Richmond Free Press March 16-18, 2023 edition

‘All-cause mortality’ Richmond Free Press

Spikes

youth

Child

and violence linked to homicide, suicide, drugs and truancy

By George Copeland Jr.

A series of shootings in Richmond last week has sparked renewed calls for solutions to end gun violence. The urgent cries come as new research shows growing rates of death among young people throughout the country.

Last Friday evening, Binford Middle School student Marquan Mitchell-Nash was accidentally shot and killed on Stockton Street. Within the same hour, a separate shooting was reported on Halifax Avenue that left three youths injured, with one shot and two who were grazed by gunfire.

“My heart breaks for the Nash-Mitchell family who lost their 13-year-old son last night,” Mayor Levar M. Stoney said in a statement released Saturday. “As I have said before, we have too many damn guns in our community. Guns that are too easily accessible by our children and result in tragedies, like what

The recent increase in “all-cause mortality,” a measure of all deaths in children and teens, is largely driven by increases in certain injury-related deaths, which began well before the COVID-19 pandemic, accord ing to new research detailed in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

• Researchers found that suicide rates at ages 10-19 began increasing in 2007 and climbed by 70 percent by 2019;

• Homicide rates began increasing in 2013, rising by 33 percent by 2019;

• The number of overdose deaths began to rise in 2019;

• Deaths from car accidents dramatically jumped in frequency in 2020 and 2021.

The risk of injury-related death also varied significantly by race and ethnicity:

• In 2021, Black youths ages 10-19 were 20 times more likely to die by homicide than white and Asian American/Pacific Islander youths, and six times more likely than Hispanic youths;

• Death by suicide was more than twice as likely among Black and American Indian/Alaska Native youths than white youths;

• American Indian/Alaska Native youths faced the greatest risk of dying in a motor vehicle accident.

Council members link truancy to increased violence involving city youths

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond Public Schools needs to do more to ensure students are in class rather than roaming the streets, according to concerned members of City Council.

The council members see a correlation between the rise in violence involving youths ages 12 to 18 and the chronic absenteeism that has become worse since the pandemic.

In a January report, the school system stated that one in four students has already missed 10 or more days of the first semester, the definition of chronic absenteeism.

That’s far higher than RPS’ stated goal of reducing chronic absenteeism to one in 11 students.

Before the pandemic struck in 2020, 15 to 20 percent of students were chronically absent, still well above the goal.

The issue of truancy and schools came to the forefront during

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Special education troubles continue for Virginia

labeled

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The Virginia Department of Education continues to shirk its responsibility to ensure students with mental and emotional disabilities secure a free, appropriate public education, or FAPE in educational jargon, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

in its efforts to curtail learning loss

Feb. 17 to VDOE, Valerie Williams, director of the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs, issued notice that her office will be increasing its monitoring of the state’s management oversight of special education based on a flood of complaints and a staff review.

for years for its management of special education, and has been the subject of critical reports both from the U.S. DOE and the Virginia legislative watchdog, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

County’s public school system after finding that the state’s largest school system “failed or could provide FAPE to thousands of qualified students with disabilities” in violation of federal law.

COVID-19 Remembrance Day on Tuesday drew people throughout Richmond to Virginia Union University’s Bell Tower. The hourlong event, presented by Delegate Delores L. McQuinn (D-70th), served to honor and remember loved ones and others lost since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Delegate McQuinn said, in announcing the ceremony, said that “24,000 people are no longer seated at our tables. We must never forget the impact of this devastating disease on our families and friends. COVID-19 and COVID-19 related diseases has changed communities.”

A total of 207 new cases of COVID-19 were reported statewide Tuesday for the 24-hour period, contributing to an overall state total of 2,294,667 cases in Virginia since the pandemic’s outbreak, according to the Virginia Department of Health. As of Tuesday, there have been 458,963 hospitalizations and 23,681 deaths reported statewide. State data available at the time also shows that African-Americans comprised 22.1 percent of cases statewide and 22 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 10 percent of cases and 4 percent of deaths.

Free vaccines for COVID-19 continues

The Richmond and Henrico health districts are offering free vaccines for COVID-19 and more at the following locations:

Thursday, March 16, 2 to 4 p.m. - Cary Street, 400 E. Cary St., Primary Moderna shots for age 6 months to 5 years old and 12 years and older, and bivalent boosters for age 6 years and older, Primary Pfizer shots for age 6 months and older, bivalent boosters for age 5 years and older, Novavax primary shots for age 12 and older, and boosters for age 18 and older, and baby bivalent boosters. Walk-ups welcome

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Nearly three years after finding VDOE was failing disabled students and their parents, the federal agency has determined that, despite some reform, VDOE is still not meeting the requirements of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, the federal law governing special education

In an eight-page letter issued

The Free Press reached out to VDOE, but has not received a response to the letter that arrived two weeks before Jillian Balow resigned as superintendent of public instruction, the top VDOE post.

VDOE has been under fire

Canine country

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Kyrie Artis, 6, gets acquainted with a dog, along with soldiers from Fort Lee Military Base, during a K9 Walk at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond on March 11. The annual K9 event commemorates K-9 Veterans Day in Virginia and across the U.S. The special day recognizes and honors contributions of military and services dogs in battle and to civilian communities.

One key concern Ms. Williams mentioned is the learning loss that disabled students in Virginia experienced as a result of the pandemic. She stated that her office had issued guidance to assist states to deal with the problem. While some states took action, she stated, her office found the VDOE response “deficient.”

Ms. Williams noted that the U.S. DOE’s Office of Civil Rights two months ago upheld complaints against Fairfax

She expressed concern that the policy and practice failure that turned up in Fairfax was at least partially based on guidance from VDOE.

“Since the VDOE guidance was statewide and because (my office( has received complaints from across the state about practices similar to those cited by OCR in Fairfax, (staff from this office will be assigned) to examine this matter.”

Her letter also noted that VDOE is still failing in its general supervisory responsibilities when it comes to ensuring that

Richmond city attorney to retire

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

City Attorney Haskell C. Brown III will immediately leave City Hall’s top legal post in the wake of his arrest for drunken driving, the Free Press has learned.

Mr. Brown, who has nearly 24 years of service as an in-house lawyer for the city, agreed to retire from city service after meeting Monday with members of City Council in a closed-door session.

Council expects to name one of Mr. Brown’s five deputy city attorneys as interim city attorney at a special meeting on Monday, March 20, the Free Press has been told.

Mr. Brown, who had been interim city attorney since 2019, just removed interim from his title seven months ago in an office that lists 18 other attorneys on the staff.

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Henrico County deputies charged in man’s death at mental hospital

By Sarah Rankin The

Associated Press

Seven Virginia sheriff’s office employees have been charged with second degree murder in connection with the death of a 28-year-old man at a state mental hospital last week, a local prosecutor said Tuesday. Henrico County Sheriff’s Office personnel took the

Mr. Otieno

victim, Irvo Otieno, to Central State Hospital on March 6 to admit him as a patient, according to the prosecutor, Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill. Mr. Otieno, who was physically restrained, died during the intake process, Ms. Baskervill said in a statement.

“Mr. Otieno’s family was notified by my office this morning of these charges and I will continue to work

with and for his family in relation to pursuing this case to its fullest extent,” Ms. Baskervill said.

Ms. Baskervill’s statement did not state a cause of death but said Mr. Otieno’s body had been taken to a medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.

Mr. Otieno’s family previously raised concerns about his

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Ms.

Mr. Brown

Julianne Tripp/Richmond Free Press

Mr. Kamras

VDOE

‘deficient’

Mr. Woolf Mayor Stoney

Ms. Williams

RPS essay winners receive cash awards

By Holly Rodriguez

Three RPS students received cash awards for their winning submissions to the Game Changer writing contest sponsored by the Richmond Crusade for Voters and Richmond Public Schools.

Mackenzie White from Westover Elementary received $100; Alison De Leon from River City Middle School received $250; and Ana Santos Ajualip from George Wythe High School received $500. The winning essays were selected from more than 120 student submissions across the district.

The contest took place Dec. 17, 2022, through Feb. 1 of this year. The winners were announced at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School on Feb. 22.

Open only to RPS students, entrants were required to write about the importance of education, their feelings about gun violence, how COVID-19 affected their lives and other topics.

Garry Callis, the founder of Children of Light, a nonprofit founded to help children with challenges at home and in school, organized the event. He also is a member of the Richmond Crusade for Voters’ education committee. The challenge was created, he said, because in his work with RPS students, he has seen a serious deficit in writing and reading proficiency.

“The predatory economic system is feasting on the failure of the school system (by) not teaching our children properly, especially in underserved Black communities,” he said. The contest is a step toward reconciling the education of students in writing.

Mr. Callis said the Crusade plans to offer the contest again next year.

RPS student is local Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year

By Holly Rodriguez

Richmond Community High School senior A’landa Macklin has been selected as the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Richmond Youth of the Year. As a result, she will receive a $10,000 scholarship and is eligible to compete at the state level.

Ms. Macklin was one of three finalists competing for the award.

The yearlong Youth of the Year leadership program offered through Boys & Girls Clubs across the country provide personal and professional development to youths in preparation for college and career development.

Participants are required to write essays, create a résumé and cover letter, memorize and recite a speech and submit letters of recommendation. They also are interviewed by a panel to be considered for the award.

Although she has not decided which university she will attend, Ms. Macklin said she will major in social work. She credits the Boys & Girls Club with helping prepare her for a future academic career.

“Growing up, I lived in the apartment building right beside the Boys & Girls Club building, and I just loved going there,” she said. “My mom signed me up at age 6, and I’ve always gone back.”

As a member of Keystone Club, one of the organization’s programs encouraging community service, Ms. Macklin has attended conferences in Orlando, Fla. and Anaheim Calif., with both trips including surprise trips to Disneyworld and Disneyland, respectively. Another trip that had a profound impact on her, she says, was visiting the White House in Washington, D.C.

“I got to meet Ashley Biden, President Joe Biden’s daughter, who is also a social worker,” she said.

Outside of Keystone Club, Ms. Macklin maintains a 3.4 grade point average at Richmond Community where she is president of the Key Club. She also is the senior class coordination director, serving as a liaison between the school’s principal and teachers and the senior class to suggest events they want to produce.

Level Up accepting applications for podcasting program

Applications are now open for the Level Up Academy, a summer podcast intensive created by the VPM + ICA Community Media Center to provide high quality teaching and opportunities for young adults in Richmond.

The program, which launched last year, is seeking 15 Richmond students age 17 to 22 for its two-week session. Participating students will be offered travel support, receive lunch every day of the program and receive a $500 stipend.

Those who complete the program will graduate with an audio project that can be used when applying to college or other ventures. Participants also will receive assistance when applying to college.

Sessions are currently scheduled from Tuesday, June 20, to Friday, June 30, and from Monday, July 3, to Friday, July 14. Applications must be completed before Saturday, April 15. More information, including application links for age 17 and ages 18 to 22, can be found at www.icavcu.org/communitymedia/levels-up.

New HIV treatment facility opens in Henrico

Free Press staff report

CrossOver Healthcare Ministry opened the doors to its new HIV treatment facility Wednesday morning, ringing in the occasion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The new facility is in CrossOver’s Henrico Clinic at 8600 Quioccasin Road.

The relocation also follows a major remodeling of the Henrico clinic’s second floor.

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer this new, beautiful space for our clients,” CrossOver officials said in a statement. “With added exam rooms, a dedicated waiting area, consultation rooms, and adequate office space for case management, this relocation means we can treat more clients in a dignifying space designed specifically for them.”

“We want them to feel welcomed, respected and comfortable.”

For more information about HIV testing or treatment at the new facility may call 804-655-2794.

“McLean,” an installation by Navine G. Dossos, is featured on the façade of the Institute of Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University. The installation is part of the exhibit “So it appears” opening on Feb. 24 at the ICA, 601 W Broad St. The vinyl pieces used in the work are adapted from a series of paintings. According to the ICA’s website, “McLean, ”com-

Cityscape

Slices of life and scenes in Richmond

missioned for the ICA’s Belvidere Street façade, is an adaptation of the artist’s former work “No Such Organization (2018-2020),” a series of 100 gouache paintings of icons and symbols. Each painting is in response to a news article following the disappearance and heinous murder, in October 2018, of journalist Jamal Khashoggi who lived in Mclean in Northern Virginia. For more details, please visit https://icavcu.org/exhibitions/ mclean/ Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

NIH awards $27M to VCU’s Wright Center

Free press staff report

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Virginia Commonwealth University a seven-year, $27 million grant to provide new therapy techniques “to the community” and to reduce regional health disparities.

On Tuesday, VCU announced the grant that will renew funding for its C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research, which focuses on research and training to grow community engagement in that research, and increasing diversity in their patients and researchers in the workforce.

VCU officials said The Wright Regional Center works in clinical and translational science research and practice, integrating research, providing training to grow community engagement in research, diversifying patient populations, encouraging greater diversity among new clinician researchers entering the workforce and engaging in cutting-edge research in informatics.

The NIH grant is the largest the university has received from the organization, according to VCU officials.

“The new award will allow us to pursue the vision of the Wright Regional CCTS,” said F. Gerard Moeller, director of the Wright Center and associate vice president of the division of clinical research. He added that the grant will assist the university as it seeks “to advance health equity through translational science that actively engages diverse communities, trains a diverse research workforce and supports the rapid implementation of innovative clinical and translational science within the Wright Regional CCTS and throughout the national program.”

The Wright Center is part of the VCU Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation, led by P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D., who, in a news release, called the renewal a recognition of VCU’s strength and impact in clinical and translational science research area as well as its focus on reducing health disparities. (VCU officials confirmed that Dr. P. Srirama Rao is not related to VCU President Michael Rao.)

“Through this renewal, VCU will continue its efforts with transformative innovation, discoveries, training and ongoing overall impact on improving health

disparities, new knowledge creation and patient care across our campuses,” said Dr. P. Srirama Rao. “It’s opportunities for collaboration and the valuable training to the next generation of clinician-researchers will have a tremendous, positive impact on our community, the region and beyond.”

In recent years, Wright Center researchers showed that there was an increase in deaths from causes other than COVID-19 during the pandemic that disproportionately affected Black patients; developed innovative technology-driven methods to engage low-income housing residents in virtual community advisory boards; established innovative tools to process and analyze community-based health data to address health inequities; and was selected to join an NIH project to enroll one million Americans to understand how biology, lifestyle and environment affect health across a diverse group of individuals.

As part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIH is the nation’s medical research and is the largest source of funding for medical research in the world, creating hundreds of thousands of highquality jobs, according to its website.

UR receives $250K NIH grant for redlining research

Rob Nelson will explore racially motivated housing and health inequities

Free Press staff report

Robert K. Nelson, director of the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond, has been awarded nearly $250,000 from the National Institutes of Health to study the impact of redlining — raciallymotivated lending discrimination — on health inequalities. This sub-award is part of a five-year project at the University of Michigan.

The DSL team, led by Dr. Nelson, will create spatial data for industrial, commercial, and residential sites using

area descriptions pulled from the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation and Sanborn maps, which are detailed maps of U.S. cities and towns in the 19th and 20th centuries.

“Our lab will provide historical expertise, analyze the data, and develop the study’s conclusions,” Dr. Nelson said. “Our team includes UR student researchers, who will help collect data and add images to the Sanborn maps through the mapping technique of georeferencing.”

Dr. Nelson, head of digital engagement in University of Richmond’s Boatwright

Memorial Library, is the editor of American Panorama: An Atlas of United States History. Dr. Nelson teaches courses on digital humanities and slavery. He was awarded the 2019 Roy Rosenzweig Prize for Innovation in Digital History from the American Historical Association and recently received a grant to support the development of an expanded, third version of the award-winning “Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America” project, which frequently is used by journalists and scholars studying and investigating redlining.

Leadership summit will amplify student voices

Free press staff report

Some 600 Richmond-area high school students will attend Teen Summit RVA at the Greater Richmond Convention Center on March 18. The daylong event is the first in a series of annual events designed to engage and connect regional teens, according to the program organizers.

During the summit, students will meet with experts who will lead conversations about gun violence, drug use, mental health and equity in their schools and in their communities. Students also will express their feelings and reactions about their summit experience through art and spoken word reflections.

“This innovative summit for central Virginia teens offers opportunities for them to connect with each other, hear from experts and speak up about issues important to them,” said Dr. Mervin B. Daugherty, superintendent of Chesterfield County Public Schools.

It will also give students the chance to attend the Inspire@Work Regional

Summer Opportunity Fair and explore exhibits, find career and educational resources and learn about job, internship and volunteer opportunities available to them.

Teen Summit RVA, sponsored by the Community Foundation for a Greater Richmond, will be hosted by nationally known, Richmond-based comedian Micah “Bam Bamm” White.

“Teen Summit RVA is a great opportunity for students to build their leadership skills and advocate for issues that impact their peers and our community,” said Jason Kamras, superintendent of Richmond Public Schools.

“When students come together, their passion, creativity and hope for the future are greater than any challenge,” said Dr. Amy Cashwell, superintendent of Henrico County Public Schools. “Teen Summit RVA is a tremendous step in bringing

together students from across the region to make connections and spark solutions that cut across county and city borders. This is the start of something important for central Virginia.”

“So often with young people, groups and organizations talk around them and not to them. This entire event is centered on the idea of listening to students and hearing what matters most to them,” added Dr. Joe Casey, Chesterfield County Administrator. “We can’t wait to see what comes out of this event and those like it in the future.”

Students were selected and invited by their schools to participate in Teen Summit RVA; however, a limited number of slots remain open. Any high school student from Chesterfield, Henrico or Richmond counties who would like to attend should contact their school’s guidance counselor.

When: Saturday, March 18 from 9:30 a.m.to 4:30 p.m.

Where: Greater Richmond Convention Center, 403 N. 3rd St.

Gandy name may be eliminated by Hanover School Board

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The Hanover School Board is moving to eliminate the name of John M. Gandy, the only Black person for whom a county school is named.

The board on Tuesday approved a seven-member renaming committee to come up with recommendations for naming a new elementary school now under construction, despite criticism of

the effort from opponents who packed the meeting room.

That building would replace the two current Ashland-based schools, Gandy Elementary and Henry Clay Elementary.

Ever since planning began for it, the new school has been referred to in board and administration documents as the new John M. Gandy Elementary. The son of freed slaves, Dr. Gandy served as the third president of what is now Virginia State University.

The biggest previous change was in 2020 when a board majority braved criticism and renamed a high school and middle school that previously honored slavery-defending Confederate leaders. The only other Hanover schools currently named for people are Patrick Henry High School and Washington-Henry Elementary School.

Dr. Gandy has graced a now 72-year-old building since it opened in the era of segregation in 1950 to serve Black students.

Micah White

Child and teen mortality in the U.S. experiences largest increase in decades

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occurred last night.

“If you own a gun, I am begging you, lock it up so that we can prevent unnecessary loss that will be felt for a lifetime,” Mayor Stoney added.

The Richmond shootings occurred days before new research was released showing that child and teen mortality rates in the U.S. are seeing its largest increase in 50 years. An editorial published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, points out that the increases “follow decades of progress in lowering the rate of death from childhood diseases. As a result, alarming spikes in pediatric mortality primarily is due from homicide, accidental drug overdoses, motor vehicle accidents and suicide among those ages 10 to 19.”

The JAMA editorial is co-authored by Dr. Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, Dr. Elizabeth Wolf, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the VCU School of Medicine and a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, and Dr. Frederick Rivara, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

The research is based on analyzing death certificates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found a roughly 20 percent increase in mortality for people ages 1 to 19 between 2019 and 2021.

“Medicine and public health have made remarkable progress in lowering pediatric mortality rates, but the lives they have saved are now endangered by manmade pathogens,” the co-authors wrote in the editorial. “Bullets, drugs, and automobiles are now causing a youth death toll sufficient to elevate all-cause mortality rates, the largest such increase in recent memory.

“Without bold action to reverse the trend, children’s risk of not reaching adulthood may increase.”

While statistical information for similar mortality rates and their causes among Richmond youths isn’t readily available, the solutions the editorial’s co-authors suggest are similar to ones being advocated by city and community leaders.

Gun safety and easy access to firearms were cited by the researchers and local officials as a major problem in need of addressing, with several solutions proposed by those involved and those concerned.

“There’s clearly a need for sensible gun reform laws, but I know this is a very volatile subject politically in our country right now,” said Dr. Woolf. “But when it gets to the point where your kids are less likely to reach adulthood, then it’s time to take some action to try to save their lives.”

Special education troubles continue for Va.

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parents and children secure due process in contesting local decisions involving the individual education plans and that their complaints are resolved in a timely fashion.

She also noted that some VDOE regulations governing special education conflict with federal law. She also raised concern about the state education agency’s oversight of local school divisions’ special education programs after determining that the practices in at least five still unnamed school divisions violate federal rules and regulation.

Ms. Williams stated that members of her staff would be in Virginia in August or September to conduct another review to determine how well reforms of the programs the state enacted since 2020 are working and whether the state has begun installing procedures to ensure “the appropriate and effective investigation of complaints” and the speedy resolution of those are found to be accurate.

Free COVID-19 vaccines

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but appointments encouraged.

Wednesday, March 22, 10 a.m. to noon - Henrico West Health District, 8600 Dixon Powers Dr., JYNNEOS shots; 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. - Primary Moderna shots for age 6 months to 5 years old and 12 years and older, and bivalent boosters for age 6 years and older, Primary Pfizer shots for age 6 months and older, bivalent boosters for age 5 years and older, Novavax primary shots for age 12 and older, and boosters for age 18 and older, and baby bivalent boosters. Walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.

Thursday, March 23, 2 to 4 p.m. - Cary Street, 400 E. Cary St., JYNNEOS shots. Walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged. People can schedule an appointment online at vase.vdh. virginia.gov, vaccinate.virginia.gov or vax.rchd.com, or by calling (804) 205-3501 or (877) VAX-IN-VA (1-877-8294682).

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

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

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

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

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

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

New COVID-19 cases in Virginia fell 14 percent during the last week, according to data from the Virginia Department of Health, while data from the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association showed hospitalizations statewide dropped 14 percent since last week.

Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico County are at low levels of community COVID-19.

No localities in Virginia are ranked at high community COVID levels, while 8 were ranked at medium as of last week.

As of Tuesday, Richmond reported a total of 61,462 cases, 1,308 hospitalizations and 553 deaths; Henrico County, 91,669 cases, 1,759 hospitalizations and 1,083 deaths; Chesterfield County, 100,249 cases, 1,771 hospitalizations and 876 deaths; and Hanover County, 29,120 cases, 943 hospitalizations and 348 deaths.

Compiled by George Copeland Jr.

The Richmond Branch NAACP’s James E. Minor III, like Mayor Stoney, has stressed the need for proper gun safety within the community. He also has spoken of the need for more programs and spaces where youths can go to safely interact with their peers and grow. He said the Richmond NAACP is in the midst of trying to further efforts in this area when it comes to options available in the city.

“We need more things for our youths to do, period,” Mr. Minor said. “I think we’re moving in the right direction when it comes to after-school programs or recreation for our youths, but we need to expedite it.”

Mental health and economic opportunity also are cited as

major concerns and contributing factors to these mortality rates by the researchers, particularly when it comes to underserved and marginalized communities of color.

Mr. Minor, for his part, suggested that greater access to mental health counselors could help alleviate this issue. He acknowledged that progress on this front is not as clear, but saw greater attention on this matter, like other solutions to the recent rise in deaths, as a critical need to prevent further tragedy.

“I don’t know what the whole plan looks like when it comes to that, but we need to be really thinking about that,” Mr. Minor said. “I know that we’ve done some things to address mental health, but we can do more as a city, as a region and as a state.”

Council members link truancy to increased violence involving city youths

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a budget session Monday and came in the wake of the shooting of four RPS students away from school, with three left wounded and a fourth dead after he was accidentally shot while filming a social media video about having a weapon.

Among the council members expressing concern was Fifth District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch, chair of the Education and Human Services Committee that deals with educational issues.

Ms. Lynch said one issue of concern is that RPS shed its truancy officers in 2019 and has not replaced them, making it more difficult, in her view, to round up children who are playing hooky.

“There were substantial programmatic changes made several years ago,” Ms. Lynch said. She said there is a need for discussion with RPS to determine if “our current truancy program is working and what could be done better.”

Eighth District Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell also noted that she sees many school-age children out and about during the day and not in school. “We can’t tell them to go to school,” she said.

Third District Councilwoman Ann-

Frances Lambert also saw the number of truant children who are not in the classroom as a concern that needs more attention.

A former social worker herself, Ms. Lynch said that she also wants further discussion with RPS about the School Board’s early February decision to remove absenteeism from school social workers’ tasks, and asked whether more involvement from professionals who can work with families would be better.

She also expressed concern that RPS might not be effectively engaging nonprofits and other organizations.

“There are still programs that struggle to get funding to use space or gain access to RPS facilities,” she stated, noting that Parks and Recreation had to work with RPS to create a memorandum of understanding in order to get on a number of school campuses to offer after-school programs.

“I think there is an undertone of separation that RPS maintains,” Ms. Lynch stated, expressing her belief that “we can work smarter together or work harder apart.”

RPS has not responded to a Free Press query about the concerns that were raised.

Superintendent Jason Kamras also has not responded to the question of whether

the school system has stopped holding parents accountable for failing to comply with state law to ensure their children are in school.

In a presentation to the School Board about work being done to improve attendance, Dr. Shadae Harris, RPS’ chief engagement officer, did not provide any data in her presentation on the number of conferences held with parents with chronically absent children.

Fourth District School Board member Jonathan Young said his understanding is that the school system has dropped any punitive consequences for families whose children do not attend. “It’s all carrot and no stick,” he said, and has proven a “colossal failure.”

The school district also plans to work more with the students and their families to deter them from that path.

Dr. Harris told the board that her team is developing a data-driven approach that relies on substantial engagement with and support for families.

“We want to continue with practices where we are seeing impact and in cocreating support plans with families,” she said. “We want to make sure the quality of these plans is top notch.”

Henrico County deputies charged in man’s death at mental hospital

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treatment, with his mother telling the local media that “something went wrong” while he was in the government’s custody.

“The family is grief stricken after learning of the brutal nature of Ivor’s death and his inhumane treatment in the hours preceding his death. The public, and experienced mental health professionals alike, will be appalled when the facts of this case are fully disclosed,” Mark Krudys, an attorney for the family, said in a statement, spelling Mr. Otieno’s first name as he said the family refers to him.

Mr. Otieno, whose family is from Kenya, was a deeply loved and well-regarded young man, an aspiring musician who had been a well-known high school athlete in the area, Mr. Krudys said.

Henrico County Police have previously said in a news release that officers responding to a report of a possible burglary March 3 identified Mr. Otieno as a potential suspect. Based on their interaction with and observations of Mr. Otieno, officers put him under an emergency custody order. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation, the news release issued Friday stated.

At the hospital, Mr. Otieno “became

Continued from A1

According to a police report and information issued by the council’s staff, the 50-year-old Richmond-area native was arrested March 8 after he sideswiped a car while traveling the wrong way on Sheppard Street in the near West End.

Police charged him with driving under the influence after he took a breathalyzer test and registered a blood alcohol content of .225 percent, or nearly three times the legal limit of .08 percent.

He told police he had been at Bingo Beer Co. for an event and was driving

physically assaultive toward officers, who arrested him” and took him to a local jail, which is managed by the Henrico Sheriff’s Office, where he was served with several charges.

Ms. Baskervill’s statement said Henrico sheriff’s office employees took him to Central State Hospital, located south of Richmond, just before 4 p.m. on March 6 to be admitted. Around 7:30 p.m., state police were called to investigate his death.

State Police investigators were told Mr. Otieno had “become combative during the admission process,” Ms. Baskervill’s statement read.

Virginia State Police spokesperson

Corinne Geller confirmed Tuesday that the agency’s investigation into the matter remains ongoing. She said State Police have obtained hospital security footage as part of their criminal investigative file. There are no immediate plans to release it, she said.

The seven Henrico County Sheriff’s Office employees turned themselves in Tuesday morning and were taken to a regional jail, where they are being held without bond, Ms. Baskervill said. Her statement did not specify their rank.

Court records do not list defense attor-

home.

Mr. Brown is now going through the legal process after being arraigned with a first offense of driving while intoxicated.

In the initial release on March 9, the council stated that “driving under the influence is a serious matter,” but did not indicate Mr. Brown would be ousted.

Mr. Brown has been city attorney since Aug. 1, 2022. Council named him to the post after moving him up to interim city attorney following Allen L. Jackson’s retirement in 2019.

A graduate of the University of Virginia, Mr. Brown earned his law degree at West

neys for any of the seven defendants: Randy Joseph Boyer, 57, of Henrico; Dwayne Alan Bramble, 37, of Sandston; Jermaine Lavar Branch, 45, of Henrico; Bradley Thomas Disse, 43, of Henrico; Tabitha Renee Levere, 50, of Henrico; Brandon Edwards Rodgers, 48, of Henrico; and Kaiyell Dajour Sanders, 30, of North Chesterfield. The records show hearings scheduled in their cases Wednesday morning dealing with the appointment of counsel.

Henrico County Sheriff Alisa Gregory said in a statement that her office was cooperating fully with State Police and conducting its own internal review of the incident. She said seven deputies “who were transferring custody of Mr. Otieno” had been placed on administrative leave. “As Henrico County sheriff and on behalf of our entire office, I extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Irvo Otieno,” Sheriff Gregory said.

The body of Mr. Otieno was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond for examination and an autopsy, Ms. Baskevill’s statement said. An administrator at that office referred questions from the AP to Ms. Geller, who said she couldn’t release any information.

Virginia University College of Law in 1998.

He issued several controversial opinions in the past three years.

One was an ignored 2020 opinion spelling out his view that Mayor Levar M. Stoney could not use authority under a state law governing emergencies to remove Confederate statues.

Another was his 2022 opinion threatening a court challenge to Richmond Public Schools’ assertion of ownership of the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center, despite a state law that supports the RPS opinion.

Mr. Rodgers

Mr. Disse

Mr. Branch

Ms. Levere

Mr. Boyer

Mr. Sanders

Mr. Bramble

Richmond Fire Department blazing through recruiting

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

When it comes to recruiting, the Richmond Department of Fire and Emergency Services stands head and shoulders above the rest of the city’s public safety departments.

In a time when the Police Department, Emergency Communications and the Sheriff’s Office are still reporting significant vacancies, the Fire Department is now fully staffed, according to Fire Chief Melvin D. Carter.

Six months ago, he said the department had 48 vacancies. That fell by half in October, he said, after the graduation of another class. Chief Carter and Assistant Chief Travis Ford indicated last week that

the remaining empty positions have been filled.

Recruiting has improved in the wake of major pay increases that Mayor Levar M. Stoney and City Council approved last May. The increases became effective after the 2022-23 fiscal year began July 1.

Chief Carter also has disclosed that 72 recruits are now in training, which he said is one of largest classes since Richmond launched a professional department in 1858. The class is so large that 36 are training at a Henrico County facility.

He said the new class, which he indicated would complete training in September, would allow the department to expand by four companies.

Chief Carter announced in September a plan to install the additional companies being notified that the department had received a $13.7 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The chief said in September that grant will help rebuild a department that has had 13 companies disbanded since 1970 while, at the same time, calls for service have grown more than 700 percent.

“The new companies will go a long way to putting our department in position to support the continuing population growth,” he said.

RRHA’s eviction rate increases

Housing unit applies ‘tough love’ to collect tenants’ back rent

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond’s public housing landlord continues to proceed more slowly than private landlords in seeking to oust residents who have built up large, unpaid rent balances.

But the process has begun to gain a little steam, according to the February report from the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

As of the February report, RRHA had secured 149 unlawful detainers, the court order that allows RRHA to schedule an eviction, up from three in September 2022 and 95 in November.

As of February, RRHA had completed the eviction process against 20 families, up from five in November. The authority also issued 517 late notices in February, the most since lease enforcement was restarted in January 2022.

Though eviction numbers remain low,

there are still plenty of families still at risk of removal from public housing.

Last month, RRHA reported that 1,846 families were behind on rent, or about 60 percent of the 3,100 households who occupy public housing and about the same level as has been reported in previous months.

Of those in arrears, 428 households owed $500 to $999, RRHA reported, while 579 households owed $1,000 to $4,999 and 68 households owed $5,000 or more. In other words, nearly 60 percent of households in arrears owed $500 more.

The total owed by all tenants in arrears, according to RRHA: $1.23 million.

Steven B. Nesmith, RRHA’s chief executive officer, said that tenants who are behind continue to be urged to set up

City Council approves solar program grant

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

A nonprofit group that has sought to prepare people to work in the burgeoning solar power field has gained financial help from City Hall.

City Council on Monday approved Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s request to award a $30,000 grant to Bridging the Gap in Virginia to support the training initiative its founder and leader, Richard Walker, began four years ago.

The unanimous vote came at a brief meeting at which council, after nearly 10 months of negotiations, finally approved the development of a South Stafford Street property for an apartment and restaurant, with curtailed evening hours.

The grant to Bridging the Gap, a felon support program, is the first direct aid from the city to the program that seeks to enable people to be hired to install solar panels on the roofs of homes and businesses.

“It’s not huge, but it’s a help,” said Mr. Walker, whose program was spotlighted in an October 2022 Free Press article.

Mr. Walker said the grant would enable him to hold four weeklong training sessions this year, with a limit of 10 people per class. He said the next training session would begin Monday, March 27.

repayment plans for the arrears. So far, only 390 households have. He said RRHA is continuing to apply what he called “tough love” in seeking to get tenants to catch up, but at some point, he said, renters who remain behind and take no action to catch up will face consequences. The issue of tenant rent payments comes as the city planning office works with RRHA and residents on planning for redevelopment of the largest communities, Fairfield, Gilpin, Hillside, Mosby and Whitcomb, which council has named as priority communities for change.

A private nonprofit already has begun the redevelopment process in Creighton Court, with expectations that construction of new apartments will begin by this summer. RRHA also has cleared the way for a private developer to redo the portion of Mosby Court that sits across from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School.

Most participants are recruited through the city’s Office of Community Wealth Building, a work training and job development service for city residents. A significant portion of those who sign up are people who have served time in state prisons or local jails or who are homeless.

The Office also has arranged for the program to use space in the East District Initiative building in Church Hill and also provides services to participants, including helping them fill out the paperwork and assisting them in developing résumés and filling out job applications.

Mr. Walker is hoping to secure more city assistance and has applied for an additional grant through the Community Block Develop Grant program.

He said he also is working with state and city agencies to develop an apprenticeship program to enable trainees to gain more on-the-job experience with pay.

Mr. Walker also is one of three candidates running in a June primary for the Democratic nomination in the 79th House of Delegate District that covers much of the city’s North Side and East End as well as a bit of South Side. His rivals include attorney Rae Cousins and 3rd District Councilwoman AnnFrances Lambert.

Mr. Walker

Mr. Nesmith

Chief Carter

No debt deal = doom

The clock is ticking on a potentially serious financial crisis that could affect you and your family.

Our federal government’s credit card was blocked on Jan. 19 when Congress declined to vote to raise the debt ceiling to enable additional borrowing above the current level of $31.4 billion.

You haven’t felt any impact because the U.S. Treasury Department has taken what it calls “extraordinary measures” to ensure current bills continue to be paid.

If this has not hit your radar screen, the blockade is due to the Republican House majority.

Led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican caucus, or at least a faction of it with enough clout, is demanding cuts in future federal spending in exchange for allowing the Treasury to borrow more money to pay for obligations Congress already has approved.

Perhaps you heard President Biden say in a recent speech the unspecified demands from Republicans would require a 35 percent cut in domestic spending, ranging from health care for veterans to food stamps to highway building and farm subsidies. He has asked Speaker McCarthy to submit a GOP budget proposal to see the details of the cuts they want.

There are still months to go before any deal to raise the debt ceiling is made, just one reason this issue is so far getting only minimal attention.

But if this impasse continues, our government risks having to default on paying its debts, slamming our nation’s credit and creating turmoil around the globe since the dollar is the world’s currency for trade.

Ordinary people like us are going to feel it, too, if there is no deal.

The U.S. Treasury ultimately might have to hold off issuing monthly Social Security checks, leaving millions of pensioners who live check to check unable to pay rent or buy food. There could be a pause in payments to hospitals and physicians for those covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

There could also be halts to issuances of food stamps, rental subsidies and other essential aid, and the government might have to halt payments to federal contractors and federal employee pension plans.

Already high rates that affect the cost of buying a car and a home could rise several percentage points. And some estimate that 2 to 4 million people could lose their jobs, reversing the growth trend in employment.

The impacts are uncertain because a default is something that has never happened before, although Republicans have at least twice before used this tactic. And there is uncertainty because of our huge, complex economy, which registers north of $25 trillion annually, including federal government expenditures that amount to 25 percent of that total.

That is why it is so dismaying that the business community, possibly one of the few groups that Republicans listen to, are staying on the sidelines. Why is the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce keeping silent? Why is the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the national business groups staying mum?

Republican lawmakers, like everyone else holding an elective position, need contributions to fuel their campaigns.

What if big and small companies threatened to pull the plug on funding those campaigns to force the leadership to settle this issue?

Does anyone really want to find out what a default would mean? Does anyone really want to see consumer demand dry up again as it did after the 2008 crash? Does anyone really want to see the building boom end?

Of course, it would be great if people like us began flooding Congress with appeals for a deal to forestall any prospect of a default and the consequences that could result.

But as the saying goes, in politics money talks, and the business community has the organization and resources to really make their presence felt, particularly with a party that portrays itself as the champions of business.

A full array of trade groups representing the business community needs to let those on Capitol Hill know that a default cannot happen.

The conflict over the debt ceiling has nothing to do with the new 2023-24 budget proposal that President Biden has sent to the House and Senate. There is plenty of time for Congress to change, amend or modify that plan.

But battle over the debt ceiling needs to be resolved. Now.

Propaganda machine called Fox News

In 2021, the bill to award gold medals to the U. S. Capitol Police officers who responded to the Jan. 6 insurrection passed, despite 21 GOP lawmakers voting against it. The Congressional Gold Medal is Congress’s highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished contributions made by individuals. Surprisingly, party members that pride themselves as supporters of law and order opposed honoring the officers who upheld law and order on that tragic day. It is both shameful and insulting that the lawmakers who benefitted from the officers’ bravery and sacrifice found reasons to ignore the fact that five officers died carrying out their sworn duty to serve and protect.

No officers were killed on the day of the riot, four died by suicide and the fifth died of natural causes triggered by the events of the riot. The men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police are worthy of the nation’s recognition. Rep. Andrew Clyde argued a month

before the vote that the riot at the Capitol was nothing more than a “normal tourist visit,” regardless of the multiple photos of Rep. Clyde helping barricade the doors of the House chamber after rioters breached the Capitol building. With the help of Fox News, Rep. Clyde’s assessment would later prove

to be part of the GOP’s ongoing narrative in recreating the events of Jan. 6. Fox News, like its competitors CNN and MSNBC, are cable opinion outlets rather than pure news outlets. Fox News viewers are more likely to accept and believe misinformation than viewers of other opinion outlets. Fox News may have once been an outlet for “enjoyment and entertainment, but it has evolved into a propaganda machine disguised as an entertainment outlet. Donald Trump uses the network to disseminate information — facts, arguments, rumors, namecalling, half-truths, and lies.

Kevin McCarthy, as House Speaker, uses his position to do the same. Speaker McCarthy gave Fox News host Tucker

Carlson exclusive access to over 40,000 hours of sensitive Capitol security camera footage from Jan. 6. As a result, Fox News was given the freedom to spin, edit, and spin again as they saw fit. Mr. Carlson took advantage of a unique opportunity to pick up the talking points of lawmakers such as Rep. Clyde and others who downplayed and attempted to normalize the insurrection. He released to Fox News viewers a manipulated and bogus version of Jan. 6, seeking to change the narrative of the event as peaceful. In doing so, Fox News has become a state-sponsored propaganda machine typical of non-democratic nations.

Approximately 140 police officers were injured during the insurrection. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was sprayed by chemicals and collapsed, according to witnesses, and died the following day. The family of Sicknick joined Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manager in condemning Mr. Carlson for airing “cherrypicked” video from the calmer moments of the riot rather than the “chaos and violence” that occurred on a day that officers described as medieval warfare with officers slipping on their

A historic vote and tools it gave us

Vice President Kamala Harris is sure to be remembered every March in Women’s History Month as the first woman and the first person of color to serve our nation in that position. As notable as those two facts are, she may grow to be known just as much for a single vote in the Senate that helped save the planet.

Last August, she broke the 50-50 deadlock between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to pass the Inflation Reduction Act. That historic package, along with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that Vice President Harris had crisscrossed the country in 2021 to build support for, give us a once-in-ageneration chance to protect the climate and build a cleaner, fairer economy. Both laws bear the vice president’s mark. For example, the two packages provide billions to replace diesel school buses with electric ones and an additional tax credit for purchases that counties and cities make on their own. When serving in the U.S. Senate, Vice President Harris repeatedly sponsored bills to electrify the nation’s school buses. Similarly, she

championed proposals to help recovery in low-income communities that bear a disproportionate burden of pollution and climate; the IRA includes $60 billion directed to help those places.

Vice President Harris’ role inside and outside Washington on environmental issues isn’t surprising. When she was elected San Francisco’s district attorney 20 years ago, she started one of the first environmental justice units in a prosecutor’s office.

When she moved on to be California’s attorney general, she fought to protect the state from fossil fuel interests, winning tens of millions in civil settlements and a criminal indictment against the pipeline company responsible for an oil spill off Santa Barbara, as well as suing the federal government to block fracking off the coast. It’s a path others have been able to follow since then (Columbia University keeps a database of attorneys general’s environmental actions now).

It’s a concern that runs deep. Like I did, Vice President Harris grew up in environmentally conscious Northern California in a household deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement. She learned early that conser-

vation was a good thing, so much so that she has joked she couldn’t understand as a youngster why people she knew said conservatives were bad.

The Biden-Harris administration has provided leadership. With Congress, they’ve given us the tools to clean up pollution, to boost communities’ resilience to climate related natural disasters like wildfires, and to create good jobs in clean manufacturing across the country in unprecedented ways. Through the infrastructure and inflation reduction packages, the United States can spend more than double protecting Earth than we spent putting astronauts on the moon.

“I think we all understand we have to be solutions driven. And the solutions are at hand,” Vice President Harris said at a climate summit earlier this month. “We need to make up for some lost time, no doubt. This is going to have an exponential impact on where we need to go.”

It’s time for the rest of us to pick up those tools and build. There are powerful interests that would be more than happy to let the inertia that allows people and places to be treated as disposable continue indefinitely. Our planet can’t afford that, and we have to marshal a movement to prevent it.

The writer is executive director of the Sierra Club.

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.

own blood and vomit. Chief Manager called Mr. Carlson’s accusation about Sicknick the most disturbing of the program.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who seeks to maintain the power of House Speaker, gave Fox News viewers exactly what they wanted. The same is true for Mr. Carlson and Rupert Murdoch, who aims to increase ratings and revenue. Therefore, the propaganda and misinformation continue, as does the viewership. But the right-wing media giant may have met their match. The writer is founder of the faith-based organization TRB: The Reconciled Body.

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

Ben Jealous

I am writing to address what I consider an inaccurate representation of my making a personal decision to deny same-gender parents’ names on a birth certificate. This representation, announcing the retirement of Janet Rainey, was in an article in the Richmond Free Press, March 9-11, 2023, edition. When the request was made to place both adoptive parents on the birth certificate, Virginia law only allowed a mother and father to be listed. The law did not enable same-gender parents to be listed on the

birth certificate. As the state registrar, the law required me to file vital records within statutory requirements.

Ms. Rainey, state registrar at the time of the Virginia Supreme Court decision (Davenport et al. v. Little Bowser et al.), was allowed to record same-gender parents on a birth certificate once it became state law, removing the restriction of not listing same-gender parents on a birth certificate.

I am requesting that this misrepresentation be corrected in a follow-up article. The history of the vital records system can be out of sync with

societal changes and may require legal actions to change.

DeboRAh LittLe bowseR Richmond

Editor’s note: It was not the intention of the Richmond Free Press to characterize the actions that led to the Davenport et al. v. Little Bowser et al. Virginia Supreme Court case as being made solely by Mrs. Little Bowser or at her personal discretion. We

Stories by Fred Jeter

JM’s Justices win third state crown since 2018

Coach Ty White’s team crushes Radford 91-34

The Class 2 State final was more showtime than showdown.

Fans looking for a tense, hotly contested game were disappointed.

But if folks packed the Siegel Center to see for themselves what might be the best team in Richmond area history, they got their money’s worth.

There were at least 10 dunks, many of the theatrical variety, among JM’s 39 field goals. A partisan JM crowd of about 7,000 were highly entertained.

In a start-to-finish rout, Coach Ty White’s Justices crushed Radford, 91-34, for their third State crown since 2018 and fourth since 2014.

“We knew as soon as we got on the bus we were beaten. We never had a chance,” said Radford Coach Rick Cormany.

“In the history of the VHSL, I don’t think there’s ever been a blowout like this.”

It could have been worse.

None of JM’s starters played more than 24 minutes, and a running clock was used much of the fourth quarter. A total of 15 Justices saw action.

Dennis Parker and Latrell Allmond had 17 points each, Jason Rivera 15, Redd Thompson 12 and Dominique Bailey 10 as JM finished 28-0.

Quick reserve Damontique Hodge stole the spotlight in the

late going, scoring seven in the final three minutes. A 6-foot-8 freshman, Allmond is likely the best big man prospect to hit the 804 since Petersburg’s Moses Malone in the early 1970s, and Benedictine’s Ed Davis in the early 2000s. Allmond is more advanced as a ninth-grader than former JM centers Isaiah Tate and Roosevelt

Wheeler.

Cormany, whose Bobcats finished 23-5, has won six State titles at Radford and is among the most respected coaches in Virginia. “I’ve probably coached more than 1,000 games,” he told the press. “And only twice did I know I had no chance to win – the two JM games (in ’22 and ’23).”

Afterward, Coach White praised his team’s academic success, its unwavering work ethic (“We start practice at 6 a.m. each day.”) and his 11 assistant coaches.

“I really didn’t have to work that hard this season,” he added. The Justices looked as sharp off the floor as they did on it.

With help from Justin Fairfax, former lieutenant governor of Virginia, all the JM players, coaches and support staff traveled to VCU with tailored blue suits and ties.

Expect more of the same. There are just two senior starters. Parker, the likely Player of the Year in Virginia, is headed to North Carolina State.

Rivera, a transfer from New

VCU beats Dayton 68-56 to win A-10 championship, NCAA bid

VCU heads back to New York, only this time it will be to the state capital of Albany rather than to Brooklyn.

Coach Mike Rhoades’ Rams earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by easily winning the Atlantic 10 tourney at Barclays Center (home of New York Nets).

This Friday, No. 12 seed VCU (27-7 with nine straight wins) will play St. Mary’s College of California in the first round of the West Region. The No. 5 seed Gaels are 26-7 after losing to Gonzaga in the finals of the West Coast Conference.

St. Mary’s, under direction of 22nd year Coach Randy Bennett, is led by guards Logan Johnson and Aidan Mahaney, each averaging about 15 points.

The team showcases four players from Australia and relies on the three-pointer, with 256 connections on the season.

This is the second time the Rams and Gaels have been

matched up in the NCAAs. In 2017, St. Mary’s defeated VCU in a first round contest.

VCU was at its best in Brooklyn, defeating Davidson 7153, St. Louis 90-78 and Dayton 68-56 in the finals. Brandon Johns had a team-high 15 points against Dayton.

Ace Baldwin had 12 points and seven assists, Jalen Deloach added eight points and 10 rebounds and Jamir Watkins chipped in with 13 points with three treys.

Defensively, VCU’s attacking, shark-bite style of defense held the Flyers to just 32 percent shooting.

This will be VCU’s 19th trip to the NCAAs, dating to 1980. The triumph in Brooklyn marked the Rams’ first A10 tournament crown since 2015.

VCU was the lone A-10 school to earn a bid to this year’s NCAA 68-team event that will conclude in Houston April 1-3.

Rochelle, N.Y., is a smooth 6-foot-6 forward who has made recruiting visits to the likes of Vanderbilt, Florida Atlantic and San Diego.

Thompson and Bailey, the dynamic backcourt, will return to continue the North Side’s dominance. Both are mid-major Division I prospects, at least.

There remains a possibility JM has more games to play, which would be a first for any public school in the state.

Dancin’

VCU’s

Kenny Brooks is Virginia Tech’s first Black coach to win women’s ACC crown

If the NCAA Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year was announced today, Kenny Brooks might be a leading contender.

He would certainly be the No. 1 choice in Blacksburg.

The 54-year-old Virginia Tech coach recently became the first Black coach to direct his team to the ACC tournament

title. It also marked Tech’s first women’s ACC crown.

Coach Brooks guided his Lady Hokies to a 27-4 mark that included a 75-67 win over Louisville in the ACC finals in Greensboro. His Lady Hokies were to continue play this week in the NCAA Regionals on their home court, Cassell Coliseum.

Coach Brooks’ success is nothing new. A native of Waynesboro, he has a combined 478-189 record at his alma mater, James Madison, 2002-2016, and at Tech since 2016.

Coach Brooks played three seasons under Coach Lefty Driesell at JMU, and is the cousin of another Waynesboro hoops

VUU succumbs to third-ranked IUP 60-45

The curtain fell on Virginia Union University’s outstanding basketball season late Sunday night in Indiana, Pa.

In one of the most difficult matchups possible, the Panthers fell to host Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 60-45, in the semifinals of the NCAA Atlantic Regional.

IUP led by just 30-27 at halftime. Then a 23-0 run by the host Crimson Hawks early in the second half spelled the end for the visitors.

IUP, ranked third nationally, improved to 32-1 and 16-0 on its home court. Coach Jay Butler’s cold-shooting Panthers (25 percent) finished 24-8.

The night before, VUU defeated

Fairmont State, W.Va., 66-64, for its first NCAA win since 2007, when Coach Dave Robbins’ teams defeated Lander, S.C., and Clayton State, Ga.

The Panthers suffered their worst shooting night of the season vs. IUP.

CIAA Player of Year Robert Osborne was 3-for-17 from the floor and managed just seven points. By contrast “The Wizard of Os” hit 51 percent on the season and averaged 20.2 points.

In two powerful seasons as a Panther, Osborne tallied 1,046 points and will be greatly missed.

Nothing was falling at IUP. Standout guard Keleaf Tate was 1-for-13. Tahj Harding led VUU with 10 points.

IUP was to play West Liberty, W.Va., Tuesday night for the Region crown and the right to advance to the NCAA Elite Eight.

The 2023-24 VUU lineup will look much different from this year’s unit. Coach Butler and his veteran staff will be hot on the recruiting trail.

Seniors included Osborne, Tate, Devon Sims, Khalil Diggins-Williams and Raemaad Wright.

From Suffolk, Wright’s rebounding has been essential to VUU going 47-15 the past two seasons.

Wright had 12 rebounds in the loss to IUP and 16 against Fairmont. He was a two-time CIAA rebounding leader.

With details uncertain, the Justices may be playing in The Throne National Tournament at Morehouse College in Atlanta March 29 through April 1.

It is a 16-team, single elimination event co-sponsored by the NBA Players Association and Gold Level Entertainment. That could mean more showtime.

“We started the season want-

legend, Cory Alexander, who played in NBA.

Coach Brooks’ two elder daughters, Kendyl and Chloe, played for him at Tech and the youngest, Gabby, was a senior this season for the Blacksburg high team.

ing to be No. 1 in Virginia,” said Coach White. “Now we want to be No. 1 in the nation.”

JM’s road to title

Region 2A

JM 124, Prince Edward 41

JM 104, Thomas Jefferson 47

JM 113, Brunswick 51 State Class 2

JM 98, Strasburg 27

JM 112, Brunswick 45

JM 91, Radford 34

You don’t have to play basketball at a large high school to become a college star.

James Patterson is proof of that.

Hailing from Church Hill Academy (enrollment 36 for grades 9-12), Patterson has enjoyed a stellar freshman season for St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkhill, N.Y.

The 6-foot-7 wing averaged 15 points and seven rebounds for the Spartans, who went 26-4 in winning the NCAA Division II East Coast Conference crown. Patterson had 19 points and nine rebounds in the championship game against Daemen, N.Y. The Spartans were to continue playing in the Division II East Region in Manchester, N.H. Individually, the native Richmonder was named to the All-ECC first team and selected ECC Rookie of the Year. Patterson is joined on the team by his brother, Javion, who played locally at Meadowbrook High.

Howard wins MEAC title 65-64 over NSU

For the first time in three seasons, Norfolk State’s Spartans won’t be kicking up their heels at the NCAA Big Dance. But for the first time since 1992, Howard’s Bison will.

In a thrilling finish at Scope Arena, Howard edged NSU, 65-64, to capture the MEAC title and the NCAA bid that goes with it. The Bison will play powerful Kansas on Thursday in Des Moines, Ia.

NSU, closing at 22-1 under Coach Robert Jones, had won the previous two MEAC crowns at Scope.

Jelani Williams, a senior transfer from University of Pennsylvania, had 20 points for the Bison including the deciding bucket in the final seconds.

As usual, the leading light for NSU was fifth-year senior guard Joe Bryant, who had 18 points—all in the second half. Bryant, the MEAC regular season Player of Year the past two seasons, finishes his brilliant career with 1,747 points, 540 rebounds, 318 assists and 191 steals. He hit 389 of 349 free throws (87 percent) to rank with the NCAA’s all-time greats.

In 1992, Howard was seeded last in the NCAA Mideast Region and fell to top-seed Kansas, 100-67.

On the road again

Kenny Brooks

James Patterson shines in ECC win

Fans looking for a tense, hotly contested game were disappointed. The Justices beat Radford 91-34. John Marshall’s winning team deserves no less than a standing ovation from the Siegel Center crowd of 7,000.

Dennis Parker scored 17 points as John Marshall finished 28-0.

Photos by James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Dominique Bailey goes up for two of his 10 points in the Class 2 State finals.

Despite a few years of unexpected turbulence, Alma W. Hughes has led and sustained a Richmond-based musical group while forging deep connections among its members and the community.

For almost seven years, Ms. Hughes has served as the board president for the One Voice Chorus, which provides concerts featuring 90 to 120 singers throughout Richmond. She has guided One Voice since Lynn Atkins, its former artistic director, left in 2019 due to personal reasons.

Ms. Hughes’ work in this position, which focuses on using guest conductors to lead the chorus’ typical three concerts a year schedule, was disrupted by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Yet, such changes failed to halt Ms. Hughes’efforts to keep OVC active.

“It was a position that needed to be filled and I love this organization,” says Ms. Hughes, when asked why she accepted the role in August 2016.

“We have a board of very capable people, so my job is to ensure they can contribute and serve where they will be their best. I can readily recognize these gifts in people, and I am good at getting out of their way!”

As a founding member of the chorus and a singer in the soprano section, Ms. Hughes has played a vital role in OVC since its founding in 2002 and since its nonprofit status was established in 2004.

At the onset of the pandemic, Ms. Hughes and the OVC board continued operating by switching to virtual meetings and shifting their focus from planning concerts to staying connected and overcoming the sudden changes.

One strategy that kept the OVC active was a weekly newsletter Ms. Hughes created to stay in touch with members, while also allowing them to share stories and videos, and plan virtual events such as book club meetings. More importantly, the newsletter was a

Personality: Alma W. Hughes

Spotlight on One Voice Chorus board president

tool to help boost the members’ collective spirit.

“OVC is a wonderful group, and doing the newsletter allowed me to be privy to so many examples of encouragement among the members,” Ms. Hughes says. “I received so many emails encouraging me to continue to keep everyone connected through the newsletter!

It was very special!!”

OVC weathered the changes brought on by the pandemic better than some groups, says Ms. Hughes, noting that, while similar organizations experienced financial hardships, OVC’s financial standing was fortunate to not be as negatively impacted. Ms. Hughes credits the organization’s nonprofit structure and its value to its supporters for its sustained success.

“As a result of the challenges created by the pandemic, there are significant needs in many communities,” Ms. Hughes says. “We were careful, frugal and have been fortunate that many of our donors continued to consider OVC an important part of their community.”

The group will introduce its new artistic director, John McLean, during its upcoming concert March 25 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

“We’ve been very energized,” Ms. Hughes says. “The numbers are back, people are calling and contacting us. We are really, really psyched.”

Meet a guiding voice in a choir of many and this week’s

Personality, Alma W. Hughes:

Volunteer position: Board president, One Voice Chorus. Occupation: Executive coach.

Date and place of birth: Sept. 29 in Portsmouth.

Where I live now: Henrico County.

Education: Bachelor’s in psychology, The College of William and Mary; master’s degree in industrial psychology, Springfield College.

Family: Daughters (one by birth, one by “selection” and two from a former marriage).

One Voice Chorus is: An organization that was born out of a desire to create a place of true “harmony” and acceptance. “The Brave Zone” — where we communicate with each other honestly and give grace and forgiveness, seek authenticity, and acknowledge our collective imperfections without defensiveness … a family that embraces those who come… a source of joy for me!

When and why founded: In 2002, One Voice Chorus was founded to be an intentionally integrated adult chorus. Incorporated in 2004 as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, it was created to bring a musically diverse range of excellent choral performances to people in Richmond and wherever there are those who need to hear our

voice.

Founders: Glen McCune and Barbara Baynham.

How it got its name: Our founders wanted us to demonstrate that there was so much more that united us than divided us, and by getting together and joining our voices into ONE VOICE, we can help our community find the power in our collective strength.

Values of One Voice Chorus: We promise:

• To deliver an uplifting choral experience;

• To demonstrate radical inclusion and welcome;

• To increase understanding through exposure, enlightenment, and education.

When and why I became involved with One Voice Chorus: Glen McCune was searching for a partner to create an integrated group of singers in Richmond. When Barbara Baynham returned his call, they started with singers from their respective churches (St. Giles Presbyterian and Ebenezer Baptist); then a member of Ebenezer reached out to some singers who had performed with In Harmony and invited us to join — which I did. It was exciting to sing with a group that was going to do the kind of music that reached into so many areas!

Why I accepted position: It was a position that needed to be filled and I love this organization. We have a board of very capable people, so my job is to ensure they can contribute/serve where they will be their best. I can readily recognize these gifts in people, and I am good at getting out of their way!

Length of term: Longer than expected! When the pandemic hit, our focus was on trying

to stay connected and survive being “shut down.” So, we all agreed to “hunker down” and continue to execute our roles as best we could. Now that things are moving into a more “normal” cadence, we have established our terms and l will serve as president until 2024.

Previous board president: The late Adele Johnson.

Number one goal or project as board president: During the pandemic, OVC (like many arts organizations) could not “do what it is supposed to do” and staying connected became a top priority! We worked to stay connected via newsletters, Zoom meetings, book clubs and just reaching out to each other. Now, as we return to what we affectionately call “normal,” OVC’s board is moving to a new cadence: increasing its size (and therefore its range), establishing additional committees, and reinforcing the infrastructure of the organization to ensure it future.

Strategy for achieving goals: Measure twice, cut once!! Look at your goals — have a vision of what they are; then plan for where you are going.

Ways One Voice Chorus encourages healing on and off the stage: Through singing (the music that is selected always has a message), education (learning the music and learning about the music are integral to the experience) and continuing to talk about it with each other.

What it takes to join One

Voice Chorus: You must come to rehearsal and say you want to join. Glen would refer to us as a “Y’all come” choir – because we do not require auditions to join. (We do have an auditioned group within the Chorus – the Ensemble.) Many members do not read music… but if they want to learn, and they mention it, other members

will work with them and help them learn! We are part of the chorus because we want to be.

Our shared values bind us!

Upcoming events and how to attend: Our next concert is March 25 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 815 E. Grace St. The concert will be at 4 p.m. and a Pre-Concert Conversation is at 3 p.m.

A perfect day for me: A day spent with family and friends — especially my adorable grandsons, ages 4 and 4 months. Something about me that people may not know: I am not a coffee drinker. As a child, my father said that coffee would stunt my growth. He never once mentioned chromosomes! I prefer tea.

Favorite song to belt out and how it makes me feel: “I will bless the Lord” by Byron Cage.

A quote that inspires me: “For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”— Amanda Gorman

My friends describe me as: I will share what I would LIKE for them to say: “Alma is a good friend, a caring person who has a drive to do her best in whatever she does.”

At the top of my “to-do” list is: Do some decluttering.

Best late-night snack: Ice cream (best anytime snack — even in the wintertime!)

The best thing my parents ever taught me: To treat every person with respect — regardless of their position in life. Every person deserves to be respected.

The person who influenced me the most: My mother (followed by several very strong women … and my Dad.)

What I’m reading now: “The Light We Carry” by Michelle Obama and “Deep Purpose” by Ranjay Gulati.

Next goal: To have a GREAT concert on March 25 with a wonderful audience that is as excited to be there as we will be! Won’t you join us?

Richmond’s global connections: Blending culture and fashion to fight famine, menstrual poverty

Richmond gets Sassy

By Debora Timms

When Sassy Jones opened a flagship location in Short Pump Town Center last October, it gave the brand’s loyal online community a home they could come to and enjoy shopping the products they loved in a new way — in person.

“We have always been cultivating this very personal experience online with our community,” CEO and founder Charis Jones said by phone recently about her decision to branch out from their popular e-commerce presence.

“I felt like our products needed to be experienced, touched, tried on and appreciated for their beauty in a different way,” she explained. “For us, it’s also a marketing strategy. The store attracts so many new and different customers. It’s been amazing for brand awareness.”

Born in Portsmouth, Mrs. Jones had been living in Hampton when she moved to Richmond about 13 years ago. She was working a corporate job at the time, commuting to Fredericksburg and dreaming about a way to work for herself doing fashion because that was “in her blood.”

A 2013 radio commercial advertising sales tables for rent at the Transformation Expo at Richmond Raceway inspired her to become an entrepreneur. She sold her car to get the cash she needed to buy inventory to sell products at the expo and rented a table. The day was a big success. Not only did she learn a lot about the women who would

become her market, she made more money in one day than in two weeks at her job.

When she took the leap and quit her job to begin selling at trade shows across the country, she says it felt like trying to build a skyscraper without a blueprint.

“I was so determined that I had something to offer the world that I continued to ignore that feeling,” Mrs. Jones said. “As crazy and ignorant as that sounds, I had to block it out in order to keep putting one foot in front of the other.”

That determination paid off.

Today, Sassy Jones is a multimillion dollar brand that began designing its customized jewelry, clothing and accessories about three years ago — always with Black women in mind. Sassy Jones believes Black women often are underserved by the major fashion labels. She focuses on empowering them to be the bold, beautiful versions of themselves that they want to be.

Every purchase at Sassy Jones benefits Afri-

can girls living in menstrual or period poverty, says the retailer. This stigmatization has had dire consequences beyond the medical. Period poverty refers to a lack of access to menstrual products, along with menstrual equity, which includes the lack of education about reproductive health, hygienic washing facilities, and reliable waste management, according to Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute.

“The idea that menstrual products are a necessity and should be affordable, untaxed, and without toxins — and preferably free, as toilet paper is in public places — has only been a very recent phenomenon,” said Lee Sullivan, who heads Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library of printed and published materials and curator of the 2022 Out for Blood: Feminine Hygiene to Menstrual Equity.”

With the reproductive window averaging 38 years, pads and tampons alone add up to nearly $7,000 over a lifetime, but estimates that take a

more inclusive view of period products put the price of a monthly cycle at more than $18,000 over a lifetime, the exhibit noted.

Mrs. Jones started her initiative after visiting a local school on a safari trip to Maasai Mara last year. Maasai Mara (or Masai Mara) is situated in southwest Kenya and among Africa’s wildlife reserves.

She describes feeling a “magnetic pull to make a difference,” and decided to provide the girls a dormitory and stock it with feminine hygiene products.

Mrs. Jones was excited to hear recently that the dormitory is almost complete. She also shared another bit of exciting news — she was interviewed on the “3rd Hour of Today” show on Wednesday for a segment aptly titled “She Made It.”

“I probably will fall out on the floor when it airs,” she laughs. “That was the moment when I thought, ‘Charis, you have done something here.’”

Cicilia Koisenke visits Richmond to nurture her Maasai home

By Debora Timms

Nearly 14 years ago, Richmonder Suzanne Hall traveled to Southern Sudan as part of a St. James’s Episcopal Church medical mission to administer meningitis vaccinations to children in that region.

At the time, meningitis “was

moving in a wave across Uganda and Sudan,” Ms. Hall, former director of stewardship and development at St James’s Episcopal, recently recalled.

After stopping in the Maasai Mara village with the medical team, Ms. Hall visited a Maasai marketplace that featured traditional beaded jewelry. There

she met Kenya’s Cicilia Seleian Koisenke, now a mother of 10 children and someone she describes as “a visionary leader.”

Since their meeting, Mrs. Koisenke has traveled several times to the U.S. to sell beaded items and to raise funds for the Maasai children’s school. From March 17 through 23, Ms.

Gabriel PROJ EC T

A VCU Special Commission on Slavery and Justice

Please join us at a learning and feedback session as we map VCU’s path to acknowledge and reconcile the university’s past and its plans to build a better and brighter future.

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

6:00 p.m.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School Cafeteria* 1000 Mosby St., Richmond, Virginia

Project Gabriel was launched in spring 2023 to report, reconcile and heal the wounds caused by VCU’s historic ties to the institution of slavery. This effort is so named after an enslaved Richmond man who organized a rebellion in 1800 intended to end slavery in Virginia.

This commission will be deliberate in its efforts to guide VCU on a path toward reckoning with its past, engaging with its present and strengthening all communities for the future.

Preregistration is encouraged at projectgabriel.vcu.edu/events by March 17.

Feedback can be submitted online at projectgabriel.vcu.edu/contact There will be additional opportunities to engage in the coming months.

*Guests should use the building’s rear entrance to access the cafeteria directly. For special accommodations, please email projgabriel@vcu.edu

Hall will host her friend who, during several Richmond engagements, will discuss Maasai culture along with challenges facing her African homeland. Mrs. Koisenke lives in Intashat, a sublocation in Kenya. The community of about 5,000 people has suffered from severe drought conditions

“We are a pastoral community that depends on animals — cows, goats and sheep, but now the animals are dying because of the drought,” she said. “At one time I had almost 40 cows and now I have two, and those two are very weak.

“Because of the drought everything has changed,” she continued. “When we go to the markets, there’s not enough food. In my community, we have one waterhole and we get very little water. It is not enough for us and it is not enough for what’s left of the animals to drink. Life now is totally changed.”

She said that on top of the severe drought, COVID-19 impacted her community as it did the rest of the world. Travel restrictions kept away tourists who normally would take in safaris and shop at their markets.

“We have a lot of hardship because we don’t have the capital to buy food and materials [for making jewelry],” Mrs. Koisenke said. “People in my community must depend on well-wishers to give them money.”

She hopes to raise awareness and make connections with people, as well as sell pieces of traditional beaded jewelry she and the Maasai women of her community have made.

She also hopes to share some life lessons she has learned from jewelry making.

“Even to make beads like this is not an easy job,” says Mrs. Koisenke. “First, you must be patient. Secondly, you

need focus. Thirdly, you must be creative. When you have those three things, you need to be doing them with everything in your life.”

Mrs. Koisenke will sell jewelry at St. Stephen’s Farmer’s Market on March 18 from 9 a.m. to noon, and will attend St. James’s Episcopal Church’s 9 a.m. worship service Sunday, March 19. A conversation, reception and sale will follow in the Michaux House Library from 10:15 to 11 a.m.

throughout the Horn of Africa, which have persisted through four rainy seasons already.

Last month, First Lady Jill Biden visited the Lositeti village in Keny to draw attention to the severe drought that has gripped East Africa and created an unprecedented food insecurity crisis in Kenya. Mrs. Koisenke and Ms. Hall stay in touch with WhatsApp. Although micro financing helped Mrs. Koisenke operate a shop that generated income for several years, the Horn of Africa, which includes Maasai, “has suffered a punishing fouryear drought, have lost all their livestock, cannot grow food, and even the animals in the bush are dying,” said Ms. Hall. “It is heartbreaking to witness such loss and desperation.”

Mrs. Koisenke described her country’s plight recently via text and video chat on WhatsApp.

Sassy Jones is a multi-million dollar brand that designs customized jewelry, clothing and accessories with Black women in mind. She (middle) is shown in her Short Pump Town Center location and, left, greeting a client.

From March 17-23, Cicilia Seleian Koisenke will visit Richmond to sell jewelry to help offset the challenges facing her homeland near Kenya.

Richmond

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond-based jazz legend and civil rights leader William F. “Bill” McGee is releasing his latest CD, “Tree of Life,” Friday, March 17, through music streaming services and the website he owns and operates, 804jazz.com.

The 11-song album includes what he describes as “some of the best work of my 20-year-career as a solo artist” and 52-year career as a prolific musician, producer, arranger, songwriter and music educator.

Mr. McGee, a renowned jazz trumpet player who also is president of the Richmond Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, stated that the album features a collaboration with more than 45 colleagues, friends and current and former students.

Among the performers are trombonist Fred Wesley, saxophonist James “Plunky” Branch, flautist Najee, pianist Jay Baxter, trumpeter Tom Browne, guitarist Freddie Fox and bassist Christian “Big New York” de Mesones.

While primarily featuring original work, the album includes a new version of the Blackbyrd’s 50-yearold jazz hit “Flight Time” featuring one of the song’s original performers, pianist Kevin Toney, Mr. McGee noted.

Mr. McGee, who began his professional career in Atlanta in 1970 when he recorded with classmates from Morris Brown University, has come through a lot since releasing his first solo CD in 2002.

He wrote that he has survived prostate cancer, gained nine grandchildren, retired after 30 years as a music educator and administrator and released 10 CDs through his 804 Musical Group. That includes four previous solo albums plus releases for several performers in the group, keyboard artists Weldon Hill and Fabian Lance and saxophonist James “Saxsmo” Gates Jr., as well as a gospel album for Cora Harvey

more

Armstrong.

A Grammy voter for the past 12 years, Mr. McGee has won two gold medals for past musical work and has performed and recorded with the likes of the The O’Jays, Fred Wesley, Patti LaBelle, Grandmaster Flash, Bob James and The Stylistics.

Along with a wide-ranging performance career, Mr. McGee has taught music to students in Richmond, Petersburg and other communities and served a stint as director of instrumental music at Morehouse College.

While teaching music, Mr. McGee is credited with mentoring Grammy-winning recording artist Michael “D’Angelo” Archer and others who have achieved substantial careers, such as Mad Skillz, Danja Mowf and radio personality/DJ Lonnie B.

Recently retired from Richmond Public Schools, he still teaches classes in sound recording and technology and applied trumpet as an adjunct professor at Virginia State University.

His new album shows the 70-year-old Richmond native is still going strong.

The

Links present ‘Art in the Atrium’

The Richmond Chapter of The Links will host its 11th Biennial Auction “Art in the Atrium” on Saturday, March 18, from 5 to 10 p.m. at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Honorary co-chairs are Dr. Pamela K. Royall and Mr. Moses Foster Jr.

“Art in the Atrium” is a fundraiser to benefit Greater Richmond, according to the program’s organizers. Past beneficiaries are Franklin Military Academy of Richmond Public Schools, Virginia Union University, The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, The VMFA, Feed More, and Richmond Fisher House.

The Links Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit corporation. More information about “Art in the Atrium” is available at https://www.richmondlinksinc.org/

‘The Black Love Blue Print’ is film showcase feature

A documentary focused on the nature and complexity of black love will be the latest film showcased by the Elegba Folklore Society during its monthly film series, 3rd Saturday Documentaries.

The documentary, “The Black Love Blue Print’” will be shown Saturday, March 18, at 5 p.m. in the Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E. Broad St. The public is invited to attend the showing, which will feature an open discussion period.

For more information, please call (804) 644-3900.

Ruth E. Carter becomes 1st Black woman to win 2 Oscars

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES

Ruth E. Carter made history: The costume designer behind the “Black Panther” films became the first Black woman to win two Oscars.

Ms. Carter took home best costume design Sunday night at the 95th Academy Awards for the Marvel sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Ms. Carter also won in 2018 for “Black Panther,” which made her the first African-American to win in the category.

In her acceptance speech, Ms. Carter thanked the film’s director Ryan Coogler and asked if “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman could look after her mother, Mabel Carter, who she said died “this past week.” Mr. Boseman died in 2020 of cancer at 43.

“This is for my mother. She was 101,” Ms. Carter said. “This film prepared me for this moment. Chadwick,

please take care of mom.”

Ms. Carter then paid tribute to her mother backstage.

“I had a great relationship with her in her final years. The same relationship I always had with her. I was her ride-or-die. I was her road dog. I was her sidekick,” she said.

“I know she’s proud of me. I know that she wanted this for me as much as I wanted it for myself.”

In her career, Ms. Carter has been behind the scenes in some of Hollywood’s biggest films. She’s received Oscar nominations for her work in Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X” and Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad” and received praise for her period ensembles in other projects such as Lee Daniels’ “The Butler,” Ava DuVernay’s “Selma” and the reboot of “ROOTS.” She’s created costumes for Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy and even Jerry Seinfeld for the “Seinfeld” pilot.

Ms. Carter played an influential

The Associated Press photo Ruth Carter took home best costume design Sunday night at the 95th Academy Awards for the Marvel sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” The Hampton University graduate also won in 2018 for “Black Panther,” which made her the first AfricanAmerican to win in the category.

role as lead costume designer in making “Black Panther” a cultural phenomenon as she infused the pride of African diaspora into the character’s stylish and colorful garments

to help bring Wakanda to life. She wanted to transform the presence of Queen Ramonda - played by Oscar nominee Angela Bassett — as a queen in the first film to being a ruler in the sequel.

“Angela always wanted to play a queen, so to amplify her, we added vibranium … we gave her the royal color of purple, and adorned her in gold as she wore the crown at the UN,” Carter said. “When she sits on the throne, she’s in a gray one shouldered dress. The exposed shoulder shows her strength — Angela, she got those guns, right?”

Ms. Carter said she was able to pull off the win against a “tough lineup.” She was up against designers from “Elvis,” “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and “Babylon.”

She got her start in 1988 on Lee’s “School Daze,” the director’s second film. They’ve since collaborated on more than 10 films, including “Do

the Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever.” She’s also worked with Robert Townsend on “The Five Heartbeats” and Keenen Ivory Wayans on “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.”

“I pulled myself up from my bootstraps,” Ms. Carter said. “I started in a single-parent household. I wanted to be a costume designer. I studied. I scraped. I struggled with adversity in an industry that sometimes didn’t look like me. And I endured.”

Through the Oscar-nominated “Malcolm X,” she reached new heights. That film, starring Denzel Washington, propelled her into the “Hollywood makeup,” offering her more opportunities to work with directors who had different points of views and scripts.

Ms. Carter’s wish is that her historic win Sunday will offer more opportunities to women of color.

“I hope this opens the door for others … that they can win an Oscar, too,” Ms. Carter said.

Bill McGee

jazz legend has new release

William F. ‘Bill’ McGee has performed with The O’Jays, Fred Wesley, Patti LaBelle and

Malinda S. Jones, who worked to spread faith, dies at 88

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

For 24 years, Malinda Smith Jones organized weekly revivals in Richmond in church parking lots and other open spaces from June through August.

Described as a “people person” with a warm smile, Mrs. Jones took on the evangelizing work to honor her husband, the Rev. Berkley L. Jones, following his death in 1996. She continued the revivals until 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to cancel the summer programs.

Initially, Mrs. Jones assisted her husband, who pastored Shepardsville Baptist Church in Gloucester, after he began the Open-Air Citywide Revivals with the now-deceased Rev. Joseph A. Godfrey, pastor of Disciples of Christ Baptist Church in Richmond.

Mrs. Jones then co-chaired the revivals with Rev. Godfrey until his death in 2014. She later worked with volunteers to continue the summer revivals that featured a rotating group of preachers from the Baptist General Convention of Virginia.

This was just one of the many ways that Mrs. Jones worked to spread the faith.

Mrs. Jones

Her contributions are being remembered following her death at age 88 on Thursday, March 2, 2023.

Family and friends paid final tributes to Mrs. Jones on Monday, March 13, at March Funeral Home’s Laburnum Chapel.

A graduate of Armstrong High School who later earned an associate degree from Reynolds Community College, Mrs. Jones spent

Bettye Jean Branch Bragg, former Head Start aide, dies at age 80

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Bettye Jean Branch Bragg touched the lives of hundreds of Richmond children during her 34 years as a teacher’s aide in Head Start, a program to prepare 3 and 4-year-olds for kindergarten and higher grades.

A Richmond native and 1961 graduate of Maggie L. Walker High School, Mrs. Bragg joined the Head Start staff at Overby-Sheppard Elementary School in North Side after her two children started school, and served there until her early retirement in 2002.

“Her love and concern for her students was evident,” her family wrote, noting that the children she worked with would often come back to see her as

they grew up. Mrs. Bragg succumbed to illness on Thursday, March 2, 2023, at age 80.

Family and friends celebrated her life Friday, March 10, at Sixth Baptist Church, where she was an active member for 50 years as well as a participant in the Women’s Ministry. She loved singing religious music. She sang with Sixth Baptist’s Women’s Chorale and the E.L. Fleming Gospel Chorus. She also sang with a family gospel group, In Faith, and with the Metro Revival Choir.

Mrs. Bragg also enjoyed talking on Citizens Band or CB radio, with her handle being “The Brown-eyed Doll,” and working on 1,000-piece

jigsaw puzzles. She also was a longtime member of the Ten Pin Bowling League.

Survivors include her husband, Clarence W. Bragg; son Kevin L. Bragg and daughter Candace B. Freeburn; sisters Barbara Anderson and Wanda B. West; brother Warren E. Branch Jr.; and a granddaughter.

her working career at the Virginia Department of Health, from which she retired as a supervisor of production control.

However, outside work, she filled her schedule with endeavors involving her faith.

During the late 1980s, she served a two-year stint as president of the Baptist General Convention’s Division of Women and was recognized by the organization for “making a significant impact.”

Among other things, she was credited with leading development of the BGC’s first cookbook in 1990 featuring recipes from division members. According to the BGC, proceeds from the sale

Sharon Baptist Church

St. Peter Baptist Church

were used to help pay for the new headquarters the organization that represents 1,100 Virginia congregations built at 1214 W. Graham Road, next to Virginia Union University.

During her presidency, she also created a partnership with the Bon Air Learning Center that allowed members to mentor the girls at the juvenile detention center.

Mrs. Jones continued to be active with the BGC after her term ended, often representing the group at appreciation banquets and at meetings of the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention.

She also was a lifelong member of Mt. Tabor Baptist Church, where she participated in multiple church ministries.

Mrs. Bragg

Mia Woolfolk’s father figures in her Manchester moves

By Fred Jeter

Like father, like daughter.

Among the all-time hoops heroes in Richmond hoops is Peter Woolfolk, who led Jefferson-Huguenot-Wythe to the 1984 Group AAA title. Pete then had a stellar career at the University of Richmond.

Pete’s daughter, Mia Woolfolk, is following a similar course in sneakers.

Nearly four decades after her father won the state title, Mia led Manchester High to spirited runner-up finish in the State Class 6 (largest schools) division.

An athletic 6-foot-2 junior, Mia had 16 points

and nine rebounds in the Lancers’ 49-46 overtime loss to James Madison on March 10 at the Siegel Center.

Mia will likely be named to the All-State team in the coming weeks. ShealreadymadeAll-State for softball last spring.

TRANSIT SYSTEM

GREATER RICHMOND TRANSIT COMPANY

WEBSITE REDESIGN SERVICES

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

GRTC Transit System is seeking proposals for Website Redesign Services. Interested com

(menu options: About Us, then

Fall Line Trail – Brook Road and Hilliard Road Henrico County, Virginia

Notice of Willingness to Hold a Public Hearing

The County of Henrico is proposing to construct approximately 2,800 feet of a 12-foot-wide paved multi-use trail along Hilliard Road (Route 161) and Brook Road (Route 1) from the Belmont Golf Course to the intersection of Brook Road and Lakeside Avenue. This work will be a part of the Fall Line Trail, a 43-mile north-south paved trail that will connect Ashland to Petersburg. Construction is anticipated to begin in May 2025.

Peter Woolfolk

Mia isn’t the only Lancer with a former basketball star father. Sophomore Rayne Wright had 16 points and eight rebounds in the final and is the daughter of MHS Coach Rasheed Wright, who played at Old Dominion from 1999 to 2003. He went on to play many years professionally in France.

With many returning players, the Lancers will be among the favorites to win next year’s state crown.

Legal Notices/Employment Opportunities

to the solicitation documents should be directed to:

Antionette Haynes

Branch Civil, Inc. (VA License # 2701-029434A) is currently soliciting quotes for the following project located in the City of Richmond, VA:

Commerce Road Improvements

From the intersection of Bells Road to the intersection of Bellemeade Road Invitation for Bids #230008783 (UPC No. 15958)

We are soliciting quotes for the following selected items of work: Bridge replacement and installation, Road widening, pavement overlay and improvements, raised medians, underground detention basins, E&S Control, Hauling and Disposal, Drainage Piping/Structures, Water and Sanitary Sewer Utility improvements and adjustments, Storm Drainage improvements, Sidewalks, Concrete Curbs, Underdrains, Guardrail, Asphalt Pavement, Pavement Markings, Street Lighting, Traffic Signalization, Signage along Commerce Road from Bellemeade Road to Bells Road (South Intersection), along Deepwater Terminal Connector Road to CSXT RR and along Bells Connector Road to CSXT RR. All quotes must be received by: March 29, 2023 @ 4:30 p.m. EST

We encourage Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Businesses to participate. Contact our Estimating Department at 703-486-6575 for further information. Quotes may be submitted by email to BCIestimating@branchcivil.com or US Mail to P.O. Box 40004, Roanoke, VA 24022.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER M/F/H/V

Magellan Parkway I-95 Bridge and Magellan Parkway Extension Henrico County, Virginia

The County of Henrico is proposing to construct approximately 0.84 mile of

Information related to this project includes the proposed trail addition, project schedule, and funding information which can be reviewed at the County of Henrico, Department of Public Works, 4305 E. Parham Road, Administration Annex Building, 3rd Floor, Henrico, Virginia 23228, Telephone: (804) 501-4616.

County is willing to hold a public hearing. You may request a public hearing by sending a written request to Sarah Briggs, P. O. Box 90775, Henrico, VA 23273-0775, on or before March 30, 2023. If a request for a public hearing is received, a notice of the date, time, and place of the public hearing will be provided.

The County ensures nondiscrimination and equal employment in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If you need more information or special assistance for persons with disabilities Sarah Briggs at the above address, phone number, or at bri114@henrico.us.

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Tri-Cities Area

MPO

PUBLIC NOTICE

Pursuant to 23 U.S.C. 134 and 135; 49 U.S.C 5303 and 5304, the Tri-Cities Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) hereby provides area citizens an opportunity to review and comment on the Draft FFY 2024-27 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) and its accompanying Draft Regional Conformity Assessment. These draft documents have been developed by local and State agencies represented on the Tri-Cities Area MPO and the Draft MTIP recommends highway and transit improvements for the Tri-Cities Area. Copies of these draft documents have been made available for public viewing during regular visiting hours at public libraries in the Tri-Cities Area during a 30-day public review period beginning March 20, 2023 and ending April 19, 2023.

One public meeting will be scheduled to receive comments on these draft documents on Monday, March 27, 2023 from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Conference Room of the Petersburg Public Library located at 201 W. Washington St, Petersburg, VA. Persons in need of special accommodations to participate in this public meeting are requested to forward this information either by contacting the Crater Planning District Commission at 804-861-1666 or by email using the address listed below one week prior to the meeting date.

Persons with a hearing impairment may contact the Virginia Relay Center at 1-800-828-1120 to forward information to the Crater Planning District Commission and Tri-Cities Area MPO. A copy of these draft documents and other information related to the Tri-Cities Area MPO have been made available in electronic format located at https://craterpdc.org/our-works/transportation/ transportation-about/.

The Crater Planning District Commission and the Tri-Cities Area MPO assure that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, handicap, sex, age or income status, as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and subsequent nondiscrimination laws, be excluded from participation any program or activity.

Written comments on the FFY 2024-27 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program and/or Draft Regional Conformity Assessment should be addressed to: Crater Planning District Commission, P.O. Box 1808, Petersburg, Virginia 23805, and/or send an email to org and received within the review period ending April 19, 2023.

de Mejora del Transporte Metropolitano y/o Proyecto de Informe de Conformidad

Mia Woolfolk