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Balancing act
Richmond City Council designs a new budget that places a 50 cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes, increases funding for schools and expands bus service while giving city employees a 3 percent raise
An exhausted City Council completed work Monday on a new 2019-20 spending plan for Richmond that calls for a 3.6 percent, or $26 million, increase in city spending and is balanced with the imposition of the city’s first tax on cigarettes — a 50 cent levy on each pack effective July 1— and a hike in utility rates.
City Council to vote on new $772M budget plan May 10
The first ever city pay supplement for public defenders who represent most Richmond residents charged with crimes.
Jefferson Davis Highway lives on with postal service
Jefferson Davis Highway no longer exists in Virginia, but the name of the president of the slavery-defending Confederacy lives on in the database of the U.S. Postal Service.
VCU library expansion nearly complete
Virginia Commonwealth University has spent nearly $51 million to renovate and dramatically expand James Branch Cabell Library for student and public use.
Va. Tech scientist to Richmonders: use water filters for protection
Attach a $20 filter to each of the water taps you use for drinking or cooking. And regularly change the filter cartridges. That’s the only to way to ensure you aren’t getting poisonous lead in your water, according to Dr. Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech environmental scientist who has won hero status for proving people in Flint, Mich., were being poisoned by their drinking water.
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.
Outdoor concert venue booked for council approval
A 7,500-seat outdoor concert venue that will feature 25 to 30 concerts each season is likely headed to the Richmond riverfront.
$3M plus to former inmate
Stefan Woodson nearly died from a heat stroke in July 2012 while serving time in the old Richmond City Jail. Left mentally and physically disabled, the former Marine has agreed to accept more than $3 million from the City of Richmond and Richmond Sheriff C.T. Woody Jr. to settle his federal lawsuit that charged the damage he suffered resulted from inadequate care that amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment.” The settlement disclosed by Mr. Woodson’s attorneys ranks among the largest ever in a Virginia case involving inmate health issues. The city has not issued any comment, nor has the Sheriff’s Office.
City Council approves CARITAS treatment center
In its first meeting of the new term, Richmond City Council cleared the way for faith-based CARITAS to develop a headquarters in South Side that is to include a treatment center for women addicted to drugs and alcohol. The decision came during a speedy 1 hour, 7 minute meeting Monday night when the council, with four new members, hit the pause button on a series of proposals so members could have a fresh review in committee.
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.
‘Deeply disappointing’
RPS superintendent reacts to city SOL scores showing 2 of every 5 students unable to pass one or more tests
The good news: More than half of Richmond’s public school students passed one or more state Standards of Learning tests in 2018 and are meeting state objectives in the core subjects of reading, writing, math, science and history/social studies.
3 ousted in Richmond Police shakeup
Richmond Police Chief Gerald M. Smith overhauled his command staff this week in his first big personnel shakeup since taking office seven months ago.
Kirby Carmichael honored with Richmond street sign bearing his name
For several decades Kirby David Carmichael spun the plat- ters at Richmond radio stations, first at WANT-AM and then at WRVQ-FM, ran Sunday night skate parties that were safe havens for area youths, held holiday turkey and toy drives and promoted events, festivals and other beneficial activities.
Police union up for a vote
Hundreds of officers in the Richmond Police Department are voting on whether to make the Richmond Coalition of Police their union bargaining agent, the Free Press has learned.
Fourth Baptist receives historic preservation grant
Fourth Baptist Church in Richmond’s East End has been awarded a $150,000 grant to support preservation of the education wing as the church prepares to mark the 164th anniversary of its founding.
Casino contenders now down to 2; Bally’s out
Just two contenders are left in the competition to build a casino-resort in Richmond, and one already has corralled the support of a majority of City Council.
Burrs named to Venture Richmond post
For the past four years, Stacy L. Burrs has led efforts to transform the historic Leigh Street Armory in Jackson Ward into the new home of the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia.
Coffee shop reopens on Brookland Park Blvd.
The Streetcar Café on North Side is back in business under new management. The coffee shop at 10 E. Brookland Park Blvd. turned on the lights and began serving patrons again Dec. 14, two weeks after the previous operators departed.
In clear: VSU accreditation
Virginia State University is back in the good graces of its accrediting agency. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) voted June 16 to remove VSU from “warning” status and restore the Petersburg area university to unblemished accreditation.
North Side church to be razed for community garden
A community garden soon will replace a once treasured, but now vacant, century-old church building in North Side that is about to be demolished.
