August 18 20, 2016 issue

Page 1

Jazz at Maymont B2

Richmond Free Press © 2016 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 25 NO. 34

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

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Meet Latin Jazz and Salsa Festival founder B1

AUGUSt 18-20, 2016

Va. loses a freedom fighter Jack W. Gravely, who led the fight for civil rights as head of the Va. NAACP, dies at 72 By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Jack W. Gravely was the definition of outspoken. He never hesitated to speak his mind about issues affecting the African-American community. The son of a coal miner, he led the charge for civil rights during two separate stints as executive director of the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP, most recently in the past year.

Mr. Gravely

He also used his robust voice to build a wide audience as a Richmond radio talk show host, first on WRVA, 1140 AM from 1996 to 2001 and most recently on WREJ, Rejoice 990 AM (formerly WLEE), where his show has aired since 2008. To his listeners, he became known for strong, thoughtful, independent opinions and informed conversations on current events and civic affairs with local and national opinion makers, educators and political figures.

He once said the greatest compliment was having someone say, “I don’t agree with a thing you say, but I’m going to listen tomorrow.” His bold voice was stilled on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. “His heart gave out,” said Rodney Thomas, a friend and former state NAACP lobbyist who worked closely with Mr. Gravely during the past year. Please turn to A5

Romance in Rio

Twitter/USA Track & Field

Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Twitter/USA Track & Field

Queen Harrison of Richmond is surprised by a sudden marriage proposal from her longtime boyfriend, Olympic medalist Will Claye. Ms. Harrison says “yes” and the couple kiss, surrounded by spectators photographing the special moment in the stands at Rio’s Olympic Stadium. Ms. Harrison shows off her ring.

Free Press wire, staff report

Richmond’s Queen Harrison says ‘yes’ to silver medalist at Olympics

RIO DE JANEIRO Queen Harrison of Richmond didn’t qualify for the 100-meter hurdles in the Olympics, but she’s bringing back bling from Rio — an engagement ring. The 27-year-old Hermitage High School graduate and Virginia Tech standout, was in the stands in Olympic Stadium on Tuesday

cheering on her longtime boyfriend, Will Claye, who was competing in the finals in the men’s triple jump. After claiming his second Olympic silver medal in four years with a jump measuring

17.76 meters and watching his American teammate Christian Taylor take the gold, Mr. Claye produced a diamond ring and leapt into the stands. Draped in an American flag, he dropped

to one knee in front of Ms. Harrison and asked her to marry him. She said “yes.” “When I woke up I was like, ‘Today is going to be the best day of my life, ’ ” Mr. Claye told reporters. “I’m going to go out there and do what I have to do on the track and I’m going to make her my fiancée after that.” Please turn to A4

SOL test scores decline in 4 of 5 core subjects

Petersburg facing service cutoffs from unpaid vendors

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The percentage of Richmond students passing state Standards of One big reason was cited when Learning tests in five core subjects the Richmond School Board hired Dr. mostly declined, according to the latest Dana T. Bedden as superintendent in state report on student pass rates that December 2013 — his track record was released Tuesday. for increasing academic performance The results are based on the pass among students in the school systems rates for tests taken last spring at the he had led in Georgia and Texas. end of the 2015-16 school year. Dr. Bedden Few doubted he was the energetic The data show that a smaller leader who could turn Richmond Public Schools percentage of city students passed SOL tests in into an academic success story. mathematics, writing, history and science last However, as Dr. Bedden prepares to begin spring compared with pass rates in the 2014-15 his third full school year as the RPS leader, there school year. is little evidence that he and his administration The only slight improvement showed on have found the formula to improve academic Please turn to A4 achievement among students.

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

City’s projected deficit now reported as expected surplus By Jeremy M. Lazarus

City Hall has wiped out the red ink. Instead of a deficit, Richmond is projected to finish its most recent fiscal year with a $4.5 million surplus, according to the administration of Mayor Dwight C. Jones. Richmond City Council received the good news Monday in a report from Dr. Jay A. Brown, budget and strategic planning director, who cited spending cuts and increased tax collections as the main reason for the change in the city’s financial picture. The forecast was included in the administration’s fourth quarter report for the 2015-16 fiscal year, which ended June 30. Although the figures are still preliminary and need to be audited, the prospect of a sur-

plus is a far cry from nine months ago when Dr. Brown projected in the first quarter report that the city could finish the year with a $12.3 million deficit. The prospect of ending the year with a surplus is both good news and bad news for Selena Cuffee-Glenn, Richmond’s chief administrative officer, and Lenora Reid, the city’s chief financial officer. Along with other administration officials, they spent a big portion of the year complaining that the council’s shift of $9 million from city operations to Richmond Public Schools created the deficit threat. While they can now celebrate ending the year with a better than balanced budget, the success Please turn to A4

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Beating the heat Sweltering temperatures that reached nearly 100 degrees this week were enough to convince Donovan Walker to cool off by jumping into the Hotchkiss Pool at 701 E. Brookland Park Blvd. in North Side. Periods of heavy rain brought some brief relief, but it didn’t last long. Weather forecasters predict slightly lower temperatures over the next few days. Highs are expected in the mid- to upper 80s with scattered thunderstorms.

Despite paying a monthly fee, Petersburg residents might not get their trash collected or their recycling materials picked up. The reason: The Petersburg city government has failed to pay the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority for collection service since February and now owes the authority $752,000. T h e Ms. Belton CVWMA is threatening to cut off service immediately if the city does not provide a payment of $122,000 by Friday, Aug. 19, create a plan to pay off the remaining $630,000 and remain current on its monthly bills. The authority is just one of dozens of vendors owed money by Petersburg for services — from housing prisoners to providing electricity, repairing vehicles, paving streets, providing health insurance, delivering drinking water, treating sewage and on and on. As of June 30, the city owed Please turn to A4


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