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Fourth Baptist receives historic preservation grant
Fourth Baptist Church in Richmond’s East End has been awarded a $150,000 grant to support preservation of the education wing as the church prepares to mark the 164th anniversary of its founding.
Aretha Ann Washington, who provided a mother’s love to dozens of children, dies at 74
Aretha Ann Washington’s home always overflowed with children.
Casino contenders now down to 2; Bally’s out
Just two contenders are left in the competition to build a casino-resort in Richmond, and one already has corralled the support of a majority of City Council.
Confederate A.P. Hill statue may be headed to Culpeper
The last city-owned Confederate statue is on its way out of Richmond, though the process will not be swift because a grave is involved, according to Mayor Levar M. Stoney.
Burrs named to Venture Richmond post
For the past four years, Stacy L. Burrs has led efforts to transform the historic Leigh Street Armory in Jackson Ward into the new home of the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia.
NAACP aids education advocate in Henrico trespass case
With help from the Henrico Branch NAACP, education advocate Kandise Lucas no longer is facing a charge of trespassing at Glen Allen High School. She also can go to other Henrico County schools without fear of arrest after a ban on entering school property was lifted.
In clear: VSU accreditation
Virginia State University is back in the good graces of its accrediting agency. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) voted June 16 to remove VSU from “warning” status and restore the Petersburg area university to unblemished accreditation.
North Side church to be razed for community garden
A community garden soon will replace a once treasured, but now vacant, century-old church building in North Side that is about to be demolished.
SCC bans most utility cutoffs until Aug. 31
Virginians who have fallen far behind in paying their electric bills have gained a two-month reprieve from disconnections.
Design competition open to re-imagine Monument Avenue
How would you re-imagine Monument Avenue? That’s the question behind a new design competition called “Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion.”
Bourne to push schools referendum in Gen. Assembly
A Richmond Democrat has volunteered to promote legislation to approve city voters’ call for Mayor Levar M. Stoney to craft a fully funded school modernization plan.
Habitat for Humanity accepting applications for home repair assistance
A nonprofit group known for building affordable houses also will repair dwellings for lower-income elderly and disabled homeowners and others in difficult circumstances.
80¢ cigarette tax goes up in smoke at City Council
Richmond smokers will not have to pay an extra 80 cents for a pack of cigarette. After hearing from more than 50 speakers and nearly an hour of debate, Richmond City Council, with a 6-3 vote, killed a proposal to impose a city tax on cigarettes that Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, 5th District, had spearheaded.
Economic injustice?
Report shows city spending with minority-owned businesses has dropped nearly 48 percent since 2014
From the mayor’s office to key positions at City Hall, African-Americans continue to play big roles in Richmond’s government. But the issue of city spending with black businesses and the promotion of black inclusion, inexplicably, appears to be taking a backseat to other priorities, with Mayor Levar M. Stoney having publicly spoken little about inclusion and economic justice during his 18-month tenure.
General Assembly completes work on budget, criminal justice reform
Fairer sentencing for people convicted of crimes and a Marcus crisis alert system to improve the response to mental health emergencies are among the criminal justice reforms that have emerged from the General Assembly’s special session.
Bon Secours breaks ground on new $11M medical office building in East End
Coming soon: A new Bon Secours Mercy Health medical office building in the East End that will house up to 100 doctors, nurses and other staff and include space to provide group therapy for mentally ill addicts.
Pay them, but not her
RPS spends extra to win bill dispute
The Richmond School Board paid a white law firm $31,000 in legal fees to avoid paying a Black professional’s $27,000 bill for doing consulting work in the case of a disabled student, half of which was to be paid by the state.
Daily dangers, including physical assaults on deputies, allegedly occur at city jail
Seven months after Richmond Sheriff Antionette V. Irving was sworn into her second four-year term, concern is mounting over her control of the still short-staffed Richmond City Justice Center, as the jail located in Shockoe Valley is called.
On the way out
Gov. Ralph S. Northam orders removal of 40-foot granite pedestal that held Confederate Robert E. Lee’s statue on Monument Avenue, and for the land to be turned over to the city
When the giant monument of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee went up 131 years ago, fiery Richmond Planet editor John Mitchell Jr. described it as monument that would hand down to future generations “a legacy of treason and blood.”
Gerald G. Poindexter, a Surry County county attorney and prosecutor, dies at 80
Gerald Glenn Poindexter, a legal institution in Surry County where he served 23 years as county attorney and another 20 years as commonwealth’s attorney, has died.
