All results / Stories / Jeremy M. Lazarus
City registrar takes heat for delay in opening satellite voting locations
Keith G. Balmer, Richmond’s new voter registrar, was rushing to start early in-person voting next week at two satellite locations—City Hall in Downtown and the Hickory Hill Community Center in South Side.
Woodland Restoration Foundation hopes descendants will help with continuing cemetery upkeep, plans
Call him the headstone hunter.
Armed guards in the Richmond Public Library?
Frightening incidents spark the possibility
Are armed security guards needed in Richmond’s public libraries? Two recent unsettling incidents at the North Avenue Branch have convinced Richmond City Councilman Chris A. Hilbert that having an unarmed security guard is not enough at that branch to ensure that people “have a sense of safety and are safe.” On Oct. 28, a man with a rifle slung over his shoulder and a long knife strapped to his leg walked into the library as little children were engaged in a storytelling program, setting off alarms among the staff.
Buyer beware
Consumers may flip wig over falsely labeled hair
Unsuspecting women are being ripped off when it comes to buying wigs. They are being induced to pay higher prices for cheaper wigs that are falsely labeled as being a more expensive product. So says Mary J. Harris, a retired Richmond factory worker.
House blocked for female felons
City Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson has been a champion of affordable housing during her 11 years on City Council. The 6th District representative, who previously led a nonprofit housing group in the Highland Park area, has been a staunch advocate for creation of lower-cost homes and apartments for working people and others.
Property values up in city
For the third year in a row, rising property values in Richmond will put Richmond City Council on the spot when it comes to collecting property taxes from owners of real estate.
New firm, CoStar, to bring 732 jobs to Downtown
Most people in Richmond probably never heard of CoStar Group Inc. before this week. Soon the 30-year-old company that is the No. 1 provider of information on commercial real estate will be a local household name.
Advocates charge transit plan ignores needs of regular riders
Despite an outpouring of concern that regular bus riders, largely African-Americans, are being ignored and overlooked, Richmond City Council voted 9-0 Monday to endorse a proposed overhaul of current GRTC routes aimed at speeding up regular service and connecting riders with the east-west Pulse bus rapid transit system now under construction.
Child care a major issue as RPS officials grapple with reopening plan
A 3-foot change could help working parents — most notably single mothers — keep their jobs or avoid the cost of expensive day care.
City Council takes step to control Confederate statues
The Richmond City Council took its first step toward control over the statues of the slavery-defending Confederate traitors that line Monument Avenue and have long sat on other public property in the city.
U.S. Census Bureau: City population continues to grow
Richmond’s population has jumped above 227,000 people for the first time in at least 40 years, and current trends suggest the capital city’s population should easily exceed 230,000 residents when the mandatory 10-year census is taken in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
City eliminates $240,000 admissions tax debt of Richmond Jazz Festival
Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration has quietly eliminated the estimated $240,000 in admissions taxes that the popular Richmond Jazz Festival owed the city, three highly placed sources have told the Free Press.
Hasan K. Zarif, longtime re-entry specialist for Goodwill, retires
Minister Hasan K. Zarif has been “Mr. Re-Entry” for untold thousands of people making the transition from prison to civilian life. A former prisoner himself who rebuilt his life, Minister Zarif has been influential in helping others undertake the hard work of doing the same thing.
State NAACP president muddies group’s stance against Dominion Energy pipeline project
The Virginia State NAACP is reaffirming its opposition to Dominion Energy’s $6.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline because it believes a key element of the pipeline — a natural gas compressor station —poses a pollution risk to a historically African-American community in Buckingham County, 75 miles west of Richmond.
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.
Dr. Katie G. Cannon, renowned scholar who elevated role of black women in theology, dies at 68
Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon made history in 1974 as the first African-American woman to be ordained a Presbyterian minister in the United States. Dr. Cannon would use that breakthrough to become a driving force in creating the womanist theology that promotes the inclusion of women of color in shaping the understanding of faith.
War continues over statues
The war of words over Confederate statues in Richmond appears to be just getting started. In the weeks and months ahead, Richmond City Council is poised to consider a nonbinding resolution from 9th District Councilman Michael J. Jones that aims to put the governing body on record as favoring removal.
Mayor to use fellowship resources to help preserve Richmond’s slavery history
Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney is pledging to use a national fellowship he was awarded to help make Richmond a major destination for learning about America’s slavery past.
New boss at VSU
Hampton provost to take reins
Pamela V. Hammond is on track to become the first woman to lead Virginia State University in the school’s 132-year history, the Free Press has learned.
Michael Paul Williams wins Pulitzer Prize
Michael Paul Williams was at home writing his latest column for the Richmond Times-Dispatch when the newspaper’s managing editor called him with the stunning news: He had just been awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for commentary – journalism’s equivalent of an Oscar.
