Richmond company to add 66 new jobs
Richmond just got more good news on the job front — the prospect of 66 new jobs.
Grace Street development plan on hold
Plans to develop nearly a block of city property on East Grace Street into an $86 million office, hotel and residential complex are headed back to the drawing board after Mayor Levar M. Stoney withdrew legislation on the project. Bob Englander of CathFord Consulting, who proposed the project, said
Operation Streets founder calls recreation programs the key to ending youth violence
On the campaign trail, Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney promised to beef up after-school programs and recreational opportunities for youths.
‘Bring Our Missing Children Home!’ event April 29 at South Side church
Toni Jacobs keeps hoping she will soon hear from her 21-year-old daughter, Keeshae Jacobs, who disappeared without a trace seven months ago.
Reclaiming history
St. Luke building, first home of Maggie L. Walker’s bank, is being turned into upscale apartments to spur development in Gilpin Court
Upscale apartments are taking shape in the long-empty St. Luke Building, the once vital four-story headquarters of a mutual aid society where renowned Richmond businesswoman Maggie L. Walker once had a bank.
City Council continues to wrestle over budget
More than 60 people trooped to the microphone Monday to plead with Richmond City Council not to cut programs they need.
Postal service managers, supervisors ready to fight terminations
The battle over pay practices of the U.S. Postal Service in the Richmond area is about to become even more heated.
Nonprofit counseling group to move into East End Family Resource Center
A nonprofit with deep roots in Church Hill expects to move soon into the East End Family Resource Center, 2401 Jefferson Ave.
152,694
Number of felons whose voting rights have been restored by Gov. McAuliffe
Gov. Terry McAuliffe has restored the voting rights of 152,694 ex-convicts since taking office. That’s more people than the combined populations of Petersburg, Hopewell, Charlottesville and Danville, and enough to create the fifth largest city in the state.
U.S. Postal Service shakeup continues
The U.S. Postal Service is continuing to shake up the management of postal stations in the Richmond area as the fallout continues from a scandal over overtime pay, sources have told the Free Press.
City school buses being equipped with safety cameras
Fifty city school buses now are equipped with additional cameras to beef up security inside and to help identify scofflaw drivers who illegally pass the buses when students are getting on or off.
Former MCV researcher Anna Carr dies at 86
Her attractiveness made her a JET Beauty of the Week. Her intellect enabled her to become a pioneering scientist.
Retired teacher Joyce Johnson dies at 73
Teaching children was Joyce Cole Johnson’s mission in life, according to her family. For 33 years, Ms. Johnson helped Richmond first- and second-graders learn to read, write and do arithmetic, first at Woodville Elementary and then at John B. Cary Elementary schools.
Mayor Stoney, city officials mulling options to reduce crime in public housing
The Mosby Court public housing community — particularly the area around Redd and Accommodation streets — could be considered the epicenter of Richmond’s spike in homicides.
Crusade votes to back city charter change to fix school buildings
In his first budget, Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney essentially sidelined the issue of modernizing the aging and increasingly obsolete school buildings that most city public school students attend.
Maggie Walker statue to be dedicated on her birthday July 15
City officials plan to dedicate the new Maggie L. Walker statue Downtown on July 15, the 153rd birthday of the Richmond businesswoman and great.
Volunteers to help fix up homes for elderly during Affordable Housing Awareness Week
April is here and that means hundreds of Richmond area volunteers soon will pour into neighborhoods to make home improvements for elderly and low-income residents who cannot afford them.
Plan for former Highland Park Catholic school building stalls
The plan to replace a vacant Catholic school on North Side with 80 affordable apartments is on hold as the nonprofit developer seeks to overcome opposition from neighborhood St. Elizabeth Catholic Church and nearby residents. The Free Press reported on the plan in early February, but the proposal has been stalled since an ordinance to support the work was sent to Richmond City Council for approval.
Essex Village flunks HUD inspection
After years of complaints, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is finally reacting to the deteriorating condition of Essex Village, the largest subsidized housing complex in Henrico County.
Adediran lands provisional post in Petersburg
Dismissed from is job at Richmond’s City Hall, Emmanuel O. Adediran is headed to a job with the Petersburg city government, the Free Press learned Wednesday.
Back on the runway
Renée Lacy has been the modeling guru for thousands of children, teens and adults in the Richmond area and beyond. For 35 years, the bubbly, energetic woman operated a training center in Downtown where would-be models under her tutelage learned the ways of the runway.
Religious order reviewing bids on former Powhatan boarding school property
The future of a historic 2,200-acre property in Powhatan County, where thousands of African-American children once were educated in long-closed Catholic boarding schools, remains in limbo.
Jackson Ward development continues with proposed $27M apartment-retail complex
A Jackson Ward parking lot soon could soon be home to a five-story, $27 million building featuring 167 apartments. Richmond area developer Eric Phipps reportedly is proposing to create the new project on a 1-acre parcel on East Marshall Street. The site is on the north side of Marshall between Adams and 1st streets.
City Council besieged with requests for more money
As it wades into the details of city spending, Richmond City Council, as usual, is finding itself besieged with pleas for additional funding from departments that feel shortchanged by Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s spartan budget proposal.
GRTC gears up for route changes effective Nov. 12
Love it or hate it, GRTC is moving ahead with a major revamp of its city bus routes. The proposed changes to routes are expected to be finalized this week and go into effect on Sunday, Nov. 12, Amy Inman, the city’s transportation planner, told a Richmond City Council meeting Monday.
Dr. Levy Armwood to retire
Ebenezer Baptist Church in Jackson Ward soon will be looking for a new pastor. Dr. Levy M. Armwood Jr. is retiring after nearly 15 years in the pulpit of the historic church that has occupied 216 W. Leigh St. since 1858, three years before the Civil War.
GRTC board fires CARE van company
Cora J. Dickerson’s complaints about the CARE van service that GRTC provides to elderly and disabled riders have produced unexpected results.
General Assembly request holds up Boulevard development project
The General Assembly wants more information before allowing the state’s liquor agency to borrow $104 million to develop a new headquarters and warehouse in a new location.
Va. SCLC lauds racist U.S. attorney general for civil rights work on anniversary of Dr. King’s death
Sending shockwaves through the civil rights community, leaders of the Virginia affiliate of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference used the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a co-founder of the national group, to honor what many would view as his nemesis, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
‘Voices from the Garden’ monument in Capitol Square to honor Va. women
A new monument to Virginia women is planned to rise in about two-and-a-half years on the grounds of the State Capitol to celebrate the impact women have had on the commonwealth and the nation.
Seed money stalled for city’s Whitcomb Court redevelopment
With the transformation of the Creighton Court public housing community underway, Richmond City Hall is seeking to change a second public housing community, Whitcomb Court, into a mixed-income community.
Crusade weighs charter change to help replace decrepit city schools
The Richmond Crusade for Voters, the city’s oldest and largest African-American political group, is considering putting the city’s failure to overhaul its decaying public school buildings on the front burner.
City Hall sponsors RVA Photog competition
You can by participating in Richmond City Hall’s second annual RVA Photog competition that will focus on Shockoe Bottom, it has been announced.
Unemployment rate in Va. drops to 4%
People like Percy Bell appear to be having an easier time finding work as unemployment returns to levels of nine years ago and employers begin to strain to fill openings.
Parson attempts legal maneuver to retake Richmond Christian Center
Fresh from campaigning for President Trump, Pastor Stephen A. Parson Sr. has launched a campaign to retake control of the Richmond Christian Center in South Side.
Wilder in legal brawl with his former lawyers Goldman, Morrissey
Richmond residents now have a front row seat on a heavyweight legal fight between former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and former Delegate Joe Morrissey.
City tax bills expected to be higher for 2017-18
Richmond residents should expect the city to send them bigger tax bills on vehicles and property this year — despite Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s claim that his proposed budget does not include a tax increase. A closer look at the budget plan shows that the mayor did not propose a hike in the tax rates the city charges on real estate or on cars, trucks and other personal property.
CARE van service eyed by City Council due to complaints
GRTC is acknowledging that its CARE van operation is providing “unacceptable” service to the hundreds of elderly and disabled people who rely on the specialty door-to-door transportation to get to dialysis or to work, see doctors, go shopping or handle other business.
GRTC stands to get more money under mayor’s proposed budget
GRTC turns out to be one of the big winners in Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s proposed budget. The mayor is asking Richmond City Council to boost the total GRTC subsidy by about $1.65 million from the current level in a bid to keep the transit company solvent as it prepares for a major overhaul of its routes and to subsidize the new GRTC Pulse or Bus Rapid Transit service.
Former Old Dominion Bar Association president faces disciplinary hearing
By all accounts, Vinceretta Taylor Chiles has long been regarded as having a stellar legal career in and out of court.
VCU professor files suit alleging ‘pattern and practice’ of sexual harassment by colleague
Virginia Commonwealth University is being accused of turning a blind eye for decades to complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation involving a top clinical psychologist in its medical school, Dr. Jeffrey S. Kreutzer.
Walker papers return home
The Maggie Walker papers have been returned to the Stallings family, ending their seven-year sojourn at the College of William & Mary and forestalling a potential conflict.
Despite efforts, bank branch in Highland Park to close March 21
Bank of America is not backing down on its decision to close its Highland Park branch on Tuesday, March 21, according to Richmond City Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson.
Stoney offers $681M budget
Spending plan raises trash fee, utility rates but avoids tax hike
Richmond Public Schools teachers and city police officers and firefighters would gain pay raises, but most city employees would have to make do with their current wages.
VUU names Dr. Corey Walker to lead its School of Theology
Corey D.B. Walker, a scholar, author and college dean, will return to Virginia Union University to lead the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, where he once studied for the ministry.
City Council approves funds for new police property center
The cramped and decaying storage area in Downtown where the Richmond Police Department holds guns, drugs and other evidence for court cases is finally on its way to being replaced.
Richmond Ambulance Authority earns sixth ACE award
The Richmond Ambulance Authority has proven once again just how well it performs for residents. The RAA has become the first U.S. ambulance service to be named six times as an Accredited Center for Excellence for its dispatch services.
Owners seek return of Maggie Walker papers
Eight years ago, curious students from the College of William & Mary stumbled across a treasure trove of documents hidden in the attic of a vacant building in Gilpin Court.
Righting grave wrongs
Virginia General Assembly approves funds for 2 area historic African-American cemeteries; state has been paying for upkeep of Confederate graves for 100 years
Two historic, but largely abandoned and bedraggled African-American cemeteries on Richmond’s eastern border with Henrico County are about to get state support.
Petitions withdrawn seeking ouster of Petersburg officials
Petersburg Mayor Samuel D. Parham, 3rd Ward, and Councilman W. Howard Myers, 5th Ward, are keeping their city council seats.
