Richmond Free Press May 7-9, 2020 edition

Head of coronavirus commission A6

Richmond Free Press © 2020 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 29 NO. 20

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

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Pulitzer Prize winners B2

MaY 7-9, 2020

Next steps

Keep on moving

Governor Northam moves to reopen Virginia on May 15 Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Corrine V. “Coco” McClaine starts on her birthday walk April 29 with her son, Scott B. McClaine, and her daughter, Dr. Arvid A. McClaine. Location: The Lee Bridge. The Virginia War Memorial is in the background.

Nothing stops 80-year-old from taking her birthday bridge walk

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

When her 80th birthday arrived, Corrine V. “Coco” McClaine was bound and determined not to let the coronavirus stop her from capping the celebration with her traditional practice — a walk across the Lee Bridge in Downtown.

Amid all the uncertainty, she donned a pink top with the word “HAPPY” printed on the front and made sure she kept up the tradition last week on her birthday, Wednesday, April 29.

Armed with her cane, Mrs. McClaine was joined by her daughter, author and motivational speaker Dr. Arvid A. McClaine, and her son, Realtor Scott B. McClaine, as she started her walk on the north side of the bridge. She stopped periodically to enjoy the scenery along the James River below.

It took her nearly 2½ hours to complete the ¾-mile trek, but she never stopped moving forward.

“When I was younger, I could do it in 30 minutes,” said Mrs. McClaine, a retired retail and restaurant worker.

But a stroke six years ago that crippled her right leg and arm, and a hip replacement two years ago, have slowed her down.

“But I wouldn’t have missed doing it for the world,” Mrs.

McClaine said. “I look forward to it.”

She said people driving by who know that she walks each birthday honked their car horns to salute her. She said she paused sometimes to do a little dance when they did.

She also celebrated the completion with a dance when she reached the south side of the suspension bridge that measures 3,760 feet in length.

“I’m always thrilled at her motivation,” said her daughter.

“Usually, we start training for the walk during the winter. But this year, we didn’t start until April. Still, she was able to do it.”

Now a Highland Park resident, Mrs. McClaine cannot remember what motivated her to incorporate the bridge walk into her birthday celebration each year.

“After I turned 65, I wanted to do something different,” she said. Walking the bridge seemed appropriate given it was a major landmark for the South Side neighborhood where she used to live.

Dr. McClaine said her mother has taken the yearly walk for at least the past 12 years.

“I just consider myself blessed to have such an inspiration,” Dr. McClaine said.

Free Press wins 13 state journalism awards

The Obamas

Obamas to deliver commencement addresses Free Press wire reports

LOS ANGELES Yes, they will!

Former President Obama and his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, will salute the Class of 2020 in two separate virtual graduation ceremonies replacing the traditional end of high school and college.

Mr. Obama will be joined by basketball superstar LeBron James, singer and Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams, singer and actress Lady Gaga, K-Pop band BTS and dozens of celebrities and world leaders in Please turn to A4

The Richmond Free Press continues its 28-year tradition of award-winning excellence.

The newspaper was recognized with 13 awards, including three first-place awards, in the annual Virginia Press Association competition in writing, photography, news presentation and advertising.

The awards recognize work published in 2019, and typically are announced at the VPA’s annual banquet in early April. But because of the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremony scheduled to be held in Roanoke was canceled.

Instead, newspapers across the state announced their winners on April 30.

The contest was judged by members of the Illinois Press Association.

Free Press staff photographer Sandra Sellars won first place in the pictorial photo category for large, non-daily newspapers in Virginia.

Her winning photograph from last November was a Cityscape showing

a woman and her dog pausing to take in a scenic view of the James River from an overlook in Libby Hill Park.

Jeremy Lazarus, Free Press vice president for news enhancement, won first-place awards in two categories — breaking news and education writing. The breaking news award was for a story on the sudden firing of Selena Cuffee-Glenn, the former chief administrative officer for the City of Richmond, in midSeptember.

The education writing award was for three stories, including one published last May about 280 Richmond Public Schools students being disqualified from graduation because they had not met the state standards for a diploma. Another, published in June, was about a Spanish teacher who alleged her ouster from Lucille Brown Middle School was tied to blowing the whistle on students’ failing grades

By George Copeland Jr.

Movie theaters, barber shops and hair salons, restaurants and a host of other businesses deemed non-essential could begin to reopen Friday, May 15.

Almost two months after the first positive cases of the coronavirus were discovered in Virginia, the state is preparing to open the road to recovery, though it could be a long and bumpy one.

“Our lives and our world have changed a great deal,” Gov. Ralph S. Northam said during Wednesday’s media briefing. “We’re now at a place where we can think about our next steps.”

While some other states already have allowed businesses to reopen, the governor began the week saying that Virginia would wait an additional week.

His Executive Order 53 that began the shutdown on March 24 originally scheduled the reopening to start this Friday, May 8.

Gov. Northam, a physician, and administration health officials acknowledged Monday that the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths are likely to rise with the reopening.

As of Tuesday, the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in Virginia had risen to 20,256, with deaths totaling 713.

The state Health Department also reported that 2,773 people are hospitalized with coronavirus and the state has 244 outbreaks.

According to Dr. M. Norman Oliver, the state health commissioner, African-Americans still make up a disproportionate Please turn to A4

Daily Planet, CAHN and CrossOver clinics provide COVID-19 testing

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

As the coronavirus arrived in Richmond, the nonprofit Daily Planet Health Services in Downtown was among the quickest to set up a testing operation for its mostly low-income and homeless patients.

In mid-March, just a month after the Daily Planet bought the former home of Commonwealth Catholic Charities at 511 W. Grace, Dr. Patricia Cook and her staff quietly turned the space into a test center for those who came for treatment at the Daily Planet’s main center next door at 517 W. Grace St. Dr. Cook The medical director for the Daily Planet, Dr. Cook struggled to get testing supplies just like hospitals, public health districts and other medical operations. Still, she regarded having an assessment and test center on site essential because of the likely impact of the virus within the population Please turn to A4

Please turn to A4

City Council clears way for $38.5M cut to 2020-21 budget

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

City Council is backing Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s proposal to cut $38.5 million from his initial budget plan for the 2020-21 fiscal year that begins July 1, even as some members aren’t sure it’s enough.

On Monday, the council cleared the way for passage of the mayor’s amended budget plan at their next meeting on Monday, May 11.

At the same time, the council cleared the way for a tax amnesty that would allow real estate and vehicle owners to delay tax payments due in June for up to two months without penalty and interest charges for

paying late.

The passage of the budget plan is essentially a done deal. While the public will be able to comment, a majority of council members is committed to passing Ms. Lynch it, with the caveat that the Stoney administration provides monthly updates after July and proposes amendments if revenues fall short of expectations.

Councilwoman Kim B. Gray, 2nd District, again expressed her concern that

revenue projections are too rosy and would need to be reduced along with other city spending next year.

The major changes in the revamped budget will impact City Hall’s general fund. Among other things, the mayor’s updated budget eliminates pay raises for city employees, including police officers and firefighters, and limits the school system to a $6 million increase, or about $10 million less than first proposed.

The mayor did not include any layoffs, furloughs or pay reductions for city employees in the proposed changes.

Please turn to A4

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Waiting to go Gyasi Cox, 4, keeps himself occupied as he and his mom, Anthea Cox, wait last Saturday for a to-go order from Brewer’s Café in the 1100 block of Bainbridge Street in South Richmond.

Under the state’s emergency orders to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, restaurants across Virginia are open only to provide meals for carry-out, delivery or curbside pickup.

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Richmond Free Press

Local News

Food distribution to RRHA communities to begin again Feed More, the area’s largest food bank, once again will be delivering food to public housing residents after being shut down in April over pandemic safety concerns.

The free food distribution is being restarted following talks between Feed More and the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

Food will be distributed from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the following days: Mosby Court, Friday, May 15; Creighton Court, Monday, May 18; Whitcomb Court, Tuesday, May 19; Gilpin Court, Thursday, May 21; and Fairfield Court, Friday, May 22.

Judge approves settlement dropping witness requirement in June 23 primary

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

As anticipated, a federal judge has approved a settlement that will allow voters to cast mail-in ballots without a witness signature for the June 23 primary elections.

The ruling doesn’t apply to local elections taking place on Tuesday, May 19.

U.S. Judge Norman K. Moon issued the ruling Tuesday, accepting a settlement proposed by Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring to end a lawsuit filed April 17 by the League of Women Voters to eliminate the witness provision during the pandemic.

Under current law, persons voting absentee by mail must open the envelope containing the ballot in front of a witness and then have the witness sign the return envelope.

Judge Moon’s ruling allows local registrar offices to accept and count ballots contained in envelopes that do not bear a witness signature. The decision is a victory for the LWV and the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the case on the league’s behalf.

Early voting by mail, or in person, for the primary elections is to begin Friday, May 8.

The judge held a conference call hearing Monday, then delayed a decision one day after allowing the Republican Party of Virginia to intervene and present objections to the proposed settlement.

Meanwhile in Richmond, Voter Registrar Kirk Showalter announced that absentee voting would go on even though City Hall is scheduled to remain closed through Sunday, May 17.

Ms. Showalter stated that voters can reach her office on the first floor of City Hall through the Broad Street entrance to cast ballots in the congressional primary races. Those in wheelchairs or with other disabilities should enter through the 9th Street doors to be escorted to the voting area, she stated. Curbside voting also will be available for elderly and disabled voters, she stated.

In the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, Daniel M. Gade, Thomas A. Speciale II and Alissa A. Baldwin are running for the GOP nomination to challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark R. Warner in November.

In the 4th Congressional District, which includes Richmond, incumbent Rep. A. Donald McEachin is being challenged by R. Cazel Levine for the Democratic nomination.

Ms. Showalter stated that applications for mailed ballots can be obtained at the state Department of Elections website, www. elections.virginia.gov, either by registering online or by printing the forms and mailing them to the city Voter Registration Office at P.O. Box 61037, Richmond, Va. 23261.

Richmonders also can email a request to VoterRegistration@ richmondgov.com or call Richmond 311 at (804) 646-7000 to seek assistance.

Ms. Showalter also noted that her office is still accepting paperwork and signed petitions for candidates for city offices.

Those individuals, she advised, should email VoterRegistration@ Richmondgov.com specifying a date and time for submission so that an appointment can be scheduled.

People seeking to register to vote can do so online at the state Department of Elections website. Otherwise, they will have to wait until City Hall reopens, Ms. Showalter added.

Concerns arise over possessions of former Cathy’s Camp residents What happened to their possessions?

That’s what Rhonda Sneed wants to know on behalf of the former residents of Cathy’s Camp, the tent city that was demolished by the city in March, with most of the former residents moved to area hotels and motels.

“I’ve been trying to reach any city official, the mayor, council persons, to inform us where the belongings of the residents of the camp are,” Ms. Sneed posted late last week on Facebook.

The leader of Blessing Warriors RVA who helped establish the camp, Ms. Sneed noted that “when the camp was destroyed, (the city cleanup crew) took IDs, birth certificates, medical documents, family photos.

“Some people who have had no idea where family members are had their only memories of them taken,” she stated.

Residents who were moved from the camp Ms. Horne were given time to collect only some of their possessions and were not allowed to return to collect the remainder, Ms. Sneed said in a follow-up interview.

During the removal, the crew had a trash truck on site into which everything was placed, an indication that it was sent to a landfill.

Mayor Levar M. Stoney and his administration did not respond to a Free Press request for information on the possessions.

A statement was issued Monday on behalf of Kelly King Horne, executive director of Homeward, the organization that coordinates homeless services in the Richmond region. The city has contracted with Homeward to provide shelter to people who were living at the camp and to other homeless individuals in the city.

The statement read, “Unsheltered individuals offered safe indoor accommodations were allowed and encouraged to take all of their belongings with them. Transportation was provided for the individuals and their belongings. No individual reported missing articles or documents to case managers.”

According to the statement, “Homeward employs a document navigator to assist people experiencing homelessness (including those who were staying in the tent city) in obtaining necessary documents.”

Correction GRTC drivers rejected the public transit company’s offer of a 50 cents-an-hour increase for hazardous duty pay during the coronavirus pandemic.

An article published in the April 30-May 2 edition of the Free Press about the drivers’ daylong sickout on Monday, April 27, incorrectly stated that they supported the company’s offer.

The Free Press regrets the error.

Regina H. Boone/ Richmond Free Press

Cityscape

Isaiah “Prince Trombone” Robinson sersome upbeat sounds to counter the pandemic’s enades passing motorists as fellow musician, gloom and to possibly earn some spare change Robert Johnson III, accompanies him on an Slices of life and scenes from the few pedestrians in Downtown. Other electric drum outside The National in the musicians have been sharing their talents on in Richmond 700 block of East Broad Street. The venue their porches or in parks. One example is currently is closed because of the coronavirus. The two 23- saxophonist James “Plunky” Branch, who regularly turns his year-old musicians began their impromptu concerts after they porch into a solo concert platform for those within earshot in were laid off from their full-time gigs. Their goal: To deliver his West End neighborhood.

Va. HBCUs to receive $36.4M in COVID-19 relief

By Reginald Stuart

last week detailing the allocations to Virginia schools.

Just as parents, family and friends rally to “These institutions help provide tradihelp college and graduate students navigate tionally underserved communities the tools a tough time, the federal government has they need to succeed, and we continue to carved a small slice of the multitrillion- advocate for them as they support their dollar emergency CARES Act to help students during this ongoing crisis,” the Virginia’s five cash-strapped historically lawmakers said in their joint statement. black colleges and universities weather The emergency financial aid brings the financial toll brought about by the $9.8 million each to Virginia State and coronavirus pandemic.

Hampton universities, $13.4 milThe pandemic has forced lion to Norfolk State University, institutions to temporarily shut $2.9 million to Virginia Union their doors, cease operations as University and $440,000 to Virusual and shift their classroom ginia University of Lynchburg, and related education programs according to the lawmakers’ to online instruction. statement.

The $36.4 million headed to The institutions are sending Virginia’s HBCUs can be used letters this week to their respecto replenish the steadily growing tive students, staffs and teachers, Dr. Abdullah financial losses being reported laying out their plans for using by them and most historically underfunded the funds. higher education institutions across the naThe money is “very helpful in this tion. Like most other institutions, HBCUs time,” VSU President Makola M. Abdulare wrestling with a myriad of challenges lah said in a telephone interview with the to end this school year in the black. At the Free Press this week. same time, they are facing the coming year He said the usually busy campus in with considerable uncertainty.

Ettrick is basically empty of its roughly “These institutions can use the funds 2,500 students. to cover costs associated with the coroDr. Abdullah said the main use of VSU’s navirus pandemic, such as lost revenue, share of the federal aid “is to provide direct reimbursements for expenses already funding to students.” About half will be incurred, technology, faculty and staff given directly to students as refunds in the training, payroll and costs of attendance wake of the school year’s disruption. The for eligible students,” said U.S. Sens. Mark other half will help pay the institution’s R. Warner and Tim Kaine in a statement ongoing fixed costs as well as added costs

associated with combatting the virus.

No details were available from the four other institutions about how they will use the emergency funds.

The allocation for HBCUs came a week after Dr. Abdullah had written a letter as chair of the 19-member Council of 1890 Universities with an urgent request that Congress provide an additional $1.5 billion in aid to the nation’s nearly 100 public and private HBCUs that he wrote are “continuing to experience great losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The letter, addressed to key House and Senate education committee members, including Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Virginia, asked the lawmakers to back legislation and funding that would temporarily triple Pell grants, expand funding for research and to bolster health care programs for nursing, physician assistants and technicians to help address staffing shortages and health disparities in communities of color in the United States.

The council also was seeking additional funds to address technology needs as the members, all land grant institutions established largely in the South following the Civil War, build their online capacity and distance learning programs.

Currently, the institutions provide education to more than 93,000 students, nearly two-thirds of whom are of AfricanAmerican descent and most of whom are of the first generation in their family to attend college, according to the council.

School Board grapples with budget cuts and uncertainty expected in the next school year

By Ronald E. Carrington

Before the COVID-19 crisis, the board was looking at a 4 percent pay hike for The Richmond School Board and city teachers, which had been proposed by RPS schools administration continue to work on Superintendent Jason Kamras. academic and staffing priorities as looming However, in Monday night’s meeting, budget cuts and spending limits the board signaled that may not caused by the COVID-19 crisis be possible. The board appeared hover like a dark fiscal cloud. to agree on at least a 1 percent During the last six weeks, raise for teachers and other staff, the School Board has met three as well as restoring the behavior times to review the administraintervention pilot for elementary tion’s proposed adjustments to school students, which could be the 2020-21 budget for all line funded by the slight increase in items above $500,000. state revenue, and maintaining Mr. Kamras Richmond Public Schools the STEM academies. The STEM looking at a $24 million budget gap, reduced academies also could be supported by prislightly from earlier projections by more vate and foundation funding sources. precise revenue numbers just released by According to Tracy Epp, RPS’ chief the state. academic officer, amending the federal Additionally, RPS also will receive Perkins Grant, which has to be approved roughly $13.2 million in federal stimulus by the state first, could fund the science, money related to the coronavirus pan- technology, engineering and mathematics demic. The federal funds come with some academies at Henderson Middle School stipulations about how it can be spent. It and Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. can be applied to COVID-19 costs, such They are budgeted at $1.8 million. as disinfecting schools, buying personal “It was important to offer those in spite protective equipment for staff and provid- of the coronavirus because they are part of ing academic interventions to make up the Dreams4RPS five-year strategic plan for lost learning time, but not the budget the board approved,” Mr. Jason Kamras shortfall, officials said. reminded the board.

The school system is hampered in Board Vice Chair Cheryl Burke, who completing its budget work because of represents the 7th District, was supported the uncertainty in city and state revenues by board colleagues in backing the STEM from the economic shutdown caused by the virus and the resulting toll on current and future tax revenue.

The schools administration has recomNeed diapers? mended that approximately $1.5 million A new effort has been launched to remaining in the current 2019-2020 budget distribute diapers to families affected by be put in reserve for the 2020-21 fiscal COVID-19. year that begins July 1.

Organizers include Saint Paul’s Baptist In the meantime, the board is still figur- Church, the Capital Diaper Bank’s Urban ing out how much of a raise is possible Baby Beginnings and Richmond Public for teachers and teacher assistants in the Schools. coming fiscal year.

Families can register at www.urban-

programs; proposing raises for teachers, their aides and staff, bus drivers and custodians; securing mental health professionals for children and families; and supplying technology.

Board member Felicia Cosby, 6th District, floated the possibility of extending the next school year by one week or going to a year-round school calendar that would not add more instructional days, but would take place in three-month sessions with breaks in between.

Board member Jonathan Young, 4th District, said RPS needs to plan in case a second wave of the coronavirus strikes this fall or winter, causing school closures again.

“One of the best parts of year-round school is during those breaks, students can be offered enrichment and intervention,” Mr. Kamras responded. “However, the district has to pay teachers and professional support.

“The estimated personnel and other costs for a week is about $4.5 to $5 million,” he continued, with a month totaling about $15 million.

“If we use federal stimulus dollars or make drastic budget cuts on top of what we are presently trying to identify, RPS could only afford one additional week of instructional time,” Mr. Kamras said.

The board is expected to adopt a 202021 budget at its meeting on May 18.

Help set up for families needing diapers babybeginningsvirginia.as.me and then select a location. Church membership is not required.

Distribution began April 29 and will continue Thursday, May 7; Friday, May 8; Monday, May 11,; and Tuesday, May 12, at RPS food distribution sites, the Capital Diaper Bank has announced.

Details: Outreach@myspbc.org

Richmond Free Press

May 7-9, 2020

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AMID A GLOBAL CRISIS, MANY IN WASHINGTON ARE PROTECTING INSURANCE COMPANY PROFITS OVER BLACK HEALTH CARE

Unsurprisingly, COVID-19 is killing Black Americans at much higher rates than White Americans. Even knowing that, many members of Congress are pushing for a surprise medical billing legislation that would only serve to further starve Black communities of access to health care — at a time when we need it most. If this legislation goes through as written and is included in the next coronavirus package, insurance companies will be able to continue refusing to cover emergency services, forcing patients to pay bills they cannot afford, or shuttering hospitals. And hospitals in our V Õ Ì ià >Ài Ì i wÀÃÌ Ì Li Ì° iÀ}i VÞ ÃiÀÛ Vià >Ài > Ài>`Þ >À` Ì come by in our communities, and we are already receiving the brunt of this global health crisis — the time to put a stop to it is now. Together, we can ensure that the old way of doing business — putting insurance company «À wÌà ÛiÀ «i « i STOPS.

FOR TOO LONG, OUR COMMUNITIES HAVE BEEN SUFFERING AT THE HANDS OF GREEDY INSURANCE COMPANIES.

Let’s join leaders like Rev. Al Sharpton, the Congressional Black Caucus, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Black Women’s Health Imperative, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Dr. Benjamin Chavis, and Dr. Julianne Malveaux in working to ensure that insurance companies expand their networks and cover more emergency services.

JOIN US AND SUPPORT THE CBC Help us work to make sure that while they prepare the next coronavirus aid package, Congress passes a bill that keeps us healthy and alive — by allowing insurance networks to grow and cover lifesaving services.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux

For more information, visit: https://nationalactionnetwork.net/newnews/black-americans-and-healthcare

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News

Governor Northam moves to reopen Virginia on May 15 Continued from A1

number of the positive cases and deaths in Virginia. Twenty-six percent of the cases and 27 percent of the deaths are African-Americans, while African-Americans comprise 20 percent of the state’s population.

Latinos, who make up nearly 10 percent of the state’s population, account for 35 percent of the positive cases and 7 percent of the deaths, Dr. Oliver reported.

Despite the rising numbers, disappointed businesses owners whose livelihoods are at risk hoped Gov. Northam would allow the reopening this week. They pointed out that hospitals and medical operations were granted permission to restart elective surgeries and procedures last week.

Gov. Northam said that when the full range businesses do reopen — and some will not because of the financial damage they have suffered from the shutdown — residents should expect noticeable changes.

At the very least, restaurants will need to seat customers farther apart, and their employees will need to wear face masks. Private gyms will have to limit the number of participants to maintain the required personal distance.

Gov. Northam said the state will issue new guidelines for specific industries in the coming days, the first to come on Friday.

He said he anticipates the reopening to take place in three phases, with guidance on how businesses, churches and other operations ease into each phase. Each phase, he said, could last three weeks. He also encouraged local governments to take stronger measures, if necessary, during this process.

Some people think the reopening is too fast, given the state’s dismal status near the bottom of the 50 states in providing widespread testing for COVID-19.

The Virginia Legal Aid Justice Center scolded Gov. Northam for kowtowing to the business community, rather than putting a higher priority on the health of workers.

“We stand in solidarity with community leaders who have implored Gov. Northam to resist corporate pressure to jeopardize the lives and livelihoods of low-wage workers, confined

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Gov. Ralph S. Northam notes that COVID-19 invaded the state two months ago as he updates reporters on the plan for reopening businesses at a news conference Wednesday. He also saluted nurses in honor of National Nurses Day and praised the soldiers in the Virginia National Guard for their work to combat the disease.

populations, and communities of color,” the statement read.

“Until we can reliably deliver basic public health protections and care — especially to marginalized communities — and take aggressive steps to minimize the cruel and inequitable effects of the pandemic, Virginia must stay closed for business,” the statement continued.

“There is no acceptable margin of lives lost or families devastated that justifies prioritizing economic pressures over the health and safety of people, especially when black and brown Virginians would bear the brunt of this deadly calculation,” the statement concluded.

Still, Gov. Northam said the message he is sending is that Virginia will reopen “next week,”

well before June 10, which he previously had indicated might be the date.

The reopening also would come before the state actually meets the tests that the Northam administration laid out in its “Forward Virginia Blueprint” unveiled on April 24.

Those requirements included 14 days of declining positive tests and hospitalizations from COVID-19, a surplus of hospital beds and intensive care space and an increasing and sustainable supply of personal protective equipment to expand testing and tracing.

The state Health Department’s daily reports at www.vdh.gov suggest the number of cases has not yet begun to decline, although the number of hospital beds and intensive care beds for

treatment has remained more than adequate.

However, Gov. Northam has faced pressure from Republican lawmakers and others urging a faster reopening on a quicker pace, similar to other Southern states.

“The governor’s decision to use a ‘one-sizefits-all’ approach is going to negatively impact certain parts of Virginia worse than others,” Republican House Minority Leader C. Todd Gilbert of Shenandoah County said in a statement.

These calls and similar ones, including a request from Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer to include the city’s beaches as part of Phase One reopenings, are pouring in despite more coronavirus cases being confirmed daily.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday called this period “the acceleration phase of the pandemic,” when the length and severity of outbreaks could increase based on people’s willingness to maintain restrictions and the public health response.

A flashpoint for many of the state’s issues can be found in its meat and poultry processing plants, where fears of potential outbreaks and a lack of public information has led to protests by workers and advocates.

More than 260 cases of COVID-19 have been identified within two poultry plants on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, days after President Trump signed an executive order requiring meat processing facilities to stay open to prevent supply shortages and disruptions. The federal government also has plans to provide liability protections for companies if employees contract the virus as a result of returning to work.

Gov. Northam stressed that he recognizes the need for further action in Virginia and has directed the state Department of Labor to ensure facilities are following federal health and safety guidelines. He also has spoken of efforts to ensure worker safety at the plants, noting that the majority of workers at risk are low-income people of color.

He said teams from the state Health Department and the federal CDC are preparing to undertake large-scale testing to identify and isolate the infected.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Daily Planet, CAHN and Obamas to deliver commencement addresses Continued from A1 Several high school students from Debenham, a California high school senior CrossOver clinics provide Chicago public schools and the Obama who will turn 18 on Sunday, posted a the one-hour multimedia event at 8 p.m. Youth Jobs Corps will join in the May message April 14 on his Twitter account COVID-19 testing Saturday, May 16. event, as will the Jonas Brothers, actress asking Mr. Obama to consider giving a Continued from A1

the Daily Planet routinely serves.

Like other diseases, “COVID-19 disproportionately impacts medically underserved populations,” Dr. Cook stated.

The Daily Planet’s operation began running weeks before the Richmond City Health District moved to get a testing operation in place. The public health district’s testing moved into full swing by late April.

Dr. Danny Avula, director of the Richmond City and Henrico Health Districts, said the city Health District supported the testing at the Daily Planet.

By April 28, the Daily Planet had tested at least 350 people, said spokesman Evans Mandes. That’s a small number, but it focused on people living on the margins who depend on the clinic for medical service.

Other nonprofit medical operations have begun to offer testing in the city.

According to the Virginia Health Department, COVID-19 testing is available at four sites in the city, including the Daily Planet and two clinics run by the Capital Area Health Network.

The CAHN testing locations include the flagship Vernon J. Harris Medical and Dental Center, 719 N. 25th St. in Church Hill, and the Northside Medical Center, 2809 North Ave. in Barton Heights, the VDH reported in its testing site locator.

CAHN’s executive director, Tracy Causey, could not be reached for comment.

Dr. Avula advised Tuesday that “CAHN has been testing in a limited fashion, but will ramp up soon with the new guidance on self swabs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

The fourth nonprofit is the CrossOver Healthcare Ministry, 108 Cowardin Ave., also a major service center for people with little to no income, the VDH noted.

Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital in the East End is not included on the VDH list. A Bon Secours spokeswoman stated that the hospital system is reserving testing for internal needs, including its staff.

The majority of the 16 testing sites listed for the Richmond area on the VDH website are in Henrico and Chesterfield counties.

Dr. Avula said his operation realized most testing was happening in higher-income sections of the Richmond area and that more testing was needed in low-income areas of the city with larger African-American and Hispanic populations, including public housing communities.

“We know those who are uninsured or underinsured have not had the same access to testing over the last month as everyone else, and we want to remedy that,” he stated.

“Black communities have higher rates of underlying health conditions, which inherently puts them at higher risk of more severe complications from COVID-19,” he continued, “so testing is important.”

Called “Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020,” the event will be aired simultaneously by ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, along with more than 20 other broadcast and digital streaming partners, according to the announcement Tuesday from organizers.

The celebration is hosted by the education advocacy group XQ Institute, The LeBron James Family Foundation and The Entertainment Industry Foundation.

Separately, a YouTube event called “Dear Class of 2020,” to be hosted by Mrs. Obama’s Reach Higher initiative and streamed on Saturday, June 6, the former president and first lady will join with the likes of Pakistani Nobel Peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and actress Kerry Washington in celebrating graduates across the United States.

“I know how hard the #Classof2020 has worked to make it to graduation, so @BarackObama and I want to give you the celebration you deserve,” Mrs. Obama tweeted on Tuesday in announcing the YouTube event. “Whether you’re graduating from high school, college or any other kind of school – we want you, your family and all of your loved ones to be a part of this celebration.”

Yara Shahidi, musician Bad Bunny, screenwriter Lena Waithe, U.S. women’s soccer player Megan Rapinoe and singersongwriter H.E.R. Others taking part in the two events include musician Alicia Keys and AlphabetGoogle Chief Executive Sundar Pichai.

Mr. Obama, 53, who started his college studies at Occidental College in Los Angeles before earning his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in New York City and later a law degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., will deliver a message reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption of school life, especially for seniors who have missed out on their milestone rites of passage.

“This high school graduation season will be anything but ordinary — but that’s all the more reason why the Class of 2020 deserves extraordinary advice, heartfelt encouragement and hard-won wisdom about facing new challenges in an uncertain world,” Russlynn Ali, chief executive officer and co-founder of XQ Institute, said in a statement.

“We are grateful to President Obama for giving this gift to our nation’s 3 million high school seniors as they #GraduateTogether,” she added.

The ball started rolling when Lincoln

national commencement address, saying, “In an unprecedented time, it would give us great comfort to hear your voice.”

Lincoln’s post went viral and was liked by more than 225,000 Twitter users. It also was seen by the 44th president.

On Tuesday, Lincoln, who will enter California State University in Los Angeles in the fall, responded on Twitter to the announcement that the Obamas will be delivering the Class of 2020 a message of hope.

“It’s wild!” the senior said on his Twitter feed @lincolnjackd. “I did expect him to do it regardless of whether I did that tweet or not. I’m still extremely excited about it.”

The Obamas also will participate in the two-hour “Show Me Your Walk, HBCU Edition,” a nationwide celebration for HBCU graduates livestreamed at 2 p.m.

Saturday, May 16, on Essence Studios at essencestudios.com. It is presented by Chase in partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the United Negro College Fund, the National Association for Equal Opportunity, the National Basketball Association, Paul Quinn College, Howard University and JPMorgan Chase’s Advancing Black Pathways Initiative, according to Mr. Obama’s office.

Details: graduatetogether2020.com and yt.be/dearclassof2020.

City Council clears way for $38.5M cut to budget Continued from A1

The council also agreed with the mayor on eliminating rate increases for utilities.

The only change the council made to the mayor’s proposal was an amendment

by Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch, 5th District, to create a $300,000 COVID-19 relief fund.

To create the fund, Ms. Lynch proposed reducing the money for a smoking cessation program to be launched by the Richmond City Health District from $600,000 to $300,000. That funding is a portion of the more than $3 million the city is gaining

from the 50-cent a pack cigarette tax that went into effect last July.

Along with cuts in departmental spending, the proposed budget also reduces or eliminates payments to such nonprofits as the YWCA, the Richmond Police Athletic League, The Salvation Army, Housing Opportunities Made Equal, the Capital Area Health Network and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Richmond.

Officially, the personal property tax on vehicles and business equipment would need to be paid by June 5 and the taxes on homes and real estate would be due June 16.

Under the legislation spearheaded by

Ms. Gray; Councilwoman Kristen N. Larson, 4th District; and Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell, 8th District, the city would accept payment until Friday, Aug. 14, without penalty for late payment.

The council previously approved a similar business tax amnesty on overdue payments of meals, lodging and amusement taxes, but the ability to pay late without penalty expires Tuesday, June 30, according to the legislation.

Businesses currently in arrears must either set up a payment plan before the deadline or make payments by the deadline, otherwise the penalties and interest would be applied, the ordinance states.

Free Press wins 13 state journalism awards Continued from A1

being changed. The third story, published in December, centered on the vacant old Moore Street School building deteriorating as plans for its future use languished.

Second-place honors went to: • Ms. Sellars for general news photography; • Copy editor Karla E. Peters for headline writing; and • Free Press staff photographer Regina H. Boone; freelance writer and photographer Brian Palmer; freelance photographer Ava Reaves; April Coleman, Free Press vice president for production; and Bonnie V. Winston, Free Press managing editor, for a combination of pictures and stories published last August on the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Virginia.

Third-place awards went to: • Mr. Lazarus for two categories — government writing and public safety writing; • Ms. Sellars for pictorial photo; • Ms. Coleman for advertising, professional services — medical and health care related; • Ms. Winston and Ms. Peters for headline writing; • Free Press writer George Copeland Jr. for breaking news photography; and • Free Press writer Ronald E. Carrington and Mr. Lazarus for breaking news writing.

The VPA plans to announce major awards, such as the Outstanding Journalist of the Year, in the fall at an in-person or virtual event.

Award-winning photo by Sandra Sellars

Richmond Free Press

May 7-9, 2020

If you have a pre-existing condition, take action to help reduce your risk of COVID-19.

Unfortunately, many health conditions disproportionately affect African Americans. If you are at a higher risk for serious illness from COVID-19 due to your age or a pre-existing condition, there are precautions you can take to help you stay safe and reduce your risk.

Serious heart conditions and cancer COVID-19 can damage your lungs, which causes your heart to work harder. Cancer weakens your immune system and can make you more vulnerable to COVID-19.

2 Week-Supply

Diabetes Preventative care is especially important for people with diabetes. When your blood sugar levels are managed properly, you’re less vulnerable to COVID-19.

During this time, pay close attention to your: • Blood sugar levels • Insulin levels • Fluid consumption

Here’s what you can do to reduce your risk: • Take your medication as prescribed (have at least a two-week supply) • Eat healthy, well-balanced meals • Stay active

Keep protecting yourself and others STAY

AT HOME

Do not delay emergency care Emergency departments are safe. Hospitals are taking measures to protect you and your loved ones from getting COVID-19.

Continue to combat COVID-19 with these essential guidelines: • Stay home if possible • Wash your hands often • Keep space between yourself and others (stay 6 feet away, which is about two arm lengths)

6 feet

Do not delay getting emergency care for your underlying condition because of COVID-19. For routine medical care, consider telehealth options.

Your health is important to us, and we are here for you.

To learn more about how you can protect yourself during this pandemic, go to: vcuhealth.org, vdh.virginia.gov, or cdc.gov. © 2020 VCU Health. All rights reserved. Sources: VCU Health; American Diabetes Association; American Lung Association; Centers of Disease Control and Prevention; Virginia Department of Health.

A5

A6 May 7-9, 2020

Richmond Free Press

Local News

Group proposes $350M development to replace city’s old Public Safety Building

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond’s old Public Safety Building on 9th Street near City Hall would be replaced by a $350 million office development under a plan that has been submitted to the city administration.

The May 1 proposal calls for a development group to buy the 3-acre property from the city for $3.17 million and develop office space for VCU Health; space for two charities, The Doorways and the Ronald McDonald House that provide housing for families of hospital patients; ground-level retail space; and parking for 1,900 vehicles.

The proposed project would create a taxable property that could generate more than $4 million a year in real estate taxes.

The proffered amount is based on a private assessment of the property.

The online business blog Richmond Biz Sense reported

In accordance with HUD citizen participation requirements, a 30-day public comment period for the 2016-2020 Consolidated Plan and the proposed 2020-21 Annual Action Plan (City FY 2021) will begin on May 7, 2020, and will expire on June 6, 2020. By this notice the City of Richmond announces the availability of the fifth year of the five year 2016-2020 Consolidated Plan, also known as the proposed 2020-21 Annual Action Plan, is ready for public review and comment.

Notice is also hereby given that the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) will hold a video conference public hearing on Tuesday May 26, 2020 at 2:00pm. Due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements HCD cannot hold an in person public hearing. To participate in the video conference please contact James Hill by 5:00 PM on May 25, 2020 james.hill@richmondgov.com.

Further notice is also given that on Monday, June 8, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers, the Richmond City Council will hold a public hearing on the Mayor’s 2016-2020 Consolidated Plan and proposed 2020-21 Annual Action Plan budget for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnership (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) programs. The HOPWA funds are allocated to the City to administer for the Richmond-Petersburg MSA.

Former Public Safety Building on 9th Street

Wednesday that the development group is Capital City Partners, previously named as the operational arm for the Navy Hill development plan that was rejected by City Council earlier this year.

Capital City Partners includes Michael Hallmark, an architect with Richmond-based Future Cities who conceived the Navy Hill development to replace the Richmond Coliseum, and Susan Eastridge of

the Fairfax-based development firm Concord Eastridge.

City Council would need to approve any sale, but replacing the largely vacant 66-year-old Public Safety Building has long been a city goal. The building fills much of the block bounded by 9th, 10th, Leigh and Marshall streets and sits next door to the current home of the city Department of Social Services, which would remain at the location under the proposal.

Kay Coles James heads National Coronavirus Recovery Commission

By Reginald Stuart

Richmonders across the political spectrum are joining forces in trying to persuade people to keep their distance to help mitigate the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus that has taken the lives of more than 700 Vi r g i n ians.

K a y C o l e s James, who was Ms. James raised by her mom in Richmond’s Creighton Court public housing community, graduated from John Marshall High School and Hampton University, is taking a break from her usual role as an outspoken Republican political activist to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, she said in a recent Free Press telephone interview.

“My goal is to keep people alive,” said Ms. James, chair of the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission. “It will take all of us together to come out of this.”

As of Wednesday, there were more than 1.2 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States, with more than 71,000 deaths.

Ms. James is president of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington. She created the foundation’s National Coronavirus Recovery Commission in April.

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“We need to let the science and data rule,” said Ms. James, suggesting her political peers “put partisan politics aside” and work to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

She said saving lives and livelihoods go hand in hand.

In addition to working from home and practicing social distancing, Ms. James said she has been in daily contact with peers, talking with public officials, offering insights to Congress, the White House and others across the United States and abroad.

“We know they are listening,” said Ms. James, noting that she and the 16 other commission members have been in contact with House and Senate members for input.

Ms. James has used the commission as a platform for broadcast and online public service announcements aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. She is telling people of the importance of following advice from public health officials, including keeping at least 6 feet from others, staying at home as much as possible for an indefinite time and abandoning the practice of gathering in groups of 10 people or more.

In many parts of the state and nation, people have started to ignore the restrictions and appeals as the virus continues to spread and kill.

Ms. James echoed medical experts and scientists in saying that the disease strikes without regard for race, creed, color, income, ethnicity, religion, education or gender.

Ms. James, who served as Virginia’s secretary of health and human resources under former GOP Gov. George Allen, also was chosen in April

by President Trump to serve on

his Great American Economic Revival Task Force. The task force of industry executives and leaders has been called upon by the president to offer their ideas for restarting the nation’s economy.

The national unemployment rate has jumped in a matter of weeks as companies have shut down and laid off or furloughed workers during the pandemic.

Some 30 million people have filed claims for unemployment assistance.

“We have a grid with all of our recommendations,” Ms. James said. More than 170 recommendations have been posted by the commission so far.

Ms. James acknowledged the range of economic issues underlying the ailing economy —from health care for low income and poor people to badly needed wage boosts — and said there is time to discuss them.

She said some people think fixing the economy and addressing basic social needs in society are separate issues. “We don’t believe it’s an ‘either or’ situation,” she said. “We want to take the ‘or’ out” of the discussion, she said.

Atop her list now are advocating greater “access to medical care … do more testing (for COVID-19), contact tracing ... and a cure.

“Failure is not an option,” she said, noting she is worried about people ignoring the health warnings and risking a second wave of the virus.

“We tend not to trust medical doctors and institutions,” Ms. James said, adding she talks with people “all the time and they don’t believe it’s serious.”

“The message is to protect the people you love,” Ms. James said.

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The Plan will serve as a comprehensive planning document discussing Richmond’s community development and housing needs with particular emphasis on the provision of decent affordable housing, a suitable living environment, assisting and preventing homelessness, assisting special needs community, and the expansion of economic opportunities, particularly for low- and moderate-income persons.

The funds below are federal entitlement dollars allocated to the City through the U. S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) to implement the housing and community development priorities and activities identified in the five year Consolidated Plan, which is consistent with City’s Focus Area Priorities.

CDBG Entitlement Grant (includes prior year surplus): HOME Entitlement Grant (includes prior year surplus): ESG Entitlement Grant: HOPWA Regional Entitlement Grant (includes prior year surplus): Total Funds Available for PY 2020

$4,761,838 $1,674,365 $392,068 $1,396,130 $8,224,401

The following projects have been recommended for CDBG, HOME, ESG, and HOPWA allocations to undertake the following activities to preserve and revitalize the City’s neighborhoods and further the City’s economic growth for the 2020-21 Annual Action Plan: CDBG Projects

Provider

Project Description

AMOUNT

Housing & Neighborhood Preservation Church Hill Affordable Ownership

PH

Single Family Development

$

197,000

Citywide Critical Home Repair

PH

Homeowner Repair

$

557,391

Citywide Owner Occupied Home Repair

PH

Homeowner Repair

$

200,000

Exterior Homes Repairs

Habitat

Homeowner Repair

$

130,000

The Hollands

SCDHC

Single Family Development

$

200,000

Keystone Program Citywide DPA

HOME Inc. Homeowner Assistance

$

280,000

Matthews At Chestnut Hill

SCDHC

Single Family Development

$

300,000

North Oak

BHC

Multifamily Repair

$

282,000

Pathways to Independence - DPA

SCDHC Homeowner Assistance Rebuilding Homeowner Repair Together Finance Loan Repayment

Rebuilding Together Year Round Section 108 2012 Loan Repayment Sub-Total - Housing & Neigh Pres.

$

45,000

$

178,000

$

694,447

$3,063,838

Economic Development Metropolitan Business League Program

MBL

Economic Development

$

80,000

Neighborhood Economic Development

HCD

ED Technical Assistance

$

300,000

$

380,000

Sub-Total - Economic Dev. Planning & Administration Block Grant & Finance Administration

HCD

Administration

$

360,000

Fair Housing Support and Outreach

HOME Inc Administration

$

40,000

Historic Review

DPDR

Administration

$

48,000

Neighborhood Planning

HCD

Administration

$

250,000

$

678,000

$

50,000

$

90,000

Sub-Total - Planning & Admin.

Public Services Cyber Security Workforce Housing Code Enforcement Counseling Housing Information and Counseling

OCWB

Job Training Housing Counseling & RDSS Assistance HOME Inc Housing Counseling

$

200,000

Lead Safe and Healthy Homes Outreach Support RCHD

Health Services

$

125,000

Pathways to Independence - PS

SCDHC

Housing Counseling

$

20,000

Positive Paths

Trinity

Job Training

$

35,000

Residential Support for Homeless Families

RBHA

Homeless Services

$

100,000

Sub-Total - Public Services

$

620,000

TOTAL CDBG BUDGET

$4,761,838

HOME Projects

Provider

Project Description

AMOUNT

Blackwell

PH

Single Family Construction

$

300,000

Center Creek Homes

CCH

Single Family Construction

$

60,000

Community Housing Empowerment NiB DPA

HOME Inc Homeowner Assistance

$

300,400

The Heights at Brady Square

Dakota

Multifamily Construction

$

300,000

HP Affordable Homeownership

Habitat

Single Family Construction

$

50,000

HP Affordable Homeownership

PH

Single Family Construction

$

50,000

The Hollands

SCDHC

Single Family Construction

$

200,000

HOME Program Administration

HCD

Administration

$

110,000

Matthews at Chestnut Hill

SCDHC

Single Family Construction

$

150,000

Revitalizing Blighted Properties

Habitat

Single Family Const./Rehab

$

153,965

TOTAL HOME BUDGET

$1,674,365

Emergency Solutions Grant

Provider

Project Description

AMOUNT

Rapid Re-Housing & Emergency Shelter

HFF

Homeless Services

$

75,000

ESG Program & Finance Administration

HCD

Administration

$

19,454

Shelter & Case Management

CARITAS

Homeless Services

$

55,000

Homeward Community Information System

Homeward Data Collection

$

8,000

Rapid Re-housing

YWCA

Homeless Services

$

65,000

Short Term Shelter and Rapid Re-housing

HomeAgain Homeless Services

$

169,614

$

392,068

TOTAL ESG BUDGET Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Provider

Project Description

Housing Assistance Program

Serenity

Short Term Financial Assistance $

196,315

HOPWA CIS

Homeward

20,000

CCC

$

823,000

HOPWA Program & Finance Admin

HCD

Data Management Short/Long Term Financial Assistance Administration

$

HOPWA Greater Richmond

$

40,083

Stratford House

VSH

Residential Facility

$

316,732

TOTAL HOPWA BUDGET

AMOUNT

$ 1,396,130

Copies of the 2016-2020 Consolidated Plan and proposed 2020-21 Annual Action Plan are available for public review on request via e-mail or USPS delivery. To request a copy, contact James Hill at james.hill@richmondgov. com, or by mail at the City Department of Housing & Community Development, 1500 E Main Street, Suite 400, Richmond VA 23219-3571. The City of Richmond does not discriminate on the basis of disability status in the admission of, or access to, or treatment in its federally assisted programs or activities. Virginia Relay Center - TDD Users - 1-800-828-1120.

Citizens and interested persons are invited to give their views regarding the use of CDBG, HOME, ESG and HOPWA funds for the Five-Year Consolidated Plan and proposed Annual Action Plan. The City will arrange for reasonable accommodations for non-English speaking persons or those persons with visual, hearing, or mobility impairments when notified within five (5) business days of the close of the public comment period. Submit comments and views in writing to: James Hill, Project Development Manager, Housing and Community Development, 1500 E. Main Street, Suite 400, Richmond, VA 23219-3571 or by e-mail to james.hill@richmondgov.com. Comments may also be sent by facsimile (804) 646-6358.

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Richmond Free Press

Downtown bloom

Editorial Page

A8

May 7-9, 2020

Same storm, different boat Our spirits were buoyed when we read the story this week by Trice Edney Wire-Global Information Network about flower growers in Kenya sending bouquets to doctors, nurses and others in the United Kingdom to thank them for their work on the front lines helping people through the COVID-19 crisis.

Flowers are the second largest export for the East African nation, adding to the nation’s economic bottom line and providing jobs to thousands of people despite unemployment reaching 9.1 percent last year.

Because of the pandemic, however, flower sales are wilting in Europe – Kenya’s largest market. The Kenyan economy has been taking a beating, just like other countries around the globe, as businesses close and consumer demand drops off due to the pandemic.

But Kenyans are turning this misfortune into hope and opportunity. They are brightening the spirits of people miles away with big, beautiful bouquets of thanks, all the while showcasing some of Kenya’s best and keeping the nation’s flower industry going until sales pick up.

Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta’s heartfelt message also is included in each bouquet: “It is exactly at moments such as this that we must display our humanity, perseverance and hope. Whatever the adversity, no matter the foe, we shall triumph together.”

He ends the note: “From Kenya with love.”

Juxtapose that with the American experience right now, where farmers are plowing their vegetables under, destroying their crops, pouring gallons of milk down the drain and threatening to euthanize cows because they have no way to put products on the market for a profit.

In the United States, the watchword seems to be: If we can’t make money off of it, then nobody can have it.

We find this appalling, particularly as food banks across the United States are seeing nearly record demands as people laid off or furloughed from their jobs struggle to feed their families. With this pandemic, unemployment in the United States is poised to reach levels not seen since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Yet, because restaurants, schools and other typically large markets are closed, food is plowed back into the ground and milk is dumped as unsellable.

A former U.S. agriculture secretary under the Obama administration told the media, “It’s not a lack of food.

It’s that the food is in one place and the demand is somewhere else and they haven’t been able to connect the dots.”

This debacle highlights the dearth of leadership

by President Trump and his administration that has worsened the misery for millions of people across this country during the pandemic. From ignoring warnings about the coronavirus, to hoarding personal protective equipment in the national stockpile to pushing ingesting disinfectants as a cure for COVID-19, this president has added to the confusion and despair while leaving states to fend for themselves in dealing with this crisis.

Now we have Virginia and other states bowing to the misguided pressure from President Trump and his minions to reopen businesses, restaurants, theaters, nail and hair salons, tattoo parlors and gyms because business people are clamoring to make money.

Gov. Ralph S. Northam’s determination to reopen some businesses next week leaves people to decide how much risk they are willing to take with their health and their lives in order for their bosses to make a buck.

The statistics are clear: The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths continues to rise in Virginia. And testing in the state, while increasing, is nowhere near the level it needs to be to protect people and help stem the spread of the coronavirus. Virginia ranks second from the bottom in testing in the United States, with 127,938 people tested for COVID-19, according to the state Health Department’s data. That’s only 1.5 percent of the state’s population.

We echo the concerns expressed by the Virginia Legal Aid Justice Center on Wednesday in demanding that the health of workers take priority over profits.

“Until we can reliably deliver basic public health protections and care — especially to marginalized communities — and take aggressive steps to minimize the cruel and inequitable effects of the pandemic, Virginia must stay closed for business,” the VLAJC’s statement read.

“There is no acceptable margin of lives lost or families devastated that justifies prioritizing economic pressures over the health and safety of people, especially when black and brown Virginians would bear the brunt of this deadly calculation,” the statement concluded.

We know from the numbers that African-Americans and people of color in Virginia are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. In the racial data collected so far, 26 percent of all cases and 27 percent of all deaths from the coronavirus have stricken AfricanAmericans.

As one black person noted about COVID-19, we are not all in the same boat. We are in the same storm.

There’s a huge difference.

Who will protect us but ourselves?

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

What do we have to lose?

A little less than four years ago, the president tried to get black votes with the question, “What do you have to lose?”

The coronavirus offers a bleak answer.

President Trump was notified of the danger of the pandemic in January, but didn’t begin to address the issue until late February. Hospitals ran short on supplies such as gowns, masks and tests. Governors had to ask then plead with the president for ventilators and other supplies. And in the beginning, the president dismissed the seriousness of the virus, claiming it would “go away.” After weeks of people “staying in place” and wearing masks, the daily death toll has not yet stabilized.

Of course, the black community, along with Native Americans and Latinos, are hardest hit because of differences in spatial location, income and age. With some of the nonsense President Trump has spouted, one might also think that he is deliberately targeting the black community for damage.

What do we have to lose? Our jobs or our lives.

Consider the U.S. Postal Service, which has been a staple employer in the AfricanAmerican community. Back in the day, my mom used to talk about “Ph.D.s working at the

post office” because academic employment was scarce and segregated, and the post office paid decently.

Many a black families made it to the middle class through postal wages. And now the president is declaring war on the USPS. Why? No. 45 has incorrectly said that fees for mailing packages are “too low,” that the USPS

Julianne Malveaux is subsidizing internet companies — he means Amazon — with low package fees. But studies have shown that the prices paid for mailing packages more than cover their actual costs.

Twenty-one percent of the USPS’ roughly 625,000 employees are African-American and nearly 17 percent are other people of color. Might this be one of the reasons that No. 45 keeps lashing out at the USPS? He says that unless the USPS raises its fees for package delivery, he will deny the USPS any COVID-19 aid.

I’m not suggesting that his animus toward the USPS in general, and Jeff Bezos and Amazon in particular, is precisely because so many people of color work for the postal service. Still, I do not think that his attitude toward black people is unrelated to his ire at the USPS. What do we have to lose? Some black women have found their lives at risk because of President Trump’s touting

of hydroxychloroquine as a “game-changing” coronavirus cure. People with lupus also need hydroxychloroquine for their disease, but President Trump’s unseemly huckstering a drug that is not likely to cure the coronavirus has created shortages for hydroxychloroquine. Black women get lupus twice as frequently as white women, and we get it younger and with more complications than white women. Because lupus is more likely to hit black women at an earlier age, black women also risk complications from pregnancy because of lupus.

Did President Trump enthusiastically embrace hydroxychloroquine because black women are more likely to get the disease and he wanted to punish us? Does he have investments in companies that produce hydroxychloroquine?

You don’t have to believe in conspiracies to recognize the disproportional impact the shortages of hydroxychloroquine have had on black women. These impacts of disparate impact are one of the many reasons that race matters and that data on health, income, employment, wealth and other factors must be collected and reported by race.

At the same time, there are too many who resist gathering and reporting data by race, facetiously claiming we are all “one nation.” And the myth of “one nation” holds if data are not collected.

When the threat of the coronavirus has receded perhaps a

Prison problems during pandemic Across the United States and around the world, prisoners are among the most vulnerable to the coronavirus. Overcrowded facilities, shortages of food and medicine and totally inadequate testing expose prisoners who are disproportionately poor and afflicted with prior conditions that render them vulnerabl e t o t he disease.

Prisoners increasingly are protesting their conditions, objecting to being sentenced to die in prison.

Experts globally are urging governments to reduce their prison populations swiftly.

Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, warned that “the consequences of neglecting (overcrowded conditions) are potentially catastrophic.”

The United States locks up more people than any other country in the world, largely because of harsh and wrongheaded policies. Fifty-five thousand people are detained in jail awaiting trials, too poor to pay for their freedom under the current cash bail system that is prevalent in many states.

The Prison Policy Initiative reports that 48,000 children are incarcerated on any given day.

Many are charged only with “status offenses,” such as truancy or

homelessness. The Health and Human Services office in charge of the custody of unaccompanied undocumented minors reports that 2,000 are locked up. The New York Times reports that 59 in custody already have tested positive for COVID-19.

In California, The Marshall

Jesse L. Jackson Sr. Project notes, more than one in seven prisoners are over the age of 55. The percentage of those 55 and older in prison in the United States has tripled over the course of this century.

As Piper Kerman, author of “Orange is the New Black,” wrote in the Washington Post, this is largely the result of prison sentences that are longer than those imposed by any other country. “Elderly probationers and parolees have some of the lowest recidivism rates of all former inmates. Releasing such people poses very low public safety risks and will have a dramatic effect on preserving public health.”

After an outbreak killed six inmates in a federal prison in Lisbon, Ohio, U.S. District Court Judge James S. Gwin decried the “shockingly limited” amount of testing, noting that the prison has received fewer than 100 tests, while a state prison of similar size had done about 4,000 tests. Two federal prisons in New York City reported that they had tested a total of only

19 inmates since the outbreak began; 11 were positive.

This has to change before the pandemic spreads and prisons across the country go up in flames as prisoners riot against their conditions.

Inmates awaiting trial, the elderly, the afflicted and those who have served much of their sentence should get early release and, if possible, go into quarantine at home to ensure they are safe.

The space freed up in the facilities then should be used to provide more “social distancing” while emergency steps are taken to provide adequate medicine, protective equipment like masks and gloves, and food.

Correctional officials need particular priority, for they are most at risk and, if infected, could spread the virus in the local communities. And the failure to provide adequate testing in prisons and jails, as well as in society as a whole, is utterly inexcusable at this late date.

The crisis also should lead to larger reforms — drastically reducing sentences while expanding alternatives to incarceration, ending the cash bail system and the practice of locking poor people up while they await trial, expanding parole, reducing the overcrowded and primitive conditions of too many jails and prisons.

The writer is founder and president of the National Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

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year or so from now, we will be able to measure who carried the higher burden of this coronavirus. But we already know that black folks are dying, losing their jobs or being exposed to the virus because of the jobs they hold. As an example, black women are 6 percent of the labor force but 20 percent of medical support staff. We don’t need detailed statistical analysis to conclude that poorer, urban, black and brown communities are hardest hit.

What do you have to lose?

Your job and maybe even your life.

The lack of leadership No. 45 has exhibited during this pandemic disqualifies him for a second term. And those disproportionately impacted who choose to vote for No. 45 choose to vote against their own interests.

The writer is an economist, educator and author.

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May 7-9, 2020 A9

Letters to the Editor

Coronavirus drives home the need for people to work together Communities and neighborhoods across America, throughout Virginia and within our city limits have been demonstrating extraordinary resilience and resolve during this unprecedented time when the coronavirus has threatened every facet of our lives.

While our daily living has been greatly impacted in one way

or another, we should take this time to reflect on the importance of being compassionate and caring for one another. We should seize the opportunity to contemplate new ways to form a stronger sense of who we are as proud citizens who are determined and dedicated to move Richmond forward.

Public behavior concerns reader during COVID-19 crisis My aunt and her daughter went to the Dollar Tree at Willow Lawn. There was a manager near her who sneezed several times. He was not wearing a mask. When my aunt asked him to cover his mouth, he replied, and I quote, “You shouldn’t be out here anyway.”

My aunt, who is African-American, is an elderly person with underlying medical conditions. She has severe high blood pressure.

She was so upset when she called me about his callousness.

I am very concerned about her life and well-being. I feel that his behavior — he

also was African-American — can and will jeopardize the lives of others. He does not have that right, and ignorance of COVID-19 is not an excuse.

ANGELA JOHNSON Richmond

This pandemic should reiterate the necessity for us to collaborate, to work cohesively toward identifying common interests and shared goals and to discuss the desired visions that will foster and ensure healthy and prosperous living for all Richmond residents.

The idea or notion of 8th District residents as passive participants in decision making should no longer be synonymous or assigned with the 27,000 hard-working and diverse people of this district.

The 8th District Focus Group would like to encourage everyone to become more informed and engaged and to demand transformative, responsive leadership in all of our elected leaders.

Please continue to practice safe measures and take necessary precautions to maintain your safety and that of your family. Our city needs you.

SHANNON GONZALEZ Richmond The writer is chair of the 8th District Focus Group

Shout out to those who deliver the Free Press to friends and neighbors I would like to send out a special thank you to the informal volunteers who pick up the Free Press from boxes and newsstands and deliver it to friends, neighbors and others each week.

I know for a fact that many senior citizens, disabled people and others are unable to get to the newsstands to get a paper. With the coronavirus all around us, I applaud those who take

the time out of their weekly schedules to bring joy to someone else’s life.

The people I deliver the paper to look forward to reading it each week. This is their only means of finding out what is going on in our community. I have talked with some others who pick up the paper and take it to others, and they, too, feel proud and consider it an obligation to

bring a good product — the Free Press — to their neighbors.

My reward is seeing the smiling faces from people when they receive their paper. I am sure this is true for others.

My advice to those who take papers to others is to remain safe and wear your protective gear when going out so that you can do this for

weeks to come. Let’s never forget that people are counting on us.

Thanks, again, to the Free Press for providing us with a quality paper to deliver.

ERNEST PARKER JR. Richmond

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Richmond Free Press

A10 May 7-9, 2020

Sports Stories by Fred Jeter

Only one player at HBCU drafted into NFL The once busy football pipeline between HBCUs and the NFL appears to have stalled.

Out of seven rounds and 255 selections in the NFL’s virtual draft last month, only one HBCU athlete heard his name called.

The lone HBCU player drafted by the NFL was offensive guard Lachavious Simmons out of Tennessee State University. Simmons was picked in the seventh round by the Chicago Bears and 227th overall.

And consider that Tennessee State, which is in the Ohio Valley Conference, and Hampton University of the Big South Conference are the only NCAA Division I schools not in an HBCU conference.

Among those not drafted, surprisingly, was Alex Taylor, the 6-foot-9, 308-pound offensive lineman from South Carolina State University.

Taylor was the only HBCU talent invited to attend the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Taylor was also the lone HBCU player to receive an invitation to the Senior and East-West All-Star games.

Taylor has since signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Browns.

Also undrafted was North Carolina A&T State University quarterback Kylil Carter, who threw six touchdowns passes and earned offensive MVP honors in the Aggies’ Celebration Bowl win over Alcorn State University.

The coronavirus pandemic may have contributed to the disappointing draft news.

A special HBCU Combine set for March 27 and 28 in Miami was canceled because of the virus.

Lachavious Simmons

Among those invited to the south Florida showcase were defensive back Sterling Hammond from Virginia Union University, quarterback Deondre Francois from Hampton University and linebacker Nigel Chavis from Norfolk State University. Chavis is a former Armstrong High School standout.

Additionally, all in-person interviews were scratched because of the COVID-19 crisis. That means no NFL scouts went to college campuses and no athletes traveled to NFL facilities.

Many of the greatest players in NFL annals hailed from HBCUs— Morgan State’s Willie Lanier, Mississippi Valley’s Jerry Rice, Jackson State’s Walter Payton, Grambling’s Buck Buchanan, Texas Southern’s Ken Houston, just to mention a handful of hall of famers.

But times have changed. Nowadays, the draft has become more the private property of the Power Five conferences.

Five first round selections in the NFL draft were from Louisiana State University, followed by the University of Alabama with four, Ohio State with three, and Georgia, Auburn, Clemson, Oklahoma and Texas Christian with two each.

As a tradition, the last player picked in the NFL draft is labeled “Mr. Irrelevant.” This year, that dubious honor went to linebacker Tae Crowder from the University of Georgia.

Now it seems HBCUs have become more irrelevant than “Mr. Irrelevant.”

Juwan Carter looking to break records at NSU Juwan Carter has met Aaron Sparrow and the two men hit it off.

Now, with all due respect, Carter hopes to politely erase Sparrow’s name from Norfolk State University’s football record book.

Carter, known to friends as “Pootie,” is taking aim with a pigskin on several of Sparrow’s marks that have held for a quarter century.

The attack on the record book will be a friendly pursuit.

“Mr. Sparrow (now 48) came to practices during homecoming and we even passed the ball back and forth. He can still throw,” recalled Carter, NSU’s senior quarterback from Highland Springs High School in Henrico County.

“We talked about a lot of things and he gave me a few tips on how to improve.”

Those “tips” might have had an immediate impact.

At NSU’s homecoming game on Nov. 2, Carter showed off in front of Sparrow, passing for 314 yards and three touchdowns in a 48-0 rout of Morgan State University.

During a brilliant career with the green and gold Spartans ending in 1995, Sparrow had 617 completions for 8,758 yards and 79 touchdowns. The Portsmouth native was a three-time All-CIAA pick and went on to play professionally with various Canadian and Arena League football teams.

Carter would seem to have similar ambitions.

Heading into his farewell season at Dick Price Stadium, Carter is just 68 completions and 1,999 yards shy of eclipsing Sparrow’s marks.

Carter, who wears the No. 8 jersey for NSU

like he wore at Highland Springs High School, is 30 touchdowns shy of Sparrow’s career standard.

As a junior, the 6-foot, 175-pound Carter threw for 2,631 yards and 23 touchdowns. The 23 passing scores is NSU’s NCAA Division I record.

this coming season, I hope to finalize have scared off other suitors. things — put it all together.”

“I tore my rotator cuff and labrum,” he Carter, who was a second team All- recalled. “Norfolk State was the first school to MEAC as a junior, stressed that individual offer me a scholarship and coach (Latrell Scott) accolades are secondary to his goals for never quit on me.” his senior season.

So far, this has been a fruitful spring for former “The big thing is winning the MEAC and Springers. Two of Carter’s former teammates going to the Celebration Bowl,” he at Highland Springs High, Mekhi said. “We just need to turn some of Becton and K’Von Wallace, were those close losses into wins.” picked in the recent NFL draft.

NSU is a modest 13-21 during “I was right around the corner the past three seasons overall and from K’Von when he was drafted,” 10-13 in the MEAC. Carter said.

Victories were much more The coronavirus pandemic elimiabundant at Highland Springs High nated spring football at all campuses, under Coach Loren Johnson. The but the training sessions continue.

Springers were 39-3 during Carter’s Wallace, Carter and others have three seasons. been meeting at River City Sportsplex Aaron Sparrow Carter was dazzling as a senior in Chesterfield County to pass and with the Springers, leading the Henrico County run patterns on the carpeted fields. school to the State 5A title and earning state NSU is scheduled to open its 2020-21 season Player of the Year honors. on Sept. 5 against Virginia State University in Despite those big achievements, recruit- the Labor Day Classic in Norfolk. ment was limited to NSU and University of With no harm intended toward Sparrow, that’s Virginia-Wise. when Carter’s bid to re-write records will take A shoulder injury requiring surgery might off in the form of a tight spiral.

Former Richmond coach to be inducted into S.C. State Athletic Hall of Fame

Juwan Carter

He has made 31 consecutive career starts in Norfolk after becoming the No. 1 signal caller early in his freshman season.

Carter’s position coach at NSU is another Aaron—Aaron Corp, a former University of Richmond standout.

“We just want Pootie to take the next step in his development from a leadership and overall consistency standpoint,” said Coach Corp.

Carter’s completion accuracy has jumped from 53 percent as a freshman to 58 percent as a sophomore to 61 percent a season ago.

“There’s always something to work on,” Carter said.

“Every year I try and get a little better. And

Former Richmonder Benjamin “Benny” Blocker has been selected for induction into the South Carolina State University Athletic Hall of Fame.

Benny Blocker Mr. Blocker taught and coached football at Armstrong and Huguenot high schools between 1968 and 1972.

He also worked for the Richmond Department of Parks and Recreation as a playground counselor and earned a master’s in elementary education from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Mr. Blocker was a standout running back at South Carolina State and was drafted by the NFL’s New Orleans Saints. While at South Carolina State, he ran for a school one-game record of 250 yards against Fayetteville State University.

The induction banquet is scheduled for Sept. 11.

VCU Rams waiting to hear about eligibility of transfer Brendan Medley-Bacon

Blue Thunder cheerleaders

Hampton’s Blue Thunder cheerleading squad turns to online tryouts The coronavirus pandemic is affecting every aspect of athletics, even cheerleading.

Hampton University has conducted a virtual tryout for its Blue Thunder spirit squad.

Normally, tryouts are held prior to the end of the spring semester. That was not feasible this year because students were sent home in March because of COVID-19.

In what has become the “new normal,” HU cheerleader candidates submitted a video of their skills online by the May 6 deadline.

Those skills: Tumbling, stunting, jumps, voice projection, etc.

From those submissions, a “provisional” team will be selected by school officials. The final squad will be determined from an on-campus camp scheduled for the last week of July, assuming the state’s “stay-at-home” regulations are lifted.

Spring sports at HU and all other schools were canceled in March to curb the spread of the pandemic.

HU, now in its second season as a member of the Big South Conference, will open its football season Sept. 5 at home against Virginia Union University.

Virginia Commonwealth University basketball has added a new player, but the Rams must wait until May 20 to learn when he becomes eligible to play.

Brendan Medley-Bacon, listed as 7-foot-1 and 245 pounds, has transferred to VCU from Coppin State University in Baltimore.

He will have two seasons of eligibility. The question is when will he get the green light to suit up for Coach Mike Rhoades?

On May 20, the NCAA Division I Council will vote on whether undergraduate athletes can transfer without sitting out one year, as in the past.

If the vote goes VCU’s way, MedleyBacon will be available to play immediately.

If the vote goes the other way, he will join the team for the 2021-22 season.

The vote will have an enormous impact on college basketball. As of late last month, 746 basketball players at Division I schools had placed their name in the transfer portal. Of that, 565 would have to sit out one season at their new schools.

Many more could join the transfer list if they knew they wouldn’t have to sit out a year.

A rule was passed several years ago allowing graduate transfers to move on with no sit-out restriction.

Medley-Bacon averaged 7.5 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots this past season for Coppin State, which is part of the MEAC. He set Coppin State’s single game rebound record with 24 against Morgan State University. And in his last game as an Eagle, he had 20 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots against the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore.

VCU marks a significant upgrade in competition for MedleyBacon. MEAC this past season was ranked 32nd out of 32 NCAA Division I conferences.

The Atlantic 10 Conference, which includes VCU, was ranked eighth.

Among other schools courting MedleyBacon were Old Dominion University, the University of Rhode Island, Southern Illinois University and Boise State University.

A native of Baltimore, Medley-Bacon becomes the fourth player listed at 7-foot or more in Rams lore. Others were Antoine Ford, who played during the 1988-89 season; Konstantin Pepeliaev, 1990 to 1993; and Denis Orlov, 2000 to 2002.

While the Rams are delighted to add Medley-Bacon, the program was jolted by the transfer loss of rising senior Marcus Santos-Silva.

As a junior, Santos-Silva led the Rams in scoring (average 12.8 points per game)

and rebounds (8.9).

A native of Taunton, Mass., SantosSilva is transferring to Texas Tech of the Big 12 Conference.

The departing Santos-Silva may rank among the VCU program’s most damaging transfer losses ever. Samir Doughty left VCU in 2017 for Auburn University, where he became an All-Southeast Conference standout.

Ahmed Hamdy, who offered a 6-foot-9 inside presence, also left VCU in 2017 to join Texas Christian of the Big 12.

VCU, which was 18-13 last season, will have a sharply different look in the upcoming campaign. The Rams lost five seniors, plus Santos-Silva, representing 47 points per game.

With Medley-Bacon, the Rams have 12 players on scholarship, one less than the NCAA maximum. That means Coach Rhoades could add another player before school reopens.

May 7-9, 2020 B1

Richmond Free Press

Section

Happenings

B

Personality: Barry S. Watkins Spotlight on board chairman of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation The coronavirus has seen many aspects of public life suspended to ensure public health. But that doesn’t include getting outdoors for fresh air and exercise.

The 51.7-mile paved pedestrian and bicycle trail on state Route 5 between Richmond and Williamsburg, known as the Virginia Capital Trail, has become even more popular during the pandemic as people are anxious to get out of the house to exercise and ease the stress of staying indoors.

The trail has a bevy of committed volunteer caretakers under the auspices of the nonprofit Virginia Capital Trail Foundation led by board president Barry S. Watkins.

The Henrico County resident, who has served on the board since 2017, views the foundation’s role as one of protecting, promoting and enhancing “one of the greatest recreational amenities in our region.”

“Especially during this time of fear and anxiety, the trail can provide a sense of calm, peace and exercise,” Mr. Watkins says. “The foundation helps to ensure that people continue to have access to a first class trail and to participate in a variety of meaningful ways, such as programs, events or just a leisurely walk or ride.”

During the month of March alone, trail usage has increased by 65 percent, he says, making it even more important for people to follow the health and safety guidelines of keeping 6 feet apart and wearing masks.

When the VCTF was started in the fall of 2004, its primary goal was to advocate for the completion of the trail, which was built in sections running from the state’s capital city, Richmond, through Henrico, Charles City and James City counties to Williamsburg, the

former Colonial Capital.

The foundation helped raise public awareness of the trail and funding for its completion and promotion.

Today, the foundation’s work continues with advocacy and programming. Foundation volunteers work as ambassadors monitoring the trail and helping pedestrians and bicyclists with information, first aid and bike repair along the route; keeping the trail free of litter; and planning for various events.

One of the largest events is the annual Cap2Cap fundraiser scheduled for Aug. 22 in which bicyclists of all ages and levels of ability can ride part of or the entire trail from Dorey Park in Henrico to Chickahominy Riverfront Park in James City County.

On Monday, May 11, the VCTF is launching the Capital Quarantine Challenge, where participants are invited to complete the entire 51.7 miles in sections or all at once through running, biking, rollerblading, walking or “whatever fits them,” Mr. Watkins says.

“After they complete it, they get a certificate of completion and a T-shirt,” he adds.

The foundation also has scheduled its 2nd Annual Cap Trail 10 miler/5K in October, which marks the fifth anniversary of the trail’s completion.

While Mr. Watkins says more money would help the foundation do its work, he sees a potential boon in a network of interconnected trails throughout the state joined to the Virginia Capital Trail. This system could potentially enhance transportation opportunities while leading to increased usage, programs and events in the region.

For now, Mr. Watkins and the foundation are intent on keeping the trail open and safe for every-

one who wants to use it, especially during the pandemic.

“The Capital Trail enables people from all walks of life to enjoy the great outdoors in a beautiful scenic area,” Mr. Watkins says.

Meet an advocate for a community treasure and this week’s Personality, Barry S. Watkins: Occupation: Retired YMCA executive.

Date and place of birth: June 8 in Lynchburg.

Current residence: Henrico County Education: Bachelor’s degree in English, University of Richmond, and master’s in social work, with an emphasis in administration and planning, University of Tennessee.

Family: Wife, Lois Gilmore Watkins; two adult daughters and one grandchild.

No. 1 volunteer position: Chairman, Board of Directors of the Virginia Capital Trail Founda-

tion.

When and why Virginia Capital Trail Foundation was founded: Founded in September 2004, the VCTF became a nonprofit in 2005. In 2008, ground was broken for the trail.

Thankfully, local leaders envisioned a great recreational and economic development opportunity to connect two historic capitals – Richmond and Williamsburg – in a 51.7mile paved pedestrian and bicycle trail along state Route 5.

Names of founders: Founders included Whittington Clement, Jon Lugbill, Mark Merhige and Jay Paul.

When elected and length of term: I was elected to the board of directors in 2017. Terms are for two years, but elected members can serve up to a total of six years before they rotate off for at least a year. I became board chairman in September 2018 and currently serve on the Governance and Fundraising committees.

Why I became involved with the VCTF: It is an opportunity to serve and support an incredible enhancement to the region.

What the VCTF means to me: The Virginia Capital Trail is one of the greatest recreational amenities in our region. The foundation is an excellent public/private partnership serving recreational and transportation needs for all, as well as providing social connection. The trail helps provide a means of economic development as well as a means of connection for individuals, friends, families and localities.

VCTF mission: The VCTF exists to protect, promote and

enhance the Virginia Capital Trail and to serve as a resource, community builder and connector to other trails throughout the Commonwealth.

No. 1 objective: To promote and maintain a first-class trail open to all while connecting it throughout the Commonwealth.

Strategy for achieving it: We are working on completing a threeyear strategic plan. There are three main priorities we are refining with strategy development: 1) Ensure that the Virginia Capital Trail continues to be an excellent recreational and transportation infrastructure in the region; 2) Expand trail usage and ensure that the Virginia Capital Trail is open to all; and 3) Establish a framework for regional trail development.

We could do more if: It would be easy to say more money, but to take this question a little deeper, we could do more if we had a network of trails throughout the state that were interconnected to the Capital Trail. This trail system would lead to increased users, programs and events in our region. It also would enhance transportation opportunities.

How VCTF is financed: By individual contributions, governmental support and fundraising events.

VCTF’s COVID-19 response: With COVID-19, there has been increased usage on the Capital Trail by 65 percent in the month of March. With this increased usage comes self-responsibility. VCTF is encouraging users to follow trail etiquette, keep 6 feet apart and wear face coverings. We are updating our website when necessary on safety recommendations and facilities and businesses along the Virginia Capital Trail. People can check it out here: www.virginiacapitaltrail.org/coronavirus-

covid19.

How I start the day: Generally by catching up on news with my wife and a good cup of coffee.

We then get outdoors to walk the dog in the park, which helps with a good frame of mind for the day.

If I had more time, I would: Read more, bike more and play more music.

A quote that I am inspired by: “The real issue in life is not how many blessings we have, but what we do with our blessings. Some people have many blessings and hoard them. Some have few and give everything away.”— Fred Rogers Kindergarten taught me: To borrow from the famous poem, “Live a balanced life, learn some and think some.” The Capital Trail can help with that advice!

Best late-night snack: Yogurt with an Aussie Bite crumbled in it.

Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: I have had a lifelong love of all kinds of music and love to sing. My father encouraged me to get a musical instrument in the eighth grade instead of a motorized minibike. I have played the guitar for 50 years and also play banjo and a little mandolin.

Person who influenced me the most: The Rev. Bev Cosby, pastor and leader of Lynchburg Covenant Fellowship in Lynchburg and an incredible person of commitment to the poor and the inner-city, a visionary and spiritual leader.

What I’m reading now: “The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl”

by Timothy Egan.

Next goal: Figure out how to get my hair cut!

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Richmond Free Press

B2 May 7-9, 2020

Happenings Area colleges spring for virtual commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2020

11 a.m. Saturday, June 13, to honor the many achievements of its 2020 graduates.

Each degree and certificate candidate will be recognized individually during the online ceremony with student photos and video messages.

To participate, Reynolds students must register at reynolds.edu by Friday, May 15, to receive information about uploading photos and messages.

To access WiFi to connect to the ceremony and questions, contact the Reynolds Graduation Committee at graduation@ reynolds.edu.

Commencement plans at Virginia Union University have not been completed, according to Pamela Cox, the university’s assistant vice president for public relations and communication.

Virginia State University will hold its Spring Commencement in December, according to its website. Graduates in the Class of 2020 will receive their diplomas by mail.

Details: www.vsu.edu

By Ronald E. Carrington

Marchelle Williams has worked hard as a graduate student for the past two years in Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Social Work.

The 25-year-old Fredericksburg native was looking forward to that traditional special moment capping her latest achievement – walking across the stage during commencement to receive her master’s degree.

But because of the coronavirus, that special moment is not going to happen for Ms. Williams and hundreds of other VCU graduates in the Class of 2020. Instead, like universities across the commonwealth and the nation, VCU is holding a virtual ceremony, where graduates and their families can view, participate and celebrate all online.

Beginning 10 a.m. Friday, May 8, VCU will launch Virtual Commencement 2020 at commencement.vcu.edu. The ceremony will feature a photo of each graduate and a brief

message he or she submitted for fellow graduates, family and friends, which can be shared on social media.

The celebration site also will feature video messages from VCU President Michael Rao, Provost Gail Hackett, deans of the various colleges and the VCU Alumni Association, as well as a four-year highlight reel for the Class of 2020.

Ms. Williams, the youngest in a family of five children, finished her coursework online on Monday. Graduating without the usual pomp and circumstance is disappointing, she said.

“To march across the stage would have been an opportunity for my family to celebrate the accomplishments I have made through the years,” Ms. Williams said.

Instead, she plans to drive home to Fredericksburg and watch the virtual ceremony with her mother to kick off Mother’s

Ms. Hannah-Jones

Day weekend.

“I’m excited to get my degree and I’m just happy that all my family and friends are healthy,” said Ms. Williams, adding that she’ll also be starting her job search. She wants to work in community development or with African-American youths.

VCU’s May graduates are invited to return to campus to participate in the Dec. 12 winter commencement ceremony slated for the Siegel Center.

“I definitely will come back for that,” Ms. Williams said.

Other area university commencements include: The University of Richmond’s virtual celebration begins Saturday, May 9, when graduates and their families and friends can access video remarks from commencement speaker Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, and UR President Ronald A. Crutcher.

Other videos include a

Mr. Whitehead

highlight reel of the memorable events at UR during the last four years and celebratory wishes and messages for the Class of 2020.

Graduates will receive their diplomas in the mail, along with information about an oncampus graduation ceremony at a later date.

To view the videos: commencement.richmond.edu.

Commencement 2020 at Richard Bland College will be streamed 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 13.

Victor K. Branch, Bank of America’s Richmond market president and an alumnus of the Class of 1982, will deliver the keynote address.

Alden Di Dio, vice president of the Richard Bland Student Assembly, will speak on behalf of the Class of 2020.

“The Class of 2020 has been remarkably resilient in completing a portion of their final semester online during a

Mr. Brown

pandemic,” stated Dr. Debbie L. Sydow, president of the twoyear residential college. “Even though this year’s format will not allow for the traditional handshakes, awarding of diplomas and turning of tassels on graduation caps, it will honor and celebrate an absolutely extraordinary graduating class.”

The ceremony can be viewed on the college website at www. rbc.edu; on YouTube, www. youtube.com/user/RBCStatesmen; and Vimeo, https://vimeo. com/user61876937 The University of Virginia will hold a virtual ceremony on Saturday, May 16, to confer degrees.

Tentative plans are being made for in-person final exercises on the Lawn for the Class of 2020 on Oct. 9 through 11.

Details: www.virginia.edu J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College is holding a virtual commencement celebration

Mr. Jackson

Mr. Davis

African-Americans claim several prestigious Pulitzer Prizes People of color and stories about people of color dominated this year’s Pulitzer Prize awards announced Monday that recognize achievements in 15 journalism and seven arts and letters categories.

Nikole Hannah-Jones of the New York Times won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary for “Lessons of the 1619 Project,” part of the newspaper’s acclaimed exploration of the legacy of black Americans starting with the 1619 arrival of the first enslaved Africans 400 years ago in Virginia.

In her essay, which has been described as phenomenal and deeply personal, she wrote, “But it would be historically inaccurate to reduce the contributions of black people to the vast material wealth created by our bondage.

Black Americans have also been, and continue to be, foundational to the idea of American freedom. More than any other group in this country’s history, we have served, generation after generation, in an overlooked but vital role: It is we who have been the perfecters of this democracy.”

After the Pulitzer announcement, Ms. Hannah-Jones told the Times staff it was “the most important work of my life.”

• Colson Whitehead, the PulitOther winners include: zer Prize for fiction for his novel • Ida B. Wells, a crusading “The Nickel Boys,” which his investigative journalist and civil publisher said is based on the real rights icon who died in 1931, who story of an abusive reform school received a special posthumous in Florida that operated for more citation for “her outstanding and than 100 years. courageous reporting on the horMr. Whitehead previously won rific and vicious violence against a Pulitzer for his 2017 book, “The African-Americans during the era Underground Railroad,” which is of lynching,” the Pulitzer Commitbeing adapted into an Amazon setee stated.

Ms. Wells ries by “Moonlight” writer-director The citation comes with a $50,000 grant to support Ms. Wells’ mission, Barry Jenkins.

• Jericho Brown, an Emory University with honorees to be announced later.

In an interesting twist of fate, Ms. Hannah- professor, won in the poetry category for “The Jones is a co-founder of the Ida B. Wells Society Tradition,” a collection of his work. In awardfor Investigative Reporting that is dedicated ing the prize, the Pulitzer board described his to training more people of color to become work as a “collection of masterful lyrics that combine delicacy with historical urgency in investigative journalists.

“Ida B. Wells & I were awarded the Pulitzer their loving evocation of bodies vulnerable to on the same day,” Ms. Hannah-Jones stated hostility and violence.”

Mr. Brown, 44, is director of the creative Monday on Twitter. “How can I not believe that the ancestors intervened on this moment? I’ll writing program at the Georgia university.

• Michael R. Jackson won the Pulitzer for say more later. For now I will sit in the truth of how she, how they, cleared a path for me, drama for “A Strange Loop,” a musical that how they endured so that I & the #1619Proj- made its world premiere off-Broadway last spring, that centers on a black, queer writer ect could be.”

working a day job he hates while writing a stage show.

According to the Pulitzer committee, the piece “tracks the creative process of an artist transforming issues of identity, race and sexuality that once pushed him to the margins of the cultural mainstream into a meditation on universal human fears and insecurities.”

• Anthony Davis won in the music category for his opera, “The Central Park Five,” about five African-American and Latino teenagers who were convicted of the 1989 rape of a young, white female investment banker in Central Park, but exonerated 13 years later through DNA evidence.

Mr. Davis, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, premiered the work last June at the Long Beach Opera in California.

The Pulitzer judges described the opera as “a passionate story about an issue that still rocks America today.”

W. Caleb McDaniel won in the history category for, “Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America.” The Pulitzer judges said it is a “masterfully researched meditation on reparations based on the remarkable story of a 19th century woman who survived

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Richmond Free Press

May 7-9, 2020

B3

Faith News/Directory

Hopewell man still waiting for Islamic center’s collection to benefit his injured wife

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

After his wife was shot and nearly killed in their Hopewell home, Iftikhar H. Saiyed was grateful when the Tri Cities Islamic Center in Chester took up a collection from worshippers to benefit the family during her recovery.

But nearly four years later, Mr. Saiyed said he is still waiting to receive the money that members raised. “We haven’t gotten a penny,� Mr. Saiyed said.

He said he is dismayed that the center where he worshipped for 11 years rejected his repeated pleas for the donations. His lawsuits against the center have been thrown out, and the center, through its attorney, insists that no money was ever collected specifically for Mr. Saiyed and his wife and none is due him.

The conflict dates back to the shooting.

Nora Lovely was watching TV in their home close to midnight on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, when she suddenly was hit in the neck by a bullet fired through the front window by a still unknown person.

Mr. Saiyed to put pressure on the wound and called for help.

Ms. Lovely was saved with an emergency operation. The costs the couple faced were huge for the life-saving surgery.

When Mr. Saiyed went to Friday prayers at the center on Dec.

2IVERVIEW

Moore Street Missionary Baptist Church

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

Dr. Alonza L. Lawrence, Pastor

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

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

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

Be safe. Be blessed.

"APTIST #HURCH Sunday School – 9:45 AM Sunday Services – 11:00 AM Via Conference Call (515) 606-5187 Pin 572890# Also Visit Us On Facebook Sunday Service – 11:00 AM 2604 Idlewood Avenue Richmond, Va. 23220 (804) 353-6135 www.riverviewbaptistch.org Rev. Dr. Stephen L. Hewlett, Pastor Rev. Dr. Ralph Reavis, Sr. Pastor Emeritus

2, 2016 he said Dr. Nadeem A. Khan, then president of the center, came before the assembly near the end of the service to seek a collection on behalf of Mr. Saiyed and his wife. “Everyone knew about the shooting,� Mr. Saiyed said. He recalled that Dr. Khan specifically told the worshippers that the collection would benefit him and his wife in their time of trouble. He saw donations being collected.

But he said that after he filled out paperwork that the center’s Mr. Saiyed former treasurer, Muhammed Aslam Asim, gave him to satisfy the center’s requirements, he never heard anything more. He said Mr. Asim stopped responding to questions about the money.

Reached by the Free Press, Dr. Khan declined to comment, noting he is no longer president of the center. Mr. Asim also did not respond to a request for comment.

The Free Press was referred to the center’s attorney, Kerry Hutcherson, who provided a statement with a view that differs sharply from Mr. Saiyed’s recollection.

In a statement issued April 24, Mr. Hutcherson wrote that Mr. Saiyed “requested financial aid from the Tri Cities Islamic Center, but Mr. Saiyed never received any because he refused to complete the application that TCIC requires of all persons who seek donations. “Although TCIC has often collected donations from its members in order to help persons in need,� Mr. Hutcherson continued, “no

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Good Shepherd Baptist Church 1127 North 28th St., Richmond, VA 23223 s Office: (804) 644-1402

“The Church With A Welcome�

Dr. Sylvester T. Smith, Pastor “There’s A Place for You�

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

Happy Mother’s Day

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2020 Morning Worship 11:00 AM Drive-In Service in our Parking Lot

See you there!

Due to the COVID-19 Corona Virus All regular activities have been years ofnotice.

Christian suspended 51 further 1until Serv ating r b e i ce l https://youtu.be/qqzhnIEQyQc CeVisit for inspirational messages from Pastor Smith

amount of money was ever collected specifically for Mr. Saiyed.

Unfortunately, Mr. Saiyed seems to have misunderstood the application procedure that TCIC uses to ensure that the donations of its members are distributed wisely (and) efficiently.�

In a follow-up statement on April 27, Mr. Hutcherson noted that the center’s position is that “a general collection for unnamed persons in need was announced, and any donations given in response were collected and distributed by TCIC in accordance with its procedures.�

Mr. Saiyed said the center often calls for donations to assist the needy. But he said on that night, Dr. Khan made it clear that the collection “was for me and my wife to assist us in our trouble. This was not a general collection. Everyone knew what he was talking about. “And I did fill out the paperwork that Aslam Asim gave me.

There was no refusal to do so on my part. How can they write such things?�

Mr. Saiyed said he stopped attending services at the center soon after, and the center also banned him because of his persistent requests for the money.

He said he has consulted faith leaders at other Islamic centers in the area and was advised that raising money but not giving the donations is “haram,� something forbidden or proscribed

by Islamic law.

He described as “shocking� the rejection he has faced from the center and “from my own faith people.�

Mr. Saiyed doesn’t have a copy of the application he filled out at the center for assistance. No witnesses have come forward.

The Chesterfield Police Department conducted an investigation after Mr. Saiyed filed a complaint, but closed it after not finding evidence to support his allegation. “One day, people will know the truth and know that I am not lying,� Mr. Saiyed said. “For now, that’s all I can hope for.�

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We Embrace Diversity — Love For All! Come worship with us!

Happy Mother’s Day Sunday, May 10, 2020 Service will not be held in our sanctuary.

Join us for 11:00 AM Worship by going to our website www.sixthbaptistchurch.org 400 South Addison Street Richmond, Va. 23220

Twitter sixthbaptistrva

Rev. Dr. Yvonne Jones Bibbs, Pastor

216 W. Leigh St. • Richmond, Va. 23220 Tel: 804-643-3366 • Fax: 804-643-3367 Email: ebcofďŹ ce1@yahoo.com • web: www.richmondebenezer.com

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.

(Jeremiah 29:11, NRSV) Please visit our website Ebenezer Baptist Church Richmond, VA for updates http://www.richmondebenezer.com Dr. Wallace J. Cook, Pastor Emeritus

Rev. Dr. Adam L. Bond, Pastor-Elect

(near Byrd Park)

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

St. Peter Baptist Church

Corporate Office Richmond, Va.: s &AX

Langston R. Davis email: ldavis@davisbrotherscc.com

Atlanta, Ga. Office: s &AX

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

Broad Rock Baptist Church 5106 Walmsley Blvd., Richmond, VA 23224 804-276-2740 • 804-276-6535 (fax) www.BRBCONLINE.org Early Morning Worship ~ 8 a.m.

“Due to the Corona All services Sunday SchoolVirus: ~ 9:30 a.m.

Morning Worship ~ 11 a.m. at Broad Rock Baptist Church 4th Sunday UniďŹ ed Worship Service ~ 9:30 a.m. are until further notice.â€?

Biblecancelled, Study: Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. & 7 p.m.

Sermons Available at BRBCONLINE.org

“MAKE IT HAPPEN�

$R +IRKLAND 2 7ALTON 0ASTOR

Pastor Kevin Cook

Worship Opportunities Sundays: All Sunday services have been suspended for the remainder of the month. Join us for online streaming this Sunday at 10 AM. Visit our WEBSITE, look under “/NLINE 3ERVICES,� and access the “0ASTOR S -ESSAGE.�

New Deliverance Evangelistic Church

1701 Turner Road, North Chesterfield, Virginia 23225 (804) 276-0791 office (804)276-5272 fax www.ndec.net

Bible Study Opportunities Thursdays: All Bible Study sessions have been suspended for the remainder of the month.

Remember...

At New Deliverance, You Are Home!

See you there and bring a friend.

Tithing Opportunities Download the Tithe.ly giving app for Apple and Android devices. Your gift is safe/secure and goes directly to our church.

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Thirty-first Street Baptist Church

C

e with Reverence elevanc R g in Rev. Dr. Joshua Mitchell, Pastor-Elect bin â?– om

SUNDAYS

Church School 9:30 a.m.

Morning Worship 10:30 a.m. â?–

WEDNESDAYS Bible Study 7:00 p.m. â?–

THIRD SUNDAY 10:30 a.m.

Children’s Church Higher Achievement 823 North 31st Street Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 226-0150 Office

Antioch Baptist Church “Redeeming God’s People for Gods Purpose�

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

SERVICES

SUNDAY WORSHIP HOUR – 10:00 A.M. CHILDREN’S CHURCH & BUS MINISTRY AVAILABLE SUNDAY SCHOOL (FOR ALL AGES) – 9:00 A.M. TUESDAY MID-DAY BIBLE STUDY – 12 NOON WEDNESDAY MID-WEEK PRAYER & BIBLE STUDY – 7:00 P.M. A MISSION BASED CHURCH FAMILY EXCITING MINISTRIES FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH, YOUNG ADULTS & SENIOR ADULTS BIBLE REVELATION TEACHING DIVERSE MUSIC MINISTRY LOVING, CARING ENVIRONMENT

Bishop G. O. Glenn D. Min., Pastor

Mother Marcietia S. Glenn First Lady

SUNDAY 8:00 a.m. Sunday School 9:30 a.m. Worship Service

WEDNESDAY SERVICES

DR. JAMES L. SAILES PASTOR

Noonday Bible Study 12:00 p.m. (Noon) Sanctuary - All Are Welcome!

Wednesday Evening Bible Study 7:00 p.m. (Bible Study)

SATURDAY 8:30 a.m. Intercessory Prayer

You can now view Sunday Morning Service “AS IT HAPPENS� online!

Also, for your convenience, we now offer “full online giving.�

Visit www.ndec.net.

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Hebrew 12:14 (KJV) www.ndec.net Tune in on Sunday Morning to WTVR - Channel 6 - 8:30 a.m.

CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (NDCA) NOW ENROLLING!!!

6 weeks to 4th grade Before and After Care For more information Please call

(804) 276-4433

Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm

Richmond Free Press

B4 May 7-9, 2020

Legal Notices/Employment Opportunities City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the City of Richmond Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, May 18, 2020 at 1:30 p.m. and the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. to consider the following ordinances: Ordinance No. 2020-103 To r e z o n e c e r t a i n properties in the areas surrounding the Science Museum of Virginia, Allison Street, and the Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia Union University Broad Street Bus Rapid Transit station areas.

Ordinance No. 2020-104 To amend the official zoning map for the purpose of designating certain street blocks as “priority streets� and certain street blocks as “streetoriented commercial streets� in the areas surrounding the Science Museum of Virginia, Allison Street, and the Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia Union University Broad Street Bus Rapid Transit station areas.

Ordinance No. 2020-105 To amend and reordain City Code §§ 30-433.2 (concerning parking lots in the UB Urban Business District, 30440.3 (concerning yards in the B-4 Central Business District), 30-446.2 (concerning parking lots in the B-7 Mixed-Use Business District), and 30-950.2— 30-950.5 (concerning Plan of Development Overlays), for the purpose of implementing the recommendations of the adopted Pulse Corridor Plan.

Ordinance No. 2020-106 To authorize the special use of the property known as 1701 North 21st Street for the purpose of two single-family attached dwellings, upon certain terms and conditions.

The property is situated in an R-5 Single-Family Residential District. The City of Richmond’s current Master Plan designates a land use category for the subject property as Single Family Low Density.

Primary uses are singlefamily detached dwellings at densities up to seven units per acre. Includes residential support uses such as schools, places of worship, neighborhood parks and recreation facilities, and limited public and semi-public uses. The proposed density of the project is approximately 12 units per acre.

Ordinance No. 2020-107 To authorize the special use of the property known as 2126 Rosewood Avenue for the purpose of an accessory dwelling unit. The property is situated in an R-6 Single-Family Attached Residential District. The City of Richmond’s current Master Plan designates a future land use category for the subject property as Single Family Residential at Medium densities.

Primary uses for this category are singlefamily and two-family dwellings, both detached and attached, at densities of 8 to 20 units per acre.

Includes residential support uses such as schools, places of worship, neighborhood parks and recreation facilities, and limited public and semipublic uses. The proposed density of the project is approximately 33 units per acre.

The meetings will be held through electronic communication means pursuant to and in compliance with Ordinance No. 2020093, adopted April 9, 2020. The meetings will be open to participation through electronic communication means by the public and closed to in-person participation by the public. Less than a quorum of Richmond City Planning Commission members and Richmond City Council will assemble in City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, and most members and other staff will participate by teleconference/ videoconference via Microsoft Teams.

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

Continued from previous column

https://richmondva. legistar.com/Calendar. aspx.To view the agenda at the web address provided, find and click the link that reads, “Agenda� associated with the May 26, 2020 Richmond City Council Formal meeting listed in the calendar.

Interested citizens who wish to speak at the Richmond City Council meeting will be given an opportunity to do so by following the “Formal Meeting Access and Public Participation Instructions� attached to the May 26, 2020 Richmond City Council Formal meeting agenda.

Citizens are encouraged to provide their comments in writing to CityClerksOffice@ richmondgov.com in lieu of calling in. The person responsible for receiving comments in writing is Candice D. Reid, City Clerk. All comments received prior to 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26, 2020, will be provided to Council members prior to the meeting and will be included in the record of the meeting.

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

Candice D. Reid City Clerk

City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, May 11, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. to consider the following ordinances: Ordinance No. 2020-049 As Amended To adopt the General Fund Budget for the fiscal year commencing Jul. 1, 2020, and ending Jun. 30, 2021, and to appropriate the estimated revenues for such fiscal year for the objects and purposes stated in such budget.

Ordinance No. 2020-109 To amend City Code §§ 26-27 and 26-29, concerning the City’s tax amnesty program, for the purpose of providing for the 2020 tax amnesty period’s application to tangible personal property and real estate taxes.

This meeting will be held through electronic communication means pursuant to and in compliance with Ordinance No. 2020093, adopted April 9, 2020. This meeting will be open to participation through electronic communication means by the public and closed to in-person participation by the public. Less than a quorum of Richmond City Council will assemble in the Council Chamber on the Second Floor of City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, and most Council members and other staff will participate by teleconference/ videoconference via Microsoft Teams.

Audio of the meeting will be streamed live online at the following web address: https:// richmondva.legistar.com/ Calendar.aspx. To listen to the meeting’s live audio stream at the web address provided, find and click the link that reads, “In Progress� in the farthest right hand column entitled, “Video�.

The agenda for the Richmond City Council meeting is accessible through the City’s legislative website at the following web address: https://richmondva. legistar.com/Calendar. aspx.To view the agenda at the web address provided, find and click the link that reads, “Agenda� associated with the May 11, 2020 Richmond City Council Formal meeting listed in the calendar.

Interested citizens who wish to speak at the Richmond City Council meeting will be given an opportunity to do so by following the “Formal Meeting Access and Public Participation Instructions� attached to the May 11, 2020 Richmond City Council Formal meeting agenda.

The agenda for the Richmond City Council meeting is accessible through the City’s legislative website at the following web address:

Citizens are encouraged to provide their comments in writing to CityClerksOffice@ richmondgov.com in lieu of calling in. The person responsible for receiving comments in writing is Candice D. Reid, City Clerk. All comments received prior to 10:00 a.m. on Monday, May 11, 2020, will be provided to Council members prior to the meeting and will be included in the record of the meeting.

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

Candice D. Reid City Clerk

Divorce VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER HEATHER REMINGTON, Plaintiff v.

JON REMINGTON Defendant.

Case No.: CL20001450-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

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

It is ORDERED that the defendant, who is a nonresident of Virginia, appear here on or before the 1st day of July, 2020 at 9:00 AM, and protect his interests.

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

ANTOINE JOHNSON, Defendant.

Case No.: CL19002265-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

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

It is ORDERED that the defendant, who has been served with the Complaint by posted service appear here on or before the 9th day of June, 2020 at 9:00 AM, and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Counsel VSB# 27724 The Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER KENNETH BEW, Plaintiff v.

JEANNE BEW, Defendant.

Case No.: CL20001281-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

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

It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 1st day of July, 2020 at 9:00 AM, and protect her interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER CORBIN COTTINGHAM, Plaintiff v.

TONIQUE JOHNSON, Defendant.

Case No.: CL20001313-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

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

It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 1st day of July, 2020 at 9:00 AM, and protect her interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 Virginia: In the Circuit Court of the CIty of Richmond john marshall courts building linda sheryl Continued on next column

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kennedy, Plaintiff, v. david elmo kennedy, Defendant.

Civil Law No.: CL20-1448-3 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of the abovestyled suit is to obtain a divorce from the bonds of matrimony from the defendant on the grounds that the parties have lived separate and apart without interruption and without cohabitation for a period of more than one year, since May 15, 1991.

And it appearing by Affidavit filed according to law that David Elmo Kennedy, the above-named defendant, is not a resident of this state and that due diligence has been used by or in behalf of plaintiff to ascertain in what county or city the defendant is, without effect.

It is therefore ORDERED that the said David Elmo Kennedy do appear in the Clerk’s Office of the Law Division of the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond, 400 North 9th Street, Richmond, Virginia 23819, on or before June 16, 2020 and do whatever necessary to protect their interest in this suit.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk I ask for this: Rudolph C. McCollum, Jr. VSB #32825 P.O. Box 4595 Richmond, Virginia 23220 Phone (804) 523-3900 Fax (804) 523-3901

COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

TERRANCE L. JONES, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-266 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 5409 Blue Ridge Avenue, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number E0100230/005, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Terrance L. Jones and Tawanna J. Jones.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owners, TERRANCE L. JONES and TAWANNA J. JONES, who have been served by posting and by mailing a copy of the complaint to their last known address, have not been personally located and have not filed a response to this action; that NANCY ANN ROGERS, TRUSTEE of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 04-17304 on May 26, 2004, who has been served by posting and by mailing a copy of the complaint to her last known address, has not been personally located and has not filed a response to this action; that THEMIS V. STRATIOU, upon information and belief deceased, Beneficiary of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 04-17304 on May 26, 2004, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action; that DARYL T. PAGE, TRUSTEE of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 04-33780 on October 8, 2004, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action; that BENEFICIAL MORTGAGE CO. OF VIRGINIA, an entity listed as inactive in the records of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Beneficiary of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 04-33780 on October 8, 2004, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action; and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/ or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.�

IT IS ORDERED that TERRANCE L. JONES, TAWA N N A J . J O N E S , NANCY ANN ROGERS, TRUSTEE of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 04-17304 on May 26, 2004, THEMIS V. STRATIOU, upon information and belief deceased, Beneficiary of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 04-17304 on May 26, 2004, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, DARYL T. PAGE, TRUSTEE of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 0433780 on October 8, 2004, BENEFICIAL MORTGAGE CO. OF VIRGINIA, an entity listed as inactive in the records of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Beneficiary of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 0433780 on October 8, 2004, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JUNE 11, 2020 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949

and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.�

IT IS ORDERED that HARRIETT B. DAVIS, upon information and belief deceased, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, STEPHANIE L. LEWIS, Registered Agent for LSG ENTERPRISE, LLC, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JUNE 11, 2020 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949

is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949

in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.�

IT IS ORDERED that FREMONT REORGANIZING C O R P O R AT I O N f k a FREMONT INVESTMENT & LOAN, an entity withdrawn from the records of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Beneficiary of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 0544017 on December 12, 2005, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JUNE 11, 2020 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949

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

MARY E. WHITE, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-1143 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 1615 North 27th Street, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number E0000864/060, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Mary E. White.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, MARY E. WHITE, upon information and belief deceased, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.�

IT IS ORDERED that MARY E. WHITE, upon information and belief deceased, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JUNE 11, 2020 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

TERRANCE L. JONES, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-267 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 5433 Blue Ridge Avenue, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number E0100230/019, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Terrance L. Jones and Tawanna J. Jones.

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

IT IS ORDERED that TERRANCE L. JONES, TAWANNA J. JONES, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JUNE 11, 2020 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL

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

HARRIETT B. DAVIS, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-337 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 2603 Fairfield Avenue, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number E0120318/001, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Harriett B. Davis.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, HARRIETT B. DAVIS, upon information and belief deceased, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action; that STEPHANIE L. LEWIS, Registered Agent for LSG ENTERPRISE, LLC, which may be a creditor with an interest in said property, who has been served by posting and by mailing a copy of the complaint to her last known address, has not been personally located and has not filed a response to this action;

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

DOROTHY LUCILLE FLIPPEN, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL20-625 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 2624 Lancelot Avenue, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number S0090301/013, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Dorothy Lucille Flippen.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, DOROTHY LUCILLE FLIPPEN, upon information and belief deceased, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.�

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

LEON A. FORD, et al.

Defendants.

Case No.: CL19-5807 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 2404 Alexander Avenue, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number S0080885/017, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Leon A. Ford.

An Affidavit having been filed that FREMONT R E O R G A N I Z I N G C O R P O R AT I O N f k a FREMONT INVESTMENT & LOAN, an entity withdrawn from the records of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Beneficiary of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 05-44017 on December 12, 2005, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest Continued on next column

custodY Virginia: In the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court HENRICO County Commonwealth of Virginia, in re CEDILLO CEDILLO, JOSE SAUL, Case No.: JJ106440-01-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to: Grant sole legal custody of jose saul cedillo cedillo pursuant to code 16.1-241 (A3).

It is ordered that the defendant rutilIo delsid appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or before May 27, 2020, 9:00 AM.

Thank you for your interest in applying for opportunities with The City of Richmond.

To see what opportunities are available, please refer to our website at www.richmondgov.com.

EOE M/F/D/V

Virginia Community Development Corporation (VCDC) VCDC is currently seeking a full-time Director of Equity Funds to join our team.

For more details and how to apply visit: www.vacdc.org/careers

INVITATION TO BID: Skanska USA Building is bidding remaining bid packages for the Alderman Library Project in Charlottesville, VA; these packages starting construction in summer of 2020. The project is 130,000 sq. ft. of new construction and 100,000 sq. ft. of renovation.

The balance of BP-2 work is posted through Building Connected, including remaining packages for all trades on the exterior envelope through interior ďŹ nishes, Including new construction and restoration scopes of work. Bids for these packages will be due by 5/22/20.

For information/pre-qualiďŹ cation/ bid list information or other questions, please contact: Chris Rhodes: Chris.Rhodes@skanska.com 615 337 4823 Shane Wood: Shane.Wood@skanska.com 434 400 8523 John Kozlowski: John.Kozlowski@skanska.com 919 941 7934

AVAILABLE Downtown Richmond first floor office suite 5th and Franklin Streets 422 East Franklin Street Richmond, Virginia 23219

804.358.5543 Bedros Bandazian

Associate Broker, Chairman

Raffi Bandazian

Principal Broker, GRI

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