GardenFest lights No.1 B2
Richmond Free Press © 2023 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 32 NO. 50
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
richmondfreepress.com
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Meet this week’s Personality B1
DECEMBER 14-16, 2023
Eureka!
FDA approves milestone treatments for sickle cell disease By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Two breakthrough gene therapies can now be used to treat and possibly cure sickle cell anemia, the genetic blood disorder that afflicts 100,000 mostly Black Americans and 20 million people worldwide. But the announcement from the Food and Drug Administration of approval of the treatments — the first use of medicines to address an inherited disease — drew cheers and caution flags from those in the field. “For many years, a bone marrow transplant has been the only transformative option for treating patients with sickle cell disease, and a limited one, as not all patients have a suitable donor,” said Dr. Alexis A. Thompson, chief of the Hematology Division at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, one of the test sites. “Now, after decades of limited progress in treating sickle cell disease, we have reached a Ms. Coles-Johnson
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Dr. Smith
Sarah Cannon Research Institute via Associated Press
This July 2019 image provided by the Sarah Cannon Research Institute shows Victoria Gray on her infusion day during a gene editing trial for sickle cell disease at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute and The Children’s Hospital At TriStar Centennial in Nashville, Tenn. Ms. Gray, the first patient to test the treatment, shared her experience with researchers at a scientific conference in 2023. She described suffering with terrible bouts of pain since childhood and receiving highdose pain medications and sometimes blood transfusions. She described feeling she “was being reborn” the day she got the gene therapy.
Audit report dings State Jails Board creates Department improvement plan for City Jail Finance More than a quarter of registered vehicle Investigation cites 6 deaths, inconsistent inspections and other unmet standards By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Only a small staff of deputies is working in the Richmond City Justice Center on any given day, the Free Press is being told, as the number of sworn officers under the command of Sheriff Antionette V. Irving continues to fall. Richmond Police officers wait two to three hours to have the jail take custody of a prisoner because the lockup section is understaffed, while only two to three deputies may be on each floor of the jail during a shift, according to information the Free Press was provided by people, only on condition of anonymity. Earlier this month, Sheriff Irving reported 191 vacancies in deputy positions, or 49.4% of the 386 deputies. That’s up from 170 vacancies a year ago. That means, say Free Press sources, the sheriff struggles to have enough deputies at the jail and to handle other duties, which include providing security at city courthouses,
handling the eviction process and delivering civil papers. “Don’t use my name,” said one deputy, who went on to tell the Free Press that there was no way for her and others on duty to do the required inspection rounds every half hour and monitor the cells. “There is just too much going Sheriff Irving on,” she said. “And we just have too few people to handle the situations we face and do the rounds.” The failure of timely inspections is the key reason that the Virginia Board of Local and Regional Jails has created a two-year improvement plan for Sheriff Irving’s operation. The board created the improvement plan after being called on to investigate six deaths at the jail between March 2022 and October 2023, during the course of which their staff found that minimum standards were not being met. Please turn to A4
owners wrongly assessed penalties, late fees By Jeremy M. Lazarus
computer system to reflect that change, resulting in The Richmond Finance faulty assessment of a 10% Department wrongly hit penalty and interest on the owners of 66,057 vehicles “late payments” that should with late payment fees have been recognized as and interest in 2022 even having been paid on time. though the owners paid by The audit team turned up the deadline, a new audit the problem in reviewing Mr. Lewis has found. the department’s handling Led by interim City Auditor W. Bret of personal property taxes, the secLewis, the Dec. 5 audit of personal ond largest source of tax revenue for property tax operations during 2022 City Hall. The department billed $56 found the department led by Sheila million in personal property taxes in White failed to account for a two- 2022, the audit stated, based on a month extension in the due date that personal property tax rate of $3.70 City Council approved. per $100 of value. City Council extended the deadline Overall, the penalties were assessed for payment from June 5 to Aug. 5, but Please turn to A4 the department failed to reprogram its
Lawsuits filed against RPS regarding school shooting report By George Copeland Jr.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the Richmond School Board for refusing to release the findings of an external investigation into the June 6 mass shooting in Monroe Park after the Huguenot High School graduation ceremony. The local daily newspaper announced it filed a lawsuit last Friday in Richmond Circuit Court after a Freedom of Information Act request for the report was denied by the board. The 32-page report was conducted by the Sands Anderson law firm. The next day, Joshua Stanfield, executive
director of Activate Virginia, an allreport, and have repeatedly deferred volunteer network of researchers and to their legal counsel when discussing activists who uncover corruption in its potential release. Virginia, announced his intention to The daily publication and Mr. also file a petition for mandamus and Stanfield both challenged this exdeclaratory relief this week in Richemption in their filings, arguing that mond Circuit Court, with the request it and Virginia law doesn’t apply to of a hearing being set by the court the investigation and report as it was within seven days of its filing. approved and commissioned. Mr. Kamras The School Board decided to not “School Board’s own parameters share the findings presented by Sands Anderson for the Sands Anderson investigation, as deafter reviewing it in closed session meetings. lineated in Superintendent Kamras’ October 2, Board members have cited attorney-client 2023 presentation to Respondent School Board, privilege as the reason for not releasing the do not include the provision of legal advice or
legal counsel,” Mr. Stanfield’s petition reads. “Respondents therefore illegally exercised the exemption in (Virginia Code) as it pertains to ‘written advice of legal counsel’.” Sands Anderson’s investigation was authorized in August, following a Richmond Public Schools investigation into the shooting, which led to the killing of Huguenot High graduate Shawn D. Jackson and his stepfather, Renzo R. Smith. School Board members found the RPS report, which wasn’t published due to student privacy Please turn to A4
Shining stars
Bernadine Simmons, L. Victor Collins and Andre Braugher remembered Free Press staff report
The Associated Press
Andre Braugher arrives at An Evening With “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” at Bing Theatre, May 7, 2015, in Los Angeles. Mr. Braugher, the Emmy-winning actor best known for his roles on the series “Homicide: Life on The Street” and “Brooklyn 99,” died Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, at age 61.
The world had Oprah. Richmond had Bernie. Longtime television journalist Bernadine A. “Bernie” Simmons, who died Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, at age 79, was well known to many in Richmond and surrounding communities as the creator and face of NBC12’s popular “12 About Town” news show. Ms. Simmons launched Ms. Simmons Mr. Collins “12 About Town” in the 1980s for NBC12 (formerly WWBT Channel 12), highlighting events, locations and people Please turn to A4
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
On tour Under the watchful eyes of her father, John Hall, and mother China Hall, 6-year-old Kylie Hall tours Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden before nightfall for the annual Dominion GardenFest of Lights. This year’s light sensation led Lewis Ginter to secure the No. 1 spot in the USA Today 10 Best contest. More photos on B2.