Richmond Free Press December 29-31, 2022 edition

Jennifer McClellan defends rushed primary after landslide victory

Sen. McClellan received an early 50th birthday present in winning a smashing victory in the Dec. 20 Democratic “firehouse” primary in taking her first step to succeed the late A. Donald McEachin as the 4th Congressional District representative.

The 17-year General Assembly veteran, who turned 50 on Wednesday, now only must best a lightly regarded Republican, Leon Benjamin, in the special election set for Tuesday, Feb. 21, to fulfill her quest to become Virginia’s first Black congresswoman.

Mr. Benjamin, a minister, lost twice to Congressman McEachin, most recently in the Nov. 8 election that took place three weeks before Congressman McEachin’s death.

For Sen. McClellan, a victory would mean she would give up her post as the senior senator for Richmond and end her role as a member of Verizon’s legal team to become a freshman in Congress. She said she decided to do so to have an opportunity “to serve more people.”

The only potential roadblock could be a federal lawsuit that

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Virginia state Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan arrived at Diversity Richmond early on Dec. 20 to vote in a special “firehouse” primary. After winning the primary by capturing 85 percent of the 27,900 votes cast, Sen. McClellan hopes to make history in February 2023 by being elected the first Black woman to represent Virginia in the U.S. Congress.

Ms. Lynch

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Apartment buildings in Richmond would have to undergo a city inspection at least once every four years and more often in the case of violations under a proposal that 5th District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch plans to introduce in January.

The proposal will call for the Richmond

inspectors to check that rental dwellings are properly maintained and comply with health and safety codes, Ms. Lynch stated in confirming that she plans to introduce the ordinance next month to get on the council docket.

“Everyone deserves a safe and healthy place to live,” Ms. Lynch, chair of the council’s Education and Human Services

Committee, stated in explaining her motivation for legislation that would be the first a council member has introduced since 2007 when an effort to create a rental inspection program failed.

“Our community has long been impacted by ‘slum landlords,’” Ms. Lynch continued, “and there are far too many people, particularly vulnerable residents

First 2 years revealed President Biden’s

By Zeke Miller

The Associated Press

City councilwoman wants to revive apartment inspections generational ambition

WASHINGTON

When he ran for the White House, Joe Biden told voters his presidency would be a bridge to the next generation. His first two years on the job have revealed it to be a much more ambitious venture.

As he nears the halfway mark on his first term, President Biden is pointing to legacy-defining achievements on climate change, domestic manufacturing and progress on the COVID-19 pandemic — all accomplished with razor-thin majorities on Capitol Hill and rather dim views from the public.

President Biden’s legislative accomplishments extend to nearly every aspect of American life — although their impact may take years to be felt in some cases — and his marshaling of a global coalition to back Ukraine’s defenses and of democracies against China’s growing influence will echo for decades. He defied history in the

Color my world

27 Kwanzaa celebration at Hardywood’s Ownby Lane location. During the week of Kwanzaa, Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, families and communities come together to share a feast, to honor the ancestors, affirm the bonds between them, and celebrate African and African-American culture.

Associated Press photo

President Biden speaks about manufacturing jobs and the economy Nov. 29 at SK Siltron CSS, a computer chip factory in Bay City, Mich.

norms

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RPS program receives $20,000 grant

Richmond Free Press A Year in Photos B2 Meet this week’s Personality B1 Please turn to A4 Please turn to A4

like the elderly, low-income families, undocumented individuals and individuals with disabilities who are forced to live in unsafe conditions.”

Ms. Lynch said Richmond residents are entitled to live in a place that complies with the requirements of the state and local

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

By Holly Rodriguez

The MLK school program is one of three grant recipients presented an award from Ujima at The Community Foundation on Dec. 15.

Tracy Brower, interim director of the Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation, said Young Kings in Action was born out of a need to help young men at MLK

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Henrietta Lacks statue concept drawing unveiled in Roanoke

Roanoke artist Bryce Cobbs had only two photos of Mrs. Lacks, who lived from 1920 until 1951, from which to draw her, the first phase of a project for which a fundraiser collected more than $160,000.

Blacksburg artist Larry Bechtel will begin the creation of the statue by crafting a 24-inch model in oil-based clay, guided by the drawing and recollections of Mrs. Lacks’ family, including her only living child, Lawrence Lacks.

“This means a lot to my family,” Ron Lacks, Lawrence’s son, said at the event.

The finished work, a hollow bronze figure weighing about 400 pounds, will stand six feet high — six inches taller than Mrs.

Please turn to A4 The Richmond and Henrico health districts are offering free walk-up COVID-19 and flu vaccines at the following locations: • Tuesday, Jan. 3, 10 a.m. to noon - Cary Street, 400 E. Cary St., Primary Moderna shots for ages 6 months to 5 years and age 12 and older, bivalent booster for age 6 and older, Primary Pfizer shots for age 6 months and older and bivalent boosters for age 5 and older, Novavax primary shots for ages 12 and older and boosters for age 18 and older and flu shots, Want a COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot?

Richmond state Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan is on the fast track to Washington.

The Associated Press

ROANOKE

The future statue of Henrietta Lacks will depict the historical figure from Roanoke standing with arms folded in a blazer, long skirt and heeled shoes, according to a recently released drawing.

The drawing was undraped in a brief ceremony Dec. 19, giving residents a first look at the concept for the planned statue to be permanently installed across from the city municipal building in fall 2023. About 100 people attended.

Mrs. Lacks

midterm elections, persuading voters to stick with his vision of long-term gains despite immediate concerns about inflation and the economy.

It

turns out his conception of the job is about far more than restoring democratic

and passing the baton, as the 80year-old president looks toward an announcement in early spring that he’ll run again despite his record-setting age.

Young Kings in Action, an enrichment program for sixth- through eighth-grade boys at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, a $20,000 grant from the Ujima Legacy Fund. has been awarded

New Year’s 2023 Closings

In observance of New Year’s Day, Sunday, Jan. 1, please note the following:

Government, state and federal offices:

Closed Monday, Jan. 2.

City of Richmond offices: Closed Monday, Jan. 2.

Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover County offices: Closed Monday, Jan. 2.

Public schools: Richmond, Henrico and Hanover public schools will reopen on Monday, Jan. 2, while Chesterfield public schools will reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Public libraries: Richmond public libraries closed Friday, Dec. 30, to Monday, Jan. 2, while Hanover public libraries closed Saturday, Dec. 31, to Monday, Jan. 2, and Henrico and Chesterfield public libraries will be closed on Monday, Jan. 2.

Garbage and recycling collection No delay on trash or recycling collection.

U.S. Postal Service No regular mail delivery and closed post offices on Sunday, Jan. 1 and Monday, Jan. 2.

DMV customer service centers DMV offices will be closed Monday, Jan. 2.

GRTC Buses operate on a Sunday schedule on Sunday, Jan. 1. There will be no express service on Monday, Jan. 2.

Banks and financial institutions Closed Monday, Jan. 2.

ABC stores Retail stores closing at 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31, and New Year’s Day, Sunday, Jan. 1.

Malls, major retailers, movie theaters

Varies. Inquire at specific locations.

Richmond Free Press office Closed Monday, Jan. 2.

Writing competition open to RPS students

By Holly Rodriguez

The Game Changer Citywide Writing Competition, exclusively for Richmond Public Schools students, is open through Feb. 1, 2023. Contestants have the opportunity for students to win up to $500.

The Rev. Garry Callis and Children of Light Ministries created the competition and hosted a kickoff event on Dec.17. His reasoning for the competition is simple.

“Our children need to know how to be experts in the English language for full literacy, and that includes reading it, writing it and speaking it,” Rev. Callis said.

Participants must choose one of the following topics:

• Why is a good education important?

• Who do you admire and why?

• How do you feel about gun violence?

• What will you be when you grow up?

• If you could change something, what would it be?

• How did COVID-19 change your life?

Entry is based on a student’s grade level, and can include poems, essays or short stories. Elementary school student entries must be at least 100 words; middle school, 250 words; and high school, 500 words. The maximum length per entry is 1,500 words. All entries must be turned into RPS school front offices by Feb. 1, 2023, and must include the student’s name, guardian’s name, school, grade and a contact phone number. Winners will be announced at Martin Luther King Middle School on Feb. 22, 2023 at 6 p.m.

The first 250 entries received will be reviewed for one of three top prizes, and all entrants will receive a $20 gift card. The top prize for elementary school is $100; for middle school, $200; for high school, $500.

For more information, call 804-554-5885 or email becomeagamechanger@gmail.com.

Hanover County announces water assistance program

Free Press staff report

Hanover residents who have customer accounts with the county’s Department of Public Utilities can now apply for water and wastewater bill assistance through Virginia’s Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program.

Households eligible for LIHWAP assistance must live in Virginia, must have at least one U.S. citizen or eligible legal permanent resident in the household, have a past due water or wastewater balance, and a gross household income below 150 percent of the federal poverty level based on the size of their household.

Whether or not households have had their water service disconnected or are at risk of disconnection within the next 30 days will also be a factor in eligibility and the priority of selection. The program is being managed through a partnership between the Virginia Department of Social Services and the company PromisePay. Customers can apply online by going to www. virginialihwap.com/lihwap, or by calling PromisePay at 1-888373-9908 from Monday to Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Corrections

Tracey Hardney-Scott was born in St. Albans, Queens, N.Y., and currently resides in Prince George, Va. An article published in the Dec. 22-24 edition of the Free Press incorrectly stated Mrs. Hardney-Scott’s place of birth. The Free Press regrets the error.

A photograph in the Dec. 22-24 edition of the Free Press incorrectly identified Mazir George Harris as a girl. Mazir George Harris is a boy.

Cityscape

Slices of life and scenes in Richmond

Minimum wage going up; sales tax cut on groceries

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Most of Virginia’s lowest paid workers will ring in the New Year with a $1-an-hour pay hike, while grocery shoppers will see a smaller tax bite on their purchases.

Effective Jan. 1, the state’s minimum wage will rise from $11 an hour to $12 an hour, an increase of $40 a week or $2,080 a year for those affected.

The pay hike continues the increase in the minimum wage that the Democratic majority in the General Assembly spearheaded in 2020.

The new law untied Virginia for the first time from the federal minimum wage, which has been set at $7.25 an hour since 2009 and will continue at that level in 2023. Virginia is one of 30 states that have set minimum

wages higher than the federal rate.

Hopes of raising that wage to $15 an hour by 2026 though will rest on whether the General Assembly can re-enact that increase either in the upcoming session or in the 2024 session. If not, effective in 2025, the minimum wage would be indexed to inflation and go up the same percent as any reported increase in the consumer price index.

Aside from raising the wage floor, the 2020 legislation also expanded the coverage to more employees, including home health providers, maids and others domestic workers and waiters and other restaurant workers.

Under the law, restaurant workers and others who receive part of their pay from customer tips must receive a total wage equal to at least the minimum wage, with

the owner making up any difference.

Farm workers are the only major group still exempt from the minimum wage.

Also, beginning Jan. 1, the state’s 1.5 percent sales tax on food for home consumption and female menstrual products will disappear, saving shoppers $1.50 per $100 spent.

Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin won General Assembly support to eliminate the state’s share of the tax, though the local 1 percent sales tax on such items will still be collected as will any add-on sales tax set at the local level.

The state’s share of the sales tax still will be collected on restaurant meals or other hot prepared meals, as well as on sales of alcohol, tobacco and seeds and plants for gardens.

RPS makes history in collective bargaining negotiations

By Holly Rodriguez

Richmond Public Schools recently negotiated agreements with four collective bargaining “units” that will result in increased salaries, compensation and benefits for those employees. The RPS school board was the first in the state to pass a collective bargaining resolution last December since the Virginia Supreme Court banned such agreements for public sector employees 45 years ago.

The four units represented teachers, instructional assistants, care and safety staff and nutrition staff. The agreements, negotiated between the units and representatives from RPS and the Richmond Education Association, are a contract for three years.

Highlights of the agreement for staff units include: a 40 percent raise in instructional assistants’ salaries over the next three years to $30,000 by the 2025-2026 school year; a 10 percent increase in pay for supervisory roles and a 14 percent raise for all other care and safety staff; a 25 percent raise for school nutrition workers to nearly $19 an hour by the 2025-2026 school year, and health care benefits for the first time.

Teachers will receive a minimum 12 percent raise over the next three years, and $55 per hour compensation for covering another teacher’s class or performing testing

duties during a planning period.

In announcing the agreement, Superintendent Jason Kamras said the school division’s goal is to become known as “Teacher Town, Virginia,” a place that attracts teachers and keeps them. And teacher compensation has been a focus for him during his time at RPS.

“That means since becoming superintendent I have been able, with the support of the board, to increase teacher pay by nearly 35 percent,” he said. As an example, teachers who earned $60,000 in 2018 will be paid $80,000 by the 2025-2026 school year.

Reaching the agreement has been several months in the making.

“We met with all four units in August and came to an agreement on the topics,” says Michelle Hudacsko, chief of staff for RPS. “Over the last three months, we’ve had multiple meetings per month, came to an agreement and then the agreements were voted on.”

Boaz Young-El, lead negotiator for the REA, said legislation passed by former Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration helped Virginia workers gain collective bargaining rights.

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, such as top-down rules where workers have no say,” Mr. Young-El said in a phone interview with the Richmond Free Press. “Research shows that scores go up and [teacher] retention goes up with collective bargaining, two things RPS desperately needs.”

He said he spoke with Mr. Kamras about bringing employees to the table when talking about policy. Mr. Kamras agreed and said he believes teacher retention and improved student outcomes will take time, but these negotiations will help improve both.

“We really wanted to embrace this to show how much we value what our teachers and staff do,” he said in a phone interview with the Free Press. “I’m really proud that with collaboration with the REA, we are able to lead the commonwealth on this.”

Kenya Gibson, vice chair representing the RPS third district said in a statement: “Unions make our democracy stronger and they make our schools better,” she said.

“We’ve still got work to do but I’m thrilled about the progress we’ve made.”

The RPS School Board will review the agreements at its Jan. 5, 2023 meeting. Mr. Kamras will submit a budget proposal that includes these salary and benefits changes to the School Board on Jan 17.

Preservation Act provides research funding for burial grounds

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

A. Donald McEachin’s legacy as a Richmond congressman will live on in the African-American Burial Grounds Preservation Act that he sponsored in February with others in the U.S. House and Senate.

That bill gives the federal government a small role in promoting preservation of the often neglected or disappeared cemeteries.

The legislation passed after being tucked into the $1.7 trillion spending package that Congress approved just before Christmas to keep the government in operation through Sept. 30, 2023. The president added his signature Tuesday to ensure it became law.

The cemetery preservation act is listed on page 2,954 of the massive omnibus funding bill. It establishes the first ever program in the National Park Service to provide grant opportunities and technical assistance to groups that research, identify, survey and preserve the sites.

The legislation provides the Park Service with $3 million a year through 2027 to award in grants.

Lenora McQueen, who has led the effort to preserve the once forgotten Shockoe Hill African Burial Ground, cheered the approval.

“I join with everyone else who supported this bill in expressing joy at the passage of this legislation,” Ms. McQueen said. “It represents an important first step in getting the federal government involved in this work.”

Congressman McEachin, who died Nov. 28, stated last February at the bill’s introduction that the legislation represents a start to ending the “unjust abuse and neglect the graves of African-African have suffered.

“These burial sites hold the untold stories of millions of AfricanAmericans and the integral role they place in our nation’s trajectory,” Congressman McEachin continued. “The protection of these burial grounds is long overdue and critical to ensuring a more complete, comprehensive understanding of America’s history.”

He joined North Carolina Democratic Congresswoman Alma Adams and Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick in introducing the bill in the House. Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney spearheaded the legislation in the upper chamber. Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine also supported the legislation.

The legislation had the support of the Coalition for American Heritage, United Negro College Fund, Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association, and the Afro-American Historical and

Genealogical Society.

Other organizations that supported the legislation include the Archaeological Institute of America, American Anthropological Association, American Battlefield Trust, American History Press, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation Action and the Society of Black Archaeologists Society for Historical Archaeology.

But the legislation had largely languished in committee before it was included in the omnibus.

Congressman McEachin also left his fingerprints on other areas of the omnibus bill.

His additions include $3 million to support creation of a north-south Pulse rapid-transit bus line along U.S. 1 in Richmond and $3.2 million to aid Petersburg to upgrade its emergency communications system.

He also joined Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine in securing $1.5 million in new support for Richmond’s Virginia Biotechnology Research Partnership, $10.6 million for James River dredging to improve the port and $700,000 to improve Main Street Station’s safety and security.

Also, they gained $500,000 to support an initiative to preserve and restore the historic Byrd Park Pump House for public use.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Trevor Laury, 23, finishes unloading a cord of wood with his father, Alex Laury, at The Smoky Mug café on Brookland Park Boulevard on Dec. 27. The cafe features Texas craft barbecue on weekends, and serves specialty lattes, breakfast sandwiches, burritos, and locallysourced bagels during the week, according to its website. The Laurys, in business about 15 years, deliver wood to The Smoky Mug every two to three weeks.

Mr. Kamras

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Jennifer McClellan defends rushed primary after landslide victory

seven people have filed challenging the constitutionality of the informal primary that the state Democratic Party held to select its nominee for the now vacant seat.

The hand-counted primary results that were released after the Free Press publication deadline last week show that Sen. McClellan received 23,661 votes, or about 85 percent of the 27,900 votes cast to outdistance her three male rivals, according to the state party.

Her closest rival, Petersburg state Sen. Joseph D. Morrissey received just 3,782 votes, or 13.6 percent, while former Petersburg Delegate and attorney Joseph E. Preston and businessman Tavorise K. Marks receive a combined total of 391 votes, the party reported. Another 66 people submitted blank ballots.

Mr. Marks is one of the seven plaintiffs that in the lawsuit political strategist Paul Goldman, a former chair of the state Democratic Party, initiated to challenge the legality of the primary.

The other plaintiffs involved in suing Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin, the state Board of Elections and the party include Tamia

Douglas, Tina McCray, Jamale Pope, Julie Pope and Richard Walker. A hearing has yet to be set in the case.

At a post-primary press conference just a few hours after winning, Sen. McClellan defended the rushed process, saying that the party had to move quickly based on Gov. Youngkin’s decision to set the special election for Feb. 21, leaving parties with just 11 days to nominate their candidate.

“Everyone who wanted to vote could vote,” Sen. McClellan, a staunch voting rights defender, insisted.

She and state Democratic Party Chairwoman Susan Swecker noted that turnout Dec. 20 was nearly double the 15,600 people who voted in a 2016 state-run primary in the 4th Congressional District that Congressman McEachin won. However, they did not mention the 57,000 people who voted in a 2020 state-run Democratic primary in the district that Congressman McEachin also won.

According to the suit, Sen. McClellan’s claim that everyone had a chance to vote does not pass muster.

The suit that Richmond-based attorney Elliott B. Bender filed on behalf of the plaintiffs alleges that the party violated the federal constitution by making it impossible for active-duty military

personnel to participate, and creating significant burdens on the voting rights of elderly people, women with childcare and work responsibilities and individuals without transportation.

The suit alleges the party violated the 1st and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act by limiting voting to eight polling places in a congressional district that stretches from the Richmond area to Southampton County on the North Carolina border.

According to the suit, eight of the 15 localities did not have a polling place, creating an unconstitutional burden on residents of those localities who were forced to travel a considerable distance to cast a ballot.

A state-run primary would have provided 200 polling places, the suit notes. While the state has granted discretion to the party to select its nominee, the suit said the grant of authority does not permit the party to hold primaries that violate the law and past court precedents.

The suit requests the court order a do-over that would meet constitutional standards or fashion a remedy that would prevent such primaries in the future.

City councilwoman wants to revive apartment inspections

building codes that are on the books.

The program, if approved, would be the first attempt to revive a long dormant program of proactive inspection in Richmond.

It couldn’t come too soon for Kim Taylor and other residents who are concerned about conditions at the Forestbrooke complex in South Side.

Ms. Taylor, a leader of the community’s chapter of Virginia Organizing, is among the residents who recently staged a demonstration outside the Downtown offices of Amurcon Realty, the company that manages the income-restricted complex.

The protesters presented a list of demands that call on the company to improve building safety, replace faulty appliances, eliminate mold and create a functioning system of communication between tenants and management.

“It can take weeks for maintenance to repair a water leak,” said one tenant. “You have to call over and over again for days on end before there is a response.”

While the complex looks in compliance, Ms. Taylor said there are problems that go unnoticed and unrepaired. That includes front porch lights that she said flicker during rain because water is penetrating into the fixture.

“In the last decade, these apartments have gone from modest apartments to health hazards,” Ms. Taylor said. “I fear every day looking at my ceiling that it will fall on me in my sleep. I have been shocked by my stove and waited months to get a new one.

“There is a hole in my ceiling so big that me and my wife can fit in the hole together side by side,” she continued. “The mold is everywhere. I could go on and on. It is important that

Continued from A1 walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.

• Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2 to 5 p.m. - Henrico West Health Department, 8600 Dixon Powers Dr., Primary Moderna shots and bivalent boosters for age 6 months to 5 years old, Primary Pfizer shots and bivalent boosters for age 6 months to 11 years old, walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.

People can schedule an appointment online at vase.vdh. virginia.gov, vaccinate.virginia.gov or vax.rchd.com, or by calling (804) 205-3501 or (877) VAX-IN-VA (1-877-829-4682).

VaccineFinder.org and vaccines.gov also allow people to find nearby pharmacies and clinics that offer the COVID-19 vaccine and booster.

Those who are getting a booster shot should bring their vaccine card to confirm the date and type of vaccine received.

RHHD also offers at-home vaccinations by calling (804) 205-3501 to schedule appointments.

New COVID-19 boosters, updated to better protect against the latest variants of the virus, are now available. The new Pfizer booster is approved for those age 12 and up, while the new Moderna booster is for those age 18 and older.

As with previous COVID-19 boosters, the new doses can only be received after an initial two vaccine shots, and those who qualify are instructed to wait at least two months after their second COVID-19 vaccine.

The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts are now offering bivalent Pfizer and Moderna boosters to children between the ages of 5 to 11 in clinics in the near future. Children in this age range will be eligible after at least two months since their last vaccine dose.

New COVID-19 cases in Virginia rose by 21 percent during the last week, according to the Virginia Department of Health, and data from the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association showed hospitalizations statewide increased by 2 percent since last Wednesday.

Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield and Hanover are still at medium levels of community COVID-19, while Henrico County has reached high levels as of last week. Nineteen localities in Virginia are ranked at high community COVID levels, while 62 were ranked at medium as of last week.

A total of 2,435 new cases of COVID-19 were reported statewide Wednesday for the 24-hour period, contributing to an overall state total of 2,199,302 cases in Virginia since the pandemic’s outbreak. As of Wednesday, there have been 457,172 hospitalizations and 22,670 deaths statewide. The state’s seven-day positivity rate rose to 20.3 percent on Wednesday, after reaching 16.1 percent last week.

On Tuesday, state health officials reported that over 18.1 million COVID-19 doses had been administered, with 73.6 percent of the state’s population fully vaccinated at the time. State data also showed that over 5.1 million people in Virginia have received booster shots or third doses of the vaccine.

Among ages 5 to 11 in Virginia, 341,701 have received their first shots as of Tuesday, accounting for 47.2 percent of the age group in the state, while 300,562 children, or 41.5 percent, are fully vaccinated. In this age group, 54,451 children have received a monovalent booster, making up 7.5 percent, while 33,108 have gotten a bivalent booster shot, accounting for 11.4 percent of this group.

As of Tuesday, 62,014 children from the ages of zero to four have received their first doses, making up 13.6 percent of the population in Virginia, while 47,991 are fully vaccinated, or 10.6 percent of the population. On Wednesday, fewer than 1,627,950 cases, 7,600 hospitalizations and 105 deaths were recorded among children in the state.

State data also shows that African-Americans comprised 18.6 percent of cases statewide and 18 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 9.3 percent of cases and 3.6 percent of deaths.

As of Wednesday, Richmond reported a total of 60,457 cases, 1,259 hospitalizations and 552 deaths; Henrico County, 85,815 cases, 1,685 hospitalizations and 1,045 deaths; Chesterfield County, 95,837 cases, 1,732 hospitalizations and 860 deaths; and Hanover County, 27,841 cases, 861 hospitalizations and 336 deaths.

Compiled by George C. Copeland Jr.

the good people who live here have safe housing.”

A tour of two units showed that routine replacement of air filters that are part of the heating system can take two years or more.

Standing water after rain also is problem; in the summer, the puddles are breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

A legal representative for Amurcon has notified Virginia Organizing chapter that the company is willing to meet to discuss the concerns that involve “actionable items.”

Whether an inspection program would make a difference is a question mark.

Kevin J. Vonck, director of planning and development review, stated that a visual inspection of Forestbrooke in mid-December “found no exterior violations.”

He also noted that the city has no active code enforcement cases involving the complex and has not received any complaints about conditions at Forestbrooke since 2018.

“If there are any concerns, tenants are free to report them to us – directly or through RVA311,” he stated.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provides rental subsidies for tenants, also has largely found the complex in compliance with maintenance standards.

The Lynch proposal would revive proactive code enforcement that has been dormant for years.

After testing the idea during former Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration, City Hall has reverted to a compliant-driven system in which inspectors are activated only after a resident seeks assistance because an owner has failed to fix a leaky roof, repair or replace a broken heating system or correct other significant problems.

Inspectors can be tough once they have been activated. In recent years, city inspectors have condemned apartment buildings for building code violations and have even gained a court order forcing the sale of complexes that an owner refused to repair.

Continued from A1

The road ahead will be far tougher: Republicans take control of the House on Jan. 3, the threat of recession looms during stubbornly high inflation, and sustaining support for Ukraine will be harder as the conflict approaches the one-year mark.

The next two years also will be complicated by a heavy overlay of 2024 presidential politics. And whatever President Biden’s accomplishments, his job approval rating remains underwater and voters have expressed doubts about his capacity to lead. The president swats away questions about his ability to hold up with a dismissive “watch me.”

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, echoing a refrain among presidential aides from chief of staff Ron Klain on down, says President Biden has been “frequently underestimated.”

“I don’t think he ever thought of himself as a caretaker,” she said. “He came in with an unbelievably ambitious agenda, and a core belief that he had to preside over many investments in America and American workers, American infrastructure, American manufacturing, that presidents had not done or not been able to get done for decades before him.”

In the 2020 campaign, President Biden offered himself as an experienced hand ready to step in to stabilize a pandemicweary nation, but who also was mindful

of a clamoring for fresh leadership.

“Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else,” President Biden said in March 2020, as he campaigned in Michigan with younger Democrats, including now-Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “There’s an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country.”

A week later, he swatted back at primary rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ agenda saying, “People are looking for results, not a revolution.”

Those statements have often been thrown back at President Biden by Democratic critics of two minds: moderates who have wanted him to curb the ambition of his agenda as he’s navigated an often rocky legislative path, and progressives urging him to step aside in 2024.

“Nobody elected him to be F.D.R.,” Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., told The New York Times pointedly last year as President Biden’s agenda appeared at a stalemate, a line that was seized on by House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to critique the president’s agenda.

Meanwhile, some prominent Democrats have publicly declined to endorse Biden’s re-election when confronted with the question, and the progressive group RootsAction is running ads in New Hampshire — recently unseated by Democrats as the first

state on the primary calendar — calling on President Biden to step aside for younger blood in 2024.

The president’s aides and allies argue that such critics miss the point — that the commander in chief never set out merely to keep the seat warm for the whippersnappers to follow, nor does he believe he’s finished the job. His successes of late have quieted many doubters — though some in his party still harbor private doubts.

“He couldn’t have thought about it more differently,” said Kate Bedingfield, the White House communications director and longtime aide to President Biden. “He’s leading with his experience, and the next generation is leading alongside him.”

Ms. Bedingfield pointed to President Biden’s relatively youthful Cabinet and to Democratic candidates across the country who won election in the 2022 midterms by running on the president’s agenda.

Says Democratic political consultant Jesse Ferguson: “He’s not giving a hand-off; he’s really giving a leg up to the next generation and people are responding to that.”

For restive young voters who may have once gravitated toward the younger crop of Democrats, Biden pollster John Anzalone said the president is offering proof of “getting things done for the new generation.”

“You saw that in how they voted in the 2022 cycle and you’ll see that in 2024,” he added.

Henrietta Lacks statue concept drawing unveiled

Continued from A1

Lacks’actual height, Mr. Bechtel said. Crews will mount her on a stone base beneath five crepe myrtles in Lacks Plaza.

The statue will replace a monument of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. City officials voted to remove the monument after its vandalization during the height of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

Trish White-Boyd, Roanoke’s vice mayor, and the Harrison Museum of African American Culture started fundraising for a public history project to replace the monument, according to a National Public Radio article.

The project grew out of a sense that

Roanoke would be remiss to not honor Mrs. Lacks since this is her place of birth and where she spent the first few years of her life. Mrs. Lacks, who grew up on a tobacco farm in Clover, a part of Halifax County, is honored with signs, markers, statues and exhibits in various places of the United States and world.

She was the source of a living cell line used in globally important medical research. Known today as HeLa cells, they constitute the first known immortal line of human cells in history. However, the doctors involved, who were treating her for cervical cancer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, extracted and studied the tissue without her permission

President Biden’s ambition revealed RPS program receives $20,000 grant

from

better deal with issues they face in their personal lives and at school. The students meet once a week for an hour with several facilitators including Olufemi Shepsu, MLK Middle’s social worker; Christopher Moore, a student support specialist at the school; Dr. Ram Bhagat, who specializes in trauma-informed training; Zack Branch, owner of Mending Fences, a local small business; and Travis Woods, virtual enrollment manager in the city’s Office of Community Wealth Building.

The program’s 35 participants meet weekly to focus on study skills, anger management, physical fitness, and cultural activities such as the Drums No Guns program.

But Mr. Shepsu said prior to winter break, most of the sessions focused on a far heavier topic. “We’ve been talking a lot about the recent gun violence that has impacted the communities these young men

come from,” he said. “We’ve also focused on development, how to become husbands, fathers, warriors and nation builders, because most importantly, we want to dismantle the school to prison pipeline.”

In the past, funding for the program came from Mr. Shepsu, other facilitators, and modest grant funds. The Ujima grant, Mr. Shepsu said, will enable the program to expand into elementary schools that feed into MLK Middle, and extend the program through Armstrong High School.

The plan for funds will include cultural and educational field trips for the students; workshops with parents; helping provide snacks and food for trips; and a program with business owners in the community to teach the students about entrepreneurship.

Mr. Shepsu said he specifically wants to take the students to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., the National Great

shortly before her death. Members of her family say neither they nor her estate were compensated. A lawsuit is pending in federal court in Maryland on behalf of Mrs. Lacks’ estate, arguing that drug companies engaged in “unjust enrichment,” said Ben Crump, the plaintiff’s lawyer, who attended the event. Mr. Crump specializes in civil rights and catastrophic personal injury cases such as wrongful death lawsuits.

“It’s an unprecedented lawsuit because Henrietta Lacks was an unprecedented human being,” Mr. Crump said. “Pharmaceutical companies have made billions and billions and billions of dollars. The family hasn’t gotten one red penny.”

Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore and to college and university campuses.

“We want to expose them to what is happening to Black people outside of Church Hill, outside of Richmond,” he said. “We must be intentional about how we prepare young black males for the future, because the current dropout and incarceration rates are unacceptable.”

The Ujima Legacy Fund was created in 2013 by three African-American men in Richmond who wanted to create a collective for providing philanthropic support to organizations working to improve the lives of area youth through education. The organization has awarded $388,000 to 18 organizations over the past nine years. Funding priorities include after-school and out-of-school time programming, career development, college preparation, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, general literacy, mentoring, technology training and tutoring.

AKA Upsilon Omega Chapter presents 26 debutantes

Free Press staff report

The Upsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority recently presented 26 debutantes from area high schools, colleges and universities at the organization’s 2022 Debutante Presentation and Ball.

“Timeless Reflections of Pink and Green” was the theme for this year’s ball that took place Dec. 10 at the Altria Theater Ballroom.

Beginning in April, the debutantes participated in activities that included community service, worship service and workshops focused on college preparation, essay writing, social graces, health and financial fitness.

The AKA Upsilon Omega Debutante project raises funds for the organization’s shoe bank and scholarship program. The

current president of the Upsilon Omega Chapter is Daisy D. Greene and Andrea D. Coleman is the Debutante Projects Committee chairperson.

This years debutantes are:

Front row (left to right): Catori Renea Ryan, a senior at James River High School Center for Leadership; Cameron Nicole Skinner, a senior at Midlothian High School; Natalie Renae Jones Coleman, a senior at Virginia Virtual Academy; Angela Hannah Taylor, a senior at Henrico High School; Jayla Cynia Graham, a junior at J.R. Tucker High School; Maya Janae Jefferson, a junior at Highland Springs High School; Joelle Elizabeth Logan, a junior at Henrico; Kayla Alexandria Braxton, a senior at Henrico; Kamille Elizabeth Atkins, a senior at Deep Run High School; Janai Tyler Coleman, a senior at Varina High School; Arielle Simone Gilchrist, a senior at Cosby High School; Nana Adjoa

Afryea Annan Panyin Williams, a junior at AYA Educational Institute; and Morgan Marie Tarrer, a junior at J.R. Tucker.

Second row (left to right): Oliva Antoinette Price, a junior at Highland Springs; Amber Maya Bellamy, a freshman at Randolph Macon College; Cheyla Debronna Owens, a junior at Highland Springs High School; Cameron Mackenzie Ann Gardner, a junior at St. Catherine’s School; Kennedy Renae Taylor, a senior at Manchester High School; Fatima Addae Jordan, a sophomore at Virginia Commonwealth University; Danielle Moriah Whitehead, a senior at J.R. Tucker; Jeanae Marie Athy, a junior at J.R. Tucker; Markerra Marie James, a junior at Thomas Dale; Madison Faith Walker, a senior at Henrico; Jordan Noel Minor, a junior at Thomas Dale High School; Sydney Tiffani Turner, a senior at Code RVA Regional High School; and Jayda Deona House, a senior at Henrico.

Richmond Alumnae Delta House Foundation awards scholarships

By Holly Rodriguez

The Richmond Alumnae Delta House Foundation has announced its 2022 RVA Infinite Scholars scholarship recipients.

Six Richmond Public Schools graduates received a total of $30,000 in scholarships to aid them as they pursue their undergraduate degrees.

The recipients include:

Carter Guishard (awarded $7,200)

Graduate of Franklin Military Academy Attending: Old Dominion University Major: Cybersecurity Kietana Buster (awarded $5,700) Graduate of Huguenot High School Attending: North Carolina A&T State University Major: Business

Andrea Bailey (awarded $5,700)

Graduate of Armstrong High School Attending: Virginia State University Major: Political science Asia Angaroo (awarded $4,700)

Graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School Attending: Old Dominion University Major: Psychology Monicia Anderson (awarded $4,700)

Graduate of George Wythe High School Attending: Norfolk State University Major: Mass communications Kai Harris-Coles (awarded $2,000) Graduate of Richmond Community High School Attending: North Carolina A&T State University Major: Cybersecurity

The Richmond Alumnae Delta House Foundation was established in 1993 to strengthen and expand charitable and educational programs of the Richmond Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. The organization has several youth programs to encourage, engage and enlighten middle and high school students in the Richmond area.

Courtesy of Richmond Alumnae Delta House Foundation

First row, from left, Kai Harris-Coles, Monicia Anderson, Asia Angaroo, Andrea Bailey, Kietana Buster and Carter Guishard. Second row, from left, Richmond School Board Chair Shonda Harris-Mohammed, 2nd District School Board Member Mariah White, Delegate Delores L. McQuinn, Virginia House of Delegates, 70th District, and Richmond City Council President Cynthia I. Newbille.

Photo by Paige Hairston Thelma Pettis, left, board chair, Richmond Alumnae Delta House Foundation, and Anna Gee, coordinator, RVA Infinite Scholars Program.

Why?

Here’s the good news: So far, there have been no reports of unsheltered people freezing to death in the Arctic blast that hit the Richmond area just before Christmas.

With private and city-supported shelters full, people were left in the cold. Some found their way to the Greyhound bus station. Some sheltered in tents. And the homeless advocacy group Blessing Warriors RVA raised more than $4,500 and was able to temporarily house some in hotels and motels.

The bad news is that City Hall flopped in ensuring there were sufficient shelter beds.

It is unclear why. City officials have kept mum on the subject, offering, as one critic put it, “a verbal fruit salad” to try to avoid responsibility.

Only two of the four overflow shelters that Mayor Levar M. Stoney and City Council approved for support were open to provide overflow space after shelters that CARITAS, Salvation Army and other organizations operate filled up.

The two that opened were the 60-bed shelter for men that United Nations Church is operating in a gym on its South Side campus and a 40-bed shelter for women and children at RVA Sister’s Keeper are operating in a former counseling center on Hull Street.

Frankly, it is difficult to understand why the Stoney administration refused to allow Fifth Street Baptist Church in Highland Park to open its planned 30-bed shelter during this weather emergency without first getting a special use permit, which will be approved next week by the Planning Commission and by the council at its Jan. 9 meeting.

Churches are allowed to provide emergency shelter, certainly for seven days, which would have covered this emergency period that will end in rising temperatures at the end of this week.

But churches actually no longer face any time limits on providing emergency shelter.

In March 2021, the council passed a zoning overhaul that included language allowing churches to provide emergency housing without any time limits. So far, no one at City Hall has been willing to explain why Fifth Street Baptist needed a special use permit or why that permit was more important than keeping people from freezing to death.

Then there is the question of why the city has slowwalked completion of a contract enabling Commonwealth Catholic Charities to access city funds and open a 60-bed shelter at 1900 Chamberlayne Ave., which is now owned by the Salvation Army.

Unable to obtain city funds, CCC raised $30,000 in December and opened a 30-bed shelter on its own, which quickly filled up. CCC can operate for two weeks while it still waits for the city to approve the contract to support 60 beds that has been in the works since at least July.

In January 2020, the council approved a special use permit to enable the Salvation Army to operate a shelter for 97 men, women and children at that location.

It would seem simple enough to create a legal fig leaf that would have allowed CCC to fully open. No, it was more important that CCC gain its own permission slip, even if that took forever and left desperate people in the cold.

Mayor Stoney has lectured everyone about how this city’s goal is to create One Richmond and equity for all. Apparently, you had to read the fine print on his messaging: Legal niceties are more important than people. Alas.

No hot iron here

“Strike while the iron is hot” is a familiar saying. It means don’t wait, but take advantage of an opportunity while favorable conditions exist.

Clearly, Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration prefers to wait until the iron cools.

On Dec. 20, the Stoney administration’s development officials proudly announced that five teams had met the deadline and would compete for the right to redo the two-block section of Downtown bounded by Leigh, Marshall, 5th and 7th streets.

That area includes the vacant Richmond Coliseum that is to be demolished, the historic Blues Armory and the long closed remnant of the failed 6th Street Marketplace.

Sounds like a big deal, right. But don’t be so quick to hand out congratulations.

There should be a lot more going on right now in Downtown in the way of development of city property that would create jobs and business growth.

In the two years since the council killed the $1.5 billion Navy Hill deal, the Stoney administration has yet to issue requests for developers for city-owned surface parking lots at 6th and Grace streets and 4th and Broad streets.

Both are south of Broad Street and already had active interest, and both have been ripe for activity while interest rates were still low, which is no longer the case.

And then there is the half block of surface parking at 6th and Broad streets that the Richmond Performing Arts Alliance was supposed to sell off so a major new development could rise there. Before he left office in 2019, former City Councilman Parker C. Agelasto had put in place a requirement that RPAA sell it. But the Stoney administration dropped that idea earlier this year.

And so far, a private developer’s plans to replace the shuttered Public Safety Building located just north of City Hall with new offices and hotels have yet to advance.

So, instead of multiple developments taking place, the Stoney administration has waited until interest rates soar and development begins to contract to get the Coliseum blocks going. But nothing else.

Once again, City Hall has preferred to keep silent, and City Council has declined to ask questions. Well done, all.

Bennie Thompson’s fight to save voting rights, racial justice

“This committee is nearing the end of its work. But as a country, we remain in strange and uncharted waters. We’ve never had a president of the United States stir up a violent attempt to block the transfer of power.

If we are to survive as a nation of laws and democracy, this can never happen again.” — U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, Chairman, House January 6 Committee

It is difficult to overstate the profound gravity of the decision by the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to recommend criminal charges against former President Trump, or the grievous nature of his alleged crimes.

Almost as astounding has been the meticulous, conscientious work of the January 6 Committee under the resolute leadership of Chairman Bennie Thompson.

In an environment where the instruments of government increasingly are exploited for political advantage, Rep. Thompson oversaw a clear-eyed, nonpartisan, and fearless examination of the facts surrounding one of the darkest days in U.S. history.

The committee’s referral marks the first time in the nation’s history that federal law enforcement officials have faced the prospect of criminally prosecuting a former president and a declared candidate to claim the

office for a second time.

A federal grand jury in February 1974 was prepared to indict sitting President Richard Nixon on four criminal counts for his role in the Watergate scandal. But a 1973 opinion by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel in 1973 concluded against indicting a sitting president. This conclu-

sion, reaffirmed in 2000, guided special counsel Robert Mueller’s decision not to charge Mr. Trump with obstruction of justice related to the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

It also arguably bolstered Mr. Trump’s exaggerated sense of impunity, which led directly to the events of Jan. 6. The mob that attempted to carry out his coup displayed the same sense of impunity, making no effort to hide their crimes, even posting the evidence on social media. The Big Lie of voter fraud, they believed, justified their violence.

Rep. Thompson, born and raised in Jim Crow Mississippi, has seen the power of a lie employed to justify violence, and it has fueled his determination to seek full accountability for those responsible.

“I’m from a part of the country where people justify the actions of slavery, Ku Klux Klan, and lynching. I’m reminded of that dark history as I hear voices today try and justify the actions of the insurrectionists of Jan. 6,

2021,” he said as he opened the committee’s first public hearing on June 9.

Chairing the committee was an extension of his lifelong mission to protect voting rights and racial justice.

“We are supposed to be a democracy,” he told the New York Times. “And when we see people carrying Confederate battle flags in the group, that’s the symbol of slavery and absolute resistance to the rule of law. So for me, it was bringing back a part of our history that none of us should be proud of.”

Rep. Thompson has a very personal connection to that history. Textbooks used in the segregated schools where he was educated – books that only reached Black students after they were discarded by white schools, “showed Black people as slaves, butlers or choppers in the field,” he said. “You didn’t see a Black senator or a Black representative or a Black lieutenant governor. You only saw Black people in menial kinds of responsibilities.”

In his early teen years, he attended mass meetings in Jackson where he met Medgar Evers. He and a few friends were arrested for protesting but released because they were underage.

As a student at Tougaloo College, he worked as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to register Black voters and volunteered on the congressional campaign of Fannie Lou Hamer.

He launched his career in public service immediately

A season to celebrate

I’ve written about the importance of judges a few times over the last year. And every time I do, I realize that many people have never met a judge. Or they have, but it was at a time when they’d rather have been anywhere else.

So the idea that judges are on my mind as something to celebrate this holiday season may strike you as strange. But bear with me.

Since President Biden came into office, he has made it a priority to nominate federal judges who are not only legal stars but are diverse, come from underrepresented professional backgrounds, and have a deep commitment to civil rights.

Many of them have been civil rights lawyers or public defenders. This is a real change, even from past Democratic presidents. For decades, presidents most often nominated corporate lawyers or prosecutors to the bench. Those people also were overwhelmingly white and male. Not anymore.

At the federal circuit level, which is the level above the district or trial courts and just below the Supreme Court, 41 percent of Biden nominees have been Black. So far, more Black women have been confirmed to the circuit court bench than during all previous presidencies

combined. At the district level, President Biden has nominated people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and people of diverse faiths, who are historic “firsts” on their respective courts. Not only that, but we have our first Black woman on the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson. Her presence inspires me every day, even though there are many reasons to be dissatisfied with the Court’s far-right majority.

Thanks to President Biden,

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, the pace of nominations and confirmations has been fast – very fast. This was critical, because during the Trump presidency, the far right raced to confirm as many ultraconservative judges as possible. President Biden is beating Mr. Trump’s pace with one of the fastest confirmation processes ever. As I write this, 97 lifetime federal judges have been confirmed in the first two years of the Biden presidency. Mr. Trump had 85 in his first two years. President Biden’s pace is the second fastest in a quarter century.

And when the Senate returns in January, there will be a spectacular roster of nominees just waiting for the final step in their confirmation process: people like Nancy Abudu, an advocate for voting rights and civil rights through her work at the Southern Poverty Law Center

and the ACLU; Natasha Merle, an advocate for racial justice at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; Tiffany Cartwright, a civil rights litigator whose cases include police misconduct; and Julie Rikelman, the longtime litigation director for the Center for Reproductive Rights.

So why does all this matter? It’s not just because having people from underrepresented communities on our courts is inspiring to see and long overdue. Both of those things are true. It’s because the nominations and confirmations represent the administration’s commitment to building fairer courts overall. Already, decisions by fair-minded Biden nominees have improved justice for many Americans in areas like workers’ rights and the environment.

When we have fair judges and fair courts, our lives are dramatically better. Fair courts protect our jobs, our air and water, and our right to health care, including abortion care. The list goes on and on.

So in addition to celebrating all the great new judges the Biden administration and Senate leadership have given us, there’s one more thing we can do. All of us can call our senators’ offices in January and encourage them to keep up to the momentum by confirming all the rest of the president’s judicial nominees. It’s an easy way to make a difference.

The writer is president of People For the American Way and Professor of the Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Free Press welcomes letters

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after graduating, elected as an alderman in his hometown of Bolton, Miss., in 1969 and as mayor in 1973. Following his two terms as mayor, he served on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors until his election to Congress in 1993.

In his 30 years in Congress, he has compiled an impressive list of achievements including creation of the National Center for Minority Health and Health Care Disparities, disaster relief reforms in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and the most comprehensive homeland security package since Sept. 11, 2001.

But he considers the work of the January 6 Committee his most important.

“I want it to benefit this country and the world,” he told the New York Times. “Because we still, in my humble opinion, are still the greatest country in the world. We just had a hiccup on Jan. 6. And we have to fix it.”

The writer is president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League.

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WASHINGTON

The House Jan. 6 committee’s final report asserts Donald Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the U.S. Capitol, concluding an extraordinary 18month investigation into the former president and the violent insurrection two years ago.

Mr. Trump “lit that fire,” the committee’s chairman, Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson, writes.

The 814-page report released Dec. 22 comes after the panel interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, held 10 hearings and obtained more than a million pages of documents. The witnesses — ranging from many of Mr. Trump’s closest aides to law enforcement to some of the rioters themselves — detailed Mr. Trump’s “premeditated” actions in the weeks ahead of the attack, and how his wide-ranging efforts to overturn his defeat directly influenced those who brutally pushed past the police and smashed through the windows and doors of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The insurrection gravely threatened democracy and “put the lives of American lawmakers at risk,” the bipartisan nine-member panel concluded, offering a definitive account of a dark chapter in modern American history. It functions not only as a compendium of the most dramatic moments of testimony from months of hearings, but also as a document that is to be preserved as a warning for future generations.

In a series of recommendations, the seven Democrats and two Republicans on the committee suggest that Congress consider barring Mr. Trump from holding future office. The findings should be a “clarion call to all Americans: to vigilantly guard our Democracy and to give our vote only to those dutiful in their defense of our Constitution,” says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a foreword to the report.

The report’s eight chapters tell the story largely as the panel’s hearings did this summer — describing the many facets of the remarkable plan that Mr. Trump and his advisers devised to try and void President Biden’s victory. The lawmakers detail the former president’s pressure on states, federal officials, lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence to game the system or break the law.

In the two months between the election and the insurrection, the report says, “President Trump or his inner circle engaged in at least 200 apparent acts of public or private outreach, pressure, or condemnation, targeting either State legislators or State or local election administra-

‘Good trouble’

rights leader John Lewis to

on

Free Press wire reports

WASHINGTON

Civil rights giant and former U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who spent decades fighting for racial justice, will be honored with a postage stamp in 2023.

The U.S. Postal Service recently announced that the John Lewis stamp “celebrates the life and legacy” of the leader from Georgia, who risked his life protesting against segregation and other injustices in the violent Jim Crow-era South.

“Lewis spent more than 30 years in Congress steadfastly defending and building on key civil rights gains that he had helped achieve in the 1960s. Even in the face of hatred and violence, as well as some 45 ar-

rests, Lewis remained resolute in his commitment to what he liked to call ‘good trouble,’” the USPS stated in a news release.

In March of 1965, a 25-year-old John Lewis led a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery alongside other civil rights leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The peaceful protest calling for equal voting rights came to be known as “Bloody Sunday” after Alabama state troopers descended on the nonviolent demonstrators in a brutal attack that left Mr. Lewis with a cracked skull.

The stamp features a photograph of Mr. Lewis taken by Marco Grob on assignment for the Aug. 26, 2013, issue of Time magazine.

tors, to overturn State election results.”

Mr. Trump’s repeated, false claims of widespread voter fraud resonated with his supporters, the committee said, and were amplified on social media, building on the distrust of government he had fostered for his four years in office. And he did little to stop them when they resorted to violence and stormed the Capitol, interrupting the certification of President Biden’s victory.

The massive, damning report comes as Mr. Trump is running again for the presidency and also facing multiple federal investigations, including probes of his role in the insurrection and the presence of classified documents at his Florida estate. This week is particularly fraught for him, as a House committee voted to release his tax returns after he has fought for years to keep them private. At the same time, Mr. Trump has been blamed by Republicans for a worsethan-expected showing in the recent midterm elections, leaving him in his most politically vulnerable state since he was elected in 2016.

Looking forward, the committee makes several suggestions for action, including an overhaul of the Electoral Count Act, the election law that Mr. Trump tried to circumvent. Bipartisan legislation to make it harder for lawmakers to object to presidential results, and for the vice president to intervene, is set to be passed as part of year-end spending legislation on Friday and sent to President Biden for his signature.

The panel also notes in that section that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution holds that anyone who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution can be prevented from holding office for engaging in insurrection or rebellion.

Mr. Trump “is unfit for any office,” writes the committee’s vice chairwoman, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

Posting on his social media site, Mr. Trump called the report “highly partisan” and falsely claimed it didn’t include his statement on Jan. 6 that his supporters should protest “peacefully and patriotically.” The committee did include that statement, noting that he followed it with election falsehoods and charged language exhorting the crowd to “fight like hell.”

Jan. 6 Report: Trump ‘lit that fire’ of Capitol insurrection Jan. 6 Report already on Amazon bestseller list

It took less than a day for the Jan. 6 report to go from public unveiling to the bestseller list on Amazon.com.

By late Friday, Dec. 23, three editions of the Congressional probe of the 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump were in the top 30 on Amazon.

The editions include one with a foreword by MSNBC anchor Ari Melber, published by Harper Paperbacks; a Celadon Books release with a foreword by New Yorker editor David Remnick and an epilogue by Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat and member of the House Select Committee; and a volume by the Hachette Book Group imprint Twelve, published in coordination with The

New York Times. The 814-page document, released late Thursday, is not copyrighted, can be published by anyone and is otherwise available for free on various government and media websites.

Previous government publications, from the Sept. 11 commission report to Robert Mueller’s probe into Mr. Trump’s ties to Russian officials when he ran for president in 2016, have been bestsellers. The Sept. 11 report was even a finalist in 2004 for the National Book Award.

As with other government releases, publishers have rushed to get their books out quickly to capitalize on public interest. All three bestselling editions will be out within the next two weeks, along with books from Random House and Melville House Books.

KIRK C. JoNES Richmond

The writer is a member of the Armstrong High School Class of 1977.

Editor’s Note: The correct mascot is noted in the online Free Press Nov. 24-26 edition. The Free Press regrets the error.

Associated Press photo

Former President Donald Trump is shown on a screen as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack holds its final meeting Dec. 19 on Capitol Hill.

The Associated Press

Of all the college basketball programs in America, perhaps the most consistent winner of all is just 19 miles north of Richmond.

Since the 2018-19 season, Randolph-Macon College in Ashland is 109-8. That includes a 33-1 mark a year ago when the Yellow Jackets won the NCAA Division III title.

And despite losing National Player of the Year Buzz Anthony to graduation, the winning drumbeat continues under coach Josh Merkel.

R-MC is 9-1 this season and ranked third nationally with a gifted freshman from Richmond helping to ease the loss of all-time great Anthony.

Keishawn Pulley Jr., a 6-foot-2, 190-pound combo guard out of St. Christopher’s School, has emerged as a star on the rise.

Wearing No. 3 in Lemon ‘n’ Black, he practically was an overnight sensation in R-MC’s opening wins in the Hood College Tip-off

tournament in Frederick, Md.

In his first college game, Pulley, aka “KP,” tallied 10 points in a win over Mary Baldwin. The next night he poured in 21 points in a victory over Hood.

Overall, the college “rookie” has averaged nine points while collecting 16 assists, eight steals and hitting 77 percent (17-for-22) from the foul stripe. Pulley has logged about 20 minutes per outing in a balanced attack featuring senior standouts Miles Mallory (15.1 scoring average)

and Josh Talbert (12.1). Mallory is another potential National Player of Year.

As a St. Chris senior, Pulley averaged 19 points per game and was Prep League CoPlayer of Year.

He is the latest in a glossy list of athletes from the 804 area code to shine their star at R-MC’s Crenshaw Gym.

Fletcher Johnson, out of John Marshall High, is the Jackets’ all-time scorer with 2,216 points between 1970 and ’75.

From Henrico High, Justin Wansley scored 1,566 points from 2002-’06. Others in R-MC’s 1,000-point club are Justin Short from Manchester and Kevin Wood from J.R. Tucker.

R-MC has one national title and, minus the global pandemic, might have three straight. The Jackets were 12-0 in the shortened 2020-21 season, and 28-2 in 2019-20, when the NCAA playoffs were canceled.

Four games, four players net VCU wins

VCU’s sophomores are a class with a lot of class, and upside as well.

Four second-year basketball players have been difference makers in the Rams’ four-game winning streak and 9-4 overall record.

Meet Coach Mike Rhoades’ talented sophomores:

• Jamir Watkins, No. 0, 6-foot-7, Trenton, N.J.

• Jalen DeLoach, No. 4, 6-foot-9, Savannah, Ga.

• Jayden Nunn, No. 23, 6-foot-4, Flint, Mich.

• Nick Kern, No. 24, 6-foot-6, St. Louis, Mo.

All were essential ingredients in VCU’s recipe for a 74-52-win Dec. 21 over Navy, before 7,214 Siegel Center fans.

Watkins and DeLoach had 18 points each against the Midshipmen with Kern adding seven and Nunn six.

Some clarification is in order.

Watkins is in his third year as a VCU student but missed the 2021-22 season due to a knee injury. Therefore, he has sophomore eligibility.

Now fully healed, he averages 11 points and six rebounds in the Rams’ balanced scoring attack.

The smooth forward tallied a career-high 22 against Northern Illinois.

Heavily recruited out of Trenton Catholic, Watkins passed up offers from the likes of Virginia Tech, West Virginia and St. John’s to become a Ram.

DeLoach and 6-foot-8 senior Brandon Johns (a transfer from Michigan) provide the Rams with two bona fide inside scorers and defensive stoppers in the paint.

Answering to “Loach,” he’s collected the ominous nickname “Loach Ness Monster” for his intimidating presence at both ends of the floor.

The native Georgian averages 10 points and seven rebounds and leads all Rams with 21 blocked shots. DeLoach passed on offers from several SEC schools to come to Richmond.

Coaches recruit hard, beating the bushes for talent, but sometimes they need a little luck, too. That was the case with VCU landing Nunn.

Nunn had committed to play at Iowa State but re-opened his recruiting when Steve Prohm was let go as coach and replaced by T.J. Otzelberger.

Bittersweet moment celebrates Franco Harris

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickens added something extra to his signal calling Dec. 24 at Three Rivers Stadium.

Even the TV viewers could hear him bark “Franco! Franco!” prior to the center’s snap. On one occasion in the

He was quick to make an impression in VCU black and gold. Starting 29 of 31 games as a freshman, Nunn averaged nine points while hitting 32 three-pointers and doing much of the early ballhandling with Ace Baldwin recovering from an Achilles injury.

In his second season, Nunn is averaging 9.2 points while logging 32 minutes per game as Baldwin’s backcourt mate.

Kern’s statistics (three points, two rebounds per game) aren’t eye-catching, but his physical presence is. Strong and bouncy, he’s tough enough to exchange elbows inside and nimble enough to operate on the perimeter.

Kern is a proven winner. Before coming to

Vashon is the alma mater of former boxing champions Henry Armstrong, Leon and Michael Spinks, and baseball great Elston Howard.

College coaches always aspire to win right now, while also laying the groundwork for upcoming seasons.

Four classy sophomores are in the process of making that happen at VCU.

Mutual attraction

The NBA’s continuing courtship with players from abroad

The United States is a big place, but the world is much bigger.

So, it’s no surprise the National Basketball Association began this season with a record 120 international players representing 40 countries and six continents.

It marks the ninth straight year the NBA has had at least 100 foreign-born players.

Of that, two represent the last four Kia MVPs — Nikola Jokic (from Serbia, Denver Nuggets) in 2021 and ’22, and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece, Milwaukee Bucks) in

2019 and ’20.

Joel Embiid (Cameroon, Philadelphia 76ers) is a sixtime all-Star, the 2022 scoring champion and the MVP runnerup the past two seasons.

Fourteen of the 120 are former NBAAll-Stars. Expect that total to rise with this winter’s All-Star Game in Salt Lake City. All 30 teams have at least one player who is from outside the U.S.

With that, do I hear International Basketball Association?

The largest number of international players come from

Canada (22), Australia (10), France (9), Germany (6) and Nigeria, Serbia and Spain (five each).

Europe is the top continent for producing international talent with 58 rostered NBA players.

The Toronto Raptors have the most foreign-born players (8) followed by Dallas, Indiana and Sacramento (7 each).

Closer to Richmond, the Washington Wizards have two international players — Deni Avdija from Israel and Kristaps Porzingas from Latvia. Both are former first round draft picks.

Coaches bowl Legacy Bowl highlights Jake Gaither and Eddie Robinson

second quarter, Pickens ran for a first down after calling “Franco! Franco!”

In the most bittersweet of celebrations, the late Franco Harris (who died Dec. 23 at age 72) was honored for being the main man in the iconic “Immaculate Reception” 50 years ago on the same field.

On the same evening, with temperatures in the single digits, Harris’ No. 32 was retired. The only other retired Steelers’ numbers are Ernie Stautner’s No. 70 and Joe Greene’s No. 75.

Many of the surviving members of the ’72 team were present for an emotional

halftime ceremony.

With a dramatic finish, Pittsburgh defeated the visiting Las Vegas Raiders, 13-10. It was the Oakland Raiders the Steelers defeated, 13-7, a half century ago, thanks to Harris’ miracle game-ending reception.

Coincidentally, it was Harris who introduced Pickett last spring as the Steelers’ first pick at the 2022 NFL Draft in Paradise, Nev.

Making a major difference in the Dec. 24 victory was Najee Harris, who ran for 53 yards

and caught passes for 42 more on an icy turf.

Joking, Harris had referred to the young running back with same surname as “my cousin.”

Harris was the son of Cad Harris, an African-American soldier stationed in Italy during World War II, and Gina Parenti, his Italian war bride.

Harris and his wife, Dana Dokmanovich, have a son, Dok Harris. Both were present during the Dec. 24 tribute for a halftime ceremony with franchise owner Art Rooney II.

Four football coaches who combined for 37 victories this past season will supervise the sidelines at the second annual Legacy Bowl.

The event showcasing HBCU senior talent will be Feb. 25 on the campus of Tulane University in New Orleans.

Opponents will be Team Gaither (named after former Florida A&M Coach Jake Gaither) and Team Robinson (honoring Eddie Robinson, the former Grambling State University coach.)

Team Robinson’s co-coaches will be Richard Hunter from Southern University in New Orleans and Chennis Berry from Benedict College, S.C.

Coach Hunter led Southern to a 7-5 record that ended with a loss to Jackson State in the SWAC championship game.

Coach Berry guided Benedict (11-1) to the SIAC title and into the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.

Running the show for Team Gaither will be co-

nounced.

Auld Lang Syne! Dec. 31, New Year’s EveLaSalle at VCU, 2 p.m., Siegel Center; Atlantic 10 Conference opener. TV coverage on MASN and ESPN+

VCU, he helped Vashon High of St. Louis to three Missouri Class 4 state titles while being named State Player of Year.

Stories by Fred Jeter

Holiday hoops

Thursday, Dec. 29

Lancaster, Pa., Bible at R-MC, 7 p.m.; Finks Jewelers Coaching Tournament; RMC will play either Rowan, N.J., or Maryville, Tenn., Dec. 30

Franco Harris’ wife, Dana Dokmanovich, is consoled by Steelers owner Art Rooney II. At right is Franco and Dana’s son Dok.

Coach Berry

Jalen DeLoach

Nick Kern

Coach Hayes Coach Oliver

coaches Trei Oliver from North Carolina Central and Richard Hayes from Fayetteville State.

Coach Oliver led Central (10-2) to the MEAC title and an overtime victory over Jackson State in the Celebration Bowl.

Coach Hayes’ Broncos (9-3) won the CIAA title and advanced to the Division II playoffs.

• Jackson State’s Deion Sanders would have been a prime candidate to coach in New Orleans, but he has since left for the University of Colorado.

Rosters for the teams soon will be an

Personality: Daniel Harthausen Spotlight on HBO Max competition show winner

From pop-up food events to TV stardom and back, Daniel Harthausen is cooking up a unique culinary presence in Richmond.

His skills earned him a spot in 2020 on “The Big Brunch,” a reality competition show on HBO Max which debuted Nov. 10. And (spoiler alert, if you haven’t watched the show) he won the show’s grand prize of $300,000.

“I felt that it was a huge validation not only for me but for anyone who’s supported or helped me along my journey as a chef,” says Mr. Harthausen, who has been cooking for about seven years and is largely self-taught. The series, created and hosted by Dan Levy, the Emmy-winning actor/producer of “Schitt’s Creek,” just completed its first eight-episode season.

Currently, Mr. Harthausen’s cuisine is available through twice-monthly Young Mother pop-ups in Richmond, so named for his mom, who was 19 years old when he was born in South Korea. He would later discover he also has Japanese ancestry and had spent part of his youth in Japan.

“I think food isn’t only a representation of culture and where we’ve been, but also where we are going,” Mr. Harthausen says. “Finding connections in the world through people’s relationship with food allows us

to be closer as a whole.”

Mr. Harthausen, 27, took an unconventional route to becoming a chef. After dropping out of college, he became a certified personal trainer/nutritionist. The meal plans he created for clients partially inspired his kitchen quest.

The road to his current career hasn’t always been smooth. His first experience running a restaurant kitchen went so poorly that he nearly gave up on becoming a chef to seek other employment in the food service industry.

However, Mr. Harthausen would eventually rediscover his passion for cooking during the COVID-19 pandemic. He restarted his career as a chef and reassessed his future plans.

Armed with a Hollywood success story, more financial security and a greater sense for where his culinary skills can take him, Mr. Harthausen is more motivated than ever to carve out his own space in the food industry.

With his prize money and heightened public profile, he wants to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Richmond’s Manchester area.

“Being around nine other chefs that were just as passionate about their mission gave me a boost of motivation to continue pursuing this career and to help people who want to make a difference,” he says in

reflecting on “The Big Brunch” competition.

As he told the judges on the show’s final episode, “Once established we want to be able to roll out a (sic) incubation program to provide support and mentorship to aspiring chefs who want to showcase their cultures to our community through food.

“If I win, you’d be investing in me.”

So far, the investment appears to be paying off. Meet Richmond chef and this week’s Personality , Daniel Harthausen:

Latest accomplishment: HBO

Max’s freshman season winner of “The Big Brunch.”

Date and place of birth: April 30 in Seoul, South Korea.

What is HBO Max’s “The Big Brunch?”: The Big Brunch is a cooking competition centered around brunch highlighting 10 chefs who want to make a difference in their community!

How I was invited to participate on this reality cooking show: A casting producer reached out to me via Instagram; they commented on one of my posts (and said) they had an HBO opportunity (for me). After trading contact information, I went through about six different phone/ Zoom interviews before being accepted onto the show!

Thoughts about being on a reality show: I was a little nervous at first. I’ve heard reality TV can be notorious for not being the most positive environments, but when I got on the set, I could tell that this was a very different production and the crew and cast made me feel so comfortable.

Most anxious moment in the competition: Probably being in the bottom two in the fifth episode. I didn’t know if I

would be eliminated or not, and the waiting was really nerve-wracking.

How I felt when I was announced the winner: Pretty surreal, a flood of emotions and just so proud of myself.

How long I had to keep my winning a secret: I had to keep things a secret for about six months. During that time, I kind of forgot I was on the show since I couldn’t talk about it, and I was just back into my normal life.

Finale winning creation: I did a full spread of katsu curry, chawanmushi (a savory Japanese custard dish), and sunomono (a vinegary cucumber salad).

Most memorable comments from the judges: Honestly when Dan Levy called me a “star,” I was pretty happy.

I get my cooking inspiration from: Anything I’ve eaten. I’m a very visual/experience-based learner, so whenever I find something that is interesting for me I kind of obsess over it. A lot of these experiences happened as a kid just from the food I ate at home, so that’s a huge base for my style of cooking.

My go-to dish to prepare: Fried rice for friends and family.

Ways to taste my culinary delights: You can find updates on our “Young Mother” pop-ups on Instagram @youngmotherva.

A quote that inspires me: To improve, you have to be okay with looking foolish.

My friends describe me as: Obsessive but in a productive way. If there’s something I want to achieve with work I’ll do anything to get there.

Best late-night snack: Shin ramen with frozen dumplings and rice cakes.

The best thing my parents ever taught me: How to make kimchi.

Book that influenced me the most and how: “A Man Without a Country” by Kurt Vonnegut. I like to think it initially inspired me to question the world in a way that was constructive. When I was struggling with my identity/future in college, I re-read this book and it gave me some clarity that I should figure out what I truly wanted to do. I believe if it wasn’t for that book, I would never have become a chef.

What I’m reading now and my takeaway: Currently I’m reading “The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained in More Than 100 Essential Recipes” by Nik Sharma. It’s a great explanation of how we perceive flavors and how techniques in cooking can play with our senses. It’s a really fun read to nerd out to if you love food.

Review: Clumsy Whitney Houston biopic mars its star’s skill

By Mark Kennedy

Whitney Houston’s voice was one of a kind and the creative team behind a new big-budget biopic of the singer had no choice but to agree.

Naomi Ackie, who plays Ms. Houston in “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” turns in a fierce performance but is asked to lip-sync throughout to Ms. Houston biggest hits. The effect is, at best, an expensive karaoke session.

The dilemma that Ms. Houston’s own prodigious gift put everyone in is understandable: The chances of finding someone who resembles the singer is hard enough; finding someone who also has the awe-inducing, fluttery vocal ability is a fool’s errand. But the solution would have been choosing between focusing on Ms. Houston’s story or making a documentary that features her singing. It’s unfair to ask Ms. Ackie to act her heart out and also have her execute large parts of Ms. Houston’s iconic live performances in mimic mode. It’s an uncanny canyon.

The movie is written by Anthony McCarten, who told Freddie Mercury’s story in “Bohemian Rhapsody” and is having quite a moment with two shows on Broadway — “The Collaboration” about artists Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat and “A Beautiful Noise,” a musical about Neil Diamond.

“I Wanna Dance With Somebody” is more like a hyped-up “Behind the Music” episode set to Ms. Houston’s greatest hits album. It leans on all the cliches: overbearing parents, bad-boy boyfriends and giddy, champagne-popping montages on the way up and sullen montages on the way down as she’s hunted by paparazzi.

Ms. Houston is portrayed as a woman who seizes her destiny only late in her cut-short life after struggling with the burden of being the family breadwinner for most of it.

“Everyone is using me as an ATM!” she screams at one point.

Stanley Tucci plays a subdued and concerned Clive Davis — the record executive helped produce the film and comes off like a prince — and Nafessa Williams is superb as Ms. Houston’s best friend, manager and lover.

Mr. McCarten frames the climax of Ms. Houston’s life at the 1994 American Music Awards, where she won eight awards and performed a medley of songs. It is where director Kasi Lemmons’ camera starts and ends, part of an excruciating final section goodbye to the icon that lasts for what feels like an hour and ends with a heavy-handed, written statement that Ms. Houston was the “greatest voice of her generation.”

Credit to the Houston estate for not sanitizing Ms. Houston’s life, showing her early love affair with a woman, her pushy, demanding parents, the backlash from some in the Black community and not shying away from the descent into drugs that would kill her in 2012 at age 48.

Some highlights of the film include Ms. Houston and Mr. Davis picking hit songs in his office and the recreations of the filming of the video “How Will I Know” and Ms. Houston’s

triumphant national anthem performance at Super Bowl XXV. Costume designer Charlese Antoinette Jones has joyously remade key looks, from Ms. Houston’s hair bow and arm warmers to the stunning wedding dress with beaded and sequined cloche hat.

Ms. Ackie’s performance is something to be cheered, reaching for the kind of authenticity that Andra Day channeled when she also tackled a doomed musical icon in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.”

“I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” a Sony Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for “strong drug content, some strong language, suggestive references and smoking.” Running time: 146 minutes. Two stars out of four.

The Associated Press

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Naomi Ackie in Tristar’s “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody.”

A Year in Photos

For many of us, 2022 has come and gone with lightning speed. Certainly, were it not for the Richmond Free Press’ hard-working photographers and our photo archives, we would be hardpressed to recall all that has taken place in Richmond since Jan. 1.

As you browse our curated photos that showcase some of our city’s most memorable 2022 moments, we hope that you, too, will take pride in knowing that Richmond, despite its flaws and occasional missteps, bubbles over with people who are determined and equipped to get things done.

For many, that means tearing down remaining vestiges of division and hate, fighting for reproductive rights, mourning the loss of our youths, fighting for our schools, caring for those without food or shelter, and celebrating our wins. Walk into 2023 knowing that if we, as a community, can accomplish half as much as we did this year, next year will be a cakewalk.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

A Richmond firefighter directs a torrent of water through a roofless Fox Elementary School to quell a small blaze that sprang up a day after a three-alarm fire destroyed the school on Feb. 11.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Newly sworn-in Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin, third from right, caps off the inaugural ceremony with a prayer for the Commonwealth he delivered on Jan. 15 with his fellow GOP top office holders and their spouses. They are, from left, Terence Sears, and his wife, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears; First Lady Suzanne Youngkin; Attorney General Jason Miyares and his wife, Page Atkinson Miyares.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

On March 2, City Hall reflected the colors of Ukraine to show solidarity with the country that was invaded by Russia a week earlier.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Team Henry Enterprises employees remove the A.P. Hill statue at the intersection of Hermitage and Laburnum on Dec. 12. The statue of the fallen Civil War general was the last to stand on City of Richmond property since the removal of other Confederate statues began in 2020.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church nationwide, Michael Curry preaches the sermon before more than 35 bishops from around the United States, England, Tanzania, and Ghana during the Dec. 3 ordination and consecration of The Rev. Canon E. Mark Stevenson, the 14th Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia in its 237-year history, at The Saint Paul’s Baptist Church in Henrico.

Regina H. Boone/ Richmond Free Press

Tamel Durant, a 17-year-old Richmond Alternative School student, was looking forward to graduating next spring. He won’t. His body was found in a trash can after he was shot and killed in Fairfield Court on Oct. 19. The teen had lived in Richmond for two years after moving from New York to live with his father, Jemil Durant, left.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Vice President Kamala Harris met with Virginia State legislators and community leaders in Henrico County to discuss the fight to protect reproductive rights on July 23.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Activist Kam of Catch the Fire helped organize and lead hundreds of men and women during a rally in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on June 24.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Virginia House Minority Leader Don L. Scott. Jr. stands next to the Virginia Civil Rights Monument at the Virginia State Capitol on June 21.

Julieanne Tripp/Richmond Free Press

Awas, owner of Awa’s African Art, displays her baskets, jewelry, furniture and other wares during Elegba Folklore Society’s 31st Annual Down Home Family Reunion, A Celebration of African American Folklife on Aug. 20 at Abner Clay Park.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Richmond welterweight boxer Jermoine Royster, 20, trains on Sept. 12 for an Oct. 8 bout against Quinton Scales of North Carolina.

Helen Vu and her wedding party from the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart joined about 3,000 protesters who rallied in support of abortion access in Monroe Park and the streets of Downtown Richmond on May 14.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Youngsters beat the heat at the Blackwell Community Pool in South Side as temperatures approached the mid-90s in late May.

Influential African-Americans who died in 2022

They were literary giants, luminaries of stage and screen, and masters of their chosen professions – be it music, sports or fashion. Most are famous, a few are notorious. Yet they all profoundly impacted their fields of endeavor.

Here is a look back at some of the influential African-Americans who died in 2022:

January

Sidney Poitier, 94. He played roles of such dignity and intelligence that he transformed how Black people were portrayed on screen, becoming the first Black actor to win an Oscar for best lead performance and the first to be a top box office draw. Jan. 6.

“Beat the Story-Drum, PumPum.” Feb. 4.

Betty Davis, 77. A bold and pioneering funk singer, model and songwriter of the 1960s and ‘70s who was credited with inspiring then-husband Miles Davis’ landmark fusion of jazz and more contemporary sounds. Feb. 9.

Jamal Edwards, 31.ABritish music entrepreneur who championed U.K. rap and grime and helped launch the careers of artists including Ed Sheeran, Jessie J and Stormzy. Feb. 20.

March

Autherine Lucy Foster, 92. The first Black student to enroll at the University of Alabama. March 2.

oil producer as well as one of the world’s poorest and most corrupt nations. July 8.

William “Poogie” Hart, 77. A founder of the Grammywinning trio the Delfonics who helped write and sang a soft lead tenor on such classic “Sound of Philadelphia” ballads as “La-La (Means I Love You)” and “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time).” July 14.

Taurean Blacque, 82. An Emmy-nominated actor who was known for his role as a detective on the 1980s NBC drama series “Hill Street Blues.” July 21.

the first Black woman to lead a four-year college in Virginia July 27.

August

Lamont Dozier , 81. He was the middle name of the celebrated Holland-DozierHolland team that wrote and produced “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “Heat Wave” and dozens of other hits and helped make Motown an essential record company of the 1960s and beyond. Aug. 8.

September

Bernard Shaw, 82. CNN’s chief anchor for two decades and a pioneering Black broadcast journalist best remembered for calmly reporting the beginning of the Gulf War in 1991 as missiles flew around him in Baghdad. Sept. 7.

Ramsey Lewis, 87. A renowned jazz pianist whose music entertained fans over a more than 60-year career that began with the Ramsey Lewis Trio and made him one of the country’s most successful jazz musicians. Sept. 12.

October Charles Fuller, 83. The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of the searing and acclaimed “A Soldier’s Play” who often explored and exposed how social institutions can perpetuate racism. Oct. 3.

The Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, 73. He fought poverty and racism and skillfully navigated New York’s power structure as pastor of Harlem’s historic Abyssinian Baptist Church. Oct. 28.

November

era-defining hit “Flashdance ... What a Feeling” from 1983′s “Flashdance.” Nov. 25.

December

Stephen “tWitch” Boss, 40. The longtime and beloved dancing DJ on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and a former contestant on “So You Think You Can Dance.” Dec. 13.

Franco Harris, 72. The Hall of Fame running back whose heads-up thinking authored the “Immaculate Reception,” considered the most iconic play in NFL history. Dec. 20.

Ronnie Spector, 78. The cat-eyed, bee-hived rock ‘n’ roll siren who sang such 1960s hits as “Be My Baby,” “Baby I Love You” and “Walking in the Rain” as the leader of the girl group the Ronettes. Jan. 12.

Charles McGee, 102. A Tuskegee Airman who flew 409 fighter combat missions over three wars and later helped to bring attention to the Black pilots who battled racism at home to fight for freedom abroad. Jan. 16.

André Leon Talley, 73. A towering and highly visible figure of the fashion world who made history as a rare Black editor in an overwhelmingly white industry. Jan. 18.

Cheslie Kryst, 30. The winner of the Miss USA pageant and a correspondent for the entertainment news program “Extra.” Jan. 30.

February

Ashley Bryan, 98. A prolific and prize-winning children’s author and illustrator who told stories of Black life, culture and folklore in such acclaimed works as “Freedom Over Me,” “Beautiful Blackbird” and

Traci Braxton, 50. A singer who was featured with her family in the reality television series “Braxton Family Values.” March 12.

June

94. A giant of post-colonial literature whose novels, essays and speeches influenced readers and

Nichelle Nichols, 89. She broke barriers for Black women in Hollywood as communications officer Lt. Uhura on the original “Star Trek” television series. July 30.

Bill Russell, 88. The NBA great who anchored a Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 championships in 13 years — the last two as the first Black head coach in any major U.S. sport — and marched for civil rights with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. July 31.

Marie Valentine McDemmond, the first female president of Norfolk State University and

Pharoah Sanders, 81. The influential tenor saxophonist revered in the jazz world for the spirituality of his work. Sept. 24.

Coolio, 59. The rapper was among hip-hop’s biggest names of the 1990s with hits including “Gangsta’s Paradise” and “Fantastic Voyage.” Sept. 28.

Inez Foxx, 79 (or 84 state various sources), one half of the brother-sister duo Inez & Charlie Foxx, she was was best known for the top 10 hit “Mockingbird” in 1963, but had a string of additional moderate hits running to the mid-70s. Aug. 25.

Baptist Church

Rep. A. Donald McEachin, who was re-elected to a fourth term in Congress to represent Virginia’s 4th District on Nov. 8, died just 20 days later after a six-year battle with cancer at age 61. Nov. 28.

Takeoff, 28. A rapper best known for his work with the Grammy-nominated trio Migos. Nov. 1.

Irene Cara, 63. The Oscar, Golden Globe and two-time Grammy winning singer-actor who starred and sang the title cut from the 1980 hit movie “Fame” and then belted out the

The Associated Press

George Lamming,

peers in his native Barbados and around the world. June 4.

July

José Eduardo dos Santos, 79. He was once one of Africa’s longest-serving rulers who during almost four decades as president of Angola fought the continent’s longest civil war and turned his country into a major

Thom Bell, 79. The Grammy-winning producer, writer and arranger who helped perfect the “Sound of Philadelphia” of the 1970s with the inventive, orchestral settings of such hits as the Spinners’ “I’ll Be Around” and the Stylistics’ “Betcha by Golly, Wow.” Dec. 22.

Mr. Poitier

City of Richmond, Virginia CITY

Notice is hereby given that the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, January 9, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the Second Floor of City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, to consider the following ordinance:

Ordinance No. 2022-310

As Amended

To amend City Code § 26-1065, concerning Downtown General Special Service and Assessment District boundaries, for the purpose of expanding the Downtown General Special Service Assessment District to include the Manchester area of the city.

Interested citizens who wish to speak will be given an opportunity to do so by following the instructions referenced in the January 9, 2023 Richmond City Council Formal meeting agenda. Copies of the full text of all ordinances are available by visiting the City Clerk’s page on the City’s Website at https:// www.rva.gov/office-cityclerk, 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.

Candice D. Reid City Clerk

Richmond,

City of

Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, January 9, 2023 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. 2022-299

As Amended

To install one speed table along Seminary Avenue between Overbrook Road and Edgehill Road, specifically located between 2604 Seminary Avenue and 2606 Seminary Avenue.

Ordinance No. 2022-325

As Amended

To designate [that portion of P Street located between its intersection with] the 1100 Block of North 28th Street [and its intersection with North 29th Street] in honor of Dr. Paul Nichols as “Paul Nichols Way.”

Ordinance No. 2022-346

To erect all-way stop signs at the intersection of East 10th Street and Hull Street.

Ordinance No. 2022-347

To amend the schedule of classifications and assigned ranges incorporated into section I of the Pay Plan, to amend section III(B)(6) of the Pay Plan, concerning certain positions in the courts, and to amend section III(B)(7) of the Pay Plan, concerning certain positions in the Office of the General Registrar, for the purpose of adding the new classification of Staff Attorney/Court Administrator and changing the title of Assistant Registrar to the title of Deputy Registrar pursuant to 2022 Va. Acts ch. 140.

Ordinance No. 2022-348

To amend City Code § 2-896, concerning the administration of the Maggie L. Walker Initiative Citizens Advisory Board, for the purpose of modifying the quorum requirement of the Board.

Ordinance No. 2022-351

To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to accept funds in the amount of $48,554.00 from the Virginia Department of Fire Programs, and to amend Ord. No. 2022056, adopted May 9, 2022, which adopted the Fiscal Year 2022-2023

Special Fund Budget by appropriating the increase to the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Special Fund Budget, and increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the Department of Fire and Emergency Services’ State Fire Programs Special Fund by $48,554.00 for the purpose of funding emergency services activities.

Ordinance No. 2022-352

To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to accept funds in the amount of $150,000.00 from the United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance, to amend the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Special Fund Budget by creating a new special fund

for the City Sheriff called the Dementia and Developmental Disabilities Grant Special Fund, and to appropriate the increase to the Fiscal Year 2022-2023

Special Fund Budget by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the City Sheriff’s Dementia and Developmental Disabilities Grant Special Fund by $150,000.00, for the purpose of funding services to individuals who have dementia, autism, or other cognitive conditions.

Ordinance No. 2022-353

To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for an on behalf of the City of Richmond, to accept funds in the amount of $4,541,400.00 from the United States Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and to amend Ord. No. 2022056, adopted May 9, 2022, which adopted the Special Fund Budget for the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 and made appropriations thereto, by (i) creating a new special fund for the Department of Fire and Emergency Services in the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Special Fund Budget entitled “SAFER FEMA Grant” and (ii) appropriating the increase to the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Special Fund Budget by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the Department of Fire and Emergency Services’ new SAFER FEMA Grant special fund by $4,541,400.00 for the purpose of funding the hiring of additional sworn personnel and the purchase of associated equipment, goods, and services for the Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

Ordinance No. 2022-354 To amend Ord. No. 2022055, adopted May 9, 2022, which adopted the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 General Fund Budget and made appropriations pursuant thereto, by transferring funds in the amount of $11,000.00 from the NonDepartmental agency Reserve for Children’s Fund line item, and to appropriate such transferred funds in the amount of $11,000.00 to the Department of Police General Fund budget by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the Department of Police’s Community, Youth, and Intervention Services program by $11,000.00, for the purpose of funding the expansion of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s RVA C.O.O.K.S. program to provide youth development programs for the Greater Fulton community.

Ordinance No. 2022-355

To amend Ord. No. 2022055, adopted May 9, 2022, which adopted the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 General Fund Budget and made appropriations pursuant thereto, by increasing estimated revenues by $4,000.00 from the sale of surplus property and appropriating such $4,000.00 of increased estimated revenues to the Department of Procurement Services, for the purpose of paying expenses incurred for the online and in-person sale of surplus tangible personal property.

Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Grant Agreement between the City of Richmond, 7000 Carnation, LLC, and the Economic Development Authority of the City of Richmond, for the purpose of facilitating the construction and development of the property located at 7000 Carnation Street to provide safe and affordable housing.

Ordinance No. 2022-360

To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Façade Improvement Program Cooperation Agreement between the City of Richmond, Virginia and the Economic Development Authority of the City of Richmond, Virginia, for the purpose of promoting economic development along the City’s Hull Street corridor by supporting projects that enhance neighborhood building façades.

Ordinance No. 2022-361

To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a License Agreement between the City of Richmond, as

Continued

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 8th day of February, 2023 at 9:00 AM, and protect her interests.

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

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE COUNTY OF HENRICO

Mahmoud Elsayed Plaintiff, v. Flintayvia GB Williams Defendant, Case No. CL22006794-00

ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is for the Plaintiff to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the grounds that the parties have lived separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption, and with Plaintiff’s intent to terminate the marriage, for a period exceeding twelve (12) months, namely since

what is necessary to protect his interests herein.

A Copy Teste: HEIDI S. BARSHINGER, CLERK Richard J Oulton, Esq VSB #29640 America Law Group, Inc 8501 Mayland Drive #106 Henrico VA 23294 (804)308-0051 Fax: (804)308-0053

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE COUNTY OF HENRICO Juan Francisco Villalobos Segura Plaintiff, v. Maria Elena Sanchez Hernandez Defendant. Case No. CL22006795-00

ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is for the Plaintiff to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the grounds that the parties have lived separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption, and with Plaintiff’s intent to terminate the marriage, for a period exceeding twelve (12) months, namely since April 1st, 2015.

It appearing by affidavit that Plaintiff has no knowledge ofthe Defendant’s current address and Defendant’s present whereabouts are unknown and diligence has

Richard J Oulton, Esq VSB #29640 America Law Group, Inc 8501 Mayland Drive #106 Henrico VA 23294 (804)308-0051 Fax: (804)308-0053

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HENRICO DARLENE KAY PATTON, Plaintiff, v. MARY FRANCYS PATTON, Defendant. Case No.: CL22-6380

AMENDED ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bonds of matrimony from the defendant on the ground that the parties have lived separate and apart in excess of one year.

It appearing from an Affidavit filed by the plaintiff that the defendant’s whereabouts are unknown, it is ORDERED that the defendant appear before this Court on or before the 30th of January, 2023 at 9 a.m., to protect her interests herein.

I ASK FOR THIS: Shannon S. Otto, VSB 68506 L0CKE & OTTO 1802 Bayberry Court Suite 103 Richmond, VA 23226 Telephone: (804) 545-9408 Facsimile: (804) 545-9400

St. John Baptist Church in Richmond, Va. Is looking for an experienced Minister of Music to coordinate the Music Ministry. Please send resume highlighting qualifications to: Chairman Claude Coleman, Trustee Ministry Rev. Dr. Janet Copeland, Minister of Music, 4317 North Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23222. Closing date: December 30, 2022

Freelance Writers: Richmond Free Press has immediate opportunities for freelance writers. Newspaper experience is a requirement. To be considered, please send 5 samples of your writing, along with a cover letter to news@richmond freepress.com or mail to: Richmond Free Press, P. O. Box 27709, Richmond, VA 23261. No phone calls.

First District.

Ordinance No. 2022-358

To amend Ord. No. 2022055, adopted May 9, 2022, which adopted the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 General Fund Budget and made appropriations pursuant thereto, by changing the uses and allocation of the Council District Funds for the Ninth District pursuant to Va. Code § 15.2-2503 for the use of the Council Member in the representation of the Ninth District.

Ordinance No. 2022-359

To authorize the Chief

The

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