Richmond Free Press February 18-20, 2021 edition

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Richmond Free Press

VOL. 30 NO. 8

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RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

New Voting Rights Act headed to governor

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

www.richmondfreepress.com

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Meet chair of Cannabis Equity Coalition of Virginia

FEBRUARY 18-20, 2021

It’s not over yet Just days after the U.S. Senate acquits former President Trump, Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi files a lawsuit to hold him responsible for inciting insurrection at U.S. Capitol Free Press staff, wire report

Virginia will soon have its own Voting WASHINGTON Rights Act to protect against voter supOne thing is for certain, there was no surprise. pression and intimidation.

As anticipated, former President Trump was On Monday, the Democratic majoracquitted in the U.S. Senate of a charge of inciting ity in the House of Delegates overrode a gang of partisans to attack the U.S. Capitol on Republicans to pass by a 55-45 margin Jan. 6 in a bid to a Senate version of prevent congresthe bill that now goes sional certification to Gov. Ralph S. of his successor, Northam, who plans President Biden. to sign it into law. The The final 57-43 measure would take vote put a majoreffect July 1. ity on record for A companion and conviction, includidentical House bill ing a surprising Sen. McClellan is slated for Senate seven Republicans Rep. Thompson passage shortly. who joined the 50 The first of its Democrats. But that still fell 10 votes short of the kind in the South, required two-thirds needed to convict the former the new law is modpresident. eled after the federal The Senate’s failure to attain the 67 votes to Voting Rights Act of convict now appears to be just the opening chapter 1965 that the U.S. of an ongoing saga to hold Mr. Trump accountable Supreme Court gutted for widely spreading lies that he was cheated out of in 2013. re-election and unleashing the largest attack on the Two members of Delegate Price U.S. Capitol since the War of 1812, when British the Virginia Legisraiders seized this American symbol of democracy lative Black Caucus spearheaded the Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press and set it ablaze. legislation—Newport News Delegate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks to members of the media on Capitol Hill following On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Marcia S. “Cia” Price and Richmond state the U.S. Senate’s vote last Saturday to acquit former President Trump of inciting the Jan. Mississippi began writing a second chapter, though Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan, who also is 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. With her are House impeachment managers Rep. Eric running for governor.

Please turn to A4 Swalwell of Calif., left, and Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado.

Both versions would prohibit any qualification for voting, or any practice or procedure from being imposed by the state or any locality, that would deny or interfere with a person’s right to vote based on race, color or membership in a language

By George Copeland Jr. minority group.

Local governments could Virginia just made it easier to sign up to get vaccinated make changes to their election against COVID-19. laws but would need to either As promised, on Tuesday the state Health Department rolled gain pre-clearance from the out a new website that provides a central place for individuals state attorney general’s office or to register to get the shots. engage in a lengthy process of The new website for people to register is vaccinate.virginia.gov. advertising and securing public People also can register by calling 877-VAX-IN-VA, or (877) input before passage.

829-4682.

Any proposed changes in loMeanwhile, two South Side representatives on Richmond City cal laws and regulations would Council continued to speak out on the disparity their constituents be required to be evaluated for are facing in trying to get inoculated. their impact on Black people, City Council members Michael J. Jones, 9th District, and other communities of color and Reva M. Trammell, 8th District, who first went after the health Native Americans. department have now turned their attention to CVS. The bill’s language also authorizes challenges in comPlease turn to A4 munities with at-large voting, or those with multimember districts, that effectively reduce Free COVID-19 testing the ability of minorities to elect Free community testing for COVID-19 continues. candidates of their choice.

The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are The legislation also authooffering testing at the following locations: rizes the attorney general or Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press • Friday, Feb. 19, 1 to 3 p.m. Eastern Henrico Health affected individuals to initi- U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner, center, thanks registered nurse Robin Gilbert of Henrico Department, 1400 N. Laburnum Ave., in Eastern Henrico. ate civil action to challenge Health Services, who was overseeing nurses administering COVID-19 vaccinations Drive-thru testing.

• Thursday, Feb. 25, 1 to 3 p.m. Second Baptist Church policies that are believed to Wednesday at the Richmond Raceway in Henrico County. Sen. Warner was joined on

Statewide vaccine registry system launches amid continuing questions about equitable distribution

Please turn to A4

a tour of the inoculation site by, from left, Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney, Henrico’s Fairfield District Supervisor Frank J. Thornton and tour guide, Jackson Baynard, Henrico County’s chief of emergency management.

Please turn to A4

Property in Henrico’s Garden City may be taken for planned development

Taking the lead Four-year-old Hunter Johnson gets a running start on his 2-year-old sister, Halle, with dad Darryl Johnson, 37, at Forest Hill Park on Tuesday. After a weekend of ice and snow, Tuesday’s temperature reached the mid-50s and was perfect for the Chesterfield family to head outdoors. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for much of the state, as snow and sleet are expected Thursday and possibly into Friday.

By Lyndon German

always to negotiate with property owners and work toward a reasonable Some homeowners in Henrico’s amount between both parties.”

Garden City neighborhood may have While there are no plans “to their property taken for new roads for expand the footprint” of the actual the $2.3 billion planned GreenCity GreenCity development, the response development. stated, “the developers are open and In an email to William “Bill” welcome any conversations with Forrester Jr., president of the Garden neighboring property owners about Mr. Forrester City Neighborhood Civic Association, land acquisition.”

Charlotte Whitten, executive assistant to the While the county’s responses were helpful, Henrico County Board of Supervisors, provided Mr. Forrester told the Free Press this week, the answers from unidentified county staff members new information raises even more concerns. to a list of questions raised by Mr. Forrester on “Our concerns were partially answered,” behalf of neighbors in the African-American he said. “But since we’re directly affected, we community who fear the massive project will still need to know what’s going on. We need displace them. to know the specifics.”

“With the road projects, there will be a need to The massive, 250-acre GreenCity project acquire some properties,” the county’s response stated. “The county’s process and approach is Please turn to A4

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

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Richmond Free Press

February 18-20, 2021

Local News

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Cityscape Slices of life and scenes in Richmond

Work continues on the creation of a memorial park to the once vital Black community of Fulton that was eliminated by urban renewal 50 years ago. Location: Goddin Street and Williamsburg Road at the foot of Powhatan Hill in the East End. Spencer E. Jones III and other former residents have pushed for a place of honor and remembrance for the community they loved and lost in the late 1960s. In the works for three years, the project to remake the site began just before Thanksgiving. Robbie Danil of ADDO Enterprises is spearheading the development that he said would take about six months. This is the first phase for which the city is spending about $925,000 to create a place of reflection with trees and other amenities. Additional work is planned in a second phase.

Health insurance marketplace open for enrollment through May 15 Rendering of Cameo Street Apartments in Jackson Ward.

New $15.3M apartment complex planned for Jackson Ward

A 67-unit apartment complex targeting lower-income residents is now headed for a long vacant block of Jackson Ward that sits across from historic Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church.

The nonprofit Better Housing Coalition is planning the $15.3 million Cameo Street Apartments on 1.6 acres bounded

by Jackson, Duval and Cameo streets.

According to BHC, the three-story building that the Baskervill architectural firm is designing will include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units targeting to people with incomes ranging from $21,150 to $53,640, depending on family size.

BHC, created 32 years ago, stated that it will rely heavily on low-income tax credits to develop units for individuals and families earning 50 percent or less of the median income.

BHC, which operates more than 1,400 units in 17 rental communities, purchased the block from a development company in which Jackson Ward developer Ron Stallings is a principal.

The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority had assembled the land as part of an urban renewal initiative for Jackson Ward that dates to the early 1990s and remains unfinished. – JEREMY M. LAZARUS

Virginia Housing sponsors webinars for first-time homebuyers Interested in buying your first home?

Virginia Housing, formerly known as the Virginia Housing Development Authority, is hosting a series of free, hourlong online seminars next week to help potential homebuyers learn about the process.

Topics include tips to search for a home and how to qualify for a home loan, down payment and closing costs assistance.

Each webinar will feature a panel of experts, including housing counselors, lenders and real estate agents.

The schedule for “Chatting it up LIVE: Homebuying with Virginia Housing” webinars that each will be held from noon to 1 p.m.

• Tuesday, Feb. 23: Preparing for homeownership • Wednesday, Feb. 24: Exploring lenders, mortgages and the loan process • Thursday, Feb. 25: Finding the right home “Homeownership is much more obtainable than most people realize,” stated LaDonna Cruse, housing education manager at Virginia Housing. “We encourage first-time homebuyers to learn more about the home buying process. We want them to be ready to make their dreams of owning a home come true.”

Even with the pandemic, buyers are purchasing homes through the use of innovative technology, Ms. Cruse said, including virtual home tours and counseling sessions, online loan applications and electronic closings.

Details and registration: VirginiaHousing.com/FindAClass.

Free credit repair webinar Feb. 27 The Iota Sigma Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity is hosting a free online seminar to help people build and repair their credit.

The event, “Financial Literacy Webinar: Building & Repairing Credit,” will be held 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, via Zoom.

Curtis McNeil, a logistician with the U.S. Army who also is a real estate investor and credit repair coach, will lead the discussion. He also will provide information about FICO scores and credit rating bureaus.

To register, go to http://evite.me/KUKwKJtFXe.

Tens of thousands of Virginians who have lost their employer-offered health insurance along with their jobs now have a fresh opportunity to gain coverage.

The Affordable Care Act Marketplace at HealthCare.gov reopened Monday for an additional 90 days, thanks to an executive order President Biden issued recently.

The order adds more time for people to take advantage of enrollment for 2021 that was initially halted in December under former President Trump.

Consumers now have through May 15 to enroll with private health insurers offering

policies through the marketplace.

More than 90,000 people in Virginia, and potentially 7 million around the country, lost health coverage due to job losses from businesses that shut down during COVID19, according to government data. Those individuals added to the 650,000 state residents that other data show lacked health insurance before the pandemic began in March 2020 in Virginia.

“Uninsured Virginians now have a second chance this year to find affordable health coverage,” stated Deepak Madala, program manager of Enroll Virginia, which

oversees the program. “If the last year has taught us anything, it’s that knowing your health is covered is more important now than it ever has been.”

Enroll Virginia also has navigators to assist people to find affordable insurance, as do other organizations, Mr. Madala stated.

Expanded Medicaid also is available for those who qualify as a result of income, he added.

For additional information and navigation help by appointment: Enroll Virginia, (888) 392-5132 or www.enrollva.org.

More federal money available for rental relief in the state Free Press staff report

Virginia is pumping an additional $160 million into its rental relief program aimed at helping tenants and landlords avoid eviction proceedings, Gov. Ralph S. Northam announced Tuesday.

Gov. Northam stated that the additional money comes from a new federal allocation of $524 million to Virginia for such housing initiatives.

The money is flowing from the stimulus package that Congress created and former President Trump signed in late December.

That package included $600 checks for individuals.

The $160 million represents the first allocation from the $524 million, the governor stated, noting that additional funds could be steered to the state relief program based on the need.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have prioritized efforts to keep Virginians safely in their homes,” Gov. Northam stated in announcing the funding during a stop in Arlington.

“There continues to be an overwhelming need for additional relief to help those struggling to make ends meet,” he continued. “This new federal funding will provide an important lifeline to individuals and families and bolster our ongoing work to address housing affordability in

the Commonwealth.

“I urge eligible households to act quickly and work with their landlords to seek rental assistance through this program,” the governor stated.

The state program is administered through the state Department of Housing and Community Development, or DHCD. Information and applications for tenants Gov. Northam and landlords are available online at virginiahousing.com/ rentrelief.

Residents of Chesterfield and Fairfax counties should seek assistance through the local rental assistance programs that operate separately from the state program, according to DHCD. The new funding will be used solely to support landlords and tenants, based on federal guidelines, which did not include mortgage assistance this time, state officials.

The state began providing rent and mortgage relief last June during the pandemic using federal CARES Act funds.

To date, the state program has distributed more than $83.7 million in 24,294 rent and mortgage payments for Virginia households, with most of the support

going to families with children, DHCD reported.

Some of the new funding also will go to the Virginia Housing Trust Funds to support the creation of apartments with lower rents, the governor stated, and he is negotiating with the General Assembly money committees on the amount based on the new federal allocation.

Gov. Northam noted that the General Assembly previously increased the allocation to the trust funds from housing money included in the federal CARES Act. Prince William County Delegate Luke Torian, chair of the House Appropriations Committee and a member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, and Fairfax Sen. Janet Howell, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, expressed delight at the heightened funding for the state’s rental relief initiative.

“This program has been critical to addressing and preventing evictions for thousands of Virginians,” Delegate Torian stated.

The extra funding for eviction relief arrives as a new law the General Assembly passed and the governor signed begins to take effect that bars landlords from evicting tenants they have not been informed of rental relief programs and provided assistance in applying for such help.

Plan to replace Public Safety Building gets greenlight from committee; heads to City Council for approval City Hall’s proposal to sell million cost of demolishing off the decrepit, 64-year-old the building and rebuilding the Public Safety Building in section of Clay Street between Downtown to a private group 9th and 10th streets that the seeking to create a complex old building occupies. of offices and nonprofit hotels The new development is easily cleared a City Council expected to take two to four committee Tuesday and is years to complete and would poised for adoption by the include office space for VCU full council at its meeting on Health and others in two, 20Monday, Feb. 22. story towers. The project also The Land Use, Housing and would include new hotels for Transportation Committee, The Doorways and the Ronled by City Councilman Anald McDonald House, which dreas Addison, recommended serve families and patients of approval of the building’s VCU Health. sale to Capital City Partners The developers also plan to Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press Public Safety Building LLC for $3.5 million, which include space for retail and for some critics call too low for a prime piece of Downtown a VCU Health child care center. The developers also have real estate. accepted city goals for hiring city residents and for inclusion Under the terms of the deal, the partnership — and not of Black-owned and minority businesses in the construction taxpayers — would be required to bear the estimated $5 and operation. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS

Richmond Free Press

February 18-20, 2021

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Local News

Mayor Stoney outlines new plans for city in State of City address

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The Pulse lanes on Broad Street and in other parts of Richmond will be painted red thanks to a state grant to improve safety for drivers and pedestrians.

Fleets of rental bikes with electric motors are to be placed in and around the largest public housing communities to provide residents with a new transportation option.

And a new City Hall Office of Public Engagement will seek to put policies and practices in place to ensure that residents can voice their opinions on ways to make the city a better place to live, work and play.

Those are among the highlights of Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s State of the City address — the first of his second term — in which he focused on ways he wants to pursue healing and unity after the pandemic ends and the city begins to recover.

He also set a goal of ending the city’s dependence on electricity generated by fossil fuels by 2025, with a speech that also touched on public safety improvements and affordable housing.

A coronavirus survivor himself, Mayor Stoney delivered the nearly hourlong address Feb. 11 over the city’s Facebook and YouTube platforms. The speech was to be delivered in midJanuary but was postponed after the mayor tested positive for COVID-19.

Now recovered, the mayor delivered his speech just a few weeks before he rolls out in early March his new budget proposal, a document that is expected to reflect the virus’ impact on revenues.

The city’s budget office continues to project a deficit, albeit one that has already begun to shrink, in the current budget year.

In his address, Mayor Stoney said that the city’s top priority continues to be elimination of the virus so that recovery can start.

The spread of the disease “has tested our patience, our compassion and our strength to carry on,” he said. “My fellow Richmonders, the test is not over. … The test will not be over until we get Richmonders back to work, until we get kids back in schools.

That’s what I want to see before anything else here in 2021.”

He said his administration is working with local health departments to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines.

Lakeview Terrrace

Two South Side representatives on the City Council, Dr. Michael J. Jones, 9th District, and Reva M. Trammell, 8th District, complained again that their communities are being left out of the vaccine distribution. On Wednesday, they held a news conference to voice concerns over a CVS drug store in South Side storing the vaccine but not being allowed to administer it to area residents.

Once recovery does begin, the mayor said the city will be doing all it can to Mayor Stoney upgrade its communications with residents and promote economic justice and equity.

Mayor Stoney noted he wants those values to be incorporated into developments that are in the works, including a casino-resort hotel that various parties are competing for, the future projects for the 60 acres the city owns at and around the The Diamond baseball stadium on Arthur Ashe Boulevard and the new buildings that eventually could rise around the vacant Coliseum and in other parts of Downtown.

The mayor said during the process of selecting developers, the city would put a priority on ensuring that such revenue-generating developments also create living-wage jobs and provide inclusion of Black and brown businesses. He said the city is planning to develop an equitable economic development scorecard that reflects city expectations.

He also said the new Office of Public Engagement would “work across all departments to ensure the city is implementing creative techniques, both virtual and in-person” to improve communications with residents and share the city’s successes and improvements.

The mayor said he would continue to make affordable housing an important element of the city’s work. Ahead of his second term, the council approved his plan to divert at least $2 million a year from real estate tax collections to support private development of homes and apartments that sell or rent at a lower cost.

He reminded listeners of the city’s goal to have 10,000 new units T:11" of affordable housing built by 2030 and that the funding stream would S:10.5"

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grow to $10 million by 2025 to assist in reaching that goal.

Along with the spread of motorized bikes to areas that previously had been left out and the Pulse painting project, he said the city would work with the Governor’s Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment to develop steps toward removing barriers to transit use.

He cited the plan, in consultation with residents, to spread the Bike Share Program to the most populous public housing communities as one idea.

To help battle climate change, he said the city would fill 50 percent of its electricity needs from renewable electricity by 2023 and set a goal of gaining 100 percent of its electricity from wind, solar and other renewable sources two years later.

He also said he would focus on ending the gun violence too many residents experience, calling such violence “a public health crisis deeply rooted in systematic racism and inequity.”

The mayor urged the council to step up its efforts to build a civilian oversight board for the Police Department and to beef up the existing “Marcus alert” system to ensure that trained professionals respond to incidents of mental health distress rather than just police.

The mayor said the Police Department already has adopted an improvement strategy that advocates and members of his Task Force to Reimagine Public Safety proposed: Business cards for police officers.

He said officers would now carry and distribute cards with their names, space for a report number and precinct and contact information for filing complaints or offering compliments.

At the same time, he said, Chief Gerald M. Smith also has launched the Office of Professional Accountability and put in charge Victoria Pearson, former general counsel for the Police Department who has returned after serving as a deputy state attorney general.

Separate from the department’s Internal Affairs Unit that investigates complaints residents file against officers, the new office Ms. Pearson leads will work with officers to address accountability concerns raised by the community, the mayor said.

“Public safety means something different for everyone, but I guarantee you, we are listening and learning to make Richmond a safer city for all,” he said.

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Richmond Free Press

A4 February 18-20, 2021

News

New Virginia Voting Rights Act headed to Gov. Northam’s desk Continued from A1

be discriminatory.

“My great-grandparents, grandparents and parents faced literacy tests and poll taxes, and many Virginians have fought and died to protect the right to vote,” Sen. McClellan stated as she celebrated House passage of her bill.

“The Voting Rights Act of Virginia will comprehensively protect Virginia voters from discrimination, suppression and intimidation for generations to come.”

Delegate Price said Virginians must acknowledge the impact the long history of voter suppression has had in the Commonwealth. “In this unique moment, the Virginia General Assembly has decided to say we will not allow this to continue.”

The act’s passage also drew applause from advocates, such as Tram Nguyen, co-executive director of New Virginia Majority.

“The Voting Rights Act of Virginia will ensure that all citizens, no matter who we are or where we come from, will be able to cast a ballot and have our voices heard, free from discrimination or intimidation,” Ms. Nguyen stated. “The right to choose our

leaders and to have a say in the decisions that impact our lives are cornerstones of our democracy.”

The action on voting rights came as state courts eased requirements for candidates to get on the ballot.

Last Friday, a Richmond court extended the electronic collection of registered voters’ signatures on candidate petitions to those running this year for the House of Delegates.

A previous court order allowed electronic collection of signatures for candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi files a lawsuit to hold Trump responsible for inciting insurrection at U.S. Capitol Continued from A1

whether he will have more success remains to be seen.

In a move that was unexpected, the Congressional Black Caucus member filed a federal civil suit charging that Mr. Trump conspired to foment the Capitol’s invasion in violation of the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act. That act provided the government authority to protect Black voters from being intimidated, harassed and killed for exercising their newly acquired right to vote.

The law also bans interference with elected or appointed officials in carrying their duties and provides for civil lawsuits against perpetrators.

The suit, which the NAACP and a civil rights law firm filed on Rep. Thompson’s behalf, also names as co-conspirators Rudy Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s attorney at the time, and two Trump-supporting extremist groups, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.

The suit alleges they worked with Mr. Trump to set the attack in motion to block congressional certification of the Electoral College votes.

“Jan. 6 was one of the most shameful days in our country’s history, and it was instigated by the president

himself,” Congressman Thompson stated in a release announcing the suit. “His gleeful support of violent white supremacists led to a breach of the Capitol that put my life, and that of my colleagues, in grave danger. It is by the slimmest of luck that the outcome was not deadlier.”

Reports indicate that at least seven people died as a result of the invasion, including a U.S. Capitol police officer who, according to some reports, may have succumbed to a stroke after leaving the grounds rather than from being hit in the head with a fire extinguisher by the terrorists.

Mr. Trump’s response came through Jason Miller a senior adviser. Mr. Miller rejected the suit. “President Trump has been acquitted in the Democrats’ latest impeachment witch hunt, and the facts are irrefutable,” Mr. Miller stated.

“President Trump did not plan, produce or organize the Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse. President Trump did not incite or conspire to incite any violence at the Capitol,” Mr. Miller stated.

Another chapter could be written in Atlanta where the only known criminal investigation of Mr. Trump

in regards to the election is taking place. There, the district attorney for Fulton County is seeking to determine if the ex-president, while in office, sought to interfere with Georgia election officials during the count, recount and certification of President Biden’s victory.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who called out as “cowards” the 43 Senate Republicans who refused to convict and keep Mr. Trump from ever again holding public office, is seeking to add multiple chapters.

She announced she is establishing a 9/11-style commission to delve deeply into the events of that day as well as the part the former president played.

Others who could add chapters to the saga are the U.S. Justice Department lawyers and U.S. attorneys who are engaged in prosecuting at least 200 people who have been arrested and are facing charges as a result of their participation.

These activities ensure that aftershocks from the attack – a scenario that appears to have been taken straight out of a dictator’s training manual – will continue for some time.

In the Senate, the attempt to convict

a president who had left office fell flat with Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

He led the 42 other Republican senators who voted to acquit in claiming that the trial did not meet constitutional standards.

However, he hinted he would have voted to convict if Mr. Trump had won re-election.

“The Senate’s decision today does not condone anything that happened on or before that terrible day,” Sen. McConnell said in remarks from the floor. “It simply shows that senators did what the former president failed to do: We put our constitutional duty first.”

Sen. McConnell blamed the president for the attack, saying supporters acted after being “fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth, because he was angry he lost an election.”

“There’s no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” Sen. McConnell said. “No question about it.”

“This body is not invited to act as the nation’s overarching moral tribunal,” Sen. McConnell continued. “We’re not

Statewide vaccine registry system launches amid continuing questions about equitable distribution Continued from A1

Wednesday, the two council members alleged that the CVS pharmacy chain is storing vaccine at its store at 4715 Walmsley Blvd., but is not allowing people to come to the store to get shots.

CVS is providing COVID-19 vaccines at 38 stores in the Richmond area and around the state.

Dr. Jones said he was told the doses at the store are reserved for use in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities as part of a federal contract.

He said he was told the store was not considered acceptable for use as a vaccination site.

A protest and boycott of the store might be needed, he said, “if CVS is unwilling to come to the table with a viable solution.

“I recognize the need for the vaccine (for people in the long-term care facilities), but there are people in the neighborhoods near this CVS who are in need of the vaccine,” Dr. Jones noted in a statement in which Ms. Trammell joined.

“It is not fair to use this site, located in an area where the pandemic has hit the hardest, as a pseudo storage facility and not also use it as a vaccine site.”

Earlier this month, Dr. Jones and Ms. Trammell blasted the local and state health departments for failing to stage mass vaccination events south of the James

River on a par with those offered north of the river.

The Richmond and Henrico health districts have begun staging small events at public clinics and churches and have promised to open a mass vaccination site in March on the South Side.

The new website for people statewide to register for the vaccine allows the agency to email those who register to provide information and appointment slots. The data being collected also will allow public health officials to track the vaccine status of those who do sign up, eliminate duplicate registrations, and collect demographic information.

For those who call to register, the hotline is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. The health department has hired 750 people to take calls. It also is equipped to help people who speak languages other than English.

The website’s initial launch on Tuesday had some bugs because of high interest and use. The state health department reported an average of 150 registrations a minute, with 300 per minute at its peak.

By the end of the first day, the department reported 240,000 people had provided the information to get in the vaccination line.

“This is a one-stop shop for Virginians to pre-register for vaccination, so that when your turn comes, the health department can easily reach out to schedule you for your

shot,” Gov. Ralph S. Northam said during a news conference Wednesday announcing the addition of the hotline. “This system will be a tremendous step forward in our vaccination work.”

The new system registers people for vaccination events the department leads.

In the case of private providers like CVS and other pharmacies, residents must continue to register for those doses through the pharmacy website.

People who previously registered through their local health department are still on the schedule, with their information being migrated to the state registry.

People can monitor their status by going to the new website. At least 1.6 million local records have been uploaded into the new central website as of Wednesday, officials said.

The new pre-registration system doesn’t set an appointment for a first vaccine but enters a person’s name into a waitlist for later contact for an appointment. Officials said the appointment would be based on when the person signed up, their eligibility in the state’s current vaccination priority group and the availability of vaccine at the time.

Dr. Danny T.K. Avula, the state’s vaccine coordinator, noted that the supply is still limited. At this point, he projects that the vaccinations for group 1B may be complete by the end of March, with those in group 1C taking until May to complete.

Property in Henrico’s Garden City may be taken for planned development Continued from A1

calls for a $2.3 billion investment in Scott Farms and the former Best Products headquarters building north of Parham Road and Interstate 95 to build a 17,000-seat arena for concerts and sporting events, 2,400 housing units, two hotels, about 2 million square feet of office space and 280,000 square feet of retail space.

About 50 homes are located along Scott Road, where Garden City Civic Association members are worried that four homes closest to the Best Products building may be taken for the project and another 15 homes impacted.

In addition to fears of displacement, the neighborhood of older, mostly retirees living on fixed incomes, also voiced concerns about whether resulting higher property taxes would force them out of homes they have lived in for decades.

In response to Mr. Forrester’s letter, county officials stated that a Magellan

Parkway expansion “will replace Scott Road” as an entry point into the development. “We are considering the use of Scott Road for other purposes, such as a bike and walking trail connecting to the development.”

No additional details were provided to Mr. Forrester or the civic association.

While the county’s answer to another question stated, “we are not aware of any residents being displaced,” it went on to say that “any who chose to move to another area would be compensated at market value via the sale of their property.”

The county also stated that property values are expected to rise as a result of the GreenCity development, but the county is not legally allowed to freeze or reduce property taxes for the neighborhood. It stated that real estate tax relief for eligible seniors already is available in Henrico, and provided a link to the information on the county’s website.

For Mr. Forrester, the brief answers

bring more doubts about the project’s intent. How much property does the county intend to buy? What will happen to Garden City?

“My intentions are to put the homeowners from Garden City in the best possible position to be informed,” Mr. Forrester said.

A Fairfield District constituent meeting was being held by Henrico Supervisor Frank Thornton Wednesday night at Free Press deadline. The developers, Michael Hallmark and Susan Eastridge of GreenCity LLC, were expected to take part in the meeting.

Additionally, Mr. Forrester has arranged a conference call with Mr. Thornton and the civic association at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22.

“Now anybody who has questions within our association will have an opportunity to ask those questions,” Mr. Forrester said.

“Mr. Thornton is our representative and we feel confident he will give us the best information.”

free to work backward from whether the accused party might personally deserve some kind of punishment.”

Mr. Trump, himself, has been exultant. The only president to be impeached twice by the House and acquitted twice, Mr. Trump said that the trial was just “another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country.”

For those paying the price in the form of criminal charges, Mr. Trump is responsible for their plight.

“If this was a conspiracy, Mr. Trump was the leader,” said Jonathan Zucker, lawyer for Dominic Pezzola, a member of the far-right Proud Boys white supremacist group, who has been charged with obstructing police officers guarding the Capitol. “He was the one calling the shots.”

Another individual facing charges is Jessica M. Watkins of the Oath Keepers militia group. She said that she went to Washington because she believed Mr. Trump had asked her and others in the group to take action that would aid him to stay in office.

That kind of evidence could aid Rep. Thompson in making his case that Mr. Trump violated the law and should be held accountable.

Free COVID-19 testing Continued from A1

of South Richmond, 3300 Broad Rock Blvd. in South Side.

Drive-thru testing.

Appointments are encouraged by calling the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by registering online at https://bit.ly/RHHDCOVID. Testing will be offered while test supplies last.

The Chesterfield County Health Department also is offering free COVID-19 testing at the following locations: Second Baptist Church, 5100 W. Hundred Road, Chester, 1 to 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22.

St. Augustine Catholic Church, 4400 Beulah Road, North Chesterfield, 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24.

Walmsley United Methodist Church, 2950 Walmsley Blvd., 10 a.m. to noon, Thursday, Feb. 25.

Testing is free, and no reservations or registration are necessary.

Details: Chesterfield County Health Department at (804) 318-8207.

Want a COVID-19 vaccine?

Contact the new statewide COVID-19 Vaccination PreRegistration System at vaccinate.virginia.gov or by calling 877-VAX-IN-VA. The call center is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week to help people pre-register by phone or to answer questions about the vaccine. The call center has English- and Spanishspeaking agents and a callback service to help people in more than 100 other languages.

Additionally, TTY service is available to help people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Dentists, dental students and other health professionals now will be allowed to administer COVID-19 vaccines under emergency legislation passed by the General Assembly and signed on Wednesday by Gov. Ralph S. Northam.

Under the measure, the Virginia Department of Health is required to establish a process for the professionals and for facilities like dental offices to be approved as a COVID-19 vaccine administration site.

In early January, the Virginia Dental Association, which represents more than 3,900 dentists across the state, urged the governor to allow dentists to help administer the vaccine.

The measure, sponsored by Henrico Delegate Lamont Bagby of Henrico, chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, and Henrico Sen. Siobhan S. Dunnavant, also permits any qualified and available health care provider to volunteer to help with vaccine administration.

The emergency legislation is aimed at more quickly expanding vaccination efforts in the state as the number of positive cases of the potentially fatal virus continue to rise.

State health officials reported 555,592 total cases of COVID-19 in Virginia, along with 23,179 hospitalizations and 7,075 deaths.

The good news: The seven-day positivity rate has dropped to 8.7 percent.

As of Wednesday, 1,427,750 total doses of the vaccine have been administered across Virginia, with 12.4 percent of the state’s population now having received at least one dose.

Two doses are required for full vaccination; 366,058 people in the state have been fully vaccinated, officials said.

The recent snow, ice, rain and power outages have forced the cancellation of some recent COVID-19 testing and vaccination events in Metro Richmond and across the state.

With the threat of inclement weather forecast for Thursday and Friday, at least one vaccination event for Thursday was canceled in Chesterfield for people scheduled to receive their second doses. Officials were working Wednesday to reschedule those appointments.

Reported COVID-19 data as of Wednesay, Feb. 17, 2021

Cases Hospitalizations Deaths Richmond 14,159 665 148 Henrico County 20,599 824 358 Chesterfield County 22,643 763 217 Hanover County 6,411 231 105 According to state data, African-Americans comprised 21.7 percent of cases statewide and 23.8 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 17.3 percent of the cases and 7.2 percent of deaths.

Richmond Free Press

February 18-20, 2021

A5

Local News

As death penalty opponent celebrates, vigilance continues

By George Copeland Jr.

For Dale Brumfield, the likely abolition of the death penalty in Virginia is “a revolution in criminal justice reform.”

It’s a revolution made possible by the steady work of a coalition of advocates over decades to end the long-standing injustice in the state and a welcome victory for racial equity in a system historically filled with unequal justice, according to Mr. Brumfield, field director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

The organization has been working for years to abolish the death penalty in Virginia.

The House of Delegates and the state Senate approved bills in early February abolishing the death penalty. But slight variations in the two measures must be reconciled and passed again before they go to Gov. Ralph S. Northam, who promised to sign the finished product once it reaches his desk.

Mr. Brumfield is pleased.

“To me, it signaled the end of a remnant of our criminal justice system that has managed to linger since the year 1608,” he said.

“There’s nothing else in Virginia still around after 413 years except the death penalty. And now we’ve ended that and that’s very satisfying to me.”

Mr. Brumfield’s own advocacy against capital punishment began three and a half years ago.

Even earlier, he had written several articles on aspects of criminal justice reform for a wide variety of local media outlets.

However, during research for a book on the history of the Virginia State Penitentiary and its central role in executions after 1908, Mr. Brumfield was led to a greater awareness of the racial inequity of the death penalty in Virginia.

“The more I got into the research, the more interested I became in Mr. Blumfield wanting to do something— anything—to change the way this system was working,” Mr. Brumfield said. “It is horrible what had gone on in the past and what’s still going on today.”

In 2017, the same year his book was released, Mr. Brumfield joined Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. As field director, Mr. Brumfield visited districts around the state researched by VADP Executive Director Michael Stone and lobbyists to conduct roughly 300 educational sessions on the death penalty.

The goal: Have groups learn about and support abolition, and ultimately lobby state legislators

to end the death penalty.

With groups ranging across gender, race and party affiliation, and with arguments for supporting the practice often centered on emotion and revenge, Mr. Brumfield had to modify his tactics to suit those he sought to convince.

Mr. Brumfield said he became very skilled in reading an audience to better serve VADP’s goals. He stressed the work that was being done decades before he joined the abolition effort, the impact of the collective effort and its importance to the death penalty’s end in the state.

“The fight to end the death penalty in Virginia has been like a duck paddling like crazy underwater, while remaining calm and collected on the surface,” Mr. Brumfield said.

“It’s very crucial that they be recognized for their contributions they’ve made for years.”

Mr. Brumfield cited the work of the Black Lives Matter Movement and the worldwide protests in response to the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and others as putting a spotlight on the failures of the criminal justice system and turning the tide to abolish the death penalty.

He also speculated that Gov. Northam’s support for abolition is part of his “public mea culpa” following the blackface controversy early in his administration that has led to initiatives

focused on racial equity and equality.

“It’s like the planets just kind of aligned with these things and all came together in 2021,” Mr. Brumfield said. “It just seemed like this is the time. If we don’t do it now, it might be years before we get this far again.”

Mr. Brumfield and other advocates are hopeful that Virginia’s standing among its Southern counterparts will lead to further success abolition efforts across the nation.

For now, Mr. Brumfield said he’ll remain a part of VADP for at least another year to monitor future General Assembly sessions for any potential push back that could lead to the ban’s reversal. The organization is prepared to disband once abolition seems secure, he said. But he is prepared to stand guard for any warning signs of a return to one of Virginia’s oldest remnants of its dark history.

“There’s always a risk after a piece of legislation this groundbreaking passes that something could happen, that someone would try to bring it back at the next assembly session,” Mr. Brumfield said. “One terrorist attack, one multiple homicide, one crime like that can sometimes trigger a blowback or push back, and someone will try to bring it back.

“We just have to be on our toes … just to make sure something like that doesn’t happen, and try to head it off if it does.”

Lawmakers kill bill requiring officers to report wrongdoing, render aid

By Sarah Elson Capital News Service

A Senate committee recently killed a bill intended to minimize police misconduct and incentivize accountability among law enforcement.

House Bill 1948, introduced by Delegate Mark Levine, a Democrat from Alexandria, required law enforcement officers to report misconduct by fellow officers. Another part of the measure, which some opponents called too subjective, required that on-duty officers provide aid as circumstances objectively permitted to someone suffering a life-threatening condition or serious injury.

The bill also sought to expand the current definition of bias-based profiling, which is prohibited in Virginia, to include gender identity and sexual orientation. Bias-based

profiling is when a police officer takes action solely based on an individual’s real or perceived race, age, ethnicity or gender.

The measure passed the Virginia House of Delegates last month on a 57-42 vote and the Senate Judiciary committee Delegate killed the bill this week on a 9-6 vote. Delegate Levine introduced a similar bill last year that also failed in the Senate.

“I call HB 1948 my good apple bill because it separates the vast majority of law enforcement that are good apples from the few bad apples that are not,” Delegate Levine said when the bill was before the House of Delegates.

Dominique Martin, a policy analyst for New Virginia Majority, told a House

panel that the bill would establish a mechanism to create accountability among officers.

“One of the major themes when discussing long lasting approaches to police reform is the need for change at the institutional level,” Ms. Levine Martin said. “One aspect is addressing organizational culture. It incentivizes a more accountable culture among law enforcement.”

The executive director for Equality Virginia spoke in favor of the bill.

“LGBT people, especially Black, Latinx, Indigenous LGBT people, are more likely to be victimized by discriminatory police practices,” the executive director, Vee Lamneck, told the panel.

“Transgender women are six times more likely to endure police violence and Black transgender women experience

even higher rates of being antagonized and criminalized by police.”

HB 1250, also known as The Community Policing Act, took effect July 1, 2020. The law prohibits police from engaging in bias-based profiling while on duty.

Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, expressed concern with the part of Delegate Levine’s bill that would require officers to provide aid to someone with a life threatening injury.

“The concern is that a lot of times in situations where you don’t know whether life-saving aid is necessarily required in that instance, the outcome may be that someone is injured more than is immediately recognizable,” Ms. Schrad said.

The requirement to render aid is not in the state code and though it is a requirement already for many dis-

tricts, there is a need for consistency across the Commonwealth, Delegate Levine said.

“I’m confident that the vast majority would do so anyway,” he said. “This makes it a matter of policy. It will be taught in training.”

Delegate Levine said his bill was both modest and large.

“It’s large because it really tries to make it clear there is no thin blue line, that the goal of law enforcement is to serve the public first and you should not be covering up bad acts, severe acts of wrongdoing— that’s not technical or minimal— by your fellow officer,” he said.

Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Media and Culture. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.

Virginia Flood Awareness Week | March 14-20

The Impacts of Place, Space, Climate Change and Race

Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization, National Wildlife Federation

Dr. Robert K. Nelson Director, Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond

March 18 6-9 p.m. EST

Desiré Branch-Ellis Policy Advisor, Virginia Department of Emergency Management

A virtual discussion on the disparate impacts of flooding in minority communities, barriers to recovery and why Virginia must be a leader for change.

Ron Jones Executive Director, Groundwork RVA

This panel brings together community and policy leaders to discuss the impacts of historic and systemic racism and the impacts to minority communities grappling with flooding and climate change.

Rudene Haynes Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

Register at www.dcr.virginia.gov/FloodAwarenessWeek Division of Dam Safety and Floodplain Management in partnership with the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia

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A6 February 18-20, 2021

Richmond Free Press

Search Blackowned In the past 12 months, searches for Black-owned businesses have increased 600%. So we’re making it easy for businesses to proudly self-identify as Black-owned on Google Search and Maps. IJīŋÔĬĔøŒ ŲĔřđ Ô űøŎĔǁ øô ŞŒĔĬøŒŒ zŎIJǁ Ħø IJĬ <IJIJČĦø îÔĬ ĬIJŲ Ôôô Ô ĦÔîģͦIJŲĬøô íŞŒĔĬøŒŒ ÔNJ ŎĔíŞřø řIJ řđøĔŎ ŋŎIJǁ Ħø̶ ŒIJ řđøŸ îÔĬ øÔŒĔĦŸ íø ċIJŞĬô íŸ îŞŒřIJīøŎŒ ŲđIJ ÔŎø ĦIJIJģĔĬČ řIJ ŒŞŋŋIJLj řđøī̵ Learn more at g.co/blackowned

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Richmond Free Press

A8 February 18-20, 2021

Obituaries

Televangelist Rev. Frederick K.C. ‘Fred’ Price, who built the ‘FaithDome’ in L.A., dies at 89 Free Press wire report

The Rev. Frederick K.C. “Fred” Price, the televangelist who built his Los Angeles ministry into one of the nation’s first Black megachurches, has died. He was 89.

Apostle Price, as he was known, died Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, according to a statement his family posted on the Crenshaw Christian Center’s Facebook page. His daughter said in an earlier post that her father had been hospitalized due to complications from COVID-19.

“Our Husband, Father & your Apostle has gone to be w/ the Lord this evening,” the Price family said in a statement posted on social media. “We accept his decision to go as he got a glimpse of glory a few weeks ago. We are sad. Please allow us some time to process.

He fought the good fight of faith & laid hold of eternal life.”

Apostle Price was the longtime pastor of the Crenshaw Christian Center, which he founded in 1973 and grew into a megachurch that claims 28,000 members. The church is perhaps best known for the “FaithDome,” a large geodesic dome which opened in 1989 and seats 10,145 worshippers, making it the largest house of worship in the country at the time, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The FaithDome was built on a former campus of Pepperdine University on Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles and cost $9 million, the newspaper reported. The sprawling property also includes schools, a ministry training program and a prison ministry. Apostle Price told the newspaper at the time that he wanted the entire congregation to be able to meet at the same time.

“Multiple services are horrendous,” he said in 1989.

“The purpose of the building is to have one service. And if I can get 10,100 people into one service, that’s more than we’re doing now.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Crenshaw Christian Center has served as both a testing center and a vaccinaRev. Price tion site. According to the Los Angeles Times, both Apostle Price and his wife tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this year and he was hospitalized.

Apostle Price, a charismatic pastor, taught a message of prosperity, which was featured on his long-running television program, “Ever-Increasing Faith.”

“If you know ANYTHING about the Prosperity Gospel Rev. Fred Price and Crenshaw Christian Center was it before Creflo Dollar and any of those folks made it big,” religion scholar and author Anthea Butler said on Twitter after hearing news of Price’s death. “He was an original.”

Apostle Price was the pastor of Washington Community Church, a small Christian and Missionary Alliance church in Los Angeles, when he experienced the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” in 1970, according to the Crenshaw Christian Center website. He later began to study the teachings of televangelist and prosperity gospel preacher Kenneth Hagin.

As he embraced these new teachings, the congregation expanded. He eventually started a new church with no denominational ties, which grew from about 300 worshippers to a congregation of thousands.

In 2008, he was named an “apostle,” according to the biography posted on the church’s website. Not long afterward, he retired as pastor of Crenshaw Christian Center, handing the pulpit over to his son, Frederick K. Price Jr. Apostle Price and his wife, Betty, were married for 67 years and were partners in ministry. In 1962, the couple’s 8-year-old son was walking home from school when a car struck and killed him, an incident recounted on the church’s website.

“Fred and I tried to console each other as best we could, and leaned a lot on one another during this time of hurt,” Mrs. Price later wrote. “My husband particularly found it hard to get over this tragedy, but he knew and continued to say, that it was not God who had taken our son from us. Looking back now, we can see how the devil was trying to destroy us as a family.”

Members of the church gave Apostle Price a Rolls Royce in the 1980s, which he defended as a sign of his faith. He disagreed with those who said Jesus was poor and said that since the Bible told him to follow Jesus’ example, that is what he intended to do.

In 2005, the Los Angeles City Council voted to name the intersection of Vermont Avenue and 79th Street after the pastor, but refused to pay for a naming ceremony due to his antiLGBTQ comments.

In addition to his wife, Apostle Price is survived by four children.

Melvin E. Banks, whose publishing company revolutionized Bible study by incorporating positive images of Black people, dies at 86 Free Press wire report

Melvin E. Banks, whose company portraying positive images of AfricanAmericans in the biblical experience has grown from its start in the basement of his Chicago home into the largest independent Black Christian publishing house in the United States, died Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. He was 86.

His company, Urban Ministries, provides Sunday school curriculum, vacation bible school resources, books, videos, music and the publication Urban Faith to hundreds of thousands of people in more than 50,000 Black churches. All of it depicts or speaks to people of color in the context of their culture, something that Mr. Banks realized early on was missing in lit-

erature provided by white did not see themselves reppublishing companies. resented in it.

“When I grew up, all the He founded Urban MinSunday school literature was istries in 1970 and operated produced by white people it for the next 12 years out and all the writing was done of the basement of his home. from a white perspective,” He contextualized Scripture he said in an early interview. to show its relevance to con“All the biblical characters temporaryAfrican-American were portrayed as white life and shocked many ChrisMr. Banks people. It dawned on me tians, black and white, with that the material as published did not depictions of Bible characters as people connect.” of color. He insisted the images were After completing his studies, Mr. accurate because the world of the bibliBanks began working for Scripture cal narrative included Middle Easterners Press, where he specialized in literature as well as many North Africans, and distribution for Black churches nation- also argued it was important. Black wide. However, he discovered that many people needed to know they were part African-Americans were not interested of Bible history. in the biblical curriculum because they Mr. Banks marketed his first Sunday

school curriculum, InTeen, to churches out of the trunk of his car. The company broke even for the first time in 1976.

He identified 70 to 80 Black-owned bookstores around the country to sell his publications, along with 400 to 500 white-owned Christian bookstores that served Black churches. He established direct connections with churches around the country, and supplied them with new educational material every quarter for more than four decades.

Urban Ministries has grown to serve more than 100,000 Sunday school and vacation bible school teachers across the country, as well as provide materials for adult education.

“If it could be said,” he told a historian in 2004, “that here was a man who had a dream of seeking to

communicate the truth of God’s Word to people, and he was able to make some contribution along that line, then I think I would be pleased.”

A native of Birmingham, Ala., Mr. Banks earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in theology and biblical studies from Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College, respectively. Wheaton recognized him with an honorary doctorate in 1992; Moody named him Alumnus of the Year in 2008; and he received a lifetime achievement award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association in 2017.

Mr. Banks is survived by his wife of 64 years, Olive, and his three children, Melvin Jr., Patrice Lee and Reginald Banks.

Richmond Free Press

February 18-20, 2021 A9

Actions

Speak

Louder Words have value, especially when they are used to make a promise. But the most important thing about a promise is the action you take afterward. At Dominion Energy, we believe in taking action – to deliver on our commitment to help people, communities, and the environment.

COVID-19 Response and Support In response to the pandemic’s economic impact, Dominion Energy has stepped up to meet the needs of our customers. We suspended all service disconnections for non-payment to provide uninterrupted, reliable service 24/7. We have given more than $1 million to support coronavirus relief efforts by the American Red Cross and other nonprofits, to help our communities in need.

Social Justice and Higher Education At Dominion Energy, we believe higher education is critical to addressing centuries of institutional racism. That is why we have committed $35 million to our initiative supporting historically Black colleges and universities, and to minority student scholarships. In addition, we have allocated another $5 million to promote social justice and community building.

Solar and Wind Energy To build a cleaner energy future, we have added more than 3.5 million solar panels throughout Virginia, helping to make us America’s third largest in solar. In addition, we are developing the largest offshore wind project in the U.S., which will produce enough energy to power 660,000 homes by 2026.

EnergyShare® For years, our EnergyShare® program has helped our neighbors across Virginia, assisting individuals and their families with bill payment and energy saving upgrades. As of today, the program has helped more than 858,000 people. In 2020, we expanded the EnergyShare® program to assist those impacted by the coronavirus with an additional $500,000 to help provide energy bill relief for small businesses, nonprofits, and houses of worship throughout Virginia.

Lower Rates And to help residential customers, we have kept our rates more than 10%* below the national average.

Turning promises into reality is what defines us. That is why we are proud to invest in what we believe in, and what we know is important to you.

*Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, as of 1/26/2021

Richmond Free Press

Icy pine needles in Henrico

Editorial Page

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February 18-20, 2021

Voting: A powerful tool Our nation is in a state of disgrace because of the spineless Republicans in the U.S. Senate.

In one of the most critical decisions regarding our nation and our democracy, 43 Republicans in the Senate caved to the power or pressure of Donald Trump and put their own political ambitions over the good of the country in voting to acquit the former president during his second impeachment trial.

Despite overwhelming evidence, including their own experiences, they refused to find Mr. Trump guilty of inciting the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The mob terrorized people, killed a Capitol Police officer, wounded many others, destroyed property and threatened to assassinate the vice president and the speaker of the house.

They did it, they said, because Mr. Trump told them to come to Washington and stop the Senate from certifying the Electoral College vote determining Democrat Joe Biden the winner of the November presidential election.

Mr.Trump, a self-centered racist, misogynist and xenophobe who never should have been elected to the most honored and exalted position in the United States, pathetically still believes he should be president. He incited the insurrection to try to remain in office.

He also has in his pocket the hypocritical Sen. Mitch McConnell, the former Senate majority leader, who, moments after voting to acquit Mr. Trump, gave an impassioned floor speech declaring him responsible for the insurrection. That isn’t leadership.

Sen. McConnell and all of the Republicans who turned their backs on America to kiss Mr. Trump’s ring one more time are sure to face the retribution of voters at the ballot box when they face primary challenges and are up for re-election.

Our democracy will not be safe until Mr. Trump and others, including Sen. McConnell, are held to account.

Voting is a powerful tool to effect social change.

It is so powerful that Southern states, including Virginia, instituted poll taxes and literacy tests to keep Black people from voting and dismantling the systems of oppression needed for white supremacy to thrive.

Even after losing the November election, Mr. Trump and his Republican supporters and lawyers sought to nullify election results in states where sizeable margins of Black and brown voters turned out and gave President Biden the win.

Despite their unsuccessful legal challenges, they haven’t given up. Mr. Trump’s rabid backers are still going crazy. Conservative lawmakers have introduced more than 165 bills in 33 states that would restrict voting rights. As a rationale, they parrot Mr. Trump’s racist and baseless claims of voter fraud and irregularities — lies — that provoked the seditionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Enter now, Virginia state Sen. Jennifer McClellan of Richmond and Delegate Marcia Price of Newport News. We give these two Democrats, both members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, major kudos for their foresight and leadership in sponsoring the Voting Rights Act of Virginia.

The Senate measure, now headed to Gov. Ralph S. Northam for his signature into law, aims to head off voter suppression, intimidation and discrimination that future state and local election officials might use to subvert or interfere with voting laws and practices.

The bills require changes to local voting laws and regulations be pre-cleared with the state attorney general’s office or advertised in advance for public comment and evaluated for their impact on Black, Indigenous and communities of color.

It also prohibits localities from influencing elections by diluting or abridging the rights of voters from a protected class, which includes Black and brown people. And it requires that voting materials be printed in languages other than English if certain criteria are met.

The state attorney general or affected individuals may sue to challenge any discriminatory policies.

We applaud Sen. McClellan and Delegate Price for including in the measure what we call the anti-Trumper provision. Any person who goes against official policy or procedure and fails or refuses to allow a qualified voter to cast a ballot, or willfully fails or refuses to count or report the vote of a qualified voter, would be subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each affected voter.

In Mr. Trump’s world, he tried to get officials in at least five states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania — to nullify the election and not count the legitimately cast ballots of hundreds of thousands of voters.

If an elected or appointed official in Virginia is struggling with the difference between right and wrong, perhaps knowing he or she is facing a fine of $1,000 for each affected voter will make them do the right thing.

It is unfortunate that because of the weakness of Republicans, the U.S. Senate couldn’t muster enough votes to protect this nation. Thank goodness Virginia has lawmakers who are strong enough — and care enough — to try to protect the voters in this state and the democratic principles they swore an oath to uphold.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

When will workers get a break?

Now that the impeachment trial of the 45th president is over, perhaps our legislators can turn their attention to working people, or more accurately, those who used to work and are now not working.

There were 18 million more unemployment insurance claims now than a year ago, and nearly 10 million fewer jobs than before the pandemic. Most disturbing is the departure of women from the labor force. Last month alone, more than 250,000 women left the labor market compared to 71,000 men.

Many of those working, especially in meat-packing,

manufacturing and most service occupations, don’t have the luxury to physically distance at work. Some of these folk earn appallingly low wages, in some cases hovering near the $7.25 federal minimum hourly wage, which has not changed in more than a decade.

Julianne Malveaux To be sure, minimum wages are higher in some cities and states, with the District of Columbia, San Francisco and Seattle establishing a $15 minimum.

Other jurisdictions have passed legislation gradually moving the wage to $15.

President Biden promised to support new minimum wage legislation and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is pushing hard. The

Raise the Wage Act of 2021 was introduced on Jan. 26 and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said a version of the bill will be sent to the Senate for approval.

Senate Bill 53, the Raise the Wage Act, would gradually raise the federal minimum wage from the current $7.25 level to $15 by June 2025. The first increase to $9.25 would happen this year.

In subsequent years, it would rise to $11 in 2022, $12.50 in 2023, $14.00 in 2024 and $15

by June 2025.

Raising the minimum wage gives at least 27 million workers a raise. Most of them are women. A third are Latino and 40 percent are African-American.

Raising the wage would reduce inequality and poverty.

Sen. Sanders is prepared to push this legislation through by reconciliation if he can’t get Re-

Black voters expect Biden to be bold During a campaign that was repeatedly rescued by Black voters, President Biden pledged to “Build Back Better.” To address the myriad crises affecting Black families and communities across this nation as a consequence of the pandemics of COVID-19, police misconduct, violence and murders and systemic racism, I believe President Biden must be bold to “Build Back Better.”

He should audaciously reimagine the Build Back Better Plan, including the “Lift Every Voice” Black Agenda, which he seldom publicly touted, by embracing Dr. Martin Luther King’s call for a “Revolution of Values” and demand for an “Economic Bill of Rights.”

The rejection of the Orange man and MAGA-ism was imperative but will not be sufficient to meet the aspirations of the millions who marched on ballot boxes seeking transformational change. At this defining moment, President Biden would be wise to marshal his supporters to boldly work toward creating a New America consistent with Dr. King’s vision of the beloved community.

In his iconic speech at New York’s Riverside Church in 1967, Dr. King issued the following challenge: “I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values.

We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society.

When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

I would like to offer suggestions/steps for President Biden to be bold in advancing a transformational agenda: 1. Commit to feeding/empowering the Black-led (with Black women in the forefront), multiracial rainbow coalition that propelled you to the White

House by boldly enacting policies that affect Native Americans, African-Americans and people of African descent, Latinx, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, women, young people, the LGBTQ community, workers, immigrants and climate change and environmental justice advocates through bold legislation or by executive order if required.

2. Do not bow down to or buckle in the face of the

Dr. Ron Daniels hypocritical machinations of the obstructionists in the name of unity and bipartisanship.

Remember the lessons of the Obama administration when appeals for bipartisanship fell on the deaf ears of the Sen. Mitch McConnell-led obstructionists who vowed to make President Obama a “one term president.”

The filibuster was his ultimate weapon. Once Agent Orange was elected, the ultraconservative, right-wing Republicans made no pretense of being bipartisan.

They unapologetically exercised raw naked power via budget reconciliation to jam through a multitrillion-dollar tax cut for the wealthy and packed the federal judiciary with ultraconservative, Federalist Society vetted judges. Remember Judge Merrick Garland!

3. Abolish the filibuster and enact a bold, “people-oriented” agenda to meet the needs of people who could care less about legislative process, procedures or parliamentary maneuvers. People want to see the government deliver policies that will improve the quality of life for their families and communities. The party that delivers and educates the people on the value of the public space, of government will win.

4. Campaign for a Build Back Better “people-oriented” agenda in red states, blue states, rural areas and Black and Brown communities. Educate at the grassroots level about the benefits and value of the public space, government delivering policies that meet the needs of the people. Take the message directly into the districts of the obstructionists and wake up as many of their constituents as

possible to the reality that they are being bamboozled by fake “leaders.” Ignite support for a bold agenda from the bottom up. Build to consolidate gains in 2022 and 2024.

5. Expose, confront and defeat the “enemy from within”—white supremacy, white nationalism, domestic terrorism, xenophobia, all of the malignant manifestations of structural and institutional racism. Be aware that mandating equity is a necessary and welcome prescription for the present, but it does not address the incalculable harms endured

by African-Americans from the holocaust of enslavement, chattel slavery and all of the derivative racially exclusionary policies and practices after Emancipation to the present.

6. Be the president who delivers on the promise of “40 acres and a mule”—reparations for African-Americans. Reparations is the only racial remedy that will eradicate systemic racism in this society. As such, reparations constitute the foundation for the new America that must be born.

7. Utilize the Democratic control of Congress to declare statehood for the District of Columbia so that the residents of the District, where the great monuments to “freedom” were built by enslaved Black labor, will finally achieve full freedom.

We are in the throes of a national reckoning on the fundamental character and the soul of this nation. There is a life and death struggle underway over whether America will become an expansive, inclusive, multiracial society, free of all forms of racism and discrimination with genuine political and economic democracy or revert back to the restrictive “good old days” of white male patriarchal dominance.

In the spirit of Dr. King’s revolution of values, Black voters and the emerging rainbow coalition should fully expect and demand that President Biden boldly advance an agenda for transformational change. A new American must be born.

The writer is president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century and a distinguished lecturer emeritus at York College, City University of New York.

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.

publican support. If Republican senators value their constituents’ voices, they will support legislation that brings relief to some of them.

Now, Democrats control the Senate and the schedule, and the legislation will receive some review and deliberation.

But chambers of commerce and other business groups are likely to oppose it. Research shows that the presence of unions in the workplace increases wages.

Equally important, it protects workers from unsafe working conditions.

Perhaps legislation will provide workers with some relief this year. It is also possible, though, that working people, especially those near the bottom, will get caught up in partisan squabbling. Workers need a break, need a raise, need safe working conditions. Can Washington deliver?

The writer is an economist and author.

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Richmond Free Press

February 18-20, 2021 A11

Letters to the Editor

‘Teachers do not ‘skip’ school’ Protect Brown Grove Re: “Skipping school: Data show that 40% to 60% of Richmond area teachers are absent from the classroom 11 or more business days a year,” Free Press Jan. 28-30 edition: As a retired Richmond schoolteacher, I felt blindsided by the bold headline “Skipping school.”

First of all, teachers are allowed one day per month for doctors, dental and other medical appointments for themselves and their children. A request for a personal day, to confer with a lawyer for example, can be denied by the principal. Also teachers do not go out for lunch or make long business phone calls.

Secondly, teachers are busy at night and on the weekends writing lesson plans in duplicate, grading papers, calling or texting parents—many of whom do not appreciate the call—gathering and paying for supplies. Teachers do not “skip” school; we prepare to educate all the students.

Scholar Ruth Wilson Gilmore defines racism as “state-sanctioned and extralegal exposure of group-differentiated vulnerability to premature death,” and environmental racism plays a big role in this premature death.

Black Americans are three times as likely to die of asthma, are exposed to 1.5 times more carcinogenic particulates and have a higher lead exposure rate than white Americans. The race of surrounding communities is the strongest predictor of where toxic waste sites are placed.

Minority communities also are consistently underserved with basic infrastructure like drainage and sidewalks and are less supported after natural disasters, as evinced by hurricanes Katrina and Maria. These facts didn’t happen by chance, but because of inequitable policymaking and deadly apathy.

Environmental racism isn’t just in Flint, Mich., or at Standing Rock in the Dakotas. We have our very own fight in Brown Grove in Hanover County. Wegmans plans to build an enormous industrial site in the backyard of this tight-knit and historic Black community.

Wegmans’ project comes after 50 years of industrial encroachment, including a cement mixing plant, Interstate 95, a landfill and an airport expansion. The main road already regularly floods and will be far worse after Wegmans destroys 15 acres of wetlands.

The community has asked local officials for assistance throughout the years and faced apathy. But now residents feel even more unheard and unprotected, especially because Gov. Ralph S. Northam lobbied intensely for Wegmans to come to this site.

In the face of environmental racism, we turn to environmental justice. We must reconsider our relationship with the natural world, ally with and amplify the needs, desires and dreams of front line communities and build political power in Black neighborhoods. Environmental justice is the shift from being acted upon to acting. It is Black communities choosing their own destinies.

The good news is that Black activists and communities are already doing the hard work. Everyone else must simply do no harm. Wegmans should choose a site that won’t destroy wetlands and unmarked ancestral graves, and the elected officials who have been complicit should instead work to meet the infrastructure needs in Brown Grove.

Brown Grove deserves better. Brown Grove deserves justice.

In former President Trump’s second impeachment trial, his lead lawyer barely concealed his client’s racism, sexism and anti-Semitism. He directed special vitriol toward Vice President Kamala Harris and House Impeachment Manager Congressman Jamie Raskin.

The lawyer, Michael van der Veen, endlessly repeated visual images of Vice President Harris, essentially depicting a Black woman gone rogue, and portrayed Congressman Raskin, who is Jewish, as morally and professionally bankrupt.

The defense played Mr. Trump’s video of Vice President Harris encouraging partisans to “fight” many more times than images of others. The former president’s counsel also accused Congressman Raskin of being a liar, engaging in “impeachment lust,” being “intellectually dishonest” and arguing like “a first-year law student.” Counsel denigrated him as a criminal who “manufactured and doctored evidence” and engaged in

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We stand for ★ Equality ★ Justice ★ Opportunity ★ Freedom of expression

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Former President Trump incited a deadly insurrection against the U.S. government, according to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky.

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We have a housing crisis in Virginia. This was true before COVID-19, but it’s gotten worse over the past year.

and we fearlessly fight

Remembering Mary Wilson

TRABAJADORES

own culture.

Times have changed, Mr. van der Veen. This trial inadvertently exposed the dirty laundry of the Trump wing of the Republican Party and actually did the nation a favor.

Protecting Virginia Homeowners & Renters During the Pandemic

Employment

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In the South, Black people were considered morally and intellectually inferior, incapable of much personal improvement. Women were seen as natural servants of their men’s wishes. In Europe, Jews were considered rapacious city bankers who charged usurious interest rates and took little thought for others outside their

A Message from Senator Jennifer McClellan

Web Address: McCollumatLaw.com E-mail: rudy@mccollumatlaw.com

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.

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“prosecutorial misconduct.”

In pursuing this legal tactic, the defense team for former President Trump defaulted to a confederate-style conservatism characteristic of the antebellum South. That socioeconomic system saw life through the lens of white supremacy and a rural land-holding gentry like that of feudal times in Europe.

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FIONNUALA FISK Richmond The writer is co-hub coordinator of Sunrise Richmond, a youth-led movement fighting climate change and advocating for a Green New Deal.

“Get A Fresh Start”

Next, I noticed that the article did not include any interviews with any of Richmond’s hard-working teachers who are striving to deliver education on all levels. The writer did not note the numbers of teachers who quit or transfer to other school districts away from the city of Richmond.

Surely, the writer has seen the comments of frustrated parents at home due to COVID-19 as they struggle to augment their children’s learning at home. Many of these parents wish for schools to open and for teachers to teach their children once again.

Richmond’s teachers are due an apology for this one-sided story.

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Richmond Free Press

A12 February 18-20, 2021

Sports Stories by Fred Jeter

No. 1 Baldwin aces assists for VCU Rams basketball

There’s a new basketball statistic this winter at Virginia Commonwealth University, albeit unofficially. It’s called the “Ace-sist.”

Freshman point guard Adrian “Ace” Baldwin Jr. leads the squad in the official category of assists while helping to guide the Rams to the top of Atlantic 10 Conference standings — 15-4 overall, 8-2 in the A-10 starting this week.

“Ace is beyond his years in maturity,” Coach Mike Rhoades told the media earlier this season. “He’s our quarterback.”

The well-muscled, 6-foot, 190-pound native of Baltimore was averaging nearly five assists per VCU’s all-time season leaders for game — more than assists per game double any other Ball handler Season Assists Ram — following Dave Edwards 1971-72 8.5 a 67-64 win over Keith Highsmith 1974-75 7.9 St. Bonaventure on Eric Maynor 2006-07 6.4 Feb. 12 at the Siegel Kenny Harris 1992-93 6.3 Center.

LaMar Taylor 1998-99 6.3 Baldwin adds 5.7 Edmund Sherod 1978-79 6.2 points per game and 3.4 rebounds, with only 42 turnovers in 506 minutes of floor time. Wearing jersey No. 1, the left-hander is trusted with the ball in his hands more than any other Ram. He also is a ringleader in the Rams’ “Havoc” style belly-to-belly defense with 37 steals, second on the team to Bones Hyland.

“Ace plays a high level of defense for a freshman,” Coach Rhoades told the media.

Coach Rhoades started this season with a question mark for the lead ball handling role following the graduation of floor leader Marcus Evans and two strong backups guards, Malik Crowfield and Mike’L Simms.

In need of help right away, Coach Rhoades reached into his deck of recruiting cards and pulled out an ace.

Problem solved. Baldwin had seven assists in his first col-

Adrian “Ace” Baldwin Jr.

legiate start against Utah State University, then six assists against West Virginia University and another six assists against University of Memphis.

His high total of 10 came in a VCU home win over James Madison University. Baldwin’s smooth feeds have helped Hyland average nearly 20 points per game and emerge as an A-10 Player of the Year candidate.

The Rams newcomer ranks eighth in the A-10 in total assists and fifth in assists-to-turnovers ratio.

Baldwin’s 2.1 steals per night is third in the conference. He also has been a key in VCU forcing 342 opponent turnovers, 57 more than the Rams.

As a high school player at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, which is billed as being the oldest continually operating Black

VUU to restart football this fall

Virginia Union University isn’t just sticking a toe in the water to start the 2021 football season.

Instead, the Panthers are diving head first into the deep end.

“Opening the season against an FCS opponent, followed by a program that recently won the NCAA championship, gives us an opportunity to find out what type of team we are early,” said Coach Alvin Parker.

VUU will open at Hampton University of the Football Championship Subdivision on Sept. 4 and play host to juggernaut Valdosta State University of Georgia on Sept. 11 at a refurbished Willie Lanier at Hovey Stadium on VUU’s campus.

Valdosta State won the NCAA Division II title in 2018 (14-0 record) and went 10-1 last year, advancing to the NCAA second round.

The Panthers’ homecoming this season will be Oct. 9 against CIAA opponent Lincoln University of Pennsylvania.

VUU went 7-3 under Coach Parker in 2019 and 8-2 in 2018.

VUU football Here’s the Panthers’ 2021 football schedule Sept. 4 at Hampton Sept. 11 Valdosta State University, 6 p.m.

Sept. 18 Virginia University of Lynchburg (Willard Bailey Classic), 6 p.m.

Sept. 25 at Johnson C. Smith University Oct. 2 Shaw University, 1 p.m.

Oct. 9 Lincoln University of Pennsylvania (Homecoming), 1 p.m.

Oct. 16 at Chowan University Oct. 23 Bowie State University (Lucille M. Brown Community Youth Bowl), 1 p.m.

Oct. 30 at Elizabeth City State University Nov. 6 Virginia State University, 2 p.m.

Nov. 13

CIAA championship game

WNBA’s Megan Walker traded to the Phoenix Mercury

Megan Walker

Megan Walker is taking her jump shot from the Big Apple to the desert.

The former standout at Chesterfield’s Monacan High School and the University of Connecticut has been traded from the New York Liberty to the Phoenix Mercury in a WNBA deal.

Walker averaged 3.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in an injury-plagued rookie season with the Liberty. She was the sixth overall draft choice after leaving UConn following her junior year

in 2019-20.

This offseason, she has played professionally in Hungary.

Going to Phoenix with Walker from New York is All-Star Kia Nurse. In return, the Liberty will get the Mercury’s first round draft picks for 2021 and 2022.

In Phoenix, Walker will join another UConn alumna, Diana Taurasi, who ranks with the game’s greatest players.

Darnell Rogers may be small in stature but makes big plays for Maryland-BC Too short to play basketball?

Think again.

Among the biggest stories in college hoops this winter concerns the smallest player.

Darnell Rogers of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County stands 5-foot-2 and is believed to be the shortest player in NCAA Division I history.

Despite what might seem like a handicap, the 150-pound, Baltimore-born senior guard is an impact player on the Retrievers’ squad that began this week 13-4 overall and 9-3 in the America East Conference.

“His size turns into an advantage,” UMBC Coach R y a n O d o m told the Darnell Rogers media following a recent victory at Stony Brook, N.Y. “It’s something you can’t duplicate in practice. You can study film all you want. But until you play against him, you don’t know what to expect.”

After 17 games, Rogers— wearing the No. 2 jersey— averages 9.8 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.4 steals while logging 28.5 minutes per game.

He’s a threat with his extraordinary quickness and change of direction, driving to the hoops for scoop shots or dishes and from afar. He’s hitting 38 percent beyond the arc.

Darnell Rogers moves the ball down the court.

Rogers nailed four 3-pointers and scored 14 points in UMBC’s 61-48 win over Stony Brook on Feb. 8.

“Everyone thinks it’s a big deal to see me do what I do,” Rogers told the media. “But it’s just normal for me.”

Rogers is a crowd favorite wherever he goes. How could even the most partisan of rival fans root against a little man in a tall man’s game? Nicknamed “Beep-Beep,” he’s “The Road

Runner” versus “Wile E. Coyote,” whether it be at home or on the road.

“It’s like that everywhere,” Rogers said. “The crowd goes wild.”

Before Rogers, the shortest players in NCAA Division I annals are believed to have been 5-foot-3 Muggsy Bogues at Wake Forest University from 1983 to 1987 and 5-foot-3 Eric Bell at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas from 2008

to 2010.

According to Scholarship Stats.com, since 2016-17, there have been 5,341 NCAA Division I basketball scholarship players. Of them, only two have been shorter than 5-foot-7 and none shorter than 5-foot-5. The average height of a scholarship basketball player is 6-foot-5, according to the data.

Rogers grew up with a “size-doesn’t-matter” mentality, watching his father, 5-foot-4 Shawnta Rogers, sparkle on the college and pro level in basketball. Shawnta Rogers was Atlantic 10 Player of the Year in 1999 for George Washington University and competed many years professionally in France and Italy.

An older brother, 5-foot-8 Terrell Rogers, played at the University of Delaware.

Darnell Rogers traveled around the globe as a youngster, following his dad’s career overseas. He played high school ball in South Carolina and Georgia before first signing with Florida Gulf Coast University. Following a transfer, he starred one season at New Mexico Junior College before returning to Maryland for college near his native Baltimore.

UMBC made history March 16, 2018, by becoming the first 16th seed school in history to beat a No. 1 – the University of Virginia—in the NCAA Tournament.

Now the Retrievers are making history again. Goes to show, tall tales come in all sizes.

Catholic educational facility in America, Baldwin was named Maryland State Player of the Year by the Baltimore Sun as a junior and senior. He scored 1,671 points and dished 720 assists, drawing such suitors as the University of Virginia, the University of Maryland, Villanova and Georgetown universities.

As the Rams’ offensive orchestrator, Baldwin has placed his high-scoring reputation on hold.

“I get my teammates involved first before I want to score,” he told the media. “But I can really score when I have to. Like, it’s no rush.”

More responsibility has been placed on Baldwin’s shoulders since backup Tre Clark was dismissed from the team earlier this month.

With Clark’s absence, Baldwin logged 34 minutes against the University of Rhode Island, 26 minutes against the University of Dayton and 37 minutes against St. Bonaventure, all victories.

With the loss of numerous seniors from a year ago, plus the transfer of top scorer Marcus Santos-Silva, the Rams were the preseason pick to finish ninth in the A-10.

Little did those voting know that the Rams had an ace up their sleeve.

Aurealius Thomas, among the first Black All-Americans in college football, dies at 86 Aurealius Thomas, among the Black college football All-Americans, died Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. He was 86.

Mr. Thomas was a consensus AllAmerican on Ohio State University’s national championship team of 1957.

The Columbus, Ohio, native was elected to both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Ohio State University Aurealius Athletic Hall of Fame.

Thomas Under Coach Woody Hayes, Mr. Thomas played both offensive and defensive guard and logged 463 minutes, out of 600 total, for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State finished 9-1 in 1957, with a 10-7 victory over the University of Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

Mr. Thomas was drafted by the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers but chose to pursue a career in education and the insurance business.

Only a sprinkling of Black atheletes were playing major college football at the time Mr. Thomas played. The first Black All-American was UCLA back Kenny Washington in 1939.

Trailblazing gymnast Dianne Durham succumbs at 52 Trailblazing gymnast Dianne Durham has died.

She was 52 and died Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021, in a Chicago hospital surrounded by family.

A native of Gary, Ind., Ms. Durham was the first Black athlete to win the USA Gymnastics National Championships all-round title in 1983 Dianne Durham in Chicago.

“We are heartbroken,” said USA Gymnastics Chief Executive Officer Li Li Leung. “Dianne opened doors for generations of gymnasts. Her legacy lives on every day in gyms across the country.”

Ms. Durham’s achievements paved the way for such future Olympic gold medalists as Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas and Dominique Dawes.

Coached by Béla Károlyi as a teenager, Ms. Durham broke into national-level gymnastics in 1981 by winning the U.S. junior elite title. She successfully defended that crown in 1982.

Injuries prevented her from making the U.S. Olympic Team in 1984.

Following retirement from competition in 1985, she went on to become a judge, coach and motivational speaker.

Former MLB pitcher Grant Jackson dies of COVID-19 complications Grant Jackson, a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 1979 “We Are Family” championship team, died Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, of complications from COVID-19. He was 78.

Mr. Jackson was 2-0 in the 1979 World Series and got the win in relief in Game Seven against the host Baltimore Orioles.

Grant Jackson The Pirates’ disco theme song throughout the season was “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge. The 1979 squad also was among the most diverse World Series champs.

The 1979 Pirates roster was loaded with Black and Latino players such as 1979 World Series MVP Willie Stargell, Dock Ellis, Omar Moreno, Frank Taveras, Rennie Stennett, Mike Easler, Dave Parker, Bill Madlock and Manny Sanguillén.

The starting pitcher in Game Seven was Jim Bibby, brother of longtime Richmonder Fred Bibby.

The 1979 Pirates also stood out for their non-traditional pillbox caps.

The left-handed Mr. Jackson played for six different major league teams between 1965 and 1982. He compiled an 86-75 record with a 3.46 earned run average and 79 saves.

The 1979 season was among his best when he went 8-5 with a 2.79 ERA and 14 saves.

Mr. Jackson played in three World Series — 1971 with the Baltimore Orioles, 1976 with the New York Yankees and 1979 with Pittsburgh.

The southpaw pitched in 692 big-league games before retiring in 1982 as a Pirates relief hurler.

Richmond Free Press

February 18-20, 2021

Strong Men & Women in Virginia History

B1

Stan Maclin * Social justice activist

Dr. Lerla G. Joseph Physician

L. Louise B. Lucas Virginia state senator

Evelyn Reid Syphax *

Krysta N. Jones

Educator

Political activist

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2021 HONOREES

D

EDICATED doctors, clergy,

educators, lawyers and civil rights leaders define generations of strong men and women whose tireless work help build communities that ensure equality and justice for all. These leaders seek fair employment and wages. They question unfair policies in schools, healthcare, housing and voting. They push for inclusion and diversity in workplaces.

They raise money and create programs to assist children in need and adults who desire better lives. Dominion Energy and the Library of Virginia are proud to honor 2021’s Strong Men & Women in Virginia History. Their selfless work will continue to inspire emerging leaders who seek even greater levels of achievement.

The Strong Men & Women in Virginia History program is sponsored

by Dominion Energy and the Library of Virginia to honor the contributions of influential African-American leaders. The program also helps prepare future leaders by sponsoring an annual student writing contest with awards to students and their schools. To learn more about the program, its honorees, and available resource materials, visit lva.virginia.gov/smw.

KRYSTA N. JONES Political activist — Arlington

Studying African American history while growing up fueled her knowledge of political action and working against racism. Further studies while in the Peace Corps and college led her to establish the Virginia Leadership Institute in 2006. Her nonpartisan organization, now known as Vote Lead Impact, trains and mentors African Americans to run for elected office and provides scholarships for those seeking leadership development programs.

DR. LERLA G. JOSEPH Physician — Richmond

Her mission to assure high-quality health care for underserved populations in central Virginia was achieved in 1987 when she opened her own practice in Charles City County. The facility later expanded to include diagnostic and disease prevention training and “a center of healing.” Today, the Central Virginia Coalition of Healthcare Providers is one of the nation’s few minority-owned accountable care organizations in which regional medical professionals provide accessible, high quality, and affordable care for Medicare recipients.

L. LOUISE B. LUCAS Virginia state senator — Portsmouth

In December 2019 she became the first female and the first African American elected president pro tempore of the Virginia State Senate, having served southeastern Virginia’s 18th District since 1991. Other historic achievements include being the first Black woman to win election to the Portsmouth City Council.

STAN MACLIN * Social justice activist — Harrisonburg

Through his work in community activism, the Mennonite minister focused on diversity, inclusion, racial justice and criminal justice reform. In 2016, in response to police shootings of unarmed Black men, Maclin co-founded Americans Resisting Minority and Ethnic Discrimination to document and raise awareness of similar events. His activism led to the establishment of the People’s Equality Commission of the Shenandoah Valley, which helps citizens combat institutional racism.

EVELYN REID SYPHAX * Educator — Arlington

Unable to find adequate day care for her son in segregated Arlington, she established the Syphax Child Care Center in 1963. She also was a teacher and reading specialist who later served on the Arlington School Board. Her interest in documenting black history helped create the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington. Virginia Union University honors her work and memory with its Evelyn Reid Syphax School of Education. * Deceased

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2/12/21 8:43 AM

Richmond Free Press

B2 February 18-20, 2021

Happenings Musicians and artists come together for VMFA mural in RVA Community Makers 2021 The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will honor five musicians in this year’s RVA Community Makers program celebrating Richmond area artists on Wednesday, Desiree Roots Feb. 24.

The hourlong Facebook event will be livestreamed starting at 6 p.m.

Selected for their creativity and impact on the Richmond community, the musicians are jazz instrumentalist J. Plunky Branch; blues and jazz vocalist and actor Desiree Roots; R&B

singer-songwriter Jon Bibbs; hip-hop artist-writer Z-Bey (Zenobia); and gospel singer-songwriter Cora Armstrong.

As part of the project, five local visual artists were selected to create artwork inspired by one of the musicians. The artists are Mahari Chabwera, Justice Dwight, David Marion, Nadd Harvin and Austin Miles.

Their work will be joined with that of public participants to create a mixed-media mural at the museum. Muralist Hamilton Glass will put the work all together in the mural, which will be on view in the museum’s Atrium Feb. 22

through March 1.

The artists and musicians will be interviewed by Radio One personality Miss Community Clovia Lawrence during Plunky Branch the hourlong virtual program on Feb. 24 and livestreamed on https://www.facebook.com/myVMFA. It also will be on Radio One’s KISS Richmond, Praise 101, and IPower Facebook pages.

Details: www.vmfa.museum/calendar/events/rva-communitymakers-2021/

Black History Month events

Complied by Ronald E. Carrington

A variety of events are planned in and around Richmond for Black History Month.

The annual observance originated as “Negro History Week” in 1926 with Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a Virginia native, and the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, which Dr. Woodson helped to found.

It has since expanded to a monthlong observation honoring the contributions and accomplishments of Black Americans.

Some of the month’s events include: Thursday, Feb. 18, 6 p.m., “Finding My People: African-American Genealogy Workshop.” Dr. Jajuan Johnson, a Mellon postdoctoral research associate at the College of William & Mary, will talk about resources to help research African-American family history. Sponsored by The Lemon Project at the College of William & Mary in partnership with the Let Freedom Ring Foundation. Details and registration: https://events. wm.edu/event/view/lemonproject/120737 Saturday, Feb. 20, 2 to 3 p.m., Black History Month Highlights, The Valentine, 1015 E. Clay St. Take a live, interactive Zoom tour exploring highlights and stories from the museum’s core exhibit, “This is Richmond, Virginia.” Free Details and registration: www.thevalentine.org or (804) 649-0711 Monday, Feb. 22, noon to 1 p.m., Public historian and researcher Elvatrice Parker Belsches of Richmond talks about the noted 1951 student walkout led by Barbara Johns to protest dilapidated conditions at Farmville’s Robert Russa Moton High School. Ms. Belsches late father, Ernest Parker Sr. was a math teacher and vice principal of the

school at the time. The walkout ultimately laid the groundwork for the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that deemed racially “separate but equal” public school systems unconstitutional. Free, virtual talk is part of “Moton Mondays” series sponsored by the Moton Museum in Farmville at www.facebook.com/motonmuseum. Details: https://motonmuseum.org/ events/category/webinar/ or (434) 315-8775.

Monday, Feb. 22, 7 to 9 p.m., History of the Buffalo Soldiers, the 9th and 10th Calvary Regiment of the U.S. Army, sponsored by the Virginia Military Affairs Committee of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. Speakers for the free, virtual event include Steven Nave, executive board member of the 9th and 10th Horse Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers Museum in Tacoma, Wash., and Hank Mabry, president of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club of Virginia. Zoom meeting. https://vccs.zoom.us/j/94270431148?pwd=ZIB 0bEFJa1ZzckV1c2R1eUxTTjVHdz09Details: Contact Kevin at (804) 601-0215.

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 6 to 7:30 p.m., “The Black family and its representation, identity and diversity.”

An online discussion with Dr. Michael Dickinson, assistant professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University; Dr. Kimberly Wallace-Sanders, associate professor of American and African American Studies at Emory University; and Dr. Grace Gipson, assistant professor of African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Sponsored by Richmond Public Library. Registration required at rvalibrary.libcal.com/event.

Saturday, Feb. 27, 3 to 7 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 28, 3 to 6 p.m., Black Book Expo, sponsored by Elegba Folklore Society, 101 E. Broad St. Featured author: Dr. Ronald A. Crutcher, president of the

University of Richmond and author of the new memoir “I Had No Idea You Were Black: Navigating Race on the Road to Leadership.” Other celebrity guest authors will make presentations and sign their books. Entertainment and refreshments featured on Saturday. COVID-19 protocol in place. Details: www.efsinc.org or (804) 644-3900.

Virginia Museum of History & Culture The museum is hosting a series of virtual events that are free, but registration is required. Details: virginiahistory.org/events.

Thursday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m., “Hidden Figure of GPS,” a conversation with Dr. Gladys West, a trailblazing mathematician who helped develop GPS and other satellite mapping technology during her career at the Naval Surface Weapons Center at Dahlgren.

She was one of the first two Black women to join Dahlgren in 1956.

Thursday, Feb. 25, 7 p.m., “Activism from Home 101,” a virtual panel discussion with changemakers featured in the museum’s recent exhibit, “Today’s Agents of Change.” Panelists will offer insights from their experience and discuss how to tap into your passion, get involved in a cause and conduct advocacy work from home.

Virginia State University and Chesterfield County present the 32nd Annual Black History Month Celebration, a variety of free, virtual programs.

Register for any of the events below by going to www.chesterfield.gov/4256/Celebration-Events Thursday, Feb. 18, 4 to 6 p.m., “Our History, Our Resilience: Our Survival Beyond COVID,” sponsored

by VSU’s Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. Details: www.grgo.page.link/gCcoH Thursday, Feb. 18, 7 to 8 p.m., The Jazz of Plunky and Oneness. Musician J. Plunky Branch

gives a short talk on jazz and the Black experience followed by a performance with his band. Video is available for 30 days after premiere.

Friday, Feb. 19, 8 a.m. Chesterfield County Annual Scholarship Recognition. A virtual program to recognize six outstanding Chesterfield County high school seniors and the business community for their achievements and contributions. Program can be viewed on Comcast Channel 98, Verizon Channel 28, and live streamed on www.chesterfield.gov and the county’s YouTube channel.

Saturday, Feb. 20, 2 to 3 p.m., Let it Shine!

Bright Star Theatre introduces children to significant events and notable names of the Civil Rights Movement. Registration begins Feb. 6. Video is available for seven days after premiere.

Monday, Feb. 22, noon to 12:30 p.m., Tour of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. This virtual tour of the exhibits at the museum in Jackson, Miss., will provide information about the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi. Registration begins Feb. 8. Video is available for 30 days from premiere.

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 5:30 p.m., African American Read-In, Zoom event, sponsored by VSU’s Department of Languages and Literature and the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English.

Link: www.vsu zoom.us/3731937380 Through June, Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, 122 W. Leigh St. “VIRGINIA JAZZ: The Early Years,” a comprehensive exhibition highlighting seven decades of Virginia artists and their contributions to the development of jazz as an art form from the early 1900s through the 1960s.

Visitors also share their family stories and inspire a new generation to keep jazz alive. Details: www. blackhistorymuseum.org or (804) 780-9093.

Richmond siblings’ film, ‘Slave Cry,’ to be shown at the Pan African Film & Arts Festival

By Ronald E. Carrington

“Slave Cry,” a film by Richmond filmmaker Jai Jamison that stars his sister, Courtney Jamison, will be screened at the 29th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival that runs Feb. 28 through March 14.

The festival, which started in Los Angeles in 1992 and has become the largest international film festival featuring the work of Black artists from throughout the African diaspora, will feature 207 films from 45 countries in 43 languages. All will be shown online or on demand this year because of COVID-19.

“Slave Cry,” a 14-minute film shot in Richmond, addresses the city’s glamorization of Confederate history while juxtaposing the stereotypical roles African-American actors have been relegated to play despite their talent.

Many early roles for Black actors are steeped in slavery notions, filled with servants, halfwits, hustlers or being inferior to white people. That type of casting has been an age-old problem since the early days of mainstream American filmmaking.

In “Slave Cry,” Ms. Jamison plays a young actress whose side gig is working as a historical interpreter. The film opens with her in a slave costume standing in front of the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue. “ ‘Slave Cry’ is a reflection of our experiences as we grew

up in Richmond,” Ms. Jamison, told the Free Press.

It delves into the current life for people of color in America while pulling back the layers of how African-American history resonates in today’s culture, she said. It also exposes the limits for growth for actors of color.

Ms. Jamison, 28, graduated from James Madison University and earned a master’s degree from the prestigious Yale School of Drama in New Haven, Conn. Mr. Jamison, a 35-year-old writer, producer and director, graduated from Hampton University and earned a master’s in film from American University.

Ms. Jamison said a classmate at Yale who is of South Asian descent could relate to the message in “Slave Cry” and the stereotypes forced upon actors of color. “I wanted to

scream if I had to be asked to act in another arranged marriage scene (using) an accent,” her friend told her.

The Jamison siblings have been pleased with the overall reaction to the film, which also was shown at the Virginia Film Festival in 2019. They believe there are a lot of seeds in their work. It is very personal for them to reach people throughout the African diaspora. Their goal: To make sure people are portrayed as their original selves in the fullness of the character they play.

Mr. Jamison said working with and directing his sister was easy.

“Because we grew up together watching all of the same things, we have a similar aesthetic and an amazing shorthand between us on the set,” he said.

“It was like having the same brain between us. As I was

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giving her production notes, I didn’t have to finish my sentences. She knew what I wanted in her performance.”

Both of them are bicoastal.

They live together in Los Angeles while making frequent trips back to the East Coast and to Richmond to see their mother, former Richmond District Court Judge Birdie H. Jamison.

The film’s cast includes noted actor, director, producer and writer Tim Reid, who starred in numerous television show, including “WKRP in Cincinnati,” “Sister Sister” and “Frank’s Place.”

In the early 2000s, Mr. Reid selected Ms. Jamison to play 16-year-old Barbara Johns in a film about the 1951 historic walkout at the Moton School in Prince Edward County that laid the groundwork for the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the U.S. Su-

Richmond filmmaker Jai Jamison, left, showcases his sister Courtney, right, in “Slave Cry” to be screened at the 29th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival.

preme Court striking down the “separate but equal” doctrine of racially segregated schools as unconstitutional. Ms. Jamison was a student at the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School at the time.

Details about the festival, the films and the screening of “Slave Cry” are available at www.paff.org.

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Richmond Free Press

February 18-20, 2021 B3

Happenings

Personality: E. Martin ‘Marty’ Jewell Spotlight on board chairman of Cannabis Equity Coalition of Virginia In a time of growing economic instability for marginalized communities, E. Martin “Marty” Jewell sees an opportunity in a new industry for Virginia’s minority population and he is determined to seize it.

The former Richmond City Council member has joined the effort to ensure that Black and brown people and others are fully and more equitably included in new laws to legalize adult use of marijuana.

He is the volunteer board chairman of the Cannabis Equity Coalition of Virginia, or CECVA, that aims to educate the public about the push to legalize marijuana in the state and how legalization may impact families, communities and institutions.

“My lifelong official and unofficial advocacy has always led me to stand up for those who have been hurt and need the most help,” says Mr. Jewell, who cites a welcomed reputation as a “community loudmouth” as part of the reason he joined the group.

Formed in 2019, CECVA largely has focused its efforts on pending legislation in the General Assembly legalizing marijuana. While Gov. Ralph S. Northam and bill patrons have touted the legislation as the next steps toward expanding the lucrative market in Virginia, CECVA and similar groups say the bills, as drafted, run the risk of repeating errors made by other states in legalizing marijuana use.

CECVA members, he says, “recognize this unique opportunity to fund the socioeconomic uplift for our communities that have been devastated by disparate enforcement impacts for so long. This will ensure a barrier-

free environment in the pursuit of business opportunities in a brand new industry. This has never happened before in our lifetime.”

This week, Mr. Jewell’s work included discussions with legislators who drafted the bills, as well as lawmakers who could help make changes as the measures pass through the General Assembly.

Mr. Jewell is assisted in this work by a core group of seven CECVA members spread across Central Virginia and a number of partner organizations, including the Richmond Crusade for Voters and Marijuana Justice. They help CECVA in representing “the interests of voters and citizens” in the state who may be interested in the bills’ outcomes, but don’t have the knowledge or experience to be more directly involved in the legislative process, he says.

Mr. Jewell sees his selection as board chairman last month as indication the issue of marijuana legalization needs the kind of insight and passion he brings and to ensure those most affected aren’t left behind.

CECVA members wanted a board leader who could “properly represent the interests of Black and brown citizens all across Virginia,” Mr. Jewell says.

“Given the complexities and many challenges of the marijuana industry, particularly about both the inclusion of and interest of Black and brown folk, there will be a definitive need for solid CECVA leadership and community guidance in Virginia for years and years to come.”

Meet an advocate for marijuana equity and this week’s Personality, E. Martin “Marty” Jewell:

No. 1 volunteer position: Board chairman, Cannabis Equity Coalition of Virginia, or CECVA. Date and place of birth: Sept.

10 in Norfolk.

Current residence: Richmond’s Church Hill.

Occupation: Retired entrepreneur.

Education: Bachelor’s in sociology, Virginia Union University.

Family: Two sons and eight grandchildren.

Cannabis Equity Coalition of Virginia is: A statewide organization formed by grassroots advocates, community leaders, church leaders and others who are gravely concerned about the interests and well-being of Blacks and other impacted persons, particularly in light of pending legislation to legalize marijuana in Virginia.

When and why CECVA founded: In late 2019, a group of civic-minded community activists began to watch developments about the legalization of marijuana. The group then and now includes people who have studied the legalization of marijuana for many years as the industry came to fruition in states all across America.

CECVA’s immediate objectives: With the legislation now looming in the General Assembly, CECVA seeks to make sure new laws: 1.Allocate 70 percent of marijuana tax revenues to repair the massive damage done to many of our communities resulting from Virginia’s decades-long war on drugs.

That could amount to more than $1 billion over the next seven years.

2. Mandate that Blacks and other impacted persons are positioned in the lead to determine how marijuana tax revenues are invested in creative, yet very prudent, fiscally sound ways that hit the mark in helping to rebuild badly torn segments of Virginia’s hardest-hit communities.

3. Include solid details that require adult use marijuana licensees to include in their operations structures for full inclusion of junior partners — firms that are 100 percent owned by Black and brown Virginians — who gain full experiences in every aspect of the legal marijuana business to the extent such firms are able to eventually create their own.

When elected CECVA board chair: In early 2021, right before the General Assembly began on Jan. 13. In selecting me as board chair, CECVA leaders indicated the need for a Central Virginia-based advocate with the ability to properly represent the interest of Black and brown citizens all across Virginia.

Length of term: Through the end of 2021. The election of a new chair will be on or before Nov. 1, as CECVA prepares for the 2022 General Assembly.

How I got involved: Frankly, I think as a result of being well known as a “community loud-mouth” with a lifelong reputation of speaking up for the least among us and the downtrodden.

Cannabis and Virginia: While Black leaders and many others across Virginia respect Gov. Northam’s, Sen. Adam Ebbin’s, and Delegate Charniele Herring’s efforts in putting forth this legislation, there is significant concern about the process which has been devoid of any genuine public input. Without direct input from citizens and voters whose lives, families, neighborhoods and communities have been devastated by Virginia’s war on drugs for 60-plus years, the prospect for success that benefits all — except a select and privileged few — appears to be dim to non-existent.

CECVA’s fear is if Gov. Northam and legislators do not change the current bills significantly to make things right, Virginia will befall the plight of many other states and legalization of marijuana will be an albatross tainted with a forever stench that impacts everyone, especially politicians.

How I start the day: Watching the “Morning Joe” show on MSNBC with coffee and my calendar does the rest.

Three words that best describe me: Honest, frank and kind.

How I unwind: I am so busy, I rarely do.

Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: I am an avid golfer and was a member of the Virginia Union University Golf Team.

Quote that most inspires me: “You can’t cook in cold grease!” — Often stated by former Richmond City Councilman Sa’ad El-Amin At the top of my “to-do” list: Push to get as many of CECVA’s legislative interests advanced. Also, continuing to reach out to many pastors, church members and other faith leaders to help educate them about the legalization of marijuana in Virginia.

Best thing my parents ever taught me: My mother taught me to strengthen my faith in order to strengthen my courage.

Person who influenced me the most: My mother, Thelma T. Jewell-Freeman.

Book that influenced me the most: “Elevated By My Enemies Through the Power of God” by Debra K. Jewell.

What I’m reading now: I am again reading “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander.

Next goal: To launch a community wealth-building project this summer.

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Richmond Free Press

B4 February 18-20, 2021

Obituary/Faith/Directory

Dr. Ralph Reavis Sr., pastor, author and former president of Virginia University of Lynchburg, dies at 80

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

istry are being remembered following his death Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, at a nursing center in Chesterfield County. He was 80. His The private Virginia University of Lynchburg was teetering on son, Ralph Reavis Jr., said Dr. Reavis, who was suffering from collapse when Dr. Ralph Reavis Sr. left the pulpit at Riverview memory loss, died from complications of COVID-19.

Baptist Church in Richmond to respond to a call to save his Family and friends celebrated Dr. Reavis’ life during a graveundergraduate alma mater. side service Saturday, Feb. 6, in Lynchburg.

When the new president arrived, he found what One of 17 children born into a family in rural appeared to be a hopeless situation at the 134-year-old Brunswick County, Dr. Reavis felt the call to minVirginia Baptist State Convention-affiliated school istry as he attended James Solomon Russell High previously known as the Virginia Seminary and School in Lawrenceville and was licensed to preach College. Only 32 students were enrolled on campus, at 18. He often joked that he might have become the aging original buildings were barely functional a brick mason like his friends except that all the and the bills were piling up. spots in the training classes were full, leaving him, Undaunted, Dr. Reavis, a veteran church pashe said, “with only one choice — to take math and tor and professor at Virginia Union University’s science courses like biology, chemistry, Algebra I Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, went and II and geometry.”

Dr. Reavis to work to raise money and begin the turnaround Higher education seemed like a distant prospect with the staff. until he took part in a statewide association for students and Fifteen years later when he formally retired in 2015, the was spotted by Dr. M.C. Allen, who recruited him to Virginia historically Black institution was accredited and had an enroll- Seminary and College in Lynchburg. ment through online, satellite and campus classes of more than While there studying for a degree in sociology, Dr. Reavis 400 students. The buildings also had been renovated and the became involved with the Civil Rights Movement and spent 21 library expanded. days in jail for taking part in a sit-in to desegregate Lynchburg Academically, Virginia University of Lynchburg, founded in lunch counters. He also participated in protest marches and 1886, continued to be a ministerial training ground and also had picketing in other parts of the state. carved out an academic niche with undergraduate and graduate He later earned master’s degrees from VUU’s Samuel DeWitt degrees in management of health care, human resources and Proctor School of Theology and Union Theological Seminary most notably sports and e-sports. in Richmond and was, according to his family, the first Black Dr. Reavis’ contributions to Christian education and the min- person to earn a doctorate from the University of Virginia’s

Hundreds pay final respects to legendary actress Cicely Tyson Free Press wire report

NEW YORK People traveled across the country and stood in a block-long line to pay last respects to the late legendary actress Cicely Tyson at a public viewing Monday.

Hundreds of admirers of the pioneering Ms. Tyson lined up outside Harlem’s famed Abyssinian Baptist Church despite the wintry weather. Some said they had come from as far as Atlanta and Los Angeles to be there.

Many in the multigenerational crowd held photos of Ms. Tyson, who died Thurs-

day, Jan. 28, 2021. She was 96.

A private memorial service was held at the church on Tuesday, where former President Bill Clinton, Tyler Perry, Valerie Simpson and BeBe Winans were among the speakers and those offering tribute in what was described as “a moving experience.”

Ms. Tyson was the first Black woman to have a recurring role in a dramatic television series, the 1963 drama “East Side, West Side.”

Her performance as a sharecropper’s wife in the 1972 movie “Sounder” ce-

mented her stardom and earned her an Oscar nomination.

She went on to win two Emmy Awards for playing a 110-year-old former enslaved woman in the 1974 television drama “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” and received another Emmy Award 20 years later for “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All.” At age 88, Ms. Tyson won a Tony Award for the revival of Horton Foote’s “The Trip to Bountiful” in 2013.

Former President Barack Obama awarded her the Medal of Freedom in 2016.

Good Shepherd Baptist Church 1127 North 28th St., Richmond, VA 23223 s Office: (804) 644-1402 Dr. Sylvester T. Smith, Pastor “There’s A Place for You”

Due to the COVID-19 Corona Virus All regular activities have been suspended until further notice.

Visit https://youtu.be/qqzhnIEQyQc for inspirational messages from Pastor Smith

Department of Religious Studies.

After his college graduation in 1962, he went on to pastor six churches in Buggs Island, Surry, Portsmouth and other Virginia communities during the next 13 years with support from his wife of 53 years, the late Marion L. Reavis, before being called in 1974 to serve as the eighth pastor of Riverview Baptist Church in the city’s West End. He also served as a professor at VUU’s seminary for 21 years and taught courses at Howard University in Washington and the College of William & Mary as a visiting professor.

Dr. John W. Kinney, retired dean of VUU’s seminary, described Dr. Reavis as “a committed student and scholar of the Black church in Virginia,” which was the focus of the courses he taught. Dr. Kinney said that by mentioning a name to Dr. Reavis, he would not only know something about the person but also about his forebearers.

His son expressed pride in his father’s influence on future ministers. He noted that Dr. Reavis taught and mentored hundreds of young ministers who came through the school and knew many of the now leading pastors of churches in the Richmond area and across the country.

Dr. Reavis authored five books that he self-published, including three histories of the Lynchburg school that Black Baptists founded in 1886, “Virginia Seminary: A Journey of Black Independence,” “Virginia University of Lynchburg – On a Path to Freedom” and “Apostles of Self-Help & Independence, Chronicles of History.”

He also published books on the influence of 16th century church reformer Martin Luther, “The Meaning of Martin Luther for the Black Experience” and “Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Experience.”

Dr. Reavis was a member of the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Prince Hall Masons and the Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Richmond and Vicinity.

He credited his late wife, who died in 2015, with helping VUL weather a financial crisis in 2013 with a gift of $100,000.

In addition to his son, survivors include four siblings, Carrell Reavis Sr., Jerry R. Duplechein, Mary R. Yelverton and Thelma R. Allen; and a grandson.

BUILDING OR RENOVATING A CHURCH IN THE FUTURE? Contact Davis Brothers Construction Company, Inc., Building Churches for over 100 years.

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Broad Rock Baptist Church 5106 Walmsley Blvd., Richmond, VA 23224 804-276-2740 • 804-276-6535 (fax) www.BRBCONLINE.org

Moore Street Missionary Baptist Church

1408 W. Leigh Street · Richmond, Va. 23220 (804) 358—6403

Dr. Alonza L. Lawrence, Pastor

All church ac�vi�es are canceled un�l further no�ce.

Follow us on Facebook for “A Word from Moore Street’s Pastor” and weekly Zoom worship info.

Drive-thru giving will be available the 1st and 3rd Saturday from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the church. (Bowe Street side) You also may give through Givelify.

Be safe. Be blessed.

2IVERVIEW

“Due to the Corona Virus Pandemic, Services Are Cancelled, until further notice; but, please join us, by visiting BRBCOnline.org or YouTube (Broad Rock Baptist Church).”

“MAKE IT HAPPEN”

"APTIST #HURCH

Pastor Kevin Cook

Langston R. Davis email: ldavis@davisbrotherscc.com

Atlanta, Ga. Office: s &AX

Langston R. Davis Jr. email: ldavisjr@davisbrotherscc.com

“The Church With A Welcome”

3HARON "APTIST #HURCH 500 E. Laburnum Avenue, Richmond, VA 23222 www.sharonbaptistchurchrichmond.org (804) 643-3825 Rev. Dr. Paul A. Coles, Pastor

Sunday School – 9:45 AM Sunday Services – 11:00 AM

Triumphant

Via Conference Call (515) 606-5187 Pin 572890#

Baptist Church

Also Visit Us On Facebook Sunday Service – 11:00 AM 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

Corporate Office Richmond, Va.: s &AX

2003 Lamb Avenue Richmond, VA 23222 Dr. Arthur M. Jones, Sr., Pastor (804) 321-7622 “Due to the Corona Virus all services at Triumphant Baptist Church are suspended until further notice.”

SUNDAYS Morning Worship 10:00 AM Drive-In Service in our Parking Lot

7M\XL &ETXMWX 'LYVGL 8LIQI JSV 1SFMPM^MRK *SV 1MRMWXV] 6IJVIWLMRK 8LI 3PH ERH )QIVKMRK 8LI 2I[ A 21st Century Church With Ministry For Everyone

We Embrace Diversity — Love For All!

Join us on Sundays at 12 noon via Conference Call: 1(503)300-6860 Code:273149#

Come worship with us!

Sunday Service will not be held in our sanctuary.

Join us for 11:00 AM Worship by going to our website www.sixthbaptistchurch.org

Thirty-first Street Baptist Church

C

See you there!

e with Reverence elevanc R g in Rev. Dr. Joshua Mitchell, Senior Pastor bin ❖ om Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic All regular activities have been suspended until further notice.

Please join us on

Facebook or YouTube

10:30 a.m. Sundays 7:00 p.m. Wednesdays-Bible Study

Twitter sixthbaptistrva

Rev. Dr. Yvonne Jones Bibbs, Pastor

400 South Addison Street Richmond, Va. 23220

(near Byrd Park)

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

St. Peter Baptist Church $R +IRKLAND 2 7ALTON 0ASTOR

Worship Opportunities Join us for online streaming this Sunday at 10 AM. Visit our WEBSITE, look under “/NLINE 3ERVICES,” and access the “0ASTOR S -ESSAGE.” Bible Study Opportunities Thursdays: Virtual Bible Study session via Zoom, every Thursday at 7 PM. Email request to spbcoffice@stpeterbaptist.net; A new Meeting ID and password will be emailed weekly.

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

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Your gift is safe/secure and goes directly to our church.

-OUNTAIN 2OAD s 'LEN !LLEN 6IRGINIA /FlCE s &AX s WWW STPETERBAPTIST NET

Richmond Free Press

February 18-20, 2021 B5

Legal Notices City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the City of Richmond Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, March 1, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. and the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing on Monday, March 8, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. to consider the following ordinances: Ordinance No. 2021-027 To amend Ord. No. 2020142, adopted Jul. 27, 2020, which authorized the special use of the properties known as 1705, 1707, and 1711 Westover Hills Boulevard, and 4922 New Kent Road for the purpose of retail, office, and commercial uses accessory to an existing church, to allow a sign, upon certain terms and conditions. The subject properties are in the R-5 Single-Family Residential zoning district. The Richmond 300 Master Plan recommends Residential land use for the properties, which is described as a singlefamily houses on large or medium-sized lots more homogeneous in nature.

Ordinance No. 2021-028 To authorize the special use of the properties known as 1031 Fourqurean Lane, 1031 Rear Fourqurean Lane, and 1101 Fourqurean Lane for the purpose of a multifamily development containing up to 56 dwelling units within up to 14 dwellings, community center, leasing office, open space, and a playground, upon certain terms and conditions. The properties are situated in a R-5 Single-Family Residential District. The Richmond 300 Master Plan recommends Residential land use for the subject properties.

Such areas are described as neighborhoods consisting primarily of single-family houses on large- or medium-sized lots more homogeneous in nature, at densities of 2 to 10 housing units per acre. The density of the project is proposed to be approximately 16 units per acre.

Ordinance No. 2021-029 To authorize the special use of the property known as 1518 Pulaski Street for the purpose of a personal fitness business within an accessory building, upon certain terms and conditions. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Residential.

This category is described as single-family houses on large or medium-sized lots more homogeneous in nature. The current zoning for this property is R-6 Single-Family Attached Residential.

Ordinance No. 2021-030 To authorize the special use of the property known as 1919 Wilmington Avenue for the purpose of no more than one dwelling unit within an accessory building to an existing single-family dwelling, upon certain terms and conditions.

The property is situated in a R-5 Single-Family Residential District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Residential. This category is viewed to include singlefamily houses on large or medium-sized lots more homogeneous in nature at a density of 2 to 10 housing units per acre. Primary Uses include: Singlefamily houses, accessory dwelling units, and open space. The density of the proposed development is approximately 11 units per acre.

Ordinance No. 2021-031 To rezone the property known as 2902 North Arthur Ashe Boulevard from the M-2 Heavy Industrial District to the TOD-1 Transit-Oriented Nodal District. The property is situated in an M-2 Heavy Industrial District. The City of Richmond’s Master Plan designates a future land use category for the subject property as Industrial Mixed-Use. Primary uses are retail/ office/personal service, multi-family residential, cultural and open space.

No residential density is specified for this land use designation.

The meetings will be held through electronic communication means pursuant to and in compliance with Ordinance No. 2020-093, adopted April 9, 2020, as most recently amended by Ordinance No. 2020-232, adopted December 14, 2020. The meetings will be open to participation through electronic communication means by the public and closed to in-person participation by the public. Less than a quorum of Richmond City Planning Commission Continued on next column

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members and Richmond City Council will assemble in City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, and most members and other staff will participate by teleconference/ videoconference via Microsoft Teams.

The meetings will be streamed live online at the following web address: https://richmondva. legistar.com/Calendar. a s p x . To w a t c h a meeting’s live stream at the web address provided, find and click the link that reads, “In Progress” in the farthest right hand column entitled, “Video”.

The agenda for the Richmond City Council meeting is accessible through the City’s legislative website at the following web address: https://richmondva. legistar.com/Calendar. aspx. To view the agenda at the web address provided, find and click the link that reads, “Agenda” associated with the March 8, 2021 Richmond City Council Formal meeting listed in the calendar.

Interested citizens who wish to speak at the Richmond City Council meeting will be given an opportunity to do so by following the “Formal Meeting Access and Public Participation Instructions” attached to the March 8, 2021 Richmond City Council Formal meeting agenda.

Citizens are encouraged to provide their comments in writing to CityClerksOffice@ richmondgov.com in lieu of calling in. The person responsible for receiving comments in writing is Candice D. Reid, City Clerk. All comments received prior to 10:00 a.m. on Monday, March 8, 2021, will be provided to Council members prior to the meeting and will be included in the record of the meeting.

Copies of the full text of all ordinances are available by visiting the City Clerk’s page on the City’s Website at https://www.rva.gov/ office-city-clerk.

Candice D. Reid City Clerk

Divorce VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER GREGORY WALKER, Plaintiff v.

ANGELA WALKER, Defendant.

Case No.: CL21000180-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months.

It is ORDERED that the defendant, who is a nonresident, appear here on or before the 5th day of April, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. and protect her interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Esquire VSB# 27724 Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE CITY OF RICHMOND MARLON RAMON JOHNSON, Plaintiff v.

CHAKERA (DUDLEY) JOHNSON, Defendant.

Case No. 20-3921-00-6 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to: Obtain a divorce a Vincullo Matrimonii or From the Bonds of Matrimony.

It appearing from an affidavit that the defendant is: that diligence has been used without effect, by or on the behalf of the plaintiff to ascertain in what county or city defendant is and the last known address of the Defendant is as follows: L/K/A 2410 5th Ave., Richmond, VA 23222.

It is ORDERED that Chakara (Dudley) Johnson appear at the above-named court and protect his/her interests on or before March 29, 2021 at 9:00 a.m.

An Extract, Teste: EDWARD F. JEWETT, Clerk VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER MAYRA MARTINEZ DE GONZALEZ, Plaintiff v.

ENRIQUE GONZALEZ MARTINEZ, Defendant.

Case No.: CL20002359-00 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 Continued on next column

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and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months.

It is ORDERED that the defendant, who is a nonresident, appear here on or before the 29th day of March, 2021 and protect his interests.

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

Virginia, in re JA-MOD GARDLEY-CEPHAS RDSS v.

ALEXANDER CEPHAS File No. JJ077702-09-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“TPR”) of Alexander Cephas (Father) of Ja-Mod Gardley-Cephas DOB 09/07/2007, child.

“TPR” 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 Alexander Cephas to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before 3/30/2021, at 9:00 AM, Courtroom #2.

v.

JAMES E. PARRISH, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-6010 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 1612 Talbert Drive, Tax Map Number C009-0199/058, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, James E. Parrish and Linda B. Parrish.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owners, JAMES E. PARRISH and LINDA B. PARRISH, who have been served by posting and by mailing a copy of the complaint to their last known address, have not been personally located and have not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that JAMES E. PARRISH, LINDA B. PARRISH, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before april 15, 2021 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 804-646-7949

RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

DOROTHY M. WOOLFORD, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-2665 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 2409 Alexander Avenue, Tax Map Number S008-0815/054, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Dorothy M. Woolford.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, DOROTHY M. WOOLFORD, 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; that SHARON HORSTKAMP, Registered Agent, for MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC, Beneficiary of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 04-35916 on October 22, 2004, 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 DOROTHY M. WOOLFORD, upon information and belief deceased, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, SHARON HORSTKAMP, Registered Agent, for MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC, Beneficiary of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 04-35916 on October 22, 2004, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before april 15, 2021 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 804-646-7949

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER DEBORAH BLUE, Plaintiff v.

RON BLUE, Defendant.

Case No.: CL21000418-00 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 25th day of March, 2021 at 9:00 AM, 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 PAUL JONES Plaintiff v.

CRYSTAL POINDEXTER, Defendant.

Case No.: CL20004698-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months.

It is ORDERED that the defendant, who has been served with the Complaint by posted service appear here on or before the 18th day of March, 2021at 9:00 a.m. and protect her interests.

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

Custody

VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re DE’ MIYAH MELTON RDSS v.

Robert Lee gregory File No. JJ094557-12 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“TPR”) of the Robert Lee Gregory (Father) of De’Miyah Melton DOB 05/17/2017, child.

“TPR” 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 Robert Lee Gregory (Father) to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before 4/26/2021, 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 DE’ MIYAH MELTON RDSS v.

UNKNOWN FATHER File No. JJ094557-11 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“TPR”) of the Unknown Father of De’Miyah Melton DOB 05/17/2017, child.

“TPR” 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 4/26/2021, at 2:00 PM, Courtroom #4.

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

ROBERT JONES, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-5887 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 805 Goodwood Court, Tax Map Number C005-0749/035, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Robert Jones and Special Jones.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owners, ROBERT JONES and SPECIAL JONES, who have been served by posting and by mailing a copy of the complaint to their last known address, have not been personally located and have not filed a response to this action; that THE MAY DEPARTMENT STORES COMPANY, an entity listed as inactive in the records of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, 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 ROBERT JONES, SPECIAL JONES, THE MAY DEPARTMENT STORES COMPANY, an entity listed as inactive in the records o f t h e Vi r g i n i a S t a t e Corporation Commission, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before april 15, 2021 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 804-646-7949 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

LINDA ALEXANDER, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-4752 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 1242 Wallace Street, Tax Map Number W000-0437/060, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Linda Alexander and Janice L. Alexander.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, LINDA ALEXANDER, who has been served by posting and by mailing a copy of the complaint to her last known address, has not been personally located and has not filed a response to this action; that said owner, JANICE L. ALEXANDER, 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 LINDA ALEXANDER, JANICE L. ALEXANDER, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before april 15, 2021 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 804-646-7949

VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of

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

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

FORREST PROPERTIES, LLC, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-6015 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 4930 Old Midlothian Turnpike, Tax Map Number C0060450/022, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Forrest Properties, LLC.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, FORREST PROPERTIES, LLC, Forrest Properties, LLC, an entity listed as inactive as of April 30, 2017 in the records of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, 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 FORREST PROPERTIES, LLC, Forrest Properties, LLC, an entity listed as inactive as of April 30, 2017 in the records of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before april 15, 2021 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 804-646-7949 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

NAPOLEON R. GODWELL, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-4614 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 3109 Barton Avenue, Tax Map Number N000-1041/019, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Napoleon R. Godwell.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, NAPOLEON R. GODWELL, 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 NAPOLEON R. GODWELL, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before april 15, 2021 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 804-646-7949 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF Continued on next column

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

SHIRLEY M. NESMITH, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-2575 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 918 North 33rd Street, Tax Map Number E000-0805/010, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Shirley M. Nesmith and David Wayne Schneider.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, DAVID WAYNE SCHNEIDER, 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 DAVID WAYNE SCHNEIDER, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before april 15, 2021 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. Continued on next column

Continued from previous column

City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

SHIRLEY M. NESMITH, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-2574 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 916 North 33rd Street, Tax Map Number E000-0805/012, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Shirley M. Nesmith and David Wayne Schneider.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, DAVID WAYNE SCHNEIDER, 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 DAVID WAYNE SCHNEIDER, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before april 15, 2021 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 804-646-7949 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

SHIRLEY M. NESMITH, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-2573 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 914 North 33rd Street, Tax Map Number E000-0805/013, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Shirley M. Nesmith and David Wayne Schneider.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, DAVID WAYNE SCHNEIDER, 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 DAVID WAYNE SCHNEIDER, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before april 15, 2021 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 804-646-7949 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

SHIRLEY M. NESMITH, Continued on next column

Continued from previous column

et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-2572 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 912 North 33rd Street, Tax Map Number E000-0805/014, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Shirley M. Nesmith and David Wayne Schneider.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, DAVID WAYNE SCHNEIDER, 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 DAVID WAYNE SCHNEIDER, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before april 15, 2021 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 804-646-7949 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

SHIRLEY M. NESMITH, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-2571 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 910 North 33rd Street, Tax Map Number E000-0805/015, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Shirley M. Nesmith and David Wayne Schneider.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, DAVID WAYNE SCHNEIDER, 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 DAVID WAYNE SCHNEIDER, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before april 15, 2021 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 804-646-7949

LICENSE Ashley Geneva Kenney Trading as: A Buck or 2 3090 Hull St., Richmond, VA 23224-3574 The above establishment is applying to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage C ontrol (ABC) AUTHORITY for a Wine and Beer On Premises and Mixed Beverage Restaurant license to sell or manufacture alcoholic beverages.

NOTE: Objections to the issuance of this license must be submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing date of the first of two required newspaper legal notices. Objections should be registered at www. abc.virginia.gov or 800-5523200.

The City of Richmond announces the following project(s) available for services relating to: RFP No. 210006284 – Vehicle Exhaust Source Capture Systems Due Date: February 25, 2021/Time: 3:00P.M Receipt Location: 900 East Broad Street, Room 1104, 11 th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219 Pre-Proposal Meeting: Pre-Proposal conference call is scheduled for February 16, 2021 at 10:00AM. For all information pertaining to this RFP conference call, please logon to the Richmond website (www.

RichmondGov.com) and review RFP 210006284. Due Date: February 25, 2021/Time: 3:00 P.M. NOTE: Offerors choosing to submit proposals through hand-delivery should allow extra time for delivery of proposals. Due to COVID-19, handdelivered proposals will be accepted only during the hours of 9:00 A.M to 5:00 P.M. Monday through Friday at the 9 th Street entrance to City Hall at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23221. Offerors choosing to hand-deliver proposals must call Alok Upadhyaya at 804-837-2495 or 804-646-5040 when arriving at City Hall, and Alok Upadhyaya will meet the offeror at the 9 th Street entrance of City Hall to collect the submittal.

Proposals will not be accepted after the Due Date and Time listed above.

Information or copies of the above solicitations are available by contacting Procurement Services, at the City of Richmond website (www.RichmondGov.com), or at 11 th Floor of City Hall, 900 E. Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. Phone (804) 646-5722 or faxed (804) 646-5989. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process.

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

B6

February 18-20, 2021

Richmond Free Press

This shouldn’t be how we say hello ...or goodbye.

It’s our reality right now. But it won’t be if we do what it takes to beat COVID-19. Vaccines are coming, but until enough of us are vaccinated, we all still need to wear our masks, stay at least six feet from others, and avoid indoor social gatherings.

The more we slow the spread, the faster we’ll return to normal hellos … and fewer goodbyes.

Learn more about vaccines and slowing the spread at cdc.gov/coronavirus

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