All results / Stories / Jeremy M. Lazarus
Federal judges deny bid for House elections, but a new suit may change that
There is still a slim prospect that elections for the Virginia House of Delegates could be held this year.
City Council wants more time to study, consider collective bargaining
City Council hit the pause button Monday on authorizing collective bargaining for city employees.
Developers want to convert old school into apartments
A $55 million apartment complex is being proposed to transform the long vacant Oak Grove Elementary School in South Side – but that plan is facing competition as well as pushback from the neighborhood civic association.
Rodney L. Lofton, LGBTQ advocate, community leader, author, succumbs at 53
Rodney Lamont Lofton was a force in changing Richmond’s attitudes toward gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and queer people.
Training program for released convicts faces shutdown
Rodney Brown had just served a six-year sentence in prison in 2018 when he found his way to the nonprofit Adult Alternative Program at 4929 Chamberlayne Ave. in the city’s North Side.
Dr. Delores R. Greene, longtime educator and former VUU and VSU dean, dies at 86
Dr. Delores Ann Richburg Greene felt the call to be a teacher when she was just 4 years old and in pre-school. She would play school in the backyard of her Petersburg home, where she would provide instruction on reading to her neighborhood friends. From that beginning, Dr. Greene would follow her dream. In a career that spanned 57 years, she rose from a classroom teacher to become a dean in the College of Education at Virginia State University, her alma mater.
RRHA may start eviction proceedings this summer; homeless have little alternative
More than half of the 3,084 households currently living in public housing in Richmond are still $51 or more in arrears on rent, according to the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
Moving forward
Some hope collective bargaining agreement will define Richmond as a ‘workplace of choice’
Waves of applause resounded in the City Council chambers Monday night after, one by one, the nine members of the governing body voted, as anticipated, to allow city workers to organize unions and negotiate contracts on wages, benefits and working conditions.
Worries grow about City’s policy for sheltering the homeless
For apparently the first time in a decade, City Hall did not open a temporary shelter for the homeless when the temperature, including the wind chill, recently fell below 40 degrees.
Midterm elections 2022
Democrats defeat ‘red tide’ forecast by Republicans
The battle for Congress remains up in the air, with vote counting still underway in numerous states and a final determination whether Democrats or Republicans secure a majority in one or both houses potentially still weeks away.
50 homeless people aided under city’s new shelter plan during weekend cold snap
City Hall appears to have succeeded in sheltering the homeless in the first test of its new model to assist people when the temperature plunges.
Bring it down
Judge rules that Gov. Northam has authority to take down towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue
Virginia is finally washing its hands of Robert E. Lee, 150 years after his death.
Gun buyback is on track
Richmond is on track to sponsor its first gun buyback program — despite substantial evidence that such programs are largely public relations gimmicks that do not affect gun violence.
George Wythe Principal Riddick T. Parker Jr. dies at 49
George Wythe High School in South Side will start a new school year Monday, Aug. 29, without the principal who was looking forward to starting his second year of helping students achieve success in school and in their future careers.
Petersburg’s pioneering educator and mayor, Dr. Florence Saunders Farley, dies at 94
Dr. Florence Saunders Farley, a trailblazing psychologist who also served as Petersburg’s first Black female mayor, has died.
Laptop overload
Despite thousands of unused Chromebooks, RPS plans to buy 4,000 more
Three months ago, the Richmond School Board was told that the school system had enough Chromebooks to provide every student with a laptop “for years to come.” Now the board is being advised that Superintendent Jason Kamras’ administration plans to buy at least 4,000 more Chromebooks using a newly awarded federal grant.
Plan linking city traffic lights with regional emergency vehicle system stalled
When lights and sirens are activated, drivers of fire trucks and ambulances in Chesterfield and Henrico counties have equipment that can turn traffic lights from red to green as they respond to emergencies. The bottom line: Safer and smoother travel on congested streets, say officials in both counties, which began making the equipment standard in 2000. Not so in Richmond, which has far more traffic lights and more emergency calls.
Ambitious development plan for Diamond District gains city council approval
Done deal. With an 8-0 vote, City Council on Monday approved the projected $2.4 billion Diamond District in North Side that promises a new baseball stadium plus offices, hotels, homes, apartments, retail space, a public park and a gusher of construction and permanent jobs targeted to city residents.
Training grounds
Former tobacco factory may become teaching site for construction workers
Along with a huge investment to transform the 67-acre Diamond District, the private development team that has been awarded the project also is proposing to invest in a construction training center and in other projects that could benefit the Black community.
Operation Bold Blue Line
Youngkin plans to reduce homicides, shootings with more police, higher pay
What’s the solution to the spate of shootings and violence that appears to be on the upswing in Richmond and across the state?
