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Preddy D. Ray Sr., longtime affordable housing advocate who sought to keep people in their neighborhoods, dies at 69
In 1971, Preddy Drew Ray Sr. was among a group of nine Richmond college students who packed their bags and went to a Cincinnati conference on af- fordable housing and the role community groups could play.

Mayor heading strongly into his second term
Mayor Levar M. Stoney sees bright prospects ahead for Richmond if COVID-19 can be defeated quickly.

Court ruling allows handgun sales to 18- to 20-year-olds
If you are old enough to vote, you are old enough to own a handgun, a panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Tuesday.

GRTC workers strike deal on new contract
GRTC bus drivers and mechanics have approved a new contract that will boost their pay $1.10 an hour over the three-year life of the agreement, or an average of 2.2 percent. Both the transit company’s management and the union representing about 285 hourly workers are hailing the agreement that followed 10 months of quiet, but tough negotiations.

Nonprofit’s effort to buy St. Emma-St. Francis property collapses
A nearly two-year effort to protect the heritage of a sprawling Powhatan County site that was the home of two African-American Catholic boarding schools has collapsed.

Richmond church burns
A devastating fire Jan. 9 appears to have dashed the hopes of the congregation of Seventh Street Memorial Baptist Church of returning to their long vacant “home location” in the Highland Park neighborhood in North Side.

Southside Hardware closing doors for last time Saturday
Southside Hardware was long a place to find the unusual, from replacement wicks for kerosene heaters to the special keys needed to operate radiators, antique radios and baby buggies.

E-book purchasers may be due refund
Electronics giant Apple Inc. has begun coughing up refunds to e-book buyers in a price-fixing settlement. According to Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring, the company began distributing $11 million to $15 million in account credits and checks Tuesday to state residents who purchased e-books, or electronic books, through the company’s site.

Henrico man’s gardening passion grows YouTube followers
Randy Battle has a passion for gardening. Now he’s sharing that passion with a worldwide audience.

VSU may lose $10M to $12M with decision to go virtual
The decision to keep students off campus for the first semester may cost Virginia State University $10 million to $12 million — just one example of the impact COVID-19 is having on higher education.

Price of new Wythe High School skyrockets to $140M
The price tag to replace aging George Wythe High School has jumped to $140 million, a 40 percent hike from the previous estimate of $100 million.

Shielding from responsibility?
City mum on funds diverted to police
Mayor Levar M. Stoney joined community partners Tuesday to announce the city is all for trying to prevent the killings that leave bodies in the street and families in mourning. However, during his City Hall press conference, the mayor didn’t mention that just a few weeks ago his administration gained approval from

End of an era
Harvey’s Progressive Barber Shop to close Downtown
For hundreds of Richmonders, Harvey’s Progressive Barber Shop in Downtown has been their go-to place for a haircut. No more.

Center ordered to sell Cowardin Avenue parcel
Pastor Stephen A. Parson has spent more than 16 months fending off a lender’s attempt to foreclose on the current South Side home of the Richmond Christian Center he founded more than 30 years ago.

African dance company eyeing former Jackson Ward church building
Could the vacant former Sharon Baptist Church in Jackson Ward become a performing arts center for an African dance company and other arts groups?

Larus Park water sale on track for approval
A controversial City Hall plan to sell more water to Chesterfield County appears to be on track to win Richmond City Council approval now that a key member is supportive.

Election Day less than smooth for local voter
Eugene M. Price finally has been told his vote will count, six days after the Nov. 8 election. The 73-year-old Richmond auto mechanic said Monday he got a call from the city Voter Registrar’s Office telling him that the provisional ballot he cast was accepted and would be included in the city’s total vote after it was determined that he was properly registered to vote and that his name should have been on the voter rolls.

$1 City selling home sites for low, moderate income families
Vacant property for $1. That’s the price that City Hall is setting to clear out its inventory of home sites and to help cut the future purchase price of the houses to be built on them. This effort also will help finish partially completed developments that have been on hold since the economic recession began in 2008. In a first step, at least 16 lots are being prepared for sale, primarily in Southern Barton Heights. A few lots in Swansboro on South Side and in Newtowne West near Virginia Union University also are part of the sale. The board of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the properties’ nominal owner, helped clear the way by approving the transfer of the properties to the city at its meeting last week.

State vital records now online
Millions of individual records of births, deaths, marriages and divorces in Virginia in the past 100 years are now available online, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced this week.

Construction of new city schools didn’t meet deadline, goal for minority participation
Richmond has built three new school buildings, but can teachers and students use them if the School Board decides to restart in-person learning?