering, computer science and other technology fields, according to a grant application the alliance of schools submitted to the state Department of Education.
Reclaiming history
St. Luke building, first home of Maggie L. Walker’s bank, is being turned into upscale apartments to spur development in Gilpin Court
Upscale apartments are taking shape in the long-empty St. Luke Building, the once vital four-story headquarters of a mutual aid society where renowned Richmond businesswoman Maggie L. Walker once had a bank.
Full-court press
Navy Hill District Corp. is pulling out all stops as Feb. 24 vote by City Council on $1.5B Coliseum replacement and Downtown development nears
From robocalls to press conferences, the Navy Hill District Corp. that Dominion Energy top executive Thomas F. Farrell II heads is pulling out all the stops to generate public support for the $1.5 billion Richmond Coliseum replacement plan ahead of the scheduled vote by City Council in late February.
Lost cause
Richmond City Council rejects resolution requesting General Assembly approval for authority over city’s Confederate monuments
The racist Confederate past has maintained its stranglehold on Richmond’s future.
Police reform legislation having tough time in General Assembly special session
Police reforms and other legislation are hardly sailing through the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.
Clarence Wall, administrator at Central State Hospital, dies at 86
Clarence Edward Limas Wall, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and former director of hospital programs at Central State Hospital, has died. The Richmond native died Sunday, April 18, 2021. He was 86.
Study may help reverse shut out of Black businesses from city contracts
City Hall spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year to buy goods and services and pay for construction and renovation of its buildings, pipelines and other infrastructure. But only a tiny fraction of that money is spent with Black- and minority-owned companies.
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.
Turning back time
Thousands of people attended last Saturday’s inauguration of Virginia’s new GOP leaders – Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares
“The spirit of Virginia is alive and well,” Glenn Allen Youngkin declared as after being sworn in as Virginia’s 74th governor.
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?
Richmond’s Randall Robinson reshaped American’s foreign policy, forced change in South Africa
Seared by the segregation he grew up with in Richmond, Randall Maurice Robinson championed change in American policies toward African and the Caribbean nations that he considered unjust and undergirded by racial bias.