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City Council approves 2019-20 spending plan, but with flaws
“We made it,” City Council President Cynthia I. Newbille said after the council approved the 2019-20 budget Monday night without discussion.
Locked out
Report: Fewer mortgages approved in predominately African-American, Latino areas
The greater the number of African-Americans and Latinos living in a Richmond neighborhood, the tougher it is for home buyers in the neighborhood to get a mortgage approved or for existing owners to get their home loans refinanced. That’s the rule of thumb that prevails among banks and online mortgage lenders, according to a new report from the Richmond-based fair housing watchdog group, Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia.
Telehealth grows during pandemic as safe way to confer with health professionals
Richmonder Melissa Hanson survived a vicious assault, but she still lives with the physical damage, mental scars and post-traumatic stress disorder. Like many people needing mental health therapy, Ms. Hanson found the pandemic disrupted her ability to meet with her caseworker three times a week and to get help with errands such as grocery shopping.
Obamacare still vital
Signature health care law remains intact despite GOP assaults
Don’t panic if you bought individual or family health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. The ACA, a.k.a. Obamacare, is struggling but still alive and will continue to operate, according to experts in the field, despite President Trump’s decision last week to cut off premium subsidies to insurance companies.
$200M loss spurs City Council to revise real estate tax abatement program
For at least two decades, Richmond has primed the redevelopment pump by allowing individuals and companies that improve aging houses, apartment buildings and commercial properties to pay reduced property taxes over 10 years without any restrictions.
Approval looms for city’s revamped budget
Plan includes retiree bonuses, overtime pay for firefighters
Thousands of City Hall retirees will receive a one-time 5 percent bonus. And the city is setting up a fund to buy property for development.
Settlement reached in South Side mobile home suit
The war over mobile homes in Richmond appears to have ended in a truce. Under a settlement approved Monday in federal court, the City of Richmond has agreed to modify an aggressive code enforcement program that led to the condemnation of dozens of mobile homes in the past three years, displacing mostly Latino families.
RRHA prepares to launch home-buying initiative
Richmond is preparing to become the first place in the country to test a revamped federal regulation aimed toward making it easier for people who hold housing vouchers or live in public housing to buy homes. Describing it as a “groundbreaking and historic ini- tiative” that would build wealth for those who qualify, Steven B. Nesmith, the chief executive officer for the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority,
Plans shape up for developments in Gilpin Court area
The Stallings family is preparing to go even bigger on developing its property in Gilpin Court, which lies north of Interstate 95 in Downtown and is best known for the public housing community.
Barbers strike at Fort Lee and Fort Pickett after attempts to cut pay
Military personnel at Fort Lee and Fort Pickett in Virginia are struggling to get haircuts.
City shelter didn't open in last week's cold
City Hall never opened its homeless shelter last week even as temperatures plunged below 40 degrees for the first time this fall.
Unused equipment symbolizes waste to Public Works employees
Expensive equipment sits unused at the Richmond Department of Public Works’ compound on Hopkins Road. Meanwhile, some vehicles and equipment have developed major rust spots that could reduce their useful life or lead to early breakdowns.
Free school supplies for RPS teachers
Free school supplies will be available to Richmond Public Schools teachers when classes begin, thanks to a nonprofit called HandsOn Greater Richmond (HOGR).
Speaking Spirit Ministries says praise the Lord, pass the popcorn
Go to church and stay for a movie. That’s now possible at a satellite sanctuary of the independent Speaking Spirit Ministries.
City plans to purchase Mayo Island
Richmond is moving rapidly to complete the purchase of Mayo Island, which a 2012 city plan described as the “green jewel” of the Downtown riverfront.
Mayor seeks to lease part of park to Chesterfield for county drinking water
Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney apparently is seeking to overturn a 16-year-old ban on development in a public park in South Side.
Foundation poised with cash to purchase Woodland Cemetery
The Evergreen Restoration Foundation has raised the $50,000 needed to purchase Woodland Cemetery, a historic African-American cemetery in Henrico County that is the burial ground of Arthur Ashe Jr., the Richmond-born tennis great and humanitarian.
City rejects South Side church bid for abandoned school
A church that has competed to buy the long vacant Oak Grove Elementary School property in South Side has been eliminated from contention — leaving an apartment developer as the only bidder with an offer still under review.
Plans proceed to put federal money toward homeless services, affordable housing
City Council is recommending that the administration pour $5.6 million in new federal dollars into homeless services and pump $7.1 million into a city fund to boost assistance to developers creating apartments and homes with reduced rents and price tags.
