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VOL. 26 NO. 2
© 2017 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
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Free Press celebrating 25th anniversary Richmond Free Press www.richmondfreepress.com
JANUARY 12-14, 2017
Farewell, President Obama
Commander in chief returns to Chicago for his final speech where it all began
Free Press wire reports CHICAGO President Obama bid farewell to the nation Tuesday in an emotional speech that sought to comfort a country on edge over rapid economic changes, persistent security threats and the election of Republican Donald Trump. With a final call of his campaign mantra, “Yes we can,” the president offered a speech in his hometown of Chicago that — forceful at times and tearful at others — was a public meditation on the many trials the country faces as President Obama takes his exit. He urged Americans to stand up for U.S. values and reject discrimination. He gently prodded the public to embrace his vision of progress while repudiating some of the policies that President-elect Trump promoted during his campaign for the White House.
“So just as we, as citizens, must remain vigilant against external aggression, we must guard against a weakening of the values that make us who we are,” he told a crowd of 18,000 people in Chicago, where he celebrated his election in 2008 as the first African-American
His speech on A7 president of the United States. “Yes, our progress has been uneven,” he said. “The work of democracy has always been hard, contentious and sometimes bloody. For every two steps forward, it often feels we take one step back.” Yet President Obama argued his faith in America had only been strengthened by what he’s witnessed the past eight years, and he declared: “The future should be ours.” Please turn to A4
President Obama waves to the crowd as he takes the stage in Chicago on Tuesday to deliver his farewell address.
Longtime Wilder aide convicted of embezzlement By Holly M. Rodriguez
“Shocking” and “tragic.” Those are the words former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder used to describe his feelings about the embezzlement conviction Wednesday of his longtime and once trusted aide. Ruth M. Jones, who had served for more than 40 years as executive assistant to the esteemed former governor and former Richmond mayor, entered an Alford plea in Richmond Circuit Court to a charge that she embezzled $16,000 from Mr. Wilder’s 2004 mayoral campaign account.
Ms. Jones was indicted by a grand jury on Jan. 4, 2016, and arrested four days later, according to court records. In her court appearance Wednesday, she entered the plea that acknowledged there was enough evidence to convict her despite her assertion of innocence. She was given a five-year suspended sentence and ordered to repay the $16,000 to the campaign account, according to Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney John Jung. Please turn to A5
John Gress/Reuters
Richmond Community ICU nurses told to apply for other jobs By Jeremy M. Lazarus
A Bon Secours memo provided to the Free Press undercuts the Catholic hospital group’s public claim that it intends to maintain its five-bed intensive care unit at Richmond Community Hospital in Church Hill. The memo, issued by Douglas Cofield, RCH’s director of nursing operations, counsels the ICU nursing staff on the process of transferring within RCH or to another Bon Secours hospital. Mr. Cofield states in the memo that there are registered nurse positions available either at Memo1994 File photo rial Regional Medical Center, another Bon Ms. Jones Secours hospital in Hanover County, or in the Emergency Department at RCH. “You will have to apply for the position of your interest, then submit it as a borhood streets would get more priority, and transfer,” he notifies the eight nurses who at least in some areas that happened. currently provide round-the-clock care to According to John Buturla, the city’s seriously ill or injured patients in the ICU. deputy chief administrative officer for “The Talent Consultant will be looking for operations, “For the first time, we were your applications,” he stated. Mr. Gordon Mr. Cofield issued the memo after the Please turn to A4 ICU nurses were told on Dec. 19 that their services no longer would be needed after midJanuary and that they had one week to make arrangements for continued employment with Bon Secours, a source told the Free Press. The Free Press received a copy of the memo last week following the publication of an article, based on source information, that Richmond Community Hospital’s ICU was to close by Monday, Jan. 22. The article included a statement from RCH’s chief executive, Mark Gordon, insisting that the ICU would remain open. Bon Secours re-issued that statement this week after being told about the Cofield memo. Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press However, the Free Press also was told this week that the hospital’s ICU actually would Harmony Ellis, right, enjoys Jazz Booker’s attempt to get moving down be closed sooner than Jan. 22. the slopes in Bryan Park on Monday as the youngsters and many families took to the outdoors to play in the snow. The much-anticipated snowfall A hospital staff member, who was accompanied with below-freezing temperatures, closing area public requested anonymity for fear
Stoney gets high marks on first on-the-job task
Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney appears to have passed the first big test for his new administration — clearing away the 8 inches of snow that fell on the city by last Saturday afternoon. During and after the snowstorm, Mayor Stoney, who will be ceremonially sworn in and deliver his inaugural address at noon Saturday, Jan. 14, at City Hall, was highly visible around the city. He visited the city’s emergency operations center before the snow arrived, then took time to ride with snowplow crews as they began to reopen the roads. He also took a sled ride at Forest Hill Park to the delight of the adults and children who
turned out to play in the snow. Overall, there was praise for the work that city employees accomplished. Most of the city’s main streets were plowed within a day and certainly by Monday when commuters poured into the city to return to work. That was a refreshing change for many who recall previous snows when the city had a harder time than its county neighbors in getting to bare pavement. Some workers were astonished to find that City Hall reopened at its regular time Monday as a result of the high level of clearing that was done. Mayor Stoney also promised that neigh-
Legality of severance pay to ex-mayor’s appointees questioned
elect L. Douglas Wilder, who tried and failed to halt the payIn November 2004, as Richment, City Council used the mond City Hall prepared for the law to provide outgoing City change to an elected mayorManager Calvin Jamison with a council form of government and severance package that included to abolish the city manager’s a year’s pay of $174,421 and an office, the outgoing City Council enhanced pension. rushed to approve an ordinance Despite Mayor Wilder’s vow Dr. Jones that authorized the council or the to have the law repealed, it stayed mayor to give severance pay to appointees on the books like an unexploded bomb. whose jobs were eliminated or who were Fast forward 12 years, and the law terminated for non-criminal reasons. has blown up in the face of another new To the frustration at the time of MayorBy Jeremy M. Lazarus
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Snow day!
schools for three days. Please see more photos, A2.
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Trump denounces intel reports of damaging info from Russian hacking A5