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Trouble doubles
Petersburg’s creditors lining up, suing to get paid
Dironna Moore Belton is counting on a flood of money pouring into Petersburg’s treasury in coming days from residents paying their first quarter property tax bills.

Full-service grocery store planned for East End
A new full-service grocery store is headed to Church Hill, it was announced Tuesday. Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones, City Councilwoman Cynthia I. Newbille, 7th District, and T.K. Somanath, executive director of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, issued a joint statement about the planned market that is expected to bring about 25 full-time and 22 to 30 part-time jobs to this employment-starved area of the city once it opens — likely a year or more from now.

VUU president to retire
After seven years and five months leading Virginia Union University and having a campus building named in his honor, Dr. Claude G. Perkins is ready to retire.

Petersburg shake-up nets new chief operating officer
Amid crumbling finances, the City of Petersburg has shaken up its government leadership. After firing City Manager William E. Johnson III last week, the seven-member Petersburg City Council handed executive authority to three of its members, including Mayor W. Howard Myers, Ward 5, the city’s titular leader. The shuffle is the City Council’s latest effort to deal with millions of dollars in unpaid bills, a multimillion-dollar revenue shortfall and a malfunctioning water billing system.

Police reform is major component of VLBC’s agenda for special General Assembly session
A bevy of proposals that could make it easier to sue police for using excess force, create civilian oversight of police complaints and simplify the process of expunging criminal records are floating into a special session of the General Assembly that is scheduled to open Tuesday, Aug. 18.

New Police Chief Gerald Smith greeted with eventful first day
For Gerald M. Smith, the first day as Richmond’s new police chief was anything but routine.

Henrico man awarded patent for golf cart cover
Golf carts have been part of John Houze Jr.’s life for decades.

Getting a pass?
Some fully accredited schools don’t always spell success
Are public schools that are labeled fully accredited actually providing a good education for at least the large majority of their students?

Mayor on hook for school modernization plan with charter change signing
Backed by a unanimous legislature, Gov. Ralph S. Northam has signed a new charter measure for Richmond that will require Mayor Levar M. Stoney to come up with a fully funded plan for modernizing every city school without a tax increase or explain why he cannot.

City social services department finds itself stressed with a shortage of workers
As the coronavirus stalks the city, more people are turning to the Richmond Department of Social Services for help.

Federal unemployment checks ease money worries for newly laid off during pandemic
Just a few weeks ago, journalist-turned-bartender and server Lyndon German was feeling desperate. In the past year, the 26-year-old Mechanicsville native has seen his reporter jobs in Hopewell and Petersburg end as a result of newsroom cutbacks, and now his restaurant job in a popular local café has disappeared as a result of COVID-19.

Saving the past
Bradford family descendants, supporters work to protect old Sons and Daughters of Ham Cemetery
Dense woods fill much of a largely uncelebrated and essentially abandoned African-American burial ground in Henrico County that had been best known in recent years as a practice area for University of Richmond runners.

‘No one handed out medals’
Retired Richmond fireman recalls heroic work saving elderly residents in fire 44 years ago
As the firetrucks roared up, an elderly woman was screaming for help out of a half-open window as smoke billowed around her. She would be the first person that firefighter William“Junie” Bullock would rescue that day from the ninth floor of the Boxwood Building at Imperial Plaza, a five-building complex for retirees located on Bellevue Avenue in North Side that had opened 11 years earlier.

Roxie Raines Kornegay Allison, whose activism led to diversity on state boards and commissions, dies at 83
Roxie Raines Kornegay Allison championed Black inclusion in government and public contracting while also opening her heart and her home to children and adults who needed a helping hand.

It’s a deal
City and RVA Diamond Partners finalize $2.44B agreement; council vote comes next
The Diamond District – Richmond’s biggest ever development – is now at the starting gate after seven months of negotiations between the city and RVA Diamond Partners LLC (RVADP), the private developer.

Richmond Free Press founders receive City Hall honor and recognition
Black-owned weekly saluted for its ‘leadership, service, dedication and prominence in the community’
Jean P. Boone and the late Raymond H. Boone, founders and publishers of the Richmond Free Press newspaper, received recognition from City Council on Monday night to honor their journalistic contributions to the city.

RPS offers plan to boost student literacy
Nearly half of all Richmond students cannot read proficiently when they enter high school, leading to high dropout rates and a host of other ills, Richmond Public Schools acknowledges.

City Council gives greenlight to casino project
Richmond easily leaped the first hurdle in its quest to become a casino city — City Council approval.

Virginia is poised to eliminate the death penalty
The death penalty has been a staple of Virginia law since the first English settlers arrived in Jamestown.

2nd District surprise
Katherine L. Jordan declared winner of City Council seat after election night miscount
Katherine L. Jordan is in, and Tavarris J. Spinks is out.