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City Hall to state auditor: No way city on brink of $ distress
No way could this be correct. That is City Hall’s response to a finding by the state auditor of public accounts that Richmond is one of five localities — including Bristol, Petersburg and two unidentified counties — that are facing the most severe financial stress. The Free Press disclosed the finding in the Aug. 31-Sept. 2 edition.
Full appeals court rebuffs McDonnell’s request
Former Gov. Bob McDonnell is a big step closer to reporting to prison. Tuesday, as legal experts anticipated, the 15 judges of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order rejecting the former Virginia governor’s request to reconsider his conviction on 11 corruption charges.
Longtime RPS educator Eleanor R. Binford remembered
Eleanor Redd Binford influenced hundreds of elementary schoolchildren during the 35 years she taught in Richmond Public Schools.
Richmond contractor on Congressional Black Caucus re-entry panel
A Richmond contractor is headed to Washington to talk up his plan for helping released convicts rebuild their lives by getting involved in the building trades. Kenneth Williams, 66, has been invited to talk about the Adult Alternative Program that he is developing to train ex-convicts to renovate houses and qualify for Class C contractor licenses.
BlackTop youth program loses gym space
A private South Side youth program that won plaudits and a $500,000 city grant for its virtual school operation that served more than 80 students daily during the 2020-21 school year has been evicted from its home in a church gymnasium and is scrambling to find a new location for its operations.
New policies to help RRHA tenants
With nearly two in five residents of public housing in Richmond behind in paying rent and/or electricity charges, the city’s housing authority is pushing policy changes to avoid mass evictions.
Gov. Northam alleged target of anti-government militia group
Gov. Ralph S. Northam is calling on President Trump to stop encouraging extremists after an FBI agent disclosed in a Grand Rapids, Mich., courtroom Tuesday that Virginia’s chief executive had been mentioned as a potential target for abduction by a paramilitary group under arrest for conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
John Fitzhugh Jones Jr., educator and child advocate, remembered
Retired Army Reserve Lt. Col. John Fitzhugh Jones Jr., who spent three decades sched- uling classes and counseling students in Richmond Public Schools, has died.
On probation
VUU has a year to meet financial accreditation standards
Virginia Union University remains optimistic of lifting the dark cloud that hangs over its accreditation – a key requirement for its students to access federal student loans – despite record enrollment, a strengthened academic program and increased donations.
Mabel Lighty, gifted math teacher, dies at 83
Mabel Eunice Caster Lighty taught math to two generations of Richmond high school students and then went on to teach math for another 14 years at Reynolds Community College.
Affordable housing for whom?
Next week, City Council plans to declare an affordable housing crisis in Richmond as rents and house prices soar, leaving many with below average incomes unable to afford housing. However, neither the council nor Mayor Levar M. Stoney who has pushed the resolution to be voted on Monday, April 10, plan to mention the ways he and the governing body have quietly reduced funding to support development of housing for families with incomes of $40,000 or less a year.
Richmond native Dr. Elizabeth Bouey-Yates, educator and philanthropist, dies in S.C.
Resource-starved schools in South Africa are benefiting from the work of Richmond native Dr. Elizabeth “Bettye” Bouey-Yates.
And they're off: More than 1,200 race into Rosie's Richmond Gaming Emporium for the first day of betting
Slot machines are illegal in Virginia. But don’t tell that to Shannon Bratson, 52, or many of the 1,200 others who piled into the new Rosie’s Richmond Gaming Emporium in South Side Monday morning to try out the 700 new machines following speeches and a ribbon cutting.
Petersburg meltdown averted with short-term loan
Petersburg’s once bleak financial situation is starting to brighten. Banking giant Wells Fargo provided a $6.5 million, short-term loan to the city last week that has eased the city’s financial crunch, enabled it to meet payroll through the end of the budget year on June 30 and ensured payment of current bills.
North Side church offers healthy food to all in need
At 9 a.m. on any Saturday during the spring, summer and fall, Charles E. Fitzgerald is at his post in the gym at the Atlee Church in North Side, waiting to give away fresh greens, kale, collards, peppers, sweet potatoes and similar items to anyone who walks in.
City cop shot, man killed in gunfight Wednesday
A Richmond Police officer was wounded and an armed man was killed during a gunfight Wednesday evening near South Meadow and West Cary streets in the West End, police reported.
City moves to reacquire portion of unmarked Black cemetery at Shockoe Hill
The city’s leadership is moving to reverse a nearly 130-year effort to eliminate a major Black cemetery.
Dr. James Edward Leary, who pastored churches for more than 60 years, dies at 86
Dr. James Edward Leary, who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in civil rights protests in the 1960s and provided pastoral services for 60 years to at least 12 churches in Richmond and other states, died Friday, July 23, 2021.
Funeral service Sept. 21 for Dr. Clifton Whitaker Jr., pastor emeritus of Grayland Baptist Church
Dr. Clifton Whitaker Jr. set out to be a career Richmond police officer, but injury after 17 years on the force opened the door to a new career in ministry.
Mayor appoints first woman to lead city Department of Public Utilities
For the first time, a woman is in charge of the Richmond Department of Public Utilities.
