December 24-27, 2014 edition

Cherished Holiday Memories B4

• Emancipation Day

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• Holiday closings

Richmond Free Press

VOL. 23 NO. 52

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RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

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DECEMBER 24-27, 2014

Joe fights back His political future now in hands of voters

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

U.S.-Cuba relations ‘a dream come true’ Free Press wire reports

Some Cuban exiles responded with outrage, others with ecstasy.

News last week that the United States will restore diplomatic relations with Cuba for the first time in more than a half century divided America’s 1.5 million-strong Cuban exile community and threatened to shake up the political landscape in the vital battleground state of Florida.

The reaction in Florida, which is home to about 80 percent of the n a t i o n ’s CubanPresident Obama American population, reflects a generational shift in an exile community whose powerful political influence in the United States and steadfast support for the Republican Party helped keep U.S. sanctions on Cuba in place for decades.

But with President Obama’s vow to push for “an honest and serious debate” about lifting the United States’ long-standing economic embargo against Cuba, many Cuban exiles welcomed the turn, seeing a chance Please turn to A4

Secret Service problems go deep Free Press wire reports

The U.S. Secret Service needs a leader from the outside to overhaul the insular agency, beef up staffing and improve training.

But first the agency needs to build a higher fence around the White House.

These were two of the conclusions reached in an independent review released last week that revealed deep problems at the top of the agency charged with guarding President Obama and other senior government officials.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson appointed a four-member independent panel to conduct the review.

But the agency’s problems, the report noted, “go deeper than a new fence can fix.”

It was suggested that an agency director not tied to Secret Service traditions and personal relationships would be better equipped to do an honest reassessment and encourage a culture of accountability.

The last Secret Service director, Julia Pierson, was Please turn to A4

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

A Christmas wish

With visions of sugar plums and candy canes dancing though his head, Dustin Anderson, 5, prepares to tell Santa his holiday wishes at the recent open house featuring “Santa with Soul” at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in Jackson Ward.

Christmas spirit shines light on special needs

By Joey Matthews

Ronnie Carter rose from his wheelchair and walked resolutely to the front of the sanctuary. Turning to the audience, he stirringly sang the hymn, “Jesus Loves Me.” The 60-year-old South Richmond man has an intellectual disability. He is unable to read. But that didn’t stop him from reciting Psalm 23 from the Bible.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul …” Mr. Carter declared.

When he finished, there was not a dry eye in the sanctuary.

On this afternoon in mid-December, tissues passed freely among the rows of families, friends and community members attending Second Baptist Church’s fourth annual special needs Christmas service.

The theme: “Celebrating Life, Love and Special People.”

Like Carter, participants with special needs merrily sang, danced, mimed and performed karate exhibitions in a celebration that was as emotionally moving as it was joyous.

Performers at the Randolph neighborhood church included children as young as 6 and adults up to middle age with physical and mental challenges such as autism, cerebral palsy, Down’s Syndrome and other intellectual disabilities.

“It’s not about disability, it’s about ability,” event co-founder Monica Lucas, a Second Baptist member and special needs professional, told audience members.

She and Pam Mines, a Chesterfield County mother of two children with disabilities, organized the event to celebrate the talents of people with special needs.

Ms. Mines is the founder and president of the JP Jumpers Foundation, whose mission is to “positively impact families affected by autism, special needs and unique

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Cory Todd, 25, presents his mother, Cynthia Todd, with a “God Chose Me” award during Second Baptist Church’s recent Christmas celebration spotlighting the talents and contributions of people with special needs and their advocates.

circumstances,” she said.

Jayla Brown, 12, enthusiastically welcomed guests at the service’s start with flash cards that read in part: “I am 90 percent non verbal. I smile, laugh and jump to express my needs and wants. Most importantly, thanks for JP Jumpers.”

Her mother, Jamilya, a single parent who works and attends school full time, was among six people to receive a “God Chose Me” award for her dedication to help people with special needs.

“God gives strength to the weary,” she tearfully told the Please turn to A4

Delegate Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey’s high school wrestling career seemed to be over when he partially tore a knee ligament.

Instead, two weeks later, the 17-year-old won four matches and a state wrestling title as he defied the pain, as well as his parents and doctors, who wanted him to quit.

Forty years later, now a middle-aged member of the General Assembly, Delegate Morrissey cites that teenage determination as he fights for his political life in defiance of powerful figures, including the governor and the Speaker of the House, who want him to disappear.

“Don’t underestimate me,” the embattled 57-year-old lawmaker said last week as he began his quest for another comeback in a legal and political career splotched with fights, setbacks and rebounds.

He is now preparing to run as an independent Tuesday, Jan. 13, in a special election for the seat he now holds — in which he will face two challengers, Democrat Kevin J. Sullivan, a former Teamsters Union officialturned-Charles City County alpaca farmer, and Republican Matt D. Walton, a teacher.

Both are first-time candidates for public office.

And Mr. Sullivan’s nomination already is generating blowback over the party’s decision to allow a pool of fewer than 60 people to participate in selecting a Democratic challenger to the embattled Mr. Morrissey.

It’s all part of an unbelievable political drama that would defy even Hollywood screenwriters to script.

Delegate Morrissey’s latest troubles stem from his agreement Dec. 12 to accept a misdemeanor conviction — an Alford plea — to avoid a trial on four felony sexual misconduct charges that could have cost him a long stretch in prison.

The conviction is the upshot of an illicit relationship the Henrico Democrat is accused of having in 2013 with an underage receptionist who worked at his law office for three weeks.

Both he and Myrna Pride, now 18, still deny having sex when she was 17 and say the evidence against him was concocted.

However, he is now the first state legislator to spend his days at the General Assembly building and his nights in a jail cell — Henrico County Jail East in New Kent County — at least through mid-March, when he is to be released on five years’ probation.

Please turn to A4

Protests continue despite officers’ deaths Reuters

New York Protestors will continue to march and demonstrate against the killing of unarmed black men by police despite New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s impassioned request on Monday for protestors to wait until after the funerals of two policemen shot dead in an ambush last weekend.

Mayor de Blasio’s plea quickly was dismissed by several activist groups that vowed to continue protests that have stirred the city daily after grand juries chose not to indict police officers who killed Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. “It’s a time for everyone to put aside political debates, put aside protests, put aside all of the things

we will talk about in due time,” the mayor said in a speech to a charity with close ties to the New York Police Department, two days after Rafael Ramos, 40, and his partner, Wenjian Liu, 32, were killed.

The men were shot Saturday as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn. Their deaths electrified tensions that had been coursing for months between City Hall, the police department and the reform-minded protesters who voted for Mayor de Blasio in large numbers.

Similar protests, some of them violent, have taken place across the United States, provoking a bitter debate about how American police forces treat nonwhite citizens that has drawn in President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder.

Even Mayor de Blasio’s assurance on Monday that

he would attend the slain officers’ funerals, normally an unquestioned mayoral duty, took on a political charge.

Earlier this month, the city’s largest police union said the mayor had abandoned police officers and urged members to sign a letter insisting that the mayor stay away from their funerals should they be killed while on duty.

Police identified the killer as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, who wrote online that he planned to avenge the deaths of Mr. Garner and Mr. Brown, who were both unarmed black men killed by white officers. Mr. Brinsley killed himself with a shot to the head.

Just hours before driving to Brooklyn and shooting the officers, Mr. Brinsley shot and seriously wounded Please turn to A4

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Richmond Free Press

December 24-27, 2014

Local News

Holiday closings

Helping hands

In observance of Christmas, please note the following: City and county public schools: Winter break began Monday, Dec. 22; schools reopen Monday, Jan. 5.

Government: Richmond city and state offices close at noon Wednesday, Dec. 24, and reopen Monday, Dec. 29.

Chesterfield County offices are closed Wednesday, Dec. 24, through Friday, Dec. 26.

Henrico County offices are closed Wednesday, Dec. 24, and Thursday, Dec. 25.

Federal offices are closed Thursday, Dec. 25, and Friday, Dec. 26.

Courts: State courts are closed Wednesday, Dec. 24, and Thursday, Dec. 25.

Federal courts are closed Thursday, Dec. 25, and Friday, Dec. 26.

Libraries: Richmond city libraries are open 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 24, and closed Thursday, Dec. 25, and Friday, Dec. 26.

Chesterfield County libraries are closed Wednesday, Dec. 24, through Monday, Dec. 29.

Henrico County libraries are closed Thursday, Dec. 25, and Friday, Dec. 26.

Banks, credit unions and other financial institutions: Closed Thursday, Dec. 25.

U.S. Postal Service: No delivery Thursday, Dec. 25.

Trash and recycling: No pick-ups Thursday, Dec. 25; all are pushed back one day.

Department of Motor Vehicles customer service centers: Close at noon Wednesday, Dec. 24, and will reopen Monday, Dec. 29.

Virginia ABC stores: Close at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 24, and are closed Thursday, Dec. 25.

Malls, major retailers, movie theaters: Varies; inquire at specific locations.

GRTC: Buses operate on a Sunday/holiday schedule Thursday, Dec. 25.

Free Press offices: Closed Wednesday, Dec. 24 and Thursday, Dec. 25.

Deborah Wallace sorts clothes in Monroe Park for New Deliverance Evangelistic Church’s outreach to homeless people. Volunteers

Cityscape

Slices of life and scenes in Richmond from the South Richmond church gathered Saturday morning, Dec. 20, to provide those in need with gifts of clothing, shoes, personal items and toys during the holiday season.

Paulette Singleton/Richmond Free Press

Z18

December 24 – December 30, 2014

Open Until 6 pm Christmas Eve. Closed Christmas Day.

Public barred from North Side park

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

It’s called a public park, but, ironically, the public is barred from entering the small grassy space on North Side without buying a city permit.

Heavy, decorative metal fences and locked gates surround Gabriel’s Freedom Park, a triangular plot of city land at 3100 Meadowbridge Road in Highland Park.

The barriers to entry have been in place for at least 10 years at the park named for Gabriel, the freedom-fighting slave who was executed for organizing an uprising in 1800.

While all city parks are closed after dark, this is the only one that is off limits when the sun is shining, according to Tamara E. Jenkins, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities.

Now the city has taken steps to make the space even more off limits.

In the past two weeks, the city has removed benches and changed the locks on the entry gates, leaving only a centerpiece pole with signs forbidding drug activity and loitering in the space no one can enter.

The action bars a much praised, crime-fighting group, the Richmond Guardian Angels, which previously had special permission to use the park and did so for three or four community programs a year.

“For at least four years, we’ve had a key to the gate so we could open it for events. We’ve also picked up the trash and looked after the park,” said Jo White, co-founder and leader of the group that conducts safety patrols and works with police and civic groups for community betterment.

That key no longer works, she said. “We can’t go in.”

The Guardian Angels were locked out after Mayor Dwight C. Jones, park officials and the area’s council representative, Ellen F. Robertson, met Dec. 9 with two elderly women who live near the park and complained about its use.

Ms. White said she was not allowed to attend the meeting, which Ms. Robertson confirmed.

Tommy Cox, who co-founded the Guardian Angels in 2010 with Ms. White, believes that the lock change stems from a food distribution event volunteers from Saint Giles Presbyterian Church held in the park before Thanksgiving.

Mr. Cox, who, like Ms. White, is a member of the predominantly white church, used the key to open the park for the church program. One of the women who met with the mayor was furious, Mr. Cox said.

Mr. Cox said he talked with one of the women and she complained “about strange white people” being there. He said she also vowed to see to it that the park was not used again.

The upshot of the meeting: From now on, the Guardian Angels, like everyone else who might want to use the park, will need a city stamp of approval, Ms. Robertson said.

According to the city’s website, permits for an event must be sought at least 30 days in advance and can cost a minimum of $15 an hour and as much as $850 for a day’s use, depending on the program.

Ms. Robertson promised that a community meeting would be held to explain the rules about the park’s use with interested parties, including the Guardian Angels.

In 2004, Ms. Robertson won council approval of legislation that provided $50,000 for the fencing, benches and other items in a follow-up to community efforts. She said she was carrying out the community’s wishes.

Ten years ago, neighbors described the park as an open-air drug market and wanted to block people from congregating there.

Correction Donald Earley sculpted the “River of Tears” memorial statue in 1996 on behalf of the Coalition Against Urban Violence led by Linda Jordan, who lost her son to violence six years earlier.

The statue, a permanent memorial to victims of violence, is installed at City Hall in Downtown and is a centerpiece of the annual remembrance vigil the coalition holds for families of victims.

Mr. Earley, an artist and assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Qatar campus, lost a nephew, Noel, to violence in 1999 in Richmond.

A feature photo package published in the Dec. 18-20 edition of the Free Press described incorrectly the genesis of the statue and Mr. Earley’s familial relationship with Noel Earley.

The Free Press regrets the error.

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Richmond Free Press

December 24-27, 2014

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When you contribute to EnergyShare, you’re warming more than just hearts.

The ongoing generosity of Dominion customers and employees has helped us heat the homes of those who need help the most. The program is called EnergyShare, and assistance can be used for any kind of heat: oil, gas, kerosene, wood or electricity. In fact, over the last 30 years, EnergyShare has distributed more than $60 million in contributions and helped more than half-a-million people. So we wanted to say thank you. Thank you for what you’ve given. Thank you for considering a gift to EnergyShare again this year. And thank you for helping so many people go to sleep in homes that are warm. For more information about how you can help, please visit dom.com/EnergyShare.

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12/11/14 9:23 AM

Richmond Free Press

A4 December 24-27, 2014

News

Christmas spirit shines light on special needs Continued from A1

audience. “Many days, you’re mentally tired, but you pray to him to give you strength, and he does.”

Ms. Lucas then called Cory Todd, a 25-yearold with a learning disability, to the podium to deliver reflections.

Sounding every bit the skilled preacher, he taught from Matthew 1:18-23, telling the biblical story of Jesus’ birth.

“How many of you have felt alone or are feeling alone now?” he asked. “Don’t feel alone.

I also feel by myself sometimes.

“We are not alone,” he said, reminding listeners that Emmanuel means, “God with us.”

He said he still thanks God, even after his brother was murdered Sept. 15. “Though I’m going through (tough times), God is still with me,” Mr. Todd said, drawing “Amens” from some audience members.

Mr. Todd’s mother, Cynthia, another award winner, said doctors did not expect her son to survive when he was born weighing 2 pounds.

She said he underwent 12 surgeries soon after birth and his disability went undiagnosed by school psychiatrists and teachers.

“Look around this room and see how amazing and awesome God is,” she said.

“God sends us special people so we can remember his love,” she added.

A diverse array of performers brought the audience to its feet time and time again with rousing applause.

Among the highlights: • Teen middle school honor roll student Sydnee Baker, who has the genetic disorder

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Jamaar Sheppherd jubilantly sings “I Believe I Can Fly” at the Christmas special needs worship service at Second Baptist Church in Randolph.

Neurofibromatosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and is blind in her left eye, mimed to the gospel song, “But God.” • Jamaar Sheppherd, a wheelchair-bound 26-year-old with cerebral palsy, wowed the audience as he enthusiastically sang, “I Believe I Can Fly,” with his arms raised.

• Grace Bourne, a middle-aged woman with an intellectual disability, shouted, “This is the best

Christmas present I’ve ever had!” as she took her seat at the organ to play, “Oh Holy Night.”

• Elegantly dressed Brittany Sweet of Maryland, a 21-year-old with Down syndrome, then charmed the audience with “I Believe” by Fantasia Barrino.

• Dapperly attired Kyle Jones, a 19-year -old with cerebral palsy and a first-year student majoring in business administration at Virginia

Commonwealth University, was then presented a “God Chose Me” award.

“It just keeps getting better and better,” Ms. Lucas and Ms. Mines alternately told audience members as the stirring performances continued.

Members of the Miracles in Motion dance troupe of children and adults with special needs, described by Ms. Lucas as “the hottest ticket in town,” dazzled the audience as 22-year-old Jordan Hagan danced to the “Zoot Suit Riot” and 6-year-old Taylor Carpenter shimmied to “Baby, I’m a Star.”

Nine other dancers in the troupe with various disabilities then energetically performed to “Let It Snow” and “Let It Go,” and founder Kim Moncrief then was presented an award.

Young brothers Kody, Max and Nick Reyna, two with autism and one undiagnosed, joyfully serenaded the audience with “Jesus Loves Me.” Later, Khristopher Stewart and Trent Callaham, both with autism, demonstrated their karate skills, with Khristopher breaking three boards using his hands and feet.

Ms. Mines was honored for her advocacy for the disabled and for working to get a bill passed by the General Assembly last year known as “J.P.’s Law,” named for her son, that would allow DMV Virginia to add a code to driver’s licenses and other IDs to help law enforcement officers be aware of an individual’s diagnosis.

Her son, a 12-year-old with autism and ADHD, concluded the service with a performance of “Is This the End” by New Edition.

His 12-year-old sister, Michelle, supported the special needs event throughout by skillfully praise dancing to several songs.

A reception followed.

Joe Morrissey now fighting for his political future Continued from A1

That has put his law license in jeopardy, as well as his participation in the legislature.

Amid a torrent of calls for him to resign, from Gov. Terry McAuliffe to House Democratic leaders and Republican House Speaker William J. Howell, Delegate Morrissey has fought back with maneuvers no one saw coming.

He publicly bowed to demands he resign, which he did Dec. 18, triggering the special election.

Immediately, he turned around and announced his candidacy in the special election for his seat on Jan. 13, a day before the next General Assembly session begins.

Delegate Morrissey also made his resignation effective the day of the election, ensuring he would be in office through the campaign.

Ironically, he is considered to have a good chance to win the special election, which would force the legislature to contend with a member they hoped would go quietly.

Delegate Morrissey already is considered far ahead in name recognition. He also seems far better equipped financially, having more than $80,000 piled up in his campaign bank account.

His two challengers — officially certified by the two political parties on Tuesday — have not yet submitted a campaign finance report.

Despite warnings that the House could expel him if he wins, Delegate Morrissey is leaving his future in the legislature in the hands of voters from Richmond, Henrico and Charles City County who live in the 74th House District.

“It is the voters and not the political pundits and not partisan caucus that should decide who serves in office,” he told reporters with his startling announcement he would run, something he did not tell Gov. McAuliffe, Speaker Howell, party members or House Clerk G. Paul Nardo, to whom he submitted his letter of resignation.

Speaker Howell, who commands 68 GOP votes in the 100-member House of Delegates — or one more than the 67 needed to expel a member for “disorderly conduct” — publicly sputtered in an angry statement that Delegate Morrissey’s decision to compete for the seat is “a despicable, arrogant political stunt,” as well as “deceitful, selfish and disrespectful to the House.”

Nonetheless, Delegate Morrissey followed up Tuesday when he filed his final paperwork to get on the ballot as an independent.

He submitted petitions with at least 300 signatures that he said he had collected Saturday — more than double the 125 required.

That show of support far eclipsed anything his two challengers demonstrated. Mr. Walton just needed the blessing of the 74th District’s Republican Committee because he was unopposed for the nomination to run in the predominantly Democratic district.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sullivan needed the support of just 24 people to win the Democratic Party nomination.

According to Morgan Finkelstein, the spokeswoman for the

U.S.-Cuba relations ‘a dream come true’ Continued from A1

for more engagement with the homeland they left behind.

“This is a new beginning — a dream come true for the 11.2 million Cubans in Cuba, and I think it will provoke a change of mentality here in this community,” said Hugo Cancio, who came to Miami in the 1980 Mariel boatlift.

American support for lifting the trade embargo on Cuba appears to be growing, new Reuters/Ipsos polling shows.

Removing the embargo completely would require congressional approval, something administration officials have acknowledged would be difficult to obtain.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who will become the majority leader next month when the new Congress convenes, said Monday that he opposes normalizing relations with Cuba, and will take steps to undo President Obama’s actions. Other Republicans, such as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American thought to be a potential presidential candidate in 2016, have vowed to do the same.

Cuban President Raul Castro demanded last Saturday that the United States respect Cuba’s communist rule as the two countries worked to restore diplomatic ties and completed a prisoner exchange. He warned that Cuban-American exiles might try to sabotage the rapprochement.

U.S. officials will visit Havana in January to start talks on normalizing relations, and President Obama has said his government will push Cuba on issues of human and political rights as they negotiate in the coming months.

Democratic Party of Virginia, admitted to the Free Press that fewer than 60 people — not the 100 she first estimated — actually qualified to participate in the selection of the party’s nominee.

Trying to shut out Morrissey supporters, the party allowed into Monday night’s “firehouse primary” only members in good standing of the party committees in Richmond, Henrico and Charles City who live in the 74th House district.

Ms. Finkelstein confirmed that no one from the Richmond Democratic Committee was eligible to participate in the firehouse primary. The only people who did qualify were nearly equally split between members of the Henrico and Charles City Democratic committees.

The “firehouse primary,” or unassembled caucus, allows participants to use a secret ballot. Only 42 people showed up, she said.

According to the final count provided by Ms. Finkelstein, Mr. Sullivan, who is vice chairman of the Charles City committee, beat two others who paid the $1,500 fee to participate — Lamont Bagby, a veteran member of the Henrico School Board who had the apparent backing of state Sen. A. Donald McEachin, and Floyd H. Miles Sr., a former delegate and current member of the Charles City County Board of Supervisors.

Mr. Sullivan received congratulations from the state Democratic Party chairman, Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones, who stated that Mr. Sullivan’s “experience in this community makes a strong fighter for our Democratic values and priorities.”

However, Delegate Morrissey refused to participate in the Democratic nomination process, and may have gained a bit of the high ground as he joined in criticizing a process that barred regular Democrats from taking part.

“I am shocked,” he said in an email statement, that “party bosses have shut the door on thousands of African-American voters, and I am not going to be part of that sham process.”

His law partner, Paul Goldman, a former state party leader, threatened to bring a federal lawsuit to challenge the process as a violation of the federal Voting Rights Act. He ended up backing away from filing the suit against what he called the “largest effort to disenfranchise black voters in modern Virginia history.”

Still, there were many who were dismayed. Among them was Richmond Delegate Delores L. McQuinn, D-70th.

She said the party that championed voting rights “was abandoning that principle” just to stop one person.

“This is the wrong way to go,” she said. “The right to vote should be paramount. We cannot say we are for voting rights and then disenfranchise people.”

Her son, James J. Minor, chairman of the city Democratic Committee, also called the process “ridiculous” and an “embarrassment to the party.”

And some Republican delegates had a field day, arguing that the Democratic legislators should stop criticizing them for suppressing the vote when this process showed they support the same thing when it suits them.

Delegate Morrissey, though, could be hampered if he is unable to maintain a work-release agreement that allows him to be outside the Henrico County Jail-East for 12 hours a day.

The future of that arrangement is in doubt after the delegate campaigned outside the boundaries of his permitted areas without alerting or seeking permission from Henrico Sheriff Michael Wade. A hearing on the issue is slated for early January, Sheriff Wade said.

In 2013, Delegate Morrissey won re-election with 21,000 votes. The district has 53,259 registered voters. He won a fourway primary in 2007 and has won his four previous general elections with more than 70 percent of the vote.

Even if he wins big again in the special election, the House still might consider whether to expel him.

If expelled, Delegate Morrissey would be the first legislator since 1876, when R.D. Ruffin was removed for embezzling $30 from the House clerk, according to Mr. Nardo, the current clerk.

He added that no one previously has served in the legislature while also serving jail time.

Mr. Nardo said he expected that due process would apply, noting that any expulsion measure would likely go through the normal committee process.

“There would be a public hearing,” he said. “There would be an opportunity for a member or others to testify.”

Secret Service problems go deep Continued from A1

a 30-year veteran who was tasked with cleaning up the agency’s culture after a 2012 presidential trip to Colombia in which as many as a dozen agents were found to have hired prostitutes.

However, Ms. Pierson resigned under fierce criticism Oct. 1, less than two weeks after a Sept. 19 intrusion by an Iraq war veteran who scaled the White House fence, sprinted across the lawn and got deep inside the White House before an off-duty agent stopped him.

That breach came a day after the disclosure that an armed private security contractor with an arrest record rode on an elevator with President Obama during the president’s September trip to Atlanta.

Both incidents touched off a firestorm of criticism of the Secret Service by con-

gressional leaders and the public because the agency had put President Obama and his family in jeopardy.

Mr. Johnson appointed the review panel in October, in response to the Sept. 19 fencejumping incident. That incident prompted the panel’s first recommendation: Build a better fence “as soon as possible.” It recommended one that is at least 4 or 5 feet higher and curves outward at the top to give agents more time to assess the risk of a jumper.

The security lapses, along with a 2011 incident in which seven gunshots were fired at the White House, had raised concerns across Washington that President Obama was not as well protected as he should be in an age of global tumult.

The panel stated that special agents and uniformed division personnel work an “unsustainable number of hours.”

“The Secret Service is stretched to and,

in many cases, beyond its limits,” the panel stated. It recommended adding at least 85 special agents and 200 uniformed officers so the agency can shorten long shifts, reduce overtime and free up agents for regular training.

The agency’s training regimen is far below acceptable levels, it stated, with the average special agent receiving only 42 hours of training.

“The panel’s recommendations are astute, thorough and fair,” Mr. Johnson stated.

U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, last week promised an independent congressional review of the agency.

The panel acknowledged that many of its recommendations had been made before but never implemented.

Protests continue despite officers’ deaths Continued from A1

his ex-girlfriend, Shaneka Thompson, 29, in suburban Baltimore.

“Let’s comfort these families, let’s see them through these funerals,” Mayor de Blasio said in his speech, hours after visiting the officers’ grieving families with Bill Bratton, the police commissioner. “Then debate can begin again.”

But the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist representing the families of Mr. Garner and Mr. Brown, said the mayor’s call was too nebulous to heed.

“Is a vigil a protest? Is a rally?” Rev. Sharpton said in a telephone interview, calling Mayor de Blasio’s comments “an ill-defined request.”

Rev. Sharpton, who joined Mr. Garner’s relatives over the weekend to denounce the slaying of the officers, said he would not change planned prayer vigils at the scene of Mr. Garner’s death and elsewhere over the coming days to mark the family’s first Christmas without him.

The Answer Coalition, an activist group, denounced the mayor’s plea as an “outrageous” attempt to “chill” free expression.

It said it had no intention of canceling a long-planned protest march on Tuesday evening.

At least one small candle-light vigil called for by a separate coalition of groups took place in Brooklyn on Monday evening, an organizer said.

The grand juries that considered the killings of Mr. Brown and Mr. Garner decided the police officers involved broke no laws. On Monday, a Milwaukee prosecutor said a police officer there would not be charged for the fatal shooting of Dontre Hamilton in April.

Christopher Manney, the officer in the Milwaukee shooting, who was white, was fired in October for failing to follow police procedure. As in the Garner and Brown cases, the U.S. Justice Department is now considering whether civil rights laws were broken in that case.

Police were called to Red Arrow Park on reports of a man asleep in the park. Mr. Hamilton, who was unarmed, was shot 14 times by Mr. Manney.

Richmond Free Press

From our home to yours...

Happy holidays The holidays are a time to reflect upon the people who have touched our lives throughout the year. To all our friends and family near and far, we hope you have a joyous season and a prosperous New Year.

December 24-27, 2014

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Richmond Free Press Editorial Page

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December 24-27, 2014

In the spirit of gratitude, we thank you and wish you the best for the holiday season!

— The Free Press team

Rudy Powell/Richmond Free Press

HBCUs fighting for diversity When former Alcorn State University President M. Christopher Brown II announced the hiring of Jay Hopson as the historically black college’s new head football coach in May 2012, he referred to the Vi c k s b u r g native as a “neighbor.”

He also said the choice showed Alcorn State was “maintaining history while embracing progress.”

The first white head coach in university and conference history has delivered on Dr. Brown’s promise, returning the Braves to the SWAC championship in just his third year as head coach.

Simarily, Florida A&M University recently announced Timothy Moore as its new vice-president for research. Dr. Moore, with vast experience in higher education and federal administration, is a white man hired to do a high-profile job at a historically black college. He was hired by the university’s first female president.

As the nation grapples with how to digest the merciless killings of black men in cities of varying size, political leanings, industry and demographics, HBCUs have quietly modeled

for the nation a path to a more perfect union along racial lines.

These campuses, which have endured economic, political and social death blows delivered by white legislators, continue to throw open their doors to

Jarrett L. Carter Sr. students, faculty, executives and supporters of all races and ethnicities.

Even when HBCU supporters have questioned the vision and the sanity of allowing those with the face and hue of the oppressor within our gates, some leaders have championed the possibilities of racial harmony as a critical element of HBCU survival. The obvious, legitimate question has been asked hundreds of times over in campus communities — “Can’t we find a qualified black person to do it?” Increasingly, that question is answered with a question: “Is a qualified black person willing to take the job?”

Should we wait for all black people, specifically those with no desire and no ties to black colleges, to have a change of heart on our institutions? Or do we take those students, faculty, staff and donors willing to come into HBCU communities in the way that predominantly white and for-profit schools have

seemingly embraced our people as students and employees in increasing number?

Do we make the legal case that HBCUs should be funded equitably for black people only? Or do we sue and win for the right to educate all with the same resources, facilities and marketing coffers which position predominantly white institutions to attract a large cross-section of students?

That’s why many black campuses are embracing the idea of “all hands of all colors on deck.” In an industry that thrives on talent acquisition and development, HBCUs are realizing that the key to success is finding talented people who are happy to help HBCU communities grow for the salary HBCUs can afford to pay. This is the full form of Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream — not just that black folks would be ushered into white communities and institutions, but that white folks would willfully integrate into black communities with no discernible differences in resources and opportunities between black and white spaces of profession or lifestyle.

HBCUs have stayed true to this ideal, and have done so for generations — from the early 1940s, which brought an influx of Jewish professors to HBCUs, to 70 years later, with dwindling college options for working and

middle class students creating more diversity at HBCUs. It’s hard to find more than a handful of examples over history where people of all races turned down paychecks from HBCUs, or where HBCUs turned down tuition payments, based on race alone.

And yet, HBCUs continue to be targeted and depicted as strongholds of reverse racism.

No matter how many white football coaches he hired, white students he enrolled or white executives Dr. Brown hired at Alcorn State; no matter how compliant his campus was with racial quota mandates, and no matter how nicely he played with white legislators and higher ed officials to create opportunities for all students, his trouble unfairly began — and his tenure unceremoniously ended — when he authorized a Medgar Evers statue to be erected on the campus.

No matter how white the enrollment at Bluefield State College and West Virginia State University, they are still held up as strange fruit in the higher education grove by AfricanAmericans and white people alike, even though we still wait for a major predominantly white institution in an area with high black population to adjust to its racial demographics and to enroll accordingly.

When it comes to race, HB-

CUs, like the people they were designed to serve, have to be all in for assimilation, or they are regarded as all the way out on racial progress. And while other whiter, richer, more affluent institutions are not held to the same legislative or financial standards, HBCU leaders continue to play nice. To do otherwise exposes those leaders to legislative racial profiling, institutional scandal that would make Olivia Pope blush, and eventually, undignified unemployment.

It’s OK when black HBCU students are out front on issues important to the black community. But presidents must be silenced. They know where the money comes from and where the enemies lurk. And so they continue to embrace the idea that only the oppressed can convert the oppressor. They continue to swing at freedom’s golden bell and hope that it rings loud enough to attract enough white people to see things our way.

It may rankle some in the black community, but it is one of the most unenviable, despicable bullet points within one of the hardest job descriptions in the world today. It’s specially hard to convince white students, faculty and staff to come to a place that physically and culturally has been neglected for so long by the country’s racial majority.

The country is quickly turning back the clock on violence

10-point plan for police accountability “… a country’s conscience sometimes has to be triggered by some inconvenience, because I think a lot of people who saw the Eric Garner video are troubled, even if they haven’t had that same experience themselves, even if they’re not AfricanAmerican or Latino.” – President Obama in an interview with BET Networks

The phenomenon we have seen in America since the announcement of the nonindictments of officers in the killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner is new to a generation, but not to the nation. Young people have always helped to fuel historic social change.

We must not forget — 50 years ago, it was young people on that bridge in Selma, Ala.; young people sitting-in in Greensboro, N.C.; young people riding Freedom buses all over this nation, challeng-

ing conventional laws and the status quo; and young people like Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney losing their lives in Philadelphia, Miss.

A multicultural band of

Marc Morial young people, united with historic civil rights organizations, legislators, clergy, and everyday Americans who decided it was time for our country to do better and be better, have been the impetus for so many of the changes we’ve witnessed as a nation through the decades.

Millions of Americans now have taken to the streets and to social media not because the problems that have caused the outrage just began yesterday, but because sometimes difficult circumstances present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring about historic change.

Now is that time. Now is our time.

This conversation and the subsequent action that will result from it will continue because we remain committed

to the idea that these cases — Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Akai Gurley, Tamir Rice, John Crawford, Marlene Pinnock and others — do not end where they are.

In addition to the opportunity for the Justice Department to conduct independent investigations, we each have an opportunity to participate in our great democracy by helping to ensure that the America of tomorrow is better than who we are today.

For our part, the National Urban League has developed the following 10-Point Justice Plan for Police Reform and Accountability.

We believe that these action steps will be a major step forward in helping to repair

police-community relations in cities across America; in significantly reducing inappropriate use of excessive force by law enforcement, particularly against unarmed citizens; and in holding police accountable for misconduct.

1. Widespread use of body cameras and dashboard cameras 2. Broken windows reform and implementation of 21st century community policing model 3. Review and revision of police use-of-deadly-force policies 4. Comprehensive retraining of all police officers 5. Comprehensive review and strengthening of police hiring standards

6. Appointment of special prosecutors to investigate police misconduct 7. Mandatory, uniform FBI reporting and audit of lethal force incidents involving all law enforcement 8. Creation and audit of national database of citizen complaints against police 9. Revision of national police accreditation system for mandatory use by law enforcement to be eligible for federal funds 10. National comprehensive anti-racial profiling law We know the problems before us. Now let’s work toward solutions.

Marc H. Morial, former mayor of New Orleans, is president and CEO of the National Urban League.

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.

and discrimination against black people, but HBCUs continue to bear the burden of showing America’s racial potential. Hopefully, in the wake of senseless murders and racialized local and federal politics, the nation will more quickly notice that its persecuted people and institutions still believe in the ideals of a country free of its own addiction to separation.

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Richmond Free Press

December 24-27, 2014

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Letters to the Editor

Equitable, fair procurement practices needed What is the effect of Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s executive order calling for 42 percent of spending in various state executive branch contracts be conducted with small businesses with minority or female ownership?

The reality is that the bar for small, women- and minorityowned businesses has been increased by only 2 percent.

The real problem is the minority business portion of SWaM, which has continued to skimp along with less than 1 percent of the procurement and contracting dollars from the state.

Traditionally, less than 1 percent of the tax dollars spent by Virginians and African-Americans returns to the African-American community through state spending because the dollars are not directed to MBE businesses. The Supreme Court stated that if a disparity could be proven, then remedial measures should be put in place to correct the discrepancy in spending.

The state has done two disparity studies, both showing that African-Americans, who

represent 20 percent or more of the population, receive only a 1 percent or less return on the economic dollars spent in Virginia. Yet the General Assembly year after year strikes down every bill seeking to correct the matter because of unfairness in their hearts and lobbyists who

support that same mindset. No process. Step up and demand one seems to want to step up that Gov. McAuliffe institute a and do the right thing so136969_0 that all 10 percent, 15 percent or even Virginians can participate fairly a 20 percent set-aside in all in this economic procurement areas of procurement and conprocess. tracting for African-Americans The right thing is to include who have a rich history, but a set-aside for businesses also a history of being treated systematically left out of the unfairly. Now is the time to

correct some of this unfairness by writing an executive order for African-American businesses that will correct some of the wrong inflicted upon our people. We want fair economic justice, along with equitable fair procurement procedures.

We deserve it, instead of con-

tinually being put on hold by administration after administration with a promise.

HAROLD PARKER JR. Richmond The writer is board chair of the Central Virginia Business and Construction Association.

A new moniker?

Some of my friends refer to themselves as AfricanAmericans. Would it not be more accurate to say American Africans? Such a little change is long overdue.

My grandparents came from Italy to America and referred to themselves as Italian-Americans. My parents referred to themselves as Italian-Americans. But second generation Americans refer to themselves as American Italians.

We think that more appropriate because we were born here in America.

Therefore, would it be more appropriate for AfricanAmericans to call themselves American Africans?

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VCU Rams continue wins with ‘havoc’

Virginia Commonwealth University Coach Shaka Smart’s not-so-secret formula for “havoc” features two main ingredients: Feeding-frenzy defense and the ever-present green light for 3-pointers.

In annihilating East Tennessee State University 84-60 Monday and improving its record to 8-3, the Rams relied on the same combo that has fueled VCU since Smart’s arrival in 2009.

Before another sellout crowd at the Siegel Center, the Rams had 18 steals (seven by Briante Weber), forced 22 turnovers, and struck the bottom of the net with 10 3-pointers.

In its previous 68-47 victory at Cincinnati, VCU canned 15 3-point shots (31 of 61 shots overall from outside the arc).

In his sixth season, Smart’s “havoc” has produced these remarkable, cumulative numbers: • 780 more steals than their opponents.

• 866 fewer forced turnovers than their opponents • 456 more 3-pointers than their opponents (meaning plus 1,368 in points).

And get this: Entering the East Tennessee game, the Rams’ Ratings Percentage Index (overall power rating) was a remarkable three out of 351 Division I schools, trailing only Kentucky and Kansas.

A third “havoc” ingredient is mass substitution, assuring fresh legs to continue to challenge weary ball-handlers.

Virginia Commonwealth University guard Doug Brooks lunges to put up a shot during the Rams’ lopsided 84-60 victory over East Tennessee State University on Monday at the Siegel Center. The win improved the Rams’ record to 8-3.

The scorers’ table is a busy place. Often, everyone has played by the second media timeout.

Coach Smart’s Rams are 12 deep and even walkon Torey Burston from Trinity Episcopal School in Richmond has played in six games.

It is not inconceivable that VCU will be favored in every game it plays the rest of the season until at least the second round of the NCAA tournament.

In the preseason poll, the Rams were the unanimous pick to win the Atlantic 10 conference title.

There’s no one player to key on.

Senior Treveon Graham, averaging 17 points, is chasing the school scoring record.

Weber is on pace to break the NCAA standard for career steals.

Junior Melvin Johnson is another 3-point bombardier averaging 15 points.

Sophomore Mo Alie-Cox is the defensive intimidator, uncoiling his gas-hose like arms in the paint.

High-rising freshmen Terry Larrier and Justin Tillman seem to take turns making highlight reel dunks.

When Smart succeeded Anthony Grant as the Rams’ coach in 2009, people questioned the staying power of wreaking “havoc.”

Six seasons later, opponents are still chasing — and falling further behind.

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Richmonder has ties, records with schools in Monday matchup On Monday, Dec. 29, the Cleveland State University Vikings are coming to Virginia Commonwealth University for a 7 p.m.

Siegel Center tipoff.

Don “Cisco” Ross will have a particular interest in the game.

Both Cleveland State and VCU were early birds in college basketball’s racial integration. Ross fits into the history of both universities.

Ross was the second African-American player at Cleveland State, following Leo Johnson. Ross also was the third AfricanAmerican player at VCU, after John McLeod and Donald Gordon, who debuted in 1966.

He also holds records at both universities.

“I’ll be there and I’ll be rooting for VCU,” said Ross, who now lives in Chesterfield County with his wife, Annie. Coincidentally, the game will be played on Ross’ 66th birthday.

“VCU is my alma mater. Richmond is my hometown. There will be some mixed emotion, but I’m definitely for VCU.” Here’s how Ross suited up for both schools.

In 1966, Cleveland State named John McLendon head coach, making him the first African-American head coach at a majoritywhite U.S. college.

Among McLendon’s first recruits was Ross, a quick, highscoring guard who starred under coach Max E. Robinson at Richmond’s Armstrong High School.

Ross was encouraged to attend Cleveland State by his father, Don Ross Sr., who was the MVP of the 1949 CIAA basketball tournament for Virginia Union University.

Pioneers in Virginia Here is a list of the first African-American basketball players at Virginia’s majority-white NCAA Division I schools: • George Mason University: Paul Nance, 1966-67 • Old Dominion University: Buttons Speakes, 1965-66 • University of Richmond: Carlton Mack, 1971-72 • University of Virginia: Al Drummond, 1971-72 • Virginia Military Institute: Charlie Tyler, 1971-72 • Virginia Tech: Charlie Lipscomb, 1969-70 • Virginia Commonwealth University: Charles McLeod, Donald Gordon, 1966-67 • William & Mary: Ron Satterthwaite, 1973-74 • Later-starting basketball programs at James Madison, Longwood, Liberty and Radford universities were integrated at the outset.

Source: National Association of Basketball Coaches

Ross Sr. was an admirer of McLendon, who coached in the CIAA at North Carolina College for Negroes (now North Carolina Central University) from 1941 to 1952, and Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) from 1953 to 1954.

McLendon also coached Tennessee State University, an HBCU, to three straight NAIA titles from 1957 to 1959.

As a first-year player at Cleveland State, Ross averaged 18.2 points, which is still a freshman school record. Also, his 36 points against Hiram College in Ohio still stands as the freshman one-game mark.

After one season, Ross transferred to VCU, which was called Richmond Professional Institute at the time. There, he averaged more than 30 points in 1967-68 under coach Benny Dees.

His 55 points in RPI’s 1968 loss to Old Dominion University is still a Rams all-time

Photo courtesy of family

Ross at VCU’s Franklin Street Gym.

standard.

Ross’ 30-plus points per game average also would be tops among the Rams, all-time, although record keeping was poor in those days and details are not available.

Instead, VCU’s listed record for the highest season average is 27.5, in the 1969-70 season, by Charles “Jabo” Wilkins, out of Maggie Walker High School in Richmond.

While at VCU, Ross also helped recruit some of the institution’s first African-American stars, such as Jesse Dark, Bernard Harris, Dave Edwards, Howie Robertson, Reggie Cain, Cornell Jones and Greg McDougald, all of whom joined the Rams in 1970.

In 1971, a year after Ross finished playing, VCU Coach Chuck Noe had the first all-black starting lineup — Wilkins, Dark, Cain, McDougald, Charles Booker — of any majority-white school on the East Coast.

Curtis Grant to play in Ohio State-Alabama face-off Richmond-area fans will have a local athlete to root for Jan. 1 when Alabama collides with Ohio State in the groundbreaking Division I National Football Playoffs.

Lining up at inside linebacker for Ohio State and wearing No. 14 is former Hermitage High School All-State star Curtis Grant.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound senior captain is ranked fifth among the Buckeyes in tackles, with 53, including five take-downs for losses plus a fumble recovery.

Grant is the son of Gloria Grant of Glen Allen and the late Curtis R. Grant, who died in 2013 at age 54.

The elder Grant was a standout defensive end at Virginia Union University in the late 1970s and early 1980s under head coach Willard Bailey and defensive coordinator Jesse Chavis.

As a senior at Henrico County’s Hermitage High in 2010, Grant led coach Pat-

rick Kane’s Panthers to the State Group AAA championship game before losing to Battlefield High School of Prince William County.

Grant was among the most heavily recruited athletes in area history. As part Curtis Grant of the recruiting Class of 2011, he was the nation’s No. 2-rated player — behind South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney — by Rivals.com.

In Columbus, Grant was never redshirted, despite nagging ankle and back injuries as a freshman and sophomore.

He emerged as a full-time starter during his junior year and was named defensive captain this season.

Ohio is 12-1, with its lone loss on Sept. 6 to Virginia Tech. Since then, the

Buckeyes have won 11 straight games, most recently demolishing Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big Ten title game.

Alabama, also 12-1, is ranked No. 1.

The Crimson Tide was named national champ in 2009, 2011 and 2012.

Playoff schedule This is first year that big-time college football has had bona fide playoffs to determine its national champion. In the past, the champion was determined by a subjective vote following bowl games.

Jan. 1 Semifinals: Oregon vs. Florida State, 4:30 p.m., Pasadena, Calif.; Ohio State vs.

Alabama, 8:30 p.m., New Orleans Jan. 12 Final: 8:30 p.m., AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas All games will be broadcast on ESPN.

Richmond Free Press

December 24-27, 2014

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B2 December 24-27, 2014

Richmond Free Press

Happenings

Personality: James H. Lewis Jr. Spotlight on 2014 Astorian of the Year James H. Lewis Jr. says being a member of the Astoria Beneficial Club Inc. has been transformative.

“I had never been socially motivated before,” he says,“except with my own children.

“All my children were active in sports growing up and I spent a lot of time supporting them on their various teams,” Mr. Lewis recalls.

Eight years later, he has been honored as the 2014 Astorian of the Year.

The Henrico County resident was recognized for his service to the community and within the 113-year-old Richmond men’s club, whose mission is to promote “higher moral, intellectual, civic and social standing.”

Started in 1901, the organization has promoted voting and community service since its inception. It is well known for commissioning the statue of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson in Jackson Ward and for mentoring students at Fairfield Court Elementary School.

Mr. Lewis says he was “shocked” to learn he had won the honor, which was presented in November at the organization’s annual year-end awards banquet at the Trinity Family Life Center.

“It’s not about me,” Mr. Lewis emphasizes. “It’s about us all working to make the community better.”

Mr. Lewis says he joined the Astoria Beneficial Club after a friend suggested he get involved in the club’s mentoring program at Fairfield Court Elementary because he works well with children.

Now ask Mr. Lewis about the positive impact the mentoring program has had on him and you’d better block off plenty of time to listen.

“It’s very, very important to me to work with the children there,” he enthusiastically says.

“I’ve gotten so close to some of them that they call me daddy now. I can’t describe how good that makes me feel.”

After seeing the tough circumstances many of the children face, he has challenged them to become more engaged in pursuing their dreams. He also lets them know he is sincerely interested in their growth and

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during the Vietnam War. He recalls being aboard the USS Forrestal in 1967 when a rocket accidentally misfired onboard the ship, killing 134 soldiers and injuring 161 more.

Mr. Lewis later enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business.

Here’s a look at this week’s Personality, James H. Lewis Jr.:

success.

Mr. Lewis wholeheartedly throws himself into the club’s projects. He has joined several committees, taken young people to the General Assembly to show them the political process and is helping to move archives into the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia under construction in Jackson Ward.

The club also awards scholarships to students to attend college.

“It’s a heart thing,” Mr. Lewis says of the selfless work he and other Astorians perform.

He learned the meaning of hard work and determination growing up in Richmond, where he attended Armstrong High School.

He enlisted in the Navy after graduation, where he served

Occupation: Retired supervisor, U.S. Postal Service.

Birthdate and place: July 7 in Richmond.

Family: Pamela Lewis, wife; children, Sharell Bradby, Dwayne Lewis, Trinika Lewis-Wilson, Antoine Lewis, Jamesha Lewis and Jasmine Lewis.

Mission of Astoria Beneficial Club: Astoria has inspired outstanding men from every walk of life to higher moral, intellectual, civic and social standing. It has a history of contributions that help to make Richmond a community of hope and cooperation today and tomorrow.

Number of members: 106.

Average age of members: 55.

How it feels to continue the Astoria legacy: Outstanding.

Why I am excited about this organization: Because of my growth in the area of social responsibility.

How I unwind: I go fishing.

Best late-night snack: Coco-

nut pie.

I am most motivated by: My chances in life following an illness.

Quality I value most in other people: A good listener.

The person who influenced me the most: My father, James H. Lewis Sr. Book I am reading now: I just finished reading “Led by the Spirit of God” by Dr. Benjamin W. Robertson.

Best time of my life: I caught a 32-inch flounder and my picture was published in a newspaper.

My next goal: To go to the Super Bowl in Dallas.

Interested in strengthening our Local Workforce System for Businesses and Job Seekers?

Attend the Title 1 Adult/Dislocated Worker Information Session hosted by the Capital Region Workforce Partnership’s On Thursday, January 8, 2015, the Capital Region Workforce Partnership is hosting an information session about the new provisions in the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title 1 Adult/Dislocated Worker Fund-ing Stream. This session serves as an opportunity to educate workforce preparation organizations about the changes to our funding streams, priorities and expectations and the potential innovations, alignments and collabo-rations that can change service delivery for citizens residing in the Capital Region.

This event is free and open to all interested parties. If you would like to at-tend, register before January 6, 2015 at http://wiawioa-adultdw.eventbrite.com. Location: Henrico Training Center 7701 East Parham Road Henrico, VA 23294. Time: 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm. Questions can be directed to: resourceva@henrico. us. This event is primarily funded through the Capital Region Workforce Partnership, Resource and the U.S. Department of Labor through the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The CRWP/Resource are equal opportunity programs/employers (EOE).

oyeux JN öel onne BA nnée

(Merry Christmas)

and

(Happy New Year)

Vice Chairman Henrico Board of Supervisors, Fairfield District PO Box 90775, Henrico, VA 23273-0775

With

Appreciation at the Holidays we

Thank You

Season’s Greetings

and wish you

Dwight Snead Construction Company

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Richmond Free Press

December 24-27, 2014

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Happenings

herished Holiday emories M

The gift of family holds a precious place in the hearts and memories of seven Richmond area residents. Their stories, shared here, represent the 2014 Free Press collection of Cherished Holiday Memories. We hope their recollections evoke joyous memories of your own.

Dr. Allix B. James, president emeritus, Virginia Union University:

Todd “Parney” Parnell, vice president and chief operating officer, Richmond Flying Squirrels:

Leaving Christ out of Christmas makes Christmas just another holiday. It was never just another holiday with me.

The most memorable Christmases were when my wife and I prepared the children for a gathering each year of family and friends in my hometown, San Antonio, Texas. Each child was to select one unwrapped gift from under the tree at our home in Richmond to take for the family gathering in Texas.

Traveling by automobile or plane was scheduled so that we would arrive in Texas on Christmas Eve. The day began when the family would arise early on Christmas morning to attend a candlelight worship service at the home church in San Antonio.

This made a significant impression on the young in that we always began the celebration with a worship experience.

Following the early-morning worship, we returned home to enjoy a delicious breakfast that included homemade biscuits, country ham, eggs, jelly, juice, hash brown potatoes, etc. After breakfast, family members would take turns telling what had happened in their lives in the past 12 months. The youngest family member present became Santa Claus and distributed gifts to all from under the tree. When all the gifts had been unwrapped, we relaxed until dinnertime.

This was a happy time, when my mother put an 18- to 20-pound turkey on the dining room table with all the fixings. The oldest family member offered a prayer of thanksgiving, and all recited Bible verses. We all ate until we were full.

After dinner, some visited other friends, some went caroling and some made preparation for returning to their homes. When we returned to our home in Richmond, we were happy for the fellowship and for the fond memories of having visited with mother, brothers and sister, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.

Throughout the many years of my life, I have had many enjoyable experiences, especially during the Christmas season. None can erase the memories of those former years with my family and friends at home.

Those days will never let me forget that Christ is the reason for the season.

I grew up in Locust, N.C., and for as long as I can remember, Christmas meant family “get-togethers” and food.

On Christmas Eve, we would all pile into my grandpa’s house — 25 to 30 people total — with his children, grandchildren, spouses and the occasional straggler.

My grandpa would hunt all year to kill enough birds for his self-proclaimed “world famous bird stew,” which would be in a huge pot on the stove next to my Aunt Shirley’s self-proclaimed “world famous oyster stew.”

As funny as this sounds, my special memories are sitting at the kids’ table with my cousins, staining every shirt I possibly could — much to my mom’s chagrin. After a dessert round of German chocolate cake and coconut cake, mixed in with a sweet potato pie, we’d all retire to grandpa’s “sitting room.” Today, we call that a living room or family room or maybe even a rec room.

And here is where I have my fondest memories.

Simple as it may sound, we would — all of us, no exceptions — gather around my grandpa and, once my mom started playing the piano, sing Christmas carols. One song after another, mixed in with a gospel hymn that he loved, we’d sing literally for hours. No one complained, no one left.

And the great thing about it was there were no TVs, no music, no iPhones. It was just us, one big family, sharing the TRUE joy of Christmas.

I know we opened presents at some point, but I don’t remember anything about that. I remember the laughter. I remember the songs — my mom would always start crying when we sang “How Great Thou Art.” I remember Grandpa just sitting there, not even singing most of the time, with his head held high, looking around at what he knew was the greatest Christmas gift of all time — his FAMILY.

Dr. Lauranett L. Lee, curator of African-American history at the Virginia Historical Society:

When I was away in college and medical school on the East Coast, I always looked forward to going home to Los Angeles for the holidays.

From childhood, my godmother, who I affectionately called Granny, would prepare a fabulous meal complete with all the favorites. Her food was delicious and pretty.

She also would invite people who had no family or other place to celebrate. Granny would have a gift under the tree for every guest.

After dinner, I would help to distribute gifts to everyone.

I remember how special and happy everyone felt. Even though we were not related, everyone who gathered to celebrate Christmas at Granny’s house felt like family.

As time passed, my Granny went on to be with the Lord and I started a Christmas tradition for my own family.

When the children were small, early-morning gift opening was accompanied by big smiles and paper torn at a feverish pace. Wow! Pajama-clad children would carefully make sure everything “worked.” I loved how they would get excited about little things like the ribbon.

Christmas is my favorite time of year because of people. People tend to be kinder to each other, generous and more engaging. I have had many pleasant and fun conversations with complete strangers over the years during holiday time.

I believe life is about loving the world and the people in it, and this is a time when that is seen quite a bit. God bless!

My fondest memories of the Christmas season revolve around family.

I remember the scent of cedar coming into our home when my father would bring in a freshly chopped tree from our land behind our home in Chesterfield County. My brother and sister and I would watch and wait for Daddy to emerge from the woods, cross the field and drag the tree into the yard.

We’d fling open the door to welcome him and breathe in the cold air and the fresh cedar. The needles were sharp, but we didn’t care as we’d unwrap the delicate ornaments and place them on the branches.

Our mother would make hot chocolate — the real kind — which we’d drink as we watched Daddy turn on the string of lights winding around the tree.

Another favorite memory is the family dinners at both sets of grandparents’ houses. I come from farming families and most everything we ate was raised by my grandparents and grown in our gardens.

Both of my grandmothers loved to cook and their kitchens became command centers. They rose earlier than usual and stayed up later than usual, not only preparing gastronomical delights, but the regular meals as well.

The moment I enjoyed most was when we all gathered at the table and just after the food had been blessed. There was a hum of appreciation as the beautifully laden table was transformed into an ever-moving site of pleasure. Turkeys, chickens, hams, pork tenderloin, chitterlings, collards, homemade rolls, spoonbread, cabbage, corn pudding, candied yams, sweet potato pie, lemon custard, pound cake and apple, peach or blackberry cobblers graced more than one table.

The adults would have something hardy to drink, whatever that meant, while we would enjoy punch with ginger ale. We thought that meant it was spiked and we got the biggest kick out of that!

Afterward, we’d all gather around the piano and sing — first, us children, and then all of us together.

I am smiling as I remember, and I am grateful for such wonderful memories.

George K. Martin, attorney and managing partner, Richmond office of McGuireWoods: Nobody loved Christmas more than my mother, Ruby Martin.

Indeed, Christmas dinner at 715 Spottswood Road was “an event,” to say the least. She enjoyed decorating the house, cooking dinner, baking cookies, shopping and wrapping gifts.

Red was her favorite color, and even Saint Nick did not have anything on Ruby when it came to Christmas spirit.

So when my daughter, Hayley, was born a month before Christmas, it was no surprise to us that Grandma Ruby declared that she would acquire and decorate “Hayley’s Christmas tree” that year.

It was a magnificent Christmas tree, and of course we had the obligatory picture of the baby — a true gift from God — among the other gifts under the tree. Hayley’s first Christmas was special because her birth was so close to Christmas. It also stands out because of the special friends who came to visit, each one bearing a “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament.

My wife, Anita, the photographer, captured all of these visits and we have special pictures to remember visits from dear friends like Abbott Lambert and Leroy Hassell. These photos are especially dear because they are no longer with us.

Every year thereafter, Grandma Ruby put up the Christmas tree with Hayley and, later, she was joined by Hayley’s two sisters, Kelly and Mallory — also gifts from God. Often the four of them made a gingerbread house, and each year Grandma Ruby baked the best chocolate chip cookies and delivered them in a new Christmas cookie jar. After her death, my dear friend, Jim DePasquale, the girls’ Uncle Jim, continued the cookie jar tradition. We now have quite a collection of cookie jars.

Unfortunately, Grandma Ruby passed several years ago, but decorating the house for Christmas invokes fond memories of her. We have a small metal tree that is permanently on display in our foyer. It holds some of her favorite ornaments to match the special memories we always will have in our hearts.

Dr. Erica M. Royal, obstetrician-gynecologist and chair of the OB-GYN department at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital:

Barksdale Haggins, owner of Barky’s and Belle Spiritual Store on Broad Street in Downtown: I grew up in the Sheep Hill neighborhood of Richmond, near Maggie Walker High School. It was called that because people used to raise sheep over there.

My most memorable Christmas was 70 years ago. Our parents gave my brother Irvin, 10, and myself, 12, each a pony — Merry Legs and Ginger — along with a saddle, boots and riding outfit.

Well, the ponies arrived the day before Christmas, and we were delighted. But I was afraid to get up on mine. I was about the same height as the pony.

Then a friend, Charles Manning, came over and jumped up on my pony and started riding it. Then I said, “Shoot, I’m going to do it, too.” And I started riding.

There was a big field behind the house and the ponies stayed there. Sometimes when we didn’t ride them, my mother would take them and exercise them. She’d walk them down the street like a dog or a cat.

My father was from South Carolina and he and his brother used to ride horses. He would tell us about the fun they’d have growing up. So I think that’s why he got us ponies.

It was a glorious time and joyous.

The older I’ve gotten, the more I believe that each day is special.

John P. Cario, area vice president and general manager, Hilton Garden Inn Richmond Downtown in the historic Miller & Rhoads building: Growing up outside of New York City created many fond holiday memories, like parades, occasional visits to the “Big Apple” and sights, sounds and decorations of the holidays. Often having a “white Christmas” always contributed to the excitement.

As a child, the visit to Santa at the mall was always fun, and one year I asked him for a color TV. My mom advised Santa that this was a “tall order,” and, that year, I didn’t get a color TV! Perhaps it was the G.I. Joe doll that I still have to this day and recently took to the “Antiques Roadshow.” My wife, Sandy, enjoys telling that story.

As I became a parent, one of the more recent cherished memories was the year Santa brought my children twin black labs. Trying to keep the secret of the midnight exchange at the neighbors will be remembered for years to come. My son, younger but perhaps wiser, commented, “Is that all we got?”

The more recent and ongoing memory is the enjoyment of the renewed “Santa Teas” at the former Miller & Rhoads department store building. It’s more than the excitement in the eyes of the young and old as Santa comes through the chimney for one of the many shows at the Hilton Garden Inn. Let me make a disclaimer here. This is not intended to be a PR plug.

Being a non-sentimental sort myself, I first thought it was a tad corny. But it’s not. It started as a challenge from my owners in 2010 to restore some holiday traditions at the historic facility.

While the story is much more than I can write, it’s a cherished memory to be a part of these Santa Teas each year in Richmond. You’ll have to see one for yourself — Santa, the fun elf, the Snow Queen and Debo Dabney on piano.

Merry Christmas!

B4 December 24-27, 2014

Richmond Free Press

Happenings Kwanzaa Festival set for Saturday The stage will be alive with African music, dance and spoken word.

The African Market will offer delicious African-inspired cuisine, books, handcrafted and imported items, clothing, jewelry and more.

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

These are among the highlights of the 24th Annual Capital City Kwanzaa Festival, one of the largest festivals on the East Coast celebrating the holiday.

This year’s festival is scheduled from 1 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 27, at the Altria Theater, 6 N. Laurel St. The festival opens 1 p.m. with the African Market.

An ancestral libation and candle-lighting ceremony will follow at 2 p.m.

Tickets purchased in advance are $6, and $5 for students ages 12 to 18 and seniors age 65 and older. Add $1 for

tickets purchased at the door. Children under 12 are free.

This year’s theme is “Kujichagulia: Reclaiming Our Communities Through Self-Determination,” said festival organizer Janine Bell.

Ms. Bell is executive director of the Elegba Folklore Society, a Richmond nonprofit whose mission is to promote the cultural arts and heritage of Africa and its descendants.

The seven-day holiday of Kwanzaa begins Dec. 26 and runs through Jan. 1.

The holiday is rooted in African traditions and encourages year-round discipline and adherence to the seven principles known collectively as Nguzo Saba.

On the program are workshops teaching the seven principles — unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. The workshops will run from 4:30 to 8 p.m.

Also on tap: Wildfire, a reggae artist who sings about peace, love and African awareness, will perform at 2:30 p.m.; and Elegba Folklore Society dancers, drummers and singers will perform at 3:30 p.m.

James Small Speaks, a professor in the Black Studies Department at City University of New York, will speak at 4:30 p.m.

The G7 Jazz group of Open High School students and members of the Richmond Youth Jazz Guild will perform at 5:45 p.m.

At 8 p.m., Plunky & Oneness, featuring saxophonist J. Plunky Branch, will perform a fusion of African musical forms, jazz, funk and R&B. First launched in 1986, the city’s Kwanzaa celebration typically attracts more than 3,000 attendants, including vendors from Maryland, New York and Boston.

Details on the festival: (804) 644-3900 or go to www.efsinc.org/events/festivals/ kwanzaa-festival.

Clinton Strane/Richmond Free Press

Holiday debutantes Sixteen young women were presented by the Upsilon Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at its 2014 Debutante Ball. The formal affair was held Saturday, Dec. 20, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Downtown.

The theme for the glittering event: “Dancing in a Holiday Pink and Green Glow.” The ball was the culmination of months of activities the high school students participated in hosted by the AKAs, a community service organization composed of college-educated women.

Rudy Powell/Richmond Free Press

Decked out in elegance Pure elegance reigned supreme at the Richmond Chapter of The Continental Societies’ annual Elegance in Black and White Gala. This year’s event was held Friday, Dec. 19, at a Downtown hotel, and raised money for the organization’s many service projects and programs, including scholarships for high school seniors and college undergraduates. For the second year, the gala also honored a Champion for Children, which was awarded to U.S. Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, D-Va., third from left. Rep. Scott displays his award with, from left, John Purnell, chairman of the advisory board; Nkechi George-Winkler, president of The Continentals’ Richmond chapter; and Beverly Davis, chairwoman of the organization’s Ways and Means Committee.

Richmond Free Press

December 24-27, 2014

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As 2014 comes to an end and we take time to celebrate the holidays with our families and friends, I see it as the perfect time to thank each and every one of you for helping to make the past 12 months so exciting and productive here in Richmond.

Speaking both personally and on behalf of Bank of America, I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to help play a role in the many things you all do to make this community such an incredible place in which to live, work and raise families.

Your endeavors and achievements are an inspiration, and they fuel our commitment to making financial lives better for everyone here in Richmond through the power of every connection: • Connecting our customers and clients to the resources, tools, expert analysis and advice they need to succeed • Connecting local businesses to the loans and expertise they need to grow, hire and fuel our local economy • Connecting nonprofits to the funding and volunteer support that enable them to fulfill their missions • Connecting neighborhoods to the capital they need to become healthier, more vibrant communities That’s our purpose. It’s what drives us each and every day at work. And we pledge to use the power of local connections to make life here in Richmond even better in 2015.

Again, thank you for working with us, and I wish you all a very happy and healthy holiday season!

Sincerely yours,

Gary Gore Bank of America President, Virginia

Life’s better when we’re connected®

© 2014 Bank of America Corporation. Member FDIC. | AR8RCKYY | AD-12-14-0334.B

Richmond Free Press

B6 December 24-27, 2014

Faith News/Obituaries/Directory

Emancipation Day program Jan. 1 at Fifth Baptist Church

Freedom will be celebrated Thursday, Jan. 1.

It’s Emancipation Day, honoring the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, freeing enslaved people in Confederate states.

The Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Richmond and Vicinity will host the Emancipation Day program at Fifth Baptist

Church, 1415 W. Cary St. in the West End. The Rev. Reginald F. Davis of First Baptist Church in Williamsburg will be the guest preacher.

This is the 74th year for the Richmond celebration, which will start at 11:30 a.m. and feature music by a community choir.

The program also will raise donations for area branches

of the NAACP. The program was the brainchild of Dr. W.L. Ransome, the late pastor of First Baptist Church of South Richmond, where Mayor Dwight C. Jones currently is senior pastor and his son and School Board member Derik E. Jones is pastor.

Additional details: (804) 355-1044.

Garfield F. Childs Jr., accountant, succumbs at 70

By Joey Matthews

Garland Ford Childs Jr. loved crunching numbers.

“He had a real gift for it,” his wife, Joyce, said.

And he had a passion for helping others with their financial needs.

That’s why he opened Childs Business Services in the West End. He operated the accounting and tax preparation business for more than four decades.

Mr. Childs would burn the midnight oil to provide top services.

“He was very loyal to his clients,” his wife said. “If he was in your corner, he was a lifelong friend. He was a very compassionate person.”

Business acumen ran in Mr. Childs’ family. His late father, Garfield F. Childs Sr., was founder and president of Union Mutual Savings and Loan Association in Downtown.

When Garfield Jr. was not at work, the committed entrepreneur was with his wife, three daughters, son and other family.

“He was extremely devoted to his family,” said his wife of 49 years.

Mr. Childs is being remembered following his death Dec. 14, 2014, in Richmond. He was 70.

The community celebrated his life Dec. 19 at his funeral at Fifth Baptist Church in the West End. Mr. Childs was born June 28 1944, in Nashville, Tenn.

The family later moved to Richmond and he attended Armstrong High School before later graduating from Maggie L.

Walker High School in 1962.

Mr. Childs earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration in 1966 from North Carolina A&T University.

While in college, he joined Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.

While Mr. Childs and his future wife attended different high schools in Richmond, they met at a North Side drug store, where students gathered. They became acquainted while sipping cherry cokes.

They married in 1965, his senior year

Mr. Childs

in college.

Mr. Childs began his career as an Internal Revenue Service

Cornelius Sherman, educator and mentor

By Joey Matthews

Cornelius Wright Sherman spent his life as an educator.

He worked for 34 years in the Hampton Public Schools, starting as a biology teacher and retiring in 1994 as a middle school principal.

He was a board member and later vice president of the

Hampton Roads Education Credit Union for 35 years.

But people in Richmond probably know him best as the husband of Deborah JewellSherman, who served as the superintendent of Richmond Public Schools from 2002 through 2008.

She left the Richmond system for Harvard University,

Sharon Baptist Church

In ApprecIAtIon

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

“The Church With A Welcome”

Sunday December

The family of the late

28

Sylvia Smith Dyer wishes to express their heart felt thanks and sincere gratitude to everyone for all acts of kindness and love extended to them during their time of bereavement.

agent and later was a full-time accountant for the Defense General Supply Center on South Side before he retired in 2004.

He received several accolades for his service while in government and private business.

When he was not at work, Mrs. Childs said her husband enjoyed fishing and “being around other people.”

He also was a lifelong member of Mount Carmel Baptist Church in the East End. True to his calling, he worked as a member of the church Finance Committee.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Childs is survived by three daughters, Robin Childs-Adu Gyamfi, Renee Childs and Rea Childs; a son, Andrew Ford Prowant; a sister, Carla P. Childs, three grandchildren and a host of other relatives.

w/Greater Mt. Moriah Baptist Church

No Bible Study Thursday

Good Shepherd Baptist 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) 6:30 PM Prayer Meeting

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

2014 Theme:

The Year of Increase

8:00 A.M. Morning Worship 9:30 A.M. Sunday School 11:15 A.M. Morning Worship Wednesday, December 31, 2014 10:00 P.M. Joint New Year’s Eve Service

2014

where she is a professor of practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Mr. Sherman is being remembered following his death Dec. 18, 2014, in Richmond.

He was 80.

His life was celebrated Dec. 23, 2014, at a funeral at Fifth Baptist Church in the West End.

11:00 AM Mid-day Meditation

A Joyous Holiday To All



New Year’s Eve Wednesday, December 31, 2014 Join us for Jubilant Praise on the Mount 12 Noon Worship Service Guest Soloist Cora Harvey Armstrong 10 PM Watch Night Service Mt. Olive’s own Mass Choir Face 2 Face Mime Ministry and Praise Dancers

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

We hope to see you here.



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

St. Peter Baptist Church

Dr. Kirkland R. Walton, Pastor

New Year’s

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

Sixth Baptist Church

Sunday Morning Worship 11:00 a.m.

Theme for 2014: Becoming a Five-Star Church of Excellence We Are Growing In The Kingdom As We Grow The Kingdom with Word, Worship and Witness

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

Rev. Dr. Yvonne Jones Bibbs, Pastor

Wednesday, December 24, 2014 Christmas at Sixth Baptist Church Christmas Eve One Hour Family Worship 5:00 P.M. Sunday, December 28, 2014 11:00 A.M. Worship Service Message by: Pastor Bibbs Wednesday, December 31, 2014 Watch Night Service 9:00 P.M. New Year’s Chew and Chat 10:00 P.M. Worship Through Prayer 10:30 P.M. Worship Through Praise In Concert: The Fabulous Soldiers of Vision 11:40 P.M. Worship Through The Word Midnight Prayer 400 South Addison Street, Richmond, Va. 23220

Twitter sixthbaptistrva

Come Join Us! Reverend Dr. Lester D. Frye Pastor and Founder

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

Unity Worship Service Sunday, December 28th at 10:00 a.m.

Worship Service

Sunday, December 21st at 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

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

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

at 10:30 p.m.

Wednesday, December 24th

Bible Study is now on Winter Break.

We will reconvene on January 8th.

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

New Deliverance Evangelistic Church

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

Men’s Christmas Concert

Riverview

Wednesday, December 24, 2014 7:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:00 p.m.

Baptist Church

Watch Night Service

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

Wednesday, December 31, 2014 9:00 p.m. Doors open at 8:00 p.m.

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

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

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

Moore Street Missionary

Wednesday Services Senior Citizens Noonday Bible Study Every Wed. 12noon-1pm

Baptist Church

1408 W. Leigh Street • 358-6403

Sanctuary - All Are Welcome!

Dr. Alonza Lawrence

7:00 p.m. Prayer 7:30 p.m. Mid-Week Revival/ Bible Study Count

Pastor

December 28, 2014

Holy Communion

Saturday

8:30 a.m. Intercessory Prayer

and

Unity Sunday Church School 8:45 A.M. Morning Worship Service 10:00 A.M.

Watch Night Service

Wednesday, December 31st

Christmas Eve Service at 7:00 p.m.

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

(near Byrd Park)

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M r .

Sherman was born in Staunton in 1934, and his family moved to Waynesb o r o , where he Mr. Sherman attended the Rosenwald School built in the area to educate and uplift the African-American community. He later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Hampton Institute (now Hampton University).

He met Ms. Jewell-Sherman in 1989, when the two were principals in the Hampton Public Schools. They married in 1996.

In Richmond, he volunteered with Virginia Heroes, a mentoring program for Richmond Public Schools students, and was a member and deacon at United Baptist Church of Bon Air. Mr. Sherman is survived by his wife; a son, Rodney B. Sherman of Alexandria, Va.; a daughter, Nicole M. Sherman of Boston; and numerous other relatives and friends.

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

19th NDEC Founders & Church Anniversary January 18, 2015 9:00 a.m. & January 25, 2014 - 9:00 a.m.

Theme:

“The Good Hand of Our God Has Been Upon Us” – Nehemiah 2:8, 18

Tune in on Sunday Morning to WTVR - Channel 6 - 8:30 a.m.

Sunday TV Broadcast WTVZ 9 a.m. Norfolk/Tidewater Thursday & Friday Radio Broadcast WREJ 1540 AM Radio - 8:15 a.m.- 8:30 a.m.

THE NEW DELIVERANCE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (NDCA)

ENROLL NOW!!!

Accepting applications for children 2 yrs. old to 3rd Grade

You can now view Our NDCA curriculum also consists Sunday Morning Service of a Before and After program.

“AS IT HAPPENS” online! Now Enrolling for our Nursery Ages 6 weeks - 2yrs. old.

Also, for your convenience, For more information we now offer Please call (804) 276-4433 “full online giving.”

Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm Visit www.ndec.net.

Richmond Free Press

December 24-27, 2014

B7

Faith News/Directory

Holiday ‘miracle’ may save South Side church

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The Richmond Christian Center might not have to sell its sanctuary after all.

The church’s founding pastor, Stephen A. Parson Sr., said Monday that he had obtained a $2.5 million commitment that would allow RCC to pay off creditors and emerge from bankruptcy.

“We have prayed, and God has answered our prayers. It’s a financial miracle,” Pastor Parson told the Free Press.

He would say only that the commitment to refinance the church he founded 31 years ago came from “a private investor who can provide proof” that the money would be available. He would not provide further details.

Kevin J. Funk, the church’s attorney, said he would notify creditors, the U.S. Trustee’s Office and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips. Mr. Funk of Durrette Crump PLC said RCC would need permission from the trustee’s office to complete the refinancing, pay off creditors and save its church in the 200 block of Cowardin Avenue in South Side.

The news came out of the blue and followed repeated unfulfilled promises from Pastor Parson that refinancing would be available.

Earlier this month, Judge Phillips put the sale of RCC on hold to give RCC and Pastor Parson a last chance to find new funding.

As of Friday, Dec. 19, that had not happened, and Judge Phillips issued an order that day allowing a Henrico County church to

proceed with the purchase of RCC’s nearly 6 acres of property.

Despite expressing skepticism, the judge, however, left the door open for RCC to come up with the money and avoid having to transfer the deed to Mountain of Blessings Christian Center led by Pastor Dimitri Bradley.

Mountain of Blessings was the highest bidder at the auction of the RCC’s property before Thanksgiving.

Pastor Bradley’s bid amounted to $2.15 million, including the 10 percent commission to the Richmond-based auction company, Motley’s.

RCC filed for bankruptcy in November 2013 to block foreclosure of its property by its lender, Foundation Capital Resources of Springfield, Mo.

New SCLC chapter chartered in Richmond

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The Rev. Dwayne E. Whitehead is the leader of a new Richmond area chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

“We need this new chapter because of the high level of crisis our community is facing when it comes to social justice,” said the Rev. Whitehead, who spent the past year organizing the group known as the SCLC James River Metropolitan Chapter.

The 48-year-old minister has been the pastor for 21 years of the 300-member World Overcomers Family Church in the city’s Fulton community in the East End. He was installed as the chapter president Saturday, Dec. 20, along with other officers.

The state SCLC president, the Rev. William Avon Keen of Danville, took part in the event at Rev. Whitehead’s church.

Rev. Keen officially chartered the James

River Metropolitan Chapter of the civil rights organization that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. co-founded in the late 1950s.

Rev. Whitehead said the chapter is seeking to return to the SCLC’s origins as a faith-based organization seeking community betterment.

Rev. Whitehead He said that 60 people have joined the chapter, which plans to hold its first meetings in January.

Among other things, he said, the chapter will focus on relations with police. “We are planning to meet with the police chiefs of Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover counties to talk about improving relations between the police and our community.”

He said too many people in the Richmond

Ebenezer Baptist Church 1858

“The People’s Church”

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



11:00 a.m.

9:30 a.m.

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

Mon. 6:30 p.m.

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

Wed. 7:45 p.m.

Wed. 4:30 p.m.

Wed. 6:00 p.m.

Thurs., 11:45 a.m.

area have had experiences that “raised fear and concern and created hostility. You don’t have to go to Ferguson, Mo., or New York to hear about problems in this area.”

He said the purpose of the meetings will be to find out why police feel threatened by some individuals, and what people need to do if they are pulled over.

“We are not anti-cop,” Rev. Whitehead said.

“We want to discuss the problems and see how they can be addressed.”

He said the James River SCLC chapter also wants to focus on voter education and to scrutinize the records of elected officials to ensure they are living up to their campaign promises.

“We also want to deal with issues involving fair wages and raising the minimum wage,” he said, and to help educate voters about those running for office. “We want to scrutinize candidates carefully so we do not just vote for people just

FirstM iBaptist Church dlothian

because some group endorsed them.”

Other officers installed with Rev. Whitehead include the vice president, Pastor Uzziah A. Harris. He is the council liaison for 9th District Councilwoman Michelle R. Mosby.

Other new officers and board members include the Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper Jr., pastor of Metropolitan African-American Baptist Church; the Rev. Benjamin W. Harris Jr., pastor of St. Stephen’s Koinona Church; Bishop Darryl F. Husband Sr., pastor of Mt. Olivet Church and founder of Life More Abundant Ministries; the Rev. Ernest L. Moore Jr., pastor of Destiny Community Church; and the Rev. Willie Woodson, pastor emeritus of First United Presbyterian Church.

This is the SCLC’s second Richmond area chapter. The first, known as the Richmond Chapter, has ties with Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in the East End and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400.

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

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

Van Transportation Available, Call 804-794-5583

Rev. Pernell J. Johnson, Pastor

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

Thirty-first Street Baptist Church

everence e with elevanc R ing Dr. Morris Henderson, Senior Pastor bin m o ❖ C SUNDAYS

GRAYLAND BAPTIST CHURCH

The Church Where “Everybody is Somebody and Jesus is Lord.”

2301 Third Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23222 • Phone: (804) 329-7313 • Fax: (804) 329-6420 www.graylandbaptistchurch.org • Rev. Dr. Clifton Whitaker Jr., Senior Pastor

Come Worship with Us and Receive a Spiritual Blessing!

Sunday, December 28, 2014 8:30 a.m. Church School and New Members Class 9:45 a.m. Praise & Worship 10:00 a.m. Divine Worship

❖

You are invited to our Watchnight Testimonial Service

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The Saint Paul’s Baptist Church BREAKTHROUGH 2015 - CELEBRATION Join us for one of our annual New Year’s Eve Worship Celebrations as we prepare to “Raise the B.A.R.” and ”...excel in everything...” 2 Cor. 8:7.

Senior Pastor Dr. Lance D. Watson will bring an inspirational word LIVE at each of our four celebrations.

DECEMBER 31, 2014: Elm Campus @ 12 Noon - 29 Elm Street, Petersburg, VA Belt Campus @ 6pm - 701 E. Belt Blvd., Richmond, VA Creighton Campus @ 8pm and 10pm - 4247 Creighton Road, Henrico, VA BRING A FRIEND AND START THE NEW YEAR RIGHT!

804.643.4000 | www.MySPBC.org

❖

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

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

Sermon by Pastor Whitaker Music by the Mass Choir

7:00PM

Church School 9:30 a.m.

Morning Worship 10:30 a.m.

Rev. Dr. Clifton Whitaker Jr.

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

Christmas Eve Worship Celebration

December 24, 2014 - 7:00PM

Hull Street Location • 1501 Decatur Street

New Years Eve Worship Service

December 31, 2014 -10:30PM Meadowbrook High School 4901 Cogbill Road North Chesterfield, VA

Richmond Free Press

B8 December 24-27, 2014

Local News

GRTC’s Secret Santa speads joy to riders

By Joey Matthews

GRTC bus riders were pleasantly surprised last week when Santa Claus took time away from his busy holiday preparations and greeted them at the transfer plaza in Downtown.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!” the jolly bearded visitor from the North Pole shouted. “Thanks for riding the bus today and all throughout the year!”

He then handed each rider a Go Card for a free bus ride.

All told, Glenn “Nighthawk” Williams of Richmond, er, Santa, merrily gave out 500 Go Cards each day or 2,000 total in GRTC’s annual “Where’s Santa?” event Dec. 16 through 19.

GRTC buses flashed the “Where’s Santa?” message during the four days to promote the holiday event.

The promotion was well received, several people noted.

It was a natural fit when GRTC officials asked Mr. Williams, a retired GRTC bus driver of 32 years, to don a Santa suit.

For much of his career, he drove the Ginter Park, Highland Park and Forest Hill Avenue routes. He said playing Santa Claus “was like

a reunion for me. I saw a lot of the operators I’ve known for years, and the riders, who are like family to me.”

Mr. Williams has been spreading good cheer for more than two decades by wearing an array of creative, colorful costumes to celebrate different causes and occasions.

The cheerful 63-year-old South Side resident wore an Uncle Sam costume to celebrate President Obama’s historic election, promoted fatherhood by wearing a Superman costume and dressed in Darth Vader, Frankenstein, Kung Fu and Mr. T outfits just for the fun of it.

He appeared as Captain America last year when he and four other suit-and-tie wearing GRTC employees were honored at a retirement ceremony. He resigned from the company to care for his father, who has dementia.

“I do what other people are afraid to do,” said Mr. Williams, who wears a seemingly endless smile regardless of the costume he’s in. “It takes people back to their childhood. I love to bring a smile to people’s faces. They get a twinkle in their eyes and want to take pictures with me.”

Mr. Williams said he first started donning costumes when he organized group bus trips

Photo courtesy of Glenn Williams

Glenn “Nighthawk” Williams drove for GRTC for 32 years before retiring and surprising riders with gifts in the role of Secret Santa.

to Atlantic City. “I wore a colorful jacket and people really liked it. It seemed to unite the people with me in a positive way.”

He recalls first wearing a Batman costume on one trip and then thinking, “What can I wear next time?”

Mr. Williams said he’s also a poet and mo-

tivational speaker.

As he retires as Santa Claus for the time being, Mr. Williams has another lively costume in the works.

“I’m going to be Thor, the thunder god, with lights and wearing dreads,” he said, smiling.

Stay tuned for his next dazzling appearance.

Legal Notices/Employment Opportunities City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL Public Notice Notice is hereby given that the City of Richmond Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, January 5, 2015 at 1:30 p.m. in the Fifth Floor Conference Room of City Hall and the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing on Monday, January 12, 2015 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. 2014-260 To amend and reordain the fees set forth in Appendix A of the City Code for sections 114-1045.12 (concerning fees for conditional use permits), 1141050.6 (concerning fees for special use permits), and 114-1160(a) (concerning fees for zoning ordinance amendments), to establish revised charges for such services.

Ordinance No. 2014-261 To authorize the conditional use of the property known as 708 Hull Street for the purpose of authorizing drive-up facilities, upon certain terms and conditions.

The Richmond Downtown Master Plan designates this property as an Urban Center Area, which, “Is characterized by higher density, mixed-used development, typically arranged on a fine-grained street network with wide sidewalks, regular tree planting, and minimal setbacks”.

Ordinance No. 2014-263 To authorize the special use of the properties known as 1734 North 28th Street, 1736 North 28th Street and a portion of 1738 North 28th Street for the purpose of authorizing up to six single-family detached dwelling units, upon certain terms and conditions.

The Land Use Plan of the City of Richmond’s Master Plan designates the subject property for Single-Family (Low Density) land use. Primary uses in this category are single-family detached dwellings at densities up to seven units per acre. The proposed development would have a residential density of approximately 11 units per acre.

Ordinance No. 2014-264 To authorize the special use of the property known as 2617 West Main Street for the purpose of authorizing two two-family attached dwelling units and accessory parking, upon certain terms and conditions. The property is located in the Near West Planning District as defined by the 20002020 city-wide Master Plan, which recommends “Single-Family (MediumDensity)” uses for the property. The Richmond Master Plan designates this property as SingleFamily (Medium-Density).

Primary uses for the Single-Family designation are, “single-family and two-family dwellings, both detached and attached, at densities of 8 to 20 units per acre. Includes residential support uses such as schools, places of worship, neighborhood parks and recreation facilities, and limited public and semi-public uses”.

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Ordinance No. 2014-265 To authorize the special use of the property known as 3410 Cliff Avenue for the purpose of authorizing a day nursery for up to 12 children, upon certain terms and conditions. The City of Richmond’s Master Plan recommends Single-Family Low Density land use for the subject property. Primary uses in this category includes single-family detached dwellings at densities up to seven units per acre and residential support uses such as churches, parks, and recreational facilities.

Ordinance No. 2014-266 To authorize the special use of the property known as 535 West Broad Street for the purposes of the construction and operation of a building for retail use, with an accessory drive-up window and off-street parking, upon certain terms and conditions. According to the Richmond Downtown Plan, the subject property falls within the Urban Center Area. Such areas are characterized by higher density, mixed-use development, typically arranged on a fine-grained street network, with wide sidewalks, regular tree planting, and minimal setbacks.

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 EZEKIAL ROBINSON, Plaintiff v.

ANN REID, Defendant.

Case No.: CL14002846-00 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 4th day of February, 2015 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

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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 22nd day of January, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests.

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

CORNELIUS SCOTT, Defendant.

Case No.: CL14002717-00 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 22nd day of January, 2015 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 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER RICKY ARCHER II, Plaintiff v.

CASSANDRA ARCHER, Defendant.

Case No.: CL14002258-00 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 29th day of January, 2015 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

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER PAULETTE PONTON, Plaintiff v.

HERBERT PONTON, Defendant.

Case No.: CL14002631-00 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

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER BRET Hall, Plaintiff v.

JENNIFER HALL, Defendant.

Case No.: CL1400147-00 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 has been served with the Complaint by posted service appear here on or before the 4th day of February, 2015 and protect her interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure Counsel for Plaintiff

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VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667

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

Case No.: CL13-1894-1 WILBERT J. BELLAMY, SR., Who May Be Deceased, and THE HEIRS, DEVISEES, ASSIGNEES OR SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST OF WILBERT J. BELLAMY, SR., et al., Defendants.

AMENDED ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as “3023 Hanes Avenue”, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map/GPIN# N0000973/036, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, WILBERT J. BELLAMY, SR., who may be deceased.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, WILBERT J. BELLAMY, SR., who may be deceased, and the heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest of WILBERT J. BELLAMY, SR., have not been located and have not filed a response to this action; that BEVERLY PATTERSON a/k/a BEVERLY ROSE BELLAMY-PATTERSON a/k/a BEVERLY ROSE BELLAMY and SHARON SHEPARD a/k/a SHARON DANITA BELLAMY SHEPARD p/k/a SHARON DANITA BELLAMY, who may have an ownership interest in said property, have not been personally located and have not filed a response to this action; that WILLIAM J. PANTELE and DONALD C. BURRIESCI, who may be creditors with an interest in said property, have not been personally located and have 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 WILBERT J. BELLAMY, SR., who may be deceased, and the heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest of WILBERT J. BELLAMY, SR., BEVERLY PATTERSON a/k/a BEVERLY ROSE BELLAMY-PATTERSON a/k/a BEVERLY ROSE BELLAMY, SHARON SHEPARD a/k/a SHARON DANITA BELLAMY SHEPARD p/k/a SHARON DANITA BELLAMY, WILLIAM J. PANTELE, DONALD C. BURRIESCI, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before FEBRUARY 7, 2015, 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

ADOPTION Virginia: In the juvenile and domestic relations district court for the County of Chesterfield Amanda Maria Gaytan, Petitioner, v.

Bryan Gaytan, Continued on next column

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Respondent.

Case Nos.: JJ084075-01-00;-02-00; and JJ084046-01-00;-02-00 In Re: Amaya Maria Gaytan, DOB: 01/28/2008; and Annabelle Denise Gaytan, DOB: 09/19/09 Order of Publication

The object of this suit is to grant Amanda Maria Gaytan, the Plaintiff, sole legal and physical custody of the minor children Amaya Maria Gaytan, DOB: 01/28/2008, and Annabelle Denise Gaytan, DOB: 09/19/09.

WHEREFORE,

And affidavit having been filed that due diligence has been used without effect to ascertain the location of the father of the minor children, Bryan Gaytan, it is ORDERED that the father, Bryan Gaytan, appear before this Court on February 23, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. to protect his interests herein.

WE ASK FOR THIS: Rick A. Friedman, II, Esquire (VSB #46870) Kimberly L. Fitzgerald, Esquire (VSB #74883) Friedman Law Firm, P.C. 9620 Iron Bridge Road Suite 101 Chesterfield, VA 23832 (804) 717-1969 (telephone) (804) 748-4161 (telecopier) Counsel for the Petitioner

BIDS COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA CONSTRUCTION ITB# 14-9687-12CE – Henrico Water Treatment Plant – Generator

This project consists of the installation of a new 2000kW, 4.61kV generator.

Due 2:00 pm, January 29, 2015. Additional information available at: http://www. henrico.us/purchasing

To advertise in the

Richmond Free Press call 644-0496

Drivers w/CDL: Home Weekends with Dedicated Route Guaranteed Weekly Pay on 1,800-2,100 Weekly Miles Limited Positions, So Call Now 888-475-2818 Friendship Baptist Church is seeking a full time

Pastor.

Please submit resume to 1305 Arlington Road Hopewell, Virginia 23860-6115 Attn: E. Stewart Jones Chairman, Diaconate Ministry Resumes are due by: Dec. 31, 2014 The Richmond Free Press is seeking a reliable and creative person for a part-time graphics position. Individual must be proficient in Macintosh Creative Suite Design software (Indesign and Photoshop) to produce accurate, high quality cameraready advertisements and news page layouts for print production.

Attention for details. Duties will include website maintenance.

Ability to be flexible and work under deadline cooperatively in a team environment is essential.

Submit cover letter, resumé and samples of work to address below.

Human Resources Richmond Free Press P.O. Box 27709 Richmond, Virginia 23261 No phone calls please

Good Hopewell Baptist Church Is seeking a

Part-Time Senior Pastor Please email resume to: ghbc4godministries@gmail.com With your resume and statement of purpose.

Deadline for all applicants no later than Midnight January 16, 2015.

Henrico County, Virginia

Henrico County, a progressive employer of choice, provides job seekers with the promise of fair and competitive compensation; a close-knit atmosphere with low employee turnover; and a benefits package that helps secure financial stability. Henrico County is among the top-rated counties in the nation.

For employment information please visit our Jobs Website at henricojobs.com.

Henrico County is an equal opportunity employer.

senior digital sales specialist WWBT/NBC12 in Richmond, VA is seeking a Senior Digital Sales Specialist with a deep background in digital advertising AND digital services, including an advanced understanding of SEO, SEM, Reputation Management, Social Media Management, and Web Site Development. Digital Agency background or Digital Ad Sales background is ideal. This position reports to the Digital Sales Manager and will partner with broadcast Account Executives to create successful digital campaigns for our advertisers and prospective advertisers, with the goal of growing their relationships with the station.

Drug Screen and MVR check required. Apply online at https://careers-raycommedia.icims. com. EOE-M/F/D/V

Pediatric Endocrinologist in Richmond, VA. Diagnose/treat human disease, illness/ injuries & practice evidence-based medicine, w/focus on pediatric endocrine dysfunction. Mail resume to D. Slayden, VCU Health System Authority, 701 E. Franklin St., 9th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219.

Pediatric Neonatologist in Richmond, VA. Diagnose, treat, & help prevent children’s diseases/injuries w/emphasis on Neonatal & Perinatal specialties.

Mail resume to D. Slayden, VCU Health System Authority, 701 E. Franklin St., 9th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219.

Training and Program Support Coordinator (Trainer & Instructor II – Position #00004) Pay Band 4 Hiring Range--up to $40,000 depending on experience

Exceptional opportunity for a dynamic, highly motivated individual within a small unique state agency.This position positively impacts lives by building capacity through planning, coordinating, promoting, implementing, and evaluating leadership & advocacy training programs.

Involves working with youth/adults with disabilities and their family members, and creating/maintaining a network of alumni active in advocacy. Manage training budget, supervise part-time training assistant, and provide support to program staff. Weekend work and some statewide travel required during training events. For details including requirements and to submit your cover letter, resume, and application, visit. http://jobs.agencies. virginia.gov/applicants/Central?quickFind=199761 Application deadline is 5 p.m. on January 5, 2015 AAeeo/Tdy/ReASonABle ACCommodATIon uPon RequeST

Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, City of Richmond Positions available: MANAGER Become a part of the management team of the Clerk’s Office. The successful candidate will possess Information Technology skills, competence with Microsoft Office 2010, and experience in using and maintaining websites and social media accounts. Administrative experience in budgeting and purchasing needed. Candidates should have experience and/or education in the legal field.

Excellent customer service skills and the ability to interact successfully in a diverse environment required. Demonstrated supervisory and training abilities required. Salary commensurate with experience. POSITION 14-1 CRIMINAL SECTION

Immediate opportunity for energetic, dependable and professional candidate to work in downtown courts building, criminal division, Must be detailoriented and possess excellent customer service and telephone skills. Prior experience working in a court environment a plus. POSITION 14-2 FOR EITHER POSITION, PLEASE SUBMIT RESUME, COVER LETTER AND A SALARY HISTORY TO:

CircuitCourtClerkEmployment@Richmondgov.com OR RICHMOND CIRCUIT COURT CLERK’S OFFICE PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT 400 NORTH 9TH ST RICHMOND, VA 23219

Include position number applied for on cover letter.

NO WALK-INS OR PHONE CALLS, PLEASE EOE