Richmond Free Press January 13-15, 2022 edition by Richmond Free Press

Free Press celebrates 30 years

Sidney Poitier

A8-A9

VOL. 31 NO. 3

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

ee Fr

Fr ee

Legendary actor, director and ambassador dies B4

Meet Personality of the week B3

January 13-15, 2022

Past and future

The strange, roller coaster term of Virginia’s improbable governor, Ralph Northam By Bob Lewis Virginia Mercury

‘I’m tired of fighting people who look like me’

Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears rails against criticism she said is leveled against her by the Black community By Brian Palmer

mannered Eastern Shore-raised country doctor who ambled into the Virginia Senate for the first time just 14 years ago literally turns the keys to the Executive Mansion over to the 74th governor, His Soon-To-BeExcellency Glenn A. Youngkin. (Yes, they really do use that royal-sounding honorific in official introductions of Virginia governors. It’s been a thing since Jamestown.) Gov. Northam, fare thee well in your return to civilian life. Whether it’s resuming your work as a pediatric

Just days before Winsome Sears’ historic swearing in Saturday, Jan. 15, as Virginia’s first female lieutenant governor and the first African-American woman elected to statewide office in the Commonwealth, she sounds more like a woman under siege than someone poised to enter the history books. In a 40-minute Zoom interview Jan. 6 with the Richmond Free Press, the 57-year-old Marine Corps veteran and Winchester area businesswoman who served two years in the House of Delegates two decades ago said she is under attack by a biased media, Democrats and many in the African-American community for stands she has taken on polarizing issues. “Do you know that I’m not given the benefit of the doubt? Do you know that?” she asked, accusing the media of being biased against her. Asked what media she was referring to, the lieutenant governor-elect responded, “Hollywood …The alphabets – ABC, NBC, CBS, all of them.” Ms. Sears, a Republican, campaigned on a conservative platform of “choice” in education, tax cuts, attacks

Please turn to A6

Please turn to A4

Happy trails, Gov. Northam. By the end of this week, the strange, improbable four-year tour of Virginia’s 73rd governor, His Excellency Ralph Shearer Northam, will be over. In a time-honored ceremony on Saturday morning, Jan. 15, surrounded by living former governors dressed befitting a high-society church wedding, the mild-

Commentary

Gov. Northam

Lt. Gov.-elect Sears

City Council authorizes mayor to accept Lee monument and land from state Free Press staff, wire reports

New quarters honor Maya Angelou Free Press wire report

WASHINGTON The United States Mint said Monday it has begun shipping quarters featuring the image of poet Maya Angelou, the first coins in its American Women Quarters Program. Ms. Angelou, an American author, poet and civil rights activist, rose to prominence with the publication of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” in 1969. Ms. Angelou, who died in 2014 at the age of 86, was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010 by President Obama. The quarter design depicts Ms. Angelou with outstretched arms. Behind her are a bird in flight and a rising sun, images inspired by her poetry. The mint’s program will issue 20 quarters over the next four years honoring women and their achievements in shaping the nation’s history. Additional honorees in 2022 will be physicist and first woman astronaut Sally Ride,

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

A fence remains around the circle on Monument Avenue where the six-story monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee once stood. The statue was removed in September, and the pedestal was cleared away late last month. This week, City Council authorized Mayor Levar M. Stoney to accept the statue, pedestal and the land from the state. They are to be turned over to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in Jackson Ward, along with other city-owned Confederate monuments.

Free COVID-19 testing, vaccines Free community testing for COVID-19 continues. The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations: • 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 13, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday through Tuesday, Community Testing Center Richmond Raceway, Gate 7, 4690 Carolina Ave. Appointments are required by calling (804) 205-3501 or going online at vase.vdh.virginia.gov • Thursday, Jan. 13, 2 to 6 p.m., Southside Plaza WIC Office, 509 E. Southside Plaza. Walk-up testing; no appointment necessary Call the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for more information on testing sites, or go online at vax.rchd.com. The Virginia Department of Health also has a list of COVID-

Please turn to A4

Meeting history Gov. Ralph S. Northam greets 3-yearold Kamara Townes following the Jan. 7 renaming and dedication of a row of stateowned historic homes on Governor Street in Capitol Square. Both the governor and the youngster occupy a place in Virginia history. Gov. Northam is the 73rd governor of the Commonwealth, serving from Jan. 13, 2018, until his term ends this Saturday, Jan. 15. Last week, he dedicated the three newly renovated buildings, formerly known as Morson’s Row, in honor of Dr. William Ferguson “Fergie” Reid, the first Black person elected to the General Assembly following Reconstruction. One of the three buildings now called Reid’s Row was dedicated as the “Townes House,” in recognition of the Townes family that has worked at the Executive Mansion since the 1970s. Kamara is the youngest of that historic lineage. Her father, Martin C. Townes Jr., and his parents and sister are the current Townes family members serving there. Mr. Townes is the deputy butler, while his father, Martin “Tutti” Townes, is the head butler.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

The traffic circle at Monument and Allen avenues where the giant monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee once stood will soon belong to the City of Richmond. City Council unanimously cleared the way Monday by authorizing Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration to accept from the state a gift of the now empty circle, which is 200 feet in diameter. City Council also held a special session Wednesday to approve the state’s transfer of the statue and the pedestal upon which it sat to the city. Under the just-introduced ordinance, the Lee items, as well as other city-owned Confederate statues, would be transferred to the Richmond-based Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in Jackson Ward, as previously announced by Mayor Stoney and Gov. Ralph S. Northam. The 9-0 council vote came on a night when the city’s governing body also backed the mayor’s proposal to pump an additional $1.3 million into the creation of a memorial campus to the enslaved in Shockoe Bottom. Please turn to A4

Councilwoman Trammell takes steps toward 2nd referendum on city casino By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond’s plans to allow a private company to create a gambling mecca in South Side collapsed in November when voters opposed to a casino narrowly defeated it by just under 1,500 votes. Now one of the biggest supporters of the project, 8th District City Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell, wants a do-over. Still smarting from the defeat, Ms. Trammell wants to revive media giant Urban One’s proposal to develop a $565 million casino and resort off the Bells Road exit of Interstate 95. On Monday, Ms. Trammell took the first step to renew the effort. Ms. Trammell She introduced legislation, which if approved by City Council, would authorize a second referendum in the next general election in November. The state law that authorized five casinos in Virginia, including one in Richmond, is silent on a locality’s ability to try again after voter rejection. The official result of referendum shows 40,243 voters rejected the casino plan while 38,750 supported it. Ms. Trammell’s hope is that if the proposal can make the ballot again, supporters would turn out in larger numbers to pass it and get back on track the project that, among other things, promised to create 1,000 new full-time jobs, to support minority businesses and to

generate tens of millions in new annual revenue for the city. The veteran council member faces several hurdles. One is potential opposition from the General Assembly. Another hurdle would involve corralling four other members of the nine-member City Council to go along with the idea. That could prove more difficult than she might anticipate. A majority of voters in only four of the nine City Council districts supported the casino—the 6th, 7th and 9th as well as the 8th District that Ms. Trammell represents. All four of the districts have majorityBlack populations. A majority of voters in the city’s five other districts, including the majoritySen. Morrissey Black 3rd District, rejected the casino-resort Urban One hoped to build. The majority-white 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th districts piled up big majorities of opponents, but the development lost by just 144 votes in the 3rd District, or 3 percent of the 4,766 votes cast. Even so, Councilwoman Ann-Frances Lambert, who represents the 3rd District, has scotched the idea of supporting a new referendum. Ms. Lambert issued a statement Tuesday announcing her opposition to Ms. Trammell’s plan to resurrect the original deal. Ms. Lambert stated she could only support an entirely new deal. Please turn to A4

Richmond Free Press

A2 January 13-15, 2022

Local News

King holiday closings In observance of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday, Jan. 17, please note the following: City and county public schools: Closed Monday, Jan. 17. Government Federal offices: Closed. State offices: Closed. Richmond City offices: Closed. Henrico County offices: Closed. Chesterfield County offices: Closed. Hanover County offices: Closed. Courts State courts: Closed. Federal courts: Closed. Libraries Richmond City: Closed. Chesterfield County: Closed. Henrico County: Closed. Banks, credit unions and other financial institutions:

Closed. U.S. Postal Service: No delivery. Trash pickup: No trash pickup on Monday, Jan. 17; pickup to be delayed by one day. Central Virginia Waste Management Authority recycling: Regular pickup. Department of Motor Vehicles customer service centers: Closed Monday, Jan. 17. V i rg i n i a A B C s t o r e s : Normal hours. Malls, major retailers, movie theaters: Varies; inquire at specific locations. GRTC: Buses will operate on a Sunday schedule. Richmond Free Press office: Closed.

City workers launch campaign for collective bargaining By Jeremy M. Lazarus

City Hall employees this week launched their campaign to gain the right to collectively bargain over wages and working conditions. More than a dozen representatives of different departments used the public comment period at City Council’s Monday meeting to urge passage of an ordinance allowing those rights in the biggest effort ever to unionize the city’s nearly 4,000 employees. In their speeches to council, representatives also called on City Council to allow workers to participate in modifying the proposals that already have been introduced. “I urge the council to include us in the process to ensure the final ordinance serves all of us,” said Everett Fields, a 26-year veteran of city service who is now a labor crew supervisor in the city Department of Public Works. “Having collective bargaining will help to set standards and procedures,” he said, “as well as build mutual respect between workers and managers. It will make sure that when we are called ‘essential’ and ‘front line workers’ that we are actually treated that way.” “Let’s work together to draft and pass a collective bargaining ordinance that works for everyone,” said Ben Himmelfarb, the Richmond Public Library’s acting library and community services manager. “Collective bargaining is a tool for workers and city management to work together for the common good,” he continued. “We are the front line workers and an asset in the city’s effort to provide high-quality service” and deserve to be part of creating a bargaining ordinance. Behind the scenes, the Service Employees International Union’s Local 512 appears to have gained a leg up on organizing Richmond employees. Founded 10 years ago, the local currently represents public employees in Fairfax and Loudoun counties and home care workers in Virginia. The push for unionization is partly the result of worker frustration that some employees like police officers and firefighters gain up to $3,000 in bonuses while other employees have yet to benefit, despite administration promises to make it happen. The campaign for unionization has gone public as council prepares to begin discussion of two ordinances on the subject at the Monday, Feb. 7, meeting of the Organizational Development Committee to which all council members belong. That meeting could determine how quickly the council is prepared to act or whether the issue will be left to linger until after consideration of the 2022-23 budget that the mayor will introduce in early March. One ordinance, from Mayor Levar M. Stoney, would allow only labor and trade workers in the Public Works and the Public Utilities departments to organize and bargain. A broader proposed ordinance introduced by Councilwoman Kristen N. Larson, 4th District, and Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell, 8th District, would authorize all city employees to organize, with bargaining units for different types of employees, ranging from police and firefighters to trades and office workers. Public employees have long been barred from unionizing, but a new state law that went into effect last May authorized local governmental units to open the door to collective bargaining. So far, only four Northern Virginia localities, Alexandria and the counties of Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun, have approved unions for their workers. In December, the Richmond School Board became the first public educational unit to authorize employees to bargain collectively, and there are expectations of five bargaining units to accommodate teachers and other staff. Claire Liu, spokeswoman for SEIU Local 512, indicated that Richmond’s city employees support the broader approach. A release she penned states that “for city workers organizing and building power to win a real voice on the job, collective bargaining rights would mean an opportunity to transform their work, their lives and the services they provide to residents every day.” According to the release, the employees’ campaign “marks the beginning of a historic process to usher in fair wages, strong benefits, safe working conditions and stronger public services.”

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Cityscape

Progress continues on the construction of Virginia Commonwealth University’s new home for instruction in STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math. More than $120 million is Slices of life and scenes being poured into the development of the six-story building that replaced the now demolished Franklin Street Gymnasium, 817 W. Franklin St. The vacant gym was torn down in 2020, clearing in Richmond the way for this new development that will include the Math Exchange’s innovative instruction, a science learning center, computer labs, wet and dry sciences labs and classrooms for teaching chemistry, biology, physics, psychology and kinesiology as well as math. The building, which is to be complete within a year, will be a hub for VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences and enable VCU to graduate more students with STEM degrees that are in high demand.

School Board votes in new leaders

By Ronald E. Carrington

The Richmond School Board voted in a new chair and vice chair—Shonda HarrisMuhammed, 6th District, and Kenya J. Gibson, 3rd District, respectively. They were nominated by board member Jonathan M. Young, 4th District and the board’s outgoing vice chairman, at the School Board’s first meeting of 2022 on Monday night. Three board members voted against the new leadership team – Liz B. Doerr, 1st District; Cheryl L. Burke, 7th District, the outgoing chair; and Nicole Jones, 9th District. Board member Dawn C. Page, 8th District, also voted against Ms. Gibson for board vice chair. “As School Board chair, this is not a position that is an individual position. This is a team effort,” Ms. Harris-Muhammed said in addressing her colleagues and the audience after taking over her new role. She said she appreciated the ask, as well as the personal cost to lead the board. After the vote, several board members cautioned the new leadership about the need for collaboration internally as well as with city leaders and they move forward in directing Richmond Public Schools’ goals and policies. Ms. Jones said the perceived “us versus them” narrative of a divided board must end. An ideological schism among the board has resulted in split 5-4 votes on many issues, including control over the construction of a new George Wythe High School and efforts to work with city officials who hold the purse strings. “As we work with our new leadership dynamic, we need to really stop with the board always being split,” Ms. Jones said.

“If we are working together, that is what we are going to do” to benefit all RPS students and staff. Ms. Page agreed. “We are all here for the same purpose. We don’t have to agree on everything. However, we do need to reach across the aisle, so to speak, to collaborate and create a common goal. We must listen to

Ms. HarrisMuhammed

Ms. Gibson

the voices of the minority as well as the majority.” Ms. Gibson said Monday night’s vote indicated a change in board dynamics and approach. “This is a critical time for the school district and the board,” Ms. Gibson said. “I hope this will be a year where we see a difference in governance.” Other members also expressed hope for more unity, including Ms. Burke. “I look forward to building on the foundation of leadership currently in place,” Ms. Burke told the Free Press in an interview on Tuesday. “It is also important to listen to faculty and staff as they express their needs on behalf of our children.” She said under her tenure as board chair, “RPS did an awesome job of responding to what was needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students received Chrome books. Meals were distributed

during the week, weekends and winter break,” Ms. Burke said. Efforts led to days off for wellness and collective bargaining for teachers. “The board’s job is not micro-managing the superintendent. The role of the School Board is to support the district administration, as well as setting policy to improve district results in educating the whole child.” According to the administration’s COVID 19 virtual update, posted on Jan. 6th, from December 18 through Jan. 5th, RPS has been notified of approximately 400 positive cases in students and staff that occurred at some point during that period. Since RPS was not open during the holiday break, there was no opportunity for in-school transmission from the cases stated above. Asked during the meeting about the reopening of schools last week during the new raging numbers of infection from the virus’ omicron variant, RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras told the board about the pre-opening successful distribution of more than 8,000 at-home COVID-19 test kits, a new shipment of 25,000 additional kits for the “Test to Stay” program, as well as the availability in schools of more KN95 masks to reduce transmission. More than 400 new positive cases of COVID-19 among students, teachers and staff were reported last week. “There are vaccines available for everyone down to age 5, kindergarten and up. There are extensive mitigation strategies in RPS schools, which the data shows are working,” Mr. Kamras said. “Our charge is to keep our doors open. I believe that is what the overwhelming majority of our students and families, teachers and staff want as well.”

City CAO: Hold on; bonuses coming Yes, we plan to award pandemic bonuses of up to $3,000 each to city employees who worked through the pandemic. But no date has been set for the additional bonuses to be issued. That’s the word from Richmond’s chief administrative officer Lincoln Saunders. Mr. Saunders insists that Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration will bring forward a “budget amendment to provide the same bonus amount” to other city workers that was awarded to police officers, firefighters, emergency dispatchers and juvenile detention officers just before Christmas. Mr. Saunders issued the commitment, without offering any specifics on the timing, in an email to the Free Press in response to a request for comment on an article published in the Jan. 6-8 edition. The article reported on the concerns

raised by technicians from the Richmond Department of Public Utilities who were left off the bonus list despite being critical “first responders” for gas leaks and water pipe issues. Mr. Saunders stated that the water and gas technicians “are absolutely front-line employees who deserved to be recognized for their service through the pandemic.” However, he noted that federal guidelines governing the use of American Rescue Plan Act money limited the initial bonus payments only to public safety employees. “We could not use ARPA funds for all of our general employees” who have worked through the pandemic, he stated. Mr. Saunders stated that he told City Council “every time we spoke of the public safety bonuses” during discussions of the use of ARPA funds that a

general fund budget amendment would be brought forward to pay for bonuses for other employees. He acknowledged that the amendment has not been introduced yet. “We are looking forward to bringing this amendment forward as soon as possible,” either as part of the second quarter re-appropriation or sooner, he added. He indicated the administration has had to find the money. “The Finance Department, the Budget Department and the Assessor’s Office have been working hard to finalize the land book, certify the revenues over projections and review our expenditures to demonstrate how we can afford” the bonuses. “I am confident that that we will be able to do so early in the new year,” he concluded. – JEREMY M. LAZARUS

NAACP declines to challenge redistricting; encouraged by meeting with new GOP administration By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The new boundaries for Virginia’s election districts for Congress and the General Assembly will not face any immediate legal challenge from the Virginia State Conference NAACP. Robert N. Barnette Jr., president of the state’s oldest civil rights groups, said the NAACP’s legal team could not find sufficient grounds to appeal the new maps that the Virginia Supreme Court approved in late December. Essentially, he said the NAACP is disappointed, but will accept the redrawn districts that have been put in place. The two redistricting experts the court hired to draw the maps based on 2020 Census data, Democrat Dr. Bernard Grofman and Republican Sean Trende, brushed off concerns raised by the NAACP’s lawyers about the data that was used and the boundary lines that were created. The overall outlines of the congressional map appear to create five Republican-leaning districts, five Democratic-leaning districts and one toss-up district. The approved General Assembly maps also put at risk the re-election prospects of six members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, including its chairman, Henrico Delegate Lamont Bagby, who is now in the same district as a white incumbent

Democrat. The approved maps show 13 incumbent Democrats in the House were drawn into six House of Delegate districts, while 18 incumbent Republicans were drawn into nine House districts. Five more Republican and Democratic incumbents were drawn into two House districts. Mr. Barnette said the legal team, includMr. Barnette ing attorneys from the national NAACP, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Hogan Lovells law firm, advised the state NAACP to wait to see the impact of the boundary changes. He said election results based on the new lines would better determine whether Black voting strength was undermined. The only appeal of the Virginia Supreme Court’s redistricting order would be to the U.S. Supreme Court. The state Supreme Court got the job of drawing new district boundaries for the state’s 11 seats in the House of Representatives, the 40 seats in the state Senate and the 100 seats in the state House of Delegates after a new bipartisan redistricting commission failed in October. Separately, the state NAACP’s leadership reported being

encouraged about the ability to achieve “a positive working relationship” with the incoming administration of GOP Gov.elect Glenn A. Youngkin. The report followed an hourlong meeting Jan. 5 between Mr. Barnette, state NAACP Executive Director Da’Quan M. Love, Gov.-elect Youngkin, Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears and Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares. The Republicans will be sworn into office this weekend. Mr. Barnette said he and Mr. Love “are encouraged by the incoming governor’s willingness to facilitate productive talks with the Virginia NAACP and receive his commitment to be accessible, responsible and transparent. “We look forward to working with the incoming administration on areas of shared interest, including increasing funding for historically black colleges and universities and expanding educational opportunities for Virginia’s children,” Mr. Barnette said. He did not mention other issues of concern to the NAACP, such as voting rights, gun control and criminal justice reform, on which there could be substantial differences. However, the meeting continues a tradition of the state NAACP meeting regularly with top state officials to discuss matters of concern to Black Virginians and other people of color.

T:11" S:10.5"

Richmond Free Press

January 13-15, 2022 A3

In 1963, millions started marching down the paths we continue to walk today. Xϙnity invites you to listen to the stories of those who helped Dr. King create history told directly from their voices. The Voices of the Civil Rights Movement – a virtual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day from past to present. Unlock your ϙrsthand experience featuring recounts from marchers, Civil Rights pioneers, and civic leaders. Plus, explore articles, photo galleries, and video biographies that forever captured the moment that ignited inspiration in all of us. Visit xϙnity.com/blackexperience to learn more.

T:21"

S:20.5"

All of this was organized without a single tweet

Richmond Free Press

A4 January 13-15, 2022

News

Sears rails against criticism she said is leveled against her by Black community Continued from A1

on critical race theory and gun rights. She came under fire for an image her campaign circulated in mailers and on social media of her holding a militarystyle assault weapon. Some critics called it “wacko.” Ms. Sears’ victory last November came as a surprise to many. She beat out five others — including a current and a former member of the state legislature who both had bigger war chests — to win the Republican Party’s nomination for lieutenant governor. And then she went on to defeat Democratic Delegate Hala Ayala — also a woman of color — in November’s general election by about 50,000 votes. A native of Kingston, Jamaica, who immigrated to the United States with her family at age 6, Ms. Sears called herself “a walking impossibility” on the campaign trail, telling audiences that education lifted her and her family out of poverty. In last week’s interview, Ms. Sears talked about how she has been “training” for her new job as lieutenant governor presiding over the state Senate by boning up on Senate rules and parliamentary procedure. “My goal, first and foremost, is to do the job of the lieutenant governor well,” she said.

During the interview, she reiterated her support for repealing the state tax on groceries, suspending an increase in the gas tax, creating charter schools and making public money available to parents to send their children to private schools. “Why is it that you can’t allow the parent to decide where the child should go? Why does the money have to go to that brick building?” Ms. Sears said. She is a staunch supporter of former President Trump, who is accused of orchestrating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his backers to try to block the certification of the election of Democrat Joe Biden as president. Ms. Sears had served as chairperson of Black Americans to Re-Elect the President, a political action committee to aid Mr. Trump. Asked on the first anniversary about the violent and deadly Capitol attack, Ms. Sears said, “This was uncalled for. This is not what we do in America. They may do it in other countries, but not in America. We believe in the peaceful transition of power.” Asked about the former president still not conceding defeat in the 2020 presidential election, Ms. Sears said, “You’ve got to talk to the president,” referring to Mr. Trump. “I am responsible for

Free COVID-19 vaccines Continued from A1

19 testing locations around the state at www.vdh.virginia.gov/ coronavirus/covid-19-testing/covid-19-testing-sites/. Want a COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot? The Richmond and Henrico health districts are offering free walk-up COVID-19 vaccines at the following locations: • Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. – Community Vaccination Center, Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center, 3001 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. • Thursday, Jan. 13, 1 to 3 p.m. – Richmond Health Department Cary Street Clinic, 400 E. Cary St., Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson; 4 to 7 p.m. – Blackwell Elementary School, 300 E. 15th St., Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. • Friday, Jan. 14, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. – Boushall Middle School, 3400 Hopkins Road, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. • Monday, Jan. 17, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Cedar Street Baptist Church of God Fellowship Hall, 2301 Cedar St., Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. Pre-registration required. Contact: Minister Bobbie Newell, (804) 648-8919. • Tuesday, Jan. 18, 3 to 6 p.m. – Second Baptist Church of South Richmond, 3300 Broad Rock Blvd., Pfizer and Moderna; 4 to 7 p.m. – Broad Rock Elementary School, 4615 Ferguson Lane, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. • Wednesday, Jan. 19, 9 to 10:45 a.m. – Henrico West Health Department Clinic, 8600 Dixon Powers Drive, Pfizer and Moderna; 4 to 7 p.m. – Bellevue Elementary School, 2301 E. Grace St., Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. • Thursday, Jan. 20, 1 to 3 p.m. – Richmond Health Department Cary Street Clinic, 400 E. Cary St., Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. Children ages 5 to 17 may only receive the Pfizer vaccine. Vaccinations and booster shots are available for all eligible of any age on a walk-in basis. No appointment is needed. However, people may schedule an appointment online at vaccinate. virginia.gov or vax.rchd.com, or by calling (804) 205-3501 or (877) VAX-IN-VA (1-877-829-4682). VaccineFinder.org and vaccines.gov also allow people to find nearby pharmacies and clinics that offer the COVID-19 vaccine and booster. The Chesterfield County Health District is offering free testing at the following locations: • Friday, Jan. 14, 21 and 28, 2 to 4 p.m. New Deliverance Evangelistic Church Annex Building, 1701 Turner Road. • Tuesday, Jan. 18 and 25, 3 to 5 p.m. Faith & Family Church Community Center, 7900 Walmsley Blvd. • Wednesday, Jan. 19 and 26, 3 to 5 p.m. Faith & Family Church Community Center, 7900 Walmsley Blvd. Vaccines and booster shots at available at the following location: • Community Vaccination Center, Rockwood Shopping Center (in the former Big Lots store), 10161 Hull Street Road, Midlothian, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are encouraged by going to www.vaccines.gov or call (877) VAX-IN-VA. Appointments are required for children ages 5 to 11. Those who are getting a booster shot should bring their vaccine card to confirm date and type of vaccine received. In one of his final acts in office, Gov. Ralph S. Northam issued a 30-day emergency order Monday allowing, among other measures, for hospitals to increase their licensed bed capacity and health care providers with active out-of-state licenses to practice in Virginia. The Henrico County Board of Supervisors also declared an emergency this week, allowing greater flexibility for the county to purchase COVID-19 testing kits and supplies. A total of 19,836 new cases of COVID-19 were reported statewide Wednesday for the 24-hour period, contributing to an overall state total of 1,315,256 cases of coronavirus since the pandemic’s outbreak. As of Wednesday, there have been 445,375 hospitalizations and 15,750 deaths statewide. The state’s seven-day positivity rate reached 35.8 percent on Wednesday. Last week, the positivity rate was 32 percent. On Wednesday, state health officials reported that 68.2 percent of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated, while 78.2 percent of the people have received at least one dose of the vaccine. State data also show that roughly 2.2 million people in Virginia have received booster shots or third doses of the vaccine. Among those ages 5 to 11 in Virginia, 247,106 children have received their first shots, accounting for 34.2 percent of the eligible age group in the state, while 180,646 children are fully vaccinated. As of Wednesday, less than 82,000 cases, 580 hospitalizations and seven deaths have been recorded among children. State data also show that African-Americans comprised 22.9 percent of cases statewide and 23.9 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 13 percent of cases and 5.7 percent of deaths. As of Wednesday, Richmond reported a total of 35,284 positive cases, 1,003 hospitalizations and 393 deaths; Henrico County, 50,648 cases, 1,316 hospitalizations and 754 deaths; Chesterfield County, 56,542 cases, 1,268 hospitalizations and 610 deaths; and Hanover County, 16,981 cases, 408 hospitalizations and 209 deaths.

my sins and other people are responsible for theirs.” As clear as she is on some issues, Ms. Sears offers ambiguous responses when asked about other issues, including COVID-19 mask and vaccination policies. In a post-election interview with CNN, Ms. Sears questioned whether masks really do protect people against transmission of the coronavirus and suggested that those who have been infected with COVID-19 don’t need to get the vaccine. She also declined to reveal her vaccination status, saying it would open her to being asked about her “DNA” and medical history. In her interview with the Free Press, Ms. Sears spoke about vaccination as a personal choice rather than a matter of public health policy despite the virus having claimed the lives of nearly 16,000 Virginians and more than 836,000 Americans. During the interview, she both embraced and sought to distance herself from Gov.-elect Glenn A. Youngkin, a fellow Republican and political neophyte who was endorsed by former President Trump during the campaign. As lieutenant governor, Ms. Sears will be first in the line of succession, according to the Virginia Constitution, in the event the governor is removed from office or is disqualified, dies or resigns.

When asked about potential changes to Virginia’s COVID-19 mask mandate and vaccination policies, she replied, “I am not the Youngkin administration. I was elected separately.” Like Gov.-elect Youngkin, Ms. Sears has repeated the false claim that critical race theory is taught in Virginia’s public schools. CRT is an area of scholarship that examines the impact of systemic racism on American laws and institutions. It is taught in some universities, but not in K-12 curricula. “We are framing too many issues in terms of race,” Ms. Sears said during a previous FOX News interview. She has used the national controversy over critical race theory to attack what she calls “lies” about American history being taught in public schools. But in a discussion on CNN about the 1921 Tulsa race massacre in which white mobs went on a rampage, attacking and killing as many as 300 Black residents and burning down blocks of their homes and businesses in Tulsa’s Greenwood section, Ms. Sears offered the riot as an example of AfricanAmerican advancement. “Let’s ask ourselves how did the Black people amass so much wealth right after the Civil War so that it could even be destroyed?” Ms. Sears said.

When asked about this in the Free Press interview, Ms. Sears said that schools should “teach all of it,” but then immediately changed the topic to what she called Marxism. “Marxism has never helped anybody. It sounds good initially—that everybody’s going to share and share alike—but it doesn’t work that way.” Ms. Sears reacts strongly to criticism of her politics and positions, particularly when it comes from members of the AfricanAmerican community who she feels don’t support her. During a recent appearance on Joy Reid’s show, “The ReidOut” on MSNBC, Georgetown University professor and scholar Dr. Michael Eric Dyson said Ms. Sears is a tool of white supremacists. “I’ve been called a white supremacist by people who look like me, and yet the KKK will tell you I am a Black woman,” she said in the Free Press interview. “If they saw me, they would lynch me the same way they would lynch Joy Reid, the same way they would lynch all of these other people. “And, yet, my own people don’t stand up for me. My own people disparage me. Disparage me. And yet the KKK will tell you that I was the one who put in the bill to protect us from the KKK.” In 2002 as a member of

the House of Delegates representing Norfolk, Ms. Sears sponsored legislation amending Virginia’s cross-burning statute to make it a felony to burn any type of object on public property or on the private property of another person with the intent to intimidate. The state’s previous law had been struck down by the Virginia Supreme Court as unconstitutional because it singled out burning a Christian cross. Ms. Sears’ measure was passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by then-Gov. Mark R. Warner, a Democrat. “I am the one who’s fighting, fighting for people who look like me and the underprivileged,” Ms. Sears told the Free Press, adding that she was then on her way to a state correctional center in Chesapeake. “I am the one who every Wednesday, six o’clock, brought the message of hope to men in detention centers,” she continued. “I am the one who’s been in homeless shelters, ran it for women and their children and had to put the babies behind me so when their mothers were being arrested, they wouldn’t see that and it wouldn’t sear in their brains that their mother was going to jail. And I’m tired. I’m tired. I’m tired. “I’m tired of fighting people who look like me,” she said, as she ended the interview.

City authorizes mayor to accept monument, land Continued from A1

The approved funding includes $300,000 to support the creation of a National Slavery Museum Foundation, which envisions raising and spending up to $220 million to create The Museum of the American Slave Trade on the site of a once infamous slave trading post, Lumpkin’s Jail, which became the birthplace of Virginia Union University following the Civil War. The funding also includes $1 million to pay for the museum and the campus. The new design funds, according to the city, will be added to $1.7 million in unused money City Council allocated in 2020 to pay for design of the 9-acre heritage campus that includes the museum site. Outgoing Gov. Ralph S. Northam announced Dec. 5 his decision to transfer the traffic circle to the city once the Lee pedestal was removed, and the council has rushed to ensure the transfer is completed before the governor leaves office on Saturday, Jan. 15. State fencing around the circle is still in place. The council was told that the fencing will remain in place until the area can be replanted with grass. Lincoln Saunders, Richmond’s chief administrative officer, told the council that city planners would be tasked with leading a community-driven process to come up with recommendations for the future of the circle as well as sites on Monument Avenue where other Confederate statues stood. It is unclear whether the city process would include cooperation with the Virginia Museum of Fine of Fine Arts, which Gov. Northam provided $1 million to lead a process to envision what should replace the Confederate landmarks. Ninth District Councilman Michael J. Jones expressed concern about future ex-

penditures involved in creating and carrying out any plan for “reimagining” Monument Avenue. He said he would not want to see that “reimagining” take priority over the city’s neighborhoods where poverty and joblessness are rampant and which need substantial investment. He was happy, though, the city would own and control the traffic circle. “I’m glad we are getting it now before we change gubernatorial leadership because, I’m sorry, that dude (incoming Republican Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin) and a lot of those GOP folk are straight up on another level of white supremacy,” Dr. Jones said. “Not necessarily just because they embrace it, but just because that is the talking points that get them elected. And that’s even scarier.” Before the vote, council members heard from a handful of speakers who supported the city taking control of the site. Speakers urged quick removal of the fencing so the circle could be used as a public park, just as it became most notably in late spring 2020 during the racial justice protests that broke out following the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. “There is no need necessarily for additional funding to go towards putting all that back together. The community did it in 2020, and we’ll do it again,” said Joseph Rogers, a local educator and activist, who also urged that the council rename the circle for Marcus-David Peters, as was done informally during the protests. Mr. Peters, a 24-year-old high school biology teacher, was fatally shot May 2018 by a Richmond Police officer while he suffered what has been described as a mental health crisis. In comments on the proposed $1.3 million investment in the museum, Dr. Jones called it an appropriate way for the city to

proceed in creating a better future. “The response can’t be to build back up Monument Avenue,” Dr. Jones said. “It must be to build back the antithesis of what was torn down. And the best thing to do is to become serious as a council and administration to tell the true story, the true tale, of what took place in Virginia.” However, Phil Wilayto and Ana Edwards, who have led an 18-year campaign to reclaim Shockoe Bottom’s history of slavery, are concerned they and other advocates are being shut out. Once one of the nation’s largest slave markets, Shockoe Bottom ranks among the most important places “to understanding the history of today’s Black community and, indeed, the United States as a whole,” they wrote in a letter to City Council on behalf of the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project. “That is why we are deeply concerned that the city’s attention could turn away from the Heritage Campus” to focus on creating a foundation about which the public knows little and its plan to create a costly museum that may never come to fruition, they wrote. The council also passed legislation to incorporate on the city’s list of removed statues ones of Confederate Gen. Williams C. Wickham and of the First Virginia Regiment, a Confederate unit, which were removed by protesters in June 2020. The vote to add those statues took place amid preparations for the removal of pedestals where the other city-owned Confederate statues once stood. The city awarded a $1.5 million contract Jan. 5 to Team Henry Enterprises. Procurement documents indicate that the removal is to include the statue of Gen. A.P. Hill and his remains, which are buried underneath it, at Hermitage Road and Laburnum Avenue.

Trammell takes steps toward 2nd referendum Continued from A1

Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch, 5th District, another potential swing vote, expressed sympathy for Ms. Trammell’s position, even though voters in her district rejected the casino by a 19 percent margin. Ms. Lynch noted that the 8th District and adjacent districts “made a very clear choice to support a casino-resort complex in their community. The majority of voters in my district, however, were not in favor of this, and as a representative of their voices I cannot ignore that either.” She stated that she would not rush Ms. Trammell’s push for a second referendum. “I think we need time to unpack the election results and underlying assumptions, have some conversations with voters and really listen to their concerns. I just learned (about Ms. Trammell’s proposal),

but knowing this is on the table, I am looking forward to doing just that.” Still, Ms. Lynch hinted that unless there is some movement among voters in her district that might show a second vote could produce a different result, she would be unlikely to cast her vote for another referendum. And then there is the blockade that could come from the General Assembly to ensure Ms. Trammell’s proposal does not get off the ground. State Sen. Joseph D. Morrissey, whose 16th District includes Petersburg as well as a large chunk of Richmond’s South Side and Church Hill, confirmed he is preparing to introduce legislation that would give Petersburg and its voters an opportunity to decide whether to host a casino. He believes he has an excellent chance of securing a bipartisan majority to give Petersburg a referendum opportunity before Richmond would be allowed to try again.

“Ms. Trammell needs to respect the will of the electorate,” Sen. Morrissey said, adding he believes that view would be shared by a majority of legislators in the state Senate and House of Delegates. He said Ms. Trammell’s proposal flouts the democratic process and the principle of majority rule. “Should Richmond be able to keep holding such votes until Ms. Trammell gets the result she wants?” he asked. He said that seems to be straight out of former President Trump’s playbook. Even if the casino law does not bar a second referendum, Sen. Morrissey noted that other laws requiring a referendum do, such as a vote on imposing a tax on restaurant meals. For example, if voters in counties reject increasing the sales tax on meals, a locality has to wait five years to try again. He said he would argue that kind of rule should apply to a referendum on a casino.

New quarters honor Maya Angelou Continued from A1

and Wilma Mankiller, the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. Also honored this year will be Nina Otero-Warren, a leader in New Mexico’s suffrage movement and the first female superintendent of Santa Fe public schools, and Anna May Wong, the first Chinese

American film star in Hollywood. U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat from Nevada, the Senate sponsor of legislation directing the mint to issue the quarters honoring women, applauded the mint’s selection of Ms. Angelou. “This coin will ensure generations of Americans learn about MayaAngelou’s books and poetry that spoke to the lived experience

of Black women,” she said in a statement. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the nation’s first female treasury secretary, said, “Each time we redesign our currency, we have the chance to say something about our country. … I’m very proud that these coins celebrate the contributions of some of America’s most remarkable women, including Maya Angelou.”

Richmond Free Press

January 13-15, 2022 A5

Hundreds of Students. Millions in Scholarships. The inaugural class of Educational Equity Scholarship recipients is on the path to success. Because our communities are only as strong as our next generation, we’re investing in hundreds of young scholars across the states we serve—committing

millions of scholarship dollars to help students in minority and underserved communities realize their potential. Students can learn more and apply at DominionEnergy.com/EquityScholarships.

Actions Speak Louder

Richmond Free Press

January 13-15, 2022 A6

Local News

The strange, roller coaster term of Va.’s improbable gov., Ralph Northam Continued from A1

neurologist, becoming a highprofile rainmaker for one of the white-shoe lobbying shops that dot Richmond’s cityscape between Canal and Main streets, or just tending your garden, I wish you well, sir. One thing about your single, non-renewable term that Virginia’s Constitution uniquely affords its chief executives: It wasn’t boring, much as you might have wished it to be. Yours were theme park years for the press corps. The Northam administration was arguably the most consequential in modern Virginia history. I neither covered nor heard of a time when Virginia transformed its foundational policy so swiftly and profoundly. Since you took your oath of office that Saturday morning in January 2018, the Commonwealth has expanded Medicaid to nearly half a million additional low-income Virginians who lacked health care insurance; passed one of the nation’s most aggressive de-carbonization regimes; become the first former Confederate state to abolish the death penalty; legalized the recreational use of marijuana; imposed new restrictions on what had been Virginia’s laissez-faire firearms environment and closed the so-called gun show loophole; enacted significant criminal justice reforms; eliminated longstanding obstacles to voting; and set in place incremental increases in the minimum wage. Except for Medicaid expansion, most of those accomplishments came in the brief two-year window when your Democratic Party was able to consolidate full control of both the legislative and executive branch of government for the first time in a generation. Fair to say that the same has not been true in Washington, where Democrats

have held slim majorities for nearly a year now but have little to show for it. You presided over a year of almost biblical tumult and unrest in 2020. It began with thousands of Second Amendment protesters descending on Capitol Square, many with war weapons slung from their shoulders or Dirty Harry-style hand cannons weighing down hip holsters. But as edgy and contentious as it felt, peace prevailed. Within a couple of weeks, the Commonwealth—along with the rest of the world—had gone dark, quarantined against a novel, killer respiratory virus against which humanity had no immunity. The economy crashed and fear of an uncertain future prevailed as nursing home deaths skyrocketed and refrigerator trucks became impromptu morgues. After Memorial Day, however, a white policeman’s wanton, broad-daylight strangulation of a Black man on a Minneapolis street unleashed rage that spilled into the streets of Virginia cities, particularly Richmond, where monuments to Confederate figures have been toppled, including the towering tribute to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee you ordered removed. That you were still in office by 2020 is remarkable in itself. The discovery of a photo of one person in Klan regalia and the other wearing blackface on your long-ago Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page created a global sensation. Your whiplash-fast contradictory responses didn’t help. You went from apologizing for a mistake from your past on a Friday night to a fulsome denial of any role in the photos at a Saturday afternoon press conference where, but for First Lady Pamela Northam’s superb sense of restraint, you might have shown off your Michael Jackson moonwalk moves for

the world. You remained a leading punchline for late-night comedians for weeks. But you held steady while the whole political world screamed for your ouster. A subsequent inquiry by a team of top white-collar litigators from McGuireWoods could not conclusively identify either person in that photo. By the end of the year, you had not only largely put the furor behind you, you had flipped the script on the Republicans by shifting the focus to gun control after a heartbreaking mass shooting in Virginia Beach. By election night 2019, you had led your party to wall-towall political dominance of Virginia government. But turmoil was never far away. Your final full year was pocked with calamities at state agencies that did not cover the governor’s office in glory and left many wondering whether you had effectively checked out early. Problems arose and seemed to fester into scandals before your administration engaged, and when it did, it often took on a circle-the-wagons defensiveness. Repeatedly, the administration, which was described by an allied lawmaker once as suffering from a culture of “toxic positivity,” found itself playing catch-up and doing damage control. There were the press disclosures that the state Parole Board had selectively freed convicted killers without sufficient notice to victims’ survivors and other policy violations. Media inquiries were met with opacity and lectures. The Virginia Employment Commission fell hopelessly behind in its job of adjudicating unemployment claims and shut itself off from communication with tens of thousands of frantic claimants facing financial ruin and homelessness at the

Eastern Virginia Medical School via Associated Press

This image shows Gov. Ralph S. Northam’s page in his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook. The page shows a picture, at right, of a person in blackface and another wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood. It’s still unclear who the costumed people are, but the rest of the yearbook page is filled with pictures of Gov. Northam. Below, Gov. Ralph S. Northam backpedals during a news conference Feb. 1, 2019, at the Executive Mansion, saying that he is not either of the two people in the racist photo that was published on his 1984 EVMS yearbook page. Standing by his side is his wife, First Lady Pam Northam.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

height of the pandemic. The administration changed nothing about the agency’s indifferent and insular leadership. Redress came only in the form of a lawsuit and direct intervention by U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson. And finally, there was last week’s debacle on a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 95 when hundreds, possibly thousands, of motorists were stranded on the snow-covered freeway overnight with temperatures in the teens, raising questions about the state’s preparedness and response. Sure, there were unusual circumstances. Yes,

state and local law enforcement, along with Virginia Department of Transportation crews, did their best, often working heroically and beyond exhaustion, but they were plainly understaffed. No emergency declaration was made and the National Guard, with its military grade, high-clearance all-weather vehicles, was never mustered to help with the rescue and to expedite food, water, warmth and aid to those helplessly shivering on the primary East Coast traffic artery connecting Miami to Boston via New York and Washington. Then, when respected vet-

eran Virginia Capitol correspondent Matt Demlein dared ask you about it in a WRVA interview, you turned sullen and said you were “getting sick and tired of people talking about what went wrong.” You questioned the prudence and judgment of drivers who got stuck, despite that fact some Democratic lawmakers were among them, including U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and Petersburg Delegate Lashrecse Aird. Maybe it’s because the finish line was in sight and the temptation to just cut loose was too overpowering, but it wasn’t a good look for a sitting governor at any point, particularly in response to perceived inaction and being held to account for something that clearly went wrong. There’s probably a great autobiography to be written if you’re up to it — nonfiction that reads like fiction. Comedy in one chapter; tragedy in the next. Stunning achievement offset by mystifying self-defeat. A centrist Democrat who voted for George W. Bush and who once was reportedly nearly convinced to switch parties by Virginia Republicans yet presided over the most sweeping progressive transformation of Virginia law in the state’s history. A doctor whose handling of the pandemic could flummox observers. A twangy rural Virginian with a racist picture on his medical school yearbook page who proved to Black people that the picture doesn’t reflect what’s really in his very decent heart. Writing a book is not a bad idea for a guy who’s about to officially clock out and have plenty of free time on his hands. It would be a terrific read — maybe a New York Times bestseller — because you can’t make up stuff this good. Call me if you need a good editor.

“The time is always right to do what’s right.” Give Back on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Every Day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s own words remind us of the importance of leadership, hope and service. And at AARP, we believe your experience, skills and passion have the power to inspire others to make a difference. We encourage everyone to continue his legacy by lending a helping hand in your community. And we can help. Join us in making a difference, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and every day.

Please serve your community and others safely by following all CDC COVID-19 guidelines and federal, state and local regulations.

CREATING

January 13-15, 2022 A7

NEW

LEGACIES LEGACIES

Richmond Free Press

1992

2022

January 13-15, 2022

30 ears

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

Richmond Free Press observes ¿JKWLQJ IRU HTXDOLW\ MXVWLFH IUHHGRP DQG RSSRUWXQLW\

)UHH 3UHVV ÀOH SKRWR

The Richmond Free Press building at 5th and Franklin streets in Downtown is the third home of the newspaper in its 30-year history. The newspaper started in a building at 201 W. Broad St, and later moved to 101 W. Broad St. Seeking higher visibility and greater public access with each move, the company purchased and relocated to its current building in December 2001.

1997

1998

1999

By Reginald Stuart

From its start, the Richmond Free Press has relentlessly sought to impact and improve life for Black Richmonders on a variety of issues. The award-winning newspaper is marking its 30th anniversary this year, and since the time the inaugural edition hit the streets of Richmond on Jan. 16, 1992, the Free Press has stayed on the front line championing causes ranging from education and health care to employment and racial justice. Achieving this goal every week has been no easy task. There have been sporadic protests from prospective advertisers who refused to buy ads or to provide the newspaper in stores for readers. There was the effort by a small group of ministers to “shut the paper” down after disagreeing with editorials. Still, the Free Press climbed the mountain. As the Free Press observes this milestone anniversary, it continues to honor its mission to “empower its readers by contributing to the balance of news reporting and commentary in the Richmond area” and “to educate its readers about important issues touching their lives and to motivate them to be fully heard on these issues.” From reporting about the COVID-19 pandemic and its sweeping and sometimes tragic impact on the Richmond community to coverage of political events in City Hall and the state’s legislative chambers, the Free Press has been there without fear or favor. “Newspapers are empowered by the Constitution to be truth-tellers,” observed Jean Patterson Boone, who took the leadership reins as publisher of the Free Press in June 2014 after the death of her husband, Raymond H. Boone Sr., a spirited and feisty newspaper veteran who founded the Free Press after a long career as an executive with the Baltimore-based AfroAmerican Newspaper group. “We’ve come a long way,” said Mrs. Boone, noting that people have come to appreciate the Free Press, its mission, its independent role among Virginia’s news media and its adherence to a deep belief in the First Amendment. The Free Press was launched with the mission to “fan the expression of ideas about public policy and, in the process, to encourage wide-open, uninhibited debate.” “It is our view that the lack of respect for the First Amendment has frustrated free expression in

After other executive posts with the Baltimore newspaper chain, Mr. Boone and his wife returned to Richmond to start the Richmond Free Press in a continuing effort to champion equal treatment, racial justice and economic opportunity for Black people. During the last 30 years, the Free Press has published major stories about housing and employment discrimination; pushed elected officials from governors to mayors and City Council members to increase public spending with %ODFN RZQHG DQG PLQRULW\ RZQHG ¿UPV DQG SXW D VSRWOLJKW RQ DQ DUHD :HQG\¶V IUDQFKLVH WKDW ¿UHG three young Black employees who refused to take out their braids despite Virginia law accepting the style as a proper form of hair restraint for food workers. The story, and the reversal of the antibraid policy by Wendy’s corporate headquarters, was picked up by the New York Times, which cited the Free Press. The Free Press has pushed through the years to KROG SROLWLFLDQV MXGJHV DQG RWKHU SXEOLF RI¿FLDOV accountable. $QQLH 2·1HLOO In 2004, the Richmond Free Press exposed Richmond Free Press founder Raymond racist comments Richmond General District Court H. Boone Sr., and his wife, Jean Patterson Judge Ralph B. Robertson made in an online chat Boone, the current publisher, brought their room about African-American defendants, civil dream to Richmond in 1992. They were rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the photographed together in the Free Press Civil Rights Movement, which forced the judge to Board Room on April 24, 2014, just weeks resign after 19 years hearing criminal cases and to before his death on June 3, 2014. apologize to the Richmond community. The judge Richmond — especially in the Black community died in 2006. The Free Press and writer Jeremy — and that the entire community has suffered by M. Lazarus, who has worked at the newspaper IDLOLQJ WR DOORZ VRFLHW\ WR EHQH¿W IURP WKRXJKWV almost since its inception, were recognized by the and ideas of the people,” the newspaper’s mission Old Dominion Bar Association and the Virginia statement reads. “The objective of the Free Press is Trial Lawyers Association for investigative work to work mightily to reverse this counterproductive exposing such discrimination. During the widespread “Occupy Wall Street” situation.” That commitment to public discourse was demonstrations in 2011 pointing out the income foundational in the life and motivation of the and wealth gap between the nation’s wealthiest newspaper’s founder. Mr. Boone grew up in rural 1 percent and the rest of the population, local Suffolk, where racial segregation ruled supreme protesters were ordered evicted by then-Mayor and the idea of a racial minority helping run a Dwight C. Jones from their make-shift camp in newspaper was an unspeakable thought. As a Downtown. Mr. Boone, in solidarity with the young high school student, he touted a brave idea: demonstrators’ cause, invited them to set up camp on the lawn of his South Side home — right next To become a journalist. He worked part time for the Suffolk News- door to the mayor’s residence — where they also Herald, covering sports at Black high schools. celebrated Thanksgiving with a large, outdoor He went on to earn a journalism degree at feast. For nearly a decade, the Free Press called on the Boston University and later joined the staff at WKH %DOWLPRUH $IUR $PHULFDQ +H ¿UVW FDPH WR Washington NFL team to change its racist name Richmond in 1965 as editor of the Richmond and refused to publish the offensive moniker in its news or editorial columns. In July 2020, team Afro-American.

Message to General Assembly:

Show regret Free Press staff

votes on the King holiday, called on the audience to “melt the ice of indifference” and, in the spirit of Dr. King, work as “citizen soldiers” to ensure that no American is left behind. But it was keynote speaker Bishop Glenn who won the most cheers and applause, by focusing on racial disharmony in Chesterfield County. Bishop Glenn used his address to blast the county’s decision to send children to school on the national holiday honoring Dr. King. “We are all violators, and proud of it,” said Bishop Glenn, after asking Chesterfield County parents and students who chose

For five years in the early 1960s, Prince Edward County locked its schools in defiance of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that outlawed racial segregation in public education. “There are only four places in the world where children are denied the right to attend school: North Vietnam, Cambodia, North Korea and Prince Edward County,” an angry and frustrated President John F. Kennedy said at the time. Now the General Assembly is being called on to express official regret for that shameful episode in Virginia history in which Prince Edward and its closed schools symbolized the state’s Massive Resistance to allowing black students to attend classes with white students. The regrets are contained in a resolution that Del. Viola O. Baskerville, DRichmond, is sponsoring. She said the resolution would finally get the state to acknowledge the wrong that was done in permitting Prince Edward to shut the doors of education to more than 2,300 black children rather than comply with the Supreme Court’s desegregation ruling in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case. “At some point, Virginia must take a stand and express to the people of the commonwealth its regrets,”

Continued on A4

These Patrick Henry Elementary students enthusiastically honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at this week’s Arthur Ashe Center rally. They were among the record 4,000 people who turned out to honor the American hero.

4,000 at MLK rally

Another setback for Chesterfield County By Lisa Brownlee

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry calls for action in surprise Richmond appearance.

The fight for racial justice is far from over — and you should get involved. That was the message a presidential hopeful and a Chesterfield County minister delivered to a record-breaking crowd of more than 4,000 people attending an annual event at the Arthur Ashe Center honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Richmond’s mass meeting in observance of the King holiday cast a spotlight on both a local controversy and presidential politics, as Bishop Gerald O. Glenn and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry took center stage. Sen. Kerry, one of several Democratic presidential hopefuls who pitched for black

Barack Hussein Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States by Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts on the west portico of the Capitol in Washington. The new president’s wife, Michelle Obama, proudly holds Bible used by President Abraham Lincoln.

FR EE

Protesters follow MLK example Free Press wire reports

It’s official

2003

JANUARY 22-24, 2009

Record 2 million cheer the swearing-in RI %DUDFN 2EDPD DV QDWLRQ·V ¶ÀUVW· SUHVLGHQW

World cry for peace Saying the Democratic Party needs to expand its political base, the Rev. Al Sharpton, 48, formally filed papers Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission in Washington seeking the party’s nomination for the 2004 presidential race.

www.richmondfreepress.com

Baskerville: Cleanse Virginia of shame

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Continued on A4

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

Never before

JANUARY 23-25, 2003

Dr. Barrett expected to head city NAACP

Dr. Allen C. Barrett is headed for election as the new president of the Richmond Branch NAACP. The retired educator and current first vice president will be the only candidate for president on the ballot when the branch moves ahead with its rescheduled elections for new officers next week, according to outgoing president Sylvia C. Wood. The elections will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, at Club 533 at 3rd and Jackson streets in Jackson Ward, Mrs. Wood said. The balloting had to be rescheduled after being cancelled in November. Dr. Barrett, who also served last year as interim president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters, was not immediately available for comment. He was assured of election after a potential rival, the Rev. Kenneth Dennis, pastor of Greater Mount Moriah Baptist Church, dropped out of the race, said Mrs. Wood, who is winding up four years in office. Mrs. Wood, who has served since 1998 as the first female president of the 85year-old Richmond civil

VOL. 18 NO. 4

Ignoring a legal threat in an awardname controversy, the Metropolitan Business League presented its MBL Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The award was presented to Raymond H. Boone, founder, editor and publisher of the Richmond Free Press, at a glittering banquet that attracted 1,000 people to a Downtown hotel. Coverage on B5.

Richmond Free Press

Boone receives top MBL award

Continued on A4

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

RI¿FLDOV DQQRXQFHG WKH IUDQFKLVH ZRXOG GURS WKH name. Other news organizations began calling the team by the name assigned to it in the Free Press – the Washington football team. “The most consequential, I would have to say, are the editorials and stories that help educate voters and government decision-makers about the evils of the Confederate symbols on Monument Avenue and throughout the Commonwealth,” Mrs. Boone said. In summer 1992, the newspaper brought attention to the use of Confederate symbols on aircraft and uniforms of the Virginia Air National Guard. When then-Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, the QDWLRQ¶V ¿UVW HOHFWHG $IULFDQ $PHULFDQ JRYHUQRU learned about it, the Confederate symbols were promptly removed, Mrs. Boone recalled. Mrs. Boone said she was “personally taken aback by the racism” she confronted when she began as the newspaper’s advertising manager. She said she could not count the times she was turned down by advertisers who considered the Free Press “in the ‘miscellaneous’ category of outlets, for which there was no money left.” The range of potential advertisers may change by name to a degree, but not by attitude, she added. “In short, it has been a challenge because UHVRXUFHV VSHQW UHÀHFW ZKR DQG ZKDW D EXVLQHVV values. And our readers are still demanding to be valued by hesitant advertisers,” Mrs. Boone said. The Free Press has kept the presses rolling with a small loyal team, winning accolades from peers and competitors during the past 30 years for its range of impactful articles, editorials, photographs and community service. Mrs. Boone echoes her late husband when talking about the future of the Free Press and what challenges and opportunities are ahead. The priority, she said, is “delivering news that our readers can use, presenting commentary, editorials and ideas that inspire citizens to participate in their government, particularly at the local and state level, and encouraging robust debate through the Letters to the Editor columns.” The newspaper’s inspirational focus of encouraging volunteerism by featuring a Free Press Personality each week “is contributing to the betterment of our community,” Mrs. Boone said. “The foremost challenge is to remain vital to the health and growth of the Richmond community, especially the most vulnerable,” Mrs. Boone said. “Our pledge is to remain true to our mission.”

+ + Inauguration Edition + +

well-heeled crowd gathered at the Metropolitan Business League’s gala Saturday night. On his list: • The Republican decision to put Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott in charge of the powerful Senate Rules Committee after removing him as majority leader for endorsing seg

Richmond Free Press

VOL. 12 NO. 4

2002

EE FR

and prosecutors as a law-and-order jurist. “Last year, they removed a black judge in Norfolk for no reason,” Rep. Scott said in blasting white GOP legislators for their efforts to remove another black member of the state’s judiciary. He also lashed out at the Bush administration and congressional allies for policies and actions he sees undermining civil rights in his turn at the podium to address the

FR EE

Free Press staff

2001

Free Press mission to educate and empower continues

Scott: New threats to rights progress Virginia’s lone black congressman, Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, D-3rd, is warning of new threats to civil rights progress. Speaking in Richmond, the 10-year U.S. House veteran said a prime example of the growing hostility to civil rights is the Republican-led campaign to get rid of Circuit Judge Verbena Askew of Newport News, widely praised by police

2000

WASHINGTON Invoking the nonviolent legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an estimated 100,000 demonstrators rallied in the capital Saturday in an emphatic dissent against preparations for war in Iraq. They voiced a cry — “No blood for oil” — heard in demonstrations around the world. The three-hour-plus rally in the shadows of Washington’s political and military institutions anchored dozens of smaller protests throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. In Washington, police said 30,000 marched through the streets, part of a much larger crowd that packed the east end of the National Mall and spilled onto the Capitol grounds. In 1963, Dr. King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech rang out from the opposite end of the mall, the Abraham Continued on A6

+ ‘Never before’ swearing-in coverage/A3 + Full text of President Obama’s inaugural address/A6 + ,QVLGH HVVD\V RQ PHDQLQJ RI 2EDPD SUHVLGHQF\ Facing down a ‘dragon’

It looks like a mighty battle is shaping up for four-year-old Tia Brown, but the “dragon” she’s facing down is no fire-breathing monster — it’s her fiveyear-old brother, Brandon. The friendly square off took place in the 600 block of 32nd Street in the East End.

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012 Meet this week’s Personality B1

VOL. 31 NO. 1

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

EE FR

FR EE

‘Wheel of Fortune’ winner A8

DECEMBER 30, 2021-JANUARY 1, 2022

Into the future Heading into 2022, Mayor Stoney details his focus for Richmond’s growth and opportunities in the coming years By Jeremy M. Lazarus

0D\RU /HYDU 0 6WRQH\ LV EXOOLVK RQ 5LFKPRQG DV KH SUHSDUHV WR EHJLQ KLV VL[WK \HDU LQ WKH FLW\¶V WRS HOHFWHG RI¿FH 7KRXJK WKH SDQGHPLF LV VWLOO UDJLQJ WKH FLW\¶V \HDU ROG FKLHI H[HFXWLYH VDLG LQ DQ LQWHUYLHZ WKDW 9LUJLQLD¶V FDSLWDO FLW\ LV UHDG\ WR WDNH RII DQG WKDW WKH &LW\ RI 5LFKPRQG LV JRLQJ WR EH SDUW RI PDNLQJ WKDW KDSSHQ 7KLV ZDV D \HDU RI UHFRYHU\ LQ ³ZKLFK ZH UHFODLPHG RXU OLYHV´ ZLWK WKH UHWXUQ RI IHVWLYDOV DQG SDUDGHV and the reopening of businesses and schools, he said. $KHDG 0D\RU 6WRQH\ VDLG UHVLGHQWV ZLOO VWDUW WR VHH UHVXOWV IURP WKH VHHGV WKH FLW\ SODQWHG WR ensure continued growth of development, people and job opportunities. Please turn to A4

State NAACP weighing appeal of new redistricting maps to U.S. Supreme Court By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Name

Will there be an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court? The Virginia State Conference NAACP, which issued sharp criticism of proposed state redistricting maps, is still considering a legal challenge now that the Virginia Supreme Court has issued new boundaries for the state’s 11 FRQJUHVVLRQDO GLVWULFWV VWDWH Senate districts and 100 House of Delegate districts. “All options are still on the table,” said Robert N. Barnette Jr., state NAACP president. ³2XU ODZ\HUV DUH VWLOO VWXG\ing the maps, and we’ll make a decision after receiving their UHSRUW , FDQ VD\ ZH DUH JHQHUDOO\ GLVDSSRLQWHG ¶ The state’s highest court RQ 7XHVGD\ XQDQLPRXVO\ DSproved the maps overhauling the boundaries in an order putting the new districts into effect IRU IXWXUH SULPDU\ DQG JHQHUDO elections, including the 2022 congressional elections. Redrawing the electoral district boundaries is required under the federal and state FRQVWLWXWLRQV DIWHU HDFK \HDU census. The state Supreme Court was handed the task after a new 16-member state Redistricting &RPPLVVLRQ VSOLW HTXDOO\

among Democrats and Republicans, failed to reach agreement. 7KH RQO\ DYHQXH WR DSSHDO WKH Virginia court’s order is to the nation’s highest court. While some praise was heard IRU WKH PDSV FUHDWHG E\ WKH court’s two appointed special experts, Democrat Dr. Bernard Grofman and Republican Sean Trende, the state NAACP and its legal team have been laserfocused on ensuring that the new boundaries did not undermine the interests of Black voters.

for additional public comment on the changes. “We think that was needed,” Mr. Barnette said. 7KH PRVW VLJQL¿FDQW FKDQJes, according to Liz White, executive director of OneVirginia2021, were in the congressional maps. For example, a portion of western Chester¿HOG &RXQW\ ZDV DGGHG WR WKH revamped 1st Congressional District, which will extend to Hampton Roads. However, the overall out-

Flowers honor the late Archishop Desmond Tutu on Tuesday outside St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, lion of anti-apartheid movement, dies at 90 Mr. Barnette

Dr. Grofman

Those interests are protected E\ VWDWH ODZ DQG WKH IHGHUDO Voting Rights Act, the NAACP noted in a memo delivered to the court on Dec. 17 during a public comment period on the H[SHUWV¶ ¿UVW GUDIWV Mr. Barnette said a memo Dr. Grofman and Mr. Trende issued RQ 0RQGD\ GLG QRW H[SODLQ WKH tweaks the two experts made as D UHVXOW RI WKH DUUD\ RI SXEOLF comments. He also noted that WKH FRXUW ¿QDOL]HG WKH H[SHUWV¶ revised maps without allowing

Free COVID-19 testing, vaccines Free community testing for COVID-19 continues. During the New Year’s holiday, most testing will be available at area pharmacies, drug stores, clinics and urgent care centers. Other testing sites: s Tuesday, Jan. 4, 9 to 11 a.m., Second Baptist Church of South Richmond, 3300 Broad Rock Blvd. s Wednesday, Jan. 5, 9 to 11 a.m., Eastern Henrico Recreation Center, 1440 N. Laburnum Ave.; 3 to 6 p.m., Highland Springs Community Center, 16 S. Ivy Ave. s Friday, Jan. 7, 1 to 3 p.m., Diversity Thrift, 1407 Sherwood Ave. Call the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for more

Please turn to A4

Mr. Trende

lines of the congressional map appear to create five Republican-leaning districts, ¿YH 'HPRFUDWLF OHDQLQJ GLVtricts and one toss-up district, ODUJHO\ UHWDLQLQJ WKH ERXQGDUies in the draft maps the court released Dec. 7. Current 7th District Democratic Congresswoman Abigail A. Spanberger of Henrico, whose residence was drawn LQWR WKH KHDYLO\ 5HSXEOLFDQ VW District, announced she would run in the revamped district in a bid to keep the seat she has KHOG IRU IRXU \HDUV The changes to the state House of Delegates and state Senate maps mean that Richmond’s delegation to the GenHUDO $VVHPEO\ ZLOO VKULQN 2QO\ three House members and two senators would represent the FLW\ D GURS IURP WKH PHPEHUV RI WKH *HQHUDO $VVHPEO\ who have Richmond voters in their districts, according to DQ DQDO\VLV IURP WKH 9LUJLQLD Please turn to A4

$UFKELVKRS 7XWX ZKR GLHG DW RQ 6XQGD\ Free Press wire, staff report 'HF ZRUNHG SDVVLRQDWHO\ WLUHOHVVO\ JOHANNESBURG DQG QRQ YLROHQWO\ WR WHDU GRZQ DSDUWKHLG ² 0RXUQHUV KHOG D FDQGOHOLJKW SUD\HU FHU- South Africa’s brutal, decades-long regime HPRQ\ RXWVLGH WKH 6RZHWR KRPH RI WKH ODWH RI RSSUHVVLRQ DJDLQVW LWV %ODFN PDMRULW\ WKDW $UFKELVKRS 'HVPRQG 7XWX RQ :HGQHVGD\ RQO\ HQGHG LQ ZHHSLQJ RYHU WKH PHPRU\ QRW RQO\ RI D ZRUOG 7KH EXR\DQW EOXQW VSRNHQ FOHUJ\PDQ renowned lion of the anti-apartheid movement EXW RI D NLQG DQG OR\DO QHLJKERU Please turn to A4

Among friends Young students in Linda Crafton’s class for 3- to 5-year-olds at FRIENDS Association for Children hold onto their new stuffed animals during a Christmas Vehicle Parade on Dec. 21 in Gilpin Court. The huggable toys were gifts given to the youngsters by the nonprofit organization that operates two child development centers. FRIENDS got its start in 1871 as an orphanage in Jackson Ward and has expanded its mission and services in the last 150 years.

Elusive copper time capsule pulled from Lee pedestal, opened Free Press wire, staff report Conservator Gretchen Guidess with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, left, assists conservator Sue Donovan of the University of Virginia, in removing items from the copper time capsule found by workers on Monday in the rubble of the Lee statue pedestal on Monument Avenue. The box was opened and unpacked by conservators on Tuesday in the conservation lab at the state Department of Historic Resources.

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Conservation experts at the Virginia DepartPHQW RI +LVWRULF 5HVRXUFHV SXOOHG ERRNV PRQH\ ammunition, documents and other artifacts TuesGD\ IURP D ORQJ VRXJKW DIWHU WLPH FDSVXOH IRXQG in the remnants of a pedestal on Richmond’s Monument Avenue that once held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. During the course of about two hours, the team sliced open the 36-pound copper box and PHWLFXORXVO\ SULHG DSDUW DQG GRFXPHQWHG WKH damp contents inside. The box had been tucked LQ D IRXQGDWLRQ FRUQHUVWRQH RI WKH PDVVLYH²DQG QRZ PRVWO\ GHFRQVWUXFWHG²5LFKPRQG PRQXment since 1887. Opening the box and removing its contents were a welcomed event for those involved.

³0RUH WKDQ DQ\WKLQJ P\ SHUVRQDO UHDFWLRQ LV PRUH DERXW ZDWFKLQJ WKH SXEOLF HPEUDFH KLVWRU\ and be so interested in it,” said Julie Langan, D VWDWH KLVWRULF SUHVHUYDWLRQ RI¿FHU DQG '+5 GLUHFWRU ³7KDW¶V ZKDW¶V UHDOO\ PRYLQJ WR PH ´ The time capsule had drawn substantial interest ORFDOO\ DQG QDWLRQDOO\ ERWK EHFDXVH LW SURYHG WR be elusive during an earlier search and because historical records had led to some speculation it might contain a rare photo of President Abraham /LQFROQ DIWHU KLV GHDWK 8OWLPDWHO\ VXFK D SKRWR was not found. Instead, the box contained a range of Confederate memorabilia and assorted items, including a bullet embedded in a block of wood, a commemorative ribbon of Gen. Lee Please turn to A4

Richmond Free Press

A10 January 13-15, 2022

Local News

Virginia to join vax mandate challenges under new GOP governor, AG Free Press wire, staff report

Virginia will join other Republican-led states and business groups in challenging Biden administration mandates intended to increase the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination rate once GOP Gov.-elect Glenn A. Youngkin and Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares take office, the two said in a statement last week. “While we believe that the vaccine is a critical tool in the fight against COVID-19, we strongly believe that the federal government cannot impose its will and restrict the freedoms of Americans and that Virginia is at its best when her people are allowed to make the best decisions for their families or businesses,” they said in the joint statement. They said that after their Jan. 15 inauguration, the Commonwealth will “quickly move to protect Virginians’ freedoms” and join challenges to components of President Biden’s vaccine mandate. The announcement came days after two key

Virginia health officials announced they were stepping down with the new GOP administration entering office on Saturday, Jan. 15. And it came on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about whether to allow the Biden administration to enforce a vaccine-or-testing requirement that applies to large employers Mr. Miyares Dr. Oliver Dr. Avula and a separate vaccine mandate for most health care workers. and the United States.” Mr. Miyares said earlier last week that he planned But they said the vaccine mandates would to sign onto the lawsuits, also acknowledging that “force hardworking Virginians to walk away it was unclear how soon a ruling from the nation’s from their paychecks.” highest court might affect those components. Supporters of the measures say the mandates A separate legal challenge also is pending to will save lives. a requirement that teachers in the Head Start The debate comes as the United States deals early education program be vaccinated against with record-setting COVID-19 case counts due COVID-19. to the highly contagious omicron variant. Gov.-elect Youngkin and Mr. Miyares said The variant spreads even more easily than in their statement that the pandemic had caused other coronavirus strains and already has become “heartbreaking health, societal, and economic dominant in many countries. It also more easily loss and suffering throughout the Commonwealth infects those who have been vaccinated or had

Area colleges make changes in wake of omicron variant By George Copeland Jr.

Virginia State University is moving its spring semester courses online for the first two weeks because of the surge in COVID-19 cases. University officials announced late last week that the semester will start as planned on Tuesday, Jan. 18, but that courses will be taught online through Jan. 28 to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus on campus. “We are excited to welcome our Trojan Community back for the spring 2022 semester, but we want to do so safely,” said Gwen Williams, VSU’s assistant vice president of communications. The changes at VSU are among several new measures area colleges are taking in the face of the highly contagious omicron variant. New cases of the virus have spiked across the state, with people reporting milder symptoms more in line with the common cold, such as runny nose, headache, fatigue, sneezing and sore throat. Loss of taste and smell and lower back pain also have been reported with the omicron variant. Following are changes announced at several area institutions: VSU: In addition to online classes for the first two weeks, all students and employees are required to be fully vaccinated, including booster shots, for the spring semester and must show proof. Students moving into dorms and employees also must have proof of a COVID-19 entry test taken within 48 hours of returning to campus. Entry testing also will be offered at Daniel Gymnasium through Sunday, Jan. 16.

VSU also announced that no spectators will be allowed at campus basketball games through Jan. 22 out of an abundance of caution. VSU’s men’s and women’s teams are to take on Richmond rival Virginia Union University Saturday, Jan. 15, and Shaw University on Wednesday, Jan. 19, at the VSU Multi-Purpose Center. Virginia Union University: VUU continues to employ a mix of in-person and virtual instruction, with new additions of special TVs in dorm rooms for students to continue their course work while socially distanced on campus. Spring semester classes began Jan. 3 through remote instruction because of the snowstorm. VUU also provided on-site COVID-19 testing for employees and returning students. Mask mandates also continue. VUU Athletics announced that no spectators will be allowed at its men’s and women’s basketball games in Barco-Stevens Hall until further notice to help prevent the spread of the virus. The games can be viewed live remotely, however, on the CIAA Network, www.vuusports.com. Virginia Commonwealth University: Students, faculty and staff are required to be fully vaccinated, or have an approved medical or religious exemption. Booster shots also are required by Feb. 1, or within 30 days of becoming eligible for the booster shot. Vaccination status must be reported to the university. Spring semester courses began Jan. 3, with classes held virtually initially because of the snowstorm. Courses have options for different modes of either face-to-face or online instruction. Reynolds Community College: The major-

ity of spring semester classes will be conducted remotely through Friday, Jan. 21. The community college’s operations, which have been largely operating remotely since Jan. 3, will provide limited in-person services through Jan. 21 in admissions, financial aid, the bookstore and the

Leigh

DOWNTOWN TRANSFER PLAZA CHANGES

COMING SOON! 9th St.

Future GRTC Downtown Transfer Plaza Construction Zone

What: Relocation of bus bays to 9th, Clay, & 8th Streets. When: Pending construction on 9th. More details will be announced in advance. GRTC expects to move into a new Transfer Plaza later in 2022.

Parking Deck

Clay 10th St.

8th St.

John Marshall Court John Marshall House

Info Kiosk

Marshall

Library of Virginia

Richmond City Hall

Info Kiosk

Broad

Wayﬁnding: Maps will be posted at bus stop shelters and information kiosks. New bus stops signs will be installed with large letters and route numbers. Questions? Please call GRTC’s Customer Service at 804-358-4782. Monday to Friday, 6:00 am – 7:00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 8:30 am – 9:00 pm ¿Necesitas un intérprete? Llama al atención al cliente de GRTC al 804-358-4782 para obtener ayuda en tu idioma.

9th St.

177

Local Bus Stops: 8th + Clay and 8th + Marshall bus stops nearby for many transfers.

Dept. of Public Services

173

Internal Revenue Service

previously been infected by prior versions of the virus. However, early studies show omicron is less likely to cause severe illness than the previous delta variant, and that vaccination and a booster still offer strong protection from serious illness, hospitalization and death. Last week’s announcement from Mr. Miyares and Gov.-elect Youngkin was not surprising. Both made their opposition to vaccine mandates clear during last year’s campaign. But it marked one early example of how pandemic-related policy is likely to shift once Virginia’s new wave of GOP leadership is ushered into office. Dr. M. Norman Oliver announced on Jan. 5 his exit as commissioner of the Virginia Department of Health, followed by Dr. Danny T.K. Avula, the head of the Richmond and Henrico health districts, who had been tapped last year during the pandemic by Democratic Gov. Ralph S. Northam to serve as the state vaccination coordinator. Dr. Oliver said he was stepping down Friday, Jan. 14, at the urging of Gov.-elect Youngkin, who has said he opposes mask mandates and has promised to do away with a requirement that most state workers get the vaccine or undergo frequent testing. Dr. Avula began transitioning out of his statewide role last fall and recently assumed the title of state vaccination liaison, focusing on partner development and media relations. Christy Gray, director of the Division of Immunization with the state Health Department, now will oversee vaccinations in Virginia.

Government Center Westbound Station

Project updates at ridegrtc.com

Local News

Richmond Free Press

January 13-15, 2022 A11

Protect the ones you love,

get your flu shot today. Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Ready for the 2022 General Assembly session Members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus offer details Wednesday on their legislative priorities for the 2022 session of the General Assembly just hours before the session’s noon start. Among the priorities: Fully funding public education; ending solitary confinement; preventing evictions; universal paid family and medical leave; strengthening employment discrimination and harassment laws; equity in renewable energy development; and protecting recent progress, including the new Voting Rights Act of Virginia, the repeal of the death penalty, the increase in the state’s minimum wage and legalization of marijuana. VLBC members attending the virtual news conference are: Top row from left: Adele McClure, VLBC executive director; Delegate Delo-

res L. McQuinn of Richmond; Delegate Michelle Maldonado of Manassas; and Delegate Lamont Bagby of Henrico, VLBC chairman. Second row from left: Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan of Richmond; Delegate Marcia S. “Cia” Price of Newport News; Delegate Briana Sewell of Prince William County; and Delegate Angelia Williams Graves of Norfolk. Third row from left: Delegate Jeion A. Ward of Hampton; Delegate Candi King of Stafford; Delegate Nadarius Clark of Norfolk; and Delegate Sam Rasoul of Roanoke. Bottom row from left: Delegate C.E. “Cliff” Hayes Jr. of Chesapeake; Sen. Mamie Locke of Hampton; and Delegate Jeffrey M. Bourne of Richmond.

@vaccinatevirginia

Sen. Lucas to receive $300K settlement Free Press wire staff report

pulled down, critically injuring PORTSMOUTH a demonstrator. The City of Portsmouth will Two months later, former pay state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, Portsmouth Police Chief Angela the highest ranking Black in Greene, who also is Black, anthe Virginia Senate, $300,0000 nounced felony criminal chargunder a settlement in es against Sen. Lucas a lawsuit she filed and 18 others, includafter she was charged ing three officers with damaging a of the Portsmouth Confederate monuBranch NAACP, atment during a 2020 torneys from the pubprotest. lic defenders office, Portsmouth police a Portsmouth School charged Sen. Lucas Board member and Sen. Lucas and several other a public relations Portsmouth officials who were specialist. dubbed the “Portsmouth 19” A judge later dismissed all with conspiracy to commit a charges in the case. Chief Greene felony and injury to a monu- was fired the same day. ment in excess of $1,000 after Sen. Lucas served Chief a protest that drew hundreds of Greene and the police officer people to a Confederate monu- who filed charges against her ment in the city’s downtown. with the $6.75 million lawsuit The heads of Confederate in November 2021, alleging statues on the monument were malicious prosecution, false ripped off and one statue was imprisonment and gross neg-

ligence. It also accused Chief Greene of defamation. The lawsuit was settled in mediation on Dec. 23. Under the agreement, Sen. Lucas will release the defendants and the city from future liability, said Burle Stromberg, Portsmouth’s interim city attorney. Sen. Lucas, a longtime Democratic state senator who serves as president pro tempore of the Senate, said she was pleased with the settlement and plans to donate the money. “I also understand that any settlement from a locality impacts their ability to fund critical programs in our community,” Sen. Lucas said in a statement Jan. 7. “That’s why I am pledging that I will be donating the entirety of what I receive in the settlement to the charitable efforts in our community I have been involved with for so many years.”

Make Sure Your Immune System Is Buttoned Up for Winter Make a plan to get your COVID-19 booster today! The COVID-19 booster is a vital step for staying safe against the virus — and everyone 12 and older is now eligible. *0 ) ‫ )ޔ‬free COVID-19 boosters — *- ‫ޔ‬-./Ѷ . *) Ѷ ) $/$*) ' +-$( -4 doses — at a community vaccination center near you.

Your Local Community Vaccination Centers Arthur Ashe Junior Athletic Center 3001 N Arthur Ashe Blvd Richmond, VA 23230

Rockwood Shopping Center 10161 Hull Street Midlothian, VA 23112

Hours of Operation The community vaccination centers are open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Appointments Walk-ins are welcome for everyone, including children 5 and older, but appointments are strongly recommended to avoid having to wait.

Richmond Free Press

Raindrops in North Side

Editorial Page

A12

January 13-15, 2022

Honoring Dr. King Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

‘Moral and ethical imperative to combat climate change’

File photo

We remember with awe and deep gratitude the selfless leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose vision and commitment to justice and equality for all people helped bend the arc of the moral universe in the right direction. In 2022, as our nation, our Commonwealth and our city are grappling with the issues and disparities surrounding COVID-19, health care, education, employment, housing, voting rights, human rights, social justice, police brutality and criminal justice, we must continue to apply the principles Dr. King championed and stand up, speak up and work toward those goals that will benefit all, including the most vulnerable in our society. On the eve of this national holiday on what would have been Dr. King’s 93rd birthday, Virginia is ushering in change with the inauguration of a new Republican administration at the statehouse. Our Congress is struggling with attacks on our nation’s democracy and its cornerstone — voting rights. And our city is working to re-imagine its future, including how it memorializes the past. We must ask ourselves as individuals what our roles will be and how we will fit into this equation. Will we work toward chaos or community? We hope the spirit of Dr. King and the legacy of his writings and action will bring answers and direction.

The climate crisis is the greatest existential threat we face. Its impacts are becoming more apparent each year, as coastal flooding, sea level rise, wildfires, tornadoes and hurricanes increase in frequency and severity. These extreme weather events are threatening the lives and livelihoods of Virginians here in the Commonwealth and Americans across the nation. The effects of climate change are undeniable, yet there are many individuals, like Gov.elect Glenn A. Youngkin, who refuse to recognize the urgency of our climate crisis, perpetuate misleading and false narratives and carelessly threaten unproductive and harmful actions that will undermine the progress we have made. The governor-elect touts himself to be a man of faith and has made frequent claims that his faith serves as a guiding principle in his life and decision-making processes. It was a commonly revisited tenant of his gubernatorial campaign, along with promises of making Virginia more just and equitable for all. I, too, consider myself to be a man of faith. My faith teaches me that we must care for the very least among us and lift others up when they are down. While pursuing my master’s of divinity from Virginia Union University, I learned about the concept of creation care and the need to be good stewards of the Earth and to protect all God’s creations. My faith journey serves as a motivating force for my ongoing efforts to combat

climate change and confront environmental injustices while fighting to ensure historically marginalized and underserved communities have a voice at the table. We have a moral and ethical imperative to combat climate change and to ensure a healthy, livable planet for our children and grandchildren. It

U.S. Rep. A Donald McEachin is impossible to ensure a more just and equitable future for all Virginians without taking a hard stance against climate change and environmental injustices. That’s why I was concerned with the governor-elect’s recent announcement that he intends to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI. I worry about the approach he will take to combat climate change and environmental harms. A market-based cap-andtrade program, RGGI is comprised of 11 states spanning the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. The initiative aims to limit greenhouse gas emissions by requiring fossil fuel power plants to secure allowances for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit. During my time in the Virginia Senate, I worked diligently to help pave the way for Virginia to join RGGI. I was thrilled when Virginia Democrats in the General Assembly finally were able to authorize our entry into the program, and I am proud of the work we were able to accomplish together. RGGI has been an undeniably beneficial program for Virginia. In the last year alone, the Commonwealth drew in more than $227 million thanks to our participation in the initiative. That’s hundreds of millions of dollars that are going directly

back into the state to support flood protection and to develop energy efficiency programs to help low-income Virginians. It’s a win-win for climate advocates and struggling families throughout our state. RGGI is a strong convergence of good public policy and good-faith work in the public square that’s focused on taking care of the most vulnerable among us. During the campaign, the governor-elect indicated that he does not accept even the most self-evident, objective understandings of climate science. When asked whether mankind is responsible for climate change, he refused to acknowledge humans’ contribution to the climate crisis, despite overwhelming scientific evidence and a clear consensus among the academic and scholarly communities. The governor-elect also is opposed to the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which aims to combat the climate crisis by establishing the Commonwealth’s first clean energy standard and will put our state on the path to achieve the ambitious goals necessary to mitigate further environmental deterioration. The legislation will lower energy prices and ensure all Virginians, regardless of their socioeconomic status, have a stake in the advanced energy economy by expanding access to energy efficiency programs. The governor-elect and I are both men of faith. I pray that his guiding principles amount to more than a guise to soften the blow of unjust and unequitable actions, and that we can work together to advance forwardlooking policies to best serve our state. But if this is a harbinger of actions yet to come, I will do everything in my power at the federal level to safeguard the progress Virginia has made

and to protect families who are struggling. We cannot afford to step back now and risk all that we’ve accomplished. Congressman McEachin represents Virginia’s 4th Congressional District, which includes Richmond, Petersburg and portions of Henrico and Chesterfield counties, among others. He sits on the House Energy & Commerce Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee. He received his divinity degree from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University.

Richmond Free Press 422 East Franklin Street Richmond, VA 23219 Telephone (804) 644-0496 FAX (804) 643-7519 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 27709 Richmond, VA 23261 ______________

Founder Raymond H. Boone President – Publisher Jean P. Boone

jeanboone@richmondfreepress.com

Managing Editor Bonnie V. Winston bonniewinston@richmondfreepress.com

Vice President – New Business Development Raymond H. Boone Jr.

jrboone@richmondfreepress.com

Vice President – News Enhancement Jeremy M. Lazarus

jeremylazarus@richmondfreepress.com

Vice President – Production April A. Coleman

aprilcoleman@richmondfreepress.com

Staff Writers Fred Jeter, Frances Crutchfield Hazel Trice Edney Photographers Sandra Sellars

sandrasellars@richmondfreepress.com

Regina H. Boone

reginaboone@richmondfreepress.com

James Haskins, Rudolph Powell and Clinton A. Strane ______________

Vice President – Administration Tracey L. Oliver traceyoliver@richmondfreepress.com

Advertising Traffic Coordinator Cynthia Downing advertising@richmondfreepress.com classifieds@richmondfreepress.com

Advertising Fax: (804) 643-5436 National Advertising Representative NNPA ______________

Distribution GouffyStyle LLC ______________

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press file photo

James River floods surrounding area.

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.

Richmond Free Press is published weekly by Paradigm Communications, Inc. Copies of the Richmond Free Press (one copy per person) are free of charge at outlets in the Richmond area. Back copies are available at the Free Press office at $3 per copy. Bulk orders can be made prior to any upcoming edition at special rates.

A Publication of

PARADIGM COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

422 East Franklin Street Richmond, VA 23219 Telephone (804) 644-0496

Follow the Free Press on @FreePressRVA @RichmondFreePressUSA

Richmond Free Press

January 13-15, 2022 A13

Letter to the Editor

Memories of Archbishop Desmond Tutu As we experience the news of the homegoing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, we celebrate the life, love and legacy of a great theologian. It was in 1993 that my uncle, Dr. David T. Shannon Sr., invited me to travel with him to the home of Archbishop Tutu in Cape Town, South Africa. The 14-hour flight carried us to the home of a very humble gentle giant who extended the invitation to my uncle to share in dialogue. My uncle was the president of Andover Newton Theological School in Massachusetts, where he was the first Black president. He also had served as president of Virginia Union University and president of Allen University in South Carolina. This was an important meeting to discuss the future of the church and how it could deliver victory from apartheid in South Africa. The beloved Archbishop Tutu joins the spirit of many of our beloved leaders of faith and action such as theologians Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor and Dr. Martin L. King Jr.; Malcolm X; Gen. Colin Powell; and educators Dr. Shannon, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington and Dr. Benjamin E. Mays. May they all continue to rest in peace. The advocacy of Archbishop

Tutu led to the peaceful transition of a new South Africa. His work also led to a great awakening from former South Africa President F.W. de Klerk, who confessed that the apartheid system was not right and that Black people and white people must

share the leadership for a new South Africa. After the apartheid system was dismantled, President de Klerk served as deputy president under Nelson Mandela, who was the president of a new South Africa. Presently, we continue Arch-

bishop Tutu’s dream at First Baptist Church Centralia, where I have served for 30 years as pastor. We are shadowing a Baptist church in Pretoria, South Africa, today to get books, computer games and toys to children in South Africa.

We believe the grandchildren of the post-Mandela age and all children of South Africa should benefit from the legacy of love and leadership espoused by President Mandela and Archbishop Tutu. I will remember Archbishop

Tutu said, “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in.” DR. WILSON E.B. SHANNON

North Chesterfield

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF PETITION FOR REVISION OF A RATE ADJUSTMENT CLAUSE, DESIGNATED RIDER RPS, BY VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY CASE NO. PUR-2021-00282 •Virginia Electric and Power Company (“Dominion”) has applied for revision of a rate adjustment clause, designated Rider RPS, to recover costs related to compliance with the mandatory renewable energy portfolio standard program established in the Virginia Clean Economy Act. •Dominion requests approval of a revenue requirement of $140,414,000 for Rider RPS for the rate year beginning September 1, 2022, through August 31, 2023. According to Dominion, this amount would increase a typical residential customer’s bill using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month by approximately $1.64. •A Hearing Examiner appointed by the State Corporation Commission will hold a telephonic hearing in this case on April 12, 2021, at 10 a.m., for the receipt of public witness testimony. $Q HYLGHQWLDU\ KHDULQJ ZLOO EH KHOG RQ $SULO DW D P HLWKHU LQ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V VHFRQG ÀRRU FRXUWURRP ORFDWHG LQ WKH 7\OHU %XLOGLQJ (DVW 0DLQ 6WUHHW 5LFKPRQG 9LUJLQLD RU E\ HOHFWURQLF means. Further details on this hearing will be provided by subsequent Commission Order or Hearing Examiner’s Ruling. •Further information about this case is available on the Commission website at: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information. 2Q 'HFHPEHU 9LUJLQLD (OHFWULF DQG 3RZHU &RPSDQ\ ³'RPLQLRQ´ RU ³&RPSDQ\´ ¿OHG ZLWK WKH 6WDWH &RUSRUDWLRQ &RPPLVVLRQ ³&RPPLVVLRQ´ D SHWLWLRQ ³3HWLWLRQ´ IRU UHYLVLRQ RI D UDWH DGMXVWPHQW FODXVH designated Rider RPS, pursuant to § 56-585.1 A 5 d of the Code of Virginia (“Code”) and the directive contained in Ordering Paragraph (5) of the Final Order issued by the Commission on July 1, 2021, in Case No. PUR-2020-00170. Through its Petition, Dominion seeks to recover projected and actual costs related to compliance with the mandatory renewable energy portfolio standard program (“RPS Program”) established in the Virginia Clean Economy Act (“VCEA”). Pursuant to Code § 56-585.5 C, Dominion is required to participate in an RPS Program that establishes annual goals for the sale of renewable energy to all retail customers in the Company’s service territory, with FHUWDLQ OLPLWHG H[FHSWLRQV 7R FRPSO\ ZLWK WKH 536 3URJUDP 'RPLQLRQ PXVW SURFXUH DQG UHWLUH UHQHZDEOH HQHUJ\ FHUWL¿FDWHV µ¶5(&V¶¶ RULJLQDWLQJ IURP TXDOLI\LQJ VRXUFHV 7KH 536 3URJUDP UHTXLUHPHQWV µ¶VKDOO EH a percentage of the total electric energy sold in the previous calendar year’’ and must be implemented in accordance with the schedule set forth in Code § 56-585.5 C. The statute permits Dominion to apply renewable HQHUJ\ VDOHV DFKLHYHG RU 5(&V DFTXLUHG LQ H[FHVV RI WKH VDOHV UHTXLUHPHQW IRU D VSHFL¿F \HDU¶V 536 3URJUDP WR WKH VDOHV UHTXLUHPHQWV IRU FHUWDLQ IXWXUH \HDUV &RGH & IXUWKHU SURYLGHV WKDW WR WKH H[WHQW 'RPLQLRQ SURFXUHV 5(&V IRU 536 3URJUDP FRPSOLDQFH IURP UHVRXUFHV LW GRHV QRW RZQ WKH &RPSDQ\ VKDOO EH HQWLWOHG WR UHFRYHU WKH FRVWV RI VXFK 5(&V SXUVXDQW WR &RGH RU $ G Code § 56-585.1 A 5 d, as amended by the VCEA, provides that a utility may petition the Commission for approval of one or more rate adjustment clauses for the timely and current recovery from customers of:

[p]rojected and actual costs of compliance with renewable energy portfolio standard requirements pursuant to § 56-585.5 that are not recoverable under subdivision 6. The Commission shall approve such D SHWLWLRQ DOORZLQJ WKH UHFRYHU\ RI VXFK FRVWV LQFXUUHG DV UHTXLUHG E\ SURYLGHG WKDW WKH &RPPLVVLRQ GRHV QRW RWKHUZLVH ¿QG VXFK FRVWV ZHUH XQUHDVRQDEO\ RU LPSUXGHQWO\ LQFXUUHG

In its Petition, Dominion states that it will meet the annual requirements of the RPS Program through the retirement of RECs that will be sourced from a combination of RECs generated from Company-owned renewable energy facilities, RECs generated from renewable energy facilities owned by an entity other than the utility with which the Company has entered into a power purchase agreement, long-term REC only contracts, and market purchases. 7R GHWHUPLQH WKH WRWDO FRVW RI 5(&V WR EH UHFRYHUHG WKURXJK 5LGHU 536 WKH &RPSDQ\ VWDWHV LW ¿UVW GHWHUPLQHG LWV SURMHFWHG 536 3URJUDP UHTXLUHPHQWV IRU DQG WKHQ XVHG WKRVH SURMHFWLRQV WR GHWHUPLQH WKH HVWLPDWHG YROXPH RI 5(&V QHHGHG GXULQJ WKH UDWH \HDU RI 6HSWHPEHU WR $XJXVW µ¶5DWH <HDU¶¶ 7KH &RPSDQ\ DVVHUWV LW WKHQ GHWHUPLQHG WKH SURMHFWHG YROXPH RI 5(&V WKDW WKH &RPSDQ\ ZRXOG QHHG WR utilize from its bank or purchase from the market. For any RECs the Company would need to purchase or utilize from the bank, the Company states it multiplied the volume of RECs by a weighted average price in order to determine the cost of the gross purchases and banked RECs needed for the Rate Year. The Company expects to need approximately 8.2 million RECs during the Rate Year, approximately 82,000 of which must FRPH IURP GLVWULEXWHG HQHUJ\ UHVRXUFHV $FFRUGLQJ WR WKH &RPSDQ\ RQFH LW GHWHUPLQHG WKH WRWDO FRVWV RI 5(&V WR EH UHFRYHUHG LQ WKLV SURFHHGLQJ LW DSSOLHG D 9LUJLQLD MXULVGLFWLRQDO DOORFDWLRQ IDFWRU RI In this proceeding, the Company seeks approval of a total revenue requirement of $140,414,000 for the Rate Year. If the proposed Rider RPS for the Rate Year is approved, the impact on customer bills would depend on the customer’s rate schedule and usage. According to Dominion, implementation of its proposed Rider RPS on September 1, 2022, would increase the bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kWh of electricity per month by approximately $1.64. Interested persons are encouraged to review the Petition and supporting documents for the details of these and other proposals.

YOU CAN STILL FILE

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Get rid of debts that you can’t pay.

“Get A Fresh Start” Keep paying on your house and car as long as you owe what they are worth.

7$.( 127,&( WKDW WKH &RPPLVVLRQ PD\ DSSRUWLRQ UHYHQXHV DPRQJ FXVWRPHU FODVVHV DQG RU GHVLJQ UDWHV LQ D PDQQHU GL൵HULQJ IURP WKDW VKRZQ LQ WKH 3HWLWLRQ DQG VXSSRUWLQJ GRFXPHQWV DQG WKXV PD\ DGRSW UDWHV WKDW GL൵HU IURP WKRVH DSSHDULQJ LQ WKH &RPSDQ\¶V 3HWLWLRQ DQG VXSSRUWLQJ GRFXPHQWV 7KH &RPPLVVLRQ KDV WDNHQ MXGLFLDO QRWLFH RI WKH RQJRLQJ SXEOLF KHDOWK LVVXHV UHODWHG WR WKH VSUHDG RI WKH FRURQDYLUXV RU &29,' ,Q DFFRUGDQFH WKHUHZLWK DOO SOHDGLQJV EULHIV RU RWKHU GRFXPHQWV UHTXLUHG WR EH served in this matter shall be submitted electronically to the extent authorized by 5 VAC 5 20-150, Copies and format RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH DQG 3URFHGXUH ³5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH´ &RQ¿GHQWLDO DQG ([traordinarily Sensitive Information shall not be submitted electronically and should comply with 5 VAC 5-20-170, &RQ¿GHQWLDO LQIRUPDWLRQ, of the Rules of Practice. Any person seeking to hand deliver and physically ¿OH RU VXEPLW DQ\ SOHDGLQJ RU RWKHU GRFXPHQW VKDOO FRQWDFW WKH &OHUN¶V 2൶FH 'RFXPHQW &RQWURO &HQWHU DW WR DUUDQJH WKH GHOLYHU\ Pursuant to 5 VAC 5-20-140, )LOLQJ DQG VHUYLFH RI WKH 5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH WKH &RPPLVVLRQ KDV GLUHFWHG WKDW VHUYLFH RQ SDUWLHV DQG WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 6WD൵ LQ WKLV PDWWHU VKDOO EH DFFRPSOLVKHG E\ HOHFWURQLF PHDQV 3OHDVH UHIHU WR WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 2UGHU IRU 1RWLFH DQG +HDULQJ RU VXEVHTXHQW +HDULQJ ([DPLQHU¶V 5XOLQJ IRU IXUWKHU LQVWUXFWLRQV FRQFHUQLQJ &RQ¿GHQWLDO RU ([WUDRUGLQDULO\ 6HQVLWLYH ,QIRUPDWLRQ

Also Chapter 13 “Debt Adjustment” STOPS FORECLOSURES, GARNISHMENTS AND HARASSING PHONE CALLS

The Commission entered an Order for Notice and Hearing in this proceeding that, among other things, scheduled public hearings on Dominion’s Petition. On April 12, 2022, at 10 a.m., the Commission will hold D WHOHSKRQLF KHDULQJ ZLWK QR ZLWQHVV SUHVHQW LQ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V FRXUWURRP IRU WKH SXUSRVH RI UHFHLYLQJ WKH WHVWLPRQ\ RI SXEOLF ZLWQHVVHV 2Q RU EHIRUH $SULO DQ\ SHUVRQ GHVLULQJ WR R൵HU WHVWLPRQ\ DV D public witness shall provide to the Commission (a) your name, and (b) the telephone number that you wish the Commission to call during the hearing to receive your testimony. This information may be provided to WKH &RPPLVVLRQ LQ WKUHH ZD\V L E\ ¿OOLQJ RXW D IRUP RQ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V ZHEVLWH DW scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting; (ii) by completing and emailing the PDF version of this form to SCCInfo@scc.virginia.gov; RU LLL E\ FDOOLQJ 7KLV SXEOLF ZLWQHVV KHDULQJ ZLOO EH ZHEFDVW DW scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting.

OTHER LEGAL SERVICES PROVIDED: Divorce, Separation, Custody, Support, Home Buy or Sell

2Q $SULO DW D P HLWKHU LQ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V VHFRQG ÀRRU FRXUWURRP ORFDWHG LQ WKH 7\OHU %XLOGLQJ (DVW 0DLQ 6WUHHW 5LFKPRQG 9LUJLQLD RU E\ HOHFWURQLF PHDQV WKH &RPPLVVLRQ ZLOO FRQYHQH D KHDULQJ WR UHFHLYH WHVWLPRQ\ DQG HYLGHQFH UHODWHG WR WKH 3HWLWLRQ IURP WKH &RPSDQ\ DQ\ UHVSRQGHQWV DQG WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 6WD൵ )XUWKHU GHWDLOV RQ WKLV KHDULQJ ZLOO EH SURYLGHG E\ VXEVHTXHQW &RPPLVVLRQ 2UGHU or Hearing Examiner’s Ruling. An electronic copy of the Company’s Petition may be obtained by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company, Elaine S. Ryan, Esquire, McGuireWoods LLP, Gateway Plaza, 800 East Canal Street, RichPRQG 9LUJLQLD RU eryan@mcguirewoods.com.

Start with as little as $100

2Q RU EHIRUH )HEUXDU\ DQ\ SHUVRQ RU HQWLW\ ZLVKLQJ WR SDUWLFLSDWH DV D UHVSRQGHQW LQ WKLV SURFHHGLQJ PD\ GR VR E\ ¿OLQJ D QRWLFH RI SDUWLFLSDWLRQ DW VFF YLUJLQLD JRY FON H¿OLQJ 7KRVH XQDEOH DV D SUDFWLFDO PDWWHU WR ¿OH D QRWLFH RI SDUWLFLSDWLRQ HOHFWURQLFDOO\ PD\ ¿OH VXFK QRWLFH E\ 8 6 PDLO WR WKH &OHUN RI WKH 6WDWH &RUSRUDWLRQ &RPPLVVLRQ F R 'RFXPHQW &RQWURO &HQWHU 3 2 %R[ 5LFKPRQG 9LUJLQLD Such notice of participation shall include the email addresses of such parties or their counsel, if available. The respondent simultaneously shall serve a copy of the notice of participation on counsel to the Company. Pursuant to 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, 3DUWLFLSDWLRQ DV D UHVSRQGHQW RI WKH 5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH DQ\ QRWLFH RI SDUWLFLSDWLRQ VKDOO VHW IRUWK L D SUHFLVH VWDWHPHQW RI WKH LQWHUHVW RI WKH UHVSRQGHQW LL D VWDWHPHQW RI WKH VSHFL¿F action sought to the extent then known; and (iii) the factual and legal basis for the action. Any organization, corporation, or government body participating as a respondent must be represented by counsel as required by 5 VAC 5-20-30, &RXQVHO RI WKH 5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH $OO ¿OLQJV VKDOO UHIHU WR &DVH 1R 385 )RU DGGLWLRQDO LQIRUPDWLRQ DERXW SDUWLFLSDWLRQ DV D UHVSRQGHQW DQ\ SHUVRQ RU HQWLW\ VKRXOG REWDLQ D FRS\ RI the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing.

Call Rudy McCollum at (804)218-3614

2Q RU EHIRUH 0DUFK HDFK UHVSRQGHQW PD\ ¿OH ZLWK WKH &OHUN RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ DW VFF YLUJLQLD JRY FON H¿OLQJ DQ\ WHVWLPRQ\ DQG H[KLELWV E\ ZKLFK WKH UHVSRQGHQW H[SHFWV WR HVWDEOLVK LWV FDVH $Q\ UHVSRQGHQW XQDEOH DV D SUDFWLFDO PDWWHU WR ¿OH WHVWLPRQ\ DQG H[KLELWV HOHFWURQLFDOO\ PD\ ¿OH VXFK E\ 8 6 PDLO WR WKH &OHUN RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ DW WKH DGGUHVV OLVWHG DERYH (DFK ZLWQHVV¶V WHVWLPRQ\ VKDOO LQFOXGH D VXPPDU\ QRW WR H[FHHG RQH SDJH $OO WHVWLPRQ\ DQG H[KLELWV VKDOO EH VHUYHG RQ WKH 6WD൵ WKH &RPSDQ\ DQG DOO RWKHU UHVSRQGHQWV VLPXOWDQHRXV ZLWK LWV ¿OLQJ ,Q DOO ¿OLQJV UHVSRQGHQWV VKDOO FRPSO\ ZLWK WKH 5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH DV PRGL¿HG KHUHLQ LQFOXGLQJ EXW QRW OLPLWHG WR 9$& )LOLQJ DQG VHUYLFH, and 5 VAC 5-20-240, Prepared testimony and exhibits $OO ¿OLQJV VKDOO UHIHU WR &DVH 1R 385

and get legal restrictions, fees, costs and payment terms.

On or before April 6, 2022, any interested person may submit comments on the Petition by following the instructions found on the Commission’s website: scc.virginia.gov/casecomments/Submit-Public-Comments. 7KRVH XQDEOH DV D SUDFWLFDO PDWWHU WR VXEPLW FRPPHQWV HOHFWURQLFDOO\ PD\ ¿OH VXFK FRPPHQWV ZLWK WKH &OHUN RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ DW WKH DGGUHVV OLVWHG DERYH $OO VXFK FRPPHQWV VKDOO UHIHU WR &DVH 1R 385 00282.

Rudolph C. McCollum, Jr., Esq. McCollum At Law, P.C.

$Q\ GRFXPHQWV ¿OHG LQ SDSHU IRUP ZLWK WKH 2൶FH RI WKH &OHUN RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ LQ WKLV GRFNHW PD\ XVH ERWK VLGHV RI WKH SDSHU ,Q DOO RWKHU UHVSHFWV H[FHSW DV PRGL¿HG E\ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 2UGHU IRU 1RWLFH DQG +HDULQJ DOO ¿OLQJV VKDOO FRPSO\ IXOO\ ZLWK WKH UHTXLUHPHQWV RI 9$& Copies and format, of the Rules of Practice.

24-7. Talk to an attorney for free

Mail to: P.O. Box 4595, Richmond, VA 23220 422 E. Franklin St., Suite 301, Richmond, VA 23219 (Franklin & 5th Sts.)

7KH &RPSDQ\¶V 3HWLWLRQ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 2UGHU IRU 1RWLFH DQG +HDULQJ DQG RWKHU GRFXPHQWV ¿OHG LQ WKH FDVH PD\ EH YLHZHG DW scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information.

We are a federally designated Debt Relief Agency under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and we help people file for bankruptcy.

VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY

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

Legal Notices Divorce VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER OLAKEKAN OGIDI, Plaintiff v. SHANIKA MCNEAL, Defendant. Case No.: CL21004133-00 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 not a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, appear here on or before the 2nd day of March, 2022 at 9:00 AM and protect her 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

Continued from previous column

HEIDI S. BARSHINGER, Clerk

14th day of February, 2022 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

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 non resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, appear here on or before the 3rd day of February, 2022 at 9:00 AM and protect her 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 CHRISTOPHER MOORE, Plaintiff v. JESSICA DAMERON, Defendant. Case No.: CL21004026-00 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 t h e d e fe n d a n t , w h o s e whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 14th day of February, 2022 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 HENRICO MOHAMED S. MAHMOUD, Plaintiff v. MINA BIAD, Defendant. Case No.: CL21-7502-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit, brought by Mohamed S. Mahmoud, is a Complaint for Divorce. It appearing from an affidavit that the Defendant, Mina Biad, is a nonresident individual; it is hereby ORDERED that the Defendant appear before this Court on or before the 7th day of February, 2022, to protect her interest herein. An Extract Teste:

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER CHRISTINE GRAY, Plaintiff v. STEPHEN GRAY, Defendant. Case No.: CL21004046-00 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 t h e d e fe n d a n t , w h o s e whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the

Continued on next column

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER DONALD MINOR, Plaintiff v. DORIS MINOR, Defendant. Case No.: CL21003939-00 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 t h e d e fe n d a n t , w h o s e whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 3rd day of February, 2022 at 9:00 AM and protect her 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 FATIH ONGEN, Plaintiff v. FARNAZ KAMYAB, Defendant. Case No.: CL21003938-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION Continued on next column

Continued from previous column

Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER TYRANNE KENNARDTAYLOR, Plaintiff v. HARVEY TAYLOR, Defendant. Case No.: CL21003970-00 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 t h e d e fe n d a n t , w h o s e whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 7th day of February, 2022 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 RACHEL PORTER, Plaintiff v. CHRISTOPHER HARRIS, Defendant. Case No.: CL21003959-00 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 t h e d e fe n d a n t , w h o s e whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 7th day of February, 2022 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

VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re NIVEA JAZZMINE RAMSON RDSS v. OLIVER DAVID RAMSON File No. J-98747-05-00-BEL ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) of O l i v e r D av i d R a m s o n (Father), of Nivea Jazzmine Ramson, child DOB: 10/22/2007 “RPR” means

Continued on next column

CUSTODy

Continued from previous column

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 and that: It is ORDERED that the defendants Oliver David Ramson (Father), to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before 3/25/2022, at 9:20 AM, Courtroom #1 BEL

CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT; COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA; LVNV FUNDING LLC; MCV PHYSICIANS fka MCV ASSOCIATED PHYSICIANS; HENRICO FEDERAL CREDIT UNION; BROAD STREET VETERINARY HOSPITAL PC aka BSVH INVESTMENTS, INC.; THE COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA; CLARENDON WOODS HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION; LENDMARK FINANCIAL SERVICES; CAPITAL ONE BANK USA NA; HEIRS OF W.B. DAVIS The Unknown heirs, descendants, devisees, assigns, and/ or successors in title to W.B. Davis, if any there be, the consorts of any of the said unknown heirs who are married, the lien creditors of the said unknown heirs, if any, and other persons who may have an interest in the subject matter of this suit, whose names are unknown and are included in the general description of “UNKNOWN HEIRS and PARTIES UNKNOWN”; and PARTIES UNKNOWN Defendants. Case No.: CL-21-7912 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to sell a certain parcel of real property situated in the County of Henrico, being originally owned by W.B. Davis and Eric L. Chandler and Lorraine M. Chandler, husband and wife, more particularly described as follows: ALL that said piece or parcel of land with all the buildings and improvements thereon, situate, lying and being in the County of Henrico, State of Virginia, on the Central Turnpike (sometimes known as Darbytown Road) containing three acres, more or less, being the same property conveyed to Charles Gordon, deceased, by John R. Pocklington and E. G. Pocklington, his wife, by deed dated July 10, 1885,

and recorded in the Clerk’s Office of the Circuit Court of Henrico County, Virginia in Deed Book 11, page 44. W.B. Davis and the unknown heirs, devisees, and/or successors in title to W. B. Davis, may have an interest in the property by deed, by inheritance, or by duly recorded liens. Affidavit having been made and filed that due diligence has been used without effect to ascertain the identities and/or locations of certain parties to be served, and that there are or may be persons whose names are unknown, interested in the subject matter of this suit; It is ORDERED that W.B. Davis, et al., if then living or if dead, their heirs, devisees, assigns, or successors in title, and other unknown heirs or parties who have an interest in the subject matter of this suit, who are proceeded against as UNKNOWN HEIRS OF W.B. DAVIS and PARTIES UNKNOWN, appear before Court on or before February 28, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. to protect their interests, if any, in this suit. I ask for this: Curtis D. Gordon, Esquire, V.S.B. # 25325 DANKOS, GORDON & TUCKER, P.C. 1360 E. Parham Road, Suite 200 Richmond, Virginia 23228 Telephone: (804) 377-7424 Facsimile: (804) 262-8088 Email: cgordon@dankosgordon.com Counsel for Plaintiffs

VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Brianna Iveth Claros Burgos, a juvenile, Karla Iveth Burgos De Ainaya, Plaintiff v. Juan F. Claros Martinez, Defendant Case No. JJ100771-01-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION I, the undersigned applicant, state under oath that the object of this suit is to: Grant sole and legal custody of Brianna Iveth Claros Burgos pursuant to code 16.1-241, and that diligence has been used without effect to ascertain the location of the above-named person(s) to be served. Soulmaz Taghavi, Esq. 1500 Forest Ave., Suite 124 Richmond, VA 23229 804-408-3522

PROPERTY VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE COUNTY OF HENRICO ERIC L. CHANDLER, and LORRAINE M. CHANDLER Plaintiffs, v. NORMA JEAN DAVIS; COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES DIVISION OF Continued on next column

Continued on next column

BID COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA CONSTRUCTION BID ITB #21-2267-12JL Replacement of Boilers, CoolingTower, and Air Handling Units at Three Schools Due: January 27, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. For additional information visit: https://henrico.us/ finance/divisions/purchasing/ solicitations/

Richmond Free Press

A14 January 13-15, 2022

Sports Stories by Fred Jeter

Photo courtesy of McCallum family

Henrico’s Andre McCallum Jr. shows why he’s ‘King of the Ring Jr.’ Andre McCallum Jr. is only 13 and already shares rights to the title of “King of the Ring Jr.” The eighth-grader at Hungary Creek Middle School in Western Henrico County has won so many national boxing titles that he can no longer count them all on one hand. Andre recently added a sixth consecutive crown in the 13-14 age, 101-pound class at the USA Boxing National Championships in early December at the Shreveport Convention Center in Louisiana. Boxers wore 10-ounce gloves for the 2-minute rounds. To grab the top prize, Andre defeated opponents from Colorado, Virginia, New York and California on consecutive days. It was a single elimination event—lose and go home. Andre didn’t go home until he was the last young man standing. He’d won the nationals in the past as an 8-, 9-, 10-, 11- and 12-year-old. Next year he plans to graduate to the 15-16 age group, even though he will be only 14. Known as “Nino,” (meaning “little boy” in Spanish) due to his mother Alivia’s Latinx ancestry, the 5-foot-3 right-hander posted four straight victories by decision in Shreveport. Asked what he enjoyed best about boxing, the youngster replied: “Winning. I love having my hand raised by the referee after winning a fight.”

The winning doesn’t come without a heavy workload. For starters, Andre trains regularly under his father, Andre McCallum Sr., at East End Boxing Club on Charles City Circle. Mr. McCallum is an American Income Life Insurance agency owner. Andre is a second-generation pugilist, following his dad. “I had 10 amateur fights growing up in Toledo,” Mr. McCallum said. “But I was from the streets and didn’t have the backing to go very far. I’ve made sure my son has the backing.” Andre has been here, there and everywhere on his young boxing journey that started during his early elementary school years. His overall record is in the vicinity of 90-10. Because there are no qualified sparring mates in the area in his age class, the McCallums travel frequently to Washington and Maryland for in-ring punching sessions. Andre also learns by observation, courtesy of YouTube. “Nino’s favorite all-time boxer is Sugar Ray Leonard,” Mr. McCallum said. “He also watches Roy Jones a lot.” For such a young athlete, Andre packs a powerful punch of ambitions. “I want to continue to build my skills and qualify for the 2028 Olympics—and come home with the gold,” Andre said. The 2028 Olympic Summer Games will be held in Los Angeles. What better place for a boxer to have his hand raised in victory.

Robert ‘Robbie’ Osborne

Keleaf Tate

Terrence HunterWhitfield

VUU’s transfers plan to make a difference in Saturday’s game against VSU Coming out of high school, Robert Osborne and Keleaf Tate took the scenic route in arriving at Virginia Union University. Osborne took in the sights of Hampton Roads, while Tate was taking time to enjoy the splendor of Niagara Falls. Travels aside, VUU Panthers Coach Jay Butler is just glad Osborne and Tate made Barco-Stevens Hall their final basketball destination. The talented transfers have helped VUU to a 9-3 overall record and a 2-0 mark in CIAA play. PantherNation is hopeful this will be the program’s best season since 2018, when it claimed its last CIAA title. Osborne, VUU’s “Wizard of Os,” is a broad-shouldered, 6-foot-5, 230-pound forward who isn’t afraid to flex his considerable muscle near the hoop. “Robbie can really score that ball inside the paint,” Coach Butler said. “I think he has a chance at All-CIAA.” The former standout at Hermitage High School in Henrico County came to VUU following two seasons at NCAA Division I Hampton University. Tate is a versatile 6-foot-3, 210-pound guard who attacks from all over and, according to Coach Butler, “has never seen a shot he didn’t like. He lives for the big shot.” Tate wears jersey No. 0 but he’s anything but a zero in terms of contribution. On Dec. 8, his buzzer-beating shot took

Double-header The Virginia Union University and Virginia State University men’s and women’s basketball teams will play back to back Saturday, Jan. 15, at the VSU Multi-Purpose Center in Ettrick. The women are slated to tip off at 2 p.m., with the men to follow at 4 p.m.

down home-standing Shepherd University of West Virginia 56-54. From Washington’s Cesar Chavez High School, Tate played (starting 28 games) two seasons at NCAA Division I Niagara University in New York before opting for VUU. Osborne and Tate had been on Coach Butler’s radar for years. He recruited both out of high school, offering them scholarships to VUU. “We kept in touch,” Coach Butler said. “We try and maintain relationships with all the kids we recruit and keep a database, especially on the ones who start off at Division I.” Both sat out the entire 2020-21 season at VUU as the CIAA took a pause due to the pandemic. Starting this week, Osborne led the Panthers in scoring at 10.5 points per contest, with Tate next at 9.8 points. Osborne has scored double digits in six straight games, with a high of 21 points in the Panthers’ overtime loss at Nova Southeastern University (the Men’s basketball standings fourth-ranked school in NCAA CIAA Overall Division II) and 22 points against Virginia Union University 2-0 9-3 Bluefield State College in the first game back from the holiday Lincoln University 2-0 9-4 break. Elizabeth City State University 3-2 10-5 The burly post player is hitting Bowie State University 1-1 3-10 57 percent from the floor and is Virginia State University 2-3 5-7 among the rebounding leaders with 4.3 per game. Shaw University 0-2 4-4 Tate has three consecutive double-figure outings, while aver*Standings through games of Jan. 9 aging 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

Always a threat from afar, he is hitting 38 percent from beyond the arc. “I’m old friends with Keleaf’s high school coach and have been watching him since he was about in ninth grade,” said Coach Butler, a D.C. native himself. Osborne is the latest in a decades-long line of Richmond area players to shine for VUU. Just for starters, Keith Valentine (Thomas Jefferson High School) was MVP of VUU’s 1980 NCAA championship team. Luqman Jaaber (George Wythe High School) was captain of VUU’s 2005 national championship team. Reggie Jones and Warren Peebles (John Marshall High School) were headliners on the 1992 NCAA winning team. There are many, many more. As with most schools, VUU has been forced to postpone some games due to the pandemic. They are in the process of being rescheduled. u On Saturday, Jan. 15, VUU will be taking on one of the CIAA’s hottest players in Virginia State University’s Terrence Hunter-Whitfield. The 6-foot-5 junior starred at Matoaca High School and played at Massanutten Military Academy and at Catawba College in North Carolina before transferring to VSU. He is a second-generation Trojan. His dad, Ricky Whitfield, played for VSU in the early 1990s. Hunter-Whitfield has been on a tear for the Trojans, who are 5-7 overall and 2-3 in the CIAA. Hunter-Whitfield exploded for 31 points in VSU’s 90-88 loss to Winston-Salem State University on Jan. 6 and then clicked for 28 points in the Trojans’ 68-65 win over Livingstone College on Jan. 8. In the two games combined, HunterWhitfield was 17-for-32 from the field, 8-for-13 from beyond the arc and 17 for 23 at the foul line. He also snagged 20 rebounds in the two games combined.

Mo Alie-Cox takes blocking from the basketball court to the football field

The NFL’s premier ball carrier has a former Virginia Commonwealth University Ram helping to clear his runways to first downs and touchdowns. Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts has literally kicked up his heels and raced away with the league’s rushing title—often with a face familiar to Richmonders out in front. Taylor finished with 1,811 yards, averaging an impressive 5.5 yards per carry. He was about 400 yards ahead of any other rusher. But it’s unlikely Taylor’s statistics would be as great without tight end Mo Alie-Cox—the former VCU basketball center— spilling would-be tacklers like bowling pins. Taylor (No. 28 with the horseshoe on the helmet) might award Alie-Cox (No. 81 with the double stripes on his shoulders) a slice of the recognition. As a ritual following each game, Taylor deflects attention from his yardage and touchdowns to the offensive line that provides so much pushing and shoving. In turn, Alie-Cox says this about Taylor: “You see him get to the first level (past the line of scrimmage) and you know he has a chance to score every time,” Alie-Cox told the Colts’ in-house publication, Horseshoe Huddle. “I just turn my head and see him flying through the air like a superhero.” Some might suggest Alie-Cox has “super” powers of his own. His story is among the most unique in NFL annals, and it only keeps getting better. There is a relatively short list of athletes who reached the NFL Mo Aliewith little or no college football Cox experience. But it could be that Alie-Cox is the one and only to be cashing an NFL check (since 2017) with no college or high school varsity football training. Before entering the NFL, AlieMo knows blocking Cox’s last football game was Former Virginia Commonwealth University as a freshman basketball Ram Mo Alie-Cox has been a junior varsity key blocker for the NFL Indianapolis Colts’ player at Lorton record-setting Jonathan Taylor. Here are the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts’ single season High School in rushing Top 10 totals. Northern Virginia. He then Player Season Yards Avg. transferred to Jonathan Taylor 2021-22 1,811 5.5 Edgerrin James 1999-00 1,709 4.4 Middleburg Eric Dickerson 1987-88 1,659 4.4 Academy, Edgerrin James 1998-99 1,553 4.2 which has no Edgerrin James 2003-04 1,548 4.6 football team. Edgerrin James 2004-05 1,506 4.2 Likewise, Marshall Faulk 1997-98 1,314 4.1 VCU has no Curtis Dickey* 1988-89 1,311 4.2 football team. Marshall Faulk 1993-94 1,319 4.1 Alie-Cox, Edgerrin James 2002-03 1,259 4.1 who was a *Dickey is the Baltimore Colts’ all-time leader three-season with 1,122 yards in 1982-83, the year before basketball the franchise moved to Indianapolis. starter with the VCU Rams, signed with the Indianapolis Colts soon after a much scrutinized one-man, indoor workout at SCOR Sports Center in Richmond near The Diamond. He dazzled with these measurables: • Size: 6-foot-5½, 262 pounds. • Speed: 4.75 seconds for 40-yard dash. • Vertical leap: 35½ inches. • Standing broad jump: 10-2. • Hand size: 11¾ inches pinkie tip to thumb tip. While the NFL has paid attention to No. 28 for the Colts, No. 81 hasn’t gone unnoticed. Alie-Cox has been rated Indianapolis’ “Most Underrated Player” by Pro Football Focus. He has been given a nearly flawless record at pass blocking and an impressive score of 80 in run blocking on a scale from 1 to 100. When not blocking, Alie-Cox has caught 24 passes for 316 yards and four touchdowns. At VCU, Alie-Cox scored 1,092 points, grabbed 663 rebounds and blocked 255 shots, second on the Rams’ career list. The blocking part continues, only now he’s blocking bodies instead of jump shots.

‘Call to the Hall’ honoring Bob Dandridge canceled The “Call to the Hall” honoring Richmond native Bob Dandridge has been canceled due to the current spike in COVID-19. The event to honor the former Maggie Walker High School, Norfolk State University and NBA basketball star had been scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 19, in Virginia Beach and presented by the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. Bob Dandridge Anyone who purchased a ticket will get a refund. Organizers hope to reschedule the event at a later date.

Jackson State lands another top football prospect Jackson State University football Coach Deion Sanders has landed another top prospect. Kevin Coleman, a wide receiver from St. Louis, committed to Jackson State last week following the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio. Coleman turned down offers from the University of Alabama, Florida State UniKevin Coleman versity, University of Oregon and University of Southern California to join Coach Sanders’ SWAC program in Mississippi. Last month, Coach Sanders made headlines signing cornerback Travis Hunter, the nation’s top-ranked recruit.

Richmond Free Press

The future will be built on the wings of giants. Reducing carbon emissions is a big, complex challenge. And so it requires big, bold solutions. That’s why we’re building the largest offshore wind farm in the United States. The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project will help turn Hampton Roads into a hub for wind power development. Once operational in 2026, CVOW will create over 1,000 jobs and generate more than $200 million a year in economic impact. And, as a national leader in solar as well, we’re forging ahead to achieve our goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Big challenges, meet bigger solutions.

January 13-15, 2022 B1

Richmond Free Press

B2 January 13-15, 2022

Happenings Events to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the nation’s “drum major for justice,” will be celebrated in person, virtually and on television during the annual national holiday Monday, Jan. 17. Following is a list of events commemorating Dr. King’s life and legacy: • Virginia Union University to host the 44th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Community Leaders Celebration at 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 17. The event will be broadcast and streamed on WTVR-CBS 6 in Richmond, and on WGNT-CW 27 in Hampton Roads. Several leaders and organizations will be recognized for their efforts that demonstrate Dr. King’s spirit of selflessness and commitment to the empowerment of the “beloved community.” The year’s award winners are former Richmond City Councilwoman Willie J. Dell, Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award; the Richmond and Henrico health districts, Health Equity Award; Clovia Lawrence and Sandra Antoine for Operation Stamp the Vote, Social Justice; the Rev. Robert Winfree and New Life Deliverance Tabernacle, Faith; Janine Bell and the Elegba Folklore Society, Art and Culture; An Achievable Dream Inc. of Richmond and Hampton Roads, Education; and the Ujima Legacy Fund and the SisterFund, Economic Justice. Details: Felicia Cosby, VUU’s director of government and community relations, fdcosby@vuu.edu. • Rallying Towards the Future: Living Dr. King’s Dream, 9 to 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 17, The Overlook at ChildSavers, 200 N. 22nd St., hosted by Voices for Virginia’s Children. The rally for Virginia’s children, young people and families seeks to recognize the past and mobilize present-day solutions toward realizing Dr. King’s dream. Several speakers are expected, along with art and printmaking by Studio Two Three and meditation by BareSoul Yoga. The event is free. Masks are required regardless of vaccination status. Details:vakids.org • Henrico Ministers’ Conference 36th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Program, 9:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 17, at St. Peter’s Baptist Church, 2040 Mountain Road in Glen Allen. Guest speaker: Dr. Price London Davis, pastor of Mosby Memorial Baptist Church. Details: Contact President Zynora D. Manson, zdmansonfulltone9@gmail.com • Henrico County 36th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Commemoration Celebration, a virtual celebration 11:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 17. Speaker: Dr. Ronald A. Crutcher, president emeritus and university professor at the University of Richmond. The Lights of Hope, “Keepers of the Dream” scholarship, Distinguished Community Service and Lifetime Achievement awards will be awarded.

Details, and to view the program, go to Henrico County Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Association on Facebook and/or YouTube. • HandsOn Greater Richmond Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service: A Day On, Not a Day Off,” various volunteer opportunities throughout the King Holiday weekend at sites in Richmond and Petersburg. Some of the projects include historic Evergreen and East End cemeteries cleanup; Ancarrow’s Landing habitat restoration; James River Park System invasive species removal from The Wetlands; book drive for Ettrick Elementary School; MLK Day mural project at Virginia State University; and Blessing Box food drive. Details, including dates, times and locations for volunteer opportunities: handsonrva.org. • “Get Up, Stand Up: The Other Part of the Dream,” Jan. 16, 17, 22 and 26, a series of free performance and talkbacks honoring the legacy of Dr. King, sponsored by the Virginia Commonwealth University Office of Institutional Equity, Effectiveness and Success. The show, written especially for VCU’s 2022 MLK Week, explores Dr. King’s lesser-known speeches, sermons and writings illuminating his call to action and what it means for us as a community today.

Performances: Sunday, Jan. 16, 3 p.m., Grace Street Theatre, 934 W. Grace St. Monday, Jan. 17, 7 p.m., Boys and Girls Club, 1830 Creighton Road Saturday, Jan. 22, 3 p.m., Robinson Theater Community Arts Center, 2903 Q St. Wednesday, Jan. 26, 7 p.m., VCU Student Commons, 907 Floyd Ave. Each performance will include a facilitated talkback with the audience, cast and crew. Seats, which will be socially distanced, are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Masks and temperature checks are required. Details:mlkday.vcu.edu. • “We Cannot Walk Alone,” a series of events sponsored by the University of Richmond Bonner Center for Civic Engagement for its Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration 2022. Events include “Mending Walls Film Screening and Panel Discussion, 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16. In this virtual event, participants are asked to watch on their own the documentary, “Mending Walls,” about the public art project Mending Walls RVA aimed at establishing empathy and connection through art. Participants then can join a Facebook Live panel discussion at 2 p.m. with lead artist Hamilton Glass and artists Sir James Thornhill and Kevin Orlosky, and then join breakout Zoom sessions at 3 p.m. to explore themes from the film. The event is co-hosted with HandsOn Greater Richmond, the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities and VPM. 11 a.m. to noon, Monday, Jan. 17, “Community Conversation: Creating a Culture of Consent,” UR Multicultural Student Space. Kaylin Tingle, healthy relationships and violent prevention educator, and UR students will talk about supporting a climate in which the risk for violence and sexual assault is reduced. 12:15 to 1:15 p.m., Monday, Jan. 17, “Community Conversation: Respecting all Faiths,” Westhampton Deanery. Josh Jeffreys, Jewish chaplain and director of religious life in the UR Office of the Chaplaincy, will discuss how to support UR’s underrepresented religious communities. 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17, “Community Conversation: Institutional History,” Jepson Faculty Lounge. Public historian Dr. Lauranett Lee and students in her “History in a Changing World” course at UR will talk about efforts at UR and other institutions to deal with ties to slavery and segregation. Details and registration: engage.richmond.edu. • “History Alive! Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: The Last Five Years,” a virtual program with interpreter John W. McCaskill as he chronicles the last five years of Dr. King’s life and shares stories of other individuals who fought to end racial segregation, 1 to 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17, and Monday, Jan. 24, National Museum of African American History and Culture. The program is free. No registration required. Details and to join the event: https://nmaahc.si.edu/events/ history-alive-rev-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-last-five-years

CONNECTED TO WHAT SPARKS CONVERSATION. CONNECTED TO WHAT MATTERS. As Virginia’s home for public media, we bring you relevant news and local storytelling to foster a greater understanding of our state, our neighbors and our world. VPM.org

Richmond Free Press

January 13-15, 2022 B3

Happenings Personality: Shemicia L. Bowen Spotlight on board chair of the Urban League of Greater Richmond At a time of change and need locally, statewide and nationally, a 100-year-old advocacy organization in Richmond is in the midst of a revival, courtesy of Shemicia L. Bowen. The Richmond resident is the newest chair of the Urban League of Greater Richmond’s board of directors, and she’s hard at work to re-establish the organization as a force for change and progress. It’s an endeavor Ms. Bowen is committed to seeing through, and her enthusiasm is clear even as she recovers from a severe case of the flu. “Even in its hiatus, I have been the chief cheerleader of the Urban League,” Ms. Bowen says. Formed nationally in 1910, the Urban League’s Richmond branch was started in Jackson Ward in 1913. Its mission then and today is to help African-Americans and others in underserved communities to achieve equal opportunity, economic self-reliance and civil rights. These goals are achieved through programs and collaborations in the areas of education and job training, housing and community development, workforce development, entrepreneurship and health. Nationally, the Urban League has 90 affiliates in 36 states and the District of Columbia. In Virginia, there are three affiliates – the Urban League of Greater Richmond, which includes Petersburg, and branches in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia. Ms. Bowen joined the Richmond chapter in 2007. But, she says, the local affiliate “had not been functioning for several years” recently. The office on Hull Street closed and its last full-time CEO retired. But in her volunteer position as president of the Urban League Young Professionals from 2012 to 2014, she got to see what other affiliate organizations were accomplishing and she realized the untapped potential in Greater Richmond and Petersburg. “While in awe of the progress and leadership of those cities, the glaring absence of the UL was obvious to me,” Ms. Bowen says, adding that fueled her desire to help reinvigorate the Richmond affiliate. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the social justice issues arising and spotlighted since 2020, “It was even more evident that the need of this organization was as relevant today as it was 100 years ago,” she says.

Her chief goals as board chairwoman are to establish a new and permanent headquarters in Richmond and develop a leadership training program focused on advocacy, civic skill-building and economic empowerment. She also wants to re-establish collective partnerships with local nonprofits focused on education, health, housing, lobbying and human rights. “There always is a need, and we need to stop looking at temporary fixes and put in some long-term strategies,” Ms. Bowen says. “Until then, the Urban League will be here to support the city of Richmond. “ Meet an energetic community advocate and leader and this week’s Personality, Shemicia L. Bowen: No. 1 volunteer position: Chairwoman, Board of Directors, Urban League of Greater Richmond. Occupation: Fiber infrastructure and telecommunications project manager; entrepreneur and co-founder of the Richmond Black Restaurant Experience. Where I live now: Richmond, south of the James River. Education: Public administration, Virginia State University. Family: Mother of two. Urban League of Greater Richmond is: Critically important. During the past decade, the Richmond affiliate has reorganized and reimaged how it serves the community. Historically, the Urban League enables African-Americans to secure economic self-reliance, parity and power and civil rights. In Richmond, the Urban League provided services and programs in education, employment, health and housing to Richmond and Petersburg through direct services, advocacy, research, policy analysis, community mobilization and collaboration throughout communities. As a part of our path forward, the Urban League will focus on advocacy and civic and community engagement though education and policy reform. When and why the National Urban League was founded: The National Urban League was founded in 1911 in New York City to provide assistance to African-Americans to further the dual tenets of economic and social justice. Initially founded as a social service organization to aid African-Americans’ resettlement in the North during the Great Migration, the National Urban League evolved into lobbying businesses, labor unions

and the government and endorsing direct-action protest during the Civil Rights Movement. During the Civil Rights era, the National Urban League was part of the “Big Six” collective, including labor organizers, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; the Congress of Racial Equality; the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the NAACP. When and why UL founded in Richmond: The Richmond affiliate was founded in Jackson Ward in 1913, and was among the original charter chapters in the National Urban League. Chapters started to open in the South as like a reclamation of some of those historically Black cities. Richmond founders: A pioneer in the local Urban League movement was Eugene Kinckle Jones, a Richmond native who became one of the original initiates and founders of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., at Cornell University. In 1918, he became executive director of the National Urban League and sought to service AfricanAmericans by increasing their chances in gaining employment and providing support in such areas as housing, education and health. His influence was so vast that he became a part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous “Black Cabinet.” Other prominent Richmonders with legacy roots to the Urban League are Maggie L. Walker and John Mitchell Jr. Why the Urban League of Greater Richmond is important in our community: Richmond and Petersburg’s challenges include food and housing insecurities and the disparate educational resources are distinctive and disproportionate in communities of color.

We believe students, parents and community leaders should be involved in education, job readiness, skill building and policy reform that expands and deepens opportunities for families, fills gaps in resources for Virginians, accelerates progress and delivers more fully on the promise of equity and civil liberties for all. When elected board chair: The current board was installed in March 2021 for a two-year term. No. 1 goal or project as chair: Establish a new and permanent Urban League headquarters in Richmond; develop the A.C.E. Leadership Program, a training program focused on Advocacy, Civic skills building and Entrepreneurship/Economic empowerment; and to re-establish collective partnerships with local nonprofits whose work involves education, physical and mental wellness, housing, legislative policy lobbying and human rights. How the Urban League of Greater Richmond is making an impact on the community: Our Young Professionals garnered new business relationships during the pandemic to include Ardent Brewery. Urban League of Greater Richmond Young Professionals received a portion of their Stronger than Hate beer sales. Collaborations included Fit for Kids, Black Lives Matter 804, Voice for Virginia’s Children and Party at the Mailbox, a Get Out The Vote initiative.

UL established a relationship with Richmond Public Schools. The Rich Lit Program will create home libraries for pre-K students, establish digital awareness and literacy for middle schoolers and financial literacy for high school students. How the Urban League of Greater Richmond seeks to remain relevant: More than 50 years after the federal Voting Rights Act, the Urban League champions the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act that would strengthen voting rights by expanding and strengthening the government’s ability to respond to voting discrimination. The For the People Act incorporates key measures that are urgently needed, including automatic voter registration and other steps to modernize our elections; a national guarantee of free and fair elections without voter suppression, coupled with a commitment to restore the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. How to become involved with the Urban League of Greater Richmond: If ages 21 to 45, membership is available with the Urban League of Greater Richmond Young Professionals. Our website is www.empowerrichmond.org Upcoming events: Urban League Day on the Hill, a lobby day, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21. And HBCU Scholarship Ball, 6 p.m. April 26, at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia. A perfect day is: Quiet. What I am learning about myself during the pandemic: During the pandemic, I had the opportunity to re-evaluate how I use time and space. I combatted the pressure to have a full calendar of events and calls. While in pseudo isolation, I learned to appreciate the quiet moments. I am more introverted than people

would expect. I have learned to do less and yield more. Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: I like to read the French version of instructions. I took seven years of French and rarely use it. “Je suis un nerd.” Quote that inspires me: “The sun does not ask permission to shine, neither do I.” Friends describe me as: Everybody’s mother — generous, nurturing, frugal, savvy, ambitious and knows how to get to “Yes!” At the top of my “to-do” list: Live in gratitude, honor history and blaze an formidable future for biological and communal families. Best late-night snack: Prebraces, peanut M&Ms. Now, ice cream. Best thing my parents ever taught me: Money management (when I thought we didn’t have any). I understood early the value of money, fiscal responsibilities, assets versus liabilities and how to manage credit. Person who influenced me the most: Collectively “The Women” — the Black women were my first examples of strength, power and beauty that I saw in my family, as well as the teachers and the community where I lived. Book that influenced me the most: “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. What I’m reading now: I’m re-reading “Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine” by Bebe Moore Campbell. Next goal: Develop new programs and establish a permanent headquarters for the Urban League of Greater Richmond; pen this book that’s been in my head for years; and add value to wherever I am.

NOVEMBER THEATRE ARENSTEIN STAGE

She’s back. FEBRUARY 4 - 27 BY LUCAS HNATH

Starring Katrinah Carol Lewis as Nora

VIRGINIA REPERTORY THEATRE | VIRGINIAREP.ORG | 804-282-2620 DOWNTOWN ON BROAD STREET

Richmond Free Press

B4 January 13-15, 2022

Happenings Trailblazing actor Sidney Poitier changed movies and lives By Hillel Italie AP National Writer

NEW YORK We go to movies not just to escape, but to discover. We might identify with the cowboy or the runaway bride or the kid who befriends a creature from another planet. To see yourself on screen has long been another way of knowing you exist. Actor Sidney Poitier, who died Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, at age 94, was the rare performer who really did change lives, who embodied possibilities once absent from the movies. In 1964, he became the first Black actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor. His impact was as profound as Method acting or digital technology, his story inseparable from the story of the country he emigrated to as a teenager. “What emerges on the screen reminds people of something in themselves, because I’m so many different things,” he wrote in his memoir, “The Measure of a Man,” published in 2000. “I’m a network of primal feelings, instinctive emotions that have been wrestled with so long they’re automatic.” Mr. Poitier made Hollywood history by breaking from the stereotypes of bug-eyed entertainers. And he made American history, by appearing in films during the 1950s and 1960s that paralleled the growth of the Civil Rights Movement. As segregation laws were challenged and fell, Mr. Poitier was the performer to whom a cautious Hollywood turned for stories of progress, a bridge to the growing candor and variety of Black filmmaking today. He was the escaped Black convict who befriends a racist white prisoner (Tony Curtis) in “The Defiant Ones.” He was the courtly office worker who falls in love with a blind white girl in “A Patch of Blue.” He was the handyman in “Lilies of the Field” who builds a church for a group of nuns. In one of the great roles of stage or screen, he was the ambitious young man whose dreams clashed with those of other family members in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.” Mr. Poitier not only upended the kinds of movies Hollywood made, but how they were filmed. For decades, Black and white actors had been shot with similar lighting, leading to an unnatural glare in the faces of Black performers. On the 1967 production “In the Heat of the Night,” cinematographer Haskell Wexler adjusted the lighting for Mr. Poitier so the actor’s features were as clear as those of white cast members. The long-running debate over Hollywood diversity often turns to Mr. Poitier. With his handsome, flawless face, intense stare and disciplined style, Mr. Poitier was for years not just the most popular Black movie star, but the only one. His unique appeal brought him burdens familiar to Jackie Robinson and others who broke color lines. He faced bigotry from white people and accusations of compromise from the Black community. Mr. Poitier was held—and held himself—to standards well above his white peers. He refused to play cowards or cads and took on characters, especially in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” of almost divine goodness. He developed an even, but resolved and occasionally humorous persona crystallized in his most famous line – “They call me Mr. Tibbs!”—from “In the

DIAMONDS • WATCHES JEWELRY • REPAIRS 19 EAST BROAD STREET RICHMOND, VA 23219 (804) 648-1044

WWW.WALLERJEWELRY.COM

Heat of the Night.” “All those who see unworthiness when they look at me and are given thereby to denying me value—to you I say, ‘I’m not talking about being as good as you. I hereby declare myself better than you,’ ” he wrote in “The Measure of a Man.” In 1964, he became the first Black performer to win the best actor Oscar for “Lilies of the Field.” He peaked in 1967 with three of the year’s most notable movies: “To Sir, With Love,” in which he starred as a schoolteacher who wins over his unruly students at a London secondary school; “In the Heat of the Night,” as the determined police detective Virgil Tibbs; and in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,”

munists, and turned down roles he found offensive. “Almost all the job opportunities were reflective of the stereotypical perception of Blacks that had infected the whole consciousness of the country,” he later told The Associated Press. “I came with an inability to do those things. It just wasn’t in me. I had chosen to use my work as a reflection of my values.” Mr. Poitier’s films usually were about personal triumphs rather than broad political themes, but the classic Poitier role, from “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” to “In the Heat of the Night,” seemed to mirror the drama Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. played out in real life: An eloquent and accomplished

File Photo 1959

Sidney Poitier, right, in the movie ‘A Raisin in the Sun.’

as the prominent doctor who wishes to marry a young white woman he only recently met, her parents played by Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in their final film together. In 2009, President Obama, whose own steady bearing was sometimes compared to Mr. Poitier’s, awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, saying that the actor “not only entertained but enlightened ... revealing the power of the silver screen to bring us closer together.” Mr. Poitier was not as engaged politically as his friend and contemporary Harry Belafonte, leading to occasional conflicts between them. But he was active in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and other civil rights events and even helped deliver tens of thousands of dollars to civil rights volunteers in Mississippi in 1964, around the same time that three young civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were murdered. He also risked his career. He refused to sign loyalty oaths during the 1950s, when Hollywood was blacklisting suspected Com-

Black man—Mr. Poitier became synonymous with the word “dignified—who confronts the white people opposed to him. But even in his prime, Mr. Poitier’s films were chastised as sentimental and out of touch. He was called an “Uncle Tom” and a “million-dollar shoeshine boy.” In 1967, The New York Times published Black playwright Clifford Mason’s essay “Why Does White America Love Sidney Poitier So?” Mr. Mason dismissed Mr. Poitier’s films as “a schizophrenic flight from historical fact” and the actor as a pawn for the “white man’s sense of what’s wrong with the world.” James Baldwin, in his classic essay on movies, “The Devil Finds Work,” helped define the affinity and disillusion that Mr. Poitier inspired. He remembered watching “The Defiant Ones” at a Harlem theater and how the audience responded to the train ride at the end, when Mr. Poitier’s character decided to imperil his own freedom out of loyalty to Mr. Curtis’ character. “The Harlem audience was outraged, and yelled, “Get back on the train, you fool!”

Mr. Baldwin wrote. “And yet, even at that, recognized in Sidney’s face, at the very end, as he sings ‘Sewing Machine,’ something noble, true and terrible, something out of which we come.” In his memoir, Mr. Poitier wrote that he didn’t have a responsibility to be “angry and defiant,” even if he often felt those emotions. He noted that such historical figures as Dr. King and Nelson Mandela could never have been so forgiving had they not first “gone through much, much anger and much, much resentment and much, much anguish.” “When these come along, their anger, their rage, their resentment, their frustration— these feelings ultimately mature by will of their own discipline into a positive energy that can be used to fuel their positive, healthy excursions in life,” he wrote. His screen career faded in the late 1960s as political movements, Black and white, became more radical and movies more explicit. He would tell Oprah Winfrey in 2000 that his response was to go to the Bahamas, fish and think. He acted less often, gave fewer interviews and began directing. His credits included the Richard Pryor-Gene Wilder farce “Stir Crazy,” “Buck and the Preacher” (co-starring Mr. Poitier and Mr. Belafonte) and the comedies “Uptown Saturday Night” and “Let’s Do It Again,” both featuring Bill Cosby. He continued to work in the 1980s and 1990s. He appeared in the feature films “Sneakers” and “The Jackal” and several television movies. He received an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination as future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in “Separate But Equal” and an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Mr. Mandela in “Mandela and De Klerk.” Theatergoers were reminded of the actor through an acclaimed play that featured him in name only: John Guare’s “Six Degrees of Separation,” about a con artist claiming to be Mr. Poitier’s son. A Broadway adaptation of “The Measure of a Man” is in the works. In recent years, a new generation learned of him through Ms. Winfrey, who chose “The Measure of a Man” for her book club, and through the praise of such stars as Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Danny Glover. Mr. Poitier’s life ended in adulation, but began in hardship, and nearly ended days after his birth. He was born prematurely in Miami, where his parents had gone to deliver tomatoes from their farm on tiny Cat Island in the Bahamas. He spent his early years on the remote island, which had no paved roads or electricity, but was so free from racial hierarchy that only when he left did he think about the color of his skin. “Walking on the beach, or

Associated Press

President Obama presents Sidney Poitier with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in August 2009.

sitting on rocks, my eyes on the horizon, aroused curiosity, stirring joy,” he wrote in his 2008 book, “Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My GreatGranddaughter” about his time on Cat Island. By his late teens, he had moved to Harlem, but was so overwhelmed by his first winter there that he enlisted in the Army, cheating on his age and swearing he was 18 when he had yet to turn 17. Assigned to a mental hospital on Long Island, Mr. Poitier was appalled at how cruelly the doctors and nurses treated the soldier-patients and acknowledged that he got out of the Army by pretending he was insane. By the time he received his Oscar for “Lilies of the Field, Mr. Poitier’s career and the country were well aligned. Congress was months away from passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, banning discrimination on the basis of race, and a victory for Mr. Poitier was so desired in Hollywood that even one of his Oscar competitors, Paul Newman, was rooting for him. When presenter Anne Ban-

croft announced his victory, the audience cheered for so long that Mr. Poitier was able to re-remember the speech he briefly forgot. “It has been a long journey to this moment,” he declared. Mr. Poitier never pretended that his Oscar was “a magic wand” for Black performers, as he observed after his victory. And he shared his critics’ frustration with some of the roles he took on. But he also believed himself fortunate and encouraged those who followed him. Accepting a life achievement award from the American Film Institute in 1992, he spoke to a new generation. “To the young African American filmmakers who have arrived on the playing field, I am filled with pride you are here. I am sure, like me, you have discovered it was never impossible, it was just harder. “Welcome, young Blacks. Those of us who go before you glance back with satisfaction and leave you with a simple trust: Be true to yourselves and be useful to the journey.”

Richmond Free Press

January 13-15, 2022 B5

Obituaries/Faith Directory

Civil rights lawyer, legal scholar and professor Lani Guinier dies at 71 Free Press wire report

Lani Guinier, a civil rights lawyer and legal scholar whose nomination by President Bill Clinton to head the U.S. Justice Department’s civil rights division was pulled after conservatives criticized her views on correcting racial discrimination, has died. She was 71. Ms. Guinier died Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, Harvard Law School Dean John F. Manning said in a message to students and faculty. Her cousin, Sherrie Russell-Brown, said in an email that the cause was complications due to Alzheimer’s disease. Ms. Guinier became the first woman of color appointed to a tenured professorship at Harvard Law School when she joined the faculty in 1998. Before that, she was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s law school. She previously headed the voting rights project at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1980s and served during President Jimmy Carter’s administration in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which she was later nominated to head. “I have always wanted to be a civil rights lawyer. This lifelong ambition is based on a deep-seated commitment to democratic fair play — to playing by the rules as long as the rules are fair. When the rules seem unfair, I have worked to change them, not subvert them,” she wrote in her 1994 book, “Tyranny of the Majority: Fundamental Fairness in Representative Democracy.” President Clinton, who knew Ms. Guinier going back to when they both attended Yale Law School, nominated her to the Justice Department post in 1993. But Ms. Guinier, who wrote as a law professor about ways to remedy racial discrimination, came under fire

from conservative critics who called her views extreme and labeled her “quota queen.” Ms. Guinier said that label was untrue, that she didn’t favor quotas or even write about them, and that her views had been mischaracterized. President Clinton, in withdrawing her nomination, said he hadn’t read her academic writing before nominating her and would not Ms. Guinier have done so if he had. In a news conference held at the Justice Department after her nomination was withdrawn, Ms. Guinier said, “Had I been allowed to testify in a public forum before the United States Senate, I believe that the Senate also would have agreed that I am the right person for this job, a job some people have said I have trained for all my life.” Ms. Guinier said she was “greatly disappointed that I have been denied the opportunity to go forward, to be confirmed, and to work closely to move this country away from the polarization of the last 12 years, to lower the decibel level of the rhetoric that surrounds race and to build bridges among people of good will to enforce the civil rights laws on behalf of all Americans.” She was more pointed in an address to an NAACP conference a month later. “I endured the personal humiliation of being vilified as a madwoman with strange hair — you know what that means — a strange name and strange ideas, ideas like democracy, freedom and fairness that mean all people must be equally represented in our political process,” Ms. Guinier said. “But lest any of you feel sorry for me,

Moore Street Missionary

Executive producer of National Black Theatre Festival dies

Dr. Alonza L. Lawrence, Pastor

Virtual Sunday Morning Service on FACEBOOK and YouTube 2604 Idlewood Avenue Richmond, Va. 23220 (804) 353-6135 www.riverviewbaptistch.org

“Your Home In God’s Kingdom”

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

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

+PJO VT BU ". FBDI TU BOE SE 4VOEBZ GPS JO QFSTPO XPSTIJQ TFSWJDF <RX PD\ FRQWLQXH WR OLYH VWUHDP RQ <RX7XEH *RRG 6KHSKHUG %DSWLVW &KXUFK 59$

Back Inside

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

Triumphant

Broad Rock Baptist Church

Baptist Church

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

2003 Lamb Avenue Richmond, VA 23222 Dr. Arthur M. Jones, Sr., Pastor (804) 321-7622

“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).”

“Due to the Corona Virus all services at Triumphant Baptist Church are suspended until further notice.”

“MAKE IT HAPPEN” eb Cel

g 151 years of Christian Se ratin r

vice

Ebenezer Baptist Church 1858

±4HE 0EOPLE´S #HURCH²

216 W. Leigh St. • Richmond, Va. 23220 Tel: 804-643-3366 • Fax: 804-643-3367 Email: ebcofﬁce1@yahoo.com • web: www.richmondebenezer.com

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

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

e with Reverence elevanc R g in Rev. Dr. Joshua Mitchell, Senior Pastor bin ❖ om

The doors of the church are open for worship! No registration required. Join us in person or online on Facebook or YouTube

10:30 a.m. Sundays

Antioch Baptist Church

400 South Addison Street Richmond, Va. 23220

(near Byrd Park)

Rev. Dr. Yvonne Jones Bibbs, Pastor

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

“Redeeming God’s People for Gods Purpose”

“Working For You In This Difficult Hour”

SERVICES

1384 New Market Road, Richmond, Virginia 23231 | 804-222-8835

SUNDAY WORSHIP HOUR – 10:00 A.M. CHILDREN’S CHURCH & BUS MINISTRY AVAILABLE SUNDAY SCHOOL (FOR ALL AGES) – 9:00 A.M. TUESDAY MID-D AY BIBLE STUDY – 12 NOON Weekly Worship: Sundays @ 10:30 A.M. WEDNESDAY 9:00 A.M. MIDChurch -WEEK School: PRAYER Sundays & BIBLE@STUDY – 7:00 P.M. Bible Study: Wednesdays @ Noon & A MISSION BASED6:30 CHURCH P.M. FAMILY

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

Come worship with us!

Live on Facebook @sixthbaptistrva Live on Youtube @sixthbaptistrva Or by visiting our website www.sixthbaptistchurch.org

Please visit our website Ebenezer Baptist Church Richmond, VA for updates http://www.richmondebenezer.com Dr. Wallace J. Cook, Pastor Emeritus Rev. Dr. Adam L. Bond, Pastor

We Embrace Diversity — Love For All! Back Inside Sundays Join us for 10:00 AM Worship Service

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. (Jeremiah 29:11, NRSV)

Thirty-first Street Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. Stephen L. Hewlett, Pastor

Good Shepherd Baptist Church

Sharon Baptist Church

2901 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 648-2472 ~ www.mmbcrva.org Dr. Price London Davis, Senior Pastor

Sunday School – 9:30 AM Sunday Services – 11:00 AM Via Conference Call (202) 926-1127 Pin 572890#

“The Church With A Welcome”

Worship With Us This Week!

Baptist Church

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

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin, who succeeded her late husband as board chairman and executive producer of the National Black Theatre Festival, has died. She was 76. A news release from the North Carolina Black Repertory Company said Mrs. SprinkleHamlin died on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. The Mrs. Sprinklefamily declined to give the cause of death. Hamlin Mrs. Sprinkle-Hamlin took the leadership position following the death of her husband, Larry Leon Hamlin, who founded the company and produced its first festival in 1989. Mr. Hamlin died in 2007. Mrs. Sprinkle-Hamlin worked for 40 years with the Forsyth County Public Library, becoming its first Black and female director. She retired in 2019.

Pastor Kevin Cook

Riverview

Baptist Church

Free Press wire report

Sundays Morning Worship 10:00 A.M.

according to press reports, the president still loves me. He just won’t give me a job.” On Twitter Friday, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund head Sherrilyn Ifill called Ms. Guinier “my mentor” and a “scholar of uncompromising brilliance.” Mr. Manning, the Harvard law dean, said: “Her scholarship changed our understanding of democracy — of why and how the voices of the historically underrepresented must be heard and what it takes to have a meaningful right to vote. It also transformed our understanding of the educational system and what we must do to create opportunities for all members of our diverse society to learn, grow and thrive in school and beyond.” Penn Law Dean Emeritus Colin Diver, whose time as dean overlapped with Ms. Guinier’s time on the faculty, said she “pushed the envelope in many important and constructive ways—advocating for alternative voting methods, such as cumulative voting, questioning the implicit expectations of law school faculty that female students behave like ‘gentlemen,’ or proposing alternative methods for evaluating and selecting applicants to the Law School.” Carol Lani Guinier was born April 19, 1950, in New York. Her father, Ewart Guinier, became the first chairman of Harvard University’s Department of Afro-American Studies. Her mother, Eugenia “Genii” Paprin Guinier, became a civil rights activist. The couple — he was Black and she was white and Jewish — was married at a time when it was still illegal for interracial couples to marry in many states. Ms. Guinier, who graduated from Harvard’s Radcliffe College, is survived by her husband, Nolan Bowie, and son, Dr. Nikolas Bowie, also a Harvard Law School professor.

EXCITING MINISTRIES FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH, YOUNG ADULTS & SENIOR ADULTS BIBLE REVELATION TEACHING DIVERSE MUSIC MINISTRY LOVING, CARING ENVIRONMENT

DR. JAMES L. SAILES PASTOR

Joseph Jenkins, Jr. Funeral Home, Inc. 2011-2049 Grayland Avenue Richmond, Virginia 23220 (804) 358-9177

Joseph Jenkins, Jr., Founder (Dec. 19, 1938 - Dec. 9, 2006) Joseph Jenkins, III. • Jason K. Jenkins • Maxine T. Jenkins

Richmond Free Press

B6 January 13-15, 2022

Legal Notices/Employment Opportunities City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the City of Richmond Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Tuesday, January 18, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. and the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing on Monday, January 24, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the Second Floor of City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, to consider the following ordinances: Ordinance No. 2021-357 To close, to public travel, an unimproved portion of Hanover Avenue in the block bounded by Three Chopt Road and the City’s corporate boundary with Henrico County, consisting of 6,219± square feet, and to designate and incorporate such portion of Hanover Avenue into Bandy Field Park. Ordinance No. 2021-358 To vacate, pursuant to Va. Code §15.2-2272(2), that part of the Staffordshire Section-5 subdivision plat that reserved 3021 Falcon Road for recreation, upon certain terms and conditions. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates these parcels as Residential. Primary Uses: Singlefamily houses, accessory dwelling units, and open space. Secondary Uses: Duplexes and small multifamily buildings (typically 3-10 units), institutional, and cultural. Secondary uses may be found along major streets. This ordinance was initially presented at the October 4, 2021, City Planning Commission meeting. The applicant has withdrawn the previous request and is seeking approval with a newly written ordinance. Ordinance No. 2021-359 To amend and reordain O rd. N o . 2 0 1 0 - 1 0 0 83, adopted May 10, 2010, which authorized the special use of the property known as 200214 East Leigh Street for the purpose of a multifamily residential use with up to eight (8) dwelling units in an existing carriage house building with the commercial use requirement waived and to authorize the construction of a mixed-use building containing commercial uses and up to sixtythree (63) dwelling units, upon certain terms and conditions. The property is situated in the B-2 Community Business D i s t r i c t . T h e C i t y ’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Neighborhood Mixed-Use. Primary Uses: Single-family homes, accessory dwelling units, duplexes, small multi-family buildings (typically 3-10 units) and open space. Secondary Uses: Large multi-family buildings (10+ units), r e t a i l / o ff i c e / p e r s o n a l service, institutional, cultural and government. The proposed density is approximately 95 units per acre. Ordinance No. 2021-360 To authorize the special use of the property known as 3300 Broad Rock Boulevard for the purpose of a farmer’s market, upon certain terms and conditions, and to repeal Ord. No. 99-370-00-9, adopted on January 10, 2000, and Ord. No. 99-50-55, adopted on March 8, 1999. The property is situated in the B-2 Community Business District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Community Mixed-Use. Primary Uses: Retail/ office/personal service, multi-family residential, cultural, and open space. Secondary Uses: Single family houses, institutional and government. Ordinance No. 2021-361 To authorize the special use of the property known as 4300 Commerce Road for the purpose of an off-premises sign, upon certain terms and conditions. The property is situated in the M-2 Heavy Industrial District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Industrial. Primary Uses: Industrial and open space. Secondary Uses: Retail/ office/personal service.

Continued from previous column

property as Residential. Primary Uses: Singlefamily houses, accessory dwelling units, and open space. Secondary Uses: Duplexes and small multi-family buildings (typically 3-10 units), institutional, and cultural. Secondary uses may be found along major streets. The proposed density is approximately 31 units per acre.

institutional, and cultural. Secondary uses may be found along major streets. The minimum lot size in the R-4 District is 7,500 square feet, whereas the minimum lot size in the R-2 District is 15,000 square feet.

City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Community Mixed-Use. Primary Uses: Retail/ office/personal service, multi-family residential, cultural, and open space. Secondary Uses: Single family houses, institutional and government.

of a residential use with up to six dormitory style units with shared sanitation facilities accessory to a church, upon certain terms and conditions. The property is situated in the R-5 Single-Family Residential District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Residential. Primary Uses include: Singlefamily houses, accessory dwelling units, and open space. Secondary Uses: Duplexes and small multi-family buildings (typically 3-10 units), institutional, and cultural. Secondary uses may be found along major streets. The proposed density is approximately 2 units per acre.

the Fiscal Year 20212022 Stormwater Utility Budget and appropriated the estimated receipts of the stormwater utility, by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the stormwater utility by $1,100,000.00 for the purpose of funding improvements to stormwater drainage infrastructure to reduce repetitive flooding in the McGuire, Chapel Drive, and Hopkins Road neighborhoods in the city of Richmond.

January 20, 2022, 1:00 p.m.)

adopted March 16, 2020, and as permitted by section 2.2-3708.2(A)(3) of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. This meeting 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 Council will assemble in the Council Chamber on the Second Floor of City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, and most Council members and other staff will participate by teleconference/ videoconference via Microsoft Teams.

Ordinance No. 2021-363 To authorize the special use of the property known as 1626 North 27th Street for the purpose of allowing a single-family detached dwelling. The property is situated in the R-5 SingleFamily Residential District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Neighborhood MixedUse. Primary Uses: Single-family homes, accessory dwelling units, duplexes, small multi-family buildings (typically 3-10 units) and open space. Secondary Uses: Large multi-family buildings (10+ units), retail/ office/personal service, institutional, cultural and government. Ordinance No. 2021-364 To authorize the special use of the property known as 2511 Porter Street for the purpose of allowing a two-family detached dwelling. The property is situated in the R-6 Single-Family Attached Residential District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Residential. Primary Uses include: Singlefamily houses, accessory dwelling units, and open space. Secondary Uses: Duplexes and small multi-family buildings (typically 3-10 units), institutional, and cultural. Secondary uses may be found along major streets. The proposed density is approximately 22 units per acre. Ordinance No. 2021-365 To authorize the special use of the property known as 8 Rear South Plum Street for the purpose of a multi-family building, containing up to four dwelling units, upon certain terms and conditions. The properties are situated in an UB-PO3 Urban Business Parking Overlay District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Community Mixed Use. Primary Uses: Retail/office/personal service, multi-family residential, cultural, and open space. Secondary Uses: Single family houses, institutional, and government. The density of the proposed development is approximately 52 units per acre. Ordinance No. 2021-366 To authorize the special use of the property known as 313 West 26th Street for the purpose of allowing a two family detached dwelling. The property is situated in the R-6 Single-Family Attached Residential District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Residential. Primary Uses include: Singlefamily houses, accessory dwelling units, and open space. Secondary Uses: Duplexes and small multi-family buildings (typically 3-10 units), institutional, and cultural. Secondary uses may be found along major streets. The proposed density is approximately 19 units per acre. Ordinance No. 2021-367 To authorize the special use of the property known as 1000 Westover Hills Boulevard for the purpose of a residential use with up to six dormitory style units with shared sanitation facilities accessory to a church, upon certain terms and conditions. The property is situated in the R-5 Single-Family Residential District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Residential. Primary Uses include: Singlefamily houses, accessory dwelling units, and open space. Secondary Uses: Duplexes and small multi-family buildings (typically 3-10 units), institutional, and cultural. Secondary uses may be found along major streets. The proposed density is approximately 2 units per acre.

Ordinance No. 2021-362 To authorize the special use of the property known as 4508 Grove Avenue for the purpose of up to seven (7) single-family attached dwelling units with off-street parking and common area, upon certain terms and conditions. The properties are situated in an R-53 Multifamily Residential D i s t r i c t . T h e C i t y ’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject

Continued on next column

Interested citizens who wish to speak will be given an opportunity to do so by following the instructions referenced in the January 24, 2022 Richmond City Council Formal meeting agenda. Copies of the full text of all ordinances are available by visiting the City Clerk’s page on the City’s Website at https:// www.rva.gov/office-cityclerk, and in the Office of the City Clerk, City Hall, 900 East Broad Street, Suite 200, Richmond, VA 23219, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Candice D. Reid City Clerk City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, January 24, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. to consider the following ordinances: Ordinance No. 2021-328 As Amended To authorize the special use of the property known as 939 Myers Street for the purpose of an outdoor event venue and farmer’s market, upon certain terms and conditions. The property is situated in the TOD-1 TransitOriented Nodal District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Destination Mixed-Use. Primary Uses include: r e t a i l / o ff i c e / p e r s o n a l service, multi-family residential, cultural, and open space. Secondary Uses: Institutional and government. Ordinance No. 2021-357 To close, to public travel, an unimproved portion of Hanover Avenue in the block bounded by Three Chopt Road and the City’s corporate boundary with Henrico County, consisting of 6,219± square feet, and to designate and incorporate such portion of Hanover Avenue into Bandy Field Park. Ordinance No. 2021-358 To vacate, pursuant to Va. Code §15.2-2272(2), that part of the Staffordshire Section-5 subdivision plat that reserved 3021 Falcon Road for recreation, upon certain terms and conditions. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates these parcels as Residential. Primary Uses: Singlefamily houses, accessory dwelling units, and open space. Secondary Uses: Duplexes and small multifamily buildings (typically 3-10 units), institutional, and cultural. Secondary uses may be found along major streets. This ordinance was initially presented at the October 4, 2021, City Planning Commission meeting. The applicant has withdrawn the previous request and is seeking approval with a newly written ordinance. Ordinance No. 2021-359 To amend and reordain Or d . N o. 2010-10083, adopted May 10, 2010, which authorized the special use of the property known as 200214 East Leigh Street for the purpose of a multifamily residential use with up to eight (8) dwelling units in an existing carriage house building with the commercial use requirement waived and to authorize the construction of a mixed-use building containing commercial uses and up to sixtythree (63) dwelling units, upon certain terms and conditions. The property is situated in the B-2 Community Business D i s t r i c t . T h e C i t y ’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Neighborhood Mixed-Use. Primary Uses: Single-family homes, accessory dwelling units, duplexes, small multi-family buildings (typically 3-10 units) and open space. Secondary Uses: Large multi-family buildings (10+ units), r e t a i l / o ff i c e / p e r s o n a l service, institutional, cultural and government. The proposed density is approximately 95 units per acre. Ordinance No. 2021-360 To authorize the special use of the property known as 3300 Broad Rock Boulevard for the purpose of a farmer’s market, upon certain terms and conditions, and to repeal Ord. No. 99-370-00-9, adopted on January 10, 2000, and Ord. No. 99-50-55, adopted on March 8, 1999. The property is situated in the B-2 Community Business District. The Continued on next column

Ordinance No. 2021-361 To authorize the special use of the property known as 4300 Commerce Road for the purpose of an off-premises sign, upon certain terms and conditions. The property is situated in the M-2 Heavy Industrial District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Industrial. Primary Uses: Industrial and open space. Secondary Uses: Retail/ office/personal service. Ordinance No. 2021-362 To authorize the special use of the property known as 4508 Grove Avenue for the purpose of up to seven (7) single-family attached dwelling units with off-street parking and common area, upon certain terms and conditions. The properties are situated in an R-53 Multifamily Residential D i s t r i c t . T h e C i t y ’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Residential. Primary Uses: Singlefamily houses, accessory dwelling units, and open space. Secondary Uses: Duplexes and small multi-family buildings (typically 3-10 units), institutional, and cultural. Secondary uses may be found along major streets. The proposed density is approximately 31 units per acre. Ordinance No. 2021-363 To authorize the special use of the property known as 1626 North 27th Street for the purpose of allowing a single-family detached dwelling. The property is situated in the R-5 SingleFamily Residential District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Neighborhood MixedUse. Primary Uses: Single-family homes, accessory dwelling units, duplexes, small multi-family buildings (typically 3-10 units) and open space. Secondary Uses: Large multi-family buildings (10+ units), retail/ office/personal service, institutional, cultural and government. Ordinance No. 2021-364 To authorize the special use of the property known as 2511 Porter Street for the purpose of allowing a two-family detached dwelling. The property is situated in the R-6 Single-Family Attached Residential District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Residential. Primary Uses include: Singlefamily houses, accessory dwelling units, and open space. Secondary Uses: Duplexes and small multi-family buildings (typically 3-10 units), institutional, and cultural. Secondary uses may be found along major streets. The proposed density is approximately 22 units per acre. Ordinance No. 2021-365 To authorize the special use of the property known as 8 Rear South Plum Street for the purpose of a multi-family building, containing up to four dwelling units, upon certain terms and conditions. The properties are situated in an UB-PO3 Urban Business Parking Overlay District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Community Mixed Use. Primary Uses: Retail/office/personal service, multi-family residential, cultural, and open space. Secondary Uses: Single family houses, institutional, and government. The density of the proposed development is approximately 52 units per acre. Ordinance No. 2021-366 To authorize the special use of the property known as 313 West 26th Street for the purpose of allowing a two family detached dwelling. The property is situated in the R-6 Single-Family Attached Residential District. The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Residential. Primary Uses include: Singlefamily houses, accessory dwelling units, and open space. Secondary Uses: Duplexes and small multi-family buildings (typically 3-10 units), institutional, and cultural. Secondary uses may be found along major streets. The proposed density is approximately 19 units per acre. Ordinance No. 2021-367 To authorize the special use of the property known as 1000 Westover Hills Boulevard for the purpose Continued on next column

Ordinance No. 2021-368 To rezone the property known as 6422 Forest Hill Avenue from the R-2 Single-Family Residential District to the R-4 SingleFamily Residential D i s t r i c t . T h e C i t y ’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates these parcels as Residential. Primary Uses: Singlefamily houses, accessory dwelling units, and open space. Secondary Uses: Duplexes and small multi-family buildings (typically 3-10 units), institutional, and cultural. Secondary uses may be found along major streets. The minimum lot size in the R-4 District is 7,500 square feet, whereas the minimum lot size in the R-2 District is 15,000 square feet. Ordinance No. 2021-369 To repeal City Code § 12-46, concerning the disposition of revenues derived from the expiration of partial exemptions from real estate taxation and from certain sales of tax delinquent properties, and to amend City Code § 26-104, concerning the duties of the City Assessor, providing for the accounting of certain real estate tax revenues arising from the phased reduction, expiration, and termination of certain partial exemptions from real estate taxation in such a manner as to facilitate the City Council’s future appropriation of those revenues to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund concerning disposition of revenues derived from the expiration of partial exemptions from real estate taxation, for the purpose of facilitating an alternate method of funding the Affordable Housing Trust Fund annually. (COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, January 20, 2022, 1:00 p.m.) Ordinance No. 2021-370 To deem certain inventory items attached to or located within the Cityowned real property known as the Coliseum located at 601 East Leigh Street to be personal property, and not fixtures, and to authorize the severance or removal of such items from the real property known as the Coliseum located at 601 East Leigh Street, as needed, to effectuate any disposal thereof. (COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, January 20, 2022, 1:00 p.m.) Ordinance No. 2022-002 To amend Ord. No. 2021040, adopted May 24, 2021, which adopted the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 General Fund Budget and made appropriations thereto, by transferring $12,200,000.00 from certain reserves for contingencies in the NonDepartmental agency to certain new programs within the Department of Finance for the purpose of implementing the City’s spending plan for American Recovery Plan Act of 2021 funds. Ordinance No. 2022-003 To amend the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Special Fund Budget by creating a new special fund for the Office of the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Human Services called the Advancing Health Literacy Special Fund; to amend the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 General Fund Budget by transferring $4,000,000.00 from the Office of the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Human Services to the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Special Fund Budget; and to amend the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Special Fund Budget by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the Office of the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Human Services’ Advancing Health Literacy Special Fund by $4,000,000.00 for the purpose of funding a collaborative community health literacy program. Ordinance No. 2022-004 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to accept funds in the amount of $1,100,000.00 from the Virginia Resources Authority and to amend Ord. No. 2021051, adopted May 24, 2021, which adopted Continued on next column

Ordinance No. 2022-005 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to accept $762,162.00 from the Virginia Compensation Board and to appropriate the funds received to the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 General Fund Budget by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the City Sheriff by $762,162.00 for the purpose of funding the Sheriff’s payment of bonuses in accordance with the requirements of the Virginia Compensation Board. Ordinance No. 2022-006 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to accept funds in the amount of $103,500.00 from the Virginia Resources Authority and to amend Ord. No. 2021051, adopted May 24, 2021, which adopted the Fiscal Year 20212022 Stormwater Utility Budget and appropriated the estimated receipts of the stormwater utility, by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the stormwater utility by $103,500.00 for the purpose of funding a levee improvement project. Ordinance No. 2022-007 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to accept funds in the amount of $45,339.30 from The Maggie Walker Community Land Trust and to appropriate the increase to the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Electric Utility Budget by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the Department of Public Utilities’ Electric Utility Budget by $45,339.30 for the purpose of funding the removal of and any necessary site work for a monument grave and monument pedestals. Ordinance No. 2022-008 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to accept funds in the amount of $67,166.39 from the Greater Richmond Transit Company, and to appropriate the increase to the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Capital Budget by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the Department of Public Works’ Richmond Signal System Phase III (Federal) project in the Transportation Category by $67,166.39, for the purpose of funding the connection of seven Bus Rapid Transit bus stations into the traffic signal fiber optic communication network as part of the Richmond Signal System Phase III (Federal) project. Ordinance No. 2022-009 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a FY 2021 Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant Agreement between the City of Richmond, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the purpose of developing a transformation plan that includes the Gilpin Court public housing project located at 102 West Charity Street and the Jackson Ward neighborhood in the city of Richmond. Ordinance No. 2022-010 To approve the action of the City Planning Commission adopting the “City Center Innovation District Small Area Plan” as an incorporated element of the “Richmond 300: A Guide for Growth” Master Plan of the City of Richmond. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Tuesday, January 18, 2022, 1:30 p.m.) Ordinance No. 2022-011 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Grant Agreement between the Virginia Resources Authority and the City of Richmond for the purpose of receiving grant funds in the amount of up to $1,100,000.00 to provide funding for improvements to stormwater drainage infrastructure to reduce repetitive flooding in the McGuire, Chapel Drive, and Hopkins Road neighborhoods in the city of Richmond. (COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, Continued on next column

Ordinance No. 2022-012 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Grant Agreement between the Virginia Resources Authority and the City of Richmond for the purpose of receiving grant funds in the amount of up to $103,500.00 to fund a levee improvement project. (COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, January 20, 2022, 1:00 p.m.) Ordinance No. 2022-013 To amend City Code § 12-12, concerning the form of budget submitted to Council, for the purpose of modifying the information required to be included within the budget. (COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, January 20, 2022, 1:00 p.m.) Ordinance No. 2022-014 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Resort Casino Host Community Agreement between the City of Richmond and RVA Entertainment Holdings, LLC, for the purpose of facilitating the development of a resort casino project in the city of Richmond. (COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, January 20, 2022, 1:00 p.m.)

Video of the meeting will be streamed live online at the following web address: https:// richmondva.legistar.com/ Calendar.aspx. To watch the 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 January 24, 2022 Richmond City Council Formal meeting listed in the calendar.

Ordinance No. 2022-015 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Community Support Agreement among City of Richmond, Casino Owner, Casino Manager and Casino Developer between the City of Richmond, RVA Entertainment Holdings, L L C , R i c h m o n d VA Management, LLC, a n d R i c h m o n d VA Development, LLC, for the purpose of facilitating the fulfillment of certain negotiated community benefits in connection with the development of a resort casino project in the city of Richmond. (COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, January 20, 2022, 1:00 p.m.)

Interested citizens who wish to speak at the Richmond City Council meeting will be given an opportunity to do so by following the public participation instructions provided on the January 24, 2022 Richmond City Council Formal meeting agenda.

This meeting will be held through electronic communication means pursuant to the current ongoing declaration of a local emergency concerning the COVID-19 pandemic confirmed by Res. No. 2020-R025,

Copies of the full text of all ordinances are available by visiting the City Clerk’s page on the City’s Website at http:// www.richmondgov.com/ CityClerk/index.aspx.

Citizens are encouraged to provide their comments in writing to CityClerksOffice@RVA. GOV in lieu of commenting by teleconference or video conference. 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, January 24, 2022, will be provided to Council members prior to the meeting and will be included in the record of the meeting.

Candice D. Reid City Clerk

Continued on next page

VCDC VCDCisiscurrently currently seeking seeking aa full-time Administrative full-time Development Officer Coordinator to join our team.

to join our team.

For more details and how

to apply For more detailsvisit: and how to www.vibrantcommunities.us apply visit:

www.vibrantcommunities.us Minister of Children and Youth Salary Commensurate with Experience Mount Olive Baptist Church in Glen Allen is seeking a part-time Minister of Children and Youth to oversee the children and youth ministry. Must possess strong interpersonal and communication skills. Preferred candidate must be a license minister with a consistent Christian character and lifestyle. This position will be opened until ﬁlled. Previous applicants do not need to reapply. Applicants may pick up an application from the church ofﬁce or submit a resume in lie of an application to: Mount Olive Baptist Church, 8775 Mount Olive Avenue, Glen Allen, Virginia 23060. The e-mail address is mstyles@mobcva.org, and the fax is (804) 262-9614 ext. 227 For more information please call (804) 262-9614 A Criminal History Background Check is required.

Statistical Data Analyst

7KH &LW\ RI 5LFKPRQG &RPPRQZHDOWK·V $WWRUQH\·V 2IÀ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

Thank you for your interest in applying for opportunities with The City of Richmond. To see what opportunities are available, please refer to our website at www.richmondgov.com. EOE M/F/D/V