Shootings and homicides up in city, but major crime down 3% from 2018
Sixty people as of noon Dec. 31, were fatally shot, bludgeoned or knifed to death in Richmond in 2019, according to city Police Department statistics.
GRTC official: No money for transfer station proposed by Navy Hil
GRTC lacks the funding to develop and operate the modern transfer center that is part of the $1.5 billion city and Navy Hill District Corp. plan to replace the Richmond Coliseum and develop nearby blocks, according to the bus company.
New chair for School Board?
The Richmond School Board could start the new year with a new chair at the helm.
VCU silent on questions about 'Jabo' Wilkins' retired jersey and number
Silence. That’s the response from Virginia Commonwealth University to several Free Press inquiries on what happened to the formal recognition for one of its greatest basketball players, the late Charles “Jabo” Wilkins.
2020 Vision
Mayor Stoney reflects on his accomplishments of the past 3 years, his goals for the final year of his term and prospects for re-election
Mayor Levar M. Stoney is heading into 2020 confident that Richmond voters will reward him with another four years based on his accomplishments.
VUU announces $5,000 tuition cut
Virginia Union University will cut the yearly cost of undergraduate tuition by $5,000 beginning next fall in an apparent bid to attract more students and end a quiet, but dramatic two-year drop in enrollment.
Explanations sought on City Council's consulting contract cost
When a divided Richmond City Council voted 5-4 on Dec. 9 to proceed with hiring C.H. Johnson Consulting to review the $1.5 billion Richmond Coliseum replacement plan, most members had no idea that the company’s bid had come in 13 percent higher than the amount council had approved to pay a consultant.
Richmond Police fine-tuning new crime data system to help public
Local police departments have long kept a tight grip on their information, only grudgingly releasing crime statistics and usually keeping data on officer activity off limits to taxpayers. But the Richmond Police Department is taking a different tack.
RRHA under no deadline to submit revised plans to HUD
The rejected annual plan and five-year plan of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority that lays out its vision for renovation or replacement of its nearly 4,000 public housing units is still in limbo.
$3.7B transportation deal to boost rail service from Richmond to D.C.
Richmond would be a major beneficiary of an unprecedented $3.7 billion deal announced by Gov. Ralph S. Northam to boost passenger rail service between Washington and other Virginia cities to avoid an even costlier expansion of Interstate 95.
Advocates for the homeless hail U.S. Supreme Court victory
Homeless people can sleep on public property, including sidewalks and parks in communities that offer no other option. That’s the upshot of the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear an appeal from Boise, Idaho, whose ordinance to bar the homeless from camping out in public places was overturned as violating the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Thumbs down
City Council-appointed advisory commission rejects $1.5B Coliseum and Downtown redevelopment plan after 3-month review
Don’t do it. Don’t invest hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to replace the vacant Richmond Coliseum with a new 17,500-seat arena.
Lt. Gov. Fairfax announces he will run for governor in 2021
Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax plans to run for governor in 2021, confident that he no longer will be held back by allegations that he sexually assaulted two women in separate incidents nearly two decades ago.
RRHA residents starting to relocate into Jackson Ward, East End developments
Public housing residents are beginning to move into new apartment complexes in Church Hill and Jackson Ward that were developed in partnership with the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
New details emerge about Coliseum replacement plan
Richmond City Council President Cynthia I. Newbille, rushing to get the governing body to vote on the $1.5 billion Coliseum replacement plan in late February, authorized a $25,000 increase in the contract for a private consultant to conduct a review of the proposal for City Council without first gaining a council vote, the Free Press has learned.
Christy Coleman leaves American Civil War Museum
Christy Coleman is leaving Richmond to become executive director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, a state agency that operates museums that focus on the original English colony at Jamestown and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.
Tom Joyner, the 'hardest working man in radio,' retires
The “fly jock” and “hardest working man in radio” has hung up his microphone.
Gov. Northam releases progressive 2020-22 budget plan
Smokers might have to shell out an extra 30 cents in tax for a pack of cigarettes to help offset the cost of tobacco-related illnesses that the state must pick up through Medicaid and other health care programs.
House votes to impeach President Trump
“Can you believe that I will be impeached today,” President Trump tweeted Wednesday as part of an angry rant that ripped his foes for this “terrible thing.”
Tobacco purchase age likely to be raised to 21
The age for purchasing tobacco products and e-cigarettes is on track to be raised to 21 across the country, just as it is now in Virginia and 11 other states.
Va. inmate wins religious freedom lawsuit
For more than three years, Alfonza H. Greenhill has persisted in battling Virginia prison policies that blocked him from practicing the strict Sufi branch of Islam.
Lt. Ashley N. Berry remembered during service at Second Baptist in South Richmond
“She was the best of the best,” Richmond Fire Chief Melvin Carter said.
Concerns raised over NAACP official's close ties to state political party
Has the Virginia State Conference NAACP crossed into partisan territory by naming the No. 2 officer of the state Democratic Party as its chief lobbyist?
RRHA gets 60 additional housing vouchers for people with disabilities
The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority has been awarded additional federal funding of $491,000 that will pay for 60 new Housing Choice vouchers to subsidize residences for low-income people with disabilities.
Newest Soulidifly film, 'Hell on the Border,' to open Friday
Born enslaved, Bass Reeves rose to become a legendary U.S. deputy marshal who helped tame the Wild West, giving rise to speculation that he served as the model for the fictional white Lone Ranger.
Old Moore Street School continues to deteriorate during inaction over future
Jerome Legions is preparing to go on the warpath over the condition of historic Moore Street School.
HBCU funding finally approved by U.S. Senate
Virginia Union University and four other historically black colleges and universities have moved a step closer to regaining direct federal funding after months of contention.
Vote on Navy Hill project expected on Feb. 24
Monday, Feb. 24. That’s the date on which City Council President Cynthia I. Newbille wants the governing body to take a vote on the controversial $1.5 billion Coliseum replacement and Downtown development plan.
Monument Avenue statues to be impacted by 2 proposed resolutions
City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray, 2nd District, wants to add a new monument to Monument Avenue that would honor black soldiers who fought in the Civil War.
City Council sets fines for driving while talking, texting or holding cell phone
Just holding a cell phone in your hand while driving could soon cost you $125 in the city of Richmond.
City Planning Commission to take up Salvation Army relocation request in new year
A holiday truce has been declared in the seven-month battle over the Salvation Army’s proposal to move its Central Virginia headquarters and shelter from Downtown to North Side.
South Side Ducks headed to Los Angeles
A Richmond youth team once again is headed to Los Angeles to compete in the Snoop Youth Football League National Tournament.
RRHA redevelopment plan rejected by HUD
The city’s housing authority has been blocked, at least temporarily, from moving ahead with its sweeping plan for transforming public housing that has raised public concern about the impact on thousands of people if their government-owned rental units are replaced.
Independent, unbiased?
Questions raised by City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray about consulting firm’s ties to backers of the $1.5B Coliseum and Downtown development plan
A Chicago-based real estate development, hospitality, hotel and tourism consulting firm with ties to known advocates of the $1.5 billion Richmond Coliseum replacement plan has been tapped to undertake what was to be an independent and unbiased assessment of the proposal for Richmond City Council.
'Hope' returnes to Henrico's Hope Village housing complex
A $5 million facelift of Hope Village, a 100-unit affordable housing complex in Henrico County, is now complete.
Mayor Stoney lauds record pothole repair
A record 31,000 potholes have been repaired this year, City Hall announced Tuesday.
Agelasto wraps up City Council service with a look back
City Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, 43, wrapped up his final week and walked away before Thanksgiving from City Hall and his post as the 5th District City Council representative.
Joy from pain
2 women impacted by gun violence work to bring comfort to others at Thanksgiving and throughout the year
Turning tragedy into something positive for the community — that’s what two Richmond area women are striving to do even as they grieve losses from gun violence.
Remains found in VCU well returned to Richmond after Smithsonian study
The bones of 53 African-Americans are back in Richmond after a 25-year sojourn at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
Vernon J. Harris Medical and Dental Center to reopen
A mainstay of health care in Richmond’s East End is reopening after being sidelined for a year of renovation.
No injunction granted in black-owned health companies' federal lawsuit
A federal judge has refused to block several health insurance companies from firing 33 small, mostly African-American-owned companies that provide mental health and substance abuse counseling services to Medicaid patients.
VSU board extends president's contract to June 2024
Dr. Makola M. Abdullah, the president of Virginia State University, has received a three-year contract extension.
Dixon to become Crusade for Voters new president
John I. Dixon III, former Petersburg police chief and a retired Richmond Police Department major, will become president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters on Jan. 1.
Pushback
Richmond native files complaint about Navy Hill District Corp. with Internal Revenue Service; City Council vote on project may come as late as March
The battle over the proposed $1.5 billion Navy Hill District Corp. project in Downtown could rage for a few more months.
Complaint to national challenges Va. NAACP election
The Virginia State Conference NAACP is facing more turmoil following a tumultuous convention at which Robert N. Barnette Jr. of Hanover County was elected the new state president.
Anderson new City Council chief of staff
Lawrence Rashad Anderson, a former urban research fellow at American University in Washington, is the Richmond City Council’s new chief of staff.
Richmond delegates expected to have greater clout in upcoming General Assembly
At least four Richmond area delegates to the Virginia General Assembly are poised to gain increased clout when the new Democratic majority takes control of both the House of Delegates and the state Senate when the 2020 legislative session opens in January.
State Board of Elections acts to protect election data
The three-member state Board of Elections imposed minimum standards on Monday to protect election data from being hacked.
'16 Bars' documentary from the Richmond Justice Center opens Nov. 14
It already has been seen in Charlottesville, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Now, a 94-minute documentary is finally set to debut in Richmond about four current and former inmates and their personal stories told through music at the Richmond Justice Center with the help of Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Todd “Speech” Thomas.
GSK to add 150 jobs at city research center
Richmond is to gain 150 new jobs and an enlarged role as a hub of consumer product research and development for a joint venture of two pharmaceutical giants, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer.
