All results / Stories / Jeremy M. Lazarus
Second gun buyback program for city targeted
City Hall plans to continue to invest in gun buyback programs despite clear evidence that the program has not worked, which studies have shown is the case in virtually every locality offering to pay people to turn in their guns.
Salvation Army delays move to new headquarters
The Salvation Army Central Virginia is keeping its headquarters and shelter at 2 W. Grace St. and has no immediate plans to move to North Side.
Judge suspends incorporation efforts at Fourth Baptist Church
A Richmond judge has temporarily blocked historic Fourth Baptist Church from taking any further steps to incorporate and reversed other actions approved during the pandemic.
Public barred from North Side park
It’s called a public park, but, ironically, the public is barred from entering the small grassy space on North Side without buying a city permit.
Changes at 2 North Side funeral homes
They may deal with death, but two venerable, African-American-owned funeral homes in North Side are getting new life. The former W.S. Watkins & Son Funeral Home at 2700 North Ave. has new owners who vow to rebuild the 84-year-old business.
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.
VSU, NSU have smallest freshman classes in years
Enrollment is continuing to retreat at Virginia’s two historically black public universities, Norfolk State and Virginia State. Both institutions apparently have admitted their smallest freshman classes in at least a decade, and total enrollment has declined to levels not seen in at least 15 years or longer.
18-story apartment tower planned for Belvidere, Grace streets
Richmond is losing another gas station on the edge of Downtown, but is set to gain a $100 million apartment tower in exchange.
Grace Street development plan on hold
Plans to develop nearly a block of city property on East Grace Street into an $86 million office, hotel and residential complex are headed back to the drawing board after Mayor Levar M. Stoney withdrew legislation on the project. Bob Englander of CathFord Consulting, who proposed the project, said
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.
Forward by faith
COVID-19 survivor Rev. Morris R. Gant Jr. credits faith, prayers and medical care for getting him to the other side of pandemic
Tens of thousands of people across Virginia and millions across the nation have been infected with COVID-19 — and the data show the vast majority recovered without feeling much effect. So how bad can this virus be? Just ask the Rev. Morris R. Gant Jr., 62, who is living proof of the agony that those hit hardest can endure — if they live.
National NAACP suspends Frank J. Thornton, Henrico Branch president
In an extraordinary action, national NAACP President Derrick Johnson has suspended for a year the membership of Frank J. Thornton, president of the Henrico Branch NAACP and son of Frank Thornton, chairman of the Henrico County Board of Supervisors.
Ambulance charges may dramatically increase
$600 trips to medical centers could more than double
City Hall is pressuring the Richmond Ambulance Authority to nearly triple its charge for transporting patients to hospitals or other treatment centers based on a consulting firm’s recommendation, the Free Press has learned.
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.
Aspire Academy hopes to inspire student interest
They’re lost in the classroom and repeatedly act out — leading to repeated suspensions, expulsion and, sometimes, criminal charges.
Finally
Bon Secours opens new East End medical facility
A battered Bon Secours Mercy Health is promising increased investments in health care in Richmond’s East End in pushing back against critics claiming the giant health care system has diverted savings on expensive drugs away from the community to wealthier areas.
More fresh regionally grown produce headed to school cafeterias
More fresh lettuce, tomatoes and other regionally grown produce could be headed to the cafeteria meals served to students in schools in Richmond and Henrico and Chesterfield counties.
VCU to get $16M to purchase new stadium site
The General Assembly just gave a big boost to the plan to build a replacement for The Diamond baseball stadium on the stateAlcoholic Beverage Control Authority property at Hermitage and Robin Hood roads.
City Council approves funds for new police property center
The cramped and decaying storage area in Downtown where the Richmond Police Department holds guns, drugs and other evidence for court cases is finally on its way to being replaced.
