TLN-7-21-2020

L

‘

EGACY Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.

WEDNESDAYS • July 22, 2020

INSIDE

• Plea for policy accountability - 2 • No sorrow when ‘bad’ G-ma dies - 3 Right: New Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith LEGACYNEWSPAPER.COM • FREE

Richmond & Hampton Roads

Rep. John Lewis stood under a quote of his that is displayed in the Civil Rights Room in the Nashville Public Library in Nashville, Tenn., in 2016.

PHOTO: Mark Humphrey

John Lewis, lion of civil rights and Congress John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, died July 17. He was

80 and had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed Lewis’ passing, calling him “one of the greatest heroes of American history.”

“All of us were humbled to call Congressman

Lewis a colleague, and are heartbroken by his passing,” Pelosi said. “May his memory be an inspiration that moves us all to, in the face of injustice, make ‘good trouble, necessary trouble.’”

Read more online at legacynewspaper.com

The LEGACY

2 • July 22, 2020

News

In one of Richmond’s highest crime neighborhoods, a plea for police accountability. ‘There’s no respect.’

NED OLIVER VM- On the outskirts of Gilpin Court in Richmond, Leander Vinson stands tall, carries a cane and wears a revolver on his hip.

The 56-year-old says he’s watched as construction crews removed Confederate statues around the city, drawing nationwide attention.

But like many residents in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, he has other things on his mind.

“I understand what the statues symbolize, and I disapprove of that, too,” he said. “But I’m more concerned about the way police officers approach men of color. That statue is not yelling and screaming at me. That statue is not throwing handcuffs on me.”

With frequent patrols and one of the highest crime rates in the city, the neighborhood’s 2,500 residents are more familiar than most with the city’s police department, its officers and their approach to fighting crime.

They say they’re sick of it.

Residents may disagree on the specifics of reform proposals like defunding the police. But conversation after conversation in the neighborhood returned to a common theme.

“There’s no respect,” Vinson, who moved to Gilpin with his mother when he was six years old, said. “Just because you hang out in the projects, that doesn’t mean everybody is doing drugs, everybody is selling drugs. It’s the neighborhood that I like and the neighborhood that I was raised in.”

Residents complain about aggressive officers approaching friends hanging out outside their apartments. They’re tired of frequent traffic stops made under pretenses

Leander Vinson PHOTO: Scott Elmquist they view as flimsy. And they say Curry, said later that nothing about when crimes that do warrant a fast the incident surprised her and and decisive response occur, it often initially it didn’t even occur to her to feels like police are nowhere to be raise a complaint. found.

“Being that I was brought up and raised in Hillside Court and ‘Wait ’till your asses turn 18’ Highland Park area, I found that The hostility people in one officers acted like that on a regular of Richmond’s low-income, basis,” Curry said in a subsequent predominantly black neighborhoods video. “I found that to be normal describe is not new, but it rarely when it came to my area.” makes headlines. One high profile The poor relationship is well known exception came last year, when a city to prosecutors, defense attorneys and police officer was filmed threatening others who work within the criminal a group of children outside a middle justice system. school after someone taunted him The police department has with an expletive. touted its high homicide clearance “Wait ’till your asses turn 18; then rate, which it credited in part to you’re mine,” the officer says before community engagement efforts. But driving away. before he left office last year, former Public meetings ensued and Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney promises of discipline and training Mike Herring warned he was seeing followed. But the mother of the girl a dramatic reduction in cooperation who filmed the encounter, Keisha from witnesses and crime victims,

making it increasingly difficult to prosecute cases. “Solving crimes and prosecuting crimes are two different things,” Herring said of the department’s clearance stats. “You can clear a case, but that doesn’t say anything about prosecuting it.”

The comments came as he pushed city leaders to consider broader causes of crime and develop a response that addressed poverty, housing and education. The effort gained little traction, though Herring, now in private practice, said he’s seen renewed interest prompted by widespread protests and calls for reform.

“At some point, communities get over policed,” he said in a recent interview. “That’s not an epiphany. I’m not sharing a pearl of wisdom about that. … People are saying, ‘Look, I don’t need you to be occupying my neighborhoods. I don’t need you to be skulking around looking for low level offenders.

I need you to help us be a safer community.’”

‘The police, y’all have earned all this’ Protesters in Richmond marched every night for a month following George Floyd’s death at the hands of police. But while the marches were prompted by a death in Minnesota, it quickly became clear that the frustration was home grown.

“People protesting right now aren’t really protesting George Floyd anymore,” Councilman Mike Jones told the city’s new police chief, Gerald Smith, when he was introduced to City Council last month. “They’re protesting what’s been going on in Richmond. … The police, y’all have earned all of this.

You really have. You’ve earned it over decades of abuse.”

(continued on page 3)

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

(from page 2) Smith, who previously worked as a deputy for the CharlotteMecklenburg County Police Department in North Carolina, has promised changes to the department, but so far hasn’t delved into specifics.

During a recent conversation with reporters, he began by emphasizing the low morale among officers and asked residents to rally around the department. “If you look across the country, police officers are being vilified,” he said.

Asked about complaints about the department, he said he had heard the issue raised when talking to a community leader and emphasized improving communication between police officers and the public. “Some of those things you’re talking about can probably be solved with very good communication skills,” he said.

Mayor Levar Stoney dismissed the city’s former police chief after a series of conflicts between protesters and police that included the tear gassing of hundreds of people on Monument Avenue. His interim replacement, Jody Blackwell, held the position 10 days before stepping down.

Among the protesters was Gilpin resident Titus Williams. He said he marched for a solid week, stopping only after his legs began to ache from all the walking. Outside his apartment with his seven-monthold son, he said the crowds were no surprise to him or his friends.

“If they see us standing outside or just chilling — we could be congregating with a couple of guys, politicking — and they’ll just pull up, hop out, tell us to stop what we’re doing,” he said. “They just grab you by the arm, grab you by the shirt or something like that, push you up against the car and start checking you.

“It’s regular police brutality, you know what I mean? It’s your average police brutality.”

Transparency and accountability Protesters have made an array of demands, ranging from cutting funding to police in favor of other social services to establishing an emergency mental health response system, dubbed the Marcus Alert after Marcus-David Peters, a black man killed by police in Richmond

RPD Chief Gerald Smith during a mental health crisis in 2018.

In Gilpin, residents said the biggest change they want to see is accountability to rein in officers they view as out of control.

“We have some good officers and we have some bad officers,” Padisha Brown said as she walked her dog. Contrary to calls to defund the police, she said she’d actually like to see more police in the neighborhood — not an uncommon sentiment in Gilpin, where there were four homicides so far this year and 67 assaults — but only if the department actually held officers accountable when they mistreat people.

“The police and the chief are hiding what the bad officers are doing and it gives them license to do it again,” she said. “And when they do it again, now we’re in the predicament that we’re in now with all the protests going on.”

A majority of city council members have already endorsed the concept of establishing a police review board with subpoena powers to investigate citizen complaints against the department.

‘Police who feel invulnerable’ Several state lawmakers have proposed creating a similar authority to review local cases at the state level. Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, suggested the creation of a professional standards board similar to the one currently used to govern lawyers.

“Right now we have police who feel invulnerable,” she said. “They can’t lose their license for misconduct — they have to be convicted of a

crime.” And if they get fired by one department, she said, they can simply get hired at an agency next door.

Herring agreed that more transparency could help deter unjustified use of force, but worried that a citizen review board could devolve into a “kangaroo court,” with board members reacting more to public pressure than facts. While in office he said he generally preferred to conduct investigations into police misconduct in-house rather than outsource them to neighboring jurisdictions. That included the investigation into the killing of Peters by police, which Herring ultimately determined was justified, a finding protesters say should be reconsidered.

He acknowledged that reform advocates have generally taken a dim view of allowing prosecutors to investigate allegations of misconduct against police departments with which they have close working relationships. As an alternative, he floated a proposal to create a special detail in the attorney general’s office dedicated to reviewing and, if necessary, prosecuting police shootings.

Important changes could be made within police departments, too, Herring said. He said the phrase “community policing” has been used a lot in Richmond over the years, but questioned how meaningful its

July 22, 2020 • 3

implementation in Richmond has ever been. “If there was robust beat policing, with officers embedded in communities for things other than acute calls for service, I missed it,” he said.

He said the city has also been slow — but still has time — to pursue diversion programs and alternatives to prosecution for low-level offenses, which has meant many people encountering the criminal justice system for low level offenses get punishment rather than help and support.

“Any time where you end up in a community where 60 to 70 percent of residents have had contact with the court system, it’s not a great leap to me that the community is going to resent our presence,” Herring said. “It’s going to lead to this weird disincentive to cooperate. On the one hand people want safer streets, but they don’t want to cooperate with a system that will achieve safety through what they see as harm.

“They see the idea of casting a wide net as more harmful than not, and that’s all we had to offer — a wide net.”

Wherever the debate lands, there’s widespread agreement in Gilpin that the current approach isn’t working.

“How many of my friends have had a bad experience with police? Just about all of them, basically,” Vinson said.

4 • July 22, 2020

Op/Ed & Letters

The LEGACY

My grandma is dead, I feel no sorrow, I have no shame MARLEY K. She died Friday. But I’m not sad.

I have no tears. And I surely won’t miss her.

My grandma wasn’t the stereotypical kind of grandma you see only television. She was a biased, evil little mess. She treated her children and all of her grandchildren differently. She had favorites. As a little girl I learned early on she liked her daughters’ children better than she did her sons.’ Now she’s dead, the cat is really out of the bag. I’m always surprised at how some people behave when death equates to an inheritance. Money and property makes men and women behave terribly.

This will be a long drama-filled week. My father is the executor of my grandmother’s will, and his siblings are acting as if it’s a free for all. They have known she was dying for quite some time. They’ve been planning and plotting to take her personal effects all awhile. No equal sharing per her request. No dividing of her assets equally. My aunts and uncles are acting like wolves. It’s so embarrassing. My grandmother’s children have always been dysfunctional, but never to where they were fighting about to come to blows.

My dad and his siblings are rotten fruit from a diseased tree. Did I mention The LEGACY NEWSPAPER Vol. 6 No. 29 Mailing Address P.O. Box 12474 Richmond, VA 23241 Office Address 105 1/2 E. Clay St. Richmond, VA 23219 Call: 804-644-1550 Online www.legacynewspaper.com

they are all Christian and ministers?

Grand-mommie dearest My dad treated my grandma like she was a queen. When I was young, I wanted my sons to gush over me and care for me the way my father did my grandma, until I learned the truth about her.

She. Was. One. Fake. Lady.

I tried to like her. I tried to be nice to her, but she always treated me and my siblings differently than the rest of her grandchildren after my parents divorced. The divorce was ugly. My mom put my father in jail and made his life a living hell which made our lives hell. There were rumors my sister wasn’t my father’s.

My grandma made us pay since she couldn’t get to my mother who had moved on with her life. Gramps (that’s what we called my grandma) The LEGACY welcomes all signed letters and all respectful opinions.

Letter writers and columnists opinions are their own and endorsements of their views by The LEGACY should be inferred. The LEGACY assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material.

Annual Subscription Rates Virginia - $50 U.S. states - $75 Outside U.S.- $100 The Virginia Legacy © 2016

hated my mom for ruining my dad’s life. We would pay the price all of our days. We saw her evil; we felt her biases and slights, and we knew we were not liked.

The feelings were mutual.

I can remember going to her house during one Christmas visitation when I was 8 or 9 with my dad and she had a tree loaded with Christmas gifts for all of her grand kids — except us. She would say my mom and dad had money, and that we needed nothing. That had nothing to do with the price of cheese. My aunts worked and had husbands just like my mother did, so her rationale made no sense. Me and my siblings would sit and watch my cousins open gifts and cringe because the tree would have at least 20–30 gifts for all of her daughter’s kids. Nothing for her sons’ children.

I never forgot that day. Neither have my siblings.

We hated going to visit her house as we aged. I would make the almost 2-hour visit to my dad’s house occasionally and he would force us to go visit her. To make sure it happened, he would wait to serve dinner until we all went to visit her house first — with a plate of our dinner in tow.

She got a plate of food before we did.

I despised that. She was always a priority to my dad. His mother ate

before his wife and kids did.

I hated Gramps.

What kind of woman would allow her son to worship her in such a way, and why would she want such treatment. I felt sorry for my stepmother. She was a good woman, and she didn’t deserve to be his number two to my father’s old evil mother. She knew we disliked her, but she had no say in the matter either. There is nothing worse than a grown man who has an unhealthy relationship with his mother.

Nothing, I tell you! She allowed my father to behave like a big manchild, tantrums and all.

As I got older, I did not want my sons to cherish me more than their significant others or their kids. I didn’t see it as healthy.

It sure as hell didn’t feel good. I wanted to make sure my kids never experienced the exclusion I felt.

Instead, they grew up not really knowing their cousins and extended family. I felt I didn’t fit. I never fit in. Nor did I try. My family are like friends. My friends are like my family.

Because of dysfunction on both sides of my family tree, I have spent most my life living away from family, peacefully. I only come

(continued on page 5)

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

July 22, 2020• 5

P.T. Hoffsteader, Esq.

(from page 4) around when someone dies, and I like it that way. I refuse to subject myself to the emotional abuse. It’s simply not worth it. After my dad’s emotional breakdown and diagnosis of alcohol addiction and narcissistic personality disorder, my dad’s side of the family broke completely down.

They saw him as the patriarch,

the one to keep all the dysfunction under control. His weakness allowed the evil to spring forth in ways unimaginable.

The matriarch of the family did a piss-poor job of making sure we were all on one accord before she died because she was too afraid of hurting the feelings of her spoiled, ill-mannered brats. She seemed to like us all divided. The death of my

aunt (her youngest and favorite child) exposed the fractures in my dad’s family. A family divided shall not stand. It’s going down like the titanic. My family is half-way to the bottom of the ocean.

Cousins and adult aunt’s and uncles almost came to blows at the graveside at my aunt’s funeral a few years ago. My grandma sat by at the gravesite of her youngest

child crying. She refused to put any of her children or grandchildren in their places like a good mother or grandmother would have done.

There comes a time when we all need correction and no one is ever too old or too grown for correction from a parent or grandparent, especially when you are fighting with family. Yet again, she gave me another reason to not respect her.

Virginia: Open with care.

COVID-19 isn’t over.

We’re making progress, but we can’t leave behind all the safety measures we’ve been taking. They’re working!

That’s why, when you visit your local stores, restaurants, and places of worship, they’ll only allow in half as many people as before. And they need all of us to do our part to keep them safe. Please continue to:

6 ft.

Wear a mask in public.

Stay 6 feet away. from others.

Wash your hands often.

More at vdh.virginia.gov, or call 2-1-1 for help with food, shelter or safety.

Get tested if you’re sick!

6 • July 22, 2020

Classifieds CU00012453- Procurement 0721 HAMPTON SOLICITATION CITY OF HAMPTON Thursday, August 20, 2020 10:00 AM EST-ITB 21-07/EA

The LEGACY

Serving Richmond & Hampton Roads 105 1/2 E. Clay St. (office) Richmond, VA 23219 804-644-1550 (office) • 800-783-8062 (fax)

LEGAL, EMPLOYMENT, ANNOUNCEMENTS, FOR SALE, SERVICES

ads@legacynewspaper.com

Ad Size: 4.34 inches (2 columns X 2.17 inches) 1 Issue (July 22) - $47.74 Rate: $11 per column inch

Includes Internet placement Dumpster and Recycling Services

For all forms or additional information, see our web page at https://www.hampton.gov/bids-contracts or call (757)727-2200. Minority-Owned, Woman-Owned and Veteran Businesses are encouraged to participate.

Please review the proof, make any needed changes and return by fax or e-mail.

If your response is not received by deadline, your ad may not be inserted.

REMINDER: Deadline is Fridays @ 5 p.m.

To register for COVID-19 testing, call the Richmond & Henrico COVID-19 hotline at 804-205-3501, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday (except holidays).

Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged and Disenfranchised (RIHD) www.rihd.org (804) 426-4426 P.O. Box 55 Highland Springs, Virginia 23075 (804) 426-4426

July 22, 2020• 7

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) as required by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s regulations, contained under 49 CFR Part 26, announces the proposed Disadvantaged Business Enterprise triennial goals for contractible opportunities administered through VDOT and funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).

The DBE Triennial Overall Goal is 11.18% of the federal financial assistance to be expended on VDOT contracts and is effective from October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2023. The race/gender-conscious portion of the goal is 8.54% and the race/gender-neutral portion of the goal is 2.64%. The DBE overall goal is based upon demonstrable evidence of the availability of ready, willing, and able DBEs relative to all businesses ready, willing, and able to participate on DOT-assisted contracts.

The methodology used in establishing the overall goal will be available for review, inspection, and comment until Thursday, August 27, 2020 at http://www.virginiadot.org/business/bu-civil-rights-home.asp and at the following email address from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.: Sharon Plymire Virginia Department of Transportation Civil Rights Division sharon.plymire@vdot.virginia.gov 804-786-4441 You are also welcome to attend and comment at a visual/teleconference presentation of the methodology used to establish the DBE Triennial Overall Goal on Thursday, July 23, 2020 at 2:00 p.m., utilizing the following methods: Join with GOOGLE MEET: meet.google.com/oeu-hqnm-fmq Join by telephone: 1 562-354-3574 PIN: 991 570 745# All comments and any questions should be sent to Sharon Plymire by email at sharon.plymire@vdot.virginia.gov or by phone at 804-786-4441.

Advertise here 804-644-1550 ads@legacynewspaper.com

Thank you for your interest in applying for opportunities with The City of Richmond.

To see what opportunities are available, please refer to our website at www.richmondgov.com.

EOE M/F/D/V

The above establishment is applying 1 Issue (July 22) - $180.40 to the VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL Rate: $11 per column inch for beer, wine and mixed beverages Internet placement license to sell orIncludes manufacture alcoholic beverages.

Please review proof, make any needed changes and return by fax or e-mail.

ERICthe LEWTER, OWNER. If your response is not received by deadline, your ad may not be inserted.

Note: Objections to the issuance of this license must be submitted Ok X_________________________________________ DENTAL INSURANCE to ABC no later than 30 days from Call Physicians Mutual Insurance Company the publishing date of the first of two for details.

NOT just a discount plan, REAL required newspaper notices.

Ok with changeslegal X _____________________________ coverage for 350 procedures.

Objections should be registered at 844-709-6890 or visit abc.virginia.gov or 800-552-3200.

REMINDER: Deadline is Fridays @ 5 p.m. http://www.dental50plus.com/28

Ad# 6118

PUBLIC AUCTION of Unclaimed Vehicles

175+/- IMPOUNDED AUTOS, LIGHT TRUCKS & MOTORCYCLES SOUTHSIDE PLAZA DRIVE-IN

Monday, Aug 10, 2020 Gates open at 9:00 AM Auction begins at 10:00 AM

Auction will include the vehicles listed below plus many others: UNK APRILLA SCOOTER 8152720 2012 GENUINE BUDDY RFVPAP5A1C1009719 1979 VENTURE BOAT TRAILER 7902130 2007 XTREME SCOOTER DJ342A1317 1963 DODGE 440 6232162152 UNK HOMEMADE UTILITY TRAILER UNK 1999 MERCEDES-BENZ E320 WDBJF65H3XA721002 2003 FORD ESCAPE 1FMYU03183KB44332 2001 SUBARU FORESTER JF1SF65541H719789 2001 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN 2B4GP44361R301818 2019 ZHEJIANG QIYE ATV L6ZS0KLAXK1003735 2008 HONDA CIVIC JHMFA36258S008563 2007 MERCURY MILAN 3MEHM07Z07R645607 2018 ZHEJIANG JIAJUE LLPVGBAK8J1A20466 2004 TOYOTA SIENNA 5TDZA23C54S162005 2002 CHEVROLET CAVALIER 1G1JC124527357436 2003 MERCEDES-BENZ ML350 4JGAB57E83A420838 1976 COX BOAT TRAILER CF1400V191372 2006 FORD CROWN VIC POLICE 2FAHP71W76X128262 2002 CHEVROLET CAVALIER 1G1JC524927440424 1992 HONDA ACCORD 1HGCB7551NA177499 2002 MERCURY SABLE 1MEFM55S72G622593 2006 BUICK LACROSSE 2G4WD582261298318 UNK HOMEMADE UTILITY TRAILER UNK

SEIBERT’S is now accepting vehicles on consignment!

Reasonable Seller’s Fees.

642 W. Southside Plaza Dr. Richmond (804) 233-5757

WWW.SEIBERTSTOWING.COM VA AL # 2908-000766

PRINT & DIGITAL AD SALES EXECUTIVE

PUBLIC NOTICE

Virginia Department of Transportation Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Overall Triennial Goal on FHWA-Funded Projects For Fiscal Years October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2023

EGLEW, LLC 1713 E. MAIN St, Richmond VA 23223 Ad Size: 16.4 inches (2 column(s) X 8.2 inches) (Richmond City)

Serving Richmond & Hampton R The LEGACY is looking for a reliable, highly409 E. Main St. #4 (mailing) • 105 1/2 E. C motivated, goal-driven sales professional Richmond, VA 23219 to join our team selling print and digital 804-644-1550 (office) • 800-783-80 advertising in the Richmond and Hampton ads@legacynewspaper.com Roads areas.

Duties include: Ad Size:relationships 1 column(s) Xwith 7 inches) Building and maintaining new/existing clients 2 Issues (7/15 & 7/22) - $77 per ad ($15 Meeting and exceeding Rate: monthly sales goals $11 per column inch Cold calling new prospects over the phone to Includes Internetspace placement promote print and online advertising Please review the proof, make any needed changes and

Qualifications: If your response is not received by deadline, your ad Proven experience with print (newspaper) and/or Okadvertising X________________________________ digital (website) sales; Phone and one-on-one sales experience; Effective verbalOk and communication skills, withwritten changes X ____________________ professional image and; Familiarity with Richmond and/or Hampton Roads REMINDER: Deadline is Fridays @ 5 areas.

Compensation depends on experience and includes a base pay as well as commission.

The LEGACY is an African-American-oriented weekly newspaper, circulation 25,000, with a website featuring local and national news and advertising.

E-mail resume and letter of interest to ads@ legacynewspaper.com detailing your past sales experience. No phone calls please.

Inaction is not an option.

Complete the 2020 Census to shape the next ten years for your community.

The power to change your community is in your hands. We can help inform funding every year for the next ten years for public services like healthcare, childcare programs, public transportation, schools, and job assistance. And our responses determine how many seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives. But time is running out, so complete the census today online, by phone, or by mail.

Complete the census today at:

2020CENSUS.GOV Paid for by U.S. Census Bureau.