February 11 13, 2016 issue

Love S tories

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

VOL. 25 NO. 7

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

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Stained by dishonor

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February 11-13, 2016

Henrico student launches growing effort to remove segregationist’s name from school

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Hermitage High School senior Jordan Chapman is receiving growing support for her campaign to change the name of Harry F. Byrd Sr. Middle School in Henrico County.

Sen. Lucas

Judge Melvin

Justice Roush

By Joey Matthews

Jordan Chapman said her jaw dropped in incredulous disbelief the day she learned in her Hermitage High School history class about the late Harry F. Byrd Sr., the former Virginia governor, U.S. senator and avowed white separatist for whom H.F. Byrd Middle School in Henrico County is named.

“I learned that a school right down the street from where I live was named after a man who tried to keep schools segregated by shutting them down across the state,” Jordan, a 17-year-old senior, said during an interview Saturday at her Western Henrico County home.

There, she and four adults gathered to discuss with the Free Press their campaign — started by Jordan last fall — to have Henrico Public Schools rename the middle school at 9400 Quioccasin Road to rid it of the racist legacy of Mr. Byrd.

As a U.S. senator, Mr. Byrd was one of the chief architects of “Massive Resistance,” the fiercely backed, state-sanctioned policy to ignore the 1954 landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education ordering the desegregation of public schools because of inequities. Mr. Byrd met with members of the General Assembly to design the strategy to enact laws and policies that led to the closure of many public schools in Virginia between 1958 and 1964 rather than integrate.

Thousands of African-American children were denied a public education during that time, while state money was funneled to all-white private schools to support the education of many white students in places where the schools were closed.

During the next few years, state and federal courts eventually overturned most of the laws that fueled Massive Resistance, but aspects of the campaign against integrated schools in Virginia continued for decades.

“Why would you name a school for somebody who tried to stop some people from being educated?” Jordan recalled thinking.

The more she learned about Mr. Byrd’s efforts to deny public education opportunities to black children, the more she recoiled at the middle school’s name.

“It’s a moral issue to me,” she said. “It’s hard for me to believe that a school would honor someone like him. I think it’s time Please turn to A4

Judge Alston

Sen. Lucas flip-flops in Va. Supreme Court battle

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. is still one Senate vote short of winning a General Assembly election that would move him from the Virginia Court of Appeals to the state Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, he came close to winning that crucial vote

when Portsmouth Sen. L. Louise Lucas, a Democrat, briefly agreed to break with her party and vote with 20 Republicans to elect him to the state’s highest court.

In exchange, Republicans agreed to elect her friend and mentor, Portsmouth Circuit Court Judge Kenneth R. Melvin, to fill the judicial seat that Judge

City Council on board with Bus Rapid Transit

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Let’s roll on this project.

That’s the message Richmond City Council sent this week on Bus Rapid Transit, also known as “Pulse.”

Envisioning BRT as a start to creating a modern regional public transit system, council members voted 7-1, with one abstention, to give the green light to the $49 million project to speed up transit service primarily along the Broad Street corridor.

A pleased Mayor Dwight C. Jones, who watched the extensive debate from the back of the council chamber, later praised council members for supporting a project he asserted would “provide our residents with greater mobility and access to jobs, education and health care.”

The council rejected a delay on BRT in the face of warnings and concerns from the Richmond NAACP and other community organizations that BRT could turn out to be an expensive boondoggle that fails to deliver for residents or unleash economic growth — prime reasons that the city has sought the project.

On the drawing table since 2003, BRT is aimed at giving GRTC the ability to provide faster bus service on the 7.6 miles between Rocketts Landing and the Willow Lawn shopping area — GRTC’s most heavily traveled corridor. Buses are to run every 10 to 15 minutes at least 16 hours a day, far more frequently than current Please turn to A4

Alston now holds. The move would have ensured at least one African-American jurist on the 11-member intermediate appeals court. In addition, Sen. Lucas would have been able to choose Judge Melvin’s successor on the Portsmouth Circuit Court.

Virginia also would have made history as Judge Alston would have become the third African-American justice sitting on the state’s highest court.

He would have joined Justices S. Bernard Goodwyn and Cleo E. Powell. Previous research has determined that no state Supreme Court has ever had three African-American justices at the same time.

But the deal fell apart after Sen. Lucas met with Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who worked Please turn to A4

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, fresh off his Democratic presidential primary win in New Hampshire, meets with the Rev. Al Sharpton at a Harlem restaurant Wednesday morning.

Breakfast with Bernie Free Press staff, wire reports

Bernie Sanders had breakfast in New York with the Rev. Al Sharpton just hours after trouncing Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential nominating contest Tuesday.

His meeting with the iconic civil rights leader marked the recognition by Mr. Sanders that his campaign must swiftly broaden its base of support if he has any chance of mounting a long-term challenge to Mrs. Clinton, who consistently polls better among African-American voters.

African-American voters will play a crucial role in the Democratic race as it moves to South Carolina — where more than half of the Democratic primary voters in 2008 were African-American — and other states more diverse than New Hampshire or Iowa, which held the first contests of 2016.

As expected, Mr. Sanders easily beat Mrs. Clinton in New Hampshire, which is a neighbor to his home state of Vermont, gaining 60 percent of the vote to her 38 percent. It was the largest margin of victory in the history Please turn to A4

In the driver’s seat Mason Whitaker, 2, gives his father, Richard Whitaker, a driving lesson as they played in a toy car Wednesday at the Children’s Museum of Richmond. Enjoying the day with dad, Mason enjoyed activities that both expand the imagination and learning.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Richmond Free Press

A2 February 11-13, 2016

Local News

President’s Day schedule In observance of the President’s Day holiday on Monday, Feb. 15, please note the following:

Cityscape Slices of life and scenes in Richmond A pedestrian passes this tribute to the late great reggae master Bob Marley.

Perhaps this homeowner was inspired to add some garage door art by all of the large murals popping up in Richmond. Location: 13th Street between Bainbridge and Porter streets in South Side.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

14 authors to engage young readers at Feb.17 library event In 1970, Clarence “Bucky” McGill joined fellow African-American football players at Syracuse University in a strike against racist conditions at the school — the first action of its kind.

Now 66, Mr. McGill plans to use the story of the “Syracuse 8” strike to highlight a discussion with young Richmonders and their parents about conditions today that impact them.

The Richmond area resident will lead the discussion for the Richmond Public Library’s effort to introduce AfricanAmerican youths to Meet the founder African-American of Black Male writers.

Emergent Readers The Black program, B2 M a l e E m e rg e n t Readers’Literacy program, the event is set for 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, at the Main Library, 101 E. Franklin St. The event Mr. McGill is open to the public without charge.

Fourteen writers are scheduled to participate and sign their books. The event also will include Dr. David Coogan and coauthors reading from “Writing Our Way Out” and Evans D. Hopkins showing a short film.

Mr. McGill, who contributed to David Marc’s book, “Leveling the Playing Field: The Story of the Syracuse 8,” will use the story as the basis for the topic, “Is There a Change in Direction Within The Struggle?”

Mr. McGill said he and the other players went on strike to protest the poor quality of education Syracuse offered him and his fellow teammates, the failure to provide medical care to injured players and the failure to hire any African-American coaches.

A native of New York, Mr. McGill is retired from the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, where he created and managed youth art and vocational programs.

Other participating authors include: Sadiq Ali, “Benjamin E. Mays Institute”; Dwayne Bennett, “7 Winning Ways to College Success”; Lawrence Bolar, “Eradicating the Saggy Pants Syndrome in America”; and Eric J. Elliott, “Onward to Manhood.”

Also, Cordell Farley Sr., “Life Lessons of a Throwaway Kid”; Clyde R. Farris, “Etiquette for a Black Man”; Gregory Ford, “Chasing the Artificial Rainbow”; Evans D. Hopkins, “Life After Life”; and Prince-Albert, “Raising Real Faithers.”

Also, Synnika Lofton, “Run, Feed, Run”; Ronnie Sidney II, “Nelson Beats the Odds”; Vincent F. White, “Finding Chris, My Father”; and Roy S. Wyatt, “Life Lessons Revealed.”

This program is a fresh step for Black Male Emergent Readers, a library program that seeks to address reading inequities that affect African-American young males.

Among other things, the library has created BMER kits that contain books, poetry, speeches and DVDs that are aimed at motivating reading and lends them to groups that organize book clubs for youths.

Further information on the program and BMER: (804) 646-7223. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS

Snowstorm plows through city budget

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

A worker clears a parking lot during the snowstorm that hit the Richmond region three weeks ago.

The winter storm that dumped 12 inches of snow on Richmond three weeks ago did more than snarl traffic, stall mail service and close schools.

The storm also blew at least a $1 million hole in the city budget.

City Hall disclosed this week that plowing, sanding and salting streets in the wake of the storm cost at least $1.75 million in labor and equipment costs.

That’s well above the $700,000 that the Richmond Department of Public Works budgeted for storm events, according to Sharon North, department spokeswoman.

This funding is not exclusively for snow, she stated in an email to the Free Press.

“The department also uses it for hurricane clean-up, tornadoes, etc.,” she stated. “So, basically we had $700,000 for all inclement weather-related events.”

As yet, Selena Cuffee-Glenn, chief administrative officer, has not decided how to handle the deficit in that budget item. “All options are on the table” was her only comment this week.

The situation will grow more troublesome if more snow hits the city before spring arrives. So would any additional weatherrelated problems that occur between now and June 30, the end of the fiscal year. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS

Chesterfield schools: Open.

Richmond and Henrico schools: Closed.

Government State offices: Closed Richmond: Closed.

Chesterfield County: Closed.

Henrico County: Closed.

Federal offices: Closed.

Courts State courts: Closed.

Federal courts: Closed.

Libraries Richmond libraries: Closed.

Chesterfield County libraries: Open.

Henrico County libraries: Open.

Banks, credit unions and other financial institutions: Closed.

U.S. Postal Service: No delivery.

Trash and recycling: No pick-ups; all are pushed back one day.

Department of Motor Vehicles customer service centers: Closed.

GRTC: Buses operate on a regular schedule.

Free Press offices: Open.

Stalking, trespass charges against child advocate absolved The big case is still ahead.

But two charges against an advocate for special needs children have been dismissed or absolved.

Last month, Kandise N. Lucas was acquitted of trespassing at Falling Creek Middle School.

A school secretary, Stacey Loos, had brought the charge against Ms. Lucas.

The case fell apart at Chesterfield General District Court when neither Ms. Loos nor anyone at the school could produce evidence to back up claims that Ms. Lucas was at the school. According to testimony, security cameras either were not functioning or provided no video showing Ms. Lucas was at the school.

Ms. Lucas, meanwhile, had evidence and witnesses to prove she was at a differMs. Lucas ent location 10 miles away at the time Ms. Loos claimed Ms. Lucas was at the school.

Separately, a charge that Ms. Lucas had stalked and created fear in a former officer of the Chesterfield Branch NAACP also was dismissed at the request of the Chesterfield County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.

Ms. Lucas denied stalking Renee Cooper, who later resigned as the branch’s first vice president. She said Ms. Cooper filed the charge in retaliation for Ms. Lucas charging the branch president with assault after she was injured trying to enter a branch meeting. The president, LaSalle J. McCoy Jr., was acquitted of the assault charge.

Meanwhile, Ms. Lucas is preparing to defend herself against a charge of trespassing at Meadowbrook High School in April 2015.

She was arrested for entering the school to serve as an advocate for a parent and her special needs child. Ms. Lucas had attended several meetings at the school regarding the child prior to her trespass arrest.

Ms. Lucas was convicted in Chesterfield General District Court, despite federal laws and state regulations that appear to bar such a charge. She has appealed to the Chesterfield Circuit Court, where the case is scheduled to be heard March 16.

Ms. Lucas said that two national organizations, the Dignity in Schools Campaign and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, are concerned about the charge and the impact it could have on advocacy if it is upheld.

She said they are considering assisting her attorney, Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey, who accepted the case at the request of the Virginia State Conference NAACP and has handled it primarily without charge. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS

Correction In the article, “Lead poisoning endangers Richmond children, too,” published in the Feb. 4-6 edition of the Free Press, it was stated that the Richmond City Health District has the authority to condemn properties if owners do not cooperate with lead abatement efforts.

City health officials provided information to correct misinformation about their powers under the following circumstance: If a home is found to pose an imminent public health threat because of a lead hazard, then the Richmond City Health District has the authority to condemn the property.

The Free Press regrets the error.

Café and bakery debuts at theater

Customers browse at the new 1927 Café and Bakery inside the Altria Theater at Main and Laurel streets across from Monroe Park. The shop opened last week and offers breakfast, lunch and evening bistro fare, along with teas and coffee. The café is open seven days a week to the public and provides additional food and beverage options for show attendees. The name pays tribute to the year when a Masonic group opened the building as The Mosque.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

T:11”

Richmond Free Press

February 11-13, 2016

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T:21”

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Or discover who’s next – with a collection of independent lms curated by the American Black Film Festival. These movies, and more, are available anytime, anywhere, on any screen with XFINITY On Demand.™

X1 will change the way you experience Black film.

Restrictions apply. Not available in all areas. © 2016 Comcast. All rights reserved.

A4 February 11-13, 2016

Richmond Free Press

News

School stained by dishonor Continued from A1

to change the name,” she said.

As an alternative, she offered the name Oliver Hill Middle School to honor the late trailblazing Richmond civil rights attorney who won numerous legal battles at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. He also was among the lawyers representing plaintiffs in the Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, the Virginia case that was heard with the Brown v. Board of Education case.

“It’s amazing to me,” Jordan added, “that a school would not want to be welcoming to all of its students” by having that name.

According to Henrico Public Schools spokesperson Andrew Jenks, 20.3 percent, or 203 of Byrd Middle School’s 999 students, are African-American.

Jordan, who lives about a 5-minute drive from Byrd, explained that she was zoned to attend Byrd, but instead attended the International Baccalaureate program at Moody Middle School.

The honor roll student now attends the Hermitage High School Center for Humanities and is undecided about where she will attend college.

In August, she emailed the five members of the Henrico School Board to inquire about renaming Byrd Middle School, “but I got no responses.”

She then asked Hermitage High School Principal Andy Armstrong what he thought of her idea and he said “it was cool for me to take the initiative and here are the next steps you can take.”

Jordan said her AP government teacher Jeannine Chewning also has encouraged her. Her parents also are supportive. The response from her classmates at Hermitage is “mostly positive,” she said.

Her campaign is gaining national attention, with articles about her campaign appearing in The Washington Post and The Huffington Post, among others.

The thoughtful teen also said she has received numerous posts on social media from people across the country praising her efforts.

Jordan has spoken at three School Board meetings urging members to change the middle school’s name. She was joined by a growing number of supporters at the board’s Jan. 28 meeting.

Henrico School Board members said

they would learn and discuss the estimated cost for a name change at a board work session 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, in the auditorium at New Bridge Learning Center, 5915 Nine Mile Road.

Henrico School Board chair Michelle F. “Micky” Ogburn of the Three Chopt District told the Free Press on Wednesday that the cost estimate would be discussed near the end of the meeting in order to allow parents and students to attend after school ends.

Neither she nor Henrico Schools Superintendent Patrick Kinlaw, who declined to discuss the issue with the Free Press, would disclose the estimate to a reporter on Wednesday.

However, Robert Voorhis, who lives in the Byrd Middle School district and is active in the name-change campaign, said a source estimated the cost at more than $120,000.

By comparison, Tommy Kranz, an assistant superintendent of Richmond Public Schools, told the Free Press on Tuesday it cost the city school district “less than $10,000” to rename Thompson Middle School last summer to Elkhardt-Thompson Middle School. That amount included changing the school signs, letterhead and the basketball court logo, he said.

Mr. Voorhis said he backs the name change because the school should not honor someone “who was not only a lead segregationist, but also kicked thousands of black children out of schools.”

The Free Press reached out Wednesday to Fairfield District representative Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper III, the lone African-American on the Henrico School Board and its newest member, to ask for his opinion.

“I will reserve speaking specifically about my opinion until after I have shared my position with my colleagues on the board,” he stated in an email response.

“Once I share with them my position, I will gladly share it with you and explain why I feel the way I do.”

Ms. Ogburn provided no timetable for when the name-change decision would be made.

“The School Board members have yet to decide whether or not to support the renaming of Byrd Middle School,” she said. “We set forth a process that we would follow for the possible renaming of the school. We are dedicated to following that process.

“I can tell you that this will be a well thought out decision,” she said, “taking into account all of the views of our community. It may be a slower process than some people want, but it is my hope that during our Feb 11th and Feb. 25th meetings, we will announce the next steps.”

This is not the first time someone has sought to get the county to change the name at Byrd Middle School.

Pat Dodson, 74, said she was “shellshocked” when she learned after moving from White Plains, N.Y., to Henrico County in 1993 that a school would be named for someone who led segregation efforts. Her son and grandson both attended Byrd and were among the few African-American students there at the time.

She said she repeatedly lobbied school officials to change the name, but, she said, “They smiled and said, ‘It’s a very nice thing you’re trying to do, but we have other things to do.’ They more or less humored me.”

Kathy DeShazo-Jackson said she was subjected to “appalling discrimination” from teachers and students as one of the few black students to attend Byrd when it first opened in 1971.

“One my teachers called me a black monkey in front of the other students,” she recalled. “None of those folks wanted us to be there,” she said.

She said she joined the campaign to change the Byrd name after Jordan and other members of the group seeking to change the name discussed it in front of the congregation at Quioccasin Baptist Church about a month ago.

“I was happy someone was looking at this,” she said. “It brought back all of my own experiences from when I was a student there. That name really needs to be changed.”

Melissa McKenney, a Byrd PTA member whose child is in the sixth grade, said the PTA has not taken a position on the name change. She said she and other parents at the school decided “we needed to embrace” the effort to change the school name.

“It’s the right time to do this,” she said.

Mr. Voorhis said regardless of the decision the board makes, he and others involved in the campaign are determined to push until the name is changed.

“We’re not going away,” he promised.

Lucas flip-flops in court battle Continued from A1

his persuasive magic. And she also talked with Judge Melvin, a former Democratic member of the House of Delegates and the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.

In a statement issued later through the Senate Democratic Caucus, Sen. Lucas explained her decision to back off the deal: “I have spoken with Judge Melvin, and he said he is ‘perfectly satisfied’ as a circuit court judge in the City of Portsmouth.”

As a result, Sen. Lucas stated that she would stand with her fellow Democrats and the governor to keep Judge Alston, who is rated highly qualified, off the high court.

This is the latest twist in the partisan drama over filling a vacancy. Last summer, Gov. McAuliffe named Prince William Circuit Court Judge Jane Marum Roush, also rated highly qualified, to the Supreme Court, upsetting Republicans who felt left out because the governor didn’t confer with them beforehand. The governor then reappointed her after the GOP’s first effort to replace Justice Roush with Judge Alston failed to succeed in August.

However, because of the GOP opposition, Justice Roush has been unable to win permanent election to a 12-year term on the Supreme Court. This Saturday, she will have to vacate the seat because she has not been elected. She could be back if the legislature adjourns without being able to fill the seat, giving the governor another opportunity to again name her to the post.

Justice Roush is the first gubernatorial appointee to the state Supreme Court who failed to win legislative election since 1901.

Judge Alston would easily win election in the House, where Republicans hold 66 of the lower chamber’s 100 seats. But the 40-member Senate, where Republicans hold 21 seats, is a different story.

New Richmond Sen. Glen H. Sturtevant Jr., a Republican, has sided with Democrats and declined to elect Judge Alston to replace Justice Roush. Like his predecessor, Sen. Sturtevant opposes removing the governor’s appointee. Thus, the Senate remains deadlocked 20-20, and this is one tie that Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam is not permitted to break. Only elected senators

can vote on judges.

Sen. Lucas would have ended the logjam, providing a 21st vote for Judge Alston’s election. After voting with the Republicans in committee to elect Judge Alston, Sen. Lucas told reporters that her decision to back him grew out of frustration that her legislative proposals were going nowhere, including a bill to allow a casino in Portsmouth.

As a result, she said that when Sen. Tommy Norment of James City County, the Republican majority leader, offered her the judge deal, she took it, despite knowing she would face harsh criticism from fellow Democrats.

“I live in Portsmouth, and people are counting on me to do what’s in the best interest of our city,” Sen. Lucas said. “And I believe having Ken Melvin serve on the Court of Appeals would be an extremely good position for us to be in. People will be proud. I’m proud.

“So much of the stuff that I try to do gets killed,” she said. “This is probably going to be the most significant thing that I’ve done since I’ve been here,” though that prospect has now ended.

Breakfast with Bernie, Rev. Al Continued from A1

of the New Hampshire primary.

It was a strong rebound for Mr. Sanders, who lost by less than a percentage point to Mrs. Clinton in the Iowa caucuses last week.

Mr. Sanders then flew to New York City to meet Rev. Sharpton at Sylvia’s Restaurant, the same Harlem eatery where the activist met with President Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign — an obvious bit of symbolism for the Vermont senator trying to connect with minority voters.

“My concern is that in January of next year for the first time in American history a black family will be moving out of the White House. I do not want black concerns to be moved out with them,” Rev. Sharpton, a Baptist minister and television talk show host, told reporters afterward.

Rev. Sharpton discussed nationwide police shootings of black males and other issues with the senator. He said he would not endorse a candidate until he met with Mrs. Clinton.

Even before the exit polls showing that Mr. Sanders had won New Hampshire, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign already was trying to highlight her double-digit lead over Mr.

Sanders among African-American and Latino voters.

“It will be very difficult, if not impossible, for a Democrat to win the nomination without strong levels of support among African-American and Hispanic voters,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in a memo sent to reporters.

He predicted the Democratic race would be won in March, when it quickly expands to 22 delegate-rich states with some of the largest minority and urban populations — and that Mrs. Clinton would have the advantage. That includes Virginia, which will hold its presidential primary March 1.

President Obama won two presidential terms aided by the overwhelming support of African-American voters in Virginia, where he netted well over 90 percent of the votes cast.

Mr. Sanders knows he will have to gain a strong share of support from AfricanAmericans and other minority voters if he is to top Mrs. Clinton, who has a long history of support for civil rights. She also has benefited from husband Bill Clinton’s popularity in the black community during his presidency, although that became strained during the fierce 2008 primary

battle with President Obama.

Reuters/Ipsos polling nationally showed that in January, African-Americans backed Mrs. Clinton by a margin of 3-to-1 over Mr. Sanders. Among Hispanics, 48 percent supported Mrs. Clinton and 32 percent backed Mr. Sanders.

Mr. Sanders already has intensified his efforts to reach black voters with more campaign stops before African-American audiences and ads on black-oriented radio stations. Rapper Killer Mike sometimes introduces Mr. Sanders at rallies, and academic Cornel West also has campaigned for him. He also has been endorsed by Ben Jealous, former president and CEO of the national NAACP. Donald Trump registered his first primary victory in New Hampshire after losing to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in Iowa. He won 35 percent of the vote, while Ohio Gov. John Kasich breathed new life into his populist campaign when he finished second with nearly 16 percent of the vote.

Mr. Trump figures to be scrutinized more closely now after the GOP field narrowed from seven to five candidates Wednesday.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina dropped out of the race due to poor primary showings.

This map shows the route that the GRTC Pulse rapid transit buses will travel and the locations of its 14 passenger stations. Most of the route is on Broad Street, where stops will be either curbside or in the median.

The eastern portion of the route involving Rocketts Landing will have Pulse using 14th Street, Main Street and Williamsburg Avenue.

City Council on board with Bus Rapid Transit Continued from A1

bus service. GRTC is promising to overhaul 20 other routes that now run on Broad Street to speed up their service.

While GRTC has said work could begin in April, state officials, who will oversee the project, expect work to begin this summer. Construction of passenger stations and removal of the Broad Street median between Adams and Thompson streets is anticipated to begin in July, according to Chris Smith, spokesman for the state Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

Pulse service is to begin in October 2017, he said.

Along with the vote, a majority of the City Council essentially pledged to consider setting up a fund to assist Downtown restaurants and other businesses that could be crippled or destroyed if the project’s construction drives away their customers.

While he voted for the project without conditions, 3rd District Councilman Chris A. Hilbert urged Mayor Jones’ administration to quickly present ideas for funding such assistance.

Separately, 7th District Councilwoman Cynthia I. Newbille also voted for the project even though she did not receive a firm commitment from the administration for funding a shuttle service to help East End riders better connect with Pulse.

In recent months, GRTC has created plans for the shuttles and indicated the city would need to provide between $1.2 million and $2.4 million to operate them. However, the administration has not yet said the money would be available.

Because Pulse is not scheduled to begin running until fall 2017, the city would not have to consider how to pay for the shuttles or any potential operational deficits for BRT for another year, or well after Mayor Jones leaves office in December.

Other supporters of BRT included 5th District Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, who, before the vote, seemed to condition his approval on ensuring BRT could operate without requiring an additional city subsidy. The city now spends nearly $13 million a year to keep GRTC buses and vans in service.

Mr. Agelasto is advocating for Virginia Commonwealth University to drop its independent Campus Connecter bus service linking students between the medical and academic campuses and to put the money it spends into BRT, which would pass both campuses. VCU’s participation, which is still uncertain, would boost BRT ridership and help reduce any potential deficit, Mr. Agelasto said.

The other supporters included Council President Michelle Mosby, 9th District; Councilman Jonathan T. Baliles, 1st District; and Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson, 6th District.

Councilman Charles R. Samuels, 2nd District, voted against the BRT project, while Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell abstained from voting.

The overwhelming approval was not a complete surprise, as the council had previously endorsed the project, most recently after the federal government last year awarded Richmond a $25 million grant to help cover the cost of planning and building BRT and the state agreed to match the grant with more than $16 million.

Among other things, the council set aside $7.6 million in the budget to cover the city’s share of the construction cost, with Henrico County to pay $400,000 for the portion of BRT that will cross into the county to reach The Shoppes at Willow Lawn.

However, Gov. Terry McAuliffe, whose administration pushed to get the federal grant and provide assistance to the city to move BRT forward, may have overcome council members’ second thoughts when he publicly warned City Council that the federal and state money would be taken away if they voted to delay the project.

Any hopes for stalling the project ended when the majority rejected amendments designed to delay the project advanced

by Mr. Samuels.

About 200 people packed the council chamber for the public comment period on the project, followed by council’s vote.

While project backers dominated the comment period, Lynetta Thompson, president of the Richmond Branch NAACP, unsuccessfully pleaded with the council to reconsider.

“The plan does not do enough to expand access to residents who presently do not have public bus services in their area,” Ms. Thompson said. As a member of a coalition that also sought delay, she expressed concern that funds to pay for BRT deficits could reduce city support for schools, police and other services.

In the end, only Mr. Samuels was on the side of holding up the work. While he said he is personally supportive of BRT, Mr. Samuels, who has announced he would not run for re-election this year, expressed concerns of his constituents. Among other things, he wanted council to wait until it sees the results of a comprehensive analysis of GRTC’s current routes and recommendations for improvements as a result of BRT’s development.

That study is not due to be completed for a year.

He also told his council colleagues that BRT, as designed, would not allow riders to get “where the jobs are.” He said that without the route analysis, council could not be certain that GRTC’s current routes would be properly connected with BRT. Ms. Trammell said she remains upset that BRT’s east-west service north of the James River ignores her district in South Side.

“I feel like my district, among the poorest of the poor, did not get included,” she said, in pointing to the need for GRTC to improve service along the Jefferson Davis corridor and on Broad Rock Road.

Ms. Robertson, who reminded Ms. Trammell that council has put funding aside to study GRTC service in her area, expressed the majority view in asserting that BRT needed to be built if public transit is to have a chance of becoming “regional.”

During the next year or so, a separate study will look at creating a regional transit network with potential BRT routes to Short Pump, the airport and other parts of the Richmond area, though it is unclear such plans would ever become a reality.

But if there is ever to be a chance for that to happen, Ms. Robertson said the first step “must start in Richmond.”

Richmond Free Press

February 11-13, 2016

A5

Local News

School Board holds nose to approve overcrowding plan

By Joey Matthews

Members of the Richmond School Board approved a $19.1 million plan designed to help address huge overcrowding problems at several South Side schools.

Prior to the 8-0 vote on Monday, several board members and Assistant Superintendent Tommy Kranz, who oversees the district’s facilities and who presented the plan, voiced concerns that it is a only a short-term fix to a pressing, longterm overcrowding problem and is not a wise use of taxpayer dollars.

“I couldn’t recommend this plan,” Mr. Kranz frankly told the board prior to the vote.

In a statement on the front of the four-page proposal, Mr. Kranz said the plan approved Monday “does not represent the most prudent use of taxpayer dollars to address the school district’s aging and declining facilities, and its capacity needs going forward.”

However, he said it likely was the only overcrowding plan considered by the board during the past year that might gain the backing of Mayor Dwight C. Jones and the City Council during budget negotiations.

School Board Chairman Jeffrey M. Bourne, 3rd District, concurred with Mr. Kranz’s bleak

assessment.

“We have been put in a position where we’ve got to do the best we can with what we have,” he said. “These are short-term solutions that it sounds like will exacerbate our long-term problems.”

Board member Kristen Larson, 4th District, echoed similar thoughts.

“I’m disappointed we’re going to approve what it feels like is a Band Aid to our bigger issues.”

The plan calls for the district to purchase modular units at Broad Rock and Greene elementary schools that it has been leasing and convert them into permanent facilities, and add additional classrooms. Modular units also would be added at Reid, George Mason and Westover Hills elementary schools.

Some of the money also would be used for landscaping at the South Side schools and to fix heating and cooling, storm water and parking problems.

The school district also plans to “modernize” parts of the Elkhardt-Thompson Middle School by installing air conditioning in the gymnasium and replacing insulation on piping.

The plan now goes to Mayor Jones, who asked the board in a Jan. 28 letter to specify what they would do with the funds before he would consider releasing the money.

A week earlier, the School Board approved a $293 million budget proposal that includes a request for an additional $18 million in spending for fiscal year 2017. Part of that would go to fund a pay upgrade for most teachers and fund the district’s academic improvement plan.

Mayor Jones has forcefully remarked several times, including most recently during his State of the City address on Jan. 28, that he does not believe

the city can afford to provide the entire $18 million in additional funding the board is seeking.

He also has dismissed notions that the city could afford to bankroll an ambitious $600 million, multiyear plan the board backed in a vote last summer that would pay for a new elementary and middle school on South Side, as well as provide for major renovations to several other schools to address the burgeoning student population.

Boyer named to 1st District seat John Edward “Dawson” Boyer in November, but would make a was selected by the Richmond decision later.

School Board on Monday to fill The board selected Mr. Boyer the vacant 1st District seat. over nine other candidates that were Mr. Boyer, a 30-year-old real interviewed in recent meetings. estate agent and ice cream shop After he was sworn in Tuesday owner, was chosen in a 6-2 vote.

by Richmond Circuit Court Clerk He replaces Glen H. Sturtevant, who Edward F. Jewett at City Hall, Mr. vacated the seat in January following Boyer told the Free Press his top his election to the state Senate. priority would be to help approve Mr. Boyer Mr. Boyer will represent the a sound budget for Richmond district for the next 10 months, filling Mr. Public Schools.

Sturtevant’s unexpired term until elections Mr. Boyer is co-owner of Boyer’s Ice are held in November. He said he is lean- Cream and Coffee on Grove Avenue in the ing toward running for a four-year term West End. — JOEY MATTHEWS

City charter school flunks accreditation CARE van drivers still without contract

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

A Richmond charter school has been denied accreditation, providing fresh ammunition to foes of a Republican push to open the floodgates to create such schools.

The state Board of Education essentially flunked Patrick Henry School of Arts and Sciences in determining that the public charter school on the city’s South Side is not on trajectory to achieve full accreditation within three years.

Accreditation is largely based on student results on state Standards of Learning tests.

Patrick Henry saw student pass rates on English and math remain below state standards.

Opened in 2010 on Semmes Avenue, the school has about 330 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

In the most recent round of testing, 64 percent of students passed the English test in reading, well below the 75 percent pass rate required for accreditation.

Also, 62 percent of students passed the mathematics tests, which is below the 70 percent pass rate required for accreditation.

The charter school is not alone. It was one of eight Virginia schools whose request for reconstituted status and partial accreditation was denied. The list also includes Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Richmond’s East End, where students also did poorly on

state SOL tests.

However, there is a greater focus on Patrick Henry because of supporters’ claims that charter schools are better than typical public schools.

A charter school is a hybrid type of public school that has a charter or agreement that allows it to operate more independently

and with fewer strings than regular schools.

At the Virginia General Assembly, consideration is being given to passing and sending for the approval of state voters a constitutional amendment that would allow the state Board of Education to authorize charter schools

anywhere in the state without the OK of a local school board.

Charter schools so far have gained little traction in Virginia.

Currently, only a handful operate in the commonwealth, in large measure because they must apply and gain the support of school boards.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

All for schools Richmond Public Schools’ campaign to gain additional city funding picked up more steam after several hundred people, including teachers, principals, parents and students, rallied Wednesday in front of City Hall to back fully funding the school district’s budget request.

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Elderly and disabled people who ride the specialty CARE van are seeing improved service and are registering fewer complaints, GRTC reports.

Currently, about one in five rides arrives late, compared with one in four late arrivals logged last April, data from the transit company indicates.

According to GRTC, complaints also have fallen from around 11 per 10,000 riders to about nine per 10,000 riders.

The figures were provided in response to a Free Press query.

In an email, GRTC stated that it continues to closely monitor the operation record of the contractor, MV Transportation, which began operating the door-to-door CARE van service in December 2014.

Last May, the Free Press reported on the operations and found evidence MV was failing to provide good service. At the time, riders reported that vans regularly came late or failed to pick them up.

One group, however, has failed to see improvement: CARE van drivers.

Unlike drivers of GRTC buses who work directly for the transit company, CARE van’s 77 full-time drivers continue to work without a contract.

Frank Tunstall III, president and business agent for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1220, said the biggest stumbling block at this point is “health care benefits.”

The company is willing to cover only bout 40 percent of the cost of health insurance, Mr. Tunstall said, while the union is seeking to have the company pick up 80 percent of the cost.

“The drivers do not make enough money to afford the cost that the company wants them to bear,” he said. He noted CARE van drivers make $9 to $12 an hour, or well below the wages of regular bus drivers that range from around $14 an hour and peak around $22 an hour.

Mr. Tunstall said the impasse has prevented any discussion of salary increases.

He said that the national union is considering notifying GRTC and MV Transportation that it wants to go to binding arbitration to resolve the issue. As of this week, Mr. Tunstall said that the request has not been made.

“I would prefer to have a settlement at the bargaining table,” Mr. Tunstall said. But “so far, that has not been possible.”

Meanwhile, MV Transportation has not responded to requests for comment.

Tree decision expected Feb. 13 on Maggie Walker statue site

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Tree or no tree?

That controversial question is expected to be decided this weekend as plans move forward to create a statue of Richmond great Maggie L. Walker at Broad and Adams streets — the Downtown intersection now dominated by a rare live oak tree.

The decision on whether to keep or remove the tree is to be made by the Richmond Public Arts Commission’s seven-member Site Selection Committee, the commission disclosed Tuesday.

Led by architectural historian Sarah S. Driggs, the site committee will hold a public meeting and make its decision 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Feb.

13, at The Valentine, a museum of Richmond history, at 1015 E. Clay St. Ms. Driggs said the committee “has sole discretion” to make the decision that will have a big impact on the design of the Walker monument and plaza that are to occupy the 6,000-squarefoot site at the intersection.

As part of creating the space, City Council approved in December closing a historic segment of Brook Road — one of the city’s and the state’s oldest streets.

The tree has become a divisive symbol, with advocates calling it indispensable and opponents saying it would overshadow Mrs. Walker’s statue and conjure up images of lynching if her likeness were put under it.

The quick decision on the tree is needed given the push to complete the project before Mayor Dwight C. Jones leaves office in December.

On Saturday, Feb. 20, the public is to get a first look at preliminary designs for the statue and the plaza at a public workshop the Public Arts Commission has scheduled at the Main Library for 10:30 a.m. to noon.

The sculptor, Antonio T. “Toby” Mendez of Maryland, and the plaza designer, Jean Garbier of VBH of Boston, are to present their ideas and seek feedback to help them flesh out the plans, according to Ellyn Parker, the commission’s public art coordinator.

The commission could receive final plans for review at the April meeting. Some commission

remembers consider the pace too fast, including Richmond sculptor Paul DiPasquale. At the commission meeting Tuesday, he suggested that the commission should consider “slowing down” in order to get the final product right.

One issue that has yet to be settled is the total budget for the project and whether the commission’s funds would be used to pay for closing Brook Road and development of the plaza, said architect Susan Reed, chair of the commission.

City Planning Director Mark Olinger was expected to present preliminary budget figures Tuesday, Ms. Parker said, but he was absent from the meeting.

The Richmond Planning Commission has the final say on the designs.

Family seeks criminal charges in Taser death by police

By Joey Matthews

Gwendolyn Smalls said not a day goes by that she and her family don’t feel anguish over the inhumane and unnecessary death of her 46-year-old brother, Linwood R. Lambert Jr. The former Richmond resident died nearly three years ago while he was in the custody of three South Boston police officers who fired 20 Taser shots at him while his hands and legs were shackled.

Ms. Smalls, a 48-year-old South Boston resident, recalled the nightmarish May 4, 2013, incident and her quest for justice for her deceased brother during the 4th Annual State of Black America Address for Central Virginia last Saturday at Thirty-first Street Baptist Church in the East End. The incident made national headlines in November 2015

after the MSNBC custody after they cable network aired responded to a noise a graphic video they complaint at a South obtained showing Boston motel. They Mr. Lambert being were taking him to a tased by police while hospital for a mental outside a South Boshealth evaluation, ton hospital and inaccording to court side a police car. documents.

Mr. Lambert “It’s difficult to During transport, imagine what it was like to he told them he had taken hear that he died,” Ms. Smalls cocaine earlier in the evening. told the Free Press prior to Disoriented, he tried to kick speaking at the church event. out the rear windows of the “But when we see the video, police car after they arrived at it’s very devastating. So each the hospital. He then got out of and every day we have to be the car and fled the officers to reminded of it when we watch the hospital entrance, where he the media or see another article fell to the ground. in the newspaper.

The video shows the police “We’re not at rest and we officers repeatedly shooting Mr. want these officers arrested,” Lambert with Tasers. Instead of she added. “We want them taking him inside the hospital charged. That would give us for medical attention, they put some type of closure.” him back inside the police veThe officers, who are white, hicle and took him to jail. had taken Mr. Lambert into When the officers found him

to be unresponsive, on someone every five an ambulance took seconds, that’s a shock him to the same hosof 50,000 volts,” she pital, where he was said. “The Tasers were pronounced dead. held on him for 87 According to seconds. So you do an autopsy report, the math.”

Mr. Lambert died Ms. Smalls said of “acute cocaine the three officers who Ms. Smalls intoxication.” tased Mr. Lambert are Ms. Smalls called those find- seeking qualified immunity in ings false and alleges a cover-up the lawsuit, which is to be heard by authorities of her brother’s May 16 through 20 in U.S. death. She and others claim District Court in Danville. he died of cardiac arrest after Richmond Commonwealth’s being Tasered repeatedly.

Attorney Michael N. Herring Ms. Smalls has filed a $200 explained that means the claims million lawsuit against the City against the officers in the suit of South Boston, its police de- would be dismissed if the court partment and each of the three rules that their conduct did not officers involved in the incident. violate “a clearly established She is being represented by the right or legal standard.”

Philadelphia law firm of Messa At that point, he said, the law& Associates. suit likely would be dismissed.

“I’m going to continue to tell Mr. Herring told the Free my brother’s history,” promised Press on Tuesday his office Ms. Smalls. “If you hold a Taser was enlisted “on a consulting

basis” by South Boston Commonwealth’s Attorney Tracy Q. Martin in February 2015 to examine the information related to Mr. Lambert’s death to help determine if the officers should be prosecuted criminally.

Ms. Smalls said the main lesson she has learned from her brother’s death and what she would impart to others in conflict with law enforcement is to investigate and verify the truth for themselves.

“During the process of my discovery, no one told me the same story twice,” she said. “It made me not trust the authorities and the information they were providing to me.

“I would say not to believe what is told to you, but instead to wait, question, investigate, and do your own discovery until you come to a conclusion that you’re happy with, that you believe happened to your loved one.”

Richmond Free Press

Pansy in West End

Editorial Page

A6

February 11-13, 2016

The human cost The painful truth about America has emerged with the poisoned water in Flint, Mich. Top state and federal officials, including Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and regional Environmental Protection Agency officials, knew more than a year ago that residents of Flint were being harmed by toxic levels of lead in the city’s water supply. Yet, they did nothing to stop it.

The situation in Flint has been compared to that of Third World nations. Critics also have used the word “genocide” in describing the deliberate and unabated damage done to the city of nearly 100,000 people, 57 percent of whom are African-American and 40 percent of whom are poor.

Despite widespread public concern and outrage that has motivated people across the nation to ship bottled water to Flint residents, Gov. Snyder twice now has dodged requests to appear before Congress to answer questions about the debacle.

All too often, environmental injustices are heaped upon poor and black communities with little accountability or consequence. Here and now, we add our voice to those demanding a full investigation by the U.S. attorney general and the FBI, with possible criminal charges filed against those who are responsible for this public health crisis.

We applaud Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the physician who first raised red flags after finding elevated lead levels in Flint children, and Virginia Tech Professor Marc Edwards, whose independent tests of residents’ water proved the lead hazard that EPA and state officials wanted to hide. They are the heroes who refused to be deterred in the face of widespread wrongdoing. They persevered because they genuinely care about people and the public good and view their work as an extension of that.

We also recognize the work of Detroit Free Press photographer Regina H. Boone, daughter of our own Free Press publisher and president, Jean Patterson Boone, and the late Raymond H. Boone Sr., our crusading founder. Ms. Boone’s excellent work in the Detroit media was featured recently in TIME magazine and has sensitized the world to what happened in Flint.

Most importantly, we ask that the public not forget the children and adults of Flint, the innocents who may suffer the consequences of lead poisoning for years to come. The government and agencies that were designed to protect them failed them, turning them into victims who may suffer neurological damage for the rest of their lives.

What do we owe them? What can the nation do in recompense?

In addition to replacing the deadly lead-laden pipes and providing clean, safe water to the people of Flint, we, as a nation, have an obligation to pay the cost of Flint residents’ health care into the future. We also have a moral obligation to provide screening services to detect any developmental disabilities for children, specialized education for youngsters with problems, as well as counseling and additional resources for families to help them deal with any long-term effects of exposure.

Some belated steps are being taken. Late Wednesday, Gov. Snyder proposed spending $360 million to update water pipes in Flint and across the state. The Michigan legislature already has approved $37 million for stopgap measures, including funds for bottled water, filters, testing and other services.

But that is not enough.

This is more than just an infrastructure problem. This is a human problem. We call on Congress to act with urgency to make funds available to the people of Flint to address this shameful situation.

Queen Bey and the Super Bowl We’ve just about had our fill of uninformed critiques from the peanut gallery about Beyonce’s halftime performance at the Super Bowl last Sunday.

Everyone from former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to journalists and spectators around the world have tweeted, posted and dissected everything about it.

The comments range from the hilarious to the absurd.

Mr. Giuliani described her show as an “affront” to police officers. Others called it a “big wet kiss” to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Even others, sounding frightened, called it a “black power” salute, a racially and politically charged genuflection to the Black Panthers and LGBT rights. She was even criticized by people who called the performance “pro-black.”

While everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, we say: So what?

What’s the problem with having a performance that’s “pro-black?”

Being “pro-black” doesn’t mean that you are “anti-white” or anti-anything.

The costumes worn by Beyonce and her dancers may have conjured memories of the Black Panther Party that was started in California’s Bay Area, where Super Bowl 50 was played. But why should that be controversial if people clearly understand the platform and history of what the Black Panthers did?

An invaluable web-based resource, the Black Panther Party Research Project at Stanford University, aims to tamp down the noise by offering a platform for research and sourced materials.

From their start in Oakland, in 1966, the Black Panthers advocated a platform that mirrors many of the things sought today within the African-American community: Full employment, decent housing, inclusive education, an end to police brutality and murder of people of color and control of their own destiny.

How polarizing is that?

The Black Panthers started scores of programs to uplift the largely black and poor communities where they operated.

Among them were free breakfast programs for children, GED classes, geriatric and pediatric health centers, food co-ops, drug and alcohol abuse awareness programs and transportation and attendant services for the disabled.

Sounds like we can learn a few lessons.

What is important is that we understand the history so that we combat the false notions and prejudices that continue to envelop African-American communities and people — including Queen Bey — today.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Pro football’s double standard

Despite Cam Newton leading the Carolina Panthers to a 15-1 record during the regular season and two playoff victories en route to his being selected the NFL’s Most Valuable Player and six black quarterbacks playing in the Super Bowl, black quarterbacks are still routinely subjected to a double-standard by fans and the media.

In an errorfilled game in which neither star quarterback played particularly well, Newton’s team lost Sunday to the Denver Broncos 24-10. Even so, he had a stellar season by all accounts: Throwing for 3,837 yards, including a league-high of 35 touchdowns, and running 636 yards, accounting for 10 more touchdowns.

He was selected as a first-team All-Pro and received 48 of the 50 votes cast for league MVP. The undisputed leader of his team was clearly having fun on the field all year — at least until Sunday — and wasn’t shy about showing it. Not only does Newton have at least five different dances, he races to end zone stands after scoring and flips the ball to a smiling, grateful kid.

Similar criticism is never leveled at quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who performs the Lambeau Leap in the end zone stands after scoring a touchdown. While

other teams are penalized for excessive celebrating, the NFL exempts Green Bay players from being disciplined for jumping in the stands after scoring.

But officials are quick to penalize black players.

Although African-Americans comprise 65 percent of the NFL,

George E. Curry they receive 91 percent of the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties assessed after touchdowns, according to a 2012 study titled, “The Hubris Penalty: Biased Responses to ‘Celebration’ Displays of Black Football Players.”

The authors, Robert Livingston and Erika V. Hall, noted of the celebrations, “This challenges whites’ perceptions that they are and should be in charge.

These perceptions and feelings often operate at an implicit or subconscious level. However, it is the black player who ends up getting blamed, rather than whites’ implicit bias.

“What is clear, however, both in our data and in many real-world scenarios, is that it’s perfectly fine for white males to show a lack of humility. People not only tolerate it, they often celebrate it.”

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is a case in point.

Rodger’s patented post-touchdown championship belt celebration is not only tolerated, it has allowed him to laugh all the way

to the bank when he films commercials for State Farm Insurance.

Whites people’s implicit bias may also account for black quarterbacks being roughly twice as likely as white quarterbacks to be benched, according to a study

by Brian Volz, an economist at Assumption College.

The abstract of the study provides this summary: “This study examines data from the 2001 to 2009 National Football League seasons to determine whether Black quarterbacks face discrimination.

When controlling for injury, age, experience, performance, team investment, backup quality, and bye weeks, Black quarterbacks are found to be 1.98-2.46 times more likely to be benched ...

When White quarterbacks are benched, the team improves by more than when black quarterbacks are benched.”

Because the effervescent Newton seems to be having so much fun on the field, many underestimate how hard he has worked to reach the top of his profession.

“People see him smiling, giving footballs away and dancing, but what they don’t see is that throughout the workweek the guy is just a machine,” Panthers center Ryan Kalil said in an Associated Press article by sports writer Steve Reed. “He’s incredible with the time he puts in.’

The off-field behavior of Newton and other black quarterbacks is, like so many other things, viewed through different lenses.

According to a story on

Reaching toward justice

Bryan Stevenson’s inspiring and best-selling book “Just Mercy” shares some of the fruits of his lifelong fight to push our nation closer to true justice. In January, our nation took two more steps forward in the ongoing struggle to treat children like children and ensure a fairer justice system for all, especially for our poor and those of color.

In 2012, Mr. Stevenson won the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Miller v. Alabama banning mandatory sentences of life in prison without parole for children 17-years-old and younger. Until then, the United States was the only country in the world that routinely condemned children convicted of crimes as young as 13 and 14 to die in prison.

After that ruling, most states that had sentenced youths to mandatory life sentences gave them the opportunity to argue for reduced sentences or apply for parole. Seven did not: Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana and Pennsylvania. Three of these — Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Michigan — accounted for more than 1,100 of the 1,200 to 1,500 inmates still imprisoned for crimes committed as children.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling Jan. 25 in Montgomery v.

Louisiana made clear that the Miller decision must be applied

retroactively in every state.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the decision, “The opportunity for release will be afforded to those who demonstrate the truth of Miller’s central intuition — that children

Marian Wright Edelman who commit even heinous crimes are capable of change.”

The same day the U.S. Supreme Court decided Montgomery v.

Louisiana, President Obama announced a ban on solitary confinement in the federal prison system for all children and youths, and for adults incarcerated for “low-level infractions” in an executive action that should serve as a model for all states and local jurisdictions.

President Obama wrote that solitary confinement “has been linked to depression, alienation, withdrawal, a reduced ability to interact with others and the potential for violent behavior. Some studies indicate that it can worsen existing mental illnesses and even trigger new ones. Prisoners in solitary are more likely to commit suicide, especially juveniles and people with mental illnesses.

The United States is a nation of second chances, but the experience of solitary confinement too often undercuts that second chance. “ . . . In America, we believe in redemption. We believe, in the words of Pope Francis, that ‘every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes.’ We believe that when people make

mistakes, they deserve the opportunity to remake their lives. And if we can give them the hope of a better future, and a way to get back on their feet, then we will leave our children with a country that is safer, stronger and worthy of our highest ideals.”

Reaching that vision of America – the one that believes in redemption and hope and equal justice for all — is the goal Mr. Stevenson has been striving for throughout his life. His critical victories over 30 years exonerating innocent death row prisoners and helping ensure fairer treatment for others, along with his earlier success before the U.S. Supreme Court in Roper v. Simmons that banned the execution of children have convinced him you cannot make a difference and create justice until you get close to the people who are struggling.

He has said, “All of my clients are broken. They’ve been broken by poverty. They’ve been broken by racism. They’ve been broken by inequality. They’ve been broken by injustice … When you’re broken, you need grace. When you’re broken, you need love.

When you’re broken, you need fellowship. When you’re broken, you need understanding. When you’re broken, you need vision.”

Mr. Stevenson is unwavering in that vision and in lifting his voice of great moral clarity at the forefront of the struggle. Every new hard-earned and overdue victory should remind us all that we must keep moving towards greater justice for all.

The writer is president of the Children’s Defense Fund.

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.

ESPN.com, “On Dec. 30, Cam announced the birth of his first child, the boy he named Chosen. The mother, Kia Proctor, was described by Newton as his ‘longtime girlfriend.’ The announcement, made six days after the boy was born, hit the front page of the local papers (of course) and occasioned another finger-wagging letter to The Charlotte Observer (of course).

Patricia Broderick of Mooresville expressed her disappointment in Newton and suggested he marry the mother of his child. ‘Congratulations would be in order,’ she wrote, ‘if he had been man enough to marry the mother of his child and make a home.’

“Well, of course she said that. Tom Brady can have a child out of wedlock — and leave the actress/mother for a supermodel before the baby was born — and not be blamed for the systemic deterioration of the American family and the scourge of fatherless households. For Newton, it was yet another lens through which to view him, as if maturity, greed and race weren’t enough.”

The writer is president and CEO of George Curry Media.

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Richmond Free Press

February 11-13, 2016

A7

Letter to the Editor

‘Do we really want what Hillary Clinton has to offer?’

If Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee for president, chances are that the Republicans will never allow her to run a successful race. They will dredge up every scandal she and Bill Clinton have been involved in since he was governor of Arkansas, and there have been many.

If Mrs. Clinton is lucky enough to win the presidency, the Republicans will not stop.

She will be so busy putting out fires that she will not have a chance to govern.

And do we really want what she has to offer? She is not coming with anything new, just the same old, same old.

President Obama was as squeaky clean as you can get and the Republicans did everything they could to destroy him. With Mrs. Clinton, they will have

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On the other hand, Bernie Sanders is daring the American people to take back their government. He is telling the American people that they can have things their way.

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Have we become such sheeps and are we so hopeless that we don’t think we stand a chance of having a government

of the people, by the people, for the people?

Mrs. Clinton already is talking about knowing how things work and being able to play the game. Really? Haven’t we had enough of the game playing? Haven’t we had enough of the concessions? Haven’t we had enough of giving in before we get ahead? How about trying something new?

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General Assembly A message from Senator Donald McEachin

The statues on Monument Avenue, like statues and memorials to the Confederacy and Confederate soldiers all over the south, are objects of controversy. Relics from their own time and culture, they capture in stone uncomfortable dated sentiments that existed not that long ago here in the Old Dominion. As Virginians and Richmonders debate the proper and appropriate handling of these monuments, we remember that we, too, are captured by our time in history and our contemporary culture. Answers aren’t easy and decisions are overlaid with financial as well as social and political ramifications. The particular decision on any monument or plaque does not change that the Civil War was fought to preserve slavery and that the leaders were willing to commit treason to continue that egregious original sin.

Drawing distinctions between slave-holding Founding Fathers and prominent Confederates isn’t always easy or comfortable. However, one possible distinction is to try to determine, through our own prism of time and place, what other significant positive contributions individuals may have made. Through this lens, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and George Washington potentially have redeeming characteristics worthy of emulating but Confederate generals significantly less so. As we make these distinctions in 2016, Lee-Jackson Day seems like an anachronism, a throwback to a time when we saw the Civil War as the “War of Northern Aggression” and when we tried to pretend that enslaving people was not the major reason for that war.

Ironically, as the ripples from that war still permeate our communities, left over in segregation and Jim Crow laws that took over one hundred years to eliminate, we still must continually work as a community to overcome.

We need to make certain that all Virginians can vote and that we make voting easier, not harder. With these factors in mind, I have introduced legislation to replace Lee-Jackson Day as a state holiday with Election Day. It seems only too appropriate. The time has passed to celebrate these two generals as Virginia heroes worthy of their own holiday. Yes, somehow, it is the perfect irony to move that holiday to Election Day, a symbol of our democracy and to make voting easier for many.

Moreover, by making Election Day a state holiday, schools can elect to close so voters are not coming in and out while children are in school.

State workers will be off and private business can choose or not to follow that example. This is only a small step, but it seems an appropriate type of progress. It will do some good for Virginians of today by contributing to making voting – for all citizens – easier. In this way, we will have taken a real, not just symbolic step forward and shown that our values are not those of the Confederacy or even of the only recently past Old South.

Let me take this opportunity to thank you again for the privilege of being your state senator. To learn more about this or any other bill, please contact me office at district09@senate.virginia.gov or call at 698.7509.

I am always eager to hear from you.

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A8 February 11-13, 2016

Richmond Free Press

Sports Stories by Fred Jeter

Cam Newton wins league MVP, but loses Super Bowl From Super Bowl 50, we media questions and abruptly learned the “D” in Denver stood up and left before the stands for “defense,” and Cam session ended.

Newton remains a work in Meanwhile Manning, in the progress. likely final game of a sterling In a game sandwiched career, orchestrated victory between endless commercials with the least yards ever by and a marathon halftime show, a Super Bowl winner — 194 the Denver Broncos defeated yards. The NFL icon will turn the upstart Carolina Panthers 40 next month and the years of 24-10. surgeries have not been generFor leading the Panthers ous. For his legion of faithful to 17 victories, Newton, the fans, it was painful to watch. team’s gifted and flamboyReduced to short, fluttery ant quarterback, deserves the passes, Manning succeeded league honor of Most Valuable only in avoiding disaster.

Player, which was announced The future Hall of Famer was last Saturday. But it was Denserviceably conservative, at best, ver linebacker Von Miller who preferring safety over sorrow. earned Super Bowl MVP and Brock Osweiler, with a rockman of the moment honors. et arm, is just 25-years-old and Coincidentally, Newton, looms as Denver’s quarterback who came out of Auburn Uniof the future. Already he is being versity, was the No. 1 overall called “Brocko the Bronco.” He draft selection in the 2011 NFL has waited his turn. draft. Miller, from Texas A&M Manning is overdue for reUniversity, was the second man tirement, although he would not picked in the 2011 draft. concede that in his postgame The order of their star status interview with CBS sideline flip-flopped during Sunday’s reporter Tracy Wolfson. game in Santa Clara, Calif., Instead, the athlete and as Newton, under siege in the pitchman said he planned to passing pocket, lost traction “drink lots of Budweiser.”

Associated Press and the ball on three pivotal With Miller’s star shining Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, left, congratulates winning Super Bowl 50 quarterback Peyton Manning of occasions. brightest in the 50th annithe Denver Broncos after the championship game in Santa Clara, Calif.

Miller, relentless in his versary of football’s grandest pursuit of the man wearing the Panthers’ No. 1 jersey, was the pile to try and grab his own fumble with four minutes left spectacle, the Broncos taught the world some lessons in stern credited with 2.5 sacks and nearly had several more. Two of and the Panthers down 16-10. defense.

Halftime performer Beyonce couldn’t have done any less Miller’s jolting blows caused Newton to fumble, each resulting Meanwhile, Newton, for all his size, speed and talents, proved in Denver touchdowns. “Superman,” as Newton is called, was on that particular play. The ball was recovered by Denver’s he has lessons yet to learn.

DeMarcus Ware at the Carolina 4-yard line, ending the Panthers’ reduced to Clark Kent.

In a Super Bowl match billed as aging, aching veteran quarterback chances for a win.

Newton never enjoyed a “look at me” moment.

Peyton Manning versus the swashbuckling Newton, it turned out After Carolina’s sole touchdown, a 1-yard dive by Jonathan to be more Newton versus the Denver pass rush, with the spirited The Virginia Interscholastic Heritage Association will Stewart, Newton appeared like he wanted Stewart to hand him “Orange Crush Rush” the unanimous winner on all cards. meet 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 20 at Union Baptist Church in Newton, never looking comfortable, was sacked seven times the ball so he could show off — even though the Panthers were Hopewell, 212 Rev. C.W. Harris St. during the game and threw an interception. The Hollywood smile trailing 10-6 at the time.

Officers will be elected.

Instead, Stewart flipped the ball to the referee, foiling the he is famous for was reduced to a frown.

VIA governed extracurricular activities for Virginia’s The fifth-year pro was 18-for-41 for 265 yards, and ran six much-anticipated Newton end zone theatrics.

African-American high schools from 1954 to1970 during During the postgame interview, Newton, slouched under a times for 45 more yards. But he lost admiration during the segregation. game’s fourth quarter by declining, inexcusably, to dive into hooded sweatshirt, gave grouchy one- and two-word answers to

VIA Heritage Association to meet

VUU snags Holland Fisher in NCAA National Signing Day Football Coach Mark James bills Virginia Union University as a “second chance school.”

That being the case, it’s ideal for well-traveled Holland Fisher.

The quick-striking, 6-foot-2, 200-pound former high school Under Armour All-American from Chesterfield County has landed at VUU with three years of eligibility.

Fisher, who turns 22 in October, has roamed coast to coast in search of a showcase for his considerable talents as a linebacker or safety.

He is one of 21 signees — 10 high school seniors and 11 transfers — announced by Coach James on the Feb. 3 NCAA National Signing Day. As a Manchester High School senior in 2012, Fisher was rated the nation’s No. 3 outside linebacker prospect by Scout.com. He was the nation’s No. 7-ranked linebacker by 247sports.com.

In January 2013, Fisher competed in the Under Armour All-American Game for the nation’s best high school players in St. Petersburg, Fla., televised by ESPN. Fisher chose to head to Virginia Tech af-

ter receiving full offers also from Alabama, Ohio State, Tennessee, University of Virginia, Purdue and West Virginia.

Before enrolling at Virginia Tech, Fisher played the 2013 season at Fork Union Military Academy. In 2014, he was redshirted as a true freshman at Virginia Tech.

When it didn’t work out in Blacksburg, Fisher transferred to San Jose Holland City College in California. In nine games for San Jose this past fall, he had 53 tackles and five interceptions.

Fisher has enrolled at VUU and will participate in spring drills for a squad coming off an 8-3 season and its first NCAA Division II appearance since 1992.

“Sometimes, the big Division I university just isn’t the right fit for a young athlete,” said Coach James. “We like to think we’re a second chance school — second opportunities. In part I believe it is due to our Christian values and faith.”

Logistics were a key.

James added that Fisher “has custody of his

daughter” and that he now lives “10 minutes from campus.”

Aiding in Fisher’s recruitment was assistant Coach Troy Taylor, who said, “I knew Holland when he was a freshman in high school.”

Taylor, who came to VUU from Meadowbrook High School, actually coached against Fisher both at Clover Hill High and Manchester.

Fisher transferred from Clover Hill Fisher to Manchester as a senior.

Other local signees are 6-foot-6 receiver Daekwon Spence from Thomas Jefferson High School and receiver Jerel Harrison from Varina High School by way of University of Delaware.

In 2014, Harrison caught 31 passes for 488 yards and four touchdowns for Delaware’s Blue Hens.

Other VUU high school signees: • Michael Huff, Portsmouth, receiver • Darius Whitehurst, Norfolk, linebacker • Emmanuel Antwi, Dumfries, defensive lineman

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Javari Alvin, Miami, Fla., athlete Gustavious Dames, Miami, Fla., receiver Mikal Dobbins, Staunton, defensive tackle Akia Timberlake, Goochland, defensive tackle Jefftey Joseph, Pompano Beach, Fla., receiver Marquis Decius, Miami, Fla., receiver Other transfers: Bradley Brown, VMI, offensive line Justin Cook, Delaware State, offensive line Ronerick Simpson, Hinds Community College, Miss., lineman Marquis Fairchild, Hawaii, defensive line William Stanback, Central Florida, running back* Aaquil Ingram, Monroe Community College, N.Y., tight end Lavatiae Kelly, Tennessee State, receiver Keynonis Davis, Lackawanna, Pa., linebacker Justin Lyles, Lackawanna, Pa., linebacker

* In 2014, the 6-foot-1, 228-pound Stanback rushed for 697 yards and scored 10 touchdowns for Central Florida, earning All-American Athletic Conference honors. From Hempstead, N.Y., Stanback will have one year of eligibility at VUU.

VCU’s Melvin Johnson mirroring former Rams star Calvin Duncan Melvin Johnson grew up in New York, first signed a scholarship offer with a Florida program and then changed his mind and came to Virginia Commonwealth University.

Sound familiar?

It’s eerily similar to the path taken by former Rams icon Calvin Duncan (1982-1985).

Johnson is the star attraction on the current VCU squad, with a 17-6 record, that had 12 straight victories before a Feb. 6 loss to George Washington Calvin Duncan University.

The 6-foot-4 senior out of St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, N.J., averages 19.2 points per game, leads the Atlantic 10 Conference in three-pointers (83) and is a prime contender for Conference Player of the Year.

Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Johnson recently drained eight three-pointers in a win over LaSalle University, has 258 three-balls overall and is closing in on B.A. Walker’s career mark of 269.

VCU’s sports info department has even begun writing his name as M3LVIN. Johnson first signed with the University of Miami before getting his release and coming to Richmond.

Duncan hails from Linden, N.J., 13 miles from Manhattan, and first signed with Jacksonville University in Florida before reconsidering and moving to VCU. Duncan, who had 1,630 career points, ranks among VCU’s all-time performers. Johnson, who had 1,460 career points starting this week, is hot on Duncan’s trail, with at least a dozen games left.

A 6-foot-4 guard-forward, Duncan was coSun Belt Player of the Year in 1983, sharing the

honor with South Florida’s Charlie Bradley.

In both Duncan’s and Johnson’s cases, a coaching change at their original university choice may have contributed to VCU landing a superstar on the rebound.

Coach Tates Locke recruited Duncan to Jacksonville, but left after the 1980-81 season, opening the door for VCU Coach J.D. Barnett.

Miami Coach Frank Haith, who played a big role in Johnson’s recruitment, left the Hurricanes following the 2010-11 season to take a job at the University of Missouri.

That’s when former VCU Coach Shaka Smart stepped in.

Johnson is joined on the current Rams squad by sophomore guard Jonathan Williams, also from St. Benedict’s Prep in New Jersey. Williams had a career-best 14 points in VCU’s win over LaSalle University in Philadelphia.

Duncan, who goes by “Pastor D,” is pastor of Faith & Family Church in North Chesterfield.

While at VCU, he was part of the notable “New York Connection” that included Don Franco from Linden, N.J., Freddie Brown from the Bronx, Mike Schlegel from Long Island and Steve Silva from Brooklyn. Silva later transferred to Virginia Union University.

VCU has deep roots in the Big Apple.

Prior to the 1970-71 season, Rams Coach Benny Dees signed Greg McDougald and Reggie Cain from the Bronx and Dave Edwards and Howie Robertson from Queens.

That talented quartet helped launch VCU’s rise to NCAA Division I status under Coach Chuck Noe. Under Coach Barnett, Duncan helped VCU to three NCAA appearances and a 73-20 record during his final three seasons. Duncan was the overall 30th pick in the 1985 NBA draft by Cleveland, but never played in the NBA. Johnson, who is sure to play professionally overseas if not in the NBA, has helped VCU

to three NCAA berths, with a fourth likely this March.

Duncan’s retired No. 5 jersey hangs proudly

from the Siegel Center rafters.

Look for Johnson’s No. 32 to someday wind up in the same lofty locale.

Long distance Rams Career three-pointers B.A. Walker (2003-07) Melvin Johnson (2012-15) Troy Daniels (2009-13) Brad Burgess (2008-12) Joey Rodriguez (2007-11)

269 258 251 231 211

Season three-pointers Troy Daniels, 2013 Troy Daniels, 2012 B.A. Walker, 2007 Kenny Harris, 1994 Melvin Johnson, 2016

124 94 92 90 83

Single game three-pointers Troy Daniels, 2013 Troy Daniels, 2012 Troy Daniels, 2012 Bo Jones, 1999 Melvin Johnson, 2013, 2015 and 2016

11 9 8 8 8

Special note In 1982-83, Calvin Duncan made 16 of 28 three-point shots (.571) when the Sun Belt Conference was experimenting with the bonus shot. It was the only year in which Duncan had opportunity for treys.

James Haskins/RFP

Virginia Commonwealth University’s Melvin Johnson leads the Atlantic 10 Conference in three-pointers.

Love S tories

Section B

February 11-13, 2016 B1

Richmond Free Press

The Free Press proudly presents its annual Valentine’s Day feature.

It shares the Love Stories of four Richmond area couples.

Rose and Randy Adams Married 40 years

Liz and Brad Mackey Married 14 years

We have been married 40 the entire ceremony was glorious and happy years. him praying!

We had a beautiful, outdoor We feel it was our minwedding in Maymont Park ister’s continual prayers on a very hot June day. that have kept us together We kid each other about for 40 years. And of course Randy leaving our vows at the love and friendship we the house. We had informed have for each other. our minister that we had In these 40 years, we written our own vows and have traveled all over the wanted him to read them. world and shared so many With some hesitation, the life experiences. We continminister agreed. ue to travel and “live life” to We were almost at Maythis day. We recently made mont Park when Randy our “bucket list” and are announced he had forgotten looking forward to crossing our vows! We were already off No. 1 — an Alaskan a little late and did not have cruise — in August. time to return to retrieve We have lived a wonthem, so we proceeded to derful and blessed life the site of our wedding together and continue to celebration wondering what “live life.”

Dr. and Mrs. Adams we would do.

Our new motto: Live As we stood in front of the minister, we softly whispered we and love life while remembering the friendship you shared in had forgotten the vows. He was not prepared to read the tradi- the very beginning. tional vows and did not have a script. So he asked everyone to Rose, a retired Richmond Public Schools counselor, has worn bow their heads for prayer and he prayed. He said a few words many hats, including that of entrepreneur, real estate sales agent and prayed again and again and again. and investor and property manager. Randy is a pediatric dentist We think he prayed four or five times — so many that almost in Richmond.

Cindy Creasy and Royce Woolfolk Married 24 years

Mr. and Mrs. Mackey

We formally met in the spring of 1999, introduced by mutual friends at a poetry and live music event. Our paths had crossed a few times the previous year.

That night, we talked almost three hours about our journeys, our families, relationships and our hopes and dreams for the future. A friendship was formed and we talked almost daily during the next week.

Our first “official” date was the following week. We met Downtown — Liz in jeans and a T-shirt; Brad in a blazer and linen slacks — grabbed lunch from one of the street vendors and walked to Kanawha Plaza to enjoy the beautiful spring day. After dating three or four months consistently, we knew we wanted our friendship to grow and introduced each other to our families.

Our relationship would evolve and we would experience several landmarks during the next two years of dating exclusively. We were engaged at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church — Liz’s family church — after attending Ash Wednesday service, and would later receive the blessing of Holy Matrimony from the Rev. Canon Charles L. L. Poindexter at St. Philip’s on Aug. 3, 2002.

To this day, our church family uplifts us and provides unwavering love and support. During our almost 17 years together, we have experienced highs and lows, as couples do, but stand firm on God’s promise that love never fails.

“Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” – I Corinthians 13:4 Liz is director of the Virginia Fair Housing Office. Brad is a commercial claims examiner with Erie Insurance Co.

It all started with Glenn’s father, Coach Louis Anderson, getting remarried. His new wife happened to be Heather’s aunt. So on their anniversary, Lou and Norieta had a party which, Heather and Glenn attended. On that night, neither Heather nor Glenn had included within their plans to find their soul mate. However God had something else in mind and up His sleeve.

That particular night, Heather and Glenn went their own separate ways, but continued to bump into one another at other family gatherings and celebrations. What turned the tide in events was when Glenn learned that Heather had been helping look after his father following surgery. This revealed to Glenn that not only was Heather beautiful, but more importantly her heart was pure and her soul even more attractive.

During that same time, Glenn’s mother, Marva Anderson, had been diagnosed with a serious illness and was recovering from needed treatments. It was eye-opening for Heather to observe Glenn’s genuine concern, care and comfort for his mom throughout her journey. His acts of kindness and love assured Heather that, indeed, this man was invaluable and a God-sent life partner with whom

Royce and I like to say joked that if I went out with we met “by accident.” him, he would tell me the In November 1987, I whole story. While he was was involved in a hit-andquite charming, comical run accident on my way to and certainly mysterious, I work. Very upset, I entered declined, not quite making a dentist’s office nearby and the connection. asked to call the police.

My friend who picked Because my car was no me up after the accident longer operational, I also and I eventually put two needed to call my employer, and two together, realizing my roommate to pick me he was the charming dentist. up and my parents. The But, at the time, I chose not receptionist allowed me to to pursue it further. make my calls. Noticing A few months later, he that I had a bump on my showed up at the FOX stahead, she suggested that tion and asked me out. At the dentist take a look to that point, I told him that I make sure I didn’t have a remembered him and, at the concussion or need further urging of my co-workers, I medical attention. went on the date.

The dentist came to The rest is history.

Dr. and Mrs. Woolfolk check on me and he was Three months later, we kind, sympathetic and reassuring. I remember thinking that he were engaged. Six months later, we were married, with my was the nicest, most handsome dentist I had ever met. friend/roommate serving as maid of honor. And this May, we My career took me to New Orleans, but brought me back to Rich- will celebrate our 25th anniversary. mond two years later when I worked for the local FOX affiliate.

We have two children, Royce Woodson Woolfolk III, 21, At an event, a very nice looking man approached and called me and Nicholas Woolfolk, 16, and two dogs. And we have lived by name and proceeded to tell me how much he knew about me — in North Side for 24 years. what kind of car I drove, where my parents lived, the job I had once Cindy is founder and president of Creasy Woolfolk Concepts, had. But he would not reveal exactly how he knew all of this. a public relations and advertising firm specializing in entertainAlthough he looked vaguely familiar, I could not place him. He ment and festival events. Royce is a dentist in Richmond.

Heather and Glenn Anderson Married 13 years on Feb. 14

Mr. and Mrs. Anderson

to start their own family and grow old together.

From those two turning points, it was a whirlwind romance. They married on Valentine’s Day in 2003. Their love has produced priceless memories, and they have a beautiful 12-year-old daughter, Elisabeth-Anne.

They are committed to having a lifelong love affair and strive to keep God first in all they say and do for each other.

Their service and hearts for others is what not only led them to be attracted to one another, it is the very glue that keeps them connected and committed to one another.

Their love is expressed in all ways and everything they do for others. That is the fire that fuels their united flame and shines bright between them. They are eternally grateful for God knowing what and who they needed for the long haul of life, even when they didn’t.

It was, and will continue to be, the grace and favor of God over their union that will keep them because the love of God will never lose its power.

Heather is worship services coordinator at St. Paul’s Baptist Church. Glenn is an educator with Richmond Public Schools and coach of the girls’ softball team at Armstrong High School.

2016 Strong Men & Women honored Eight men and women of high achievement were honored at the 2016 Strong Men & Women in Virginia History on Feb. 3 at a Downtown hotel. The annual program, sponsored by Dominion and the Library of Virginia, celebrates trailblazing African-American men and women.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe, standing center, joins the 2016 honorees, standing from left: Virginia Union University President Claude G. Perkins; Shaun SpencerHester, representing her grandmother, the late poet Anne Bethel Spencer; Melody C. Barnes, former director of the Domestic Policy Council for the Obama administration; Richmond civil rights attorney Clarence M. Dunnaville Jr.; Gov. McAuliffe; Linda G. Hassell, representing her husband, the late Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leroy R. Hassell Sr.; Thomas Cannon Jr., representing his father, longtime Richmond philanthropist the late Thomas Cannon Sr.; and state Sen. Mamie B. Locke, chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.

Retired Seattle Seahawks football standout Michael Robinson of Varina High School, not pictured, accepted his award by video.

Student essay winners, seated from left, are Savannah Frye of Westfield High School in Fairfax County; Sohilia Elziny of Woodside High School in Newport News; Katy Richardson of Gate City High School in Scott County; and Samuel Nana Adu-Gyamfi of Highland Springs High School in Henrico County.

Photo by Clinton Strane

Richmond Free Press

B2 February 11-13, 2016

Happenings Personality: Meldon Jenkins-Jones

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Spotlight on founder of Black Male Emergent Readers Program

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BURRELL MECHANICAL

What my job in the law library entails: I assist the public, students, including future paralegals and legal assistants, attorneys and judges with locating and using legal resources, including print, computerized legal databases in the library and free legal websites. I initiated the “Know Your Rights” Community Law Series of classes taught by local attorneys. I also teach classes in Legal Research and Legal Writing here at the Law Library. All of our classes and programs are free and open to the public.

Date and place of birth: Jan. 26 in New York.

Alma maters: Bachelor’s degree, Smith College; master’s degree, Florida State University; doctor of jurisprudence, Rutgers University.

Family: One son, Alexander I. Jenkins; one daughter, Meldon D. Jones.

Black Male Emergent Readers Program is important because: So many young men are not engaged academically and wind up being pushed into the school-to-prison pipeline, limiting their growth as young people and removing them as resources in the community.

What I have been able to accomplish: Community Services Manager Dianne Wilmore headed up this summer’s BMER Book Club at the North Avenue Library Branch.

We demonstrated that young African-American males do get excited about reading if we give them relevant, empowering reading materials that are introduced to them in the right way. Two of the teens in the program said that before attending the BMER program, they did not like to read, but as a result of BMER, they now enjoy reading!

The dream for BMER: We envision Richmond test scores and graduation rates for young black males to increase significantly as a result of BMER, thereby increasing the number of young men with jobs skills in the area. We envision BMER as a model for other libraries not only in the Metro Richmond area, but throughout Virginia and the United States. We envision it as a means for increasing love of reading, higher graduation rates, development of job skills and positive community involvement, not just for African- Americans, but for Latinos and Native Americans as well.

BMER’s biggest challenge: Getting male mentors engaged and involving the Richmond Public Schools system.

How teens are recruited: By reaching out to the community and children who are already in the library, through media, our BMER mailing list and by word of mouth.

What is required of participants: Time and willingness to read, write and participate in fun activities.

Partners: Kerwyn Philip and Sean Young of NDUGU Business and Leadership Academy; Mark Strandquist of The Peoples Library; various spoken word artists and poets; community activists such as Clarence McGill, Evans D. Hopkins and Vincent Ellis White; local authors, such as Sadiq Ali, Dwayne Bennett and Coach Greg Ford.

To become a volunteer: Call BMER at (804) 646-7223 or (804) 646-6500 or email BMERproject@gmail.com.

Why reading is important: For success in life. As our young adult coordinator, Librarian Natasha Payne Brunson, says, “If you can’t read, you can’t succeed!”

Most popular books for teens today: “The Divergent Series” by Veronica Roth; “The Bluford High Series” by vari-

ous authors; “Crossover

by Kwame Alexander; “Juba!: A Novel,” the new historical fiction

by Walter Dean Myers; and “The Rose that Grew from Concrete” by Tupac Shakur.

Ways used to get teenage boys interested in reading: Books about their interests such as sports, hiphop, manga and graphic novels. Most teens, like most adults, still like hard copy books rather than digital books.

My earliest memory of reading is: I still have the illustrated book of story poems about fairies that my mother read to me. She was into science fiction. I remember reading several Andre Norton books.

Quality I admire most in another person: Persistence at demonstrating God-given gifts and talents.

Nobody knows I: Write Bible studies in my leisure time.

The one thing that I can’t stand: Lazy people. All of my friends are quite industrious.

T:10”

Meldon Deloris Jenkins-Jones has witnessed the difficulties some African-American children have learning to read.

She explains how she watched her grandson struggle “despite the fact that his parents and I are educated. I wondered who would help children learn to read if they did not have a strong family background,” she recalls thinking.

The Richmond resident, who is a law librarian for the Richmond Public Law Library in Downtown, says she began researching the subject and came across the work of Dr. Alfred Tatum, a reading specialist at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

She says Dr. Tatum’s work “shows that our boys don’t read because they are not motivated with relevant reading materials.”

Determined to help change that, Mrs. Jenkins-Jones founded the Black Male Emergent Readers (BMER) program in August 2013.

The program is based in the Richmond Public Library and its four-fold mission, Mrs. Jenkins-Jones says, is to motivate “our young men to read more, communicate effectively, develop a better self-image and create a positive network, becoming active participants in the community.”

The program seeks to “provide enabling texts and programs for young black males in our community,” according to the library’s website.

Mrs. Jenkins-Jones says she is motivated to help youngsters through the program because data show “low reading scores and high dropout rates result in poor job skills, unemployment, and in some cases, increased gang activity and crime for too many of our young men.”

She says the ultimate goal is “to get more African-American males reading, improving academically, empowered with job skills and engaging positively with the community through empowering texts which appeal to their natural concerns for social justice issues.”

Next up for the Black Male Emergent Readers is a program and discussion honoring 14 African-American male authors from Virginia.

The free event will be held from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, at the Richmond Public Library Main Branch, 101 E. Franklin St., in Downtown.

“This will be the first of four quarterly programs demonstrating to teens, mentors and educators the whys and hows of motivating young AfricanAmerican males to read more,” she explains.

Read more about this week’s empowering Personality, Meldon Deloris JenkinsJones:

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Richmond Free Press

February 11-13, 2016

e t a l o c o ch real.

Make

I came here as a philosophy major — entrepreneurship wasn’t even in my vocabulary but VCU taught me to recognize opportunity. I learned an interesting fact: Anytime a craft brewery opens in a city (Richmond already has 13), craft chocolate isn’t far behind. So now Richmond has its first craft chocolate company — mine.

What will you make real? makeitreal.vcu.edu

Alexander Burlingame, senior, philosophy major

B3

an equal opportunity/affirmative action university

Richmond Free Press

B4 February 11-13, 2016

Happenings ‘Mardi Bras’ party with a purpose to aid homeless women

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

It’s Mardi Bras time in Richmond.

That’s the program a local ministry is spearheading to collect intimate items for homeless women, including underwear and feminine hygiene products.

Marti Williams, who heads the nonprofit Into the Neighorhood, is leading the effort to aid women who cannot afford such necessities as bras, panties, tampons and sanitary napkins.

This is the second year for Mardi Bras, said Ms. Williams, who operates the ministry with her husband, Louis, out of their home in the 2100 block of Barton Avenue in North Side.

Ms. Williams said she came up with Mardi Bras after talking with a few homeless women.

She found that dealing with the monthly menstrual cycle is constantly on their mind because they don’t know where they will get sanitary pads.

As she learned, “supplies are not readily available for women who are homeless or on a low or restricted income. Food stamps and other resources do not cover feminine protection.”

Using her Facebook contacts, Ms. Williams launched Mardi Bras last year and filled a moving storage unit with donations. She came up with the name as a play on Mardi Gras, the big party before Lent.

The second Mardi Bras was held last Tuesday, with supporters arriving with donations at the collection site provided by the Atlee Community Church’s Northminster Campus on Moss

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

From left, Anne Gyer, Delly Evans and Mardi Bras founder Marti Williams party as they do good — collecting essential items for homeless women. Location: Atlee Community Church’s Northminster Campus on North Side. Right, some of the items that supporters of Mardi Bras contributed, including bras and feminine hygiene products.

Side Avenue.

Into the Neighborhood also is accepting donations to support the program.

Ms. Williams said the items would be distrib-

uted through programs that serve the homeless, such as CARITAS, Housing Families First, Home Again, the Daily Planet, Help Somebody, as well as participating churches.

Some of the items also will be sent to the Richmond City Justice Center for distribution to female inmates.

Further information: Intotheneighborhood.org

Exhibit highlights early Chesterfield lawyer-activist

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

photo courtesy of th Mimms family

Mr. Mimms

He was a pioneering lawyer who also built Chesterfield County roads and oversaw services to the county’s poor during his lifetime. But, today, Cornelius Mimms is largely forgotten.

The only notable mention of him in the county are street names in the county’s government complex, Mimms Drive and Mimms Loop.

His last name also lives on in the family-owned Mimms Funeral Home on Hull Street in Richmond, for which he provided the money for his son, Edward, to establish in 1925.

In a bid to raise awareness of this once prominent and influential figure, the Chesterfield County Museum has opened a Black History Month exhibit to highlight the multiple roles that Mr. Mimms played in public and church affairs prior to his death in 1932.

Born in Goochland County in 1857, before the Civil War, Mr. Mimms would quickly establish himself in the Midlothian area of Chesterfield.

At 20, he was a member of the trustee board of the Midlothian African Baptist Church and voted to donate church property to the county to build the first elementary school for AfricanAmerican children.

He was highly educated for the time.

According to the exhibit, he graduated from the Richmond Institute, a forerunner of Virginia Union University, and from Howard University in 1885 in Washington. Ultimately, he secured a law license in Virginia and opened a practice, one of the first AfricanAmericans in the state to do so.

His law practice was in the county’s Manchester area, annexed by Richmond in 1910. He was among the first African-Americans to win election to the

Want to go?

What: “Cornelius Mimms: A Legend and Legacy,” an exhibit about the pioneering lawyer in Chesterfield County.

Where: Chesterfield County Museum, 6813 Mimms Loop, in the Chesterfield government complex.

Times: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Donation: $2. Runs through the spring.

Sponsor: Chesterfield County Historical Society’s African-American History Committee.

Information: (804) 768-7311 or www. chesterfieldhistory.com.

county’s governing body, the board of supervisors. Elected from the Midlothian District, he served from 1881 to 1883 and from 1887 to 1889.

Mr. Mimms later served stints as superintendent of the poor and superintendent of roads for the county, overseeing services to the destitute and

becoming responsible for building and maintaining roads, though the dates of his service in those positions are not available, according to the exhibit.

And just like attorney Giles B. Jackson and banker Maggie L. Walker in Richmond, Mr. Mimms pushed economic growth as the best way to solve many of the problems of the African-American community.

In 1900, the exhibit shows, he joined with friends to form a savings and loan to raise capital to develop stores and factories that would promote jobs and create wealth for AfricanAmericans. There is no information on the ultimate fate of the Virginia Industrial Mercantile Banking and Loan Association.

Mr. Mimms also served more than 50 years as the Sunday school superintendent at First Baptist Church of Midlothian.

New East End festival to bring music to Chimborazo Park

By Joey Matthews

Ayasha Sledge

Fitness fun Nationally known fitness guru Shaun T, whose exhilarating dance workouts and fitness routines help people across the country, leaps high in the air last Saturday during a group workout at the 14th Annual CBS 6 Healthy Lifestyle Expo. Hundreds of fitness seekers from Metro Richmond participated in the event at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, which included presentations from other health experts, health screenings and healthy cooking demonstrations.

Another festival is coming to festival city.

The first “RVA East End Festival: The Gift of Music,” will play Friday, May 6, through Sunday, May 8, in Chimborazo Park.

Adding to the excitement, Bon Secours Richmond Health System has joined festival partners toward a pledged goal of $100,000 to provide musical instruments and related materials for East End students at Richmond’s Bellevue, Chimborazo, Fairfield Court, George Mason and Woodville elementary schools, Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, Armstrong High School and Franklin Military Academy.

The festival will be anchored by the Richmond Symphony’s “Big Tent,” a 60-by-95-foot tent first used during the UCI World Road Championship bike races in September and the Richmond Folk Festival in October.

The Richmond Symphony, the No BS! Brass Band and vocalist Desiree Roots are scheduled to

Richmond Crusade for Voters to host screening of ‘Eyes on the Prize’ The Richmond Crusade for Voters will present a free screening of episode five of the award-winning documentary on the Civil Rights Movement, “Eyes on the Prize,” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, at the Richmond Public Library Main Branch, 101 E. Franklin St., in Downtown.

The episode is about the struggle for voting

rights. A panel discussion will follow.

The Crusade for Voters also will hold its next regular meeting 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, at Second Baptist Church, 1400 Idlewood Ave., in the West End. The meeting is open to the public.

For more information, call Crusade for Voters President Reginald D. Ford at (804) 426-5377.

Help choose TEDxRVA speaker at Open Mic Nights Feb. 17, 24 TEDxRVA has scheduled two “Open Mic Nights” in Richmond this month to give speakers the opportunity to compete to earn a spot in the group’s 4th Annual TEDxRVA 2016 event Friday, April 8, at Richmond CenterStage, 600 E. Grace St., in Downtown.

At each open mic event, 20 speakers will get two minutes to talk. The crowd will select the winners.

Both Open Mic Nights are free and open to the public.

The first will be 7 to 9:30

p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, at Gallery5, 200 W. Marshall St., in Jackson Ward.

The second is will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, at the Richmond Public Library Main Branch, 101 E. Franklin St., in Downtown.

TED is a nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading,” usually in the form of short, powerful talks. The independently organized Richmond event, licensed by TED, plans a day of talks to inspire and illuminate.

The theme for the April event is “Artful.” Tickets are $50 and available at the Richmond CenterStage box office.

Among those speaking at the April conference are African dance scholar Dr. Elgie Gaynell Sherrod of Virginia Commonwealth University, Jonathan Dau, one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan,” and architectural historian Robert Russell.

For more information, go to www.TEDxRVA.com.

kick off the free festival May 6.

On May 7, students from Richmond Public Schools, the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra and other local artists are to display their talents.

The festival will conclude May 8 with performances by local spoken word artists, gospel artists and several church choirs.

In addition to the performances, the festival will have a “Kids Zone” with activities for children and fare from local restaurants and craft beer distributors. Others vendors, businesses and nonprofits are to be featured as well, according to a news release touting the event.

Mayor Dwight C. Jones and City Council member Cynthia I. Newbille,7th District, joined others at a news conference Tuesday at Chimborazo Park announcing the festival and the musical instrument donations as steps to help revitalize the city’s East End. For more information: www.rvaeastendfest.org or call (804) 788-4717.

FEBRUARY IS

AMERICAN HEART MONTH Coronary heart disease

is the number one KILLER of women in the United States

RED SCARF /RED TIE SUNDAY Nia, Inc. of Greater Richmond, a ministry affiliate of Saint Paul’s Baptist Church, is encouraging local pastors to celebrate a Red Scarf/Red Tie Sunday during the month of February by asking women in their congregation to wear a red dress or red scarf and men to wear a red tie to bring attention to the problem of heart disease in women. For more info and resources go to

www.womentakecharge.org

This ad was funded by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health in partnership with The Heart Truth ® program of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

The Heart Truth® and Red Dress® are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Richmond Free Press

February 11-13, 2016

B5

Faith News/Directory

VUU’s history grounded in incubating the oppressed for success

By Joey Matthews

Audience members rose to their feet with impassioned shouts of “Hallelujah!” and “Amen!” at Virginia Union University’s Founders Day Convocation last Friday.

They stood to affirm keynote speaker Bishop Rudolph W. McKissick Jr.’s stirring remarks in which he praised the university for educating AfricanAmerican students, including himself, against formidable obstacles since its founding 151 years ago at the site of the former slave-holding pen known as Lumpkin’s Jail in Shockoe Bottom.

Bishop McKissick earned a master’s of divinity degree from Virginia Union University’s School of Theology, now known as the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology. Today, he is senior pastor of the 14,000-member Bethel Baptist Institutional Church in Jacksonville, Fla. He said the university has served as a “hiding place” for him and countless other students while they were educated and learned life skills that helped pave the way for their success.

Prior to delivering the keynote message at last Friday’s Founders Day Convocation at Virginia Union University, Bishop Rudolph W. McKissick Jr. of Bethel Baptist Institutional Church in Jacksonville, Fla., is flanked by VUU President Claude G. Perkins, left, and Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, chair of the university’s Board of Trustees.

Photo courtesy of Virginia Union University

“In 1865, in a place called Lumpkin’s Jail, Virginia Union began a hiding process in a culture that said we were nothing because of the color of our skin, in a culture that wanted to say we were second class citizens,” Bishop McKissick said, his voice rising.

“They began a hiding process, a process that refused to allow a society with its labels to limit the potential of young men and young women, a process that was determined to keep us until you could groom us, a process that said we will liberate your mind so that you can learn how to live a liberated life,” he added.

“And I’m thankful today that, at age 50, I think like I think and I walk like I walk and I act like I act because I got to a place that hid me and nurtured me and tried to make me who God created me to be,” he continued.

Bishop McKissick called it “the honor of my life” to return to speak at VUU. He drew his remarks from the biblical passage in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 23 that reads: “By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hid-

den for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”

He spoke of how Moses’ mother, Jochebed, hid her son from Pharaoh after he ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed in order to reduce the population of the enslaved Israelites.

And “why else did she hide him?” the bishop asked the audience.

“You hide what you value,” he said.

“She hid him because she saw that he was someone beautiful who would be living in an oppressed condition.”

Because she hid him, Bishop McKissick added, “she was able to give birth to the one who would challenge and change the culture” of the “Egyptians’ oppressive system of slavery, which set (the Hebrews) up to be failures and second class citizens.”

He asserted that VUU has served the same role of incubating the oppressed out of harm’s way. He said the oppressors knew that “as the oppressed people increased in number, they would increase in strength” and would challenge the “cultural norms

Black History Month Kwanzaa celebration Feb. 27 It’s called “Black History Month Kwanzaa In Daily Living Celebration.”

And the free event is scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 27, at Fifth Baptist Church, 1415 W. Cary St., in the West End. It is organized by Faith Leaders Moving Forward, whose vision is to “be a socio-economic platform of self-determination for black people through the faith community,” according to Dr. Charles Shannon, the group’s founder, who also is pastor

of Mount Level Baptist Church in Amelia County.

The program will feature youths from The Richmond Youth Jazz Guild, representatives from Muhammad University of Islam and other community groups, Dr. Shannon stated in a news release.

An exhibition of photos and artifacts will be on hand, as well as vendors offering a variety of products and services, Dr. Shannon added.

For more information: (804) 251-0288.

and low expectations” that society had set for them.

“Among all of us here,” he said, “somebody today ought to be glad that when you walked through these halls, that even though some might have tried to suck your life from you and society tried to hold you down, there was a Jochebed that hid you until you were ready to be released.”

With Mayor Dwight C. Jones, a VUU alumnus in the audience, Bishop McKissick said, “They were hiding us while we produced mayors and former governors. They were hiding us while we produced educators, doctors and musicians. And they were hiding us while we produced prophets.

“And the role of the prophet,” he added, “is to tell Pharaoh to let my people go free, whether Pharaoh is Obama, Clinton, Sanders, Cruz or anybody else.”

Bishop McKissick noted the highly publicized incidents of police brutality against African-Americans in the United States and labeled it “government-sanctioned murder, where sons (Trayvon Martin) could be murdered for carrying Skittles and the murderer gets off, government-sanctioned murder where police officers abuse their position and kill those who can’t breathe (Eric Garner) and shoot those whose hands are up (Michael Brown Jr.) and get off without even a slap on the wrist.

“And there’s government-sanctioned murder,” he continued, “where gun laws aren’t put in place to keep guns out of the hood for gangs to kill each other with, government sanc-

tioned when an ex-offender can’t get a job after paying for the crimes of their past so we shoot their potential for their future.

“But I like this mother,” Bishop McKissick said of Jochebed, “because she refused to give in to the system of oppression that was set up to make her son fail. She made a choice to protect him from what was trying to kill him.

She made a choice to protect him from what was trying to foreclose on his future. She made a choice to hide him from what was trying to define him as deficient. And she made the choice that his life was made for more than second class citizenship.”

He concluded by saying everyone should turn to Jesus because, “He’ll hide you from trouble, he’ll hide you from racism, he’ll hide you from sexism and he’ll hide you from oppression.

“He’ll set my foot on solid ground, and I shall not be moved,” he said.

In introductory remarks, Virginia Union President Claude G. Perkins noted that “miracles” such as Virginia Union are made possible “when people step off the banks of the water and into it.”

He said, “No one knew this place would survive these 151 years.”

“We’ve been challenged sometimes,” he added, and “we’re still standing and still getting stronger every day.

“We will continue to trouble the waters,” he promised. “I thank God for bringing us this far.”

The Virginia Union University Concert Choir, under the direction of Willis Barnett, also performed several gospel songs to the delight of the audience.

Misinformation ‘devastating’ to African-American community

By Joey Matthews

Journalist, author and lecturer A. Peter Bailey does not count himself among the fans of the popular, award-winning movie “Straight Outta Compton,” which chronicles the rise and fall of the legendary gangster rap group N.W.A. “I refuse to go see it,” he told about 40 people at the 4th Annual State of Black America Address for Central Virginia on Saturday at Thirty-first Street Baptist Church in the East End. “These young people (N.W.A. and other gangster rap groups) made their money by producing the kind of music, or what I call entertainment, where a whole lot of young dudes (listening to what the rappers advocated) either ended up dead or in jail,” he explained.

“They basically are living on what I call blood money.

“They’ve become more respectful now,” he continued.

“Some get invited to the White House now. I saw Snoop Doggy Dogg was honored at the Kennedy Center.”

Mr. Bailey, now in his 70s, is a native of Tuskegee, Ala. He later lived in Richmond, where he was a columnist for the Free Press.

Several of his family members attended the forum.

Today, he resides in Washington, where he is an adjunct professor with the University of the District of Columbia and a columnist with Trice Edney Wire Service.

He spoke at the forum at the

Joey Matthews/Richmond Free Press

Former Richmond resident A. Peter Bailey addresses the audience last Saturday at Thirty-first Street Baptist Church in the East End.

invitation of the African American Lecture Series Committee, which organizes the event.

Mr. Bailey told the church audience that African-Americans are constantly subjected to “psychological warfare” through the negative and inaccurate depictions of AfricanAmericans and people of African descent in films, television, social media, other media and in history books.

He called the misinformation “devastating” to the black com-

munity because many people are “totally unaware” of what is happening to them.

Mr. Bailey said his education came through his relationship with the late Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X, who founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity in 1964 to fight for the human rights of African-Americans and promote cooperation among Africans and people of African descent in the Americas.

“Brother Malcolm was the

first person I heard who talked about not only the physical manifestations” of racism, but “the psychological attacks on our minds.”

“It’s deadly,” Mr. Bailey said. “It affects how you think about yourself, how you act, how you respond to things.

“If we understand we’re involved in psychological warfare, then we can develop ways to deal with it,” he added. “It’s not insurmountable.”

In his nearly 30-minute address, Mr. Bailey also said “one of the most devastating things that happened with black folks in this country was our acceptance of the Brown v. Board decision” that gave the impression that “all black schools are inherently inferior, not inferior

because of the policies of the state or of the attitudes of the larger society, but inferior just because they’re all black.

“If you accept that,” he added, “that translates into all black businesses are inferior, all black colleges are inferior, all black professionals are inferior and all black neighborhoods are inferior.”

He urged African-Americans to take pride in their talents and achievements and to fully support black educational institutions, black businesses and social justice efforts to uplift one another.

“We’re some tough, resilient people when you consider what we’ve had to go through,” he said. “We should all be half crazy. The fact that we have come

6

Pasto ral

th

for

REV. DR. VERNON J. HURTE Sunday, February 14, 2016 11:00a.m.

Guest Pastor Rev. Kimberly Ridley M. Div, Pastor The Light Community Church

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

Sixth Baptist Church Theme for 2016: Becoming a Five-Star Church of Excellence With Mission, Growth, Prayer, Purpose, Vision We Are Growing In The Kingdom As We Grow The Kingdom with Word, Worship and Witness 10:40 AM Worship and Praise

Sunday, February 14, 2016 11:00 AM Friendship Ministry Anniversary

Message by: Rev. John Logan

4:00 PM Worship and Praise Organizing A Community Celebration Youth Choir Ages 5-18 Call Wanda West (804) 272-5169 You Don’t Have To Be A Member Of This Church Refuel War Room: Bible Study/Discussions February 17th - March 23rd 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM Family Dinner 5:45 PM - Family Prayer 6:30 PM

Rev. Dr. Yvonne 400 South Addison Street, Richmond, Va. 23220 (near Byrd Park) (804) 359-3498 • Fax (804) 359-3798 Jones Bibbs, Pastor

11:00 AM Mid-day Meditation

Visit our website: www.newlightbaptistchurch.org Facebook: “New Light Baptist Church-Richmond, VA”

For more information, call the church at (804) 788-9027 or email us at info@newlightbaptistchurch.org

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

2016 Theme: The Year of Restoration



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

Anniversa ry Celebration

2000 East Broad Street Richmond, VA 23223

Good Shepherd Baptist Church

6:30 PM Prayer Meeting

through and achieved what we have is amazing and something to really take pride in.”

Other speakers at the forum discussed issues including laws and policies that discriminate against the African-American community. The focus was on Virginia’s $200 felony grand larceny threshold, which has saddled countless AfricanAmericans and others with felony convictions for minor offenses that have become obstacles to affordable housing, jobs and equitable educational opportunities.

Participants also discussed the importance of the black community uniting to address efforts to repeal voting rights and to act as advocates on other issues.

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

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 Church School Sunday Worship Service of Holy Communion Service of Baptism

9:30 a.m.

11:00 a.m.

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

The African-American Heritage Committee Presents African -American Inventions From A-Z Special Guest: Tasha Chambers, Director Black History Museum Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM



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

Richmond Free Press

B6 February 11-13, 2016

Faith News/Obituary/Directory

Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White dies at 74 Free Press wire report

Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS

President Obama speaks as he attends the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington.

‘Jesus is a good cure for fear’

By Adelle M. Banks

WASHINGTON In his last National Prayer Breakfast speech while in office, President Obama gave an introspective talk about how his faith overcomes his fears.

“For me, and I know for so many of you, faith is the great cure for fear,” President Obama said at the event Feb. 4 at a Washington hotel.

“Jesus is a good cure for fear.”

The president’s speech to several thousand mostly evangelical listeners came a day after he spoke at a Baltimore mosque and gave a history lesson on Muslim Americans’ contributions to the country.

The National Prayer Breakfast, held for the 64th time, is chaired each year by members of Congress who meet weekly for prayer when Congress is in session. It draws politicians, diplomats and prominent evangelical Christian leaders.

Speaking slowly at times as he talked about how he is comforted by Scripture and the faith of others, President Obama said he lately has focused on a Bible verse from 2 Timothy: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

He said now is the best period to have that scriptural assurance.

“What better time in these changing and tumultuous times to have Jesus standing beside us, steadying our minds, cleansing our hearts, pointing us toward what matters,” he said.

Hollywood power couple Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, the other keynote speakers at the breakfast, joined the president in urging that Americans bridge the divides that separate them.

“We pray that, with God’s help, our world

can heal some of the hurts that wound us and the confusion that divides us, but it begins with us,” said Ms. Downey, whose husband kept his hand on her shoulder as they spoke as the first husband-and-wife team to ever address the breakfast.

“Perhaps a good place to start is to simply see the image of God in the eyes of everyone you meet.”

President Obama gave credit to congregations of a variety of faiths for coming to the aid of others across the country and the globe.

Christians, Sikhs and others helped after an earthquake rocked Haiti, he said, and Jews, Christians and Muslims strove to save West Africans from Ebola. He credited people of faith for welcoming Syrian refugees to the United States and working to “wrap a shattered community in love” after the pastor and eight worshippers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., were killed.

President Obama said he joins the continuing prayers for Christians and other people of faith around the world who are persecuted for their beliefs, and he expressed gratitude for the safe return of Iranian-American pastor Saeed Abedini, who was released in January from Iran after being imprisoned since 2012.

After acknowledging his prayers to be forgiven for his own failings, President Obama closed his remarks with prayers for the country and the future.

“I pray that we will see every single child as our own, each worthy of our love and of our compassion,” he said. “And I pray we answer Scripture’s call to lift up the vulnerable, and to stand up for justice and ensure that every human being lives in dignity.”

David Silverman Talk on Fighting God David Silverman, author and President of American Atheist, will discuss his new book “Fighting God: An Atheist Manifesto for a Religious World.” Free and open to the public, the program will be held at the First Unitarian Universalist Church 1000 Blanton Ave. Sunday, February 14, 1pm - 3pm. For additional Information contact Rob Penczak: 804 320-0493 or email rpenczak@verizon.net

FirstM iBaptist Church dlothian

13800 Westfield Dr., Midlothian,VA 23113 804-794-5583 • www.fbcm1846.com

Service Times Sunday

Church School 9:45AM Worship 11:00AM

Tuesday

Bible Study 12 Noon

Riverview

Baptist Church 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

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

Religion News Service

Grace Evangelistic Ministries Church

Moore Street

97643 Hull Street Road

Baptist Church

(Off Pocoshock Blvd)

North Chesterfield, VA 23236 (804) 833-9493 or (804) 585-9186 Elder Maricia Dalphine Hayes, Pastor

WELCOME TO “THE UPPER ROOM” Morning Worship Service: 10:00 a.m.

(1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays) Sanctuary Prayer: 9:45 am 3RD SATURDAY EVENING Worship Service: 5:00 pm Theme: Ministering Encouragement and Hope WEDNESDAY “HOUR OF POWER” Bible Study: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm 2ND & 4TH SATURDAY MORNING Prayer Meeting: 8 am – 9 am

Missionary

St. Peter Baptist Church

Dr. Kirkland R. Walton, Pastor

Worship Opportunities Sundays: Morning Worship Church School Morning Worship

8 A.M. 9:30 A.M. 11 A.M.

Unity Sundays (2nd Sundays) Church School 8:30 A.M. Morning Worship 10 A.M. Thursdays: Mid-Day Bible Study 12 Noon Prayer & Praise 6:30 P.M. Bible Study 7 P.M. (Children/Youth/Adults) 2040 Mountain Road • Glen Allen, Virginia 23060 Office 804-262-0230 • Fax 804-262-4651 • www.stpeterbaptist.net

1408 W. Leigh Street • 358-6403

Dr. Alonza Lawrence Pastor

Thirty-first Street Baptist Church

Sundays

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

Tuesdays

Bible Study 12 noon

Wednesdays

C

o

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

SUNDAYS

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

Church School 9:30 a.m.

Morning Worship 10:30 a.m. ❖

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

Van Transportation Available, Call 804-794-5583

with Philip Bailey.

The Grammy-winning band Maurice White, the founder fused together rhythm and blues, of R&B funk band Earth, Wind gospel, funk, soul and African & Fire, died at his Los Angeles sounds, and enjoyed numerous home Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, hits, including “Shining Star,” publicist Mark Young said. Mr. “Boogie Wonderland,” “SeptemWhite had been battling Parber” and “That’s the Way of the kinson’s disease since 1992. He World.” was 74.

The group sold more than 100 “My brother, hero and best million records and was inducted friend Maurice White passed into the Rock & Roll Hall of Mr. White away peacefully last night in his Fame in 2000. sleep,” Mr. White’s brother and fellow band Mr. White was nominated for 21 Grammy member, Verdine White, said in a statement Awards and won seven. The band is to be posted on the band’s Facebook page. honored at this year’s Grammy Awards on “While the world has lost another great Feb. 15. musician and legend, our family asks that our While he stopped touring with the band in privacy is respected as we start what will be 1994 due to health issues, Mr. White remained a very difficult and life-changing transition active in the songwriting and production of in our lives,” he added. “Thank you for your the group’s music. prayers and well wishes.”

Earth, Wind & Fire tweeted this tribute: Born Dec. 19, 1941, in Memphis, Tenn., “Our brother Maurice White passed peaceMr. White moved to Chicago as a teenager fully in his sleep this morning. The light is and did session work as a drummer for he, shining on you and me.

Chess Records. He played on records by “Mr. White’s memoir, “Keep Your Head notable artists, including Etta James and to the Sky: My Life with Earth, Wind & Buddy Guy. Fire,” is to be released Sept. 13 by Amistad.

Eventually, he joined the Ramsey Lewis It features a foreword by Steve Harvey and Trio as a drummer, then moved to Los An- an afterword by David Foster. geles, where he formed Earth, Wind & Fire Survivors include his wife and two chilin 1969. He was the band’s main songwriter dren. Funeral arrangements have not been and record producer, and was co-lead singer announced.

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

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.

“The Church With A Welcome”

Rev. Pernell J. Johnson, Pastor

Mosby Memorial Baptist Church

“A Community Committed to Loving, Listening and Learning While Launching into our Future.”

February 14, 2016

❖

Sharon Baptist Church

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

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

SUNDAYS 8:00 a.m. .... Morning Worship 9:30 a.m. .... Church School 11:15 a.m. ...Morning Worship

WEDNESDAYS 6:00 p.m. ..... Prayer Service 6:30 p.m. ..... Bible Study

THURSDAYS 1:30 p.m.

Bible Study

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

Join us on Love Sunday for worship!

Upcoming Events

Valentine’s Day Extravaganza February 13, 2016 @ 4:00 P.M. Tickets:$25.00. Call for details.

Gospel Fest 2016

February 21, 2016 @ 3:00 P.M. Weekly Worship: Sundays @ 10:30 A.M. Church School: Sundays @ 9:00 A.M. Bible Study: Wednesdays @ Noon & 7:00 P.M. 2901 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 648-2472 ~ www.mosbymemorial.org Rev. Dr. Price L. Davis, Pastor

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}

k

2300 Cool Lane, Richmond, Virginia 23223 804-795-5784 (Armstrong High School Auditorium)

Sunday Morning Worship 11:00 a.m.

Come Join Us!

k

Joseph Jenkins, Jr., Founder (Dec. 19, 1938 - Dec. 9, 2006) Joseph Jenkins, III. • Jason K. Jenkins • Maxine T. Jenkins

20th NDEC Founders’ & Church Anniversary Banquet

Pastor Kevin Cook

“Working For You In This Difficult Hour”

2011-2049 Grayland Avenue Richmond, Virginia 23220 (804) 358-9177

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

“MAKE IT HAPPEN”

or

Joseph Jenkins, Jr. Funeral Home, Inc.

New Deliverance Evangelistic Church

Reverend Dr. Lester D. Frye Pastor and Founder

To empower people of God spiritually, mentally and emotionally for successful living.

… and Listen to our Radio Broadcast Sundays at 10:15 a.m. on WCLM 1450 AM

Jesus went throughout Galilee teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

- Matthew 4:23

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

Sunday

Saturday, March 12, 2016 The Omni Richmond Hotel 100 S. 12th St., Richmond, VA 2219

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

For more information and to purchase your banquet tickets go to:

Wednesday Services

www.ndec.net

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

Attendance - 68 Sanctuary - All Are Welcome!

Wednesday Evening Bible Study 7 p.m.

Attendance - 90

Saturday 8:30 a.m. Intercessory Prayer

Women With Mission and Purpose Conference 2016!

Theme: In His Presence - "Striving for Total Wellness" - Mind, Body & Spirit

You can now view Scripture: "Beloved, I wish above all things Sunday Morning Service that thou mayest prosper and be in health, “AS IT HAPPENS” online! even as thy soul prospereth." - KJV Also, for your convenience, Thursday, April 14 - Saturday, April 16, 2016 we now offer For more information and to register visit “full online giving.” www.ndec.net Visit www.ndec.net.

Richmond Free Press

February 11-13, 2016 B7

Legal Notices 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, February 22, 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. 2015-192 As Amended To amend and reordain ch. 2, art. VII of the City Code by adding therein a new div. 3, consisting of §§ [2-1341—2-1344] 2-1350—2-1353, for the purpose of requiring the maintenance of an internet location at which public information concerning certain projects is electronically published for public access.

Ordinance No. 2016-017 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to accept funds in the amount of $5,000.00 from the National Recreation and Park Association and to appropriate the increase to the Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Special Fund Budget by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities by $5,000.00 for the purpose of funding healthy eating and physical activity education initiatives through the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities community centers in the city of Richmond.

Ordinance No. 2016-018 To authorize the acquisition by condemnation, in the manner prescribed

by City Charter § 18.03, of certain interests in a portion of the property known as 5519 Jahnke Road for the public purpose of constructing multimodal transportation and drainage improvements along Jahnke Road between its intersection with Blakemore Road and its intersection with Forest Hill Avenue. (Committee: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Tuesday, February 16, 2016, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2016-019 To authorize the acquisition by condemnation, in the manner prescribed

by City Charter § 18.03, of certain interests in a portion of the property known as 5513 Jahnke Road for the public purpose of constructing multimodal transportation and drainage improvements along Jahnke Road between its intersection with Blakemore Road and its intersection with Forest Hill Avenue. (Committee: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Tuesday, February 16, 2016, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2016-020 To authorize the acquisition by condemnation, in the manner prescribed

by City Charter § 18.03, of certain interests in a portion of the property known as 5731 Jahnke Road for the public purpose of constructing multimodal transportation and drainage improvements along Jahnke Road between its intersection with Blakemore Road and its intersection with Forest Hill Avenue. (Committee: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Tuesday, February 16, 2016, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2016-021 To authorize the acquisition by condemnation, in the manner prescribed

by City Charter § 18.03, of certain interests in a portion of the property known as 6118 Jahnke Road for the public purpose of constructing multimodal transportation and drainage improvements along Jahnke Road between its intersection with Blakemore Road and its intersection with Forest Hill Avenue. (Committee: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Tuesday, February 16, 2016, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2016-022 To authorize the acquisition by condemnation, in the manner prescribed

by City Charter § 18.03, of certain interests in a portion of the property known as 5700 Spruance Road for the public purpose of constructing multimodal transportation and drainage improvements along Jahnke Road between its intersection with Blakemore Road and its intersection with Forest Hill Avenue. (Committee: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Tuesday, February 16, 2016, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2016-023 To authorize the acquisition by condemnation, in the manner prescribed

by City Charter § 18.03, of certain interests in a portion of the property Continued on next column

Continued from previous column

known as 1200 Spruance Road for the public purpose of constructing multimodal transportation and drainage improvements along Jahnke Road between its intersection with Blakemore Road and its intersection with Forest Hill Avenue. (Committee: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Tuesday, February 16, 2016, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2016-024 To authorize the acquisition by condemnation, in the manner prescribed by City Charter § 18.03, of certain interests in a portion of the property known as 1026 Faye Street for the public purpose of constructing multimodal transportation and drainage improvements along Jahnke Road between its intersection with Blakemore Road and its intersection with Forest Hill Avenue. (Committee: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Tuesday, February 16, 2016, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2016-025 To authorize the acquisition by condemnation, in the manner prescribed

by City Charter § 18.03, of certain interests in a portion of the property known as 1056 Boroughbridge Road for the public purpose of constructing multimodal transportation and drainage improvements along Jahnke Road between its intersection with Blakemore Road and its intersection with Forest Hill Avenue. (Committee: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Tuesday, February 16, 2016, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2016-026 To amend and reordain ch.

24, art. II of the City Code by adding therein a new div. 9, consisting of new sections 24-251 through 24-258, and to amend Appendix A of the City Code by adding therein new fees for sections 24252(d) and 24-254(b), for the purpose of permitting pedestrian enhancements within the right-of-way and excluding pedestrian enhancements from the general encroachment provisions set forth in the City Code. (Committee: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Tuesday, February 16, 2016, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2016-027 To declare that a public necessity exists and to authorize the acquisition of certain fee simple interests, permanent and temporary easements, and dedicated rights-ofway for the public purpose of constructing multimodal transportation and drainage improvements along Commerce Road between its intersection with Bells Road and its intersection with Bellemeade Road.

Ordinance No. 2016-28 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute the First Amendment to Performance Agreement between the City of Richmond, the Economic Development Authority of the City of Richmond and Dixon/Lee Development Group, LLC, for the purpose of modifying certain payment requirements and milestone dates.

(Committee: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, February 18, 2016, 3:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2016-029 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement for Employee and Retiree Health Benefits between the City of Richmond, Virginia, and the School Board of the City of Richmond, Virginia, for the purpose of exercising jointly the power granted separately to the City and the School Board to provide for health benefits for officers, employees, retirees, and their eligible dependents of the City and the School Board by means of a self-insured plan and the cooperative procurement of a thirdparty administrator for the self-insured plan and any consultants necessary to advise the City and the School Board with respect thereto. (Committee: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, February 18, 2016, 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

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 Tuesday, February 16, 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, February 22, 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 ordinance: Ordinance No. 2016-016 To authorize the special use of the properties known as 105 East Duval Street, 701 North 1st Street, and 708, 708 A, 710, 712, 714, 718, 722, 724, 728, 730, 732, 736 and 744 North 2nd Street for the purpose of authorizing up to 182 multifamily dwelling units, commercial uses, and accessory off-street parking, upon certain terms and conditions. The Richmond Downtown Plan recommends General Urban and Urban Center Areas for the subject property.

The Plan states, “Historic Jackson Ward is also an example of the general urban condition in Richmond. The district represents the historic pattern of settlement in Downtown Richmond, with a connected network of blocks and streets and buildings shaping the public space. A mix of buildings types exist in the neighborhood, ranging from single-family homes to rowhouses to mixeduse, main street buildings (p. 3.24).” “The Urban Center Area is characterized by higher density, mixed-use development, typically arranged on a fine-grained street network, with wide sidewalks, regular tree planting, and minimal setbacks. The apartment buildings along The Boulevard are an example of a residential urban center condition in Richmond, with a dense urban fabric of three to five story buildings, and limited retail at key intersections (p. 3.25).” The Urban Center Area designation is applied to the eastern half of the subject property, running along North 2nd Street.

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 SHEILA HAWTHORNELOUM, Plaintiff v.

NJAGA LOUM, Defendant.

Case No.: CL150023648-00 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, who is a nonresident, appear here on or before the 23rd day of March, 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 OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND BEAUTIFUL COURAGEOUS YOUNG, Plaintiff v.

DARLO MONTA YOUNG, Defendant.

Chancery No.: CL15-2396-7 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 March 1, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: EDWARD F. JEWETT, Clerk VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER FAHAD SYED, Plaintiff v.

TURKESA BEAVER, Continued on next column

Continued from previous column

Continued from previous column

Continued from previous column

Continued from previous column

Continued from previous column

Defendant.

Case No.: CL16000028-00 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 2nd day of March, 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

in re MARILEA HEFLIN, Juvenile Children’s Home Society of Virginia v.

Unknown Birth Father Case No. J-91969-2

The object of this suit is to: Pursuant to VA. Code Section 16.1-277.01, Children’s Home Society of Virginia is requesting that the Court terminate the residual parental rights of the unknown father, whose identity and whereabouts are unknown, and transfer custody of the infant, Marilea Heflin, d/o/b 11/03/2015 to the Children’s Home Society of Virginia with the right to place the infant for adoption.

It is ordered that the defendant, unknown birth father appear at the above-named Court and protect his interests on or before April 11, 2016 at 11:20 a.m.

Sherry A. Fox, Esq. Thompson McMullan, P.C. 100 Shockoe Slip Richmond, Virginia 23219 804-698-6252

cessors in title; that BEVERLY SALKIN, As to $10,000.00 Interest, who may be the holder of $10,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 07-27813, who is not a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title, have not filed a response to this action; that RONALD E. ROBINSON, As to $12,000.00 Interest, who may be the holder of $12,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 07-27813, has not been personally located and has not filed a response to this action, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title; that STEVEN WEISS, As to $15,000.00 Interest, who may be the holder of $15,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 07-27813, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title; that GERALD FINE, AS TRUSTEE, GERALD FINE REVOCABLE TRUST DATED 09/10/1992, As to $20,000.00 Interest, who may be the holder of $20,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 0727813, who is not a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, has not filed a response in this matter, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title; that TAMARA B. LACEY, As to part of a $5,000.00 Interest, who may be the holder of part of a $5,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 07-27813, has not been personally located and has not filed a response in this matter, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title; that JAY S. SCHWARTZ, As Agent for BERNICE SCHWARTZ, RICHARD D. KRIDER, SHERRIE BECKER, PATRICK BECKER, JAY S. SCHWARTZ, JAY S. SCHWARTZ, As Trustee for the JAY SCHWARTZ TRUST U/A 11/6/1992, JAY S. SCHWARTZ, As Trustee for the EDWARD J. BECKER MARITAL TRUST, who may be creditors with an interest in said property, have not been personally located and have not filed a response to this action; that THEODORE SELLMAN, Who May Be Deceased, and the Heirs, Devisees, Assignees or Successors in Interest of THEODORE SELLMAN, who may be creditor/s with an interest in said property, have not been located and have not filed a response to this matter; and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that CLAYTON INVESTMENT GROUP, L. L. C., A Cancelled Virginia Limited Liability Company, DONALD ADLER, As to $10,000.00 Interest, who may be the holder of $10,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 07-27813, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title, ISAAC SILVER a/k/a ISSAC SILVER, As to $10,000.00 Interest, who may be the holder of $10,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 07-27813, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title, BEVERLY SALKIN, As to $10,000.00 Interest, who may be the holder of $10,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 07-27813, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title, RONALD E. ROBINSON, As to $12,000.00

Interest, who may be the holder of $12,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 07-27813, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title, STEVEN WEISS, As to $15,000.00 Interest, who may be the holder of $15,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 07-27813, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title, GERALD FINE, AS TRUSTEE, GERALD FINE REVOCABLE TRUST DATED 09/10/1992, As to $20,000.00 Interest, who may be the holder of $20,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 07-27813, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title, TAMARA B. LACEY, As to part of a $5,000.00 Interest, who may be the holder of part of a $5,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 07-27813, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title, JAY S. SCHWARTZ, As Agent for BERNICE SCHWARTZ, RICHARD D. KRIDER, SHERRIE BECKER, PATRICK BECKER, JAY S. SCHWARTZ, JAY S. SCHWARTZ, As Trustee for the JAY SCHWARTZ TRUST U/A 11/6/1992, JAY S. SCHWARTZ, As Trustee for the EDWARD J. BECKER MARITAL TRUST, THEODORE SELLMAN, Who May Be Deceased, and the Heirs, Devisees, Assignees or Successors in Interest of THEODORE SELLMAN, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before MARCH 18, 2016, and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940

not been located and has not filed a response to this action; and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that VERNEIDA S. MILES, who may be deceased, and the heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest of VERNEIDA S. MILES, JAMES H. SNIPES and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before MARCH 18, 2016, and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER EUSEBIO PEREZ SANCHEZ, Plaintiff v.

AILEEN SANCHEZ, Defendant.

Case No.: CL16000123-00 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 2nd day of March, 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 BARBARA CHALKEY, Plaintiff v.

WILLIAM CHALKEY, Defendant.

Case No.: CL15002663-00 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 2nd day of March, 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 IN the COunty of Chesterfield Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Lewis, Gabrien Rosi; Stokes, Alexander Sean; Stokes, Amaya Justina, Glenna Daphney Lewis v. antonio Jean stokes Case No. JJ087150-01-00,02-00, JJ087151-01-00,-0200, JJ087149-01-00,-02-00 OrDEr Of puBLicatiON

The object of this suit is to: Determine custody of Gabriel Rosi Lewis (DOB: 12/25/02), Alexander Sean Stokes (DOB: 12/22/05), and Amaya Justina Stokes (DOB: 6/15/00), whose mother is Glenna Daphney Lewis, and whose father is Antonio Jean Stokes, pursuant to Virginia Code Section 16.1-241A3.

It is ORDERED that the defendant appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or before April 20, 2016 at 9:00 A.M. Adrienne Barnes, Esq. 1326 Alverser Plaza Midlothian, VA 23113

virgiNia: iN thE Circuit court for the county of Chesterfield In the matter of the adoption of a child to be known as AUbrey Future wilson (Birth Certificate registration number 145-10-073618, registered in the commonwealth of virginia) Case No. CA15-60 By julia lynn fullerwilson and Richard allen wilson, sr.

OrDEr Of puBLicatiON January 26, 2016 The object of the above-styled suit is the adoption of the minor child, Aubrey Future Wilson.

And it appearing by affidavit filed according to law that Shaneka Lynette Dunkley, Respondent and biological mother of the minor child, whose location has not been able to be ascertained despite diligence and reasonable efforts of the Petitioner, it is therefore ORDERED that the said Shaneka Lynette Dunkley appear on or before the 30th day of March, 2016, in the Clerk’s Office of this Court and do what is necessary to protect her interests.

An Extract Teste: Wendy S. Hughes, Clerk Stephen R. Bloomquest, Esq. Quest Law PLLC 5913 Harbour Park Drive Midlothian, VA 23112 804.396.3329 888.780.5945 virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of thE city Of richmOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Egypt Townes, Juvenile Case No. JJ0888007-10

The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) of Unknown, (Father), of Egypt Townes, child, DOB 5/6/2013, “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 Unknown, (Father,) appear at the abovenamed Court and protect his/ her interest on or before June 6, 2016 at 9:20 a.m. Court Room #1.

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

Property

virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of thE city Of richmOND Commonwealth of Virginia,

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

Case No.: CL15-1476-1 CLAYTON INVESTMENT GROUP, L.L.C., A Cancelled Virginia Limited Liability Company, et al., Defendants.

ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as “1218 North 24thh Street”, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map/GPIN# E000-0559/030, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, CLAYTON INVESTMENT GROUP, L. L. C.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, CLAYTON INVESTMENT GROUP, L. L. C., A Cancelled Virginia Limited Liability Company, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action; that DONALD ADLER, As to $10,000.00 Interest, who may be the holder of $10,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 07-27813, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title; that ISAAC SILVER a/k/a ISSAC SILVER, As to $10,000.00 Interest, who may be the holder of $10,000.00 Interest in a certain Note secured by a Balloon Deed of Trust dated August 13, 2007, with respect to said property, recorded August 15, 2007, in Instrument Number 07-27813, has not been personally located and has not filed a response to this action, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or suc-

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virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt IN the COunty of Chesterfield Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Coleman, Frank; III DWayne hayes v.

Unknown father Case No. JJ087475-01-00 OrDEr Of puBLicatiON

The object of this suit is to: Determine custody of Frank Coleman, III, (DOB: 3/11/2009),whose mother was Sandgria Banks (Deceased); whose grandfather is Dwayne Hayes; and whose father is unknown, pursuant to Virginia Code Section 16.1-241A3.

It is ORDERED that the defendant appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or before April 6, 2016 at 9:00 A.M. Paul Spaulding, Esq. 11901 Iron Bridge Road Chester, VA 23831

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VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

Case No.: CL15-3963-1 VERNEIDA S. MILES, Who May Be Deceased, and THE HEIRS, DEVISEES, ASSIGNEES OR SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST OF VERNEIDA S. MILES, et al., Defendants.

ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 1320 North 34th Street, , Richmond, Virginia, TaxMap/GPIN# E0000875/004, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, VERNEIDA S. MILES.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, VERNEIDA S. MILES, who may be deceased, and the heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest of VERNEIDA S. MILES, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action; that JAMES H. SNIPES, who may have an ownership interest in said property, has Continued on next column

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

Case No.: CL15-3507-1 STEPHEN D. FOREHAND, et al., Defendants.

ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 8011 Burrundie Drive, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map/GPIN#C003-0221/006, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Stephen D. Forehand.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, STEPHEN D. FOREHAND has not been personally located and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that STEPHEN D. FOREHAND and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before MARCH 18, 2016, and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940

BIDS COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA CONSTRUCTION ITB # 16-1123-1CE – Fair Oaks, Holladay, Longan, & Seven Pines Elementary Schools and John Rolfe Middle School – Bathroom Improvements - This project consists of repairs and alterations of existing bathroom spaces. Due 3:00 pm, March 3, 2016. Additional information available at: http:// henrico.us/purchasing/.

COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA CONSTRUCTION ITB # 16-1129-1CE – Water Reclamation Facility Hot Water Loop Replacement - This project consists of miscellaneous Improvements at Henrico County Water Reclamation Facility. Due 3:00 pm, March 9, 2016.

Additional information available at: http://henrico.us/ purchasing/.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS – RFP#153288 The Virginia Department of Transportation is requesting proposals from firms to provide design, integration, implementation, on-going maintenance and operation of the tolling solution for I-66 Inside the Beltway. A Mandatory PreProposal Conference will be held on this Request For Proposal on: February 19, 2016 @ 10:00 a.m. at the McConnell Public Safety and Transportation Operations Center at 4890 Alliance Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030. All proposals must be received by 2:00 p.m. on March 22, 2016 at the Virginia Department of Transportation, Fredericksburg District Office located at 87 Deacon Rd, Fredericksburg, VA 22405 (mailed or hand delivered). A copy of Request for Proposals RFP#153288 may be obtained via the website, www.eva.virginia.gov, jacqueline.brunson@vdot.virginia.gov or by calling (540)899-4237, (for TDD requests, please call (804) 371-8499).

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

IFB -H160007918 - Annual Mechanical Contract - Maintenance, Repair & Installation/Construction Services Receipt Date: February 23, 2016 at 2:30 P.M. Opening Date: February 24, 2016 at 2:30 P.M. Pre-bid Date/Time/Location: February 12, 2016 at 10:30 A.M. located at City Hall, 900 East Broad Street, 11th floor, Room 1104, Richmond, VA 23219 Information or copies of the above solicitation is available by contacting Procurement Services, at the City of Richmond website (www.RichmondGov.com), or at 11th Floor of City Hall, 900 E. Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. Phone (804) 646-5716 or faxed (804) 646-5989. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process.

For reference purposes, documents may be examined at the above location.

Richmond Free Press

B8 February 11-13, 2016

Sports Plus

Chemistry clicking among George Wythe players

By Fred Jeter

There appear to be three basic categories of George Wythe High School basketball Bulldogs.

There’s the obvious leading man, senior do-it-all guard Maliek White, the Providence College-bound 2015 State 3A Player of the Year.

Then there’s a quartet of rookies, plugging holes in the lineup left by the loss of four starters from last year’s 26-6 state champions.

And then … drum roll please … there’s a much-anticipated cavalry charge. More on that later.

If all three elements click, the Bulldogs just may stage a gallant, come-from-behind finishing kick to contend for postseason bows.

“I feel good despite our record,” said George Wythe Coach Willard Coker. “We’ve had to break in a bunch of new kids into a tough system. In three of those losses, Maliek didn’t Coach play (due to a thigh bruise) and they were still winnable games.”

Wythe improved to 10-7 on Monday night with a 79-58 victory over Cosby High School.

In what has been a winter of navigating choppy waters, it was the Bulldogs’ fourth straight win.

“We needed time playing together to get some chemistry,” said White. “If we play as a team, we can make another run” at the state championship.

George Wythe lost three seniors from last year’s team, plus 6-foot-8 Richard Sanders, who transferred to 5A powerhouse Henrico High School.

Stepping into prime time has been 6-foot-2 sophomore Eugene Williams, 6-foot junior Kareem Horton, 6-foot-3 senior Malik Nelson, and 6-foot-6 junior Kabir Shabazz-Allah.

All are talented and each has enjoyed his moments.

Consistency, understandably, has been the issue.

Long limbed and lithe, Shabazz-Allah is averaging nearly a double-double (points and rebounds) and appears to be the Bulldogs’ star in waiting, at least on the

current roster.

“He can be the best big man in the area,” said Coach Coker. “Right now, he’s finding his way.”

Known to friends as “KB,” he is the son of 6-foot-6 Trevonne Eggleston, the 1992 Dominion District football defensive player of the year at Huguenot High School.

Coincidentally, Shabazz-Allah enjoyed his best game Feb. 1 against Huguenot, dropping in 21 points.

“I’m just trying to play hard and hit the boards,” Shabazz-Allah said. “Coach wants me to be a scorer, too. I’m trying to be.”

As a sophomore, Shabazz-Allah played on Wythe’s junior varsity team. He watched the state games, including Wythe’s 80-60 romp of Spotswood High in the final, tucking his long legs into a Siegel Center seat.

“I just watched and cheered the team on,” he recalled.

Now news of the “cavalry.”

Coach Coker is hopeful of increased firepower Coker later this month for the challenging Conference 26 tournament at the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center. The Bulldogs’ roster will expand with some spring semester add-ons.

“I really don’t want to name any names until they’re out on the floor,” said Coach Coker. “You’ve got to understand.”

At least one is an athlete in Shabazz-Allah’s height range, who transferred from another city school.

The “cavalry” cooled its heals for eligibility as the end of the fall semester was moved from Feb. 2 to Feb. 9 because of time lost to weather.

Conference 26 has determined the past two state champs — John Marshall High School in 2014 and George Wythe High School in 2015 — and likely will again. Both conference finalists advanced to the regions.

John Marshall High and Hopewell High School, runner-up to George Wythe last year, loom as conference favorites this season.

But with White, along with an improving cast of newcomers, and the cavalry’s trumpeted arrival, the Bulldogs could be at their best when it counts the most.

Maliek White, George Wythe High School’s go-to man, goes up for a basket, while junior Kabir Shabazz-Allah watches the move in the Bulldogs’ Feb. 5 victory over Monacan High School.

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Legal/Employment Opportunities Church Administrator

The City of Richmond announces the following project(s) available for services relating to:

Second Baptist Church (South Richmond) is seeking candidates for a Church Administrator. Interested parties can view the job description, the employment application and authorization for background check form at www.2bcsouthside.org. Look under the “Announcement” section.

Application, authorization for background check form and resume (if desired) can be emailed to employment@2bcsouthside.org or mailed by February 19, 2016 to: Second Baptist Church Attention: Human Relations 3300 Broad Rock Blvd.

Richmond, VA 23224

IFB -K160005919 – Capital Improvements Projects Annual Sewer Repair and Replacement Contract Receipt Date: March 2, 2016 at 2:30 P.M. Opening Date: March 3, 2016 at 2:30 P.M. Pre-bid Date/Time/Location: February 17, 2016 at 1:00 P.M. located at City Hall, 900 East Broad Street, 11th floor, Room 1104, Richmond, VA 23219 Information or copies of the above solicitation is available by contacting Procurement Services, at the City of Richmond website (www.

RichmondGov.com), or at 11th Floor of City Hall, 900 E. Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. Phone (804) 646-5716 or faxed (804) 6465989. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process.

For reference purposes, documents may be examined at the above location.

If questions, contact Human Relations at 804-232-5124, your call will be returned.

Opening for Nurse Aides and PCA’s with Alzheimer’s experience.

Good pay.

Good days off.

Call for more information (804) 222-5133

Saint Mark Baptist Church, serving the Goochland Virginia and surrounding communities, is seeking a

The City of Richmond is seeking to fill the following position: Automotive Mechanic II 29M00001101 Department of Public Works Apply by 02/21/2016

Assistant Professor 12-Month Special Education

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education seeks applicants for an Assistant Professor position with an anticipated start date of August 16, 2016. This is a twelve-month teaching and research term faculty position in the Department of Special Education and Disability Policy. Earned doctoral degree in special education, education, or closely related field is required.

For further information and to apply, visit www.vcujobs.com.

Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the closing date of March 3, 2016.

Digital Content ProDuCer/ MMJ

Richmond’s #1 news operation seeks a Digital Content Producer/MMJ to create editorial content for NBC12’s new media operations. Responsibilities include producing station content on all digital platforms, aggregating content and producing original material unique to digital platforms, updating text, image, video and live content. The ideal candidate will have a college degree and professional digital and social media content experience.

Apply on line at https://careers-raycommedia. icims.com. Drug Screen required. EOE M/F/D/V

Assistant Professor

9-Month M.Ed Program in Special Education

Assistant Professor

9-Month Early Childhood Special Education Program

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education seeks applicants for an Assistant Professor position with an anticipated start date of August 16, 2016. This is a nine-month teaching and research term faculty position in the Department of Special Education and Disability Policy and in particular, the Early Childhood Special Education Program within the Department. Earned doctoral degree in special education, education, or closely related field is required.

For further information and to apply, visit www.vcujobs.com.

Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the closing date of March 3, 2016.

Virginia Commonwealth University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Equipment Operator II – Wastewater 35M00000315 Department of Public Utilities Apply by 2/28/16 Investigative Coordinator 25M00000049 Department of Finance Apply by 02/21/2016 Lifeguard (Seasonal) Multiple Positions 30TEMP02013 Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities Apply by 04/03/2016 Maintenance Technician I 30M00000036 Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities Apply by 02/21/2016

Virginia Commonwealth University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education seeks applicants for an Assistant Professor position with an anticipated start date of August 16, 2016. This is a nine-month teaching and research term faculty position in the Department of Special Education and Disability Policy and in particular, the M.Ed. Program in Special Education/General education curriculum program.

Earned doctoral degree in special education, education, or closely related field is required.

For further information and to apply, visit www.vcujobs.com.

Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the closing date of March 3, 2016.

Virginia Commonwealth University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

NEWS SpEcialiSt NBC12 seeks part-time news/content specialist.

Qualified candidates should have experience in all areas of broadcast operations including microwave, tape editing, graphics, camera and audio.

Good computer and internet skills. Work schedule may include days, nights and weekends. Apply on line at https://careers-raycommedia.icims.com Drug Screen required. EOE M/F/D/V.

Maintenance Technician IV 35M00000614 Department of Public Utilities Apply by 2/14/16 Project Management Analyst – Stormwater 35M00000820 Department of Public Utilities Apply by 3/6/16 Systems Developer 20M00000027 Department of Finance Apply by 02/28/2016 Systems Operations Administrator 87M00000117 Emergency Communications Apply by 2/28/16 ****************** 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

Music Director/Choir Director and Organist/Pianist.

As music is a key component in our Worship Services, we are seeking a person with a strong background and commitment to both traditional and contemporary styles of gospel music, experience with choral leadership and excellent communication skills. The salary of this part-time position will be commensurate with experience and qualifications.

Please send resumes with references by e-mail to stmarkmaidens@aol.com or by mail to Saint Mark Baptist Church, C/O Marie Hewlett, Clerk, 4596 Factory Mill Rd, Maidens Va 23102.

TRANSPORTATION PLANNER Richmond Regional Planning District Commission The Richmond Regional Planning District Commission is seeking a candidate to support the transportation planning efforts of the Richmond Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RRTPO). The primary responsibilities of this position would include assisting in the continued development of the RRTPO Title VI and Public Participation plan documents, processes, and planning efforts in the Richmond region; these efforts will involve data collection and analysis.

The position requires a master’s degree in planning or a related field, three years of relevant professional planning experience, or any equivalent combination of experience and training. Strong writing, speaking, and collaborative planning skills are important qualifications. A strong community planning background is preferred, as well as experience developing regional plans for a range of transportation modes. Starting salary approximately $42,000 per year.

Detailed information regarding the position is on the RRPDC website, www.richmondregional.org.

Submit a completed RRPDC employment application, available on the RRPDC website, with a cover letter, resume, and salary history to Richmond Regional PDC, Executive Secretary, 9211 Forest Hill Avenue, Suite 200, Richmond, VA 23235, or via email to jfry@ richmondregional.org. Application deadline is close of business on February 18, 2016.

Applicants selected for interview will be requested to provide references and work samples. EOE.

To advertise in the Richmond Free Press call 644-0496