December 17 19, 2015 issue

‘Mad Hatter’s Party’

Personality B1

B3

Richmond Free Press © 2015 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 24 NO. 51

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

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Advocacy award winner

DECEMBER 17-19, 2015

Labor of love Chesterfield family embraces unique joy of special needs

By Joey Matthews

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

United by love and wearing their JP JumPers Foundation Santa hats, the Mines family gets into the holiday spirit Wednesday at their Chesterfield County home. The family, from left, mother, Pam Mines; 11-year-old son, J.P.; adopted godniece, Sydnee, 13; daughter, Michelle, 13; and father, Perry Mines.

City election officials called on the carpet

Helping those in the special needs community is a way of life for the Mines family of Chesterfield County.

Through advocacy efforts and by organizing programs designed to showcase the talents of those in the special needs community, the Mines family seeks to improve the quality of life for people with mental and physical disabilities and other special challenges.

It’s a labor of love for the tight-knit family of five that has two children with special needs.

The mother, Pam, is founder and executive director of the nonprofit JP JumPers Foundation that she named after her 11-year-old son, J.P. who is autistic and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The Chesterfield-based organization seeks to “positively impact families affected by autism, special needs and unique circumstances,” according to its website.

Mrs. Mines was honored for her advocacy for

the disabled and for her work to get a bill passed by the General Assembly two years ago known as “J.P.’s Law,” after her son, that would allow DMV Virginia to add a code to driver’s licenses and other IDs to help law enforcement officers be aware of an individual’s diagnosis.

She and her husband, Perry, also care for their adopted 13-year-old godniece, Sydnee, who has neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder of the nervous system, as well as ADHD and is blind in her left eye. They adopted the honor roll student in 2010, after her mother died from complications related to neurofibromatosis.

The Mines’ 13-year-old daughter, Michelle, is typically developed with no special needs.

Mr. Mines fuels his desire to help others by mentoring at-risk youths through his company, Luv’em Like Mines Youth Services in Chesterfield County.

Next up for the Mines and others in the Please turn to A4

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

casting ballots in the wrong state Senate district because of the problem.

TheVirginia Department of Elections has Mr. Adams told the Free Press that a software upgrade that could have prevented he protested to election officials at the voters in precincts split into two or more polling place, but was forced to vote in election districts from receiving the wrong the 9th Senate District instead of the ballots, the Free Press has learned.

10th Senate District in which he lives.

The finding comes at the same time the He said officials at the precinct insisted state Board of Elections, which oversees Ms. Showalter he lived in the 9th District and required the department, has asked City of Richmond him to accept the ballot for that district. He voted election officials to appear Jan. 8 before the at Precinct 206 at the Dominion Place Apartments state board to explain a series of problems that on Grace Street in the Fan District, one of six city cropped up during the Nov. 3 election. precincts split between the two Senate districts.

The issues include improperly programmed Mr. Adams was not alone, according to a pollbooks that hampered voter check-ins, a report state Elections Department Commissioner failure to implement a change in state policy Edgardo Cortés and state Election Supervisor that affected Gov. Terry McAuliffe and, most Gary Fox made to the board on Election Day notably, the distribution of the wrong ballot to as the board monitored election problems. voters in two city precincts.

Mr. Fox told the board that the wrong ballots As the Free Press reported in the Dec. 10- were distributed in Precinct 206 and Precinct 12 edition, Edward D. Adams and an unknown Please turn to A4 number of other Richmond voters ended up

While Richmond was sleeping

City Council clears way for Boulevard redevelopment in late-night vote

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

oping the area.

So far, nothing has happened, with recent Since 2012, Richmond has poured nearly $19 dreams of bringing a children’s hospital to the million in taxpayer dollars into relocating and site evaporating. clearing repair shops and other city facilities But with an election year looming and from city property along the Boulevard. The Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ tenure goal is to rev up the city economy by redevel- heading toward an end, the rush is on to push the Boulevard project forward in hopes of fulfilling the vision of generating hundreds of new jobs and millions of dollars in new retail, office and residential development.

In a surprise move Monday Reuters night, a sharply divided Richmond City Council gave Mayor BALTIMORE Jones the OK to create a strategy A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the case of a for transforming the 60 acres of Baltimore police officer charged in the death of Fredcity property in the Boulevard die Gray, a 25-year-old whose death while in police area that also includes The Diacustody sparked riots last April. mond baseball stadium and the Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center dismissed the jury in the involuntary manslaughter as well as the privately owned trial of Officer William Porter, the first of six officers Sports Backers Stadium track to be tried in Mr. Gray’s death. The jury deliberated and soccer field.

16 hours but was unable to reach a verdict on any of The 5-4 vote capped the the charges against the policeman. council’s final meeting of the Judge Williams said an administrative judge would year and puts the potentially schedule a new trial. biggest economic development Within minutes of his ruling, a phalanx of uniproject in city history on the formed police officers surrounded the courthouse. front burner in the new year They pushed back a group of a few dozen protesters when candidates for mayor and

Mistrial in Freddie Gray’s death

Please turn to A4

Please turn to A4

Photo by Joseph Miles

We’re No. 1!

Jubilant Highland Springs High School football team members and supporters show off their championship trophy after their 27-7 rout of Stone Bridge High School of Loudoun County in the State Division 5 final last Saturday at the University of Virginia’s Scott Stadium in Charlottesville. The celebration continued Tuesday with a ceremony at the Henrico County school. Please see story and additional photos on B2.

State looks to expand youth voter participation

By Joey Matthews

Thanks to a little-known law, many 17-yearolds in Virginia can have a voice in which Democratic or Republican candidate is selected to represent their party in the 2016 presidential election.

The state law allows 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by the Nov. 8, 2016, election to register in advance and vote in the state’s 2016 presidential primaries on March 1.

The law also allows the registered teens to vote in any special election that arises before the next general election.

The eligibility allowance also is a provision of the Virginia State Constitution.

“This is great because it allows 17-year-olds to participate, see how (voting) works and hopefully make it a part of their routine,” Commissioner Edgardo Cortés of the Virginia Department of Elections told the Free Press on Monday.

“We hope that if we can get folks involved at a young age, then they would become lifetime voters and participants in the process.”

To showcase the law and encourage more students to become involved in the political process, Virginia Secretary of Administration Nancy Rodrigues traveled to Middlesex High School in Saluda on Wednesday, where she presented framed certificates to four students at the school who worked as officers of election in county precincts during the Nov. 3 election.

At the ceremony, Secretary Rodrigues acknowledged Middlesex High seniors Cody

Rhodes, Elexus Carter, Monica Ward and Carlee Browder for their work.

Officials also told other students at the assembly about the law allowing qualifying 17-yearolds to participate in the voting process.

“Voting to me is the most important sacred trust that a citizen does,” Secretary Rodrigues told the Free Press in an interview Tuesday.

“My dad fled a military dictatorship in Portugal, and both of my parents were immigrants to this country,” she added. “Growing up as a kid, I don’t think I saw them ever miss an election.”

She emphasized the importance of initiatives such as the one at Middlesex High that seeks to encourage young people to get involved in the political process.

“The earlier you get involved in the process, the more likely it is to become a lifetime habit,” Secretary Rodrigues said. “And that’s what we want to do — get our citizens involved from the beginning.”

Secretary Rodrigues said she is investigating the possibility of turning the Middlesex experience of using students as election officers into a statewide effort.

“I want to learn from the kids and their (electoral) board what we can do to promote this statewide,” she said.

The idea to recruit high school students to work in the precincts was the brainchild of John Scott, secretary of the Middlesex County Please turn to A4

A2

Richmond Free Press

December 17-19, 2015

Local News

Recount confirms Roscoe Cooper as School Board winner

VCU receives $16 million gift Virginia Commonwealth University has received a $16 million gift to strengthen its medical research, university officials announced.

The gift is from C. Kenneth Wright of Henrico County, a property and investment company owner and retired chairman of an Avis rental car franchise called Rent-A-Car. The gift will be used to establish six endowed professorships in clinical and transitional research and to create a scholar development program to provide financial help to physicians studying for doctorates, according to VCU. The endowed chairs and scholar development program will bear the names of Mr. Wright and his late wife, Dianne.

VCU President Michael Rao said the gift, the fifth largest in university history, will enable VCU to recruit top researchers to focus on cures for heart disease and cancer.

“I am excited about helping to put the very best faculty and students in the laboratories and clinics so new discoveries can be made and new treatments can be developed,” Mr. Wright stated in the announcement.

About $12 million of the gift will be invested in the endowed chairs, Dr. Rao stated.

The remaining $4 million will be invested to assist doctoral candidates in the VCU School of Medicine, he stated.

The new chairs will be associated with the VCU Center for Clinical and Translational Research, which encourages, engages and supports collaborative participation between VCU investigators and students, community partners, volunteers and government organizations.

Dr. Francis L. Macrina, VCU vice president for research and innovation at VCU, said Mr. Wright’s donation “will provide a new resource to support scientists and scientists-in-training.”

The Wrights have had a philanthropic relationship with the university that spans to 1999. Mr. Wright was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2011 to recognize the couple’s gifts.

The couple previously made a $10.5 million gift to the School of Engineering Foundation, which led the school to name the school’s microelectronics lab for the couple.

In 1999, the Wrights gave VCU a building that was the headquarters for Mr. Wright’s business, according to the university.

Renovated, the building became the home of the VCU advertising training program called the Brandcenter, the school notes, and the catalyst for the expansion of the Monroe Park Campus east of Belvidere Street. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS

Slices of life and scenes in Richmond December 16 – December 22, 2015

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Richmond consumers who cook and heat their homes with natural gas will begin the new year with good news — a reduction in their utility bills.

Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced Wednesday that the Department of Public Utilities is cutting the price of the fuel effective Jan. 1.

DPU estimates the reduction will save the average residential customer about $7 a month.

The department estimates the average residential customer uses 7,000 cubic feet of gas per month. This month that amount of gas would cost the customer $78.11; next month, it will be $71.11, a 9 percent savings.

The price drop is due to the city passing on its savings in the cost of buying and transporting natural gas to customers.

Like other fuels, natural gas is dealing with a glut of supply as a result of major increases in U.S. production. That huge supply has been coupled with a drop in demand amid one of the warmest Decembers on record — sending the market price tumbling to a 14-year low, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Robert Steidel, director of DPU, said customers will see the change in the portion of their bill called the Purchase Gas Charge or PGC, the price the city charges to recover its costs for natural gas.

City customers currently are paying a PGC of 42.5 cents for each 100 cubic of natural gas they use. If natural gas were sold in gallons, residential customers currently would be paying about $1.10 a gallon for the fuel.

In January, the PGC will drop to 32.5 cents for each 100 cubic feet used; the equivalent cost would be around $1 a gallon.—JEREMY M. LAZARUS

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Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

A patient pedestrian waits to push his cart filled with metal and other items across the railroad tracks. He is on his way to turn his collection into cash at the recycling plant at Stratton Metals, 900 Brook Road, on North Side. He is among hundreds in Richmond who make money collecting paper, aluminum cans and other recyclables.

s i n gl e it e

It’s official.

The Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper III is confirmed as the winner of the Fairfield District seat on the Henrico School Board — by 42 votes.

“I’m truly humbled,” Rev. Cooper stated after the results of a recount Dec. 10 confirmed that the pastor of Rising Mount Zion Baptist Church narrowly edged out runner-up Tara Adams, a PTA volunteer.

Ms. Adams requested that the Henrico Circuit Court order the recount because Rev. Cooper won the Nov. 3 general election by less than 0.05 of 1 percent of the vote.

In a statement issued after the court accepted the recount, Rev. Cooper stated, Rev. Cooper “I am grateful for all of those who participated in the process.

“I look forward to working with all the candidates who ran so passionately for our beloved district. It will take all of us … to bring about the results our children and citizens deserve.”

Rev. Cooper, who will take over the School Board seat Jan. 1, was sworn in Wednesday along with the other members of the School Board, the Henrico Board of Supervisors and constitutional officers at a ceremony in Glen Allen.

Rev. Cooper had been listed as winning the election by 43 votes in the official results issued following the vote.

In the recount that started last Thursday morning and finished around 9 p.m., Rev. Cooper picked up two votes and Ms. Adams picked up three, reducing the margin of victory to 42 votes.

The recount showed Rev. Cooper received 5,097 votes to 5,055 for Ms. Adams, according to Henrico County Voter Registrar Mark Coakley. The recount also showed that 761 Fairfield District voters cast ballots in other races, but did not vote in the School Board race.

Dr. Marcus D. Martin, pastor of New Bridge Baptist Church, was third with 1,016 votes. Pierre Greene, who won a temporary appointment to fill the seat after the previous elected member, Lamont Bagby, was elected to the House of Delegates last summer, ran as a write-in. There were 307 write-in votes recorded, although all were not for Mr. Greene. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS

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Richmond Free Press

December 17-19, 2015

A3

Local News

New VSU president shares vision, receives support at official introduction

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Brimming with confidence and eager to get started, the new president of Virginia State University is promising to first listen to students, faculty and staff and then roll out a “strategic vision that will be bold and purposefully challenging.”

Among other things, Dr. Makola M. Abdullah wants VSU to be known for providing “a quality education,” to invest in specialty academic areas that would make the university more attractive while continuing to be “an opportunity university” for students who might not be admitted elsewhere.

“We have an incredible history,” he said in verbally wrapping himself in the VSU mantle.

“We were founded as the state’s first historically black college. We were founded to provide opportunities for students who did not normally have access to those opportunities.”

He said he wants to put more emphasis on VSU’s role as a land grant university with long ties to agricultural experimentation and to work collaboratively to better tell the university’s story when he officially takes over Feb. 1 from interim President Pamela V. Hammond.

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Dr. Makola M. Abdullah will take over the helm at Virginia State University on Feb. 1.

Dr. Abdullah offered a glimpse of his vision and plans in a 15-minute talk after VSU Rector Harry E. Black introduced the 46-year-old Chicago native last Friday as the school’s 14th president and chief executive officer.

Dr. Abdullah was introduced in the auditorium of the school’s Engineering and Technology Building.

Currently serving as provost and chief academic officer at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla., Dr. Abdullah said he would bring “a commitment to high standards of excellence, excellence that is quintessential to success in life and work.”

Dr. Abdullah also brings to VSU an engineering background, more than 20 years of experience as a professor and administrator, a strong belief in historically black schools and, equally notable, a different faith perspective.

He will be the first Muslim to lead VSU, and possibly the first to lead any state-supported school of higher education in Virginia.

While Dr. Abdullah said he no longer is a practicing Muslim, he said he expects his faith “to inform, but not define” his work for the school.

At the very least, his selection sends a message that VSU is to be a beacon of tolerance at a time when some people across the nation have sought to label Muslins as terrorists and national security threats who should be blocked from entering the United States.

Dr. Abdullah has been awarded a 5½-year contract that will run through June 30, 2021.

His starting salary will be $335,000, similar to the starting pay of his predecessor, Dr. Keith T. Miller, who served five years as president before stepping down under fire in December 2014.

Dr. Miller is to join the faculty in January 2017 following a year’s sabbatical at the university’s expense. He will be among the highest paid faculty at VSU. Dr. Abdullah also will receive a $3,000 monthly housing allowance and a $1,000 monthly car allowance, among other benefits.

Faculty and students who attended last week’s announcement expressed confidence that Dr. Abdullah would provide the energy, vision and commitment VSU needs to meet its enrollment and financial challenges.

“I’m very excited about the new president,” said Joyce Edwards, associate professor and

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Dr. Makola M. Abdullah waves to the audience as Virginia State University Rector Harry Black introduces him last Friday as the university’s new president. With him, from left, are son Mikaili, daughter Sefiyetu, and his wife, Dr. Ahkinyala Cobb-Abdullah.

chair of the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice. “I believe he will provide stability that the university needs.”

Others were equally enthusiastic, including Dr. Berkita S. Bradford of the VSU Department of Hospitality Management who said, “I believe he will serve us well.”

Samuel Kelly, a junior, said he enjoyed hearing, what Dr. Abdullah had to say, but is more interested “in seeing what he actually does. That’s more important.”

Dr. Abdullah would probably agree. “I look forward to this new year and to this new horizon,” Dr. Abdullah said after showering thanks on those who enabled him to become president.

A graduate of Howard University, he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees at Northwestern University. His past experience includes 15 years at Florida A&M University, also a land grant institution, where he rose to dean of the College of Engineering Sciences, Technology

and Agriculture. He went on to serve as provost of Florida Memorial University before taking the same post at Bethune-Cookman in 2013.

At VSU, he was accompanied by his wife, Dr. Ahkinyala Cobb-Abdullah, and their two children, son Mikaili, 17, and daughter Sefiyetu, 16, both high school seniors. Dr. Cobb-Abdullah and the college-bound children plan to join Dr. Abdullah in Virginia after graduation, he said.

The contract the new president signed did not include any language ensuring Dr. CobbAbdullah a place on the VSU faculty.

While she is planning to join her husband in Virginia, she has her own academic career.

She is an assistant professor of integrated environmental science at Bethune-Cookman and has a background in toxicology and bioengineering.

Without making any commitments, Mr. Black said VSU would make arrangements involving Dr. Cobb-Abdullah that “are typical of what other universities do in this situation.”

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Richmond Free Press

A4 December 17-19, 2015

News

City Council greenlights Maggie Walker statue at triangle

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Forget Monument Avenue and Abner Clay Park.

The future statue of Richmond’s great lady, Maggie L. Walker, will stand at the intersection of Brook Road and Broad and Adams streets, the gateway to historic Jackson Ward where Mrs. Walker lived and won acclaim for her entrepreneurial spirit.

Richmond City Council voted 6-1, with two abstentions, Monday night to reconfirm that decision for the third time in 15 years, clearing the way for the project.

The vote also authorized the city to eventually close the short stretch of Brook Road between Broad and Adams streets to create a big enough space for the statue and plaza, rebuffing concerns of some residents and businesses about the impact of the closing.

The vote was a relief to supporters like Melvin Jones, who has led a seven-year campaign for the statue to highlight the woman he idolizes.

“The council did the right thing,” he said.

Mark Ohlinger, director of the city’s De-

partment Planning and Development Councilwoman Cynthia I. NewReview, told council before the vote bille, 7th District, said even though the that the street closure would be needed. project will be out of council’s hands, He said the 900-square-foot triangular there will be ample public hearings plaza at the intersection would be too and citizen comment periods to express small for the Walker monument if the themselves on the design. live oak tree that now fills the plaza Councilman Charles R. Samuis included. However, the closure of els, 2nd District, twice tried to get the street would not happen until the his colleagues to provide a 30-day design is approved and construction is delay to give the Historic Jackson to begin, still months away, he said.

Ward Association a bit more time to Mrs. Walker A determined council majority consider the project and the impact rejected appeals to delay the vote on the street of the street closing. His effort failed on a 5-4 closing, even though the vote is the last the vote. He was one of two members to abstain council will take on the project to honor Mrs. on the final vote.

Walker, best known as the first African-American Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, 5th District, woman to found and operate a bank. who cast the sole dissenting vote Monday night, From now on, the city Planning Commission also was rebuffed when he urged members to and its Commission of Architectural Review wait to view the design. will be in charge of reviewing and approving Councilman Jonathan T. Baliles, 1st District, the design. who also abstained, found little support when he Mr. Ohlinger advocated for the vote, say- warned his council colleagues about potential cost ing approval was needed to ensure the design, overruns. The majority wanted to make sure that engineering and installation could be completed the chosen artist, Antonio Tobias “Toby” Mendez, by next November. who is to be paid $300,000, knew that the city is

While Richmond was sleeping

City Council clears way for Boulevard redevelopment Continued from A1

the council will be campaigning for votes.

Council’s thumbs-up was a clear victory for the mayor, whose big push to replace The Diamond with a stadium in Shockoe Bottom to help clear the way for the Boulevard development ended up being rebuffed in 2014.

The vote on the Boulevard redevelopment resolution became contentious after it was delayed to 11 p.m., when the council chamber at City Hall was virtually empty.

The vote was unexpected.

Earlier in the evening Chris A. Hilbert, 3rd District, had won support for amending the resolution and putting off the vote until Jan. 11.

But once the amendments were in place, Kathy C. Graziano, 4th District, insisted on a vote, calling it time “for us to begin to make progress on looking at the Boulevard as the economic development driver it should be.”

Mr. Hilbert, who plans to run for mayor next year, joined her in supporting the resolution, as did another mayoral prospect, Council President Michelle R. Mosby, 9th District, Ellen

F. Robertson, 6th District, and Cynthia I. Newbille, 7th District.

“I think the citizens are sick and tired of us delaying making any decisions on the Boulevard,” Ms. Robertson said. “I think the citizens would be glad to know that we finally made a decision and that we’re moving forward.”

Other members deplored the rush, particularly at a time when just a scant number of people were present and no one spoke during the public comment period.

Jonathan T. Baliles, 1st District, another potential mayoral candidate, was among the council members who sought to put off the vote. He and Charles R. Samuels, 2nd District, had spent months pressing the administration to get started in creating a plan for the Boulevard and supporting advocates of a replacement stadium on the Boulevard.

He was clearly upset that the council was taking action with little public notice in contrast to the resolution’s promise of a “deliberate and transparent process.”

Mr. Baliles and Mr. Samuels joined Parker C. Agelasto, 5th District, and Reva M. Trammell, 8th District, in opposing

the vote as most Richmond residents slept.

The majority argued that the public will have plenty of involvement as the city seeks to determine the “highest and best use” use for the property and to lay out a strategy to make it happen.

There are also future decisions on such questions as whether The Diamond, home to the minor league Richmond Flying Squirrels baseball team, should remain at the Boulevard, be renovated or replaced or whether baseball should be eliminated. The future of the Ashe Center and possibly the Sports Backers Stadium also are up for discussion.

Advocates also noted that the council still has a big role to play.

If all goes well, the administration is to return to the council in April and May to seek approval for zoning and related changes to implement its recommended “highest-and-best-use” strategy — a strategy the council would need to endorse.

If this strategy passes muster, the administration could then issue requests for qualifications for developers and, by summer, possibly choose a developer to make the project happen over the next two to five years.

committed to providing the space he needs.

Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson, 6th District, said that Mr. Mendez “deserves to have adequate space so he can adequately plan a memorial for Mrs. Walker.”

Council President Michelle R. Mosby, 9th District, Ms. Newbille, Chris A. Hilbert, 3rd District, and Kathy C. Graziano, 4th District formed the majority approving the project.

They were joined by Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell, 8th District, who earlier supported Mr. Samuels’ effort for a delay.

In other business, the council voted 9-0 to ban Richmond residents from placing sofas and other indoor furniture on porches or in yards and subject them to $100 fines for failing to place such furniture indoors.

Council also backed Mr. Hilbert’s proposal to designate a small parcel of city property in Providence Park as “Lieutenant Ozell Johnson Memorial Park.” The park at 241 E. Ladies Mile Road is the first in Richmond to be named for an individual police officer. Lt. Johnson, who died in 1982, was a pioneer in community policing.

State looks to expand youth voter participation Continued from A1

Electoral Board. He proposed it to fellow board members last spring when he was appointed to the board. Later, he approached Middlesex school officials with the proposal.

“One of the first things I noticed when I began the job in March was that the general age of the servers in that role were retirees,” Mr. Scott said Wednesday. “I thought, ‘Why don’t we have more younger individuals participating?’ ” He also saw it also a great way to get more young people involved in the political process.

All of the students had to be registered to vote to participate.

“The earlier you get them involved, the more likely they will retain it,” Mr. Scott said.

“You cannot get involved in something if you know nothing about it. As a former teacher (now retired), I realized the greatest lesson is when you’re an actual provider of the service rather than the recipient.” The students’ day at

the polls started about 5 a.m., they said, and ended about 9 p.m. They each were paid $120 for taking a training class and working on Election Day at the polls.

Elexus said she performed a variety of duties, including greeting voters and distributing sample ballots. She said prior to the experience, she had little interest in politics.

“It generally changed the way I look at politics,” she said. “It was fun meeting new people from around the county, and it was a good learning experience for me.”

Cody said he chose to participate because “I wanted to serve the community.”

He said the older precinct workers were happy the younger people there “because we tend to be more tech savvy. It’s easier for us to understand things like the electronic poll books, and it kept the lines moving faster.”

Elexus and Cody both said they plan to vote in the March presidential primary.

Mistrial in Freddie Gray’s death Continued from A1

and arrested at least two people, one of whom appeared to swing at an officer. Large numbers of police have been stationed around Baltimore over the past few days.

In separate news conferences, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and attorney Billy Murphy, who represents

Mr. Gray’s mother and stepfather, urged residents to remain calm following the ruling. Mr. Murphy said he is confident Officer Porter will be convicted if he is tried a second time. The officer is charged with manslaughter, assault and two other counts in Mr. Gray’s death.

Mr. Gray was arrested April 12 after a foot chase with police. He was bundled into

a police transport van while shackled and handcuffed, but was not secured by a seat belt, in violation of department policy. He suffered several injuries to his spine and his larynx was crushed. He died a week later.

The city agreed to pay Mr. Gray’s family $6.4 million in a wrongful death settlement in September.

City election officials called on the carpet Continued from A1

307 at Ginter Park Presbyterian Church. According to the report to the board, these were the only precincts in the state in which such a problem was reported.

Mr. Fox blamed the city for failing to program the electronic pollbooks at those precincts to account for the split districts.

Pollbooks contain the names of registered voters and are used to check-in voters.

While check-in tables and pollbooks were separated according to district, the pollbooks contained names of all the registered voters in the precinct, not just those within a specific district, city Voter Registrar Kirk Showalter told the Free Press previously.

Two sources have told the Free Press about a software upgrade provided to the state election department by DemTech Services Inc., the vendor hired by the department to provide, maintain and upgrade current pollbooks. The department is required to provide the software to local election officials.

The software upgrade allows pollbooks to lock in the names of the registered voters in a district and to block the names of voters registered in a separate district.

If it had been installed, Mr. Adams would not have been able to vote in the 9th Senate District because his name would have been listed only in the 10th Senate District pollbook and locked out of the pollbook for the 9th District.

Ms. Showalter said she never received information that the state

had software that would block voters in one district from being logged into the wrong district and given the wrong ballot.

Eugene Burton, voter technology coordinator for the state Department of Elections, did not respond to a request for comment about the software upgrade and its issuance to localities with split precincts.

During the November election, she said her office received complaints from some voters about receiving the wrong ballot and the problem later was stemmed, as Mr. Fox confirmed to the board.

However, Ms. Showalter could not say how many wrong ballots were distributed and cast before the problem was resolved.

As all ballots are secret, Ms. Showalter said there was no way to determine which ballot voters like Mr. Adams cast. “We have plenty of remedies to ensure someone has the right ballot, but once a ballot is cast there is nothing to be done. State law provides no remedy at that point,” she said.

The state board also wants Ms. Showalter and the city’s threemember Electoral Board to explain other equipment problems that cropped up.

Mr. Cortés reported that the city initially could not check in voters at a number of precincts because pollbooks were programmed to seek an identification number, which election officials were not trained to enter.

Mr. Cortés said the board also wants Richmond to explain why election officials were still asking voters about discrepancies between the address listed on the pollbook and the address

listed on their photo I.D. Ms. Showalter said Gov. Terry McAuliffe was among those affected. She said he was not pleased when he was asked to explain why his driver’s license listed an address that was different from the Executive Mansion in Richmond’s Capitol Square where he now lives and is registered to vote on the pollbook.

Mr. Cortés said Ms. Showalter failed to implement a policy change in Richmond that would have prevented the problem.

During the administration of former Gov. Bob McDonnell, registrars and election officials had been told to question the voter when a photo ID contains a different address from the pollbook to determine which address is correct.

However, that policy was changed in August, Mr. Cortés said.

Under the new policy, so long as a voter states the same address as that listed on the pollbook, election officials are not to question any discrepancy with the address listed on the photo ID. Mr. Cortés said that change was included in the election information booklet distributed to local election officials in midAugust during preparations for the Nov. 3 election.

“I overlooked it,” Ms. Showalter acknowledged last week.

She said she was so caught up in obtaining new voting machines, “I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have. I can say that the department did not highlight this policy change in the material they sent out. It would have been nice if they had.

This was a pretty important change. But we’ll make sure this change is in effect for the next election.”

Chesterfield family embraces unique joy of special needs Continued from A1

special needs community is the Third Annual Christmas Special Needs Worship Service at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20, at Huguenot High School on South Side.

There, in an array of performances sure to evoke tears and cheers from audience members, children and adults with special needs ranging from autism and cerebral palsy to Down’s Syndrome and intellectual disabilities will sing, dance, display art, play the piano and guitar and even preach a word from the Lord.

Mrs. Mines said she and her family pour their hearts and souls into the effort “because we want to celebrate an often overlooked community.

We don’t think it’s a punishment, an accident or a curse to be affected or have a loved one affected by special needs.

“We consider it a true appointment by God and we take it seriously. The bottom line is I’m so glad God chose me to be inspired by a child

with autism.”

She said the faith-based service is designed to be welcoming to all performers and includes a wide array of acts for the audience to enjoy.

“It’s all inclusive,” Mrs. Mines said. “You can mess up, you can miss the words or you don’t have to know the words at all. The audience will know what you’re doing and everybody gets a standing ovation.”

“You get to see people display their different abilities,” she added, “and it also helps encourage other parents to see that if they have kids with disabilities, that doesn’t mean they’re limited in their ability to perform their talents.”

Jordan Ohree, an 18-year-old autistic youth who graduated last year from Varina High School, will serve as master of ceremonies at the service.

He also earned intern of the week honors last week through Project Search at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in Henrico County.

Mr. Mines called the showcase event “an awesome thing that allows people with special needs

to perform and feel good at the same time.”

“It’s important to them for the community to show their support and to let the people that care for them to know that they can be a part of something special like this,” he added.

J.P. brought down the house last year when he concluded the show by performing “Is This the End” by New Edition. He plans to sing “Got to Be There” by Michael Jackson on Sunday.

Sydnee plans to sing “Glory” by John Legend and Common from the movie “Selma.”

“I like performing,” she said. “It’s nice to do it because I’m looking at family. If I mess up, it’s going to be OK because kids won’t make fun of me.”

Michelle lent her support at last year’s show by praise dancing to several songs. She plans to do so again this year.

“It adds another spice to the special needs show,” she said. “It’s my way of giving back to the community. I may not be affected (with special needs),” she added, “but I am affected

with Sydnee and J.P., who sometimes need special attention. There are a lot of responsibilities in things like making sure J.P. gets his dinner and lunch and doesn’t get off track.”

Mrs. Mines and longtime mental health advocate Monica Lucas of Richmond partnered to organize the first special needs worship service in 2013 at Second Baptist Church.

The faith-based service that attracts performers from as far away as Maryland has become so popular it outgrew the church sanctuary and is now headed to Huguenot High School to accommodate a larger audience.

Ms. Lucas called the talent show “a celebration of God’s love for us all and a moment to show appreciation for the special people in our lives.”

In order to cover the cost of the venue and the food after the service, JP JumPers Foundation has a GoFundMe campaign to raise $3,500. To donate, go to www.gofundme. com/2015JPJFgivingTree.

Richmond Free Press

December 17-19, 2015

A5

Local News

Photos by James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

“You’re not alone,” Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham told grieving family members of homicide victims at the service, as he recalled learning of his brother’s murder in June 2005. Right, the Rev. Caprichia Moses, a special assistant in the office of Mayor Dwight C. Jones, sings a song of encouragement to those attending the memorial service Dec. 10 at City Hall.

Memorial service for families, friends of homicide victims

By Joey Matthews

“The holidays are real hard,” said Diacell Winston, tears welling in her eyes.

The grieving mother spoke with a Free Press reporter prior to the 25th Annual Memorial Service for Families and Friends of Homicide Victims on Dec. 10 in the Richmond City Council Chamber.

She said the body of her 37-year-old son, Almon, was discovered Aug. 23 in the side yard of a home in the 1500 block of Greenville Avenue in the West End by a man walking his dog.

“He was shot multiple times,” his mother said. Her son left behind two sons and one granddaughter.

She said she learned of her son’s death when a friend called her and told her they had heard about it. “I went down to the scene and his body was still there,” she said.

Police are still investigating the case and have not yet made an arrest, she added.

Ms. Winston was joined by eight other family members and two friends at the emotional memorial service organized by the Coalition Against Violence and the Richmond Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney Victim Witness Services Program.

“This was the first Thanksgiving that we celebrated without him,” she said. “This will be the first Christmas we will celebrate without him. And his birthday is in January.”

She said “it’s hard to describe” the grief she feels.

“He was my first child. It’s still unbelievable to me — to have somebody you used to see every day and you’re looking for a phone call or text message that never comes.”

Ms. Winston was among more than 40 people who somberly placed red ribbons at the base of “The River of Tears,” a statue honoring lost loved ones that stands as a permanent memorial within City Hall.

Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham told those at the ceremony, “You’re not alone. In June 2005, I got that

Photos by James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

call that my brother, my only sibling and best friend, had been murdered. I think about him every birthday, every Thanksgiving and as we prepare to celebrate what is the most wonderful time of the year,” the chief, said, referring to Christmas.

“Our loved ones are gone, but never forgotten,” he added.

“They’re still in our hearts and will live on forever there.”

Mayor Dwight C. Jones encouraged the families and friends of homicide victims “to lean on each other and get strength from each other.”

“You can look into each other’s eyes and see the pain and feel the grief,” he added.

Ester Marshall of He urged those grieving the loss the city’s Victim of loved ones to “to use the grief you Witness Services feel” to become an advocate in the Program community to help others “deal with consoles Ann the pain they feel one by one, family Belton, who by family.” lost her son to Citing his role as the longtime senior homicide earlier pastor at First Baptist Church of South this year.

Richmond, Mayor Jones said, “There is a God who looks high and low and will keep us in peace in our sorrow.”

Linda Jordan of Richmond began the annual memorial service in December 1990 following the death of her son, William, a victim of homicide. The first service was held outside the John Marshall Courts Building. She also founded The Coalition Against Violence.

She said 19 years passed before she finally began to release the pain and suffering she endured after her son’s death.

“I began crying like it had just happened,” she told the audience.

She urged those who have lost loved ones to homicide not to “grieve alone,” but to reach out and call others to help them get through the tough times.

“We need to reach out to each other and love one another,” she said.

NAACP vows to continue marches in Richmond man’s death The Associated Press

which Halifax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tracy Quackenbush Martin says remains under investigation.

SOUTH BOSTON Ms. Martin has said that she wants to ensure she makes Black leaders marched in Virginia last Saturday the correct decision and has declined to say when her to protest the death of an 46-year-old Richmond man investigation might be complete. who died in police custody after officers shocked him Neither Ms. Martin nor the police department immerepeatedly with stun guns, and they vowed to continue diately responded to a request for comment. marching until they believe that justice The officers had taken Mr. Lambert into has been served. custody after they responded to a noise comDozens of members of the NAACP and plaint at a motel and took him to a hospital other supporters gathered in South Boston, for a mental health evaluation, according to where three police officers used stun guns court documents. He ran from the officers at multiple times on Linwood Lambert Jr., whom the hospital, and instead of taking him to the they had taken to a hospital for a mental ER, they took Mr. Lambert to jail. health evaluation.

The video shows the police officers reThe group is calling on the county prosecupeatedly shocking Mr. Lambert with a Taser tor to swiftly complete her investigation into while he was outside the hospital and inside Mr. Lambert’s death, said Kevin Chandler, the police car. head of the Halifax/South Boston NAACP. An ambulance later took him back to the They also want an independent investigator same hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Mr. Lambert to be appointed and have asked the U.S. He had told the officers that he had taken Department of Justice to get involved. drugs and an autopsy report said that Mr. Lambert died Mr. Chandler said the group plans to continue march- of “acute cocaine intoxication.” ing every week until their voices are heard.

The officers have said in court documents that they “We want something done. Nobody is talking,” he used appropriate and necessary use of force. told The Associated Press. Mr. Lambert’s sister, GwenMr. Lambert’s sister, who joined Saturday’s march, has dolyn Smalls of Richmond, has been marching since filed a $25 million lawsuit against the department and the last month. three officers. The group marched from the motel where Videos of the officers shocking Mr. Lambert that were Mr. Lambert was taken into custody, to the police station released last month sparked new interest in the 2013 case, and the emergency room Mr. Chandler said.

Steve Helber/Associated Press

Gwendolyn Smalls of Richmond continues to advocate for justice in the death of her brother, Linwood R. Lambert Jr., who died in May 2013 after being Tasered repeatedly while in police custody in South Boston.

Christmas tree fire prevention tips

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Christmas tree sales lots, like this one in the 1600 block of Laburnum Avenue near Linwood Holton Elementary School, spring up around Richmond during the holiday season.

Don’t let your Christmas tree become fuel for a house fire.

That’s the message from the Richmond Fire Department, which is offering the following safety tips to keep that from happening: • Make sure the tree is freshly cut. To test the tree, grab a limb and gently rub your hand across it. If the needles come off or if they do not feel waxy, then the tree is likely too dry to be in your house.

Also, ask the vendor if fire retardant has been sprayed on the tree.

• When you take a Christmas tree home, cut 2 inches off the end of the trunk to enable the tree to better absorb water. Also, water the tree immediately after putting it up and continue watering it daily to prevent

it from drying out.

• Use low-heat LED lights and nonflammable ornaments and decorations. Also, check the light electrical cords to make sure none of the wires are cut or exposed.

Avoid using candles or hot outdoor lights on or near the tree. Unplug the tree lights and blow out any candles in the house before going to sleep.

• Keep the tree at least 6 feet or more away from space heaters and floor furnaces to avoid drying out the limbs and needles.

• Remove the tree after the holiday.

The City of Richmond offers a recycling program for Christmas trees after the holiday and also picks up trees with the regular trash collection.

Richmond Free Press

A rose blooms in Jackson Ward

Editorial Page

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December 17-19, 2015

New leaf in the new year In two weeks, we will celebrate a new year.

In four weeks, the Virginia General Assembly will start its 2016 legislative session. Their actions will determine whether the state springs forward with progress and uplift for all, or will be mired in a bog of callous self-interests and regressive politics.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe was to unveil on Thursday his two-year budget proposal. This document will reveal his vision of the future for Virginia’s 8.3 million people — of whom 35 percent are people of color, nearly 14 percent are seniors 65 or older, 22 percent are under 18 and 11.3 percent are living below the poverty level, according to Census data.

Now the citizens will see exactly what Gov. McAuliffe believes is important — what and who should have priority in the state — by where he proposes to allocate money.

This spending plan is significant because it is the first and only budget Gov. McAuliffe will have the most control over during his four years in office. When he was elected, the Northern Virginia Democrat inherited a budget plan designed by his predecessor, former Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican from Hampton Roads. This plan will be Gov. McAuliffe’s alone, showing how he wants to leave his mark in Virginia.

As late as Wednesday, the governor was offering glimpses of his plan during strategic announcements around the state. What has been revealed so far is his desire to be known as the education governor. His plan will include an increase Gov. McAuliffe of more than $1 billion for K-12 public education and higher education in Virginia.

Among his significant education proposals: • Nearly $140 million to hire 2,500 new teachers to help Virginia rebound from the loss of 5,000 public school employees since 2008.

• $50 million for dropout prevention, parental engagement and other programs for at-risk student populations.

• $1 million to expand a program aimed at preventing students with discipline problems from being sucked into the prison pipeline.

• $48 million for financial aid for in-state college students.

We agree with Gov. McAuliffe that education helps to lift the lives and prospects of individuals, and that this major infusion of money — touted as the largest new investment in public education in the state in more than a decade — could lay a foundation for a stronger and better commonwealth.

We also are encouraged by his plan to provide resources to widen access to higher education, and to help shut off the school-to-prison pipeline that has so dramatically impacted and harmed students of color in the Richmond area and around the state. We would like to see even more money put into diversion programs that have proven results.

We call on members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus to lead the charge toward that end during the General Assembly session.

While every Virginia governor wants to be known as the standard bearer for a particular improvement in the state, we hope that Gov. McAuliffe will fight — and fight hard — to expand health care to an estimated 400,000 Virginians who still are uninsured.

Health issues can devastate a family and health care costs can bankrupt individuals. Too many of our fellow Virginians still choose not to get the care they need until it’s too late because they can’t afford to pay the bills for treatment and/or medications.

Expanding the Medicaid program would help many of those people and bring $5 billion in federal money to the state during the next two years.

If the General Assembly approves an expansion of the Medicaid program, the infusion of federal dollars would help free state funds for other critical needs in Virginia.

Unfortunately, Republicans have beat back Gov. McAuliffe’s attempts to expand health care to the uninsured for the past two years.

This year, the governor has the backing of the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, a strong lobby group and campaign contributor to many of the 140 lawmakers who will gather in Richmond in January.

We hope that with the strength of support from right-minded lawmakers and the power of whatever maneuvers Gov. McAuliffe deems possible, 2016 will be the year that Virginia makes progress by rising to help its most vulnerable residents.

In 2016, we should move ahead, not backward.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

The politics of courage If Donald Trump can thrive politically by throwing meat to the American id, what else is possible?

How about the opposite?

Mr. Trump’s most recent attempt to reclaim poll supremacy — his call for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our representatives can figure out what’s going on” — is not simply reckless and dangerous, but also starkly clarifying. America’s bully billionaire is channeling old-time American racism, as mean and ugly and selfrighteous as it has ever been. Jim Crow is still with us. “The only good Indian is a dead Indian” is still with us.

Americans — at least a certain percentage of them — like their racism straight up, untampered with code language, unmodified by counter-values. Come on!

An enemy’s an enemy. A scapegoat’s a scapegoat.

Don’t we have the freedom in this country to dehumanize and persecute whomever we want?

The unfolding Trump phenomenon is stunning to behold because there’s no telling how far — or where — it will go. Following his latest reckless “proposals,” which include mandatory IDs for Muslims, he’s being compared with Adolf Hitler. He’s also being called the best friend ISIS could have, as he spreads outrage and hatred across the globe and, in the process, helps foment the same war they’re attempting to engage.

Fascinatingly, some of the biggest Trump critics are neocons and fellow Republicans, who feel threatened by his reckless candor. The conservative strategy, at least since the Nixon era, has been to use and manipulate American racism rather than directly rouse it to a fever pitch.

That sort of volatility isn’t

so easy to control and could be counterproductive to the economic and geopolitical interests of the stewards of the American empire.

For all the baseness of Trump’s scapegoat politics, he’s doing, it seems, one thing right, which is what makes him unacceptable as the Republican

Robert Koehler presidential nominee. He’s speechifying as though values matter, as though they supersede market and strategic interests. The danger Trump represents cuts in multiple directions.

All of which makes me wonder whether American democracy is, in spite of itself, at a transition point.

It has been decades since real, society-changing values have been on the line in a presidential election. Questions of war and peace have been utterly off the table, with any serious questioning of U.S. militarism ignored and belittled by the mainstream media and completely excluded from the corridors of national decision-making.

The Republicrats rule and war is no longer merely inevitable but eternal. At the same time, the security state has grown like cancer and the prison-industrial complex has expanded exponentially. America in its exceptionalism is the world’s largest arms dealer, snoop, jailer and hell raiser. We destabilize the planet in the interests of the corporate few and call it exporting democracy.

And none of this is Donald Trump’s doing.

But the fact that he’s a threat to this status quo raises some interesting questions. Mr. Trump is a dangerous idiot, but perhaps as he pursues his own interests he is also, unintentionally, helping to crack open the locked vault of American politics.

“He’s essentially the American id,” writes Glenn Greenwald, “simply channeling pervasive sentiments unadorned with the

typical diplomatic and PR niceties designed to prettify the prevailing mentality.”

T h e c h a l l e n g e M r.

Trump poses, it seems to me, is this: If the basest of human instincts — fear and revenge and the hunger to blame our troubles on a scapegoat — can enter, or re-enter, American politics, can the best of human nature enter as well and, in the process, challenge the prevailing status quo more deeply and profoundly than Mr. Trump could ever imagine?

Let me put it another way. “In the practice of tolerance,” said the Dalai Lama, “one’s enemy is the best teacher.”

Such a statement poses a serious challenge, of course, on the order of a quote I heard several years ago from a seatmate on a transatlantic flight: You’re as close to God as you are to the person you like the least.

What if such ideas had political resonance? What if — even in the face of tragedy, even in the face of murder — we lived within a social and political structure that was committed not to dehumanizing and destroying a designated enemy but to understanding that enemy and, my God, looking inward for the cause of problems, not simply flailing outward with high-tech weaponry? What if human compassion, soul deep and without strings attached, played a role in international relations?

Believe me, I’m not asking these questions simplistically, with some pat belief that the answers are obvious. Rather, I’m pressing forward into a dark unknown, or so it seems.

“It is terrifying that on the one hand there is more and more impunity for those starting conflicts, and on the other there is seeming utter inability of the international community to work together to stop wars and build and preserve peace,” Antonio Guterres, the U.N. High

The Free Press welcomes letters

The Richmond Free Press respects the opinions of its readers. We want to hear from you. We invite you to write the editor. All letters will be considered for publication. Concise, typewritten letters related to public matters are preferred. Also include your telephone number(s). Letters should be addressed to: Letters to the Editor, Richmond Free Press, P.O. Box 27709, 422 East Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23261, or faxed to: (804) 643-7519 or e-mail: letters@richmondfreepress.com.

Commissioner for Refugees, said earlier this year, in the context of a global refugee crisis staggering beyond belief.

To grow spiritually is to begin to realize how little one knows and practice reaching out not with aggression but with humility.

This is what takes courage.

Can we begin creating nations with this kind of courage, whose “interests” embrace the welfare of the whole planet?

The writer is a former editor at Tribune Media Services.

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Richmond Free Press

December 17-19, 2015

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Commentary/Letters to the Editor

Eloquence and arrogance

By Julianne Malveaux

On the same day that President Obama gave a stirring and historically grounded commemoration regarding the 150th anniversary of the passage of the 13th Amendment that “abolished” slavery, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia chose to disregard tenets of equality and opportunity from the bench during the Fisher v. University of Texas hearing when he suggested that African-American students would benefit more if they went to “lesser track” schools.

His verbatim comments: “There are those who contend that it does not benefit African-Americans to get them into the University of Texas, where they do slower-track school where they do well,” Justice Scalia said. “One of the briefs pointed out that most of the black scientists in this country don’t come from schools like the University of Texas. They come from lesser schools where they do not feel that they’re being pushed ahead in classes that are too fast for them.”

What does Justice Scalia mean by “lesser schools?” Does he suggest that African-Americans at the university, most in the top 10 percent of their high school class as required by Texas law, can’t compete with their peers, similarly situated students at the top of their classes?

Abigail Fisher, who brought this lawsuit,

was deficient, and judged as so. She was not in the top 10 percent at her Texas high school.

According to the Top Ten Percent Plan in Texas, any graduating senior in the top 10 percent of their graduating class receives admission to the University of Texas at Austin. More than three quarters of the slots at the University of Texas-Austin are reserved for that group of

Commentary students — the best and the brightest of their high schools.

Ms. Fisher didn’t make the cut. A middling student, she had not enough redeeming social value to be considered among the 8 percent whose admission is a function of the Personal Achievement Index (PAI) and Academic Index (AI). These are the folks who, based on their race, socioeconomic status, family background, extracurricular activities and other factors, stand out. These folks are not all African-American.

In fact, of the 841 students who make up the 8 percent, only 47 of them scored lower than Ms. Fisher and only five of them were AfricanAmerican. They are folks whose portfolio deserved special consideration.

Ms. Fisher is an ordinary white girl who was so seeped in white skin privilege that she fully expected to have her way. She is a whiner who has been enabled by the anti-affirmative action crowd. She is pushing a point because she cannot own her own deficiencies. She is attacking

affirmative action because that is her excuse for being deficient and mediocre.

Lots of students don’t get into their first choice school. Most recover. They go to their second or third choice, graduate and manage their lives happily. From time to time, they may ruminate that they would have liked to have their first choice. They may show up at football games, cheering for the school they weren’t admitted to, or they may relish the success that comes to them despite their early disappointment.

But they are grown people, used to a setback (who isn’t?) and prepared to move on with their lives. They know they weren’t in the top 10 percent, and they are happy if they made the second cut at UT or are content to go to another school and excel. Not Ms. Fisher. Buttressed by the dollars that come from affirmative action opponents, she is willing to be the poster girl for inadequacy.

From his remarks from the Supreme Court bench, Justice Scalia is willing to consider her point and exhibit his own racism. What does he mean by “lesser schools?” Is he familiar with the data on African-American accomplishment? Does he share the same hubris that Ms. Fisher does, asserting that a deficient white student deserves an edge over a well-prepared black one?

Justice Scalia needs to look at the data before running his mouth. Both African-American and white students go to schools that are less highly rated than the University of Texas —lesser schools, really. Most of them succeed. They

would have succeeded at UT, too. Regardless of race, they accept the fact that, not in the top 10 percent of their class, they were not entitled to admission. After that, their admission was a roll of the dice.

While President Obama talked about freedom, invoking the history that made the 13th Amendment important, reminding us of “the preachers, black and white, (who) railed against this moral outrage from the pulpit.”

Where are the preachers today? They know that there are racial economic gaps, but they are silent. They know that there is a structural racism that perpetuates unfairness, but they are unwilling to fight against it. They will offer preaching, perhaps tepid, perhaps rousing. But they won’t step up and attack the systems that produce disparate economic results. They won’t condemn attacks on affirmative action.

How could Justice Scalia respond to President Obama’s eloquence with his white-privileged arrogance? If there is a poster girl for fairness, she isn’t Abigail Fisher. To lift her up is to embrace the arrogance of white skin privilege. To lift her up is a disgraceful rebuff to the Texas students who achieve against all odds. To denigrate the student who were admitted instead of Ms. Fisher is a laughable attempt by a so-called justice to justify his injustice, and it flies in the face of the remarks our president made when he spoke of the 13th Amendment.

The writer is an author and economist based in Washington.

The biggest threats are the lawmakers Too many lawmakers do not want to listen to concerns of their constituents. Rather, they want to tell us what our concerns should be. Listening to us might cause them to have to hear about problems they have caused by bad laws they have passed.

When lawmakers control the conversation, they can put up smokescreen issues about external terrorists and other foreign issues while the biggest threats are these lawmakers themselves

and laws they hope to pass to steal our homes, pensions, Social Security, etc.

Homegrown terrorists are Section 8 property owners looking for ways to get their hands on their next house. After all, the federal government will reward them for their efforts.

ISIS doesn’t want our Social Security money, Republican lawmakers do. That is why they want to privatize Social Security. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers of the 1980s

were involved in the savings and loan scandal that stole people’s money. Three of the Keating Five were Democrats. Republican President Ronald Reagan deregulated the savings and loan industry to allow that thievery to happen. Was Ronald Reagan a member of ISIS? NAOMI GAYLE SAUDNERS Richmond

Black children overwhelmingly hurt Why let anyone come to your country? by not modernizing schools

Ten years ago, I developed a plan for then Mayor L. Douglas Wilder to modernize Richmond’s public schools.

At the time, City Council President Bill Pantele got it enacted into law.

Since then, Sen. Kaine and I have worked, without the needed help from cities like Richmond, to fix a glitch in federal law making school modernization 30 percent to 50 percent more costly to localities than it should be.

Now, the administration of Mayor Dwight C. Jones is quick to take credit for all the education facility funding

that Mr. Wilder and Mr. Pantele put into the budget. It’s easy taking credit for someone else’s work. While Mayor Jones and his cronies find money for their sweetheart deals and perks, they have no plan to modernize schools.

They refused to fully fund emergency building repairs last year.

Experts say a child attending such dysfunctional facilities loses about a year of education compared to a similar child attending modernized facilities.

The Jones administration doesn’t consider modernizing schools a high

priority because schoolchildren are a small percentage of the city’s population.

This overwhelmingly impacts African-American children from families of modest means.

Should I refuse to speak the truth because Mayor Jones is a former Democratic Party chairman and the city’s most powerful Democrat?

Not in this lifetime.

PAUL GOLDMAN Richmond

Women should not serve in combat roles In another epic fail of the Obama administration, it was announced that women now will be given combat duty, as well as included in the draft, should one be reinstituted.

Offering reassurances that women will have to pass the same stringent physical fitness tests as do the men, it was not mentioned that those “standards” have been lowered to accommodate women.

Another fact that has been suppressed is the dramatic increase of male-on-male sexual assault. Can anyone be surprised considering the lunacy of allowing homosexuals to serve

in the military openly and flamboyantly?

Truly, for those honorable and noble men and women who have chosen to serve this country, these recent social experiments are a devastating blow, a deliberate mockery and demoralizing force.

To those of us who have not drunk the Kool-Aid of politically correct insanity, it is abundantly clear women and men are completely and beautifully different, a perfect and divinely created complement to one another.

Feminists love to scream about the “war on women” while at the same time advo-

cate that sisters, mothers, and daughters experience the real terrors of war.

What kind of man would not be distracted by a female counterpart being wounded or captured?

I contend that to “train” men to quit being men, to suppress the innate and wholesome characteristic of protecting women and children is to foment a dangerous loss in national character devoid of chivalry, nobility, honor, integrity and respect.

CATHERINE CRABILL Irvington

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Does everyone enter heaven? Then why would you let just anyone come to your country?

There’s a right way to enter the kingdom door. The thorns fall among the plants, choking them.

My forefathers were forced to leave the glory of Africa to come to America. They were stripped of their native tongue and culture, as well. We were made to conform to the glory of America.

Culture isn’t in the land. It is in the people.

There are many colonies seeking to influence people to their way of life. Their intent is to destroy our country — America the great, in God we trust.

Be careful. We fought wars on others’ soil not knowing our enemies. Don’t let it come to our doorsteps — or is it too late?

CLIFTON O. WILLIAMS Richmond

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A8

Richmond Free Press

December 17-19, 2015

Stories by Fred Jeter

VUU’s Shawheem Dowdy Miguel Ojeda wins coveted Lanier Award new manager of

Willie Lanier starred for Morgan State University.

But until now, no athlete from a historically black college or university had won the Touchdown Club of Richmond’s Lanier Award.

The drought ended Dec. 9 when Virginia Union University quarterback Shawheem Dowdy won the Lanier Award.

The trophy was presented to Dowdy by Lanier, a Richmond native, at a Henrico County hotel.

T h e L a n ie r Awa r d , dating to 2004, goes to Virginia’s top performer in the NCAA Division II or III or the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Of the previous 11 recipients, nine were aligned with Division III of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, while the others went to athletes at Christopher Newport University, then a member of Division III USA-South, and the University of Virginia-Wise campus, then a part of the NAIA. Twice previously VUU athletes Lamar Little and Andre Braxton were nominated but did not win.

Dowdy now has a chance to make history twice.

There have been no Lanier repeat winners.

Just a junior, Dowdy will enter 2016

Shawheem Dowdy holds his Lanier Award with Willie Lanier.

as the prime candidate for a wide array of honors. In helping to revitalize VUU football under Coach Mark James, Dowdy passed for 2,410 yards and 20 touchdowns, spurring the Panthers to their first NCAA bid since 1991.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound quarterback from Baltimore also ran for 310 yards and four touchdowns and choreographed an explosive offense averaging 439.4 yards per game.

Also honored by the Touchdown Club was VUU junior Paulin Miano, who was named top small college defensive lineman.

Miano made 57 tackles, including a school record 25 behind the line of

It seems fitting Jeremy Carter-Sheppard goes by two surnames. That’s because he’s about twice as hard to guard as most teenagers.

John Marshall High School’s hyphenated hero can wow you in so many ways.

John Marshall Coach Ty White was asked if his senior star was most effective popping from outside, driving to the basket or dishing to teammates. Coach White’s quick reply: “All of the above.”

“Jeremy has the reputation as the great outside shooter,” said Coach White. “But what is really amazing is how he has progressed as a ball handler.

He’s the best in the area, hands down.”

The cool, confident 6-foot-1, 170-pounder heads into his final North Side go-round already approaching 1,000 points and 200 three-pointers.

No longer is he the spindly “Baby-faced Bomber” (his old nickname), who was primarily a long-range shooter.

Now he goes by “J-Rock,” befitting his wider shoulders and stronger court presence. He has expanded his repertoire in three seasons on John Marshall’s varsity team and in top-tier AAU competition with Team Loaded.

“There are several ways I can score the ball,” he said. “I’ve gotten older, stronger. I can switch it up and get to the rack now if I need to. I can dunk with two hands now.”

Carter-Sheppard says his 12th-grade goals

scrimmage.

The Touchdown Club’s top prize — the Dudley Award — was presented to James Madison University quarterback Vad Lee. He accepted the trophy while on crutches following knee surgery.

T he Dudley Award, named after the late Bill Dudley who starred at the University of Virginia and in the NFL, goes to the top athlete from a Division I FBS or FCS school.

In addition to Lee, other nominees were Safety DeAndre Houston-Carson of The College of William & Mary Jim Junot and University of Richmond running back Jacobi Green.

Absent from the list of nominees was Norfolk State University linebacker Deon King, who led the NCAA Division I (FBS and FCS) in tackles with 163.

King has been invited to play Jan. 23 in the NFL Players Association Collegiate Bowl in Carson, Calif.

The Dudley and Lanier award winners are selected by a vote of a 13-member panel of media from around Virginia.

Willie Lanier played linebacker for Morgan State when the Bears were part of the NCAA’s College Division.

Morgan State is now a member of Division I of the FCS.

Flying Squirrels

For the second straight season, the parent San Francisco Giants have turned to a Latino to manage the Class AA Richmond Flying Squirrels.

Mexican Miguel Ojeda will succeed Venezuelan Jose Alguacil for the upcoming season.

Alguacil has been promoted to manage the Giants’ AAA farm club in Sacramento, Calif.

Ojeda, 40, was a back-up catcher in the major leagues from 2003 to 2006 with the Padres, Mariners, Rockies and Rangers.

For past three seasons, he has managed the Mexico City Diablos Rojos (Red Devils) of the Mexican League.

His 2014 squad won the league championship.

About 16 players from Latin American nations were on the roster last season for the Flying Squirrels.

The Giants have long had an eye for talent from south of the border. In Manager Miguel Ojeda 1953, when the franchise was in New York, the Giants signed Puerto Rican Ruben Gomez, one of first Latino pitchers in the big leagues.

The Giants boast two Latino hall of famers — Dominican pitcher Juan Marichal and Puerto Rican outfielder Orlando Cepeda.

In 1963, the Alou brothers — Felipe, Mateo and Jesus of the Dominican Republic — played several games in the outfield at the same time for the Giants.

John Marshall’s ‘Baby-faced Bomber’ morphs into ‘J-Rock’

are “to win everything,” with the State 3A title atop the wish list.

That means slipping past across-the-James rival George Wythe High School, the reigning 3A champion.

“We’re not happy with the way last season went,” said Carter-Sheppard. “We’ve got some things to work on and need to stick together.”

After winning the State 3A crown in 2014, when Carter-Sheppard was State Player of the Year, John Marshall was a disappointing 18-5 a year ago.

Dealt a lesson in humility, the Justices were eliminated by George Wythe in conference playoffs.

Although Carter-Sheppard has been in the mix at John Marshall since 2012, when he was a 5-foot-8 freshman, here are some “Jeremy facts” people may not know.

He is the son of Jermaine Sheppard, a for-

mer John Marshall basketball player, and Lisa Carter, who played in the John Marshall marching band.

An older brother, Corey Sheppard, played at Huguenot High School and later at Eastern Mennonite University.

His cousin, Crystal Smith, scored 1,300 points for Meadowbrook High School and tossed in another 1,125 points for Longwood University.

Carter-Sheppard has signed with Central Florida University in Orlando, a member of the American Athletic Conference.

“I’ve got relatives living near Orlando,” he said. “We used to go to Disney for family vacations. I love it down there.”

Next season, he hopes to join 7-foot-6 Tacko Falls on the CFU roster. “Tacko was my tour guide on my campus visit. He’s a funny guy,” said Carter-Sheppard.

While “J-Rock” shoots right-handed, he eats,

writes and brushes his teeth with his left hand.

“I’m ambidextrous,” he says.

Carter-Sheppard attended Manchester Middle School in Chesterfield County and lived in the district to attend Meadowbrook High School. He since has moved with his grandmother, Teresa Owens, in Richmond.

Excelling in the classroom, he earned an A last year in algebra II. His current academic load includes geometry and French III. He jokes that the French word for three, “trois,” fit his hoops role as a three-point bombardier.

Carter-Sheppard, who wears jersey No. 2, is no one-man gang. His teammates include bruising 6-foot-6, third-year starter Greg Jones; 6-foot-4 Xavier Trent, the “X Factor”, and 6-foot7 Isaiah Anderson, John Marshall’s football quarterback.

Also, two promising freshman guards, Levar Allen and Demar McRae, figure into Coach White’s plans.

John Marshall also boasts some of the premier all-purpose guards in Richmond annals, such as Joe Barnes, Jerome Bell, Ed Sherod and LaMar Taylor from the past, and more recently, Willie Mangum IV, Justin Lewis and Quaman Burton.

Now it’s Carter-Sheppard’s turn. Trying to check him is like having two headaches at the same time.

Golden State’s winning streak halted by Milwaukee No one is contesting the Golden State Warriors’ status as the NBA’s best team last year and thus far this season.

But are the Warriors the best of all time?

Led by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the Oakland franchise is on pace to achieve the top winning record since the NBA was founded in 1946.

Already, the defending NBA team has posted the best start to the season, with 24 straight wins, and the best-ever road start, with 14 consecutive victories.

But the perfection ended Dec. 12 with a 10895 loss at Milwaukee in what was the Warriors’ seventh straight road test.

The schedule becomes friendlier with five straight Oracle Center home games, including a Christmas Day clash with the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. That game will be broadcast 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 25, on ABC. The Warriors’ quest for the most consecutive wins, now held by the Los Angeles Lakers with 33 wins in 1971-72, ended in Milwaukee.

Still, Golden State is primed to eclipse the 199596 Chicago Bulls (7012) for best record in a season.

The Warriors are no one-year wonder. The team was 67-15 for the regular season last year, eventually ousting Cleveland in the playoff finals.

Stephen Curry The Warriors have prevailed this year despite the seasonlong absence of Coach Steve Kerr, who has been sidelined while recuperating from back surgery. Coach Luke Walton has run the team on an interim basis.

Also, the team has made history without any help from the past three drafts. As a result of trades, Golden State had no draft picks in 2013 or 2014. Last year’s No. 1 pick, 6-foot-9 Kevon Looney from UCLA, hasn’t played because of hip surgery.

The Warriors roster includes one Virginian, undrafted 6-foot-9 reserve James Michael McAdoo from Norfolk Christian High School and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Richmond does figure into the Warriors’ history.

Klay Thompson Former George Wythe High School and Tulsa University star Paul Pressey played for the Warriors in 1992-93 and was assistant coach in 1994.

Also former George Wythe High School and Norfolk State University forward Ray Epps played for the Warriors during the 1977-78 season, appearing in 13 games and scoring 26 points.

Looking back …

Coach Phil Jackson’s all-time best 1995-96 Chicago Bulls were 39-2 at home and 33-8 on the road.

It is coincidental perhaps that the Warriors are the league’s most proficient three-point shooting club (13.6 per game) and Coach Kerr is the NBA career leader for three-point accuracy (44.5 percent). A proven winner, Coach Kerr played on the 1995-96 and the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls (69-13).

Among the best-ever squads, it is noteworthy the Philadelphia 76ers (68-13) of 1966-67 and the Los Angeles Lakers (69-13) of 1971-72 each featured the late Wilt Chamberlain at center.

Philadelphia’s 1966-67 team was the first to have an all-black starting lineup throughout the season. Joining Chamberlain were Luke Jackson, Chet Walker, Hal Greer and Wali Jones.

The first NBA team starting five AfricanAmerican players was the 1964 Boston Celtics when Willie Naulls replaced injured Tom Heinsohn for 12 games. Other starters were Bill Russell, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones and Satch Sanders.

December 17-19, 2015 B1

Richmond Free Press

Section

Happenings

B

Personality: Altamese R. Johnson Spotlight on winner of AARP Virginia’s Shaw Advocacy Award Altamese R. Johnson first met the late Elvira B. Shaw in the early 1990s, when the two attended an AARP meeting with Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Newport News.

The two became fast friends, advocating for issues important to AARP, whose stated mission is “leading positive social change and delivering value to people age 50 and over through information, advocacy and service,” according to the organization.

Ms. Johnson, a retired Richmond Public Schools teacher, was presented with the Elvira B. Shaw Advocacy Award for her dedication to AARP’s legislative priorities, effectiveness in advocacy and exceeding the call of duty in her willingness to serve.

The award was created in 2013 in Mrs. Shaw’s memory for her outstanding service as an AARP Virginia advocate for more than 40 years.

Ms. Johnson has been on the AARP Virginia advocacy team since her retirement 21 years ago. The organization presented Ms. Johnson with the award Nov. 12 at its All-Volunteer Assembly Recognition Awards Banquet in Staunton.

Ms. Johnson says the honor “means that I have been recognized by an organization with thousands of members who are dedicated to serving others through advocacy on the local, state and federal level and that I have taught my children and grandchildren by example.”

AARP Virginia State Advocacy Director David DeBiasi praises Ms. Johnson’s work with the group.

“She thrived as a team member back in the days when it was more difficult for an African- American woman to have a voice amidst an AARP volunteer group of predominantly white men,” he says.

“True to her character, Altamese knew the power of many voices and wanted to provide a meaningful contribution to the group.”

He calls her “a quintessential team player. She always puts AARP’s legislative priorities first.”

He adds that “her work, leadership and style very much

Meet this AARP advocate and this week’s Personality, Altamese R. Johnson: Date and place of birth: Nov. 29 in Cairo, Ga. Education: Bachelor’s degree, Albany State University.

Family: Two daughters, a granddaughter and a great-granddaughter.

Reaction to news that I was award winner: Surprise, appreciation.

capture the spirit of Elvira B. Shaw.”

Mr. DeBiasi notes that Ms. Johnson was “on board during the days of the VOTE program when she went door-to-door registering voters in poor neighborhoods and learned more about the plight of the disenfranchised.”

He adds that in 2012, when AARP’s primary legislative priority was protecting voting rights, Ms. Johnson agreed to be interviewed to express her passion for the issue.

Her video, posted on social media, recalls a childhood incident that shaped her outlook on life and service to others.

She spoke of a day before a presidential election when a pickup truck full of white men drove down her street shooting a rifle and shouting, “There will be no voting by any of you tomorrow!”

She recounts how the right to vote was hard won and should not be taken away by threats of the Jim Crow era or with voting rights restrictions today.

Ms. Johnson’s “dedication to AARP is second to none at both the state and federal levels,” AARP further states. “Because she lives in Richmond, she is often called upon for extra duty at the State Capitol and she is always ready to be there, even with short notice.”

In her advocacy role, she often testifies before legislative committees and represents the group before the media.

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Richmond Free Press

B2 December 17-19, 2015

Happenings

Springers bring home the crown

By Fred Jeter

Instead of Highland Springs High School, perhaps it should be Highlight Springs.

Forget the slow but sure approach.

Coach Loren Johnson’s Springers were fast and sure in sprinting to the State Division 5 football title last Saturday at the University of Virginia’s Scott Stadium in Charlottesville.

In a dominating 27-7 triumph, Highland Springs High made Stone Bridge High School of Loudoun County look like it was lugging shells on its back.

The win energized the entire school, which held a victory celebration for the state champions Tuesday on the Springers’ football field.

Embraced by sunny skies and springlike temperatures, team members paraded two blocks from the Oak Avenue school grounds to Beale Street, accompanied by a jubilant and jamming Highland Springs Marching Battalion and cheerleaders waving pompoms. As the gridiron heroes entered Kreiter Stadium, Springers Coach Loren Johnson, students, parents, comleft, receives congratulations from munity members and Superintendent Patrick C. Kinlaw. others cheered the team, which is now No. 1 in the state.

Several county officials, including Henrico Schools Superintendent Patrick C. Kinlaw and Varina District Supervisor Tyrone E. Nelson, joined the festivities in congratulating the team.

Team members received yellow gift bags and Coach Johnson received a framed congratulatory resolution from Dr. Kinlaw.

Here are the game highlights: D.J. Anderson triggered the action, racing for a 61-yard first period touchdown. Anderson finished with 105 yards on 13 carries.

K’Von Wallace dialed long distance twice on 55-yard and

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Springer players, from left, Greg Dortch, D.J. Anderson and Chris Thaxton lead teammates onto the field at Highland Springs High as cheerleaders and community members salute them as No. 1 in the state.

22-yard touchdown receptions from Juwan “Pootie” Carter.

Wallace turned four grabs into 94 yards.

And don’t forget the quickest of the quick, Greg Dortch.

The elusive, do-it-all back snagged an interception on defense and closed the scoring in high style, running for 66 yards for the final touchdown.

The Springers defense had an answer for everything Stone Bridge High tried in its rare single wing attack, with the shotgun center snap often going straight to a running back.

That same Bulldogs offense accounted for 54 points in their

The Highland Springs Marching Battalion swings into action at the ceremony celebrating the state’s No. 1 football team. The band played Tuesday as the champions paraded from the school to Kreiter Stadium and the cheers of jubilant students and fans.

semifinal win over Tuscarora High School, and for 50 points in the Northern Region final over Massaponax High School of Spotsylvania.

Quarterback Joe Thompson, under relentless pressure, was 2-for-10 passing for 17 yards and two picks.

In the mismatch, the Springers amassed 366 yards offensively to Stone Bridge’s 186.

It marked the 14th straight victory for the Springers after opening with a 22-21 loss to Hermitage High School in Henrico County.

Highland Springs High gained momentum as the season wore on.

Avenging the August setback, the Springers beat Hermitage High 42-35 for the Southern Region crown, and then trounced Chesapeake’s Indian River High School 35-10 in the state semifinals with big play highlights galore.

This is Highland Springs’ first state title since 1961, when Coach Al Rinaldi’s Springers were voted No. 1 in Group AAA prior to the Virginia High School League playoff system.

The Springers reached the Group AAA finals in 1978 under Rinaldi, losing to Annandale High School. Rudy Ward was coach in 1989 when they fell in the AAA finals to West Potomac High School.

In last Saturday’s victory, Highland Springs logged the first state title by any Henrico County school since adoption of playoffs in 1969. Varina High School lost in the 1998 and 1999 finals.

Serving as Highland Springs High’s student activities director the past two school years has been Michael Bailey, former head football coach and athletic director at Virginia Union University.

It is the third straight year a Richmond area team has won the Division 5 football championship. Chesterfield’s L.C. Bird High School prevailed in 2013 and 2014.

As for Highland Springs’seniors, Dortch has signed to play at Wake Forest University and Wallace at the University of Cincinnati.

Spike Lee’s ‘Chi-Raq’ grosses $2.1M in 10 days Free Press wire reports

Director Spike Lee hopes his latest film “Chi-Raq,” an adaptation of ancient Greek play “Lysistrata” looking at Chicago’s gun violence, will help make a difference in tackling the problem.

Based on Aristophanes’ play in which the titular character rouses women to stop the Peloponnesian War by going on a sex strike, the movie sees Lysistrata try to persuade rival gangs to lay down their guns by using the same technique.

The film is named after street slang comparing Chicago, the United States’ third largest city, to conflict zones in the Middle East.

Its trailer begins with a statement saying “Homicides in Chicago, Illinois, have surpassed the death toll of American special forces in Iraq.”

“We have to develop the capacity for empathy for people who aren’t like us, don’t talk like us, look like us. They’re still human beings,” Mr. Lee told Reuters, citing the example of a 9-year-old boy who was shot to death in Chicago

last month.

“We have to care about human lives ... We should all be very angry about the execution of Tyshawn Lee ... It doesn’t matter whether his father has got gang allegiance or not. No 9-year-old anywhere on this earth should be shot twice in the head with a bullet, five shots in the body, executed.”

Musician and television host Nick Cannon and actor Wesley Snipes play gang leaders Chi-raq and Cyclops, respectively, while “Mad Men” actress Teyonah Parris portrays Lysistrata.

“Sometimes it’s good that audiences feel angry.

Audiences felt angry after ‘Do the Right Thing’, audiences felt angry after ‘Network’, audiences felt angry after ‘Apocalypse Now’,” Mr. Lee said. “Channeled anger is not always bad.”

“Chi-Raq” took in an estimated $1.2 million from 305 theaters during its limited initial U.S. release on Dec. 4. As of Dec. 13, the film has grossed $2.1 million.

The film, written by Mr. Lee and Kevin Willmott, also stars Angela Bassett, Jennifer Hudson, Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack.

Photos by Rudolph Powell/Richmond Free Press

Graduation pride at VSU Below, Dr. Pamela V. Hammond, interim president of Virginia State University, leads the academic procession into the fall commencement ceremony last Saturday at Daniel Gymnasium on the campus. State Sen. Rosalyn R. Dance of Petersburg, the commencement speaker, is second in the line that includes members of the VSU Board of Visitors, administrators and faculty. Sen. Dance and Dr. Hammond received honorary degrees during the ceremony. Valedictorian Destini Orr, below right, of Petersburg, savors the VSU graduation scene after receiving her degree. The university’s top scholar majored in health and physical education/sports medicine. More than 400 students were awarded undergraduate and graduate degrees at the ceremony.

Serena Williams named Sportsperson of the Year Reuters

nized with the honor as an individual since Mary Decker in 1983, and the Serena Williams, who held all four magazine took the opportunity to reof tennis’ grand slam titles for the name its award from Sportsman of the second time in her career and won Year to Sportsperson of the Year.

53 of 56 matches in 2015, was named The magazine also cited Ms. WilSportsperson of the Year by Sports liams as a force off the court, using her Illustrated magazine Monday. broad platform to advocate for racial The 34-year-old Ms. Williams acjustice, gender equality and equal access complished her second “Serena Slam” to education around the world. while battling a string of injuries, proIt noted that Ms. Williams made a Ms. Williams ducing one of the greatest late-career powerful statement by returning to play runs in the history of any sport, the magazine a tournament at Indian Wells in California for said, hailing her a “global icon.” the first time since 2001, when she was jeered “Serena has made a very strong case as by the crowd and, according to her family, sufnot only the greatest tennis player of her gen- fered racist slurs. eration but of all time, and after the string of Ms. Williams called her decision to play her performances she put together in 2015, she is “greatest moment in tennis.” one of the most dominant athletes playing to“Everyone always asked, ‘What was your day,” said Sports Illustrated Group Editor Paul greatest moment in tennis?’ and I always said Fichtenbaum. it hasn’t happened.

Ms. Williams was ranked No. 1 every week “But I think it has happened now, and that for the second consecutive year, and her three was going back to Indian Wells and playing. It successive grand slam wins to start 2015 lifted released a lot of feelings that I didn’t even know her within one of Steffi Graf’s record 22 singles I had. I was really surprised at how emotional I titles in the professional era. got — and how relieved I felt after everything “This year was spectacular,” Ms. Williams was said and done.” said in a statement. “For Sports Illustrated to Ms. Williams joins an elite group to have won recognize my hard work, dedication and sheer the award, including Muhammad Ali (1974), determination with this award gives me hope Arthur Ashe (1992), LeBron James (2012), Mito continue on and do better.” chael Jordan (1991), Billie Jean King (1972), Joe Ms. Williams is the first woman to be recog- Montana (1990) and Jack Nicklaus (1978).

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Richmond Free Press

December 17-19, 2015

B3

Happenings

‘A Mad Hatter’s Party’ Colorful, creatively decorated hats fill the banquet room at a Downtown hotel for The Mad Hatter’s Party.

The event, held Dec. 6, was organized by the Richmond Chapter of The Links, which invited other Richmond area Links chapters to join in the Fifth Annual Friendship Tea. Below, Dr. Jill Bussey Harris, president of the Richmond Chapter of The Links, enjoys a good time with

fellow chapter member Yvonne Simmons. Right, Gwen Walker McCorvey of the Commonwealth Chapter of The Links strikes an engaging pose.

Below, Beblon Goodlow Parks, president of the James River Valley Chapter of The Links, and Karen Floyd Savage, sergeant at arms of the Richmond Chapter of The Links, show off their chapeaus. Flutist Ivana Daniels performed during the tea, along with the Festive Brass Quintet.

Photos by Rudolph Powell/Richmond Free Press

Capital City Kwanzaa Festival at Altria Theater Dec. 26

The main stage will reverberate with the sounds of African music, dance and spoken word.

The African Market will offer African-inspired cuisine, thought-provoking books, finely handcrafted and imported items, colorful clothing, jewelry and more.

Workshops will discuss perspectives on healing, health maintenance and economic empowerment.

These are among the highlights of the 29th Annual Capital City Kwanzaa Festival, the largest festival on the East Coast celebrating the holiday.

This year’s festival is scheduled from 1 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 26, at the Altria Theater, 6 N. Laurel St. The festival kicks off 1 p.m. with the opening of the African Market, followed by an ancestral

libation and candle-lighting ceremony at 2 p.m.

A procession at 2:30 p.m. will be led by the Elegba Folklore Society, which organizes the event.

General admission tickets are $6 in advance and $8 at the door. Advance tickets for students ages 12 to18 and seniors 65 and older are $5, and $7 at the door. Children under 12 are free.

This year’s theme: “I Live in Harmony with My People.”

The festival celebrates the 49th anniversary of the holiday, said organizer Janine Bell. Kwanzaa, a seven-day holiday begins Dec. 26 and runs through Jan. 1. The holiday is rooted in African

2016 NAACP Image Awards nominees announced Free Press wire report

traditions and encourages year-round discipline and adherence to the seven principles, known collectively as Nguzo Saba.

On the program are workshops geared to teach young people about the seven principles of Kwanzaa — unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. The workshops will run from 3:15 to 5:45 p.m.

Also on tap: 4:30 p.m.: The Tunji Reggae Band, which has performed with Ziggy Marley, The Wailers and Burning Spear among others.

The Nia Sessions, group discussions on health and organizing the mind and the environment, also start then and continue until 8 p.m.

5:45 p.m.: A keynote address from Dr. Phil Valentine, founder director and pastor of the Temple of the Healing Spirit – Self-Healing Education Center, and co-founder of the Institute for Self Mastery. He also will answer audience questions and facilitate a small group discussion.

7 p.m.: Afrikana Film Festival presents an independent short film in illustration of Umoja or Unity to be followed by a discussion.

8 p.m.: The Feedel Band performs.

First launched in 1986, the city’s Kwanzaa celebration has attracted more than 3,000 people, including vendors from Maryland, New York and Boston.

For more information: www.efsinc.org.

WE PURSUE

LOS ANGELES “Empire” leads the television nominees for the 2016 NAACP Image Awards.

The scintillating drama is up for 12 trophies at the ceremony honoring diversity in the arts, including acting nominations for Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Bryshere Y. Gray, Jussie Smollett and Grace Gealey.

“Empire” will face off at the NAACP ‘Empire’ leads Image Awards against with 12 television “Being Mary Jane,” nominations for ‘’How to Get Away NAACP Image Awards. Terrance with Murder,” “PowHoward and er” and “Scandal” in the Taraji P. Henson outstanding TV drama received acting category. nominations.

The list of nominees for the 47th Anual NAACP Image Awards was announced Dec. 8 at a news conference in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The television show “black-ish” followed “Empire” with 10 nominations in the TV honors. The family comedy will compete against “House of Lies,” “Key & Peele,” “Orange Is the New Black” and “Survivor’s Remorse” in the outstanding TV comedy category.

“Rocky” sequel “Creed” was king of the ring with six nods in the film categories. Other nominees up for the outstanding motion picture prize are “Beasts of No Nation,” “Concussion,” “Dope” and “Straight Outta Compton.”

“Creed” star Michael B. Jordan is also up for the entertainer of the year, nominated alongside Misty Copeland, Pharrell Williams, Shonda Rhimes and Viola Davis.

In the music categories, Janet Jackson leads with six nominations. Close behind the legendary singer are the “Empire” cast and The Weeknd, each with four nominations, and Pharrell Williams with three nominations.

The NAACP Image Awards celebrate the accomplishments of people of color in TV, music, literature and film and honors individuals and groups that promote social justice through creative endeavors. The awards will be presented in a Feb. 5 ceremony airing on TV One. For a complete list of nominees, including those in the literature categories, go to www.naacpimageawards.net

We find inspiration from those who pursue candid conversations on pressing societal issues. People like undergraduate Logan Dandridge, winner of UVA’s Social Justice and Diversity Fellowship.

Using only a camera and a few probing questions, Logan introduced a new perspective and sparked candid dialogue around issues of race, identity and community. With a public installation of his work, Logan inspires inclusive insights and a more understanding society for all.

UNVA-141-33d_Logan_RFP_MECH.indd 1

12/14/15 6:23 PM

Richmond Free Press

B4 December 17-19, 2015

Obituaries/Faith News/Directory Claudelia S. Barnes, 81, former med tech, teacher

By Joey Matthews

Claudelia S. Barnes was born and raised in Richmond at a time when Jim Crow laws oppressed African-Americans and the Ku Klux Klan fomented a reign of terror.

“The Ku Klux Klan burned a cross in her parents’ front yard when she was a teenager,” recalled Mrs. Barnes’ daughter, Dawn C. Cobb.

“Her parents were one of the first families to integrate the Barton Heights community,” she said of the once predominately white North Side neighborhood.

Undeterred by the hatred, Mrs. Barnes forged a life fueled by faith and filled with accomplishment.

She worked as a medical technologist for more than a decade at the Medical College of Virginia beginning in the late 1950s.

She later moved to Maryland, where she taught high school for many years.

Mrs. Barnes is being remembered following her death Dec. 9, 2015, in Waldorf, Md. She was 81.

Her family and friends will celebrate her life at a funeral service 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 18, at Southminster Presbyterian

Church in Oxon Hill, Md., where Mrs. Barnes and her husband served as elders and on several committees.

Mrs. Barnes was born July 18, 1934, in Richmond, one of three siblings. Her parents, John and Mrs. Barnes Evelyn Sweat, were longtime educators in Richmond. Her father taught at George Mason Elementary School for more than 40 years. Her mother taught at Chimborazo Elementary School and several other schools.

Mrs. Barnes followed in their footsteps by helping others through her career work and also in her involvement in numerous clubs and service groups.

“She was beautiful, articulate, intelligent, nurturing and loving,” her daughter said.

She graduated from Virginia Union University with a bachelor’s degree in biology in the early 1950s. While there, she also pledged Delta Sigma Theta

Sorority.

In 1954, she married George Harold Clarke Jr. The two had five daughters.

In Richmond, she was a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church, The Mothers Club and Club Dejouir Inc. In 1969, she married Dr. Charlie J. Barnes and moved to Maryland, where Mrs. Barnes taught science at Oxon Hill High School until her retirement.

She also was active in the Washington Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the Washington Chapter of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and belonged to the Washington Chapter of the VUU Alumni Association.

Mrs. Barnes is survived by her husband, Dr. Barnes; five daughters, Deborah Clarke-Hall of Port Royal, Dalerie C. Williams of Washington, Delia C. Pitchford of Richmond, Dawn C. Cobb of East Amherst, N.Y., and Diedria C. Williams of Annandale; two sisters, Jacqueline Sweat Duster of Chicago and Evelyn Sweat Chambers of Upper Marlboro, Md.; six grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and numerous other relatives and friends.

Charles A. Brown, 73, former Virginia Power official

By Joey Matthews

Charles A. Brown woke up every morning with the same purpose in mind.

“He wanted to help as many young people as he could,” said Pauline Brown, his wife of 48 years.

“He was an exceptional man, very loving and caring.

He would give you the shirt off his back,” she added.

Chief among his passions, Mr. Brown loved to mentor young people. He earned recognition for doing so, she said, including his most prized — the William H. Spurgeon III Award from the Boy Scouts of America in 1993. Mr. Brown served on the scouting organization’s board.

He also served in the military, was active in church, belonged to many civic engagement groups and was a trailblazer in the corporate world.

He joined Virginia Power Co. in 1982. Ten years later, Mr. Brown was named vice president of the electric utility company’s central division,

becoming the first dent, president of the back to school to earn a graduAfrican-American campus chapter of ate degree from the Colgate to reach that level Omega Psi Phi Fra- Darden Graduate School of within the company. ternity, ROTC drill Business at the University of He was over procureteam leader and Dis- Virginia. ment. tinguished Military After working for several Mr. Brown is Student nominee. manufacturing and distribution being remembered He also met his firms, he was hired at Virginia following his death future wife, Pauline Power, where he worked until Dec. 12, 2015, in Lott, at a dance in his retirement in 1997.

Richmond. He was 1964 at South CaroMr. Brown was active in the Mr. Brown 73. lina State, where she choir at Chamberlayne Heights His friends and family will was a member of the Miss United Methodist Church, celebrate his life at a funeral ROTC Homecoming Court. mentored young people there service 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. Mr. Brown served in the and worked with the church 18, at Chamberlayne Heights Army from 1965 through day care.

United Methodist Church, 1968 and was captain of the He also was active in the 6100 Chamberlayne Road, in Army Air Defense Command, National Urban League, the Henrico County.

2D Region. He commanded a Metropolitan Business League A memorial service also will nuclear missile site and received and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity– be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thurs- a plethora of medals and honors The Boule. day, Dec. 17, at the church. for his service.

He also was a lifelong Mr. Brown was born Aug. The Browns married in 1967 member of the NAACP. 20, 1942, in rural Holly Hill, and moved to Richmond in In addition to his wife and S.C. He used education as a 1982, where they raised their daughters, Mr. Brown is surspringboard to excellence. daughters, Ina and Joanna, in vived by one granddaughter In 1961, he attended South their North Side home. and numerous other family Carolina State College (now In 1987, Mr. Brown went and friends. university), where he studied mechanical engineering and technology. He was a natural Dr. Kirkland R. Walton, Pastor leader in college as evidenced by his election as class presi-

St. Peter Baptist Church

Broad Rock Baptist Church 5106 Walmsley Blvd., Richmond, VA 23224 804-276-2740 • 804-276-6535 (fax) www.BRBCONLINE.org



Early Morning Worship ~ 8 a.m.

Sunday School ~ 9:30 a.m.

Morning Worship ~ 11 a.m.

4th Sunday Unified Worship Service ~ 9:30 a.m.

Bible Study: Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. & 7 p.m.

Radio Ministry: Sunday: 9:30 a.m. {1540 AM}

at 8:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m.

4th Sunday of Advent 11:00 a.m. - Youth Ministry Hosts “Birthday Party for Jesus!”

Christmas Eve Service Thursday, December 24th at 7:00 p.m.

Dr. Sylvester T. Smith, Pastor “There’s A Place for You” Tuesday

Sunday 10:30 AM Bible Study 9:30 AM Church School 6:30 PM Church-wide Bible Study 11:00 AM Worship Service 6:30 PM Men's Bible Study (Each 2nd and 4th) (Holy Communion Thursday each 2nd Sunday) Wednesday (Following 2nd Sunday) 6:30 PM Prayer Meeting

13800 Westfield Dr., Midlothian, VA 23113 804-794-5583 • www.firstbaptistchurch1846.com

Rev. Pernell J. Johnson, Pastor

Service Times Sunday

Church School 9:45AM Worship 11:00AM

Tuesday

Bible Study 12:00PM

Wednesday

Youth & Adult Bible Study 7:00PM Prayer & Praise 8:15PM

Van Transportation Available, Call 804-794-5583

Triumphant

Baptist Church 2003 Lamb Avenue, Richmond, VA 23222

Dr. Arthur M. Jones, Sr., Pastor (804) 321-7622

ANNUAL CHRISTMAS ANNIVERSARY

Sunday, December 20, 2015 9:30 a.m.

Sunday School Production 11:15 a.m.

Christmas Celebration Music by The Mass Choir & Dance Ministry Christmas Message by Dr. Arthur M. Jones, Sr., Pastor

Mount Olive Baptist Church Rev. Darryl G. Thompson, Pastor

2015 Theme: The Year of Moving Forward



8775 Mount Olive Avenue Glen Allen, Virginia 23060 (804) 262-9614 Phone (804) 262-2397 Fax www.mobcva.org

 Sunday, December 27, 2015 10 AM One powerful Super Sunday Worship Service

Sundays

8:00 a.m.

Early Morning Worship 9:30 a.m.

Sunday School 11:00 a.m.

Morning Worship

Tuesdays

Noon Day Bible Study

Wednesdays

6:30 p.m.

Prayer and Praise 7:00 p.m.

Adult Bible Study

New Year’s Eve, Thursday, December 31, 2015 Join us for Jubilant Praise on the Mount

12 Noon Early Watch Night Service with Guest Psalmist Rev. Almeta Ingram-Miller

Watch Night Service

10:00 PM Watch Night Service Mount Olive’s own Chosen Generation Choir Face 2 Face Mime Ministry and Praise Dancers Special Guest - Heavenly Hands Ministry

Thursday, December 31st at 10:15 p.m.

Sixth Baptist Church Theme for 2015: Becoming a Five-Star Church of Excellence We Are Growing In The Kingdom As We Grow The Kingdom with Word, Worship and Witness

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil. 4:13

92nd Church Anniversary SUNDAY, December 20, 2015

9 AM - Breakfast Message by: Mr. Jack Gravely, State Interim Executive Director, NAACP 11 AM - Message by: Dr. Andrew White, Pastor Emeritus Zion Baptist and Union Baptist Churches

Music by: Unity Choir

First African Baptist Church The Music & Fine Arts Ministry Presents Annual Christmas Concert and Live Nativity

5 PM - One Hour Christmas Eve Candle Light Service Litany of Celebration – Special Music and Message By: Rev. Dr. Wade Richmond, Associate Minister

Mission Statement: People of God developing Disciples for Jesus Christ through Preaching and Teaching of God’s Holy Word reaching the people of the Church and the Community.

22 E. Leigh Street, Richmond, VA 23219 • 643-3825 thesharonbaptistchurch.com Rev. Dr. Paul A. Coles, Pastor

FirstM iBaptist Church dlothian

2040 Mountain Road • Glen Allen, Virginia 23060 Office 804-262-0230 • Fax 804-262-4651 • www.stpeterbaptist.net

11:00 AM Mid-day Meditation

Sharon Baptist Church

at 8:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m.

11:00 a.m. Youth Emphasis

The Richmond Kwanzaa Kollective is presenting the 11th Annual Afrikan Heritage Celebration from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 27.

Location: Trinity Family Life Center, 3601 Dill Road.

The community gathering will feature an African marketplace, arts and crafts, music, spoken word, face painting and African cuisine, according to organizers.

Live reggae music will be provided by Mighty Joshua & Zion 5.

The Richmond Kwanzaa Kollective is committed to preserving the integrity of Kwanzaa and building solidarity among families, organizations and communities, according to its website.

Information: www.richmondkwanzaakollective.blogspot.com.

You do not want to miss this spirit-filled evening.

We hope to see you at the Mount.

Pastor Kevin Cook

1127 North 28th St., Richmond, VA 23223-6624 • Office: (804) 644-1402

Sunday, December 27th

Sunday, December 20th

“MAKE IT HAPPEN”

Good Shepherd Baptist Church

Worship Service

Worship Service

11th Annual Afrikan Heritage Celebration Dec. 27

Rev. Dr. Yvonne Jones Bibbs, Pastor

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20TH, 2015

Twitter sixthbaptistrva

400 South Addison Street Richmond, Va. 23220

Facebook sixthbaptistrva

(804) 359-1691 or 359-3498 Fax (804) 359-3798 www.sixthbaptistchurch.org

(near Byrd Park)

Thirty-first Street Baptist Church

No 8 a.m. Service 9:30 a.m. Sunday School 3:30p.m. Combined Ushers Anniversary 11:00 a.m. Christmas Cantata Speaker: Rev. Curtis Ballard Theme: “Joy, Unspeakable Joy” Sharon Baptist Church

C

o

everence e with e evanc R ing Dr. Morris Henderson, Senior Pastor bin

Nativity with animals provided by Lambeth’s Petting Zoo Begins at 10:00 a.m.

❖

FABC Choirs, Praise Dance Ministries, Handbell Choirs and Drama Ministry lift up His Holy name Jesus Christ is Born!

SUNDAYS

Sunday, December 20—11:00 a.m.

Church School 9:30 a.m.

Morning Worship 10:30 a.m.

2700 Hanes Avenue, Richmond, VA 23222 (804) 329-7279

❖

WEDNESDAYS Bible Study 12:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. ❖

MONDAY-FRIDAY Nutrition Center and Clothes Closet 11:30 a.m. & 1:00 p.m.

823 North 31st Street Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 226-0150 Office www.31sbc.org

Dr. Rodney D. Waller, Pastor Michelle Lightfoot, Minister of Music

Wanted Audio/ Visual, Sound Technician Established church is seeking individuals to join our Audio/Visual, Sound team. Applicants must be flexible and experienced in live sound reinforcement, Easy Worship and/or Pro Presenter software. Ministry schedule includes mid-week, funeral and wedding services.

Contact E. Stanley at 804-627-3349

Richmond Free Press

December 17-19, 2015

B5

Faith News/Directory

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Above, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, backed by faith leaders from the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities, calls for religious tolerance at a news conference last Friday in Richmond. Right, Imam Ammar Amonette of the Islamic Center of Virginia in Bon Air stands before a monument to Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia statute for religious freedom at the Valentine First Freedom Center in Shockoe Bottom.

Faith leaders, elected officials call for calm, respect for Muslims

By Joey Matthews

Imam Ammar Amonette said he and the 2,000 members of his congregation at the Islamic Center of Virginia in Bon Air have seen the ugly face of hate in the wake of the recent terror attacks by Muslim extremists in San Bernadino, Calif., and Paris.

“It’s been ongoing,” the thoughtful imam told the Free Press of anti-Islamic incidents.

Imam Amonette and a group of Muslim, Christian and Jewish faith leaders and U.S. Sen. Mark Warner held a news conference last Friday outside the Valentine First Freedom Center in Shockoe Bottom to promote religious tolerance and call for an end to anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Among the hate incidents members of his congregation have experienced in recent days: • Someone left Nazi leaflets with swastikas on the grounds of the Islamic Center at 1241 Buford Road in Bon Air. •Aman in a car yelled, “You’re a terrorist! Go home!” to a young girl wearing a burka as she was getting off a school bus.

• A group of men physically accosted a woman who works for the federal government in Downtown as she walked to her car.

Surrounded by the faith leaders, Sen. Warner called for calm and respect for the Muslim community as he stood before a monument to Thomas Jefferson’s religious freedom statute

Union Baptist Church Chain Reaction An Elegant Christmas Event Saturday, December 19, 2015 4:00p.m.

Introducing the name of Christ from Birth to Resurrection Attire: Evening Wear or Sunday’s Best Dessert Reception To Follow 1813 Everett Street Richmond, Virginia 23224 804-231-5884 Reverend Robert C. Davis, Pastor

at the center.

“This statute guaranteed religious freedom in Virginia and those same principles were built into our Constitution and our Bill of Rights,” he said.

“Some would say those freedoms are under attack today,” he continued. “And as an elected leader, and most importantly, leaders of faith, we want to stand up and reaffirm the principles that make America unique.”

He said he understands that people are afraid because of the latest terror attacks. But he talked about several actions taken to improve national security, including tightening the visa waiver and finance programs.

But he said he will make a global commitment, as well as to those within the local community, to stem terrorist activity.

“We also need to make sure that we work with our faith leaders, particularly the Muslim-American community, to ensure that if you see a family member or a friend in the process of being radicalized, that you have faith enough in our law enforcement system that you can step forward in a way where someone will be treated with respect and within the due process of law,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Imam Amonette attended a rally in Bon Air, where about 60 people showed their support for the mosque and its congregation and called for religious tolerance.

At the religious freedom center, Imam Amonette said,

“There are a lot of people in our community who are recent citizens or immigrants to the United States and they may feel that maybe they don’t know what their place is in this society — whether they are welcome or not.

“It really means a lot to them that people came out to support them,” he added.

He called GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s antiMuslim comments “very hurtful” to Muslim-Americans.

“That really undermines for us what it means to be Americans,” he said.

State Sen. A. Donald McEachin of Henrico County, who also is an ordained minister, concurred with that sentiment.

“We reject the (hateful) notions of Muslims expressed by Donald Trump and some others.

Religion is not, nor ever should it be, a wall that separates people from this land,” he said.

The Rev. Roscoe Cooper III, pastor at Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church in Henrico County and a recently elected member of the Henrico School Board, said the African-American community knows how the Muslim community feels.

“We experience terrorism on a daily basis,” he said of ongoing bigotry in the criminal justice system, educational inequity and legislative policies designed to turn back AfricanAmerican gains.

“As African-Americans and Christians, we stand with our (Muslim) brothers and sisters and we support you,” Rev. Cooper said.

Ebenezer Baptist Church 1858

“The People’s Church”

216 W. Leigh St. • Richmond, Va. 23220 • Tel: 804-643-3366 Fax: 804-643-3367 • Email: ebcoffice1@comcast.net • web: ebcrichmond.org Sunday Worship Sunday Church School Service of Holy Communion Service of Baptism Life Application Bible Class Mid-Week Senior Adult Fellowship Wednesday Meditation & Bible Study Homework & Tutoring Scouting Program Thursday Bible Study



11:00 a.m.

9:30 a.m.

Every 3rd Sunday 2nd Sunday, 11 a.m.

Mon. 6:30 p.m.

Tues. 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Wed. 7:45 p.m.

Wed. 4:30 p.m.

Wed. 6:00 p.m.

Thurs., 11:45 a.m.

Imad Damaj of the Virginia Muslim Coalition for Public Affairs said Islamic leaders have repeatedly denounced acts of terrorism and will continue to do so.

“Regardless of their motives and who they claim they are, they have nothing to do with us,” he said.

Another group of leaders from 15 faith and faith-based organizations is holding a news conference 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, at the Islamic Center of Virginia in Bon Air. That news conference, called “Standing Together,” also is to express unity “in response to Islamophobia, xenophobia and divisive rhetoric,” according to organizers.

The public display of support locally is designed to counter a wave of anti-Islamic rhetoric and hate incidents that are spreading across the nation.

Those include a fire set outside a Southern California mosque last Friday. Police have arrested a 23-year-old man suspected of setting the blaze at the Islamic Society of the Coachella Valley, authorities said last Saturday.

Separately, a pig’s head was thrown from a moving vehicle at a Philadelphia mosque Dec. 7. No arrests have been made in the incident. The incident was captured on video and went viral.

President Obama, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton and other leaders have alleged the hate incidents are sparked by the inflammatory rhetoric used

New Deliverance Evangelistic Church

1701 Turner Road, North Chesterfield, Virginia 23225 (804) 276-0791 office (804)276-5272 fax www.ndec.net

Men’s Christmas Concert

Riverview

Thursday,

Baptist Church

December 24, 2015 7:00 P.M.

2604 Idlewood Avenue Richmond, Va. 23220 (804) 353-6135 www.riverviewbaptistch.org Rev. Dr. Stephen L. Hewlett, Pastor Rev. Dr. Ralph Reavis, Sr. Pastor Emeritus

Bishop G. O. Glenn D. Min., Founder Mother Marcietia S. Glenn First Lady

SUNDAY SCHOOL - 9:45 A.M. SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE 11:00 A.M.

Missionary

Baptist Church

& Church Anniversary!

Wednesday Services

. Theme: ,

Senior Citizens

“Building Monuments for Present and Future Generations” “What Mean These Stones” Scripture: Joshua 4:21 - 24

Noonday Bible Study 12noon-1:00 p.m.

1408 W. Leigh Street • 358-6403

Dr. Alonza Lawrence

Sanctuary - All Are Welcome!

Bible Study Count: noonday Wednesday night 7 p.m. Prayer

Pastor

Sundays

Church School 8:30 A.M. Morning Worship 10:00 A.M.

Banquet

Bible Study 12 noon New Mercies Ministry 6:00 A.M. Youth Bible Study 6:00 P.M. Adult Bible Study 6:30 P.M.

You can now view Sunday Morning Service The Omni Richmond Hotel “AS IT HAPPENS” online! 100 S. 12th St., Richmond, VA 23219 Also, for your convenience, For more information we now offer and to purchase your banquet “full online giving.” tickets go to: www.ndec.net Visit www.ndec.net.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

9:30PM Christmas Eve Concert 10:30PM Festive Christmas Eve Eucharist

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Dr. Levy M. Armwood, Pastor  Dr. Wallace J. Cook, Pastor Emeritus

Sunday, January 17 & 24, 2016 9:00 AM - NDEC Saturday, January 23, 2016

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Saturday

8:30 a.m. Intercessory Prayer

Tuesdays

20Founders’ th NDEC

8:00 a.m. Sunday School 9:00 a.m. Worship Service

Sunday

Moore Street

Wednesdays

by public figures such as Mr. Trump, who on Dec. 6 called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”

In a Dec. 6 address to the nation from the Oval Office, President Obama urged Americans not to “turn against one another” out of fear.

“It is the responsibility of all Americans of every faith to reject discrimination, to reject religious tests of who we admit into the country, and to reject proposals that MuslimAmericans should somehow be treated differently, because when we travel down that road, we lose,” he added.

ST. PHILIP’S Episcopal Church

2900 Hanes Avenue ~ Richmond, VA 23222 www.stphilipsrva.org ~ (804) 321-1266 Rev. Phoebe A. Roaf, Rector

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2705 Hartman Street ~ Richmond, VA 23223 www.risingmtzion.org ~ Phone: (804) 643-0715

Funerals & Cremations

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Richard A. Lambert, Sr., President/CEO

Richmond Free Press

B6 December 17-19, 2015

Legal Notices/Employment Opportunities City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the City of Richmond Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, January 4, 2016 at 1:30 p.m. in the Fifth Floor Conference Room of City Hall and the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing on Monday, January 11, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the Second Floor of City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, to consider the following ordinances: Ordinance No. 2015-256 To close, to public use and travel, a portion of Northampton Street, located between Carlisle Avenue and Goddin Street and consisting of 9,978± square feet, upon certain terms and conditions.

Ordinance No. 2015-257 To authorize the special use of the properties known as 910 Goddin Street, 1000 Goddin Street, 4907 Goddin Court, a portion of 1000 A Carlisle Avenue, 1000 B Carlisle Avenue, 1021 Carlisle Avenue, and a portion of Northampton Street for the purpose of authorizing multifamily dwellings with up to 204 dwelling units and accessory parking, upon certain terms and conditions. The Richmond Master Plan recommends “public and open space” for the subject properties, which reflects the previous uses as a school and City park.

Ordinance No. 2015-258 To amend Ord. No. 2000218-231, adopted May 22, 2000, which authorized the property known as 1000 Carlisle Avenue for the purpose of the conversion and occupancy of the existing building as an arts center and performance and reception facility, together with accessory off-street parking, substantially in accordance with the attached site plan and floor plans, to authorize up to 62 multifamily dwelling units and commercial uses and to remove part of 1021 Carlisle Avenue, part of Rear 901 State Street, and 910 Goddin Street, and reduce the required accessory off-street parking, upon certain terms and conditions. The Richmond Master Plan recommends “public and open space” for the subject properties, which reflects the previous uses as a school and City park.

Ordinance No. 2015-260 To authorize the special use of the property known as 2112 Monteiro Street for the purpose of authorizing a multifamily dwelling with up to 18 dwelling units, upon certain terms and conditions. The subject property is located on a parcel 3.78 acres in size and is improved with the historic Barton Mansion, which was most recently used as a nursing home.

The Richmond Master Plan refers recommendations for land use and development to the 1995 Southern Barton Heights Revitalization. The Revitalization Plan designates this property as Residential Single-Family. The Plan also prohibits new multi-family housing in Southern Barton Heights but it does, “Encourage full rehabilitation and occupation of architecturally significant apartment buildings (Wellford Street, Minor Street, and Monteiro Street)” (p. 28).

The Plan also encourages decreasing vacancies and increasing owneroccupancies of existing housing to appropriate market levels.

Ordinance No. 2015-261 To authorize the special use of the property known as 3100 East Marshall Street for the purpose of waiving the parking requirement for a twofamily dwelling and a dwelling unit located in an accessory building, upon certain terms and conditions. The Richmond Master Plan designates this property as SingleFamily (medium density) in the East Planning District. “Primary uses are multi-family dwellings at densities up to 20 units per acre. Includes day nurseries, adult day care and residential support uses such as schools, places of worship, neighborhood parks and recreation facilities and limited public and semi-public uses (p. 133).”

Ordinance No. 2015-262 To authorize the special use of the property known as 3111 West Clay Street for the purpose of permitting a social service delivery use, upon certain terms and conditions. The Richmond Master Plan designates this property as Industrial in the Near West Planning District.

“Primary uses include a wide variety of manufacturing, processing, research and development, warehousing, distribution, office-warehouse and Continued on next column

Continued from previous column

service uses. Office, retail, and other uses that compliment industrial uses and character of such area may vary depending on the location and available highway access (p. 135).”

Interested citizens who wish to speak will be given an opportunity to do so.

Copies of the full text of all ordinances are available by visiting the City Clerk’s page on the City’s Website at www.Richmondgov. com and in the Office of the City Clerk, City Hall, 900 East Broad Street, Suite 200, Richmond, VA 23219, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Jean V. Capel City Clerk

City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, January 11, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the Second Floor of City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, to consider the following ordinances: Ordinance No. 2015-252 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to accept funds in the amount of $381,749.00 from the State Compensation Board and to appropriate the increase to the Fiscal Year 2015-2016 General Fund Budget by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the City Treasurer by $2,622.00, the Department of Finance by $15,344.00, the Judiciary by $57,713.00, and the City Sheriff by $306,070.00 for the purpose of funding a two percent salary increase for the City’s constitutional officers and their employees. (Committee: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, December 17, 2015, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2015-253 To amend City Code § 8-7, concerning the naming of City facilities, for the purpose of excluding from the provisions of City Code §§ 8-7—8-10 any City-owned building leased by the City to a tenant when the lease grants the tenant the right to transfer naming rights to that building.

(Committee: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, December 17, 2015, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2015-254 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a First Amendment to Lease and Franchise Agreement between the City of Richmond, Virginia, and Richmond Performing Arts Center, L.L.L.P., for the purpose of providing for the transfer of naming rights to the downtown performing arts complex that includes the Carpenter Theatre by Richmond Performing Arts Center, L.L.L.P. (Committee: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, December 17, 2015, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2015-255 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Performance Agreement between the City of Richmond, the Economic Development Authority of the City of Richmond and Fulton Hill Properties, LLC, for the purpose of providing an economic development grant to facilitate the development of at least ten affordable housing units and ten workforce housing units in the area generally bounded by Carlisle Avenue, Goddin Street, and Union Street.

(Committee: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, December 17, 2015, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2015-264 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Utilities Agreement between the City of Richmond and Fulton Hill Properties, LLC, for the purpose of facilitating the relocation of an existing City sewer utility easement.

(Committee: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, December 17, 2015, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Interested citizens who wish to speak will be given an opportunity to do so.

Copies of the full text of all ordinances are available by visiting the City Clerk’s page on the City’s Website at www.Richmondgov. com and in the Office of the City Clerk, City Hall, 900 East Broad Street, Suite 200, Richmond, VA 23219, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Jean V. Capel City Clerk

Divorce VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER LEIDY LOPEZ DUBON, Plaintiff v.

JUSTIN MOORE, Defendant.

Case No.: CL15002661-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months.

It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 14th day of January, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure Counsel for Plaintiff VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER TYRONE SIATTU, Plaintiff v.

ANNETTE SIATTU, Defendant.

Case No.: CL15002632-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months.

It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 14th day of January, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. and protect her interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure Counsel for Plaintiff VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER AMY TRUMAN, Plaintiff v.

GARRY TRUMAN, JR., Defendant.

Case No.: CL15002662-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months.

It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 14th day of January, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure Counsel for Plaintiff VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER ROSSIE DARNELL BURNETT, SR., Plaintiff v.

SHARONE WYATTBURNETT, Defendant.

Case No.: CL14002585-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit Continued on next column

Continued from previous column

Continued from previous column

Continued from previous column

is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months.

It is ORDERED that the defendant, who has been served with the Complaint by posted service appear here on or before the 20th day of January, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. and protect her interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure Counsel for Plaintiff VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667

guardianship of the person, including but not limited to rights of: visitation; adoption consent; determination of religious affiliation; and responsibility for support.

It is ORDERED that the defendant Unknown, (Father,) appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before February 23, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. Court Room #2 (MCG) Kate D. O’Leary, Esq. 730 E. Broad St., 8th Floor Richmond, Virginia 23219 804-646-3493

Richmond, Virginia 23219 804-646-3493

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE COUNTY OF HENRICO THEODORE SEWARD, Plaintiff v.

ROSALIND SEWARD, Defendant.

Case No.: CL15-1463 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from Rosalind Seward on the ground that the parties have lived separate and apart for a period exceeding one year.

It appearing by affidavit that Defendant’s last known address is 500 Bowitch Place, Richmond, Virginia 23223, the Defendant’s present whereabouts are unknown, and diligence has been used by or on behalf of the Plaintiff to ascertain in what county or city the Defendant is without effect, it is ORDERED that the Defendant appear before this Court on or before 11th day of January, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. and protect her interest herein.

An Extract, Teste: YVONNE G. SMITH, Clerk Linda Y. Lambert, Esq. Leonard W. Lambert & Assoc.

321 North 23rd Street Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 648-3325 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER WANDA BRAXTON, Plaintiff v.

DOUGLAS SEWARD, Defendant.

Case No.: CL15002660-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months.

It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 14th day of January, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure Counsel for Plaintiff VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667

CUSTODY virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of thE city Of richmOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Nehemiah Elliot, Juvenile Case No. JJ0088004-09

The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) of Unknown, (Father), of Nehemiah Elliott, child, DOB 11/12/2010, “RPR” means all rights and responsibilities remaining with parent after transfer of legal custody or Continued on next column

Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia Department of Transportation Request for Proposals 153167-BLW Set-Aside for DSBSD-Certified Small Business Participation for Term Contract for Architect// Engineering Services for the Richmond District (Predominately Statewide at VDOT’s discretion).

virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of the City of Richmond Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Jalin monte eubanks, aka jaylin eubanks, Juvenile Case No. JJ083447-10 OrDEr Of puBLicatiON

The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) of Unknown, (Father), of Jalin Monte Eubanks, aka Jaylin Eubanks, child, DOB 11/27/2008, “RPR” means all rights and responsibilities remaining with parent after transfer of legal custody or guardianship of the person, including but not limited to rights of: visitation; adoption consent; determination of religious affiliation; and responsibility for support.

It is ORDERED that the defendant Unknown (Father), appear at the abovenamed Court and protect his/her interest on or before January 27, 2016 at 10:00 A.M., Court Room #5.

Diane Abato, Esq. 730 E. Broad St., 8th Floor Richmond, Virginia 23219 804-646-3493

BID COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA CONSTRUCTION ITB # 15-1100-12CE – Water Reclamation Facility Pavement Repair and Replacement - This project consists of demolition, site improvements, and pavement replacements. Due 3:00 pm, January 19, 2016. Additional information available at: http:// henrico.us/purchasing/.

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virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt IN the COunty of Chesterfield Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Isabella Grace andrews, Juvenile Case No. JJ084453-03-00, -04-00,-05-00 OrDEr Of puBLicatiON

The object of this suit is to: Terminate the parental rights of Jose Garcia, the identified birth father of Isabella Grace Andrews (DOB: 5/22/14), whose mother is Sara Deborah Andrews; and any other possible birth father of Isabella Grace Andrews, whose identity and whereabouts are unknown; and, to allow an adoption of Isabella Grace Andrews, by parental consent, pursuant to Virginia Code Section 63.2-1233.

It is ORDERED that the defendant Jose Garcia appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or before January 20, 2016 at 12:00 P.M. Christopher M. Malone, Esq. Thompson McMullan, PC 100 Shockoe Slip, Richmond, Virginia 23219 virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of the City of Richmond Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Elisa JoLYN GONZALES, Juvenile Case No. JJ056949-14, 15 OrDEr Of puBLicatiON

The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) of Immer Gonzales, (Father), of Elisa Jolyn Gonzales, child, DOB 05/03/2013, “RPR” means all rights and responsibilities remaining with parent after transfer of legal custody or guardianship of the person, including but not limited to rights of: visitation; adoption consent; determination of religious affiliation; and responsibility for support.

It is ORDERED that the defendant Immer Gonzales(Father), appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before March 03, 2016 at 10:20 A.M., Court Room #5.

Diane Abato, Esq. 730 E. Broad St., 8th Floor Continued on next column

Documents are located at www.eva.virginia.gov and available from the individual indicated below.

Proposals will be received in accordance with the information posted at www.eva.virginia.gov until 2:00 P.M. local time on January 13, 2016.

Opening Soon in

Angela C. Lewis Clerk

Equipment Operator II, Storm Water Utility Program 35M00000816 Public Utilities Apply by 12/27/15

NOW HIRING!

Equipment Operator I, Wastewater Division 35M0000724 Public Utilities Apply by 12/27/15

Diesel Mechanics in Richmond, VA!

Requirements

Over 18 Years Old CDL Required 2+ Years Hydraulics, Electrical and Airbrake Experience 2 Years of Heavy Truck and Diesel Background 1st Shift Opportunity Competitive Pay, Great Benefits!

Call, text or apply online for immediate consideration!

1-877-220-5627 Text “WASTE” to 51893 to Learn More wmcareers.com Media Code: 6EN EOE M/F/D/V

Environmental Technician II, Storm Water Division 35M00000398 Public Utilities Apply by 12/27/15 Payroll Manager 25M00000123 Department of Finance Apply by 12/27/2015 Water Quality Technician, Environmental Laboratory Department Public Utilities 35M00000644 Apply by 01/03/16 ****************** For an exciting career with the City of Richmond, visit our website for additional information and apply today! www.richmondgov.com EOE M/F/D/V

Janitorial Positions (richmond) General Cleaners, Floor techs, team leaders, supervisors Janitorial experience in commercial/healthcare setting preferred.

Must have valid DL & acceptable background.

EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability Apply @ peninsulacleaning.com or call (757) 833-1603

Tourism DevelopmenT specialisT The Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) is seeking a Tourism Development Specialist to primarily serve the Blue Ridge Highlands and Heart of Appalachia regions of southwest Virginia. The specialist will facilitate the development of community-based tourism programs, new product and tourism-related businesses, including a focus on outdoor recreation, music, arts, culinary, and other key tourism attraction and amenity development. Responsibilities include providing tourism strategic planning, technical assistance, product development guidance, cooperative marketing advice and consulting services to communities.

Please apply online @ www.vatc.org/administration/employment/ Application deadline: December 18, 2015.

EOE/M/F/V/D

INTERNATIONAL TRADE MANAGER Richmond Region

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) is seeking an export marketing professional for the International Trade office serving the Richmond Region of Virginia. Responsibilities include increasing sales for Virginia companies by providing international marketing assistance, recruiting companies into the Division’s various export promotion programs and leading trade missions.

Click here to apply http://www.yesvirginia.org/AboutUs/Employment Application deadline: December 30, 2015.

VEDP is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, veteran status, political affiliation, genetics, or against otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities. It is VEDP’s intent that its employment and personnel policies and practices conform to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations regarding non-discrimination and affirmative action. Applicants requiring more information or requiring assistance may contact VEDP Human Resources at 1-804-545-5634 or vedphr@yesvirginia.org. TDD 1-800-828-1120

Full-time, Part-time & Seasonal

The Department assures compliance with Title VI Requirements of non-discrimination in all activities pursuant to this advertisement.

Pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this proceeding should contact the Clerk of the School Board no later than three (3) business days prior to the meeting at (804) 780-7716. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the agency by calling the Americans with Disabilities Act Office TTY line at (804) 780-6226.

The City of Richmond is seeking to fill the following position:

Now Hiring Hourly Retail Associates

Inquiries should be directed to Brenda L. Williams at brenda.williams@vdot.virginia.gov, or 804-786-2777.

The School Board of the City of Richmond will hold a public hearing on the Superintendent’s proposed 2017 estimate of needs and Capital Improvement Budget (CIP) on Monday, January 4, 2016. The hearing will convene at 6:30 p.m. in the School Board Room on the 17th floor of City Hall. For information regarding the budget, please contact Mr. Ralph Westbay, Director, Budget and Financial Planning at (804) 780-5477.

account ExEcutivE WWBT-NBC12, the #1 rated TV station in Richmond, VA has a rare opening for an energetic, creative and self-motivated sales person.

Responsibilities include selling broadcast TV and digital advertising to direct clients and advertising agencies. Experience preferred but what we really want is someone who is competitive, confident and has a drive to succeed in a commission based environment. If you’re that person we want to hear from you. Apply on line at https://careersraycommedia.icims.com. EOE M/F/H/V MVR check and drug screen required.

Short Pump, VA! The World’s Foremost Outfitter is expanding and is hiring Full-time, Part-time and Seasonal employees to join our Short Pump Retail Store, scheduled to open Spring 2016.

Positions available in all departments, including:

• Hunting • Fishing • Backend • Gun Counter • Clothing • Camo

• Camping • Gifts • Footwear • Customer Service • Cashier

Apply online at www.cabelas.jobs and view Job #25608BR. Cabela’s is an Equal Opportunity Employer and seeks to create an inclusive workplace that embraces diverse backgrounds, life experience, and perspectives. Cabela’s shows commitment to the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces by providing meaningful, challenging career opportunities where military skills and experience may be applied.