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Nuns to sell St. Emma’s-St. Francis property in Powhatan
A religious order founded by an American saint plans to sell the 2,265-acre property in Powhatan County that once housed two Catholic boarding schools for African-American youths.
Lela Saberna Morris, longtime RPS personnel specialist, succumbs at 97
Lela Saberna Morris spent more than 40 years as a teacher and personnel specialist with Richmond Public Schools, but her road to a career in education was harder than most.
Shelter in place?
Homeless advocacy group says many unaware of warm housing when temperatures drop
As temperatures plunged into the 30s this week as fore- cast, a reluctant City Hall at the last minute grudgingly opened two overnight shelters – one for 50 single men and one for 50 single women, but none for those with children. Mayor Levar M. Stoney and his administration quietly sent email notices to some home- less groups about opening, but refused to issue any public statement in an apparent bid to reduce demand — follow- ing the script from the Sept. 30 tropical storm when only 12 homeless people managed to find the unannounced city shelter to get out of the heavy downpour. As was the case Sept. 30, most people who needed a warm place never got the word, ac- cording to a homeless advocacy organization, which decried the fact the city waited until 6 p.m. to announce the two shelters had opened an hour earlier. The shelters at United Na- tions Church, 214 Cowardin Ave. in South Side, and at the
Petersburg’s pioneering educator and mayor, Dr. Florence Saunders Farley, dies at 94
Dr. Florence Saunders Farley, a trailblazing psychologist who also served as Petersburg’s first Black female mayor, has died.
City councilwoman wants to revive apartment inspections
Apartment buildings in Richmond would have to undergo a city inspection at least once every four years and more often in the case of violations under a proposal that 5th District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch plans to introduce in January.
My’chael Jefferson-Reese to head new Chesterfield Public Defender’s Office
My’chael D. Jefferson-Reese relishes being a champion for people facing legal trouble.
Charles A. Gill Sr., who shared a big lottery win to help the Richmond community, succumbs at 63
Struggling to make ends meet for his family, Charles Allen Gill Sr. sought to change his luck and became an instant millionaire in the process.
Reva rebels
Councilwoman gives out city officials’ cell phone numbers
City Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell registered her protest against new restrictions on City Council members directly contacting city administrative staff by publicly announcing the cell phone numbers of Mayor Levar M. Stoney and other top officials.
Winter shelter’s opening may be delayed
A planned 150-bed winter shelter for Richmond’s homeless population may not open until Dec. 1, or well after freezing temperatures could hit the city, it has been learned.
Malveaux moves to Va. Court of Appeals
Henrico County Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux is a beneficiary of the judgeship fight between the governor and the Republican-dominated General Assembly. She is headed to the state’s 11-member Court of Appeals where she will make history as the court’s first African-American female member. She is officially to begin on April 16.
Bettye Jean Branch Bragg, former Head Start aide, dies at age 80
Bettye Jean Branch Bragg touched the lives of hundreds of Richmond children during her 34 years as a teacher’s aide in Head Start, a program to prepare 3 and 4-year-olds for kindergarten and higher grades.
Adoption advocate and political campaign volunteer Annette ‘Nettie’ Gordon dies at 82
Annette White “Nettie” Gordon, who helped build an adoption program focused on Black children and volunteered in campaigns of Democratic candidates, has died.
Pope Francis publicly acknowledges clergy’s sexual abuse of nuns
Pope Francis publicly acknowledged the scandal of priests and bishops sexually abusing nuns and vowed to do more to fight the problem, the latest sign that there is no end in sight to the Catholic Church’s abuse crisis — and that it now has a reckoning from the #MeToo movement.
Hanover case tests parental rights
The case of a Hanover County mother is providing a test of the proposition that parents matter — a currently popular Virginia political slogan.
Back on the runway
Renée Lacy has been the modeling guru for thousands of children, teens and adults in the Richmond area and beyond. For 35 years, the bubbly, energetic woman operated a training center in Downtown where would-be models under her tutelage learned the ways of the runway.
Woman says former executive who defrauded city also fooled her
Sharon B. Holmes is relieved that a retired senior executive in the Richmond Department of Public Works is going to prison for engineering a scheme that ripped off the department for $600,000.
Rev. Delores R. Seay, associate minister at Triumphant Baptist Church, dies at 86
The Rev. Delores McFadden Robinson Seay, an associate minister at Triumphant Baptist Church who devoted herself to volunteer service at the church and in the community for decades, has died.
Severely injured man waits 78 minutes for ambulance
J. Maurice Hopkins found out the hard way that the Richmond Ambulance Authority and the emergency dispatch system does not always respond quickly.
Dance-Morrissey race opens with rift over death penalty
Petersburg Sen. Rosalyn R. Dance is promising to propose a moratorium on executions of death row prisoners if she is re-elected.
Local chef-caterer turns empty church kitchen into a busy business
On weekdays, the kitchen at Faith Community Baptist Church in Richmond’s East End is a beehive of activity six hours a day.
