All results / Stories / Jeremy M. Lazarus
City to step up efforts against blighted housing
More than 1,000 abandoned, decaying houses blight Richmond neighborhoods. And with the owners no longer paying property taxes, such properties add nothing to city revenue. Instead, such properties pile up delinquent taxes on the city’s books.
School Board election recount set for Dec. 10
The Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper III is expected to learn this week whether his 43-vote victory will stand for the Fairfield District seat on the Henrico County School Board. The Henrico Circuit Court has ordered a recount Thursday, Dec. 10, to formally settle the race, according to county election officials.
Adediran lands provisional post in Petersburg
Dismissed from is job at Richmond’s City Hall, Emmanuel O. Adediran is headed to a job with the Petersburg city government, the Free Press learned Wednesday.
City seeking developers for Boulevard project
It took an extra three weeks, but City Hall is now seeking developers for the projected $350 million transformation of its Boulevard property into apartments, offices and retail space.
Shootings and homicides up in city, but major crime down 3% from 2018
Sixty people as of noon Dec. 31, were fatally shot, bludgeoned or knifed to death in Richmond in 2019, according to city Police Department statistics.
Dixon to become Crusade for Voters new president
John I. Dixon III, former Petersburg police chief and a retired Richmond Police Department major, will become president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters on Jan. 1.
Virginians favor keeping Confederate statues
As Richmond continues to consider the future of its Confederate statues, a new poll shows Virginians favor keeping such statues in place.
50 homeless people aided under city’s new shelter plan during weekend cold snap
City Hall appears to have succeeded in sheltering the homeless in the first test of its new model to assist people when the temperature plunges.
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.
REA wins victory giving city teachers, staff collective bargaining authority
In a nearly unanimous vote, the Richmond School Board voted 8-1 Monday night to approve a resolution giving teachers and other school staff the power to establish a union and collectively negotiate for pay and benefits.
Traffic concerns lead to removal of several curb planters on Brookland Park Boulevard
A battle over traffic safety measures in North Side has ended in at least a partial win for supporters of on-street vehicle parking in business districts.
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.
CAO scraps plan to use energy savings for upgrades
Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration has killed a plan to use energy savings to finance critical improvements to more than 30 aging city buildings, the Free Press has learned. The city’s chief administrative officer, Selena Cuffee-Glenn, quietly made the decision in the past few weeks. She did so after Siemens, the company the city hired to provide a detailed proposal, offered to undertake $13 million in improvements to city buildings that would be repaid over time from savings the city achieved from cutbacks in electricity and natural gas use.
Federal appeals court orders Va. congressional district lines redrawn
For the second time, a three-judge panel has found the General Assembly illegally packed black voters into a single congressional district — diminishing their influence and ability to elect a candidate of their choice in adjacent districts. And for the second time, that ruling is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court as the Republican-dominated legislature seeks to maintain GOP control of the state’s congressional delegation.
Scott co-leader of bipartisan effort to curb federal prison spending
From Virginia to California, states are pushing change to cut their ballooning prison costs that collectively approach $60 billion. Instead of automatically locking up people, 32 states have put in place reforms during the past five years that have reduced the numbers of people imprisoned without increasing crime rates. The efforts have saved at least $4 billion. That includes reserving prison cells for the most serous offenders and doing more to divert lower-level offenders to supervised support programs outside prison.
Proposals to build 2 schools, redo George Wythe under review
Richmond Public Schools might provide incoming Mayor Levar Stoney with a potential blueprint for addressing the problem of outdated and increasingly worn-out school buildings.
McEachin, Wade on Nov. ballot
Richmond’s next congressman will either be Democrat A. Donald McEachin or Republican Michael L. “Mike” Wade. As expected, both men easily overcame rivals to win their respective party’s primary election Tuesday. They gain the right to carry their party’s banner into the November general election to represent the refashioned 4th Congressional District in Washington.
Hospital Street burial ground gets support as new historic district
Lenora C. McQueen’s three-year crusade to gain recognition for the long forgotten and largely destroyed Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground at 5th and Hospital streets in Richmond is starting to secure results.
Concerns raised over NAACP official's close ties to state political party
Has the Virginia State Conference NAACP crossed into partisan territory by naming the No. 2 officer of the state Democratic Party as its chief lobbyist?
4 school rezoning plans are up for final consideration
Four school rezoning plans — two of which include proposals for pairing some elementary schools and all of which keep Bellevue Elementary open — are now considered finalists.
