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80¢ cigarette tax goes up in smoke at City Council

Richmond smokers will not have to pay an extra 80 cents for a pack of cigarette. After hearing from more than 50 speakers and nearly an hour of debate, Richmond City Council, with a 6-3 vote, killed a proposal to impose a city tax on cigarettes that Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, 5th District, had spearheaded.

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Tree problems go unanswered by city

Editor’s note: Just before the Free Press Wednesday deadline, Spencer Turner sent a text message to a Free Press reporter stating: “Thanks for help. They are cutting tree down Friday. The power of a free press.” As of deadline, the Free Press had not been able to confirm Mr. Turner’s statement with city officials. By Jeremy M. Lazarus

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Pulse driving businesses down

Transit construction has hurt Downtown establishments

By Jeremy M. Lazarus Richmond City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray has been getting an earful from restaurants and businesses along Broad Street that have seen customer numbers fall and revenues shrink during the 20-month construction of Pulse, GRTC’s new bus rapid transit system

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Henrico hotel pays workers with free lodging

An aging hotel in Henrico County has found a way to virtually eliminate wages. Instead of money, employees get a room in exchange for working 40 hours a week checking in guests, doing maintenance work, cleaning rooms or filling other needed roles.

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Can Richmond afford 4 planned new schools?

One unanswered question hovers as the Richmond School Board and schools Superintendent Jason Kamras push the city to seek bids for new buildings to replace four aging schools: Can the city afford them?

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Free Press wins 11 state journalism awards

The Richmond Free Press continues its 26-year tradition of award-winning excellence. The newspaper was recognized with 11 awards, including four first place awards, at the annual Virginia Press Association competition in writing, photography, news presentation and advertising.

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Health systems securing naming rights to GRTC’s Pulse

Richmond area taxpayers apparently will not have to spend as much to subsidize rides on GRTC’s new bus rapid transit service, also known as Pulse, thanks to two area health care giants, VCU Health System and Bon Secours Richmond Health System. 

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RRHA still fixing heating systems

The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority has restored heat to 318 apartments, but still has 93 units in various public housing communities to complete, according to an update released last week.

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Liberty president censors student newspaper over critics

Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. stifled an effort by the school’s newspaper to report on an event last weekend organized by his critics, said a student editor.

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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.

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Confederate flag replaced at Riverview Cemetery

A Confederate flag flying in Riverview Cemetery in Richmond’s West End has been replaced with a new banner — the Christian flag, a white banner with a red cross centered in a small, blue square in the flag’s top left corner.

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Medicaid expansion, state budget talks continue

Virginia’s budget impasse remained unresolved Wednesday as the Virginia House and Senate adjourned about 90 minutes into the special session called by Gov. Ralph S. Northam without taking any action.

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Evicted

Richmond ranks No.2 nationally in displacing people from their homes and apartments by eviction

Marcel Slag has been fighting evictions for 28 years as a lawyer with Central Virginia Legal Aid and its now independent Justice Center.

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104-year-old city real estate firm sold

Brothers Jeffrey Finn and John S. Finn Jr. are breathing new life into the oldest African-American-owned real estate company in continuous operation in Richmond.

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Hours, enforcement increase for city meters

Drivers can now park longer at Downtown street meters, but the city also plans to increase enforcement.

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City natural gas price going down

Richmond residents who cook and heat with natural gas will get a price break on its cost next month because of a sharp jump in production.

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Joe Morrissey disbarred for violating State Bar rules

“Fighting Joe” has been hit with a knockout blow. For the second time in his career, Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey, a savvy attorney and former Richmond prosecutor who built a reputation as a courtroom battler, has lost his license to practice law.

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Why is it flying?

The Confederacy may have been defeated, but the flags of the rebels who fought to separate from the United States to keep black people in bondage still fly in city-owned cemeteries.

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Medicaid expansion to be key in state budget battle April 11

The high-stakes battle over Virginia’s next two-year budget resumes next Wednesday, April 11. On the line: Expansion of health care to 300,000 to 400,000 low-income Virginians, pay raises for state workers and teachers, and increased state support for education, mental health and workforce development.

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City Hall fends off ransomware attack

The Richmond City Hall information technology staff has fended off the same kind of ransomware attack that crippled city computers in Atlanta for more than a week.