RRHA’s annual plan for 2019-20 finally approved by HUD
It took nearly a year, but the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority has finally received federal approval for its 2019-20 annual plan.
Dr. Earl McClenney Jr., legendary VSU educator and longtime public administrator, dies at 79
Dr. Earl Hampton McClenney Jr. left his mark on public administration in Virginia as an educator and as a Richmond and state official where he fought entrenched racism and sought to aid the underdog.
State watchdog agency examining special education system
First came a scathing federal report on the failure of the Virginia Department of Education to effectively monitor the special education programs that local public school divisions provide to children with learning disabilities and mental challenges.
Former city councilman pushing African-American perspective missing in Lee statue lawsuit
New drama is about to be injected into the already charged legal fight over removing the last and largest offensive Confederate statue from Monument Avenue — the one to slavery’s top military defender, Gen. Robert E. Lee.
City projects $4.7M budget surplus despite COVID-19
While many in Richmond are struggling to pay their bills during the pandemic, City Hall surprisingly remains awash in cash.
Annual Southeast Community Day Parade to go on with or without permit, organizer says
Newport News has ordered the cancellation of the annual Southeast Community Day Parade that an area chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference has staged since 1991 — but the SCLC plans to defy the city and stage it anyway.
Special General Assembly session kicks off amid rallies calling for reform
Will evictions be halted until April 30, 2021, as Richmond Democratic state Sen. Ghazala F. Hashmi has proposed?
Gray calls for probe of mayor’s use of $1.8M to remove Confederate statues
The fate of two Richmond-owned Confederate statues and one of Christopher Columbus remain on hold even as City Council has put in place a process to sell off 10 others.
VSU’s Jesse Vaughan wins regional Emmys and lifetime achievement award
Jesse Vaughan has directed such films as “Juwanna Mann” and “The Last Punch.” And in recent years, he has turned Virginia State University into a film powerhouse in the creation of commercials, documentaries and short films.
New deal helps pave way for Soulidifly's new work
Richmond’s largest African-American film and media company now has access to financial support for its efforts to make films showcasing events and stories involving women and people of color.
CAHN buys South Side medical building
The nonprofit Capital Area Health Network is the new owner of the Manchester Medical Building at 101 Cowardin Ave., previously one of the area’s largest African-American-owned medical office buildings in the city.
2-day turnaround time for some COVID-19 tests
Virginia’s state lab is cranking out results from coronavirus tests in two to three days — far faster than private labs across the state where it can take two to three weeks, and sometimes longer, to get results.
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.
City Electoral Board certifies 6 mayoral candidates, 22 for City Council and 19 for School Board
Incumbent Mayor Levar M. Stoney will have five opponents as he seeks a second term.
Virginia Supreme Court halts most evictions through Sept. 7
Thousands of families in Richmond and across the state are heaving a sigh of relief after a sharply divided Virginia Supreme Court temporarily halted local general district courts from issuing a writ of eviction for failure to pay rent — though not for other reasons like property damage.
Pandemic puts city assessments, financial picture on hold
New valuations of Richmond homes and businesses have yet to be issued.
Small nonprofit makes big impact on lives, health of people
Josselyn Aguirre-Cabrera went to see a doctor about her nagging headaches and learned she had diabetes.
Woodland Cemetery sale completed to nonprofit Evergreen Restoration Foundation
A new owner has taken over the 104-year-old Woodland Cemetery, the final resting place of tennis great and humanitarian Arthur R. Ashe Jr., celebrated Richmond pastor John Jasper of Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church and thousands of others.
More COVID-19 cases reported at city jail; Henrico cases subsiding
A few more cases of COVID-19 have been reported at the Richmond Justice Center in the past week, as the Henrico County Jail has reported an end to the epidemic at its Parham Road facility.
Lee statue to remain under new 90-day injunction
The statue of slavery-defending Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee will continue to loom over Monument Avenue for at least 90 more days.
Slave memorial and museum gets jumpstart under mayor’s plan
A long-stalled effort to develop a museum and memorial park in Shockoe Bottom to tell the story of enslaved people in Richmond seems to have gained fresh momentum, but that could quickly evaporate.
‘Defunding police’ rejected
Richmond City Council kills proposal to examine police funding in social, mental health and community services and move the money to other departments
No to reducing the Richmond Police budget to assuage demonstrators’ demands to “defund police.”
Confederate icons swept from Virginia Capitol building
After 88 years, the statue of Confederate traitor Robert E. Lee is gone from the State Capitol.
2nd complaint filed against Judge Cavedo
Richmond Circuit Court Judge Bradley B. Cavedo is facing a second complaint to the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission seeking his removal from the bench based on the judge’s efforts to bar the city and state from removing Confederate statues.
New policies to help RRHA tenants
With nearly two in five residents of public housing in Richmond behind in paying rent and/or electricity charges, the city’s housing authority is pushing policy changes to avoid mass evictions.
Census estimate shows city growth, but lag in people returning forms
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates Rich- mond’s population surged past 230,000 on July 1, 2019, for the first time in at least 45 years.
VSU may have to repay up to $12M for alleged misuse of federal grant
Virginia State University may have to ante up for a financial problem that appears to be growing.
3 inmates, 2 staffers at city jail test positive for COVID-19, numbers higher in Henrico
At least three inmates and two staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus at the Richmond Justice Center, Richmond Sheriff Antionette V. Irving disclosed Tuesday.
Protest appears to mix with mayoral campaign
The race to become Richmond’s next mayor appears be bleeding into the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests.
Judge steps down
Richmond Circuit Court Judge Bradley B. Cavedo recuses himself from Confederate statue cases as formal complaint filed against him with judicial commission
Richmond Circuit Court Judge Bradley B. Cavedo has given up his fight to preserve the statues of racist Confederate gener- als in the city, potentially opening the door to removal of the biggest statue of all — the one to Robert E. Lee at Monument and Allen avenues.
City prosecutor to review Marcus-David Peters case
The Marcus-David Peters case is getting another look.
Dr. Oliver W. ‘Duke’ Hill Jr., retired VSU professor, administrator and researcher, dies at 70
While his celebrated attorney father devoted his life to using the law to break down racial barriers, Dr. Oliver White Hill Jr. focused his attention on eliminating racial disparities in education.
Help for women in addiction to expand with new CARITAS center in South Side
In a bit more than two months, Richmond will have a new shelter and treatment center for women struggling with addiction and homelessness.
Questions swirl around judge
Lawyers representing Mayor Levar M. Stoney and the city have rushed to the Virginia Supreme Court, requesting the state’s highest court overturn a Richmond Circuit Court judge’s 60-day injunction barring the mayor from using emergency authority to take down Confederate statues.
Chief Smith embraces police reform, but wants to control it from the catbird seat
New Richmond Police Chief Gerald M. Smith is raising a yellow caution flag for those pushing to reform the department and support budget cuts to “defund the police.”
New law gives teeth to Richmond’s gun ban
Remember when a group of gun toters invaded City Hall to protest gun controls and jangled nerves at a City Council meeting as they filled the seats?
IRS filing shows Monroe Park Conservancy running deficit
Does a nonprofit group authorized by City Hall to manage Monroe Park need a bailout?
Federal report condemns state failure to intervene in special education compliance
For more than four years, former schoolteacher Kandise Lucas has repeatedly condemned the Virginia Department of Education for its alleged failure to intervene against schools in the Richmond area and across the state that are denying special needs children a free and appropriate public education — most notably African-American children.
Remnants of the Confederacy
The statue of Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, the last of the four city-owned Confederate statues on Monument Avenue, was taken down and moved to storage Tuesday
The former capital of the Confederacy has largely been wiped clean of the racist statuary that has long dominated the landscape.
Child care a major issue as RPS officials grapple with reopening plan
A 3-foot change could help working parents — most notably single mothers — keep their jobs or avoid the cost of expensive day care.
Utility giants abandon natural gas pipeline plans
The rural tranquility of Union Hill — a community that newly freed slaves built in Buckingham County after the Civil War — is no longer facing disturbance from a giant, noisy natural gas compressor.
Foundation poised with cash to purchase Woodland Cemetery
The Evergreen Restoration Foundation has raised the $50,000 needed to purchase Woodland Cemetery, a historic African-American cemetery in Henrico County that is the burial ground of Arthur Ashe Jr., the Richmond-born tennis great and humanitarian.
Gone!
After more than 100 years, the statue of Confederate ‘Stonewall’ Jackson on Monument Avenue comes down
Goodbye, “Stonewall” Jackson.
July 4th fireworks in Richmond, Chesterfield
The nation will turn 244 years old on Saturday, July 4, but many of the traditional holiday events and fireworks spectaculars have been eliminated because of the coronavirus pandemic.
VSU outlines cuts to absorb $26M deficit
Financially troubled Virginia State University appears to be on track to fill a $26 million hole in the 2020-21 budget, although at least half of the solution appears to be temporary patches that will last only one year.
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.
Richmond Justice Center begins COVID-19 testing
More than three months after the coronavirus pandemic began, the Richmond City Justice Center is conducting its first mass testing of inmates, deputies and staff for COVID-19.
Gun rights advocates holding rally and march Saturday in Downtown
Thousands of people are expected to descend on Richmond this Saturday for a protest at the State Capitol against perceived injustice— new gun control laws that went into effect Wednesday, July 1.
Virginia Ready launches new job training program with community colleges, bonuses
Get trained for a high-paying job, network with companies that are seeking to fill thousands of vacant positions and earn a $1,000 bonus. That’s the promise of a new Virginia Ready, that launched Monday.
