Meet the RPS ‘Teacher of the Year’
Redd retires
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Richmond Free Press © 2018 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 27 NO. 49
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
Dr. Corey Walker leaving VUU School of Theology By Jeremy M. Lazarus
www.richmondfreepress.com
DeCEMBER 6-8, 2018
In limbo
City Councilman Parker C. Agelasto casts decisive vote in latest poll on Coliseum project despite looming questions over his qualifications to hold 5th District seat
Virginia Union University will soon start looking for a new dean for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology. In a surprise move, Dr. Corey D.B. Walker announced in a letter to the students and faculty that he is leaving what he called his “dream” job as a VUU vice president, theology school dean and professor of religion and society on Dec. 31. Dr. Walker, who became dean on July 1, 2017, issued his resignation just 17 months after succeeding Dr. John W. Kinney, who retired after 27 years. VUU will lose an academic who was in demand as a lecturer on religion and culture around the world. He hinted that the “difficult decision” resulted from a disagreement over his management of the graduate theology school. In the Nov. 30 letter, Dr. Wa l k e r stated that he decided “after much Dr. Walker prayerful consideration that the position I accepted has fundamentally changed, and I feel it is only appropriate that I continue the Kevin Lamarque/Reuters journey that brought me back The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried into Washington National Cathedral on to Richmond in another profesWednesday by military pallbearers past his son, left, former President George W. Bush, and in the pew at right, sional capacity.” President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump; former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama; former A graduate of the VUU President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton; and former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter. seminary, he described the decision as “even more difficult because to come home (to lead the theology school) was a dream come true.” VUU spokeswoman Pamela H. Cox said Monday that “nothing nefarious was involved.” Instead, she said that Dr. Free Press wire reports of a thousand points of light.” Walker had accepted another The former president died peacefully on Friday, Nov. 30, position elsewhere. She deFormer President George H.W. Bush was celebrated with 2018, at his Houston home. The 94-year-old was surrounded clined to offer specifics until the high praise and loving humor Wednesday at a farewell to the by family and friends and reportedly had talked with his son, university releases an official man who was America’s 41st president and the last president George, on the phone, telling him that he loved him. statement to the campus. to serve on active duty in wartime. The former president had been struggling for some time Insiders at the school told the The current president and three former U.S. presidents with a form of Parkinson’s disease and had been hospitalized Free Press that Dr. Walker has looked on at Washington National Cathedral as a fourth former with pneumonia several times in recent months. accepted a position at nearby president — George W. Bush — eulogized his dad. Union Theological Seminary, “To us,” the son said of his father, “his was the brightest Please turn to A4
adjacent to the unincorporated Union Hill community that freedmen and former slaves established after the Civil War. With residents of Union Hill divided over the project, the state NAACP previously joined environmental justice groups and others in urging that the Please turn to A4
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State NAACP president muddies group’s stance against Dominion Energy pipeline project The Virginia State NAACP is reaffirming its opposition to Dominion Energy’s $6.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline because it believes a key element of the pipeline — a natural gas compressor station —poses a pollution risk to a historically African-American community in Buckingham County, 75 miles west of Richmond. The civil rights group restated that position in a letter to Gov. Ralph S. Northam ahead of a high-stakes meeting next week of the state Air Pollution Control Board. According to officials, the organization wants
to put an end to any questions about its stance on the project after the group’s president issued a letter appearing to endorse the pipeline. The Air Pollution Control Board, reduced from seven to four voting members because of actions by the governor and Rev. Chandler one member’s conflict of interest, is scheduled to meet Monday, Dec. 10, to consider approval for a permit for the crucial compressor station that Dominion Energy wants to build on land
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Richmond City Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, 5th District, is continuing to play a prominent role on the nine-member governing board despite ongoing concerns about the legality of his seat on council since his move last summer to another council district. On Monday, despite feeling ill, Mr. Agelasto cast the decisive fifth vote to enable the council to move ahead over the objections of Mayor Levar M. Stoney to set up a citizens’ commission to review the $1.4 Mr. Agelasto billion plan to replace the Richmond Coliseum and develop new businesses and thousands of new apartments nearby. The commission would be established if the council formally approves the legislation at its meeting on Monday, Dec. 10. 2nd District Councilwoman Kim B. Gray, who proposed the commission, said that the city and the council repeatedly have created commissions to review proposals. Along with Mr. Agelasto and Ms. Gray, the commission proposal secured the support of Council President Chris A. Hilbert, 3rd District; Kristen N. Larson, 4th District; and Reva M. Trammell, 8th District, during a meeting of the council’s Organizational Development Committee. Mr. Agelasto’s status as a council member since his move to the 1st District was not mentioned. Still in talks over the planned Coliseum deal and unable yet to introduce any legislation to spell out the details, Mayor Stoney and his administration objected to the council doing what he has done in dealing with issues like the statues on Monument Avenue — establish a commission. Mayor Stoney, who argues that the commission is not need-
Nation bids farewell to former President George H. W. Bush
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
ee Fr
Fr ee
B1
Dynamic duo
On separate TEDx stages, a local mother and daughter share their perspectives on education and identity By Samantha Willis
They were already close, but Dr. Hollee Freeman said her bond with her daughter is even stronger after they were invited to speak at separate local TEDx events within weeks of each other. Danielle Freeman Jefferson, Dr. Freeman Dr. Freeman’s daughter, agreed. “It was an amazing experience, and it definitely added another layer to our relationship and how we understand each other,” said Ms. Jefferson, a freshman at North Carolina A&T State University. The TED talks series, which spotlights innovation
and thought leaders from a spectrum of disciplines worldwide, began in 1984 in Monterey, Calif. During that first event, speakers gave presentations on technological wonders such as the compact disc and electronic book. Since then, the series has expanded to include independently organized TEDx mini-conferences Ms. Jefferson in cities worldwide. Dr. Freeman, 51, and Ms. Jefferson, 18, were nominated to speak at the separate Richmond area TEDx events and selected by different organizing Please turn to A4
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
Waiting for Santa Cheryl Brunson of Henrico and her three granddaughters are bundled up against the cold as they await the holiday floats and marching bands — and Santa — last Saturday at the 35th Annual Christmas Parade in Richmond. The youngsters, from left, are Maleah Atkinson and Lyric Dunlap, both 3, and Kha’mya Atkinson, 8. Please see more photos on A2 and B3.
Richmond Free Press
A2 December 6-8, 2018
Local News
RPS needs $150M more to fund strategic plan By Ronald E. Carrington
Richmond Public Schools will need to beef up its budget with an added $150 million over five years to help implement its strategic plan to bolster city schools. Superintendent Jason Kamras presented the Richmond School Board with the cost estimate for the first time during its meeting Monday night. The board approved in late September the administration’s Dreams4RPS strategic plan not knowing the cost, which would require an average of $30 million more annually through 2023, or an added 10 percent per year, in the RPS operating budget. According to the strategic plan, about $37 Mr. Kamras million would be pumped into improving teacher salaries by revamping the current pay plan; $92 million would go toward boosting the curriculum, including hiring 40 teachers for coding, foreign language and visual and performing arts courses for elementary students and transforming three high schools and middle schools into themed schools; $10.4 million for new school construction; and $6.65 million for more school nurses, mental health and social worker positions. Mr. Kamras said the goal is to have all 44 of the city’s public schools to be fully accredited by 2023, with the school administration setting baseline target goals to be met each year. The Virginia Department of Education’s “Memorandum of Understanding, which established what RPS needs to do to become fully accredited, is our performance measure for the additional dollars in the plan. The MOU gives us a framework of where we need to go,” said School Board member Cheryl Burke, 7th District. Board Chairwoman Dawn Page, 8th District, reminded the board that when requesting the additional funds from City Council, “we have to be very clear and intentional, as well as demonstrate our willingness to tighten our belts and be more efficient.” Board member Jonathan Young, 4th District, argued that the plan is not affordable. “Richmond needs this strategic plan,” Mr. Young said. “However, money doesn’t grow on trees. In order to get the requested funds, RPS has to have some tradeoffs and make some significant cuts.” He suggested that the board revisit several efficiencies he proposed earlier this year that he said will reduce central office costs by $7 million per year. Mr. Kamras reminded the board that “quality education is expensive” and that if the board wants a world-class education system, “we will have to find the funds to pay for it.”
‘March for More’ demonstration set for Dec. 8 By Ronald E. Carrington
Richmond Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras, Mayor Levar M. Stoney and Virginia education leaders will hold a “March for More” rally and demonstration this weekend to demand more state money for public education. The rally is slated for 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, 1000 Mosby St. in the East End, with advocates then marching to the Capitol in Downtown. While the Virginia General Assembly will not be in session until January, officials said they want school officials, teachers, students, parents and other supporters to send a strong message to state lawmakers that more money is needed to improve and maintain a world-class education for students in Richmond and across the state and to modernize aging and decrepit school buildings. “This not just a Richmond issue; this is a commonwealth issue,” Jason Kamras, Richmond schools superintendent, said at a news conference last week announcing the march. “Every single school division is facing the fallout from the General Assembly’s deep cuts and we all are in need of more state spending.” “It’s time for superintendents and school boards across the state to band together, sending a unified message to our legislators telling them that it is time to spend more on public education. Virginia’s students deserve it,” said Dr. Amy E. Cashwell, who became superintendent of Henrico County Public Schools on July 1. State per-pupil funding for K-12 education has declined 9 percent since the 2008-09 school year, according a study issued in October by The Commonwealth Institute, a nonprofit research organization. At the same time, the student population is projected to have grown by more than 53,000 students and staffing has declined by 1,242 positions. Additional marches are planned for 2019 to drive home the demand to state legislators. “The more people we have coming out and coming together is a good signal for education across the commonwealth,” Mr. Kamras said.
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Cityscape Slices of life and scenes in Richmond
Special VCU council offers plan for human remains from old medical research
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
A proper burial in a historic AfricanAmerican cemetery, recognition on the Virginia Commonwealth University medical campus and continued research. Those are the recommendations that VCU has received for handling the skeletal remains of 53 men, women and children whose bodies were used before the Civil War to help train doctors at the Medical College of Virginia and whose bones later were thrown into a well on the campus in the vicinity of 12th and Marshall streets. The recommendations came from the East Marshall Street Well Project Family Representative Council. VCU President Michael Rao set up the council in 2015 to consider how to handle the remains that were discovered 24 years ago during the construction of the Hermes A. Kontos Medical Science Building. The 10-member council, which was established to represent the unknown families of the nine children under age 14 and the 44 individuals over 14, delivered its final report Monday to Dr. Rao and Dr. Marsha Rappley, chief executive officer of the VCU Health System, the current name for MCV. The recommendations are scheduled to be shared with the public at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, in the Kontos Building
Public meetings slated on city parking issues Parking is one of the key issues that City Hall is seeking to address as it moves ahead in preparing a new master plan for Richmond. A series of meetings began this week to allow residents in seven areas where parking is a contentious issue to review and discuss recommendations from a consultant, DESMAN. The meetings are open to all people as the ideas being presented are expected to influence parking policies in other parts of the city, officials said. This is the schedule for the remaining sessions, by area: • The Fan – 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, Binford Middle School, 1701 Floyd Ave.; • Manchester – 6 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 11, Plant Zero, 4th and Hull streets; • Scott’s Addition – 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12, Dominion Payroll, 3200 Rockbridge St., Suite 300; • Carytown – 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 2810, a community gathering space, 2810 W. Cary St.; and • Downtown – 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, Main Library, 101 E. Franklin St. This is the second round of meetings for the Richmond 300 Parking Study, which is an element of the master plan. The first round was held in June and included a presentation about existing parking conditions. The information and materials to be provided at the public meetings are to be made available at www.richmond300.com/ parkingstudy, along with an online survey for those unable to attend the meetings. Information on when the materials will be available will be emailed to those on the Richmond 300 email list and will be posted on social media. Details: (804) 646-6348 or Richmond300@Richmondgov. com.
This dazzling holiday scene now greets motorists and pedestrians nightly as they pass the James Center on Cary and 10th streets in Downtown. The lights went on Nov. 30 at Richmond’s 34th Annual Grand Illumination to usher in the season. The lights will come on each evening through New Year’s Day, Jan. 1. Please see B3 for additional holiday event photos.
auditorium, 1217 E. Marshall St. Participants also can nominate themselves or others to serve on committees to implement the recommendations during the meeting or online at emsw.vcu.edu, the university announced. “These recommendations represent several years of research and deliberation and fully address community interests and concerns,” said Dr. Joseph Jones, assistant professor of anthropology at The College of William & Mary and a member of the Family Representative Council. “Their implementation will restore visibility and human dignity to our ancestors whose labor and bodies were indispensable to the development of this city and the medical sciences.” According to the council, the bones of the individuals, as well as the hundreds of related artifacts found with them, should be interred at the city-owned African Burial Ground at 15th and Broad streets that is part of the Richmond Slave Trail. If that site should be unavailable, the council recommended burial at the historic 19th century Evergreen Cemetery in the city’s East End or at a similar appropriate burial ground to be determined. The council also recommended that West African artisans be employed to build the coffins and that experts in West African funeral traditions officiate the ceremony.
Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Health testing A client takes advantage of free HIV testing provided in the Nationz Foundation Mobile Testing Unit outside The Valentine last Saturday in Downtown. The free testing, conducted in partnership with the museum and Diversity Richmond, was part of the local observance of World AIDS Day.
The council also called for construction of an appropriate memorial and interactive learning component at the burial site. In addition, the council also recommended that VCU establish four memorial sites with appropriate signage within or near the Kontos Building and hold an annual memorial ceremony, to be conducted by VCU medical students prior to starting their anatomy classes, to pay respect to those who have contributed their remains for the benefit of scientific learning. Also, the council called for VCU to continue research into the history of the well site and its connections to the broader experiences of Africans and AfricanAmericans in Richmond and how the site impacts contemporary African-American medical experiences. The council also asked VCU to continue microbial and other biological analyses to learn more about the remains and to establish an advisory board to assist in the review of research proposals and project development from selected projects. Along with Dr. Jones, council members include Stacy Burrs, Jennifer Early, Lillie A. Estes, Carmen Foster, Christopher Green, Crystal Noakes, Rhonda Keyes Pleasants, Stephanie Smith and Janet “Queen Nzinga” Taylor. The council has been supported by a 15-member community planning committee that Dr. Rao established in 2013 to consider the future of the remains. “We are grateful for the insight and guidance of the council members,” Dr. Rao stated Tuesday in releasing the recommendations ahead of the meeting. “We thank the members for giving a voice to human beings who did not receive respect during their lifetime and after their passing.” Following the discovery of the bones in 1994, then-VCU President Eugene P. Trani had the bones sent to the Smithsonian Institution for study. The bones were returned a few years ago to VCU. All are believed to be the remains of African-Americans whose bodies after death were stolen or purchased for MCV students to dissect. Dr. Rao stated that the discovery remained largely unaddressed at VCU until it was given public attention in Dr. Shawn Utsey’s 2011 documentary, “Until the Well Runs Dry,” which examined the issue of grave robbing and the use of AfricanAmerican bodies in medical education during the 1800s. Dr. Utsey, chair of the VCU Department of African-American Studies and an associate professor of psychology, also served on the planning committee. Founded in 1838, MCV needed cadavers to train white doctors, but had to find African-American go-betweens to obtain them because state law during most of the 19th century made it a crime to use human remains in medical training and research, according to Jodi Koste, head of the VCU Tompkins-McCaw Library Special Collections and Archives. The Smithsonian research determined the bones were those of 53 individuals, while Merry A. Outlaw, assistant curator of Historic Jamestowne Rediscovery, evaluated the 423 artifacts and animal remains found in the well. She found that the artifacts dated from 1790 to 1850, suggesting the use of the well ended before the Civil War began in 1861, according to VCU.
Richmond Free Press
December 6-8, 2018
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News
Agelasto casts decisive vote in latest poll on Coliseum project Continued from A1
ed, said after the vote that he supports the views of City Council Vice President Cynthia Newbille, 7th District, and Ellen F. Robertson, 6th District, who call instead for hiring independent experts to review the proposals and advise the appropriate council committees. The Stoney administration already has spent $500,000 on experts reviewing the plan, according to Chief Administrative Officer Selena Cuffee-Glenn, including $120,000 paid for an outside review by Chicago-based Hunden Strategic Partners. She told the council committee that $95,000 would be available to them to hire experts. The mayor also urged the council to hold “as many public meetings as they deem necessary to solicit public input and answer questions,” although he said “one in each council district would seem appropriate.” However, Mr. Hilbert agreed with Ms. Larson that “the more eyes on this, the better,” particularly in light of past projects that promised more than they delivered, such as the 6th Street Marketplace and the
Washington pro football team training camp. Mr. Hilbert said, “This is not about either having expert review or a commission. It’s both.” Asked after the meeting about Mr. Agelasto’s status to serve on City Council, Mr. Hilbert said he is awaiting a formal opinion from City Attorney Allen L. Jackson as to whether City Council has the authority to act to remove Mr. Agelasto from office because he no longer lives in the 5th District. Section 4.05 of the City Charter, a section titled induction of members, includes language that empowers City Council to be the “judge of the election and qualifications of its members and the mayor.” Mr. Hilbert said he has been told informally the Virginia General Assembly might need to amend the section to make it clear that the sentence does not apply solely to the first City Council meeting when members are sworn in and seated, but is a continuing power of the council. Separately, Richmond Voter Registrar Kirk Showalter said Tuesday that she is continuing to consult with the City Attorney’s Office over the issue after
receiving a complaint from three registered voters in the 5th District requesting that she cancel Mr. Agelasto’s voter registration in the district as the result of his move. Ms. Showalter said she “expects to respond to the complaint before Christmas,” but declined to comment further. Under section 24.2-429 of the Virginia Code, Ms. Showalter is authorized to hold a hearing to consider evidence on whether a voter’s registration should be canceled. However, that section includes one exception: When the issue of improper registration involves “removal of residence from a precinct.” How that exception will impact the complaint remains to be seen. In the past 30 years, there apparently have been only two other localities in which a registrar has held such a hearing based on a complaint. One involved the residency of a Petersburg state delegate, who is no longer in office, and the other involved a candidate for treasurer in Bedford County. In both cases, their registration to vote was upheld as valid.
State NAACP president muddies group’s stance against Dominion Energy pipeline project Continued from A1
compressor station permit be denied. A major concern is that a rupture in the line or a flaw in the compressor could send natural gas into the ground, polluting the groundwater of Union Hill residents. Concerns also have focused on the noise the proposed 54,000-horsepower compressor would create in the rural area and the dangerous chemicals that it would spew into the air in compressing the fracked gas it would carry from West Virginia through Virginia to North Carolina. Dominion has changed the Union Hill station’s design to include noise buffers and sound reduction. Dominion chose the Union Hill location because it allows for an essential connection with the separate Transco natural gas line that has run through the area for decades and its proximity to main roads, U.S. 60 and U.S. 29. The Union Hill station would be largest of three compressor stations Dominion plans to build to transmit the gas along the 600-mile pipeline. Expectations are that the Air Pollution Control Board will approve the permit after Gov. Northam removed
two board members whose terms had expired and who had been most critical of the project. Questions about the state NAACP’s position have been bubbling ahead of the air board’s meeting. The questions arose after the Rev. Kevin Chandler of South Boston, NAACP state president, issued a letter on the civil rights group’s letterhead suggesting that the NAACP could support the compressor. He has not responded to requests for comment. In the Nov. 21 letter, Rev. Chandler stated that the NAACP “is satisfied with the progress and efforts Dominion Energy has made to work with the key stakeholders and residents of Union Hill.” He also praised Dominion’s commitment to spend $5.1 million to restore ambulance service to Union Hill, build a community center, document the community’s history and fund community development. Dominion has offered to make that commitment a condition of receiving the permit, without which it could not continue to build the pipeline. Dominion Energy spokesman Aaron Ruby denied that the company had written the initial letter that Rev. Chandler signed, even though the NAACP
officer’s title is misstated as chairman of the state organization. Mr. Ruby said the company learned about Rev. Chandler’s view and urged him to share his appreciation of Dominion’s work in a letter to Gov. Northam and to provide the company with a copy, which it began distributing last week at community meetings. The letter created an uproar inside the NACCP after The Washington Post made it public. Members of the state NAACP executive board expressed concern because they said they knew nothing about the letter and because it appeared to shift the NAACP’s previous position on the project to one of support. Under the NAACP constitution, the president does not have unilateral authority and needs approval of the executive board to issue a statement that alters the organization’s position. The board is authorized to act outside of the annual convention, where votes on policy are taken. In a bid to end confusion, the state NAACP issued a new letter to Gov. Northam dated Nov. 30 restating its opposition to the pipeline project that included Rev. Chandler’s name as a signatory.
“To be clear, the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP continues to oppose both the compressor station and the pipeline and urges the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board to deny Dominion’s permit application.” In his own statement, Mr. Ruby stated that Dominion “has a profound respect” for Union Hill. He noted that if the air board approves the permit, “we are going to be neighbors in Union Hill for decades to come, and we believe it is important to treat our neighbors with dignity and respect. That is why we have worked so hard over the last year to build trust, address concerns and invest in a better future for the community,” he stated. But that has not satisfied the state NAACP board, which in the Nov. 30 letter stated that Dominion’s proposed $5.1 million investment in the Union Hill community does “not relieve Dominion Energy from the other demands previously presented to the state Department of Environmental Quality.” The letter stated that the state NAACP “expects the review process will begin to seriously take into account the environmental injustices” that some Union Hill residents and the civil rights group have raised.
Farewell to former President George H. W. Bush Continued from A1
After three days of funeral events in Washington, the body of the late president was flown home to Texas on Wednesday for the last ceremony ahead of his scheduled burial on Thursday, Dec. 6. The final prayers were scheduled to be said at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston before interment in the family plot on the grounds of his presidential library at Texas A&M University in College Station. President Bush was to be buried alongside Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years, and Robin Bush, the daughter they lost to leukemia in 1953. After Wednesday’s cathedral service, the hearse and a long motorcade drove to the National Mall to pass by the World War II Memorial, a nod to the late president’s service as a World War II Navy pilot, before a trip to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. “Hail to the Chief” was played for Mr. Bush for a final time in the capital before the plane with his casket and family members took off for Houston. During the funeral, George W. Bush broke down briefly at the end of his eulogy while invoking the memory of the daughter his parents lost when she was 3 and his mother, Barbara, who died in April.
He said he took comfort in knowing “Dad is hugging Robin and holding Mom’s hand again.” For all the somber tributes to the late president’s public service and strength of character, laughter filled the cathedral time after time. The late president’s eulogists — son included — noted President Bush’s tendency to tangle his words and show his goofy side. He was “the last great-soldier statesman,” historian Jon Meacham said in his eulogy, “our shield” in dangerous times. But he also said that President Bush, campaigning in a crowd in a department store, once shook hands with a mannequin. Rather than flushing in embarrassment, President Bush simply cracked, “Never know. Gotta ask.” The congregation at the cathedral was filled with foreign leaders and diplomats, Americans of high office and others touched by President’s Bush’s life. As the casket arrived, accompanied by clergy of faiths from around the world, President Trump and former Presidents Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, all seated in a row together, stood with their spouses and all placed their hands over their hearts. The Trumps’ arrival, minutes ahead of the motorcade carrying President Bush’s casket, cast a pall on the conversation by the group.
“It’s unusual that a cabal of ex-presidents from both parties dislike a sitting president and that’s what you’ve got happening right now,” Douglas Brinkley, a history professor at Rice University, told the Associated Press. President Bush’s death makes former President Carter, the oldest living former president. Mr. Carter is also 94, but 100 days younger that the late president. Mr. Meacham also praised Mr. Bush’s call to volunteerism — his “1,000 points of light” — placing it alongside Abraham Lincoln’s call to honor “the better angels of our nature” in the American rhetorical canon. He called those lines “companion verses in America’s national hymn.” President Trump had mocked “1,000 points of light” last summer at a rally, saying, “What the hell is that? Has anyone ever figured that one out? And it was put out by a Republican, wasn’t it?” In his remarks during the service, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney praised Mr. Bush as a strong world leader who helped oversee the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union and usher in the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, signed into law by his successor, President Clinton.
Dr. Corey Walker leaving VUU Continued from A1
though neither Dr. Walker nor the school has confirmed that. In his letter, Dr. Walker stated that as a result of his appointment to the graduate school, “I have been gifted with the opportunity to work and learn from generous faculty colleagues, some of whom were my former seminary professors, (as well as from the) professional staff and graduate students.” Dr. Walker added that he believes in the school’s mission of preparing “people of conviction and courage who are committed to realizing a full freedom for all” while seeking to “build the beloved community.” A scholar and author, Dr. Walker came to VUU after serving as dean for four years of the College of Arts and Sciences at the larger WinstonSalem State University, where he oversaw more than 19 academic departments serving 3,500 students. He also was the John W. and Anna Hodgin Hanes Professor of the Humanities at WinstonSalem State. He saw himself as a critical intellectual who sought to offer students and faculty opportunities to move beyond the familiar habits and practices of their schools. He brought a wealth of academic experience to the theology post, including previous service as chairman of the Department of Africana Studies at Brown University, where he taught and also was involved in creating the department’s first doctoral program. Earlier, he was a member of the faculty of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, where he also served three years as the director of the school’s Center for the Study of Local Knowledge in the Construction of Race, Gender and Nation. Dr. Walker earned his undergraduate degree from Norfolk State University and master’s degrees from Harvard and Brown universities, along with a master’s of divinity degree from VUU. He later earned a doctorate in American studies from the College of William & Mary. He is the author of “A Noble Fight: African American Freemasonry and the Struggle for Democracy in America” and is preparing for the publication of his second book, “Between Transcendence and History: An Essay on Religion and the Future of Democracy in America.” In addition, he co-directed and co-produced the documentary film, “Fifeville,” about an African-American neighborhood in Charlottesville, with artist and filmmaker Kevin Jerome Everson.
Local mother and daughter share their perspectives on TEDx stages Continued from A1
committees. Ms. Jefferson presented her talk Nov. 17 at TEDxYouth@RVA held at Collegiate School. She spoke about how overly harsh school discipline policies harm students of color and offered solutions. While attending Henrico High School, Ms. Jefferson volunteered at Higher Achievement, a college prep and academic mentoring program serving 300 middle school students from Richmond and Henrico County. Sometimes, “teachers just send kids (who are) acting up out of the class, and they’re just sitting there doing nothing, which to me is the opposite of what you should be doing to help students,” Ms. Jefferson said. “And there are issues like extended suspension periods, students missing so much time from class (that they) find it hard to catch up.” These problems disproportionately impact students of color, data show. “Black students, boys, and students with disabilities were disproportion-
ately disciplined (e.g., suspensions and expulsions) in K-12 public schools,” according to a national study released in April by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The report, which included student discipline data from 95,000 public schools across the country, further stated, “Black students accounted for 15.5 percent of all public school students, but represented about 39 percent of students suspended from school.” Hitting closer to home, the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation of Richmond Public Schools in 2017, citing concerns raised by advocacy groups, elected officials and others that the district’s disciplinary practices unfairly target African-American students and students with disabilities. In her TEDx presentation, Ms. Jefferson suggested solutions, such as offering students trauma-informed care, and educators utilizing lessons and activities that help students to develop their emotional intelligence. Teachers, she said, also need to “be responsible with what (they) say to
students and how.” “I was there not too long ago. I was recently a high school student and a middle school student. I remember when (teachers) would ask me questions that would cause me to think deeply. Then other times, they would tell me what was going to happen, and my thoughts or opinions didn’t seem to matter.” Dr. Freeman will reflect on her own student days during her presentation on Saturday, Dec. 8, at TEDxGraceStreetWomen. The theme: “Showing Up,” on women pushing the boundaries to face challenges, empower one another and shape the future. Dr. Freeman is executive director of the MathScience Innovation Center, which offers 170,000 students in Central Virginia lessons in STEM areas, ranging from algebra to aquaponics and beyond. “I came to the center when I was a high school student, between 1987 and 1989,” said Dr. Freeman, who studied elementary education as an undergraduate at Columbia University and later earned a doctorate in edu-
cational administration from Boston College. Founded in 1966, the center was designed as an inclusive space “where all students from all backgrounds could come and learn something meaningful,” she said. In her daily work at the MathScience Innovation Center located off Mechanicsville Turnpike in Henrico County near the city line, Dr. Freeman strives to further that vision and to make its resources accessible to a diverse range of students. After taking the helm in 2012, “I wrote grants for under-resourced kids — and I still do,” Dr. Freeman said. “We’ve formed new partnerships with community organizations and other groups that serve local youth of color.” To help more students who live south of the James River participate in the center’s programming, Dr. Freeman established a satellite Center at John Tyler Community College’s Chester campus. Students from Petersburg and Prince George County regularly attend courses there.
Dr. Freeman said she has refined her TEDx presentation 11 times so far, trying to perfect her message about what “showing up” means to her. “I remember when I was coming to the center as a teen, sitting at my desk and looking out the window as other students passed by and thinking, ‘Where are all the Richmond kids?’ ” After finishing college, Dr. Freeman spent 15 years in the Northeast as an educator and advocate for students and teachers, including a 10-year stint as field director for the Boston Teacher Residency. Her experience as a teacher and teacher trainer, and her work helping schools design curriculum, set the stage for Dr. Freeman to return to Richmond and the MathScience Innovation Center. Coming home, piloting the organization and actualizing its mission to be a hub for all students “helped me understand how important it is to create space for students and teachers — space to share ideas and to break boundaries and challenge assumptions and do meaningful work together.”
Richmond Free Press
December 6-8, 2018
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Richmond Free Press
News
Trump endorses bipartisan federal sentencing reform effort By Reginald Stuart
WASHINGTON President Trump’s boisterous and often denigrating political rhetoric during most of the 2018 midterm campaign season and his post-election assault on the federal court in California may have overshadowed his positive take on federal prison sentencing. President Trump announced just after the Nov. 6 elections that he is fully endorsing a bipartisan bill in the works in the U.S. Senate that makes sweeping changes in the controversial federal prison sentencing Sen. Grassley laws related to convictions for illegal drugs. The compromise bill, which reportedly is in its final stages, would mark the first sweeping reform of the controversial sentencing law in more than a decade. Observers said the compromise restores the authority of federal judges to exercise discretion in setting sentences in most drug convictions. It reduces the mandatory minimum prison time required in most drugs convictions, they said. It also closes the sentencing gap between powder and crack cocaine convictions and makes portions of the law retroactive to cover past convictions, said people knowledgeable of various versions of the proposal being finished by GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a narrowly focused “First Step “ bill in May aimed at boosting rehabilitation programs for federal prisoners. But the overhauled Senate version of the bill, championed by Sens. Grassley and Durbin, is far more reaching, according to legislative watchdogs on Capitol Hill. Third District Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Virginia has spent more than a decade working with a bipartisan group of House colleagues to craft legislation reversing mandatory minimum sentencing. He voted for the “First Step” bill in the House earlier this year. But he is withholding comment on the newest development with the president, an aide said, pending more details. A final version of the Senate bill has not been circulated and there is no certainty it will pass the Senate or the House when completed. “I’m waiting with a pen,” to sign a compromise bipartisan federal sentencing reform bill, President Trump said in his brief announcement. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Sen. Grassley, who counted himself in the 1990s among staunch proponents of harsh prison sentences for convicted drug offenders, today views himself as a sound advocate for toning down the strategy. Among the last law-and-order leaders blocking sentencing reform was former Attorney General Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Just after the midterm elections, Mr. Sessions, a former U.S. senator, announced he was resigning, at President Trump’s request, as U.S. attorney general. Mr. Sessions had used his post in the Trump administration to actively call Sen. Durbin for tougher prison time for federal crimes, especially for people convicted of illegal drug offenses. Observers said Mr. Sessions’ departure cleared the runway for sentencing reform to arrive sooner and hopefully land smoothly. People who have followed sentencing reform work for several decades and from various points of view hailed PresidentTrump’s declaration, while cautioning that it’s still too soon to toast a victory. NAACP Washington Bureau Director Hilary Shelton echoed similar optimism, hastening to add the final Senate compromise is still in the mill. “It’s great to see attention brought to a bill much broader,” said Mr. Shelton, noting the Senate compromise deals with sentencing reform issues and topics beyond prison walls. There is guarded optimism in Richmond, where the sentencing reform movement got an added burst of steam in the early 1990s when citizens and lawmakers rallied around efforts to have hometown girl and former Hampton University student Kemba Smith freed from a 24½-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence despite being a first-time, nonviolent drug offender. “I think overall, it could be a good thing,” said the now-Ms. Smith-Pradia, who was freed from prison in 2000, married, had a second child, earned a degree from Virginia Union University and started a foundation to advocate on behalf of certain social issues. Ms. Smith-Pradia, who had served 6½ years in federal prison when President Clinton commuted her sentence to time served, has been in White House discussions about sentencing reform during the Obama years and President Trump’s tenure. In a brief telephone interview, Ms. SmithPradia describes herself as guardedly optimistic about President Trump’s endorsement of the sentencing reform plan. She said she needs to learn more details of the proposed compromise.
You’re invited East Marshall Street Well Project: Family Representative Council Recommendation Presentation
Join the Family Representative Council as they present their recommendations for the memorialization and reburial of 19th-century human remains discovered near East Marshall Street.
Thursday, Dec. 13, 6-8 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Reception follows Hermes A. Kontos Medical Sciences Building 1217 East Marshall Street Richmond, Virginia 23298 Parking information at registration. Parking is limited; consider using the GRTC Pulse. Free and open to the public. Register now.
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December 6-8, 2018
The Bush legacy We believe that one’s life is like a scorecard or balance sheet — filled with both positives and negatives. And when one dies, others (perhaps even God) will look at the ledger and add up both sides. Even the ancient Egyptians believed that one’s heart would be weighed in death against the single feather of Ma’at that represented the ethical and moral principles (think Ten Commandments plus some) with which daily life was to be conducted. If one’s heart was found to be lighter or equal in weight to the feather, then the deceased had led a virtuous life and would go on to a heaven. A heavy heart would condemn the person to remain in a purgatory-like underworld. So it is that we weigh the life of former President George H.W. Bush, who died last week at age 94. We want to remind readers of what we view as positives and negatives of his time in office. At first glance, President Bush comes out a clear winner, particularly when we compare him to the current occupant of the White House. But that easy comparison doesn’t get at the true character, actions and impact of the late president, who served as commander in chief of this nation from 1989 to 1993. We need to look deeper. President Bush was a young Navy pilot during World War II and now is the last president to have served on active duty in the military during wartime. Before being elected as the 41st president, he served sequentially as a member of Congress representing a district in Texas, ambassador to the United Nations, chairman of the Republican National Committee, chief of the liaison office in China and director of the CIA. After being knocked out of the Republican nomination for president in 1980, he wound up as Ronald Reagan’s running mate and served as vice president from 1981 to 1989. We believe several positives arose from President Bush’s tenure in the Oval Office, chief among them the Americans with Disabilities Act. He signed into law the ADA that provides major civil rights protections for people with disabilities, including banning discrimination in employment, public accommodations and public transit. Because of the ADA, we now have ramps, elevators, automatic doors and lifts making buses, restrooms, workplaces, public facilities and environments more accessible to people with disabilities. It has made a major difference in the lives of individuals and the families of people who depend on a wheelchair or other assistive devices for mobility and inclusion. On the environmental side, President Bush also reauthorized the Clean Air Act to boost air quality and reduce acid rain by limiting emissions from coal-burning fuel plants. He signed a bill into law providing compensation to cancer victims who contracted the disease from harmful exposure to products of uranium mining and nuclear weapons testing by the United States during the Cold War. His signing into law the Immigration Act of 1990, which was sponsored by Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy, increased by 40 percent the number of legal immigrants that entered the United States. He increased federal spending for education and childcare and put a temporary ban on the import of certain semiautomatic rifles. He supported advanced technology research, including endorsing space travel to explore the moon and Mars. He also drew attention to the importance of volunteerism and the contributions of private individuals to the good of the whole through his Points of Light recognition program. But President Bush also was the man who vetoed job discrimination protections in the Civil Rights Act of 1990; nominated Justice Clarence Thomas, an alleged sexual harasser and self-loathing African-American, to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace the outstanding Justice Thurgood Marshall, a “race man” and the first African-American on the nation’s highest court; and used the dog-whistle of race in his 1988 presidential campaign against Democrat Michael Dukakis by running ads about Willie Horton, a black man convicted of murder who walked off during a weekend furlough from a Massachusetts prison during Mr. Dukakis’ tenure as governor and raped a white woman and carjacked and stabbed her fiancé. He pushed the war on drugs by having federal agents arrest an African-American high school student who was set up by authorities in a crack cocaine deal in Lafayette Park across from the White House. President Bush held up the bag of crack during a nationally televised speech about the nation’s drug problem. Despite his self-professed love of the environment, President Bush refused to sign an environmental treaty generated by the Earth Summit in Brazil in 1992 and lobbied to remove binding targets to limit global carbon dioxide emissions. As vice president, he claimed to be “out of the loop” when revelations broke that administration officials had secretly arranged weapon sales to Iran during the Iran-Iraq War and then used the money to fund the Contras fighting the government in Nicaragua. The International Court of Justice at The Hague ruled that such actions, in what became known as the Iran-Contra Affair, were a violation of international law. As president, he sent troops into Panama to wrest control of the government from Panamanian President Manuel Noriega, who refused to step down after losing a democratic election. He also sent U.S. troops into the Gulf War when Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein, invaded its oil-rich neighbor, Kuwait. It was the start of what has been the complex and controversial issue of U.S. involvement in that region’s affairs since then. He also gave us his son, President George W. Bush, the nation’s 43rd president, who was once described as “an empty vessel” into which conservative and imperial forces could pour their ideas of militarism and desire for U.S. world domination. Seventeen years after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. troops continue to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. As funeral services continue for President Bush, how does the ledger of his life stack up? On Wednesday, one observer noted, “He wasn’t a good president, but he was a good man.” We will let you, our readers — and a higher power — decide.
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Bush 41: ‘The closer’
Could former President George H.W. Bush have defeated current President Donald Trump? In a way, it already happened — in 1992, although nobody would have known it at the time. President Trump did not run in that year’s Republican primaries, but his ideas did. You can hear them in the fiery speeches of Patrick J. Buchanan, the conservative author, columnist, television commentator and senior adviser to three Republican presidents, who waged a primary challenge to President Bush’s re-election campaign from the far right. Wordsmith Buchanan declared a “new nationalism” to enlist the “forgotten Americans” into the “Buchanan brigades” and rescue them from foreign meddling, rip-off trade deals and “open-border” immigration policies. He called for a moratorium on immigration until the policy could be re-examined and, yes, a wall on the Mexican border, which he called “the Buchanan fence” in his effort to “Make America First Again,” borrowing a phrase from his former boss Ronald Reagan’s campaign slogan “Let’s Make America Great Again,” which also was adopted later by you-know-who.
“The ideas made it,” Mr. Buchanan told Politico reporter Tim Alberta last year with a laugh, “but I didn’t.” With that in mind on the morning after President Bush’s death last week at age 94, I asked Mr. Buchanan for his reaction to the news. He showed no desire to speak ill of the dead. “I’m sure he’ll be extraordinarily well remembered by the
Clarence Page entire country because he was a patriot” with “a great family,” Mr. Buchanan said. “He served his country his entire life, (including) some of the highest offices and the highest office in the land … with distinction and honor.” “We had our differences,” he continued. “We had our serious differences. But from 1966 to 1991, we were good friends and I was proud to have him as a friend.” Of course, after 1991 was a different story. During their campaign, he skewered President Bush as a “globalist” who was helping “bureaucrats in Brussels” to pursue a “European superstate” and undermine national identity. Now he praised President Bush as “the American closer in the Cold War,” a core issue for America’s conservative movement. Dictionaries define a “closer” as a person who is skilled at
bringing a business transaction to a satisfactory conclusion. Such was President Bush’s role when 1989 brought protests in China’s Tiananmen Square, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the challenge of negotiating a peaceful transition to what President Bush later would call a “new world order,” a phrase that alarmed nationalists like Mr. Buchanan. “I think that President Bush belongs to another era,” he said, noting that President Bush was the last American president to have served in World War II. “He’s the Greatest Generation president, but that was the end of an era and I think — and it wouldn’t be a criticism of him — but I think he was from another time and another place.” President Bush’s son, George W. Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton adopted more conservative approaches to key issues of “economic nationalism, economic patriotism and securing the border” that helped them to win but “were very new to President (George H. W.) Bush who came up from a different place and a different time.” As much as I disagree with Mr. Buchanan’s far right positions, he correctly saw that the conservative movement from 1964 that nominated Barry Goldwater — who failed to win more than six states — was on the rise fast and big enough to lead to President Trump’s election in 2016.
The new voter suppression “Georgia elections officials deployed a known strategy of voter suppression: closing and relocating polling places. Despite projections of record turnout, elections officials closed or moved approximately 305 locations, many in neighborhoods with numerous voters of color. Fewer polling places meant that the remaining locations strained to accommodate an influx of voters. Yet elections officials failed to supply sufficient, functioning voting machines and enough provisional ballots … Depriving polling places of basic tools needed for voting meant that voters who arrived at polling places anxious and excited to express their patriotism through the basic, fundamental act of voting were met with hours-long lines. Some lines were four hours long. Georgians who could not wait — because of disability, health, or work or family obligations — effectively lost the right to vote.” Fair Fight Action and Care in Action, plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against Georgia election officials. Voter turnout in the 2018 midterm elections hit a 50-year high, with more than 47 percent of the voting-eligible population casting a ballot. Across multiple
media platforms, images of voters standing in long lines were used to illustrate voter enthusiasm. While voter enthusiasm is great news, long lines at the polls are not. They are a sign of voter suppression, and immediate action must be taken at the state and federal levels to expand early voting, voting by mail and other measures to reduce voter wait times and end
Marc H. Morial voter suppression. Georgia was among the most egregious examples. In suburban Gwinnett County, voters waited four hours when officials opened the polls only to discover that their voting machines were not working. In downtown Atlanta, just three voting machines were provided for more than 3,000 registered voters, leading to wait times of three hours. In many cases, long wait times at the polls are not the result of innocent mistakes, but part of a deliberate campaign to discourage voting, particularly in communities of color. According to a University of Pennsylvania study, minority voters are six times as likely as whites to wait longer than an hour to vote even within the same town or county. The study found that at least 200,000 people didn’t vote in
2014 because of the lines they encountered in 2012. In crafting North Carolina’s notoriously racist “monster” voter suppression law, lawmakers researched which of the 17 days of early voting black voters were most likely to use, then eliminated those particular seven days. Fortunately, North Carolina’s law was overturned. But 13 states — even supposedly progressive states like Connecticut, New Hampshire and New York — have no form of early voting. In fact, New York is widely considered to have some of the worst voting laws in the country, holding its federal and state primaries on different days and establishing arbitrary deadlines for registration and party-switching. After Florida’s chaotic 2000 presidential election recount, a wave of states adopted early voting in order to relieve pressure on election officials on Election Day. It worked. There’s simply no excuse for any state not to allow early voting. Control of the New York State Senate changes parties with the January session. There is no better way for the Empire State to demonstrate its commitment to its motto, “Excelsior,” or “Ever upward,” than to establish early voting and set an example for the remaining states. The writer is president of the National Urban League.
The Free Press welcomes letters The Richmond Free Press respects the opinions of its readers. We want to hear from you. We invite you to write the editor. All letters will be considered for publication. Concise, typewritten letters related to public matters are preferred. Also include your telephone number(s). Letters should be addressed to: Letters to the Editor, Richmond Free Press, P.O. Box 27709, 422 East Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23261, or faxed to: (804) 643-7519 or e-mail: letters@richmondfreepress.com.
After Mr. Buchanan’s primary losses, discontent in the GOP led to Ross Perot’s third party bid, which helped President Clinton win, and later a Republican House under conservative Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia and the era of polarization that we still wrestle today. As much as I appreciate the progress this country has made in civil rights and respect for diversity, Mr. Buchanan sees only gloom in our drift away from the peaceful and prosperous America he remembers in the Elvis Presley era. I, too, appreciate the positive aspects of the past that expanded social and economic opportunity and avoided our nuclear annihilation. But the fear and loathing of diversity and international alliances? I hope the next generation of leaders does better than ours.
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Richmond Free Press
December 6-8, 2018
Letters to the Editor
Kudos Free Press on City Hall coverage Re “Council committee blocks entry of medical transport company into Richmond market” and “Coliseum’s success raises new questions about need to replace it,” Free Press Nov. 29-Dec. 1 edition: Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you for your coverage of City Hall, in particular your articles regarding the medical transport company and the success of the present Coliseum. The high-handedness of the Mayor’s Office never ceases to amaze me, but thankfully your coverage continues to question
and expose these attempts to hoodwink and run roughshod over City Council and the tax-paying public. Since the implementation of our current form of government, each mayor seems to have assumed they had a mandate to act without restraint and, at times, they have gotten away with it. Hopefully, your willingness to hold them accountable will continue and will inspire the taxpayers to do the same. NELSON CALISCH Richmond
Churches, payday loans and the Bible
Re “Churches fight predatory payday lending with political pressure, small loans,” Free Press Nov. 21-24 edition: I think it is a positive concept that a church is dispensing micro loans to community members. It is obvious that payday lenders target the minority community, and black people in particular. Most of the customers I have seen are AfricanAmerican.
The only economy I know that really works is “living cheap” — paying cash for everything. People who live cheap have the two major bills paid off — the house and the car. In addition, a lot of them end up with trust funds or savings for their children. It is possible to pay cash for a house and a car, or at least to make a large enough down payment that the monthly payments
are low and can be paid off sooner. Extreme couponing also helps. That will help lower food and basic household expenses. The Bible says the “borrower is servant to the lender.” So if someone doesn’t want to be a servant, don’t borrow. TRACYE JAMES Midlothian
Prejudice also strikes ‘scruffy-looking’ white people Re Editorial “Teaching while black,” Free Press Nov. 29-Dec. 1 edition: You do not have to be African-American to receive prejudicial treatment from Virginia Commonwealth University Police. You can be a scruffy-looking white person and receive roughly comparable treatment. At the start of the 2008 spring semester, I was sitting in my new evening vector calculus class, for which I had registered and paid tuition, looking in my new calculus text when two VCU Police officers walked in and wanted to know who I was and what I was doing there. I handed one of the officers my DMV ID, my new VCU ID and my new computer-generated class schedule. When my teacher arrived, they asked him to check his class roster and my name
wasn’t on it. I hadn’t realized that the course registration people had registered me in the day section instead of the night section of the course that I wanted. The officer confiscated my VCU ID and he and the other officer escorted me from the School of Business building. On my next day off from work, I paid another visit to the VCU registration office and obtained a statement from them that they had mistakenly enrolled me in the wrong section of vector calculus. I went to VCU Police headquarters and presented the statement to the officer who had taken my ID. I received a replacement VCU ID. To this day, I don’t know who called the VCU Police. I didn’t ask them. But if the officer had thought about it, he should have realized that I could not
have received a computer-generated course schedule if I had not paid tuition. In fact, he could have checked when he walked into my class. He could have used his 2-way radio mounted on his left shoulder. But he did not do this presumably because he was so certain that I didn’t look like a third semester calculus student. I am not only the scruffy-looking white man who has been treated prejudicially by the VCU Police, I also in fact hold a bachelor’s degree in accounting from VCU from May 1973. VCU is unlikely to receive a charitable nickel from this deeply embittered alumnus. KENNETH NYGREN Richmond
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PUBLIC NOTICE: Proposed Navy Hill Coliseum Project
Why It May Constitute the Largest Deception In Richmond History (Principle Financial Data Source: Times Dispatch Nov. 2, 11, 23, 2018)
~ Questions ~
~ The Facts ~ •
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A city official has said the coliseum “will not cost taxpayers a dime.” The project is being represented as if no city money is involved. The truth is, city taxpayers will pay $620 million in future Richmond taxpayer funds, just for the coliseum and the Blues Armory renovation. The source of the $620 million for the coliseum is city taxes, initially coming from increased real estate taxes from 80 city blocks of downtown Richmond for 30 years. (Yet only 10 blocks are being developed.) When these funds are used up by payments made on the coliseum, taxpayers will have to restore that money to run the city, by paying higher taxes. Tom Farrell, CEO of Dominion Energy says that he has no personal money invested. Potential reason: Richmond taxpayers foot the full cost of the coliseum and armory. It’s an O.P.M. project. Other peoples’ money. More wrong information: City officials claim they will create 21,000 jobs. The reality is that most jobs are temporary construction jobs. A realistic estimate is that no more than 800 permanent jobs will be created. This is very misleading, especially for lower income and other citizens seeking jobs! Richmond has a history of investing foolishly: 6th St. Marketplace, Main St. Station, Redskins, $26 million given to Crestar Bank, $8 million to Stony Point Shopping Center. The Coliseum project is 24 times larger, than previous Richmond giveaways.
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How much do the following stand to gain financially, including developer and consulting fees? Tom Farrell of Dominion Energy, C.T. Hill formerly of Suntrust Bank, Marty Barrington formerly of Altria.
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Why has a city official said, “the city bears no risk” when the taxpayer cost is $620 million. Isn’t the true risk $620 million? Can we afford to pay $620 million if the project is likely to fail?
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How much will Navy Hill receive of our taxpayer TIF funds, and how much of those funds could also create a slush fund for the Mayor? How much will they profit from the sale of 9 city blocks to private developers? Who will control the TIF money? Hint: Not City Council.
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Do you feel we really need, and do you want to pay $620 million for a refurbished armory and a coliseum? A new hotel and apartments may be built, but they will not be owned by the city.That portion of the project may never be completed.
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How will Richmond afford future raises for Police, Fire, & essential services like schools as costs increase over the next 30 years, if $620 million in taxpayer funds is consumed by payments on a new coliseum? Answer: $10,000 avg. in higher taxes on every property owner city-wide.
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Are fancy new downtown buildings a priority to you? In a city of 10,000 potholes, leaves never collected, and crumbling city schools? Don’t we have higher priorities?
Every councilperson would like to hear from you… 1st District Andraes Addison 833-5898, 2nd Kim Gray 852-4427, 3rd Chris Hilbert 306-0875, 4th Kristen Larsen 503-1313, 5th Parker Agelasto 332-3195, 6th Ellen Robertson 314-7658, 7th Cynthia Newbill 543-7837, 8th Reva Trammell 240-5050, 9th Michael Jones 363-5093
Richmond Civic League email RichmondCivicLeague@gmail.com Giving Voice To Richmond Citizens, Insisting That We Be Heard Hon. Marty Jewell, Chairman
If you oppose the project, please email your name, civic group, organization, business, or church to our growing list of opponents. No cost to join.
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Richmond Free Press
Sports
I’m diggin’ “this already THE
GIFT
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A10 December 6-8, 2018
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Stories by Fred Jeter
Lady Panthers’ ‘Towers of Power’ jump-start hoops season
There are at least three towers at Virginia Union University. A visitor can’t miss the brick and mortar tower — the 160foot Belgian Building — in the middle of the Lombardy Street campus. But there are two flesh and blood towers inside Barco-Stevens Hall, which is located about the length of a basketball court from the bell tower. Sharing low-post heroics are 6-foot-2 Jasmine Carter and 6-foot-3 Nicole Floyd, both members of the Lady Panthers basketball team. Affectionately, Coach AnnMarie Gilbert refers to her towering twosome as “our tag team.” Both players have been instrumental in Jasmine Carter an 8-0 start for Coach Gilbert’s defending CIAA champions. VUU appears to have cornered the market on tall, talented performers who shine near the rims. In 2017, center Lady Walker was named CIAA Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Then last winter, Walker’s successor, Alexis Johnson, claimed the same two prestigious honors. Now the low post has been bequeathed to Carter and Floyd, both of whom have waited patiently for the honor. Carter averages 12 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes per game. Floyd averages 12 points and seven rebounds, also in 29 minutes per game. Here’s a glimpse at both young women: Carter came to VUU as a walk-on from Richmond’s John Marshall High School, where she led the Justices to the state 3A semifinals as a senior. At VUU, she has served as backup during the past two years after sitting out her freshman season as a red shirt. “Waiting behind Lady and Alexis taught me about being humble,” Carter said. “I learned so much from practicing against them each day. I’m so much smarter now.” Carter is the first cousin of Armando Bacot, the 6-foot-10
Deontay Wilder
Tyson Fury
Wilder-Fury heavyweight title match ends in draw
Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury were each undefeated upon meeting last Saturday for the World Boxing Council heavyweight title in Los Angeles. After 12 bloody, bruising rounds, both were still undefeated as the bout was ruled a draw by three ringside judges. Soon after, both pugilists announced a rematch was imminent, with details to be determined. Wilder’s record goes to 40-0-1 with 39 knockouts. Fury is 27-0-1 with 19 KOs. “I would love for it (Fury) to be my next fight,” Wilder said in his post-fight news conference. “Let’s give the fans what they want to see.” Fury said the feeling is mutual. “One hundred percent; we’ll do the rematch,” Fury said. There’s much financial incentive. Wilder-Fury I drew a live crowd of 17,000-plus people and a worldwide, payper-view audience. Wilder, who retains his WBC title, became champ in 2015 by defeating Haitian-Canadian Bermane Stiverne. In so doing, Wilder became the first American WBC titleholder in nine years. A native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., Wilder is known as the “Bronze Bomber” for two reasons. He was a bronze medalist in the heavyweight division in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Plus he admires the late former champ Joe Louis, also from Alabama. Louis was known as the “Brown Bomber.” Fury answers to “Gypsy King” for his dual citizenship in England and Ireland. He was born in England and has Irish ancestry. Fury was named after Mike Tyson. The Wilder versus Fury fight represented one of the tallest matchups in boxing annals. Wilder is 6-foot-7 with an 83-inch reach; Fury is 6-foot-9 with a 85-inch reach. Here’s a list of the tallest heavyweight champs: • Nicolay Valuev (Russia), 7-foot • Vitali Klitschko (Ukraine), 6-foot-7½ • Wladimir Klitschko (Ukraine), 6-foot-6 • Jess Willard (USA), 6-foot-6½ • Ernie Terrell (USA), 6-foot-6 • Henry Akinwande (England), 6-foot-6 • Primo Carnera (Italy), 6-foot-5¾ • Riddick Bowe (USA), 6-foot-5 • Lennox Lewis (USA), 6-foot-5 • Heights of other prominent champs: • George Foreman, 6-foot-4 • Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes, 6-foot-3 • Joe Louis, 6-foot-2 • Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey and Joe Frazier, 6 foot • Rocky Marciano, 5-foot-11 • Mike Tyson, 5-foot-10
former Trinity Episcopal School star who is now at IMG Academy in Florida. Carter is on track to graduate next spring and plans to pursue a master’s in religious studies during her final year of eligibility. Floyd, who is 23, is the Lady Panthers’ oldest player and answers to “Auntie.” After earning 6A All-State honors at Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas in 2014, she first signed with Wake Forest University. From Wake Forest, she transferred to Fordham University in New York, where she sat out one transfer season, suffered a major knee injury and never played. She transferred Nicole Floyd to VUU in the fall of 2017, but sat out last season at VUU. She has missed three seasons before coming on the court for the first time this season.
Like Carter, Floyd has a “famous” family member. Her uncle, Jason Floyd, was a front-line player at Georgia Tech from 1996 to 2000. There’s a wealth of riches at VUU. More towers, or at least “mini towers,” are en route. Destiny Gardner and Raven Williams, both 5-foot-11, become eligible to play at the end of the semester. Gardner transferred from the Division I University of North Alabama, while Williams, a native of Petersburg, transferred from Baltimore City Community College. VUU’s backcourt gets a prized addition later this month as well. Shameka McNeill, coming off knee surgery, is practicing with the team and will be activated soon. Her twin sister, Shareka, is the team’s top scorer with 23.3 points per game. While Carter and Floyd are towers of power on the inside, the twins are towers of talent on the perimeter.
North Carolina A&T heading to Celebration Bowl Dec. 15
North Carolina A&T State University is making Atlanta a regular stop on its football travel itinerary. For the third time in the four-year history of the Celebration Bowl, the Aggies are heading to Georgia to play in front of a national television audience. North Carolina A&T will face Alcorn State University of Mississippi on Saturday, Dec. 15, for a noon kickoff at the indoor Mercedes-Benz Stadium. ABC will provide television coverage. The Celebration Bowl matches MEAC and SWAC champions, the lone historically African-American Division I athletic conferences. The game also serves as a de facto Black Colleges National Championship. There’s much more than pride at stake. Each conference receives a $1 million payout. North Carolina A&T, 9-2, won the MEAC title on the best regular season record. Alcorn’s Braves, 9-3, punched their ticket to Atlanta by defeating Southern University of Louisiana 31-28 in the SWAC title game last Saturday in Lorman, Miss. Alcorn’s most notable football alumnus is likely the late quarterback Steve McNair, aka “Air McNair.” McNair was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player with the Tennessee Titans in 2003. North Carolina A&T’s most
recognizable gridiron alumnus is known for more than just scoring touchdowns. The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. served as the Aggies’ quarterback for two seasons in the early 1960s after transferring to the Greensboro school from the University of Illinois. In previous Celebration Bowls, North Carolina A&T defeated Alcorn in 2015, Grambling topped North Carolina Central University in 2016 and North Carolina A&T beat Grambling a year ago. The first two games were held at the Georgia Dome. This is the third effort to crown a Black National Champion in a postseason bowl. The Heritage Bowl (1991 to 1996) and the Pelican Bowl (1972 to 1975) were similar arrangements, but minus the financial backing. MEAC and SWAC relinquished automatic bids to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs to assure its winners meet in Atlanta. ••• Former Aggie Tarik Cohen, 2015 Celebration Bowl Offensive Player of the Game, has emerged as a go-to receiver with the NFL Chicago Bears. While normally a running back, the 5-foot-6, 181-pound Cohen caught 12 passes for 156 yards and also threw a touchdown pass in the Bears’ overtime loss last Sunday to the New York Giants.
Hall of Fame roll call Few conferences can rival MEAC and SWAC for producing premier talent. Here’s a list of 26 players from the historically black conferences who are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Name
College
*Marion Motley Roosevelt Brown Len Ford Deacon Jones Willie Lanier Art Shell Larry Little Leroy Kelly Elvin Bethea Harry Carson Bob Hayes Shannon Sharpe *• Deacon Jones Willie Davis Willie Brown Ken Houston Mel Blount Buck Buchanan Lem Barney Walter Payton Charlie Joiner Jackie Slater John Stallworth Emmitt Thomas Jerry Rice Michael Strahan Aeneas Williams
Year Inducted
MEAC South Carolina State 1968 Morgan State 1975 Morgan State 1976 South Carolina State 1980 Morgan State 1986 Maryland-Eastern Shore 1989 Bethune-Cookman 1993 Morgan State 1994 North Carolina A&T 2003 South Carolina State 2006 Florida A&M 2009 Savannah State 2011 SWAC Mississippi Valley State Grambling Grambling Prairie View Southern Grambling Jackson State Jackson State Grambling Jackson State Alabama A&M Bishop Mississippi Valley Texas Southern Southern
1980 1981 1984 1986 1989 1990 1992 1993 1996 1996 2002 2008 2010 2014 2014
* Enshrined •Jones played for both South Carolina State and Mississippi Valley State.
Justices are 3A team to beat despite injury, transfer
No excuses necessary. John Marshall High School basketball Coach Ty White seeks no pity, although it would be hard to blame him if he did. Despite the team’s loss of 6-foot-10 Isaiah Todd, who transferred, and the temporary loss of 6-foot-10 Roosevelt Wheeler to injury, Coach White insists John Marshall is the team to beat in the state 3A division. “If we don’t win it, we’ll be underachieving,” said the always-confident Coach White. Some background: Last year’s Justices, Coach 22-6 overall, claimed White the 3A crown by winning the last 13 games and 19 of 20. Most victories were blowouts. Since then Todd, arguably the nation’s top prospect for the Class of 2020, transferred to Trinity Academy in Raleigh, N.C. More misfortune followed for the Justices. Earlier this fall, Wheeler, a precocious sophomore, underwent knee surgery. Coach White is hopeful Wheeler will return later this month. Even as a 10th-grader, Wheeler has received scholarship offers from the likes of Virginia Commonwealth University, North Carolina State University, and Oklahoma State and Penn State universities.
This past spring and summer, Wheeler was a dominant performer on the U15 Team Loaded travel squad that went 40-0. John Marshall High looks forward to Wheeler’s return, but it’s not forfeiting any games in the meantime. “We have no big man right now, but we’ll be a tough outing for anyone,” Coach White said. “We’re going to be fine.” For now, Coach White said he has a “five guard lineup” led by fourth-year starters DeMarr McRae and Levar Allen, aka “The DeMarr and Levar Show.” Roosevelt Wheeler “They are probably the best, most experienced set of guards in the state,” Coach White said. McRae and Allen are all-round talents who make positive things happen for the Justices all over the floor. Filling out the lineup are gifted returnees Jairus Ashlock, Elijah Seward and Aubrey Merrit, all in the 6-foot to 6-foot-3 range. Raymont Lynch adds more championship experience. A rising star is 5-foot-10 Reggie Robertson, who shined last year at Henderson Middle School. With or without Wheeler, the Justices will take on some premier opponents later this
month in two showcase tournaments. John Marshall High is entered in the Emerald Coast 16 from Dec. 19 through 21 at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Fla. After Christmas, John Marshall packs for the Tournament of Champions from Dec. 27 through 29, in Marietta, Ga. So far so good: McRae, Allen, Seward and Ashlock all scored in double figures in the Justices’ opening victory over Norview High School of Norfolk last Saturday at Meadowbrook High School. The Justices have two star-studded SatIsaiah Todd urday night dates prior to heading south. John Marshall plays I.C. Norcom High School of Portsmouth at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center. On Saturday, Dec. 15, George Wythe High School visits John Marshall for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff at the North Side school. John Marshall defeated George Wythe last winter for the area’s regional crown, then again in the state semifinals. John Marshall High won the state 3A title in 2014 and 2018, while George Wythe High won the 3A crown in 2015. Norcom High School won state 4A titles in 2014 and 2015, and state 3A crowns in 2016 and 2017.
December 6-8, 2018 B1
Richmond Free Press
Section
Happenings
B
A William Fox Elementary School teacher’s youthful dream paved the way to Richmond’s highest teaching honor. Ashley A. Morgan, 28, a firstgrade teacher at the Hanover Avenue school in The Fan, was named the 2019 Richmond Public Schools Teacher of the Year last week during the school district’s annual ceremony. She wins $1,000. Her reaction was classic for a low-profile teacher who stands out for great work in the classroom. “It was shocking as I realized the great company of teachers surrounding me,” Mrs. Morgan recounts of the Nov. 29 ceremony at a Downtown hotel. “I did not expect to hear my name (called) because I could not imagine being picked as one of the top Richmond Public Schools teachers, let alone the Teacher of the Year. The award is such an honor.” Mrs. Morgan, who was one of 10 finalists for the recognition, says she owes the award to the many teachers who pushed and guided her along the way. “She did her student-teaching at Fox in 2014,” says Fox Principal Daniela Jacobs. “I knew then that I wanted her to work at Fox, although I did not have a position for her at the time.” Ms. Jacobs hired her as soon as a position became available in 2015. In the intervening year, Ms. Morgan taught kindergarten at Henrico County’s Dumbarton Elementary School. “Ashley is one of those people in that teaching is just innate. She’s got it,” Ms. Jacobs says, adding that she wasn’t surprised when Ms. Morgan was named Teacher of the Year. She is the fourth Fox teacher to win the award since 1990. She calls Fox Elementary “a very unique place,” with a variety of music and arts programs. “We have an outstanding PTA that supports what we are doing.”
Personality: Ashley A. Morgan Spotlight on Richmond’s 2019 Teacher of the Year She describes the student body as “diverse,” with some students from affluent families, others from low-income families and others who live in homeless shelters “and face a few more struggles.” But, Fox Elementary “is one school, and we all have different things to offer from our different backgrounds,” Mrs. Morgan says. Because of that diversity, Mrs. Morgan says she realizes that each child comes to school with different issues that may be barriers to learning. This fact led her to join a group of teachers exploring a traumainformed approach to teaching and learning and adding it to her skills. “There are many students having some sort of trauma (at home) like divorce, which can affect a child, or struggling to find housing or just moving around a lot,” she says. “Teachers need to know where their students are coming from and help them deal with it. A student may really need help so they can focus on their academics, as well as feel comfortable and loved.” For Mrs. Morgan, building student-teacher relationships is one of the most important aspects of teaching. “My focus on relationships is huge because I want my students to realize they are learning, seeing how much they grow and to always feel learning is fun.” Richmond’s top teacher has another exciting event to look forward to in 2019. “My husband and I are expecting our first child in May 2019,” she says. “Parents are their child’s first teachers. It is important to exposure them to books, even if your child is too young to read, and giving them experiences.
This is so important.” Meet an award-winning teacher and this week’s Personality, Ashley A. Morgan: Latest award: Richmond Public Schools 2019 Teacher of the Year. Date and place of birth: July 30 in Richmond. Current residence: North Side Richmond. Alma maters: Bachelor ’s degree, human development, with early childhood and adolescence concentration, Virginia Tech; and master’s in teaching, Virginia Commonwealth University. Family: Husband, Zach Morgan. How long I’ve been a teacher: Currently in my fifth year. Why I became a teacher: Ever since I was in elementary school, I have wanted to be a teacher. As a little girl, I remember being so excited to get a dry erase board for Christmas and I couldn’t
wait to teach my “class” of dolls everything I was learning in school. I have been so fortunate to have had wonderful teachers in my life that instilled in me a love of learning, which is what I hope I am doing for my students. Teaching philosophy: My hope is that my students see the opportunities education can create for them and discover their passions. I think it is so important that my students enjoy coming to school and feel confident, both to succeed and challenge themselves, even if it means making a mistake or not being successful the first time they try something. Foremost reward of teaching: It is so rewarding to build relationships with my students. To get to know their interests and what is going on in their lives is really cool. It’s fun to plan lessons based on what they will find interesting. It’s rewarding to see their growth throughout the year and watch them discover their interests. Foremost challenge: One of the biggest challenges teachers face is the amount of responsibilities we have and schools in general have. We not only focus on academics, but also on the social and emotional needs of our students, despite our limited resources. As teachers, we take on many roles in order to fully support our students. What I do to engage my students: My classroom is very hands-on, differentiated and student-centered. I try to ensure my lessons are crosscurricular, which helps students make connections and become further interested in what we are
studying. Students are “doing” the learning, whether it be a cooperative learning math game to reinforce a concept, moving around the room for a phonics spelling activity or working independently at a technology center. Advice to aspiring teachers: To remember why they chose to be teachers, especially on the tough days, and know that even though it is challenging work, it is so rewarding. Also, to get as much from the classroom experience as they can. There is so much to learn from seeing teachers in the classroom and working alongside them. Role of parents in learning process: They are their child’s first teacher. Parents and teachers, as a team, can give students the support they need to succeed. How technology makes teaching more simple or difficult: Technology is a tool that should be utilized to support and enhance instruction, but should not replace instruction. Technology cannot create the relationship a teacher can build with a student or teach cooperative learning and social skills like working with a partner or group to solve a problem. A good teacher is: Caring, nurturing and has high expectations for all students. A good teacher helps all students realize and achieve their potential. A good student is: All students are good students, as they are doing the best they can with the skills they have. Favorite subject in school: Reading. How I start the day: Each day is exciting and a fresh start. It’s hard for a day to start off bad when getting hugs from 6- and 7-year-olds who are excited to see you and tell you something
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exciting that has happened to them since the previous afternoon or over the weekend. A perfect day for me is: When lessons click for students and they are excited about the activities. It’s the days when students are asking about the next activity or center because they just can’t wait for it, or maybe it’s their favorite part of the day and they look forward to it each day. This kind of enthusiasm is contagious. Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: Handwriting. I loved teaching cursive writing as a second-grade teacher. I also took a calligraphy class a few years ago and as a hobby love the opportunity to practice. Addressing my wedding invitations last year was a fun project to tackle! Kindergarten taught me: To love school! My brother is only a year older than me and I was so excited to get the teacher he had just had. I couldn’t wait to go to school! A quote that I am inspired by: “When one teaches, two learn.” — Robert Heinlein How I unwind: Cooking and walking — around our neighborhood in North Side or exploring Maymont, Byrd Park and other Richmond places. Person who influenced me the most: In terms of teaching, my fifth-grade teacher. Also, a professor at Virginia Tech who took a group of us to Malawi, Africa, to teach for a month, and when I was a student-teacher, my cooperating teacher. We are now co-workers and close friends. Her daughter is now a teacher at our school and I am her mentor, so it has come full circle! Book that influenced me the most: “There’ a Cow in the Road!” by Reeve Lindbergh. Next goal: To continue mentoring and supporting new and pre-service teachers. That first year can be so overwhelming.
Richmond Free Press
B2 December 6-8, 2018
Happenings
Veteran news photographer shoots for retirement By Ronald E. Carrington
Richmond native Willie Redd has laid down his video camera and stepped away from WWBT-NBC12 after more than four decades of covering local and national news. The veteran photojournalist, videographer and photographer supervisor has been a fixture in the Richmond market at the television station and at other media outlets, including the Richmond Free Press and the former Richmond Afro-American. “This has been a wild and crazy ride for 46 years,” Mr. Redd said in a Free Press interview last week. Mr. Redd has won numerous awards for spot news, sports and features from the Virginia News Photographers Association. His still photography was his foundation as he worked as a freelancer to support his early meager earnings in TV news. “I met Raymond Boone Sr., then editor of the Richmond Afro-American, in 1972 or 1973,” Mr. Redd fondly recalled. “He saw my first news photography of a late-night or early morning accident scene that was published in the local daily.” He said he approached Mr. Boone and said, “I can do this kind of work if you give me a chance.” “Mr. Boone responded, ‘Of course. Bring me some pictures with the caption material and we will see if we can publish your work.’ ” That started a long relationship that continued after the late Mr. Boone started the Richmond Free Press in January 1992. Mr. Redd documented street festivals, parades, art exhibits,
poetry readings and events impacting Richmond’s African-American community. “The Richmond Free Press has done a fantastic job of presenting the news in a factual, clear and precise way. I hope for them the best as they continue to move forward. Our success depends on us supporting each other,” Mr. Redd said Mr. Redd’s storied career has taken him to Havana, Cuba, to document culture and produce programming for TV One with actors and film producers Tim and Daphne Maxwell Reid. During the administration of former Gov. George Allen, he went on a trade mission to South Africa with First Lady Susan Allen, along with former NBC12 anchor Sabrina Squire, who retired in May. One of his unforgettable moments came when he worked the 2:30 to 11:30 p.m. shift and was asked to interview white supremacist and politician David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, at a meeting at a local hotel. “The empowering part of my job is having a camera and feeling invincible,” Mr. Redd said with amusement. “So I walked up, right in front of the room, and faced the audience. Mr. Duke was very much a gentleman. He looked me in the eye and shook my hand and introduced himself. He made me feel comfortable. “As a news photographer, you are supposed to set all of your biases aside and just be neutral. I did, and interviewed him in front of the ‘Stars and Bars’ (the Confederate flag), which was widely displayed on the wall because it
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
Willie Redd retires from WWBT-NBC12 after 46 years with numerous awards and a passel of memories.
was an organizational meeting.” As Mr. Redd settles into retirement, he has more time to take motorcycle trips up and down the East Coast, go camping and build a utility shed to house one of his motorcycles. The 1967 Maggie L. Walker High School graduate and Navy veteran leaves a strong legacy
for new journalists and a little bit of advice: “Whether you are a reporter, videographer, photographer, editor or producer, do what you love. Do it with enthusiasm. Don’t do it because you want to get paid. “Do it because you love it and take pride in what you do.”
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Help for health care sign-ups on Dec. 8 Celebrate Healthcare is teaming up with First Baptist Church of South Richmond to help people enroll in health insurance plans under the federal Affordable Care Act and the state’s Medicaid expansion program. The sign-up event will be held 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at the church, 1501 Decatur St. in South Side. Representatives of the Richmond Department of Social Services and Enroll Virginia will be on hand to assist people, according to Gaylene Kanoyton of Celebrate Healthcare. Enrollment in health coverage to start Jan. 1 through the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, continues through Saturday, Dec. 15. Details and
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Richmond Free Press
December 6-8, 2018 B3
Happenings Holiday cheer Thousands of spectators turned out last Saturday for the 35th Annual Christmas Parade in Richmond. Dozens of huge balloon characters, floats, marching bands and Santa made their way along Broad Street from the Science Museum of Virginia east to the Richmond Coliseum in Downtown to the smiles and cheers of people of all ages. Below left, Chief Operating Officer Todd “Parney” Parnell, dressed in his trademark garish pants, represents the Richmond Flying Squirrels along the parade route, while, at right, retiring Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham hands out peppermint candy canes to people in the crowd as he walks along the route. Of course, the man of the hour is Santa, right, whose handlers ensure he gets safely under the traffic lights.
Photos by Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
Old-fashioned Christmas Visitors to Maymont embraced the holiday spirit last Sunday with the park’s annual Old-fashioned Christmas celebration. Left a group gathers near the 12-foot Christmas tree and its Victorian decorations during a tour of the Dooley Mansion, while Yolanda Smith and Brittany Powell take a selfie during a carriage ride around the grounds. The Gilded-Age mansion will be decked out for holiday tours through Jan. 6 Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Press PUR191-1718 RICHMOND FREEFree PRESS FEBRUARY | 7.278”W X 10”H | CMYK
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The Richmond skyline came to light last Friday with the 34th Annual Grand Illumination at the James Center in Downtown. The greatly anticipated holiday event featured music, activities and hundreds of families and individuals who participated in the countdown for the holiday lights to turn on. Blythe Washington, 5, above, is excited by the lights as she kicks off the season with her parents, Eric and Lindsey Washington of Mechanicsville and other family visiting from Atlanta. Below, Chloe Washington, 4, is illuminated by one of the lighted reindeer at the celebration. Crowds also enjoyed festivities at Main Street Station and the 17th Street Farmers’ Market, which celebrated its grand reopening last Friday. Fire dancer Marco Lim, 21, of the Party Liberation Front, bottom, performs during the grand opening. The city’s skyline will be adorned with lights nightly through Jan. 1.
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Richmond Free Press
B4 December 6-8, 2018
Faith News/Directory
Religion News Service
He left church sanctuary for what he hoped was a short appointment with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He never returned. Instead, Samuel OliverBruno, an undocumented immigrant who had been living at the CityWell Church in Durham, N.C., until Nov. 23, was deported to Mexico on Nov. 29. Bryan D. Cox, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed the deportation. Mr. Oliver-Bruno, who has lived in North Carolina for more than two decades, had been living in the basement of the CityWell Church for 11 months after receiving a deportation order. On the day after Thanksgiving, he left the church accompanied by dozens of congregation members so he could get fingerprinted at a USCIS office in Morrisville. With the help of a pro bono lawyer and an immigrant advocacy group, Mr. Oliver-Bruno had applied for a deferral of his deportation on humanitarian grounds because his wife is ill. Julia Perez Pacheco has a heart condition caused by lupus. When he arrived at the USCIS office, he was tackled and whisked into a van by four plainclothes ICE agents, as
Photo by Anna Carson DeWitt
Samual Oliver-Bruno, who was deported to Mexico by ICE officials, is shown with his wife, Julia Perez Pacheco, in this photo from February.
church members who accompanied him watched in horror. After a two-hour peaceful standoff, his protectors, who had surrounded the van, were arrested and Mr. Oliver-Bruno was taken away. Twenty-seven church members and allies were charged with failure to disperse, a misdemeanor. The arrest drew wide condemnation because it appeared ICE was waiting for him while he tried to pursue a petition for deferred action from de-
portation. But it also shook the church sanctuary movement because it appeared to show that ICE would not tolerate any deviation from its “sensitive locations” policy that has prevented immigration agents from arresting, searching or interviewing people on church grounds. After his arrest, Mr. OliverBruno was moved from North Carolina to an ICE detention facility in Lumpkin Ga., and then to Brownsville, Texas. “Samuel’s family, church
community and supporting neighbors are grieved at Samuel being ripped from his family, church and community,” read a CityWell Church statement posted on Facebook. Cleve May, a pastor at CityWell, maintained that Mr. Oliver-Bruno should have been spared arrest because he had never left the protection of the church, noting that the church’s members accompanied him to the USCIS appointment, prayed, read Scripture and sang hyms. “Sanctuary is not a building,” Rev. May said. “Sanctuary is a body of believers coming around and saying, ‘You belong here for us.’ Samuel, by our rubric, never left sanctuary. Sanctuary went with Samuel.” But ICE, which ramped up immigration enforcement by as much as 40 percent last year, saw things differently. Any undocumented immigrant outside sensitive locations such as churches qualified for what ICE calls “targeted enforcement action.” Church leaders harshly criticized Mr. Oliver-Bruno’s arrest because it took place at the USCIS office, not in an ICE office, and USCIS had sent Mr. Oliver-Bruno a letter ordering him to appear. Congressmen G.K. Butterfield and David Price, who represent parts of Durham, said in a statement that USCIS had laid a trap for Mr. Oliver-Bruno and that “it appears ICE has acted in concert with officials at USCIS.” Church leaders said Mr. Oliver-Bruno knew the risks in going to the USCIS offices. But he felt that pursuing a deferred deportation petition was his only hope of leaving sanctuary and remaining in the United States.
Serving Richmond since 1887 3200 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23223• (804) 226-1176
Sunday 9:00 a.m. Sunday School 10:00 a.m. Worship Service
All ARe Welcome
Mount Olive Baptist Church Rev. Darryl G. Thompson, Pastor
2018 Theme: The Year of Transition
8775 Mount Olive Avenue Glen Allen, Virginia 23060 (804) 262-9614 Phone (804) 262-2397 Fax www.mobcva.org
Union Baptist Church 1813 Everett Street Richmond, Virginia 23224 804-231-5884 Reverend Robert C. Davis, Pastor
Sunday, December 9, 2018 Sunday School – 9:30 AM Morning Worship – 11 AM
Annual Birthday Celebration
Good Shepherd Baptist Church 1127 North 28th St., Richmond, VA 23223-6624 • Office: (804) 644-1402 Dr. Sylvester T. Smith, Pastor “There’s A Place for You”
2604 Idlewood Avenue Richmond, Va. 23220 (804) 353-6135 www.riverviewbaptistch.org Rev. Dr. Stephen L. Hewlett, Pastor Rev. Dr. Ralph Reavis, Sr. Pastor Emeritus
SUNDAY SCHOOL - 9:45 A.M. SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE 11:00 A.M.
With Ministry For Everyone
Church School Worship Service
8:45 a.m. 10 a.m.
ile Su
1 p.m.
e ercies iisr a.m. ul ile Su :0 p.m. ie oore Sree o
Zion Baptist Church 2006 Decatur Street Richmond, VA 23224 zbcoffice@verizon.net
d
Dr. Robert L. Pettis, Sr., Pastor Sunday Service 10 a.m. Church School 8:45 a.m. Wednesday Bible Study 7p.m. Transportation Services (804) 859-1985 “Reclaiming the Lost by Proclaiming the Gospel”
Noon Day Bible Study
Wednesdays
6:30 p.m. Prayer and Praise 7:00 p.m. Bible Study
Come Worship With Us!
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2018 10:45 AM Worship Through Prayer and Meditation 11:00 AM Worship Celebration Message by: Pastor Bibbs SAVE THE DATE 95th Church Anniversary SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16TH 10:45 AM Come Worship with Us!
Rev. Dr. Yvonne Jones Bibbs, Pastor
Twitter sixthbaptistrva Facebook sixthbaptistrva
December 9, 2018 10:30 A.M.
Christmas Celebration December 16, 2018 2:00 P.M.
Weekly Worship: Sundays @ 10:30 A.M. Church School: Sundays @ 9:00 A.M. Bible Study: Wednesdays @ Noon & 6:30 P.M.
2901 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 648-2472 ~ www.mmbcrva.org Dr. Price London Davis, Senior Pastor
Sunday Morn
September 2, 2018 Communio
11:00 AM Mid-day Meditation
Weekly Worship: Sundays @ 10:30 A.M. Church School: Sundays @ 9:00 A.M. Bible Study: On Summer Break
Carlton T. Brooks Funeral Home “Our Service … A Sacred Trust”
We Pray God’s Ric for You & You in The New
“Offering Pre-Need Arrangements”
Office: 804-233-8027 | Fax: 804-232-6085 2200 Hull Street, Richmond, Virginia 23224
“The Church With A Welcome”
Sharon Baptist Church 500 E. Laburnum Avenue, Richmond, VA 23222 www.sharonbaptistchurchrichmond.org (804) 643-3825 Rev. Dr. Paul A. Coles, Pastor
Sunday, december 9, 2018 Theme: .... “Serving the Lord With Love” 8:30 a.m. ....Sunday School Speaker: ... Rev. Dr. Robert Pettis, Sr. 10:00 a.m. ...Morning Worship 3:00 p.m. ... Deacons, Deaconess and Trustees Day
St. Peter Baptist Church
Dr. Kirkland R. Walton, Pastor
Worship Opportunities Sundays: Morning Worship Church School Morning Worship
8 A.M. 9:30 A.M. 11 A.M.
Unity Sundays (2nd Sundays): Church School 8:30 A.M. Morning Worship 10 A.M. Thursdays: Mid-Day Bible Study 12 Noon Prayer & Praise 6:30 P.M. Bible Study 7 P.M. (Children/Youth/Adults) 2040 Mountain Road • Glen Allen, Virginia 23060 Office 804-262-0230 • Fax 804-262-4651 • www.stpeterbaptist.net
(near Byrd Park)
(804) 359- 1691 or 359- 3498 Fax (804) 359- 3798 www.sixthbaptistchurch.org drbibbs@sixthbaptistchurch.org
Sunday Morning Worship
Tuesday Sunday 10:30 AM Bible Study 9:30 AM Church School 6:30 PM Church-wide Bible Study 11:00 AM Worship Service 6:30 PM Men's Bible Study (Each 2nd and 4th) (Holy Communion Thursday each 2nd Sunday) Wednesday (Following 2nd Sunday) 6:30 PM Prayer Meeting
400 South Addison Street Richmond, Va. 23220
Upcoming Events & Happenings
Rev. RobeRt C. Davis, PastoR 1408 W. eih Sree ichmo a. 0 804 5840
Tuesdays
Theme for 2018-2020: Mobilizing For Ministry Refreshing The Old and Emerging The New We Embrace Diversity — Love For All! A 21st Century Church
following Morning Worship
8:30 a.m. Sunday School 10:00 a.m. Morning Worship
Sixth Baptist Church
Baptist Church Travis Long/Associated Press
Sundays
(Romans 8:28-29)
Riverview
A member of CityWell United Methodist Church in Durham, N.C., is arrested on Nov. 23 after she and other members and supporters accompanied Samuel Oliver-Bruno, an undocumented Mexican national who had taken sanctuary in the church, to an appointment with immigration officials.
WedneSday 12:00 p.m. Bible Study 7:00 p.m. Bible Study
ICE deports undocumented immigrant who left church sanctuary
Rev. Dr. Price L. Davis, Pastor
Lenten Season Mosby joins with the larger Christi in celebrating the Lenten season reflection, fasting & prayerful conse on the journey and follow along w Calendar at www.mmbcr
Richmond Free Press
December 6-8, 2018
B5
Faith News/Directory
Cedar Street Baptist to hold dedication service Dec.15
Cedar Street Baptist Church 2,000 members on its rolls, has ocof God has spent three years and cupied the building since 1952, ac$3.5 million renovating its original cording to its history, but in recent sanctuary at Cedar and 24th streets years has largely used the space for in Church Hill. its offices. The pastor, Dr. Anthony M. ChanSince 1980, worship services have dler Sr., will lead a public dedication been held in the nearly 1,500-seat sancservice 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, to tuary the church built on the 23rd Street formally reopen the space. side of the church during the tenure of Dr. Chandler The church now has a 200-seat the late Dr. Benjamin W. Robertson chapel, eight classrooms for education, remod- Sr., who served as pastor for 52 years. eled church offices, a youth area, choir rehearsal The dedication service also will mark Dr. space and other rooms on two floors, said church Chandler’s 11th year as the church’s pastor. spokeswoman Rosemary Harris, a former city The congregation tapped him to succeed Dr. magistrate, who was the first African-American Robertson in December 2007. Dr. Chandler woman to hold the position. is Cedar Street’s 10th pastor since its foundCedar Street Baptist, which has more than ing in 1867.
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Celebrating Hanukkah
Einstein’s ‘God letter’ hits auction block
Dozens of people gather at the Weinstein Jewish Community Center in Richmond on Wednesday for the lighting of the menorah for Hanukkah. The eight-day Jewish festival of lights, which began Sunday night, commemorates the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Maccabees after their victory over Antiochus, who outlawed Judaism in 167 B.C. To celebrate their victory, the Jewish people tried to carry out a ritual lighting of a menorah in the temple, but found only enough oil to light it for one day. However, the oil miraculously lasted for eight days. Traditional foods and gifts are part of the religious holiday that ends Monday, Dec. 10.
Banquet
Religion News Service
2000 East Broad St., Richmond, VA 23223
Tickets available call church for more information
SAtuRDAy, DeceMBeR 8, 2018 5 PM Pastor-Elect
Corey T. Bland
Installation SunDAy, Dec. 9
11:00 AM 3:00 PM Morning Worship Installation Service Guest Preacher: Guest Preacher:
Dr. Angel White Bishop Jeffrey L. Reaves, Sr. For more information, call church at 804-788-9027 or email us at info@newlightbaptistchurch.org Visit our website: www.newlightbaptistchurch.org • Facebook: “New Light Baptist Church-Richmond, VA”
Broad Rock Baptist Church 5106 Walmsley Blvd., Richmond, VA 23224 804-276-2740 • 804-276-6535 (fax) www.BRBCONLINE.org
Early Morning Worship ~ 8 a.m. Sunday School ~ 9:30 a.m. Morning Worship ~ 11 a.m. 4th Sunday Unified Worship Service ~ 9:30 a.m. Bible Study: Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. & 7 p.m. Sermons Available at BRBCONLINE.org
A handwritten 1954 letter by physicist Albert Einstein in which the Nobel laureate is dismissive of religion in general and Judaism in particular is expected to bring a sevenfigure price when auctioned by Christie’s in New York City on Tuesday, Dec. 4. In the so-called God letter, written to philosopher Eric Gutkind, Mr. Einstein wrote that the word “God” was “for me nothing but the expression and product of human weaknesses,” while calling the Bible “a collection of venerable but still rather primitive legends.” Mr. Einstein wrote the letter after reading Mr. Gutkind’s book, “Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt,” a volume urged upon him by Dutch philosopher and mathematician Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer. Without Mr. Brouwer’s “repeated suggestion” that he read the book, Mr. Einstein wrote, he would not have engaged with the text because its arguments were “written in a language which is inaccessible to me,” specifically its spiritual references. According to Peter Klarnet, the Christie’s expert handling the item, Mr. Einstein’s letter “is just a remarkable and very, very precise — and quite blunt — expression of his philosophy about religion. More than any of the others he’s written about the subject, he gets to the core of the subject.” Mr. Klarnet said he anticipates a ready market for the document, which the firm gave a “somewhat conservative” estimate as bringing $1 million to $1.5 million.
Ebenezer Baptist Church 1858
“The People’s Church” Presents
“I think the level of interest is quite high,” he said. “We would term this a ‘masterpiece’ item as it stands with other important properties in the last 10 to 20 years.” In 2002, Christie’s sold one of two copies of the physicist’s 1939 letter to then-U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, warning of Nazi Germany’s plans to develop atomic weaponry. That letter sold for $2 million, and since then interest in science-related items, such as first-edition copies of Sir Isaac Newton’s “Principia” and
Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species,” has grown, according to Mr. Klarnet. Along with the 1939 Einstein-Roosevelt letter, Mr. Klarnet noted the more than $6 million paid in 2013 for a letter Francis Crick wrote to his son after the discovery of the structure of DNA. The Christie’s sale will come less than a month after another Einstein letter, in which he wrote in 1922 about his fears of growing anti-Semitism in his native Germany, sold at an auction in Israel for $32,000. In the Gutkind letter, Mr.
New Deliverance Evangelistic Church
1701 Turner Road, North Chesterfield, Virginia 23225 (804) 276-0791 office (804)276-5272 fax www.ndec.net
Watch Night Service
The Music Ministry In Concert John W. McLean, Jr. | Director of Music
Monday, December 31, 2018 9:00 p.m.
“MAKE IT HAPPEN”
Doors open 8:00 p.m.
Pastor Kevin Cook
e the Dates Sav
Antioch Baptist Church “Redeeming God’s People for Gods Purpose”
Bishop G. O. Glenn D. Min., Pastor Mother Marcietia S. Glenn First Lady
1384 New Market Road, Richmond, Virginia 23231 | 804-222-8835
SERVICES
SUNDAY WORSHIP HOUR – 10:00 A.M. CHILDREN’S CHURCH & BUS MINISTRY AVAILABLE SUNDAY SCHOOL (FOR ALL AGES) – 9:00 A.M. TUESDAY MID-DAY BIBLE STUDY – 12 NOON WEDNESDAY MID-WEEK PRAYER & BIBLE STUDY – 7:00 P.M. A MISSION BASED CHURCH FAMILY EXCITING MINISTRIES FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH, YOUNG ADULTS & SENIOR ADULTS BIBLE REVELATION TEACHING DIVERSE MUSIC MINISTRY LOVING, CARING ENVIRONMENT
Einstein discussed his connection to the Jewish people — “to whom I gladly belong,” he wrote — but said, “For me the unadulterated Jewish religion is, like all other religions, an incarnation of primitive superstition.” Mr. Einstein dismissed the idea the Jews were God’s “chosen,” and he denied that they “have any different kind of dignity from all other peoples.” Mr. Klarnet said the subtleties of Mr. Einstein’s philosophy were an aspect of the letter that could attract buyers. “Although Einstein did not believe in an anthropomorphic God (and wrote) that the Bible was a book of stories, he still believed people should have a moral foundation, but it was up to individuals to realize that,” Mr. Klarnet said. “The letter speaks to that and towards Einstein’s antipathy towards chauvinism, that he would place a religion he identified with on a pedestal above anyone else. That’s part of the magic of this letter and why it gets attention when it comes to the public eye,” he added. Compelling as the Einstein letter may be, one scholar cautions against wielding it as a cudgel for atheism, as noted atheist Richard Dawkins has claimed. Ironically, Mr. Dawkins was one of several underbidders when the “God letter” was last auctioned, in 2008 in London. According to Stanford University professor Thomas Ryckman, whose 2017 biography, “Einstein,” looked at its subject’s philosophical and physics studies, the letter has been “mischaracterized” by some as “Einstein’s emphatic rejection of religion.”
Sunday 8:00 a.m. Sunday School 9:00 a.m. Worship Service
Wednesday Services No Noonday or Night Bible Study during the month of December 2018
DR. JAMES L. SAILES PASTOR
Sunday, December 9, 2018 5:00 p.m. Dr. Wallace J. Cook, Pastor Emeritus Rev. Dr. James E. Leary, Interim Pastor 216 W. Leigh St. • Richmond, Va. 23220 Tel: 804-643-3366 • Fax: 804-643-3367 Email: ebcoffice1@yahoo.com • web: www.richmondebenezer.com
23rd Church Founder’s &Anniversary
Friday, January 25th 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 27th 9:00 a.m.
Tune in on Sunday Morning to WTVR - Channel 6 - 8:30 a.m.
ChriStiaN aCaDEMy (NDCa)
Saturday
ENROLL NOW!!!
8:30 a.m. Intercessory Prayer
Accepting applications for children 2 yrs. old to 5th Grade
You can now view Sunday Morning Service “AS IT HAPPENS” online! Also, for your convenience, we now offer “full online giving.” Visit www.ndec.net.
Our NDCA curriculum also consists of a Before and After program. Now Enrolling for our Nursery Ages 6 weeks - 2yrs. old. For more information Please call (804) 276-4433 Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm
Richmond Free Press
B6 December 6-8, 2018
Legal Notices/Employment Opportunities Divorce VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER MARIA RIDEOUT, Plaintiff v. CLEMMIE LOVETT, Defendant. Case No.: CL18003641-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months. It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 28th day of January, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER NORRIS CARTAGENA FLORES, Plaintiff v. SILAS FLORES CISNEROS, Defendant. Case No.: CL18003642-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months. It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 28th day of January, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER DOROTHY JONES, Plaintiff v. DON JONES, Defendant. Case No.: CL18002753-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months. It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 3rd day of January, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Esquire Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER PHYLLIS OWUSU, Plaintiff v. KWAKU BOATEY, Defendant. Case No.: CL18003406-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months. It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 3rd day of January, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667
CUSTODY Virginia: in the circuit court IN the county of chesterfield In RE: William Jahir Cardenas Colindres A Minor Child Under 18 Years of Age Hearing Date: 11/27/2018 at 10:00 a.m. DOB: 12/11/2014 Case No. CJ18C-90 order of publication The object of the abovestyled suit is to grant sole and legal custody to Petitioner, Jeymi Colindres Varela of minor child, her son, William Continued on next column
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Jahir Cardenas, has not been involved in the life of the minor child since he was approximately two weeks old. That the father of minor child’s whereabouts are unknown and therefore, It appearing by affidavit filed according to law that the father of minor child, William Edwardo Cardenas, is not a resident of the State of Virginia and that his last known address is unknown, it is therefore ORDERED that William Edwardo Cardenas, appear before this Court on December 20 at 8:30 a.m., and do what is necessary to protect his interests in this suit. I ask for this: Soulmaz Taghavi, Esq. (VSB #88036) NovoTaghavi, Ltd. 1500 Forest Avenue Richmond, Virginia 23235 (804) 614-6920 - telephone soulmaz@novotaghavi.com Counsel for Petitioner
In the matter of the adoption of Matthew jose carter by mable ethel heiskill carter. Case No.: CA18000024 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of the abovestyled suit is to waive the consent of Maria Salgado, birth mother of Matthew Jose Carter, to the adoption of Matthew Jose Carter by Mable Ethel Heiskill Carter and approve a Final Order of Adoption. And it appearing by affidavit filed herein that the whereabouts of Maria Salgado is unknown and due diligence has been used to attempt to locate Maria Salgado, without effect, it is therefore ORDERED that Maria Salgado appear on or before January 28, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. at the Hanover Circuit Court and do what is necessary to protect her interest. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Susan H. Brewer VSB# 15889 Counsel for Petitioner 2224 Park Avenue Richmond, VA 23220-2715 Telephone: (804) 359-0897 SusanBrewer97@gmail.com
deceased, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, and DOROTHY P. DAVIS, upon information and belief deceased, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action; and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.” IT IS ORDERED that MATTHEW J. DAVIS, upon information and belief deceased, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, DOROTHY P. DAVIS, upon information and belief deceased, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JANUARY 24, 2019 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter. An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940
filed that said owner, WILLIE S. TAYLOR, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.” IT IS ORDERED that WILLIE S. TAYLOR, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JANUARY 24, 2019 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter. An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940
Church, per a deed filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Deed Book 438 page 1427 on May 15, 1995, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action; that said owner, DIANA GREENIDGE, Trustee of The Pentecostal Tabernacle Church, per a deed filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Deed Book 438 page 1427 on May 15, 1995, who is not a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, has not filed a response to this action; and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.” IT IS ORDERED that BERYLE PORTE, Trustee of The Pentecostal Tabernacle Church, per a deed filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Deed Book 438 page 1427 on May 15, 1995, DIANA GREENIDGE, Trustee of The Pentecostal Tabernacle Church, per a deed filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Deed Book 438 page 1427 on May 15, 1995, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JANUARY 24, 2019 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter. An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940
the name of the owners of record, Juanita Cousins aka Juanita Crest McLaurin, Crest and Johnson, and to Linda Triplett aka Linda Rose Crest, Cousins and Triplette. An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, JUANITA COUSINS, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action; that said owner, LINDA TRIPLETT, who is not a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, has not filed a response to this action; and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/ or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.” IT IS ORDERED that JUANITA COUSINS, LINDA TRIPLETT, and Parties
Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JANUARY 24, 2019 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter. An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940
VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Zayonna M. Hopkins and Dyree Toney Case No. J-093277-12 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) Shanika Nichols (Mother) of Zayonna M. Hopkins, child DOB 03/31/2013 and Dyree Toney, child DOB 05/01/2009. “RPR” means all rights and responsibilities remaining with parent after transfer of legal custody or guardianship of the person, including but not limited to rights of: visitation; adoption consent; determination of religious affiliation; and responsibility for support. It is ORDERED that the defendant Shanika Nichols, to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before 1/28/2019, at 2:00 PM, Courtroom #4 VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re JULIANA & AZARIAH THOMPSON-HUGHES Case No. J-88666-11-00, J-88668-11-10-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) Julius Edward Hughes (FATHER), of JULIANA THOMPSONHUGHES child, DOB 10/13/2010 & AZARIAH TH O M P S O N - H U G H E S child, DOB 10/23/2011, “RPR” means all rights and responsibilities remaining with parent after transfer of legal custody or guardianship of the person, including but not limited to rights of: visitation; adoption consent; determination of religious affiliation; and responsibility for support. It is ORDERED that the defendant Julius Edward Hughes (Father), to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before 1/15/2019, at 2:20 PM, Courtroom #2 Virginia: in the circuit court FOR the county of chesterfield SYDNEY L. CASTRO, and Edwin R. Castro Petitioners v. Eric R. Gutierrez Respondent. Case No. CA18-84 In re: Aubree Elaina Gutierrez (D.O.B.: 12/11/2014) order of publication November 6, 2018 The goal of this suit is an adoption. WHEREFORE, an affidavit having been filed by the Petitioners, Sydney L. Castro and Edwin R. Castr, that due diligence has been used without effect to ascertain the location of the Defendant, Eric S. Gutierrez, it is ordered that Eric S. Gutierrez appear before this Court on January 7, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. and do what is necessary to protect his interests herein. An Extract Teste: WENDY S. HUGHES, Clerk Mary Ashby Brown, Esquire (VSB #74718) Friedman Law Firm, P.C. Suite A Chesterfield, Virginia 23832 (804) 717-1969 (telephone) (804) 748-4161 (telecopier) mabrown@friedmanlawva.com Counsel for the Petitioners VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re RASHAWN MARTIN Case No. J-095527-05 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) Unknown (Father) of Rashawn Martin, child, DOB 07/06/2006, “RPR” means all rights and responsibilities remaining with parent after transfer of legal custody or guardianship of the person, including but not limited to rights of: visitation; adoption consent; determination of religious affiliation; and responsibility for support. It is ORDERED that the defendant Unknown (Father) to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before 03/11/2019, at 2:00 PM, Courtroom #4 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER Continued on next column
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER In the matter of the adoption of Andrew Luca Morris, Ilaria Elena Morris, Gianluca Morris, and Katienne Morris, Infants. Case No.: CA18000025 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of the abovestyled suit is to waive the consent of Sonia Castagna, birth mother of the abovereferenced children, to the adoption of these children by Marta Michelle Latta and approve a Final Order of Adoption. And it appearing by affidavit filed herein that the whereabouts of Sonia Castagna is unknown and due diligence has been used to attempt to locate Sonia Castagna, without effect, it is therefore ORDERED that Sonia Castagna appear on or before January 28, 2019 at 11:30 a.m. at the Hanover Circuit Court and do what is necessary to protect her interest. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Susan H. Brewer VSB# 15889 Counsel for Petitioner 2224 Park Avenue Richmond, VA 23220-2715 Telephone: (804) 359-0897 SusanBrewer97@gmail.com
PROPERTY VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v. ROBERT L. LEWIS, et al, Defendants. Case No.: CL18-4868 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 2611 Dale Avenue, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number S009-0301/028, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Robert L. Lewis, Doretha Jasper, Gwendolyn Hawkins, David Robinson, Jr., Jennifer Robinson and Katina Robinson. An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, ROBERT L. LEWIS, who has been served by posting and by mailing a copy of the complaint to his last known address, has not been personally located and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.” IT IS ORDERED that ROBERT L. LEWIS, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JANUARY 24, 2019 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter. An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v. MATTHEW J. DAVIS, et al, Defendants. Case No.: CL18-5416 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 2204 Fairmount Avenue, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number E0000616/016, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Matthew J. Davis and Dorothy P. Davis. An Affidavit having been filed that said owners, MATTHEW J. DAVIS, upon information and belief Continued on next column
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v. JUANITA BURNS, et al, Defendants. Case No.: CL18-4330 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 1406 Bryan Street, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number E0000604010, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Juanita Burns. An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, JUANITA BURNS, is not a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.” IT IS ORDERED that JUANITA BURNS, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JANUARY 24, 2019 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter. An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v. JUANITA BURNS, et al, Defendants. Case No.: CL18-4329 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 1404 Bryan Street, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number E0000604/012, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Juanita Burns. An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, JUANITA BURNS, is not a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.” IT IS ORDERED that JUANITA BURNS, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JANUARY 24, 2019 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter. An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v. WILLIE S. TAYLOR, et al, Defendants. Case No.: CL18-5020 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 1436 Rogers Street, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number E000-0768/003, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Willie S. Taylor. An Affidavit having been Continued on next column
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v. THELMA M. DORSEY, et al, Defendants. Case No.: CL18-3049 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 1312 North 36th Street, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number E0001544029, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Thelma M. Dorsey. An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, THELMA M. DORSEY, is not a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.” IT IS ORDERED that THELMA M. DORSEY, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JANUARY 24, 2019 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter. An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v. BEATRICE TAYLOR, et al, Defendants. Case No.: CL18-5438 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 2501 Porter Street, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number S0000696/012, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Beatrice Taylor, Thomas C. Taylor, Calvin Lorenzo Taylor and Richard Lewis Taylor. An Affidavit having been filed that said owners, B E ATR I C E TAY L O R , TH O M AS C . TAY L O R , CALVIN LORENZO TAYLOR, a n d R I CHAR D L E W I S TAYLOR, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.” IT IS ORDERED that B E ATR I C E TAY L O R , TH O M AS C . TAY L O R , CALVIN LORENZO TAYLOR, RICHARD LEWIS TAYLOR, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JANUARY 24, 2019 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter. An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v. BERYLE PORTE, et al, Defendants. Case No.: CL18-961 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 2616 Newbourne Street, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number E0120318/009, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Beryle Porte and Diana Greenidge, Trustees of The Pentecostal Tabernacle Church. An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, BERYLE PORTE, Trustee of The Pentecostal Tabernacle Continued on next column
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v. JUANITA COUSINS, et al, Defendants. Case No.: CL18-4270 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 2005 Decatur Street, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number S0000345/015, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in
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BID COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA CONSTRUCTION ITB # 18-1788-11EAR – Dedicated Outside Air Unit Replacements – Replace existing dedicated outside air units at Baker, Ward and Ashe Elementary Schools. Due 2:00 pm, January 17, 2019. Additional information available at: https://henrico. us/finance/divisions/ purchasing/.
Richmond Ambulance Authority Notice of Request for Proposals Investment Management Services Solicitation Number: 18-03 Richmond Ambulance Authority, a high performance EMS system located in Richmond, Virginia, announces its intent to bid for the provision of Investment Management Services. The successful bidder will submit a cost listing for Investment Management Services to the Authority. All proposals must be received at Authority offices no later than January 18, 2019 by 4 pm ET. Interested parties may obtain a copy of the Request for Proposals (RFP) for Investment Management Services 18-03 by contacting: Kaila M. Bradley Chief Legal and Compliance Officer Richmond Ambulance Authority 2400 Hermitage Road Richmond, Virginia, 23220 804-254-1185 kbradley@raaems.org
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The City of Richmond announces the following project available for services relating to: RFP# G190005232 – RVA Clean Water Plan Receipt Date: Monday, January 14, 2019 at 2:30 P.M. Receipt Location: 900 East Broad Street, Room 1104, 11th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219 Information or copies of the above solicitations are available by contacting Procurement Services, at the City of Richmond website (www. RichmondGov.com), or at 11th Floor of City Hall, 900 E. Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. Phone (804) 646-5716 or faxed (804) 6465989. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process. For reference purposes, documents may be examined at the above location.
Part-Time Administrative Assistant
Proficiency in Microsoft Office required. Interested candidates please send resume to: Mount Calvary Baptist Church P.O. Box 7785, Richmond, VA 23231.
Thank you for your interest in applying for opportunities with The City of Richmond. To see what opportunities are available, please refer to our website at www.richmondgov.com. EOE M/F/D/V
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