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GRTC board fires CARE van company
Cora J. Dickerson’s complaints about the CARE van service that GRTC provides to elderly and disabled riders have produced unexpected results.

Unsold food is ‘a godsend’
Boxes of tomatoes, peppers and other fruits and vegetables fill four tables in the basement social hall at Zion Baptist Church on South Side, creating the look of a small grocery store. “This is a pretty small load,” said John Thombs, who had brought the cornucopia to the church at 2006 Decatur St., where his wife, Betty, set it up with a few helpers.

City goes dim on solar streetlights
Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones has boasted many times during the last seven years about the solar streetlights that were installed in a West End neighborhood with taxpayers’ dollars.

Meet the Morrisseys
Attorney Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey took a break last weekend from his campaign to be Richmond’s next mayor to wed Myrna Warren, the young woman he went to jail for 17 months ago.

City sets up $6M eviction assistance plan to aid during COVID-19
Janice Lacy had a job she loved transporting elderly and disabled people. But then COVID-19 hit and she was laid off in mid-March after the state of emergency was declared.

Dr. Oliver W. ‘Duke’ Hill Jr., retired VSU professor, administrator and researcher, dies at 70
While his celebrated attorney father devoted his life to using the law to break down racial barriers, Dr. Oliver White Hill Jr. focused his attention on eliminating racial disparities in education.

Mayor, Navy Hill officials try to sweeten the pot for $1.5B Coliseum plan approval
Can a series of revisions save the massive $1.5 billion Coliseum replacement and Downtown redevelopment plan that for months has appeared to be headed for rejection by Richmond City Council?

Agelasto wraps up City Council service with a look back
City Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, 43, wrapped up his final week and walked away before Thanksgiving from City Hall and his post as the 5th District City Council representative.

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.

Newcomer Abigail Spanberger claims narrow win over GOP incumbent
Democratic newcomer Abigail Spanberger of Henrico defied conventional wisdom and upset U.S. Rep. Dave Brat to win Virginia’s 7th Congressional District seat in her first run for public office.

Biden wins Virginia
1.3M state voters turn out for Super Tuesday presidential primary
Vying to become the Democratic challenger to President Trump, Joseph R. “Joe” Biden Jr. swept to primary victories in Virginia and eight other states on Super Tuesday, thanks to a huge surge of support from African-American voters.

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.

RPS officials fail to explain faulty, fluctuating graduation figures
There has been a sudden surge in the number of students graduating from Richmond Public Schools — and not just from Armstrong High School. RPS officials this week are reporting that 963 seniors received their diplomas during recent graduation ceremonies from the city’s nine high schools.

City Council rejects turning over design funding for new George Wythe High
Will a new George Wythe High School ever get built?

Shelter in place?
Homeless advocacy group says many unaware of warm housing when temperatures drop
As temperatures plunged into the 30s this week as fore- cast, a reluctant City Hall at the last minute grudgingly opened two overnight shelters – one for 50 single men and one for 50 single women, but none for those with children. Mayor Levar M. Stoney and his administration quietly sent email notices to some home- less groups about opening, but refused to issue any public statement in an apparent bid to reduce demand — follow- ing the script from the Sept. 30 tropical storm when only 12 homeless people managed to find the unannounced city shelter to get out of the heavy downpour. As was the case Sept. 30, most people who needed a warm place never got the word, ac- cording to a homeless advocacy organization, which decried the fact the city waited until 6 p.m. to announce the two shelters had opened an hour earlier. The shelters at United Na- tions Church, 214 Cowardin Ave. in South Side, and at the

No wrongdoing
Mayor Levar M. Stoney cleared in special prosecutor’s probe of the city’s awarding of $1.8 million contract to remove Confederate statues
No bribes. No kickbacks. No evidence of corruption in the use of taxpayers’ dollars. That’s the conclusion of a six-month probe to determine if Mayor Levar M. Stoney engaged in any wrongdoing in the award of a $1.8 million contract to a contractor to take down the city’s Confederate statues in July 2020.

Old forgotten cemeteries dot the city
Peggy Stoots made an urgent call to the Richmond City Attorney’s Office just two days before a vacant quarter-acre parcel in South Side was to be auctioned off to recover more than $2,000 in past due property taxes. Ms. Stoots, who has lived near the property for 60 years surprised a staff member by saying, “You can’t auction that property. It’s a cemetery.”

Mayor Stoney details plans for using $155M in American Rescue Plan funds
Mayor Levar M. Stoney on Monday called for using the $155 million inAmerican Rescue Plan funds pouring into City Hall coffers to increase the inventory of homes and apartments that are more affordable for lower-income residents; beef up recreation facilities and improve access to the James River; invest in child care programs and in health programs; improve public safety; and provide $3,000 bonuses for first re- sponders.

RPS lists 5.5 percent fewer students since 2019
Enrollment in Richmond Public Schools continues to decline amid population growth in the larger community.

Voters reject casino bid a second time
No way. No how. That was Richmond voters’ resounding response to the question of whether a $562 million casino-resort should be developed in South Side.