June 2 4, 2016 issue

New ‘Roots’ for new generation

B2

Richmond Free Press © 2016 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 25 NO. 23

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

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Meet Richmond schools’ highest achiever B1

June 2-4, 2016

No $ to fix schools

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The same rundown buildings that many Richmond students attend are likely to be the same buildings where a new crop of students will be attending class 10 years from now.

Unless Richmond eliminates other planned projects to focus on schools, finds a new source of revenue or raises taxes significantly, the City of Richmond would not be able to afford to renovate or replace those buildings.

That’s the grim conclusion of a new study from David Rose of Davenport & Co., the city’s financial adviser.

That’s also a nightmare scenario to Tommy

Mr. Kranz

“I don’t know whether we’ll be able to keep the buildings open.”

“What I have seen places our staff and students in extreme danger,” she said in her email accompanying the information to her colleagues and Dr. Bedden. “Male students are dragging female students down the hallway by their hair, hitting them in the chest, punching them in the rear end and nothing is being done. The students are sent back to their classrooms.”

In emotional remarks during the board’s May 16 meeting, Ms. Harris-Muhammed detailed her understanding of the problems at the school that she said were serious and pervasive enough to warrant public discussion.

“I respect everybody on this board. I love you dearly, but when a teacher gets pushed so hard that her head hits the back of a door and

added classroom space at overcrowded schools on South Side, he said.

Little was left to make improvements to other school buildings.

During the five-year period between 2017 and 2021, the city plans to borrow $318 million to spend on approved projects for parks, streets, roads, city buildings and a host of other needs.

However, just $14 million would be devoted to general school maintenance during that period. That’s slightly less than $3 million year to deal with the multitude of problems that afflict the school system’s 40 aging buildings. Mayor Dwight C. Jones averaged $3 million a year for school maintenance during his eight-year tenure, separate and apart from the $19 million spent to ensure schools meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and the $196 million spent on four new schools.

The $14 million is definitely far less than $94 million the Richmond School Board requested for the five-year period, which also was well short of the $169.8 million the board’s own reports show actually would be needed.

Mayor Jones commissioned the Davenport study in hopes of creating a multi-year plan to fund school needs before he leaves office. The study is now in the hands of City Council.

According to the study, the $318 approved for all city projects, and likely to be borrowed, essentially will max out the city’s credit card through 2021 under its current borrowing policy, which limits total debt to 10 percent of the combined operating and school budgets.

Taking on that debt alone would require the city to shift $18 million a year to debt service by 2022 to cover the cost of repaying principle and interest.

The city could loosen its conservative policy to take on more debt — potentially an additional $200 million, the study noted.

Please turn to A4

Please turn to A4

Kranz, Richmond Public Schools’ assistant superintendent for operations.

“I don’t know whether we’ll be able to keep the buildings open,” Mr. Kranz said, worried about failing air conditioning and heating systems,

MLK Middle not living up to his name

By Malik Russell

Richmond School Board member Shonda Harris-Muhammed is calling on her colleagues and Superintendent Dana T. Bedden to stem a tide of alleged violence and assaults at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in the East End. In a recent Free Press interview, Ms. Harris-Muhammed, who represents the 6th District where the school is located, said more than 10 teachers and staff members from the school contact her regularly about their fears for their safety and that of others.

An email she received from teachers at the school included photos and a video of incidents that she shared with members of the School Board and Dr. Bedden in early May.

leaking roofs and a host of other problems he might not be able to afford to deal with.

Richmond City Council shifted an additional $19 million to schools this year, but virtually all of it had to be spent to lease or buy trailers for

Groups unite for slavery memorial in Shockoe Bottom

By Malik Russell

The push to create a memorial to slavery in Shockoe Bottom took another step forward this week as national groups joined with local activists.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Dr. Max Page of the University of Massachusetts Center for Design Engagement are collaborating with the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project to hold

a series of community meetings this week that will culminate in a new and sharper proposal for the Shockoe Bottom slavery memorial.

The groups will reveal the proposals 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 3, at the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia, 122 W. Leigh St., in Richmond’s Jackson Ward. The meeting is open to the public.

“This is not just a local Richmond story. It’s also compelling

City goes dim on solar streetlights

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones has boasted many times during the last seven years about the solar streetlights that were installed in a West End neighborhood with taxpayers’ dollars.

He has cited the 21 solar streetlights in Randolph West as an important example of his commitment to “greening” the city and reducing the city’s impact on the environment, particularly its carbon emissions.

But outside the public view, the Jones administration no longer regards solar streetlights as the wave of the future and blocked their use in other city-supported neighborhoods, such as Highland Grove, the replacement for Dove Court in North Side.

As for Randolph West, Robert Steidel, director of the city’s Department of Public Utilities, wants to replace the solar lights in the 70-home development with standard Please turn to A4

as a national story,” said Dr. Page. “I think it is probably the most important undiscovered or untold site about slavery and its lasting impact up to the present.”

Others agree. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named Shockoe Bottom “a national treasure.”

“A unique part of American history happened at Shockoe Bottom and it has nearly been forgotten,” said Rob Nieweg, senior field director and attorney for the national trust. “Shockoe Bottom should be treated as a site of conscience, a place where modern-day discussions can go on about the legacy of slavery and the things impacting our communities today. We see it both as an extremely important place for the past but also for its role in the future.”

The Massachusetts group Please turn to A4

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Cruising Under the watchful eye of her father, Tommy Davis, young Luci cruises on her bicycle along the 500 block of South Davis Avenue during a sunny spell on Memorial Day weekend in the West End. Please see additional holiday photos, Page B3.

Study shows some children don’t visit doctors despite having insurance Free Press staff report

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Solar streetlights line the sidewalks and alleys in Randolph West, a neighborhood in the city’s West End. These lights are in an alley between the 1600 block of Jacqueline and Kemper streets.

A majority of Richmond children from low-income families apparently are not getting annual checkups from doctors, even though the children have health insurance through Medicaid or other programs that would cover the cost.

The result: Many youngsters are dogged by obesity or other treatable physical and mental health problems that are never dealt with, disrupting their education and well-being.

That finding emerges from an East End pilot program led by a Richmond pediatrician, Dr. Joseph W. Boatwright III, and the former coordinator of an East End health outreach program, Dr. Richard Seely, who has a doctorate in business

administration.

Their findings take on more significance as the city prepares to join the Invest Health initiative, which seeks to bring together public and private health entities to address health issues.

Dr. Seely said that Dr. Boatwright until this study, he had no idea that so many children were not going to the doctor for yearly physicals.

He said that also often applies to dental care.

He thought he knew what was going on, having spent six years developing cooking, exercise and educational programs

encouraging healthy behavior that touched 3,000 people a year through partnerships with community groups, churches and health care providers.

However, he said the study showed that such programs just scratch the surface and do not address the health disparities that result in East End residents living shorter lives compared with people in other parts of the city.

Dr. Boatwright and Dr. Seely believe the key to resolving the problem is to work with respected leaders who have relationships with families living in public housing or low-income communities. While many people and groups are working to improve health care, most do not have Please turn to A4

A2 June 2-4, 2016

Richmond Free Press

Local News

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Winfree Cottage to get TLC, finally The bedraggled, but historic Winfree Cottage — which now sits beside the Lumpkin’s Slave Jail site on the Richmond Slave Trail in Shockoe Bottom — is finally receiving some tender loving care in a bid to halt its decay.

In the past two weeks, rotten wood has been replaced and the City of Richmond has approved a permit to allow the cottage to receive a fresh coat of whitewash and have its metal roof repainted.

Painting was scheduled to begin this week.

Cityscape

Slices of life and scenes in Richmond What makes this little house special is that it is said to be the last slave cottage in Richmond. What is known is that the cottage was purchased or built in 1866 by David Winfree, a former slave owner, who deeded it to Emily Winfree, his former slave and the mother of five of his children, along with 100 acres near what is now Commerce Road and Semmes Avenue in South Side.

City-owned for at least 12 years, the cottage has long been

More than 1,200 students in Richmond schools graduation ceremonies Break out the caps and gowns. Graduation time has arrived in Richmond.

This year, 1,242 students are to receive diplomas, equivalency degrees or certificates recognizing their completion of high school, according to Richmond Public Schools.

The ceremonies will begin Tuesday, June 7, for students attending

Related story on B1 the 10 schools with ceremonies and wrap up Thursday, June 16.

The events will mark the 142nd year that RPS has awarded diplomas. Richmond’s state-mandated public education system got its start in 1869, four years after the Civil War ended, and began graduating students in 1874.

In addition to school valedictorians and salutatorians, graduation speakers will include Delegate Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico; James Braxton, community outreach representative for Centura College; John Eisenberg, assistant state superintendent of public education; Deborah Greene, a former teacher at Amelia Street School; Richmond City Council President Michelle R. Mosby; and Xavier Richardson, chief executive officer of the Mary Washington University Foundation.

Following is the graduation schedule: Tuesday, June 7 10:30 a.m. — Richmond Career Education & Employment Academy, 3 graduates. Speaker: Assistant State Superintendent of Public Education Eisenburg. Location: Downtown YMCA, 2 W. Franklin St. Tuesday, June 14 Noon — John Marshall High School, 182 graduates. Valedictorian, Stefan Woodson Jr.; salutatorian, Amilia Bryan. Speaker: Delegate Bagby. Location: Altria Theater, 6 W. Laurel St. 3:30 p.m. — George Wythe High School, 205 graduates.

Valedictorian, Regena Walker; salutatorian, Jala Sheppard.

Speakers: Miss Walker and Miss Sheppard. Location: Altria Theater, 6 W. Laurel St. 7 p.m. — Armstrong High School, 218 graduates. Valedictorian, Willie-Lee Triania Molle-Bette Young; salutatorian, Kahlil NaJee Newsome. Speaker: Miss Young. Location: Altria Theater, 6 W. Laurel St. Wednesday, June 15 Noon — Richmond Community High School, 57 graduates.

Valedictorian, Chris Gabbert; salutatorian, Leonardo G. Franzinetti. Speaker: City Council President Mosby. Location: Altria Theater, 6 W. Laurel St. 3:30 p.m. — Huguenot High School, 289 graduates.

Valedictorian, Brooke Hunter; salutatorian, Maria Diaz. Speaker: Mr. Richardson of the MWU Foundation. Location: Altria Theater, 6 W. Laurel St. 7 p.m. — Thomas Jefferson High School, 200 graduates.

Valedictorian, Natasha Coleman; salutatorian, Szhanesha-Irrelle Rose Becoat. Speaker: Mr. Braxton of Centura College. Location: Altria Theater, 6 W. Laurel St. Thursday, June 16 11 a.m. — Amelia Street, 1 graduate. Speaker: Ms. Greene, former teacher at school. Location: Maymont Nature Center’s Garden Hall, 2201 Shields Lake Drive.

3 p.m. — Franklin Military Academy, 47 graduates. Valedictorian, Jocelyn Lee; salutatorian, Justin Rosado. Speakers: Miss Lee and Mr. Rosado. Location: Virginia Union University’s Allix B. James Chapel in Coburn Hall, 1500 N. Lombardy St. 5:30 p.m. — Open High School, 40 graduates. Valedictorian, Emma Silverman; salutatorian, Michael Opstelten. Speaker: Miss Silverman. Location: VUU’s Allix B. James Chapel in Coburn Hall, 1500 N. Lombardy St.

envisioned as a visitor’s center for the Richmond Slave Trail.

But the cottage has been left to the weather since being rescued from demolition in 2002 by David Herring and Jennie Dotts, who led the once-active Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods.

Still awaiting a permanent home, the 700-square-foot cottage

remains atop the trailer and steel I-beams on which it was moved from Manchester to Shockoe Bottom 14 years ago.

Appalled at the slow deterioration from water damage, Historic Richmond has jumped in to stabilize the building, with help from the City of Richmond and several businesses.

A nonprofit that seeks to save historic properties, Historic Richmond secured donations of lumber from Siewers Lumber & Millwork, paint from Sherwin-Williams and other materials from Lowe’s to get the work going, according to Danielle Worthing, a preservation specialist for the organization.

Ms. Worthing said that in May, Restoration Builders of Virginia undertook the essential carpentry work. Now the project is waiting for painter Emmett Burke to recoat the building. The city agreed to pick up the labor costs, she said.

She said the work is following the plans of volunteer consultants Charlie Field of Obsidian Inc. and Mimi Sadler of Sadler & Whitehead Architects PLC, who prepared them through the nonprofit Storefront for Community Design.

“This is only the first step towards permanent stabilization of the Winfree Cottage,” Ms. Worthing said. “We look forward to working with Storefront, other partners and the community to find a home for this structure. There is still a great deal more work to be done.”

City Hall cracking down on false burglar, fire alarms City Hall is about to crack down on false alarms at homes and businesses, including halting police responses to locations that have multiple false alarms.

After years of balking, Richmond City Council has given Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration the green light to overhaul the city’s program for dealing with false alarms — with surprising little notice to the public.

Among the big changes effective July 1, private property owners with burglar and/or fire alarms will be required to obtain a permit to operate their alarms.

Alarm installation and monitoring companies will be required to collect signed permit applications and permit fees from new and existing customers.

Property owners with an unmonitored system would need to get a permit on their own.

Each permit from the city Department of Emergency Communications is to cost $10 for the first year and $5 each year thereafter, according to an ordinance City Council adopted Friday, May 13, as part of the budget papers.

Those who fail to comply could be fined $100, according to the legislation.

The money from the permits is to cover the costs of the stepped-up program, including the salary and expenses of an alarm administrator, who is to manage the program. The ordinance authorizes

Police Chief Alfred Durham to designate the person for the new position.

The new program requires that police stop responding to any privately owned home or business that has five or more false alarms within a 12-month period, with the owner required to pay a $100 fee to reinstate police response service.

The program also increases fines for false alarms.

Currently, the city allows two false alarms in a year. It charges an owner $50 for a third false alarm and $100 for each false alarm thereafter. After July 1, two false alarms still would be allowed, with a third continuing to bring a $50 fine. The fines then would increase to $75 for the fourth and would gradually increase with each subsequent false

alarm to $500 for the 10th false alarm or thereafter.

The new program also requires that alarm systems installed after July 1 meet state and national standards, including an automatic cutoff of the alarm after 15 minutes.

False alarms have long been considered a public nuisance and a strain on police resources. Richmond Police report responding to more than 10,000 false alarms a year, or an average of 27 a day.

Since 1985, City Council has sought to reduce the problem by passing legislation to impose fines on property and business owners after repeated false alarms.

But the council has never put anyone in charge, resulting in limited and hit or miss enforcement.

Attempts at reform have foundered. In 2008, City Council rebuffed then-Mayor L. Douglas Wilder’s proposal to install a program almost identical to the one that was approved.

In recent years, the Richmond Police Department has tried a voluntary program. In 2013, the department teamed up with a company called Cry Wolf to enable property owners to voluntarily register alarms via the Internet, providing dispatchers and responding officers with accurate contact information to enable faulty alarms to be shut off. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS

Voices for the Vote Rally slated for Saturday in Petersburg Free Press staff report

The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, along with several partner organizations, is hosting rallies across the state this weekend to speak out against voter suppression and to assist people to register to vote.

The Central Virginia Voices for the Vote Rally will be held 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 4, on Pocahontas Island in Petersburg.

Other rallies will be held that day in Lawrenceville Sen. and Roanoke.

Organizers said the rallies were called after Republican lawmakers filed suit last week to block Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s executive order restoring the voting rights of 206,000 Virginians who have finished serving prison sentences and completed their supervised parole or probation.

African-Americans accounted for 45.9 percent of the disenfranchised group, while 51.5 percent are white felons, according to data released by the governor’s office. More

than 79 percent of the former inmates had been convicted of nonviolent felonies.

A majority of states allow for automatic restoration of rights once a felon completes his or her sentence.

Since Gov. McAuliffe issued the executive order on April 22, nearly 5,000 people whose rights were restored have registered to vote.

There are 5.3 million registered voters in Virginia.

The Virginia State Conference NAACP, the Locke Virginia AFL-CIO, the ACLU of Virginia and New Virginia Majority are joining the VLBC in sponsoring the rallies.

“Voting is a fundamental right of a democracy, not a privilege to be weakened by suppressive efforts designed to undermine the power of the people,” Sen. Mamie E. Locke, D-Hampton, who chairs the VLBC, said in a statement.

For details, email VLBC2011@yahoo.com or call (804) 862-2922 or (757) 287-0277.

Richmond Free Press

June 2-4, 2016

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Richmond Free Press

A4 June 2-4, 2016

News

No $ to fix schools Continued from A1

The problem is the cost. According to the study, Richmond’s revenue is projected to grow slowly in the next few years, rising about $10 million to $12 million a year or about 1.4 percent.

Borrowing an extra $200 million would cost the city $15 million to $20 million a year in additional debt service costs. In other words, virtually all of the new revenue would have to go to repaying the debt, leaving no money for pay raises for city workers or other essential needs.

City Council has the option of scrapping some of the projects it has approved and shifting funds to school maintenance and

renovation. However, that hasn’t happened, despite the strong support council members have voiced for the public schools.

Council members also have put a higher priority on a number of projects, including one of the largest — replacing the city’s emergency communications system at $48 million.

Council also has as priority developing a slavery memorial in Shockoe Bottom, a project that is to start in the next year and on which the city plans to spent $8 million to $19 million to create a museum around the Lumpkin’s Jail site; a community center on North Side and a teen center in Church Hill.

The list of priority projects also includes upgrades in city parks, renovations to public

libraries, improvements to the riverfront and creation of a statue to honor the historic Fulton community that was wiped out through urban renewal.

Given the expense that extra debt will cost and the backlash the council could face for backing tax increases, the problem has become a hard nut to crack.

Schools are not the only places clamoring for investment. John Buturla, the city’s deputy chief administrative officer for operations, has a long list of bridges, streets, public buildings and other city property that has been neglected.

Mr. Buturla has reported that the city would need to borrow up to $1.2 billion during the next 10 years to address the array of unmet needs.

Study shows some children don’t visit doctors despite having insurance Continued from A1

deep relationships with families where such support is needed.

“Essentially what is needed is a robust community health worker and community leader program that focuses on screening and relies heavily on grassroots support,” Dr. Boatwright said.

Dr. Seely said the kind of leaders he is talking about can ensure that children will get to appointments, even if they have to take the children themselves.

He cited Nathaniel Pollard, who leads a sports program called Richmond Kougars that offers co-ed sports in Church Hill. He would round up players and bring them to appointments to make sure they got required physicals.

The physician said that kind of support from community leaders is essential.

“That’s the missing piece,” Dr. Seely said. “There are plenty of medical resources and programs. But if they do not include individuals who are trusted and respected,

the impact will be limited.”

He said a large share of the health disparities within Richmond’s East End population could be relieved through stronger ties between the medical programs and the people in the communities they target.

The men have createdAloha Health Initiative, a program that incorporates what they have learned. They hope it will be embraced by funders of health care programs.

Essentially, their proposal seeks to link providers with community members who have essential relationships with families who need stronger links to medical and dental services.

During the study, the men worked with students at the Church Hill Academy and participants in Richmond Kougars, which is affiliated with the Amateur Athletic Union.

“At least 80 percent of the students I met did not regularly see the doctor though they were covered by insurance,” said Dr. Boatwright.

Many of the children are in households

that face challenges, he said. Parents or guardians frequently move because of struggles paying rent. Some adults can’t take their children to the doctor because of their work schedules and the possible loss of pay for missing work.

Many of the families also do not have cars or face other transportation challenges to get the doctor assigned by Medicaid to treat the child. Sometimes people who live in the East End are assigned to a doctor in South Side, who is too far away.

Dr. Boatwright said he learned about the situation when he was granted access to health records for the children at the school and in the sports program. Both the school and the Kougars required parents to fill out authorization forms because of federal privacy rules.

He said most of the children had health insurance through Medicaid or the state’s FAMIS program, Family Access to Medical Insurance Security, which also covers other low-income groups, including pregnant women.

Groups unite for slavery memorial Continued from A1

started the process with plans previously generated by the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project for the area in Shockoe Bottom that stretches between Interstate 95 east to the CSX Railroad tracks and train shed behind Main Street Station.

Activists are looking to create a memorial park on the 9-acre tract, which includes the Lumpkin’s Jail site, where thousands of enslaved people were held while being bought and sold, and the African Burial Ground that also held the Town Gallows where slave rebellion leader Gabriel was executed.

Two-thirds of the proposed park area already has been set aside by the city for a memorial. The national trust is suggesting addition of two square blocks east of the railroad tracks, between East Broad, 17th and East Grace streets.

The city has plans to revitalize 6 acres that includes Lumpkin’s Jail and the slave trail under the Richmond Slave Trail Commission. A larger plan for the area, proposed by Mayor Dwight C. Jones that included commercial development and a baseball stadium, collapsed under public opposition.

The key issue that worries advocates is whether there will be protections against commercial development around the site, which advocates want to remain reverent and respectful of the hundreds of thousands people whose lives were impacted by the slave trade.

Scores of slave trade and auction houses were in the Shockoe Bottom prior to the Civil War when Richmond’s slave trading industry ranked second only to New Orleans. Between 300,000 to 350,000 enslaved people were sold out of Virginia to support the cotton, tobacco and sugar cane industries.

Delegate Delores L. McQuinn, chair of the Slave Trail Commission that has $19 million in state and local commitments to create a memorial, said while the door for communication is open, no one invited her to this week’s community sessions, nor have there been conversations on ways to work together.

More importantly, she noted that the work of the Slave Trail Commission involving Lumpkin’s Jail and the African Burial Ground does not prevent the area from being expanded in any future plans.

She hinted that there will be a “big announcement” soon on the next phase of work at the Lumpkin’s Jail site.

Ana Edwards, chair of the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project, said action by the Slave Trail Commission wouldn’t negate what the advocate groups are considering.

“They could go ahead with this, and that would be great,” she said of the commission’s proposals. “But we would like to see the full 9 acres protected.”

“This site in Shockoe Bottom is unique beyond compare in so many ways,” she said. “But it’s principally a place where you can not only find the slavery history but the black history origins in the state of Virginia and the city of Richmond that tie us to the rest of the national story.”

Advocates are looking to present their design proposals as alternatives the city would consider in response to public “Richmond Speaks” meetings the city held last year about the Lumpkin’s Jail site. The city has added the African Burial Grounds to its plan.

“It is important to understand that this is the land that we currently control,” city spokesperson Tammy Hawley said, noting the $19 million in financial commitments.

“This represents a level of financial support that this project has not had before and we are moving forward to build this site up to tell a fuller and more complete history of our city and our country,” she said.

MLK Middle not living up to his name Continued from A1

she falls, Houston, we have a problem,” Ms. Harris-Muhammed told her colleagues.

Her goal, she later told the Free Press, is to “rally some additional resources, make changes and get help … to combat the violence and disruptions in the building. We had 12 teachers out on May 20. No plan was in place to service those students with instruction.”

On Tuesday, Ms. Harris-Muhammed led a walk-through at the school. No board members accompanied her.

She said she plans to work with community leaders, police, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the School Board to hold a town hall meeting on violence at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School.

Ms. HarrisData from the Richmond Police DeMuhammed partment confirms problems at the school.

According to police records, 82 calls for service at the school were received between mid-November and May 11. Authorities said 18 of those calls happened between school hours. They also logged 14 arrests at 1000 Mosby St., the school’s address, between Sept. 1 and May 16. The arrests took place between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., according to the records.

When contacted by the Free Press, Principal Derrick Scarborough declined to comment. However, school officials released a statement: “Richmond Public Schools takes any and all reports of safety violations very seriously. District administration has taken extra steps to increase the number of building administration, teachers and security presence to provide support at the school.”

School officials pointed out that while regulations require only one administrator for a building of around 650 students, Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School has four. The school also has nine security workers, according to officials.

School officials also said that more than 200 students at the school are “involved with cases” including “conflict, bullying, gangs and mediation” handled by the RPS’ Office of Family and Community Engagement. The office, created at the start of the 2014-15 school year, is to provide additional support and training for school employees in addition to conflict resolution and violence prevention programs.

For Ms. Harris-Muhammed, the alleged and documented violence is symbolic of the culture of violence that plagues communities across the nation, particular in areas with high concentrations of poverty. She said many of the issues stem from problems within the community that bleed over into the middle school.

She said the school’s student population is made up in part by youngsters from five public housing communities. “No other middle school in this city is fed by five public housing communities,” she said. The school ends up “taking on all of the stuff that happens in the communities where those children reside.”

She wants to mobilize parents from Mosby and other communities to participate more in the school’s PTA and to help create strategies to improve conditions at the school next year.

Art Burton, a longtime community activist and founder of Kinfolks Community, an organization providing resources to residents of Mosby Court, said schools are reflections of communities and the solutions must start there.

“You have to recognize that the issue of violence comes into the schools, and you have to address where it is coming from, which is out of these communities,” Mr. Burton said.

“Many of these communities have been intentionally denied programs, some of them for 30 to 40 years now. We’ve taken out recreation, taken out public works, minimized social services.

We have to put those programs back and add reading programs for the kids and sports. We have to change the environment for kids in the community.”

City goes dim on solar streetlights Continued from A1

electric streetlights. He sees the solar lamps, while less expensive, as inadequate in lighting and as not fitting with the city’s streetlight grid.

“We will fight any effort to replace the solar streetlights. Our residents love them and want to keep them. We just want them to be maintained.,” said A. Hugo Bowers Sr., a Randolph West resident who is chief executive officer of Bowers Family Enterprises, the parent of Premier Homes, which developed the neighborhood 11 years ago.

Streetlights have long been a sore point for the $16 million subdivision, which Premier undertook for the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority and which is still the largest ever undertaken by an AfricanAmerican developer within the city.

Initially, the city promised to install standard streetlights, but the subdivision failed to get them for years after thenMayor L. Douglas Wilder, angered by a lawsuit Mr. Bowers brought against the city, blocked their installation.

But with support from Richmond City Council and the arrival of a new mayor, the city ended up providing the funding for their installation to the RRHA, which paid it to Premier. Mr. Bowers said the installation cost about $443,000, or about $21,100 a light.

He credits Christopher L. Beschler, then chief operating officer for the city, with the solar lighting decision, which allowed the city to save at least $1 million. Standard streetlights were expected to cost between $1.2 million and $1.6 million, or up to $76,000 a light.

The city also saved at least $3,000 a year on the cost of electricity to power the lights, a point DPU cited in lauding

the streetlight installation in 2009 under a cooperative agreement the department inked with RRHA. At that time, DPU spokeswoman Angela Fountain noted that “the Randolph West project is the city’s pilot program and will be the first use of solar lighting within a subdivision. This is an opportunity to be first to install a renewable energy source and demonstrate environmental stewardship in our community.

“Although the developer is actually installing the solar lighting,” she continued, “DPU will be responsible for maintaining the solar lights after they have been installed.”

The city’s love affair with the lights quickly ended. By 2013, when maintenance was needed, DPU decided that the solar streetlights were not its responsibility.

Mr. Bowers, seeking to keep the lights on, said he received verbal approval from Mr. Beschler to undertake the maintenance on 16 of the lights. He said the work largely involved replacing the failing batteries that collect the solar energy and discharge it at night. He said the batteries only have a useful life of five years.

After spending $23,000, Mr. Bowers said the bill for the work was rejected by the city as unauthorized.

“That’s baloney,” he said. “When I installed the streetlights, it was done the same way. There was no written authorization.

I was given verbal authority to proceed, and the work was paid for.

“This bill has gone unpaid for more than 1,000 days. Every month, $500 to $800 in interest is being added because of the late pay, and it has now grown to about $43,000,” Mr. Bowers said. “That’s punishing taxpayers.”

Meanwhile, the remaining five street-

lights no longer work because the batteries have died, which Mr. Bowers said has increased the risk of break-ins and other crimes.

City Attorney Allen L. Jackson said he cannot find any evidence in the records that the maintenance work was authorized by Mr. Beschler, nor has Mr. Beschler confirmed he authorized the work. Nor did Mr. Beschler ever approve payment during his stint as interim chief administrative officer.

Mr. Beschler, who now heads the state Department of General Services, did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Jackson also said he cannot find any documents that show Mr. Bowers installed the streetlights in the city’s utility right of way or that the property owners authorized the installation of the lights. As a result, the city attorney said the streetlights are considered to be on private property, and the city bears no responsibility for them.

“That’s ridiculous,” said Mr. Bowers, who insists the subdivision plans show he provided the city with a 10-foot easement from the curb on every property in the subdivision, and that the lights were installed within the city’s easement. He also stated that DPU received signed approvals from each of the 21 property owners on whose land the lights were installed.

At this point, City Council is seeking to end the dispute. On April 25, at the behest of Randolph West’s representative, 5th District Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, the governing body passed a nonbinding resolution encouraging the administration to negotiate the acquisition of the solar lights to end the dispute over ownership.

It is not clear that the administration plans to move ahead, though, with Mr. Steidel adamant that he does not want DPU to have to accept the solar lights into its inventory.

Richmond Free Press

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Michael S. Schechter, M.D., M.P.H. Professor and Chief, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, Director of UCAN, The CHOR Community Asthma Program

Breathing. It’s a critical part of everyday life, yet we rarely think about it.

Imagine a child playing outside with friends, having the best time ever. Suddenly their chest tightens up. They have to stop running because they can’t catch their breath. To them, it feels like they are breathing through a straw. For some kids in Richmond, that is real life—life with poorly managed asthma.

What’s life like for children with well-man-

June 2-4, 2016

aged asthma? “If you could keep up with them on the basketball court or playground, you could ask,” said Michael Schechter, M.D., chief of pulmonary medicine at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU. Schechter, a pediatric lung doctor with extensive experience working with children with asthma, said in recent years, better ways to diagnose and treat asthma have significantly improved daily life for children living with asthma. Schechter explained, “With proper medication, severe flare-ups can be minimized—even prevented—and children with well-managed asthma care can lead active lives with minimal restrictions.”

More than 23 million Americans have asthma, and more than one-quarter are children younger than age 18. Asthma is a condition that affects a person’s breathing. Inside the lungs are airways called bronchial tubes. In people with asthma, there is chronic irritation or inflammation of the bronchial tubes associated with swelling and increased mucus production.

As a result of this inflammation, some people have frequent, even daily, symptoms such as a cough, wheezing or difficulties with exercise.

Others with asthma only have these symptoms when exposure to certain triggers causes the muscle around the bronchial tubes to tighten up and narrow.

Common causes of asthma flare-ups are known as “triggers.” Respiratory viral infec-

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tions like colds or flu, are by far the most common trigger of asthma flare-ups. Having a cold also makes a person with asthma more sensitive when exposed to other triggers, such as strenuous exercise, cigarette smoke, anything with a strong smell (good or bad) including perfume, paint or chemicals. Of course, that includes dust, pollen, mold and other allergens (which are the most common cause of the chronic airway inflammation seen in asthma).

Intense exposure to allergens may also trigger an asthma flare-up. Generally speaking, the overall goal of managing asthma is to reduce daily symptoms while maintaining normal activity levels—minimizing exposure to triggers helps with this.

In 2015, Richmond was named the country’s “sneeziest, wheeziest” city, by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The rating is no big surprise, as the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America has ranked Richmond as the top “most challenging city to live in with asthma”, in three of the last five years. While pollutions and pollens are important, the bigger triggers for most Richmond children are indoor allergies. “It’s mostly about the dust, mold and vermin,” said Schechter.

“Another part of the problem,” he explained, “is that, people don’t seem to understand what they need to do and what their expectation should be for their asthma care.”

Schechter relocated to Richmond from Atlanta and has been here just over three years.

He immediately noticed that asthma was a significant health problem for the children of Richmond. “In my first year here I saw two children die from asthma,” said Schechter. “In seven years of practice in Atlanta, which is a significantly larger city, I had not seen any children die from asthma.” Those two losses served as a wake-up call for Schechter. “I saw a large number of patients coming into our emergency room, into the hospital and the pediatric ICU.” Asthma and other respiratory diseases are the number one cause of hospitalization for children. According to Schechter, “It seems to be a much bigger problem here in Richmond, particularly in our minority population.”

In 2014, 8.6 percent of children and 7.4 percent of adults in the U.S were known to have asthma. While asthma extends across the gender and racial demographic of the country, African-Americans had the highest percentage of asthma prevalence with 9.9 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “It’s important that patients and families understand that just because you or your child has asthma, it doesn’t mean that you need to suffer,” said Schechter. “We have the right knowledge and tools, so someone with the condition can do anything that any other person can do.”

Your Journey to Wellness Starts Here Yes, UCAN

Do you remember PSAs (public service announcements) like, NBC’s, “the more you know”, and “knowing is half the battle,” from G.I. Joe®? PSAs deliver valuable information, especially on health issues. In today’s world of growing health disparities—particularly among African-Americans—it’s important to give communities knowledge and resources, to help them live healthier lives. That’s where Dr. Michael Schechter, chief of pulmonary medicine at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, and UCAN come in. Dr. Schechter is a pediatric pulmonologist and with his UCAN team, he is working to change the face and expectations of self-managing asthma.

UCAN, which is short for the YoU Can Control Asthma Now program, is empowering the communities of Richmond to combat the health disparities that exist for asthma in children. UCAN is supported by a grant from the Children’s Hospital Foundation. The funding helps provide the availability of a doctor, nurse and social worker, all dedicated to providing support to children with asthma and their families. The program provides a combination of medical care, education and social support to help children and their parents self-manage their asthma symptoms and live active, healthier lives.

“The focus of UCAN is to assist patients who come from socially stressful environments to be able to do better, as these are the kids who are having the most trouble,” Schechter said, “these are the kids who are showing up in the emergency room and being hospitalized.” He attributes the problems being partly related to the difficulties of an overall stressful environment. Those stresses are usually related to things like housing, food, and transportation. “In many cases the housing is problematic. There may be a lot of mold. There may be vermin, like roaches and rodents that are significant sources of allergens.”

Currently, Schechter and his team are connecting patients and families with UCAN when a child is hospitalized for asthma issues. “We get a history and find out what misunderstandings there may be about the way they should be treating their asthma,” said Schechter. “We also help make sure they have their health insurance, including Medicaid, setup.”

Depending on the need the UCAN team coordinates with the Richmond Health Department and the Lead Safe and Healthy Homes Initiative (LSSHI). “We get the LSSHI to visit patients’ homes and check out if there are significant problems in the environment. They advise patients on how to remediate the home.”

UCAN also provides assistance connecting patients to transportation resources and even connecting families to food resources if necessary. Another part of the program focuses on helping patients’ parents. “We screen the parents for mental health issues like depression,

which is an important cause of people having difficulty with disease self-management—taking care of themselves and their kids,” said Schechter. If needed, UCAN will connect them with mental health resources. According to Schechter, “Parents and children with chronic disease have a much higher prevalence of depression and anxiety.”

There may be outside challenges that are not direct health issues, but can have an impact on the environment and overall health of patients and their families. “If there are legal issues—such as may occur when a landlord is pushing back on making needed repairs to an apartment—we connect with the Medical-Legal Partnership Richmond for help. We are trying very hard to eliminate the barriers in getting children the appropriate care for their asthma,” said Schechter.

For some parents, the struggle with asthma didn’t just start with their kids, but with themselves, as asthma runs in families. These parents didn’t have the knowledge and resources to better manage their asthma. “The parents historically didn’t have good control of their asthma when they were growing up,” said Schechter. “They may have had lots of hospitalization and emergency room visits, and in fact they may still have their own problems with asthma. They expect that will be the case for their kids as well.” UCAN focuses on empowering and educating the community to change that perception and raise the expectation of managing asthma.

Learn more about UCAN at chrichmond.org/UCAN or schedule an appointment at (804) 628-UCAN (8226).

Coughing, especially at night Wheezing or whistling sound, especially when exhaling Trouble breathing or fast breathing that causes the skin around the ribs or neck to pull in tightly Frequent colds that settle in the chest

• 17.7 million adults in the U.S. currently have asthma • 6.3 million children in the U.S. currently have asthma • 1.8 million visits to the emergency room with asthma diagnosis • 13.4 percent of African-American children under the age of 18 have asthma • 9.9 percent of African-American adults have asthma Sources: American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Richmond Free Press

A6 June 2-4, 2016

Local News

Inmates to mow 4 public parks

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

City Hall is getting some help to mow down the high grass in its parks, street medians and an array of other public property.

In the past two weeks, a small cadre of volunteers armed with weed whackers and mowers has tidied up school lawns and eliminated embarrassing overgrowth on other city property.

Now, Sheriff C.T. Woody Jr. is adding some reinforcements.

After a talk with Mayor Dwight C. Jones, according to city officials, the sheriff has agreed to provide seven trustees from the jail to groom four major parks — Bryan, Byrd, Chimborazo and Forest Hill.

The inmates, who are to earn $10 a day, were to start work this week using city equipment to deal with grass and weeds that are flourishing as a result of significant and steady rain in recent weeks.

What remains a puzzle is why the city waited so long to bring in willing inmates to undertake the work and why so few are being deployed, despite longstanding efforts to create a robust program.

Sheriff Woody Sheriff Woody has not responded to requests for comment. The Richmond Department of Public Works also has not explained its disinterest in employing jail inmates, nor have other departments.

Since at least the mid-1990s, the sheriff’s department ran a program in which jail inmates — particularly those serving time on weekends — picked up litter mostly in areas that had become dumping sites.

Ten years ago, Richmond City Council approved a community service program that authorized the sheriff to put willing inmates to work to clean up public property as well as abandoned properties that had become neighborhood eyesores.

At the time, the program was aimed largely at getting inmates involved in cleaning up vacant lots and cutting overgrown lawns of vacant houses to help cut the expense of employing private companies.

Five years ago, Mayor Jones won council approval for an ordinance that cleared the way for willing inmates, under supervision, to “work on such public property … as may be identified in writing by the chief administrative officer and transmitted to the sheriff.”

Explanatory language attached to the 2011 ordinance cites the success of inmate crews “in cleaning debris and maintaining vegetation on both public and private property. The inmate crews have proven to be a cost-effective and efficient way to supplement the city’s grounds maintenance and nuisance abatement programs.”

Inmates have been “previously utilized to complete work on public properties, such as parks, athletic fields, cemeteries and

rights-of-way, … and in some cases, have replaced city staff, resulting in cost savings.”

However, such use of inmates seems to have evaporated, particularly since the new Justice Center opened.

Tony Pham, legal counsel to Sheriff Woody, stated that a handful of inmates most recently were assigned to work on the development of the Cannon Creek Greenway on North Side.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

High grass gets sheared Wednesday at Bryan Park in the North Side. This is one of the four parks that a team of inmates from the Richmond Justice Center will keep groomed under an agreement between City Hall and Sheriff C.T. Woody Jr. The other three parks are Byrd, Chimborazo and Forest Hill.

City budget deficit pegged at $4.1M

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The City of Richmond is facing a $4.1 million deficit and likely will have to dip into savings to avoid being in the red when the books close June 30 on the current 2015-16 fiscal year.

That’s according to Lenora Reid, the city’s chief financial officer.

She expects Mayor Dwight

C. Jones to seek permission from Richmond City Council to move money from savings to deal with the projected deficit, although the amount could be smaller by the end of the month.

Ms. Reid expects the request to be introduced at the council meeting on Monday, June 13.

The good news, she said, is that the deficit is far smaller than the $12.4 million gap she

Va. Supreme Court to hear voting rights restoration challenge July 19

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The Virginia Supreme Court will not rush to hear a Republican challenge to Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s April 22 order restoring voting rights to 206,000 felons.

In an order issued Wednesday, the seven-member court announced it would sit in special session on Tuesday, July 19, to hear arguments in the case aimed at deciding the governor’s authority to issue a blanket restoration of rights rather than acting on a case-by-case basis.

The court’s decision to hold the special summer session rebuffs a request from House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Fredericksburg, and five other GOP challengers, who urged the court to move more quickly and hold the hearing Monday, June 6.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, who represents the governor, the state Board Mr. Herring of Elections and the state Department of Elections, had urged the justices “not to be stampeded” into hearing the challenge that “is highly unlikely to succeed.”

Defendants usually have 21 days to file briefs in response, but the Republican plaintiffs’ request for a fast hearing would have shortened that time by a week. The challenge was filed May 27, making the normal deadline to reply June 13.

The challengers argue that the governor’s action flouts the wording and common understanding of the 1971 Virginia Constitution, which previously has been interpreted to give governors the power to restore felons’ voting and civil rights on a caseby-case basis, rather than as a group.

In a brief to the court, Mr. Herring has outlined a four-part argument he plans to use in urging the court to reject the challenge to the governor’s authority.

Mr. Herring plans to argue that the governor acted within his constitutional authority. He also will urge the state’s highest court to throw out the case on the grounds the challengers lack standing or the right to sue.

His third prong will be to urge the court to reject the challengers’ request for orders barring the governor from issuing restorations en masse and rescinding any restoration of rights resulting from his April 22 action based on the court’s past rulings.

Finally, Mr. Herring will argue that even if the court sides with the challengers, the remedy should not be to remove from the voting rolls the names of those individuals who benefited from the governor’s decision in April.

Instead, Mr. Herring plans to argue that the right remedy would be to allow the governor to deliver case-by-case information to the General Assembly for each of the 206,000 people whose rights were restored, something the governor is prepared to do.

initially projected in October.

Still, the deficit is bad news for the city, which has relied on surpluses in recent years to help fill budget holes.

Extra revenue has helped improve Ms. the city’s financial picture, according to the third quarter financial report Ms. Reid presented to City Council’s Finance Committee last month.

The report shows the city benefited from higher payments from the state, better than expected receipts from real estate and personal property taxes and higher than expected earnings from public utilities.

Overall, Richmond’s general fund revenues for operations are expected to total $696.2 million, or $7 million more than the council approved in May 2015 for a $689.3 million budget.

Reid However, rising expenditures have more than swallowed up the additional revenue, according to the report.

Overall, the city will finish the budget year with about $700.3 million in expenses — also well above the council-approved budget.

Increased spending on public safety and public works are among the reasons.

For example, the city po-

lice and fire departments are spending more on overtime this year as the result of unfilled vacancies and collectively are expected to be about $3 million over budget by June 30.

The Sheriff’s Office also is projected to be $2.4 million over budget, largely due to increased costs to provide medical care to inmates.

The Department of Public Works also is projected to spend $2.1 million more than it was budgeted because of higher than expected costs for the new citywide recycling program, additional expenses related to the UCI Road World cycling championship held in Richmond last September and the heavy winter snows, the report states.

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NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF A FILING BY VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY OF ITS INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN CASE NO. PUE-2016-00049 On April 29, 2016, Virginia Electric and Power Company (“Dominion Virginia Power” or “Company”) filed with the State Corporation Commission (“Commission”) the Company’s Integrated Resource Plan (“IRP”) pursuant to § 56-599 of the Code of Virginia (“Code”).

An IRP, as defined by § 56-597 of the Code, is “a document developed by an electric utility that provides a forecast of its load obligations and a plan to meet those obligations by supply side and demand side resources over the ensuing 15 years to promote reasonable prices, reliable service, energy independence, and environmental responsibility.” Pursuant to § 56-599 C of the Code, the Commission determines whether an IRP is reasonable and in the public interest.

According to the Company, the IRP encompasses the 15 year planning period from 2017 to 2031 and is based on the Company’s current assumptions regarding load growth, commodity price projections, economic conditions, environmental regulations, construction and equipment costs, demand side management programs, and many other regulatory and market developments that may occur in the future.

Dominion Virginia Power states in its filing that its objective in developing the IRP was to identify the mix of resources necessary to meet future energy and capacity requirements in an efficient and reliable manner at the lowest reasonable cost while considering future uncertainties.

According to the Company, potential negative impacts and challenges facing customers include commodity price volatility; reliability concerns based on overreliance on any single fuel source; and changing regulatory requirements, particularly regulation by the United States Environmental Protection Agency of carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing electric generation.

As amended in 2015, § 56-599 of the Code requires, among other things, that an IRP evaluate: (i) the effect of current and pending environmental regulations upon the continued operation of existing electric generation facilities or options for construction of new electric generation facilities; and (ii) the most cost-effective means of complying with current and pending environmental regulations. The Company’s filing contains discussion of such matters.

Contemporaneous with its IRP, the Company, by counsel, filed a Legal Memorandum in this proceeding. In its Legal Memorandum, the Company provides, among other things, its position on the legal authority for recovering expenditures associated with the potential North Anna 3 nuclear unit.

The Commission entered an Order for Notice and Hearing in this case that, among other things, scheduled a public hearing at 10 a.m. on October 5, 2016, in the Commission’s second floor courtroom located in the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, to receive the testimony of public witnesses and the evidence of the Company, any respondents, and the Commission’s Staff. Any person desiring to testify as a public witness should appear at the hearing location fifteen (15) minutes before the starting time of the hearing and contact the Commission’s Bailiff.

Copies of the public version of all documents filed in this case are available for interested persons to review in the Commission’s Document Control Center located on the first floor of the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, between the hours of 8:15 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Interested persons also may download unofficial copies from the Commission’s website: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case.

Copies of the public version of the Company’s IRP and the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing also may be inspected during regular business hours at each of the Company’s business offices in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Copies of these documents also may be obtained, at no charge, by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company, Jennifer D. Valaika, Esquire, McGuireWoods LLP, Gateway Plaza, 800 East Canal Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. If acceptable to the requesting party, the Company may provide the documents by electronic means.

On or before September 28, 2016, any interested person may file written comments on the IRP with Joel H. Peck, Clerk, State Corporation Commission, c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118. Interested persons desiring to file comments electronically may do so on or before September 28, 2016, by following the instructions found on the Commission’s website: http://www.scc. virginia.gov/case. Compact discs or any other form of electronic storage medium may not be filed with the comments. All such comments shall refer to Case No. PUE-2016-00049.

Any person or entity may participate as a respondent in this proceeding by filing a notice of participation on or before July 6, 2016. If not filed electronically, an original and fifteen (15) copies of the notice of participation shall be filed with the Clerk of the Commission at the address set forth above. A copy of the notice of participation as a respondent also must be sent to counsel for the Company at the address set forth above. Pursuant to Rule 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, Participation as a respondent, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (“Rules of Practice”), any notice of participation shall set forth: (i) a precise statement of the interest of the respondent; (ii) a statement of the specific action sought to the extent then known; and (iii) the factual and legal basis for the action. Any organization, corporation, or government body participating as a respondent must be represented by counsel as required by Rule 5 VAC 5-20-30, Counsel, of the Rules of Practice. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUE-2016-00049. For additional information about participation as a respondent, any person or entity should obtain a copy of the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing.

The Commission’s Rules of Practice may be viewed at http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. A printed copy of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and an official copy of the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing in this proceeding may be obtained from the Clerk of the Commission at the address set forth above.

VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY

Richmond Free Press

June 2-4, 2016

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Richmond Free Press

Sun-loving daisy in West End

Editorial Page

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June 2-4, 2016

Lesson from ‘Roots’ The bond of family runs deep in the African-American community.

Forty years and a remake have not depreciated that lesson from “Roots,” the television miniseries now playing on cable’s A&E, History and Lifetime channels.

No matter whether LeVar Burton or Malachi Kirby is playing Kunta Kinte, the Mandinka warrior whose life and family are traced in the video version of Alex Haley’s novel by the same name, we believe the story reinforces to our community the importance and power of family.

One of the emotional tragedies of slavery was the separation of families by slave owners who viewed people of color simply as commodities. “You are like the pigs and horses and no more,” the overseer of the Waller plantation in Virginia reminds Kunta Kinte.

The series shows the maneuvers and suffering the enslaved went through to keep their families together. That also was highlighted so well at the end of the Civil War by the scores of advertisements posted by newly freed people trying to locate and reunite with loved ones torn apart by human bondage.

Given such history, we are troubled by today’s statistics showing that only 36.6 percent of African-American children live with two parents. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s figures from 2009, traditional family ties within our community are staggeringly low when compared with figures showing 67.4 percent of Hispanic children and 74.7 percent of white children live with both parents.

While slavery has been abolished by the U.S. Constitution, large segments of the African-American community remain enslaved by drugs, poverty, incarceration and other factors that tear families apart.

We admit, too, to feeling discouraged on a recent late-night television dating show where a young African-American man from Norfolk disclosed he’d impregnated nine women. (“That doesn’t mean I have nine children,” he told the host.)

A small glimmer of hope arose last year in a fatherhood study released by the Centers for Disease Control about how involved men are with their children, including how often each week they see their children, eat with them, bathe them, read to them, help with homework or carry them to activities. It surveyed men who lived with their children as well as those who did not live with their families.

Surprisingly, it showed that African-American men living apart from their children are more involved with their children than their white or Latino counterparts.

Does that speak, to a degree, on the value African-Americans put on family? Does it debunk the myth of the absent AfricanAmerican father?

We reserve judgment. The studies are available via the internet for perusal.

What we believe, what we have observed and what other studies show is the lesson “Roots” gives us — that having a family and knowing the strength, fearlessness and resiliency of our ancestors engenders those qualities in us.

Every family needs a Mandinka warrior, no matter his or her name.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Recommit to rid nuclear weapons On May 27, President Obama became the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima, Japan, where, at the end of World War II, the United States became the first and only country to drop an atomic bomb.

The president used the occasion to revive attention on the need to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

Immediately, critics assailed the president for going on an “apology tour.” The White House sought to calm the furor, assuring reporters that the president would not use the word “sorry.”

“We said that this is not about issuing an apology,” Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters.

Why not apologize? The president visited the 30-acre Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, located directly under the spot where the bomb exploded, with a museum displaying the charred belongings of the 100,000 people who perished, as everything with one mile of the bomb blast was entirely wiped out. The short inscription on the park’s memorial arch reads, in part: “We shall not

repeat the evil.”

The United States, thankfully, is the last country to have used nuclear weapons in wartime. We dropped them on Hiroshima and Nagasaki even as Japan was on the verge of surrender. That the bomb was dropped reflected the savagery

Jesse L. Jackson Sr. of that war — from the secret attack on Pearl Harbor to the horrid battles in Okinawa and elsewhere. Massive firebombing already had devastated Tokyo, in the single most destructive bombing attack in history.

Some scholars believe President Harry S. Truman made the decision less to bring Japan to its knees than to put the world — and particularly the Russians — on notice of America’s power. But you don’t have to see the bombing as criminal to agree that this evil must not be repeated — and to apologize that it should ever have been unleashed on humans in the first place.

But as Elton John sang, “Sorry seems to be the hardest word to say.”

The visit returns the president to the solemn pledge he made in Prague soon after coming to office. He reaffirmed “America’s commitment to a world without

nuclear weapons,” arguing that their very existence posed a threat that they might once more be used. He pledged to make their elimination — complete and general nuclear disarmament — not just a wistful dream, but a central goal of our national security policy.

Under President Obama, there has been some progress toward that goal. The 2010 START agreement with Russia limited the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to fewer than 2,000. The role of nuclear weapons in U.S. military strategy was reduced. The historic 2015 agreement with Iran — which has already resulted in Iran’s surrender of nearly all of its nuclear material — gave new life to nonproliferation efforts. President Obama helped organize pressure that succeeded in reducing the dispersal of bomb-grade nuclear fuel.

But now informed observers argue that the risks of a nuclear disaster are getting worse. Tensions are rising with both Russia and China, with the U.S. deploying forces near their borders.

Nuclear stockpiles contain more than 15,000 warheads. As many as 1,000 remain on hair-trigger alert. U.S. security strategy still claims the right to use nuclear weapons first, a dangerous and dumb refusal to limit their

Death penalty too good for Roof Dylann Roof, the unrepentant racist who killed nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., is — no question — a monster. He prayed with people before reciting racist cants and annihilating people. After his heinous acts, it was discovered that he was a rabid racist who had wrapped himself in the Confederate flag.

Does he deserve the death penalty? No. The death penalty is the kindest thing that could happen to him, and he does not deserve our kindness.

The death penalty provides some of us with immediate satisfaction, a sense of revenge. And it lets him off the hook.

Imagine, instead, that this slug is sentenced to life in prison and forced to live with the consequences of his actions. Imagine that he is incarcerated with people who look just like the folks he killed.

Imagine that, daily, he has to negotiate the racial realities of our nation’s prison system, a system that disproportionately incarcerates African-American men. Imagine that he is vilified as a symbol of our nation’s ingrained racism. Imagine that he, perhaps, has a “come to Jesus”

moment where he renounces the racism that caused him to act. Or, imagine that he simmers in his evil and reminds others how heinous he is.

The death penalty is inhumane no matter how it is applied. African-Americans are more likely to be sentenced to

Julianne Malveaux death than others are, and that is part, but not all, of the point. The rest of the point is that “an eye for an eye” leaves us all blind. The good people of Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church were overflowing in their forgiveness of Mr. Roof. Do these forgiving, Godfearing people now oppose the commandment that says “Thou shall not kill”?

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, nearly 3,000 people sit on death row. While African-Americans are just 13 percent of the population, we are 43 percent of the death row inmates.

Most people don’t believe that the death penalty deters crime.

Many believe that enforcing the death penalty is a waste of taxpayer money. Most prefer alternatives — life sentences without parole, and perhaps with restitution. Mr. Roof can turn into a Confederate martyr if he is killed. Instead, imagine him as a decrepit old man living his life out in prison, constantly faced with his crimes, constantly reminded of

his heinous acts. His life, not his death, will constantly remind us of the hate that hate produced.

Make no mistake — Mr. Roof is not an isolated phenomenon. He is the product of the Confederate flag, the product of the Ku Klux Klan, the product of the ugly, repugnant, vicious hate that produces a flawed and crippled white supremacy.

We don’t kill white supremacist hate by killing Dylann Roof. We don’t eliminate the ugly sentiments that propelled this extremely sick young man into a church with a gun by taking his life.

Instead, the sole purpose of his life might be to serve as a symbol of hate, to remind us that there will be no peace without justice. Justice does not mean extracting a death penalty that is inherently unfair to AfricanAmericans. Justice means abolishing the death penalty that is still upheld in 31 states.

Mr. Roof ought to be put under somebody’s jail, allowed only a Bible and minimal bland food. He needs to be deprived of every pleasure his victims have been deprived of. He needs to be surrounded by black folks just like the ones he killed. I’m not wishing him violence or harassment, just reflection. Killing Mr. Roof won’t kill white supremacy. Keeping him miserably alive may, in fact, deter others from imitating him.

The writer is an economist and author.

The Free Press welcomes letters The Richmond Free Press respects the opinions of its readers. We want to hear from you.

We invite you to write the editor. All letters will be considered for publication. Concise, typewritten letters related to public matters are preferred. Also include your telephone number(s). Letters should be addressed to: Letters to the Editor, Richmond Free Press, P.O. Box 27709, 422 East Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23261, or faxed to: (804) 643-7519 or e-mail: letters@richmondfreepress.com.

use to actual deterrence. The United States just activated an anti-ballistic missile system in Romania that the Russians say violates the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Agreement.

President Obama has signed off on a modernization of both nuclear weapons and their delivery systems with a projected cost of $1 trillion over three decades that could very likely to trigger a new arms race.

“As the only nation ever to use nuclear weapons,” President Obama has argued, “the United States has a moral obligation to continue to lead the way in eliminating them.”

With or without an apology, he has used the occasion of visiting Hiroshima to once more recommit to that goal so that no one will ever again be victims of that evil.

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

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Richmond Free Press

Letter to the Editor

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FR ee

Lynch confirmation delayed until 2015?

Free Press staff, wire reports

Dr. Hammond

President Obama has set yet another precedent with his choice to succeed U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Loretta Lynch, a 55-yearold Greensboro, N.C., native and Harvard educated lawyer, would be the nation’s first African-American female attorney general if confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

As the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York since 2010, Ms. Lynch has worked on numerous high-profile cases involving Ms. Lynch police brutality, bank fraud and money laundering.

Sources close to the Obama administration said they expected Ms. Lynch would generate little controversy, making for a smooth Senate confirmation process.

The Senate twice previously has confirmed her nomination to federal prosecutor jobs, most recently in 2010.

But senior Senate Democrats and White House aides said Ms. Lynch’s confirmation likely would be delayed until the new session of Congress starts in January. Her nomination then will rest in the hands of Republicans, who will control the upper chamber as a result of the Nov. 4 elections.

Known for her low-key personality, Ms. Lynch has stirred little controversy during two tenures as U.S. attorney. She served in the position under President Bill Clinton from 1999 to 2001, before leaving for private practice. President Obama appointed her to the post once again in 2010.

A Republican-majority Senate confirmed her 1999 appointment, while a Democraticmajority Senate confirmed her in 2010.

Mr. Holder is the only attorney general to serve under President Obama, holding the job since 2009. He is the first African-American to hold the

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ee FR

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

NOVEMBER 13-15, 2014

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VOL. 23 NO. 19

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

MAY 8-10, 2014

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Above, Martin “Marty” Cobb, 8, was killed while defending his beloved 12-year-old sister during a sexual assault on her last Thursday on South Side; right, grieving children comfort each other at Saturday evening’s community vigil to honor Marty.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

‘Marty’ Cobb slain while defending 12-year-old sister

I must take umbrage with the Republican ma- action on their part that the governor found it Heartwarming return jority of the General Assembly and its leadership. necessary to exercise his executive privilege. The Once again, this partisan body of legislators has sad thing is that these are the same ill-principled for Albert Hill coach shown that it is more concerned with wasting legislators who are presently squandering taxtaxpayers’ dollars in a frivolous lawsuit against payer money by challenging the current courtQuarterback sacked by Gov. Terry McAuliffe over restoration of voting ordered redistricting mandate.

Ben Jealous in new position DUI charge rights for more than 200,000 individuals rather The Republican leadership in the General than providing for the medical care of 400,000 Assembly needs to cease their tireless effamilies in the Commonwealth. forts to deny and restrict folks of the right Petersburg man lost dream, During the 2016 General Assembly session, but made $45,000 profit to vote in Virginia. They need to use that six bills were introduced calling for an amend- same energy in the expansion of Medicaid, ment to the Virginia Constitution allowing for the better services for schools, developing truly immediate restoration of civil rights for felons affordable housing for low-income residents Young foodie upon completion of all legal requirements. In and creating a real, level bidding field for fact, one of the bills was introduced by a Re- small, minority and women-owned businesses Pasa? in Richmond publican which would have granted the same throughout the Commonwealth of¿Qué Virginia. effect. The Republican leadership in the General Assembly voted to defeat each bill.

RODNEY B. THOMAS It was because of this shameful irresponsible Richmond Coach Michele Drayton enjoys being back with her players and assistant coach Wade Ellegood in the Albert H. Hill Middle School gymnasium Tuesday.

By Joey Matthews

“I felt loved and appreciated,” Coach Drayton told the Free Press Wednesday.

“It was a special feeling for me to be back and get such a welcome.

“It was like coming home,” she added.

Parents of the players, along with her Albert Hill colleagues, walked over and welcomed her back with more hugs and well wishes.

Although still weak from the stroke, Coach Drayton sat on the gymnasium bench and watched as her assistant, Wade Ellegood, coached Albert Hill to a win over Elkhardt in the Richmond Public Schools middle school playoff opener.

“I felt like taking over, but he did a good job,” a happy Coach Drayton said afterward of her anxiety of having to watch,

Coach Michele Drayton walked into the Albert H. Hill Middle School gym for the first time since suffering a stroke last month.

The players on her girls’ basketball team excitedly ran over, showering her with hugs.

Surrounding her, they applauded and yelled, “Let’s win this one for Coach Drayton!”

Putting their hands together in a team huddle, they yelled, “Do it for Coach Drayton! One! Two! Three!”

It was a heartwarming homecoming for the longtime Albert Hill hoops coach, who returned to the team Nov. 4. She suffered a stroke Oct. 2 at her North Side home.

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instead of coach.

Albert Hill lost its next game to the team from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School last Thursday in the playoff semifinals.

But the Albert Hill players and Coach Drayton have much to be proud of. The team completed an 11-1 season, which included a 10-0 regular season.

Under Coach Drayton, Albert Hill has recorded four consecutive unbeaten regular seasons and won the middle school league championship in 2011, finishing 13-0.

Coach Drayton, 46, said she knew something was seriously amiss just prior to suffering the stroke. She had been experiencing a series of headaches and felt

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Montague D. Phipps had big dreams three years ago when he bought a derelict duplex from the City of Petersburg for the rock-bottom price of $5,000.

But when his dreams fell apart, he still came out ahead.

He recently sold the still-ramshackle building for $50,000 — a far different outcome than he and the Petersburg government envisioned when Mr. Phipps was approved to buy the property in 2011.

His case is attracting attention in part because he was able to flip the property for a profit and because of his ties to Petersburg City Councilman W. Howard Myers, who defeated a challenger Nov. 4 to win a second term as the Ward 5 representative.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Adilrah Johnson, 8, enjoys fresh-cut fries held by her mother, Shoshana. Mother and daughter tasted their way through Sunday’s GRAZE on Grace, a foodie’s delight. The first-time event featured nearly 30 restaurants and specialty food providers celebrating local and seasonal cuisine — from oysters on the half shell to banana tacos.

Location: East Grace Street, between North 4th and North 7th streets.

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

This is a view of the decaying property Montoya D. Phipps bought from the City of Petersburg for $5,000 and recently sold for $50,000. Location: 530-32 Fleet St., just across the Appomattox River from Virginia State University.

Mr. Phipps, an adjunct design instructor at Virginia State University, also makes his home and operates his interior design

business out of an apartment he leases from Mr. Myers. The apartment is in a five-unit building that Mr. Myers owns and

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By Fred Jeter

where he, too, resides.

There is no evidence that Mr. Myers pushed the sale of the property in the 500 block of Fleet Street to Mr. Phipps.

Petersburg council records also support Mr. Myers’ assertion that “I had no involvement” in the vote approving the sale.

Mr. Myers is listed as abstaining from the otherwise unanimous vote of support for the recommendation from City Manager William Johnson III to sell the Fleet Street property to Mr. Phipps without any strings attached.

But even if there was no connection to Mr. Myers, this sale exemplifies the shortcomings of the program whose goal is to rev up development and job creation in a city that

Virginia State University is heading into its biggest game of the season minus a key component — quarterback Tarian Ayres.

Mr. Ayres, a 20-year-old sophomore from Dillwyn, has been suspended from playing in the CIAA championship game Saturday against Winston-Salem State University, school officials announced.

The school-mandated suspension stems from Mr. Ayres’ arrest Sunday, Nov. 9, on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, underage possession of alcohol and speeding.

He was arrested 2:05 a.m. Sunday about 25 miles southeast of Ettrick in Waverly, where he was stopped on U.S. 460.

Mr. Ayres was clocked driving 52 mph in a 35 mph zone, and was spotted crossing the highway’s double solid line near Main Street.

Waverly Police Officer C.M. Washington said he determined Mr. Ayres was intoxicated after administering sobriety checks, including a breathalyzer test.

There were two passengers in Mr. Ayres’ car at the time of the arrest. He is scheduled to appear Nov. 18 in Sussex County General District Court.

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By Joey Matthews

Eight-year-old Martin “Marty” Cobb and his 12-year-old sister had a special bond.

They were by all accounts inseparable as siblings, best friends and playmates.

“They were never apart,” said the Rev. Theodore L. Hughey, the pastor at Abundant Life Church of God in Christ, the family’s church.

They would ride bikes and big wheelers together, play side by side with children in their South Side neighborhood and brag about their mother’s fine down-home cooking, he told the Free Press.

Marty had a special affinity for keys of any type, the pastor added.

In a tragic event that has captured the nation’s heart, Marty now is being fondly remembered as a courageous hero.

Local and national media are telling the heart-rending story of how Marty died last Thursday afternoon bravely trying to protect his beloved sister from a sexual predator as they played near railroad tracks behind the family’s home in the 200 block of Brandon Road.

A 16-year-old boy was arrested Saturday and charged with Marty’s murder and the attack on his sister, who sur-

Free Press staff, wire reports

SAN JOSE, Calif.

Just months after stepping down as head of the nation’s largest civil rights organization, former NAACP President Benjamin Jealous is changing his career from an East Coast political activist to a West Coast venture capitalist. It’s a switch he hopes will help further his goal of growing opportunities for black people and Latinos in the booming tech economy.

“My life’s mission has been leveling the playing field and closing gaps in opportunity and success,” Mr. Jealous, 41, said. “I’m excited about trying a difMr. Jealous ferent approach.”

The Northern California native and selfconfessed computer geek will be joining entrepreneurs Mitchell Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein at their venture capital investment firm that backs information technology start-ups committed to making a positive social impact.

Fred Turner, who studies culture and technology as an associate professor at Stanford University, said it’s “fascinating that a person of his caliber and experience would move into this space.”

Mr. Turner said there’s a deep question going on in the U.S. about how to accomplish positive social change.

“In the Silicon Valley, they approach it entrepreneurially. In Washington, they approach it politically,” Mr. Turner said. “These are two very different modes.”

Mr. Jealous said he and his family will remain in Silver Spring, Md., but he’ll commute to the West Coast about once a month.

Mr. Jealous was named to the NAACP’s top post in 2008 after Free Press Editor/Publisher

vived and is recovering at a local hospital.

Marty died from severe head trauma, police later reported.

Neighbors reported the attacker struck Marty in the head with a brick.

Last Saturday evening, about 200 family members, friends, neighbors and other community members somberly gathered outside Abundant Life to honor the endearing child with the small frame, indomitable spirit and warm, loving smile.

Prior to the vigil, loved ones assembled around a sign in Marty’s yard that read: “Martin: A real hero lived, fought and died here.”

Raymond H. Boone advocated on his behalf.

He replaced former Verizon executive Bruce Gordon, who resigned under pressure from the NAACP board of directors in 2007 after Mr. Boone led a campaign showing Mr. Gordon favored corporate interests over those of the NAACP. Mr. Jealous was widely credited with improving the NAACP’s finances, donor base and outreach.

He said he will never completely drop out Please turn to A4

“Little Marty is a hero,” stated City Council member Reva M. Trammell, who spoke at the vigil and represents the 8th District where the grieving family lives.

“He was there when his sister needed him the most,” she added in response to a Free Press query.

“Marty’s beautiful smile and his love for his sister will always be with us. Marty will always be in our hearts, and he will never, ever be forgotten.”

Charles Willis, executive director of the Citizens Against Crime group that has helped lead vigils for more than 20 years in the city, said the turnout reflects a caring community.

“Even though a crisis of this nature happens, this shows the strength of not only the city, but of the community,” Mr. Willis said. “When trouble comes to any community, we will respond in a positive fashion.”

He described Marty’s mother, Sharain Spruill, as “very, very, very upset as well as hurt and trying to wrap her mind around why this happened her son.”

Major Steve Drew, who directs Support Services with the Richmond Police Department, praised neighborhood residents

for providing information that resulted in the quick arrest.

“The community really came together to seek justice for little Marty, the hero,” he said.

Police said Marty’s sister first reported the attacker to be a white male, but later recanted and identified a black, 16-yearold neighbor as the attacker.

She told police the teenager had threatened to hurt her if she told on him.

It has been reported the suspect’s name is Mariese Washington. He has a history of violent behavior that includes a 2010 attack in the Mosby Court housing community on a 3-year-old boy. He hit the boy in the back of the head with a hammer.

Th attack required the child to receive 100 staples and a metal plate in his head. The boy has spent four years in recovery, according to his family.

The alleged killer of Marty made his first appearance in Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on Monday in front of Judge Ashley K. Tunner.

Authorities have declined to identify the suspect because

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Richmond Free Press © 2014 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 23 NO. 41

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

OCTOBER 9-11, 2014

Virginia now for all lovers

Council opposition threatens mayor’s dream

Hampton provost to take reins

Pamela V. Hammond is on track to become the first woman to lead Virginia State University in the school’s 132-year history, the Free Press has learned.

School sources said Dr. Hammond, the current provost or chief academic officer at Hampton University, has emerged as the board of visitors’ choice to become interim president to replace Dr. Keith T. Miller, who submitted his resignation Oct. 31.

The sources said Dr. Hammond is scheduled to meet with the board this Thursday, Nov. 13 — the date the board set for choosing an interim leader for the university in Ettrick.

If all goes well, the board is expected to vote approval and introduce her as the choice for interim chief executive during the session, the sources said.

The sources said Dr. Hammond is expected to serve while the board conducts a national search for the school’s 14th president. She would be regarded as a potential candidate, sources said, depending on her work as interim.

Her start date could not be learned, but it could be soon after Jan. 1.

Dr. Miller is to officially leave the post Dec. 31.

A former nurse educator, Dr. Hammond will take over a public university grappling with major budget troubles as a result of an enrollment drop of more than 1,000 students. The problems led to cuts in student services and could force faculty and staff layoffs.

She will arrive as VSU experiments with a new schedule

Is gay the new black? lesbians the right to the majority do not get a Commentary marry. vote in the issue, regardIronically, it was less of their discomfort Virginia which, in 1967, had its ban on inter- about interracial relationships. racial marriage overturned. Loving v. Virginia Is gay the new black? No one can say with said that every citizen has the basic human right honesty that gays, like blacks, are not oppressed. to marry who they might choose. The state and Gays, though oppressed, were never enslaved,

Jubilant couples head to courthouse for marriage licenses

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

By Joey Matthews

Will Mayor Dwight C. Jones be throwing out the first pitch at a new Shockoe Bottom baseball stadium two years from now?

Not likely, if a City Council revolt against the stadium succeeds.

Five members, led by Jonathan T. Baliles, the 1st District representative and potential 2016 mayoral candidate, undertook the revolt.

They did so by removing from the proposed budget $12.6 million that was considered essential to creating a new home for the minor league Richmond Flying Squirrels in the low-lying area of Downtown where the city was born and that later became infamous as the largest slave market north of New Orleans.

Sending shockwaves through City Hall, the five began the revolt against the stadium last Thursday as the nine council members worked to craft the next capital budget, the spending plan for city construction.

The stadium money was earmarked to redo underground piping for flood control. Without the money, the work to meet federal regulations for building in a flood plain could not be done.

The stadium site near 17th and East Broad streets is defined as being in the flood plain.

Mr. Baliles was joined in the decision to remove the $12.6 million and reallocate it to other city needs, such as improvements for aging school buildings, by Council President Charles R. Samuels, 2nd District; Chris A. Hilbert, 3rd District; and the two staunch stadium foes, Parker C. Agelasto, 5th District, and Reva M. Trammell, 8th District.

The four members who wanted to keep the stadium money in place included: Council Vice President Ellen F. Robertson, 6th District; Kathy C. Graziano, 4th District; Cynthia I. Newbille, 7th District, and Michelle R. Mosby, 9th District.

The move is the first clear evidence that the mayor and his legion of business supporters

Shamika Fauntleroy accompanied her father Tuesday morning from their hometown of Tappahannock to the VCU Medical Center, where he was to undergo surgery.

“My father looked at me when we got there and told me to go take care of my business first,” Ms. Fauntleroy told the Free Press.

She and her longtime partner, Kristea Thompson, then drove the short distance to the John Marshall Courts Building in Richmond’s Downtown, where they bought a marriage license around 10 a.m.

The two Tappahannock residents became the first African-American couple and 12th overall to purchase a marriage license from the Richmond Circuit Court Clerk’s Office after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriages in Virginia and four /A6 other states Monday.

They told the Free Press they plan to wed as soon as they can make the arrangements.

The partners of 10 years already had celebrated their union at a Sept. 6 commitment service with family and friends at a home off Riverside Drive on South Side.

“We already had that bond, but we wanted to take care of it legally as well,” Ms. Fauntleroy said.

On Monday, the Supreme Court effectively allowed same-sex marriage to proceed in Virginia when it refused to take up a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the same-sex marriage ban.

Gay and lesbian couples hurried to Virginia courthouses shortly after the news.

Edward F. Jewett, clerk of the Richmond Circuit Court, said his office anticipated the change and, in August, changed gender references on marriage licenses to refer instead to spouses rather than husband and wife.

Ms. Fauntleroy, 28, said she was on her job as an assistant manager at a Hardee’s restaurant in Warsaw when she heard the news that the marriage ban had been lifted.

“I was like this,” she said, gleefully raising her arms with a mile-wide smile. “We had waited so long for this moment.”

She called the Essex County Circuit Court about a license, “but they had no idea what had happened and could not help us,” she said.

That’s when she and Ms. Thompson formulated plan B — to buy a license in Richmond.

“This brings me the happiness I always wanted, to be able to legally say I’m going to share my life with her,” Ms. Fauntleroy said, sitting outside the John Marshall building with her future wife.

“It’s a blessing,” Ms. Thompson, 30, an employee at June Parker Oil Co. in Tappahannock, added. “This shows things are Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press changing in each and every way.”

Important Tax Notice Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Area ministers weigh in on gay marriage

City of Richmond Court Real Estate Tax payments are due by ruling moves Va. to Tuesday, June 14, 2016 historic change Shamika Fauntleroy, left, and Kristea Thompson are planning a wedding ceremony after obtaining a marriage license Tuesday at the John Marshall Courts Building in Downtown.

By Jeremy M. Lazarus and Joey Matthews

Virginia joined the tidal wave of historic change this week, with the U.S. Supreme Court opening the door for same-sex marriage in the commonwealth.

The nation’s highest court at its opening session Monday refused to take up a ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that overturned Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban.

By leaving intact Virginia’s lower court ruling striking down a ban on gay marriage, as well

Second-half Real Estate and Special Assessment District Taxes are due on Tuesday, June 14, 2016. Payment(s) must be received and/or postmarked on or before June 14, 2016.

Payments postmarked or received after the June 14th due date will be assessed a 10% late penalty and will accrue interest charges at a rate of 5% per annum.

First Ebola Federal judges order redrawing of Scott’s district patient dies Dallas your bill.

Please mail your notice and payment in the return envelope providedinwith Failure to receive a billing notice will not prevent the imposition of late charges if your payment is not made on time. If you require a billing notice please contact our 311 Customer Care Center.

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Nicole Pries, left, and Lindsey Oliver kiss after an impromptu ceremony outside the Downtown courthouse Monday. They became the first same-sex couple to wed in Richmond.

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Two years ago, the Republican-controlled General Assembly was accused of creating new congressional districts that packed Democratic-leaning black voters into the 3rd House District, reducing the influence of black voters on congressional elections in adjacent districts.

This week, a divided federal court panel upheld critics’ complaints in finding that black voters were illegally overloaded into the district represented by

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better news Free Press wire reports

LOS ANGELES R&B superstar Chris Brown finally got some good news.

A Los Angeles judge has said that the Tappahannock, Va., native could be released as early as this week from jail if attorneys can agree to terms for his release.

The news comes as the pop star deals with criminal cases on the East Coast and West Coast.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Brandlin had earlier indicated Mr. Brown could be facing anywhere from a few months to more than a year in jail.

Unfortunately for him, Mr.

Virginia’s lone black congressman, Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott.

Rep. Scott, a Democrat, has represented the district for 22 years. The district includes parts of Richmond, Newport News, Hampton and Norfolk and the counties of Henrico and Prince George, and all of Petersburg and Portsmouth and the counties of Rep. Scott Charles City and Surry.

In a 2-1 decision, the panel deemed the current map in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and ordered the state legislature to redraw the boundaries of the district by April 1. If not, the federal court panel will redraw the lines.

Tuesday’s decision is expected to have a ripple effect and require redrawing the boundaries of the adjacent 2nd and 4th House districts and possibly others to rebalance populations.

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The 2nd and 4th districts are represented by Republican Reps. Scott Rigell and J. Randy Forbes, respectively.

But the upcoming congressional elections scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 4, will go forward with the current district lines.

Along with writing the opinion for the panel’s majority, Judge Allyson K. Duncan of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also issued a separate order allowing the November elections to “proceed as scheduled under the existing redistricting plan,” but she barred future elections until a new redistricting plan is adopted.

She and U.S. District Judge Liam O’ Grady, who joined her opinion, deemed it too late to do anything for the current round of elections.

The third member of the panel, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne, found no reason to overturn the redistricting plan.

Free Press wire reports

on a Richmond radio talk show.

“We’re going to work through the challenges we have today and come out of this a bigger, a better and a stronger university,” Dr. Miller told the audience of “The Jack Gravely Show.”

In addition, Dr. Miller has announced he will hold separate meetings for students and faculty to provide more information on the school’s fiscal outlook and on the steps the university is taking to overcome what it now lists as a $19 million shortfall in revenue.

He is slated to hold the town hall-style sessions

DALLAS The first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States died Wednesday morning in a hospital here.

The case of Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian who came to the United States on Sept.

20, put health authorities on alert for the deadly virus spreading outside of West Africa.

About 48 people who Mr. Duncan had direct or indirect contact with Mr. Duncan since his arrival were being monitored, but none have shown any symptoms as of Wednesday evening, according to health officials.

Mr. Duncan’s case has led to expanded efforts by U.S. authorities to combat the spread of Ebola at its source in West Africa — and raised questions about the effectiveness of airport screening and hospital preparedness.

Mr. Duncan, 42, became ill after arriving in Dallas to visit family. He went to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on Sept. 25, but initially was sent home with antibiotics. His

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For your convenience, you may pay online at www.richmondgov.com or pay via telephone at 1-800-2PAYTAX (use locality code 1059). AMiller convenience may be charged for use fighting to fee retain control of these payment options. You may also pay in person at City Hall, 900 E. Broad Street room 102 M-F 8-5; at our Southside office, 4100 Hull Street M-F 8–5;or at our East District Happy face office, 701 N. 25th Street, 8– 1:30PM & 3 – 5:00PM, M-F. You may also deposit your check payment in the payment drop box at each location.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Latin Ballet members Monte Jones and Ana Ines King deliver a flashy dance move Saturday at the lively ¿Qué Pasa? Festival in Downtown. The event’s name translates to “what’s happening” in English, and there was plenty happening at this spring showcase of Latin American culture, music, art and food.

Location: The Canal Walk near 14th and Canal streets.

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VSU president sets town hall meetings

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Paulette Singleton/Richmond Free Press

Leoné Brunswick parties Saturday with balloon character SpongeBob SquarePants at the 26th annual 2nd Street Festival in Jackson Ward.

Thousands of people turned out to enjoy the twoday festival. Please turn to B2 for more photos.

Dr. Keith T. Miller is pushing back against perceptions that he has been secretive and lacks the leadership skills to overcome Virginia State University’s financial woes.

Facing student protests, faculty grumbling and alumni concerns about the university’s money troubles, Dr. Miller is taking fresh steps to open lines of communication and to quell efforts to force him to resign.

Last week, he appeared with Hyisheem Calier, president of VSU’s Student Government Association,

Don't Miss One Word

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond Public Schools is on track to gain an extra $9 million to help meet critical needs in the coming year.

Police officers and firefighters also are on track to gain bigger raises of roughly 2.5 percent to help reduce turnover in public safety.

But Richmond City Council’s efforts to pay for those priorities are expected to have an impact on other city services.

Leaf collection and Sunday openings of the city’s public libraries could be wiped out, according to Mayor Dwight C. Jones’administration. And there could be a slowdown in obtaining permits and inspections for

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construction projects and in repairing broken streetlights, administration officials have told the council.

So far, the mayor remains mum on whether he would consider vetoing some or all of council’s changes to his spending plan.

The full list of changes that the council plans to make to Mayor Jones’ proposed twoyear budget will be on view Friday, May 8.

That’s when the governing body will hold a special meeting to formally introduce its amendments to the mayor’s budget for the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years that will begin July 1. Council is to vote on its proposals Friday, May 15, at another special meeting.

Christopher L. Beschler, the city’s acting chief administrative officer (CAO), said the council’s proposals “will have a impact,” but he said he and his staff would need more time to understand the effects that council’s changes will cause.

For Selena Cuffee-Glenn, Please turn to A4

Federal appeals court gives workers greater protection against racial harassment

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond Free Press

A Maryland waitress who was fired after reporting that a manager twice called her “a porch monkey” has become a key figure in bolstering protections for workers who face racial harassment and abuse on the job.

A federal appeals court in Richmond is using the civil rights lawsuit that Reya C. Boyer-Liberto filed against the resort hotel where she worked in 2010 to bolster efforts of workers who seek legal redress for a hostile workplace — even when their

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complaint involves only one or two incidents.

In a decision issued May 7, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that even isolated incidents of racial abuse such as the one Ms. Boyer-Liberto faced can be enough to allow workers to seek damages and also to create a cause of action against employers who terminate a worker for reporting such abuse.

Essentially, the court sent a message that racial bigotry has no place in the workplace.

All 15 sitting judges of the court participated in hearing the

case that dismantles a requirement that employees must show a persistent pattern of racial hostility in order to get their day in court and protection from being fired.

Twelve judges joined in the majority opinion, which revived Ms. Boyer-Liberto’s lawsuit against the Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel in Ocean City, Md., and its owner who fired her.

A lower court and a panel of the 4th Circuit had tossed out her lawsuit on the grounds the racial slur she was subjected Please turn to A4

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Don't Miss volunteer subscription Don't Miss One Word One Word Carver Elementary teamwork fosters rewards for students

Community leaders, residents march in Mosby Court for peace

By Joey Matthews

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Deputy Chief Durham

A new top cop in town

By Joey Matthews

Rayvon Owen hometown ‘Idol’ He sang o R chmond Boys Cho ook a en o na ona s age

By Joey Matthews

Rayvon Owen’s eyes sparkled with delight.

When the limousine carrying Rayvon and his mother, Patrice Fitzgerald, pulled up to the James Center in Downtown last Friday, about 1,000 cheering fans were waiting for him in the rain.

“It’s crazy! It’s an insane feeling! I’m overwhelmed by happiness!” he told a Free Press reporter.

Rayvon, who attended the Center for the Arts at Henrico High School and sang in the Richmond Boys Choir, returned home to a hero’s welcome after earning a spot in the Top 4 in the popular “American Idol” nationally televised singing competition. It is broadcast locally on Fox’s WRLH-TV Channel 35 in the Richmond area.

While he was eliminated Wednesday night, he elicited

cheers from audience members in the California studio and brought a positive spotlight to Richmond.

“He has made our city and our region so very proud,” Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones told the cheering audience of fans of all ages gathered for his homecoming celebration — from adoring teens to joyous office workers, including a Chesterfield County mom who presented Rayvon with a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Rayvon was joined by 2006 “American Idol” finalist Elliott Yamin of Richmond, who congratulated him with a big bear hug.

The mayor called Rayvon “a positive role model” for young people from the area.

Ready to sing, Rayvon took the microphone and bellowed,

The Richmond Police Department has stayed free of public accusations of police brutality as “Black Lives Matter” demonstrations grow locally and across the nation to protest atrocities by white police officers in the black community.

The nearly 740-officer force has garnered mostly praise for its community policing efforts to gain closer ties with neighborhoods in the city it serves.

Incoming Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham vows to take those efforts up a notch.

“There’s always room for improvement,” the 51-year-old Washington native and current Richmond Police deputy chief of administration said Monday after he was introduced by Major Dwight C. Jones as the city’s next police chief in a news conference at City Hall.

The mayor named his new top cop as a national furor grows over killings by white police officers of unarmed black men such as Eric Garner in New York City in July; Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson, Mo., in August; and Rumain Brisbon in Phoenix in December.

In Richmond, young people in recent weeks have demonstrated and staged “die-ins” in Downtown and in the Fan District to draw attention to the police killings and the overall neglect of the black community.

“I want to acknowledge that

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Carver Principal Kiwana yates gives kindergarten student Jajuan Dickerson a high-five for a job well done.

“We take an all-hands-on-deck approach to educating our children.”

That’s how George Washington Carver Elementary School Principal Kiwana Yates enthusiastically describes the full community involvement approach she and her staff utilize.

With it, they have achieved academic success against tall odds in the largely impoverished community served by the school at 1110 W. Leigh St. “Each school faces different challenges,” the third-year Carver principal told the Free Press. “A kid is a kid, and it doesn’t really matter where they come from. It takes a level of excellence from the teacher and the ability of the school to meet the needs of each child.”

Carver is among only 11 of Richmond’s 44 public schools to earn full accreditation from the Virginia Department of Education after surpassing state standards in four core Standards of Learning tests administered last spring.

Carver, with 95 percent of its 592 students in kindergarten through fifth grade being African-American, scored an average of 90 in science, 88 in English and 84 each in math and history.

At least 75 percent of a school’s students must pass English and at least 70 percent must pass the other three tests in order for the school to be fully accredited.

Carver also has been recognized as a Title I Distinguished School by the Virginia Department of Education. To qualify, a disadvantaged school receiving additional federal aid must meet all state and federal accountability requirements for two years and achieve average reading and mathematic SOL scores at the 60th percentile or higher.

The school’s theme this year is “The Jewel of the Carver Community.”

Early in the school year, Ms. Yates and her staff organized an “SOLabration,” a day of creative learning activities capped by a family fun night to recognize their accreditation. Staff wore “SOLabration” shirts to mark the day.

Please turn to A4

Mayor touts anti-poverty efforts in city address

By Joey Matthews

Mayor Dwight C. Jones spoke of “a tale of two cities” in his State of the City address.

“Right now, one part of town is vibrant, prosperous and forward-looking,” he told an attentive audience of about 300 people Jan. 29 in the auditorium at Huguenot High School on South Side. “And then when you cross the Martin Luther King Bridge, you find another Richmond — one that has largely been ignored, overlooked and shunned.

“The old Richmond allowed a generation of Richmonders to believe that they don’t have a chance to succeed,” he added. “Leaders made a decision to create public housing projects and push thousands of poor people into them.”

The mayor spoke of a “resurgent” city early and often in his 22-minute speech that was greeted with

applause about a dozen times.

However, he bluntly told the audience of city officials, politicos, community advocates and ordinary citizens, “We’ll reach our full potential only when we move beyond the tale of two cities.”

He cited some of his administration’s povertyfighting efforts.

Among those: • Opening the new Office of Community Wealth Building last June to spearhead the city’s anti-poverty initiatives.

• Building new schools such as the $63 million Huguenot High School, the first new high school in the city since 1968.

• Reducing concentrated pockets of poverty in the East End by transforming public housing communities into mixed-income neighborhoods.

• Attracting new businesses, such as Stone Brewing Company in the Fulton neighborhood, to expand the city’s tax base and provide jobs.

• Increasing workforce training.

• Landing a $25 million federal grant for bus rapid transit along Broad Street from Rocketts Landing in the East End to Willow Lawn so people can get to jobs.

• Opening the new Richmond Justice Center in Shockoe Valley and the Day Reporting Center in Downtown to provide more opportunities for offenders to gain rehabilitative services and decrease their prospects of returning to jail.

By Joey Matthews

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Joyce Kenney holds an image of her grandson, Ra’Keem Adkins, 22, who was shot and killed in the Mosby Court public housing community May 7. Right, more than 200 people, including Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham, march from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School to Mosby Court calling for an end to the violence.

New city CAO gets $5,700 raise before job start

For most of her adult life, Joyce Kenney has been an advocate for people living in the Mosby Court public housing community and other poor neighborhoods in the city.

In that time, she has lobbied for more resources for people in disadvantaged communities. She also has attended countless vigils to comfort those mourning the deaths of their loved ones due to violence in the streets.

On Tuesday night, it was Ms. Kenney’s turn to be consoled by community members.

Her grandson, Ra’Keem Adkins, 22, was one of five shooting victims in Richmond May 7. He was shot multiple times and died on the sidewalk in the 1900 block of Redd Street shortly after 10 p.m. in Mosby Court in the city’s East End. Earlier in the day, Sylvester Nichols, 24, was fatally shot in the parking lot of the Family Dollar Store in the 6500 block of Midlothian Turnpike on South Side. A third man also was shot that night about three miles away and taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Angered by the ongoing black-on-black violence in the city, community activist J.J. Minor said he began planning an anti-violence rally last Saturday with the Mosby Court Tenant Council and fellow activist Charles Willis, who grew up in Mosby Court.

“I’m tired and frustrated by the blackon-black crime,” Mr. Minor told the Free Press prior to the rally as he and other volunteers prepared hamburgers and hot dogs to serve along with potato chips, soft drinks and water to rally attendees.

He pointed to a decrepit basketball court a few yards from where Mr. Adkins was killed. The baskets had bent rims and no nets.

“Look at that,” he said, shaking his head.

“The city needs to step up to the plate and put more resources in impoverished communities.”

He said he plans to contact community members, city officials, educators, business leaders and faith leaders to convene Please turn to A5

No charges filed against Wisconsin police officer in teen’s death Free Press wire reports

MADISON, Wis. A Wisconsin police officer who fatally shot an unarmed biracial teenager in March, prompting several days of peaceful protests, will not be charged, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Officer Matt Kenny used justified lethal force in the March 6 shooting of Tony Robinson, 19, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said.

Mr. Ozanne said Officer Kenny shot Mr. Robinson after the teen struck him in the head and tried to knock the officer down a staircase.

“I conclude that this tragic and unfortunate death was the result of a lawful Please turn to A5

Advocacy groups plan housing, services safety net for foster youths

For your convenience, the Richmond Free Press offers you the opportunity to receive the Richmond Free Press in the mail.

Jus ce Dep opens nves ga on n o G ay s dea h o fice s cha ged Free Press wire reports

Please turn to A4

Petersburg jail to close

BALTIMORE There’s an uneasy quiet in Baltimore after six police officers were charged last week in the mysterious death of Freddie Gray while he was in their custody.

Underneath the calm simmers apprehension and anger in the African-Americ

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Mob e home es den s a ege c y s ac ons d sc m na o y n HUD comp a n

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Celebrating Mother’s Day

Tea m n s ry

until the Petersburg City Council decides whether to build a new The Petersburg City Jail is holding facility at a projected going to be shut down in March cost of $5 million.

— forcing Petersburg Sheriff Sheriff Crawford, who has Vanessa Crawford to lay off the been fighting the decision, almajority of her staff of 98 depuready has warned that Petersburg ties and civilian employees. would have to pay Riverside Petersburg Mayor W. Howard nearly $3 million a year to house Myers announced Monday that the city’s inmates. That’s about the decision is final. as much as the city now spends Sheriff Crawford Saying Petersburg cannot afto operate its own jail. ford the $22 million to replace its antiquated The city also would incur a bigger bill for jail, Mayor Myers said that effective March prisoner transportation expenses and would 1, all new arrestees would be housed at the tie up police officers who will have to travel Riverside Regional Jail, located about 10 farther to book prisoners, she said. miles away in Prince George County.

Sheriff Crawford said the decision would Current inmates would be transferred on force her to lay off at least 55 of her 78 or about March 15 to the regional facility deputies. She also will have to eliminate a that opened in 1997, was expanded in 2010 major share of the department’s 20 civiland can house up to 2,000 inmates. ian employees.

The Petersburg jail, which houses about She and the remaining staff would be 200 inmates, dates to 1968. limited to providing security at the holding Petersburg is one of seven localities facility and the courthouse and serving civil that built and manages Riverside Regional papers. She noted that salaries of the half Jail. The city’s women prisoners already dozen deputies she would need to staff are housed there. the lockup would have to be paid by the After the transfer is complete, the city. The state only picks up the salaries mayor said the jail’s only use would be of deputies assigned to a jail. as a temporary lockup for inmates going Please turn to A4 to court or awaiting transfer to Riverside

Just take a minute

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Mayor Jones at State of the City address.

“It’s new for all of us,” Mayor Jones said. “It’s never happened in my lifetime or yours. But I know this: If we unite together and look forward, and invite our neighbors to join us, then we’ll continue to shape the city and the region we all want to call home.”

The mayor kicked off his address touting the RichPlease turn to A4

State Dems hit with voting rights suit

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Did the Democratic Party of Virginia violate the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act in choosing its nominee to compete in a recent special election for a House of Delegates seat?

Yes, say three African-Americans, who are taking their case to federal court.

The trio allege the party trampled on their voting rights and those of thousands of Democrats like them in its zeal to eliminate Henrico Delegate Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey as a nominee in the election he went on to win Jan. 13 as an independent.

David M. Lambert, Gary G. Hill Sr. and his sister-in-law, Linda D. Hill, filed the suit Friday.

According to their suit, the Democrats’ method of nomination intentionally excluded them and other African-American voters living in the majority-black 74th House of Delegates District, which includes Charles City County, 26 precincts

in eastern Henrico County and a single precinct in Richmond’s North Side.

The lawsuit charges that the party, fearing such voters “might use their First Amendment rights to support a candidate the DPVA and other local party officials didn’t want to win the Democratic nomination,” imposed rules that “intentionally disenfranchised them all.”

The suit seeks to bar the party from ever using any procedure to “disenfranchise and discriminate” against African-Americans and other party members in the selection of its nominees, which the suit describes as “a critical element of the electoral process.”

The case, which is assigned to senior U.S. Judge Robert E. Payne, is one of the most significant involving voting rights in recent years in Virginia.

The suit also is a huge embarrassment for

Selena Cuffee-Glenn just received a $5,700 salary bump — from $203,000 a year to $208,700 — though she will not start work as the city’s top administrator until Monday, May 18.

Her benefits package also has been sweetened with a $5,700 increase in a retirement benefit paid by the city.

City Council asked no questions about the unexpected pay hike in voting 9-0 Monday to confirm the former Suffolk city manager as Richmond’s new chief administrative officer.

In mid-April when Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced Ms. Cuffee-Glenn Ms. Cuffee-Glenn as his choice for the No. 2 post at City Hall, he said she would start at $203,000 a year.

His staff even produced the offer letter she signed stipulating her salary and a host of other benefits, including a $950 monthly car allowance and $15,000 a year in deferred compensation, essentially a retirement savings plan.

Her new starting pay of $208,700 is listed in the ordinance that council members approved without public comment. Her deferred pay now is shown as $20,700 a year, with a $1,000 increase for each year of service, according to the ordinance.

One thing that was eliminated in the altered package is the $950 monthly car allowance, which would have totaled to $11,400 a year.

Apparently, Ms. Cuffee-Glenn traded the car allowance for improved starting pay and an increase in deferred compensation.

Asked about the changes, Tammy Hawley, the press secretary for Mayor Jones, responded that the mayor and Ms. Cuffee-Glenn “ended up renegotiating some things.”

By Joey Matthews

Janeva Smith has seen many of her friends in foster care suddenly become homeless when they turn 18. They have nowhere to go, few life skills and little hope for the future.

“I’ve had many friends who tried to commit suicide,” said Ms. Smith, who was 18 months old when she initially was placed in foster care in Plainfield, N.J. She was 14 when she entered foster care in Virginia, moving between foster families, group homes and shelters.

Related story on B3

“I’ve tried to commit suicide multiple times,” she said. “I’ve had many friends who face homelessness, have been incarcerated, many who don’t graduate from high school and others who got pregnant.

“Life’s rough when you don’t have any support,” she continued. “Imagine not having anybody to call on Mother’s Day.” Now 22, Ms. Smith lives in Hillside Court in South Richmond. She spoke with a Free Press reporter last week at the West End headquarters of the Children’s Home Society of Virginia, an organization that she credits with providing her with services and guidance.

The organization is collaborating with the Better Housing Coalition in Richmond to provide housing and supportive services to young adults being booted out of foster care on their 18th birthday.

The Possibilities Project, as the collaboration is called, would start by housing 20 young people early next year, then add more

young adults as the project develops.

In Virginia, children automatically “age out” of foster care when they reach age 18. According to the Children’s Home Society, about 700 young people fall into that category Ms. Smith each year in Virginia.

Within two years, according to the organization, one in four of those young people will be incarcerated, one in five will be homeless and fewer than one in six will graduate from high school.

Advocates point out that housing is an

especially critical need for this young and vulnerable population. They provided sad and gripping accounts of how some teens in foster care are packed up and taken to homeless shelters when they turn 18.

One available option is independent living programs that are coordinated through local social services departments in Virginia.

Youths no longer eligible for foster care can get housing until age 21 as long as they adhere to a contract requiring they are enrolled in school, working or in a counseling or treatment program. The contracts are personalized, designed to meet the specific needs of the young person.

While under contract, they can receive Please turn to A4

Like father, like son

Justin White holds two of his proud accomplishments — his son, Jeremiah, and his newly earned degree from Virginia Union University. The father and son celebrated in cap and gown Saturday at the university’s 117th commencement ceremony at Hovey Field. Please see article, more photos on Page B4.

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wrenched from their homelands, raped and abused, as Africans.

Being black is not a choice, and neither is being gay.

Our Constitution was intended to protect the rights of anyone to pursue the realization of any right given to them by birth.

If a person is born with the right from their

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GOPNew ‘needs to cease Stadium plan near death? boss at VSU their tireless efforts to deny and restrict folks’ from voting8-year-old hero © 2014 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 23 NO. 46

Is gay the new black? Have gays and lesbians supplanted African-Americans as the most oppressed American minority?

Several African-Americans have asked me if the recent opinions granting gays and lesbians the right to marry will have any impact upon African-American civil rights.

On Oct. 6, 2014, Virginia granted gays and

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Don Sterling L.A. Clippers team owner

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Dan Snyder Washington team owner

Dr. McCreary mourned

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‘Texas Tornado’ goes and goes

June 2-4, 2016

By David P. Baugh

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Celebration of hip-hop film and music at Gallery 5 in Jackson Ward/B2

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Sports Stories by Fred Jeter

Cavaliers coach seeking title, record The Cleveland Cavaliers’ Tyronn Lue is seeking to become just the sixth African-American coach to win an NBA title.

The Cavaliers commence their best-of-seven championship battle Thursday, June 2, against the defending champs, the Golden State Warriors. Game 1 of the finals will be played in Oakland, Ca. Coach Lue, 39, became Cleveland’s coach Jan. 22, following the firing of David Blatt.

The only African-American coaches to win NBA titles have been Bill Russell (1968-1969 with the Boston Celtics), K.C. Jones (1984-1985 with Boston), Al Attles (1975 with Golden State), Lenny Wilkens (1979 with the Coach Lue Seattle SuperSonics) and Doc Rivers (2008 with Boston).

The 6-foot Coach Lue was a star guard at the University of Nebraska and played in the NBA from 1998 to 2009.

As backup guard, Lue helped the Los Angeles Lakers win NBA titles in 2000 and 2001.

He was an assistant coach with Boston and the Los Angeles Clippers before joining the Cleveland staff as an assistant under Coach Blatt in 2014.

Cleveland joined the NBA as an expansion franchise in 1970 and has never won the crown. The Cavaliers reached the finals in 2007 and again last year.

The Warriors won the NBA title in 1947 and 1956, when the franchise was in Philadelphia, and again in 1975 and last season as the Golden State Warriors. The team moved to the West Coast in 1962.

Va.’s fastest sprinter, Noah Lyles, running in Newport News this weekend Track fans have one last chance to see in person the fastest sprinter in Virginia High School League history.

Noah Lyles, a 5-foot-9 senior at Alexandria’s T.C. Williams High School, is the favorite to win 100-meter dash at this weekend’s state Division 6A meet at Todd Stadium in Newport News.

The boys’ 100-meter trials are 3 p.m.

Friday, June 3, with the finals at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, June 4.

Lyles ran the fastest 100 meters in Virginia history last week with 10.14 seconds (fully-automatic clocking) at the 6A Northern Regional at Robinson High School in Fairfax. The previous record of 10.31 was set in 2013 by Mustaqeem Williams of Forest Park High School in Woodbridge. Williams now runs for the University of Tennessee.

Lyles also has the fastest 200-meter time — 20.18 seconds — in state annals, recorded last year as a junior.

Both Lyles and his brother, Josephus, also a T.C. Williams High senior, have signed scholarship offers to compete for the University of Florida. Before enrolling at Gainesville, however, they will compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., July 1 through 10.

Speed is a family trademark. Josephus Lyles has the second fastest 400-meter record in state history and the fourth fastest

200-meter record, behind only his brother; Williams, 20.64; and LaShawn Merritt, 20.69, of Portsmouth’s Woodrow Wilson High School.

Josephus, who did not run in the regionals because of an injury, has bests of 45.46 seconds for the 400 and 20.73 seconds for the 200.

Noah The fastest 400 meters in Virginia history — a blistering 45.24 — was set in 2004 by Merritt, who went on to win two gold medals (400 meters and 1,600-meter relay) at the 2008

Olympics in Beijing.

In 1972, Ronnie Ray of Newport News’ Ferguson High School set what was then a national record of 45.74 in the 400.

The Lyles brothers are the sons of Keisha Lane and Kevin Lyles, who qualified for the 1996 Olympics in the Lyles 400 meters.

Both Noah and Josephus Lyles have global reputations, having competed in Cuba, the Ukraine, China, Canada and Colombia.

Fast feet The 10 fastest 100-meter times recorded by Virginia High School League athletes: Time (seconds) 10.14 10.31 10.36 10:37 10:38 10:39 10:42 10:43 10:43

Athlete

High School

Year

Noah Lyles Mustaqeem Williams Ben Singleton Tyrone Turpin Andre Cason LaShawn Merritt Darrell Wesh Dejor Simmons Percy Harvin

T.C. Williams, Alexandria Forest Park, Woodbridge J.F. Kennedy, Richmond Heritage, Lynchburg Green Run, Virginia Beach Woodrow Wilson, Portsmouth Landstown, Virginia Beach Green Run, Virginia Beach Landstown, Virginia Beach

2016 2013 1994 1990 1986 2004 2010 2009 2005

VHSL converted to the metric system in 1980. The fastest 100-yard time was 9.4 seconds by Jesse Williams of Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach in 1977.

100 meters is about 109.5 yards.

Source: Milestat.com; fully automatic timing (FAT)

Local area softball stars gearing up for championships

The Cooke’s-Allen softball team, long known as Cooke’s “Charlie was a real good player in his day with 2900 Club,” Johnson, a native Chicagoan, is a retired senior planner for Lawn Service, has been mowing down its softball competitors recalled Johnson. “He doesn’t play now, but he loves being the City of Richmond. for decades. there, having his own team.”

The team combines athletes from Richmond and the surrounding Dating to the early 1990s, Cooke’s-Allen is among the naHelping Cooke fund the squad this year is Attell Allen. areas, with a heavy dose of Tappahannock talent. Standouts include tion’s long-standing and most successful predominantly AfricanBill Baker and Quinn Robinson share field manager duties. Jesse White, Petey Pollard, brothers Kevin and Jesse Rather, the American softball squads. ageless Carlisle Dabney, Markell Jones, Jerry Struder, Tee “And we’re still going strong — no plans of stopHayes, Quinton Broadus and Akeem Smith. ping,” said Bob Johnson, who refers to his team role as Johnson refers to Broadus, the left fielder, as “the “administration.” fastest thing you’ve ever seen.”

Asked to describe Team Cooke’s-Allen, Johnson said, On a part-time basis, Cooke’s-Allen relies on the “Lots of power; lots of speed. We’re feared.” power of Dwight Fortune and William Dillon, a former Before the rains came during Memorial Day weekend, Virginia Union University football All-American.

Cooke’s-Allen was rolling with a 4-1 record in the huge Among the team’s former stars are Rick Warfield, SoftballNation N.I.T. Beast of the East tournament played in who died in 2014, and William “Boobee” Jefferson, Chesterfield, Henrico and Petersburg. With more than 100 teams who died in 2013. entered, the event is considered one of the most competitive Warfield was perhaps the area’s best-ever combination slow-pitch softball tournaments on the East Coast. of speed and power, and no man every swatted a softball The last chunk of the three-day event was canceled farther than the massive Jefferson. last weekend because of inclement weather. There is no Cooke’s-Allen is something of a spinoff of the 2900 makeup date.

Club, which was the first African-American team to Next on the team’s calendar is a trip June 4 and 5 to compete in the mainstream Richmond Rec Leagues. the Atlantic Coast Championships-Super N.I.T. in Myrtle The 2900 Club debuted at the former Parker Field Beach, S.C. It is part of the Black Softball Circuit. That about 1974 with the likes of Jesse Chavis and Irvin will be followed by the annual Watt D. Newsome MemoMallory-Bey, both former NFL players out of VUU. Prior rial June 18 and 19 in Norfolk. to that, African-American-run teams played mostly in The Richmond-based team’s grand finale will be the Sunday “Social League” at Lucks Field in the East the Black America Softball World Series Sept. 2 through End and in Charles City.

4 in Columbus, Ga. The Beast of the East is the area’s largest annual tourThe team’s aggressive schedule generally calls for 10 to 15 nament. tournaments a year under various organizing bodies.

Cooke’s-Allen finished a powerful third several years James Haskins/Richmond Free Press The Cooke’s-Allen longtime generous sponsor is Charlie Kevin Rather of the Richmond-based Cooke’s-Allen softball team slides to ago and appeared primed for a strong run this go-round Cooke, owner of Cooke’s Lawn Service and a former All- tag the bag to get a runner out during last Saturday’s game against BTA before torrential rain stopped play and rendered the Metro linebacker at George Wythe High School in 1970. at the SoftballNation N.I.T. Beast of the East tournament. fields unplayable.

Donations allow Armstrong High to ‘play ball’ The enthusiastic words “Play ball!” were heard on Armstrong High School’s campus this spring for the first time in many baseball seasons.

Now, the East End school is hopeful its girls softball team also will have a home field to call its own.

“Progress is being made,” says Activities Director Ksaan Brown.

The Wildcats baseball team, coached by Lawrence Day, played three home games this season, thanks to an upgrade of its long-neglected diamond.

For at least the previous 10 years, all of the team’s games were played away from home.

Money to spruce up the field was raised through private donations. The renovations included a drainage system, new infield dirt and bases, a pitcher’s mound and some fencing.

Brown says additional field improvements are planned.

This season’s home games were against Thomas Jefferson, Varina and John Marshall High schools.

The Wildcats had three eighth-grade starters from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School and played a sub-varsity schedule.

Brown is optimistic the Wildcats can graduate to a full varsity schedule in 2017.

“It’s probably the best collection of talent we’ve had in a while,” Brown said. “If Coach Day can keep these kids together, we have a chance to move up.”

There is also hope, at long last, for Coach Glenn Anderson’s softball program.

Armstrong has never had an on-campus softball field and has always played its entire schedule on the road. That is likely to change now that Armstrong has received a $5,000 Toolbox for Education donation from the Lowe’s Charitable and Education Fund.

Brown says that revenue will be used to create a softball field just to the west of the main building, adjacent to the faculty parking lot.

The field also would be used for softball camps and clinics and be available to younger players during the summer.

Coach Anderson’s team went 2-10 this season and was forced to forfeit their Conference 26 tournament game against Hopewell because they didn’t have enough players.

“We had the Senior Awards program the same day and some of the girls chose the awards over softball,” explained Brown.

Regarding the future of Wildcats athletics, Brown said Armstrong will remain in Conference 26 next season and then return to a full Capital District schedule for 2017-18. The move is being dictated by the ever-evolving Virginia High School League.

Armstrong’s Conference 26 rivals are Thomas Jefferson, George Wythe and John Marshall High schools from Richmond, along with Petersburg, Hopewell and Spotsylvania high schools.

The Wildcats were joined in the old Capital District by Henrico, Highland Springs, Varina and Glen Allen High schools from Henrico County, and Lee-Davis, Hanover and Atlee high schools from Hanover County.

Armstrong is by far the smallest school in terms of enrollment among Capital District members.

Fayetteville State names new basketball coach

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Lawrence Day, coach of the Armstrong High School baseball team, shows off the renovated diamond at the East End school.

Ken Spencer is the new basketball coach at Fayetteville State University.

Coach Spencer succeeds Alphonza Kee, who posted an overall 91-107 record in seven seasons at the CIAA Southern Division university.

The Broncos were 14-15 this past season, including 6-9 in the CIAA. Coach Spencer was head coach at St. Augustine’s University from 2010 to 2012, and has served as an assistant coach at Winston-Salem State University and most recently at South Carolina State University.

Prior to coaching on the college level, he compiled a 173-51 record at Marlboro County High in Bennettsville, S.C. His 2001 Marlboro squad won the South Carolina State championship.

Spencer was a standout player at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke, where he set the school record for 3-pointers.

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Richmond Free Press

Happenings

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Personality: Christopher Tate Gabbert Spotlight on Richmond Public Schools’ highest achieving student Chris Gabbert doesn’t consider himself a bookworm.

“I need to read more on my own,” explains Chris, an 18-year-old senior at Richmond Community High School.

But Chris has been hitting the books — and hard.

Earning a 4.93 GPA during his high school career, Chris is not only the valedictorian at his high school in North Side, he’s also the top-ranking student among all 2016 graduates from Richmond Public Schools.

“People have been happy and proud for me,” says Chris, a low-key young man who loves science and prefers the outdoors and working with his hands.

“When I’m bored, I like to run or workout or take a soccer ball and go outside and find some friends and hang out,” he says.

His favorite run is the city’s Buttermilk Trail, a part of the James River Park System that follows the riverfront hills below Riverside Drive in South Richmond and extends to the river’s northern banks via the Boulevard Bridge.

“It’s 6 miles if you cross the bridge,” Chris says. “Sometimes, I stop and walk a little, but I enjoy running.”

Chris’ high school years included engagement in several activities — the National Honor Society, the Environmental Club, the Honor Council, and a year with the soccer team and three years running the 1,600-meter event with the track team at George Wythe High School. Because Richmond Community High doesn’t have sports teams, he competed with the soccer and track teams at the high school in his home district.

With his stellar grades, Chris was wooed by many colleges and universities. However, he accepted the offer to study right here in Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University.

He plans to major in biology — “I always liked all the human sciences” — and will be rooming on campus with one of his best friends from high school who is gravitating toward another STEM field, engineering.

He is looking forward to college and VCU specifically, he says, because “culturally, it’s so diverse.”

“I’m looking forward to learning about different reli-

gions and countries,” he says.

As for his last summer before entering college, Chris says he is hunting for a job “or anything I can do with my hands, like carpentry or being a carpenter’s assistant.”

He said he was waiting to hear from a summer program he applied for, but recently learned he was turned down.

“Maybe I’ll mow lawns or something,” Chris says. “I do want to save so I won’t have to struggle financially in the fall. I won’t have to do workstudy,” he says, “but I’ll have to get loans. By working in the summer, I can save a little on the loans.”

Here’s a look at Richmond Public Schools’ Class of 2016 valedictorian, Christopher T. Gabbert: Latest honor: Earning the distinction of being No.1 among all 2016 Richmond Public Schools graduates.

GPA: 4.93 Current high school: Richmond Community High School.

Size of your high school’s Class of 2016: 57 students.

Leadership roles in school activities: Vice president of National Honor Society.

Parents: Wayne Gabbert, an IT specialist for the Virginia Department of Accounts, and Linda Gabbert, a stay-at-home mom.

Sibling: Emily, 19.

Birth date and place: Oct. 1 in Richmond.

Current residence: City of Richmond.

Reaction to valedictorian honor: Excited and honored.

F a m i l y ’s re a c t i o n : Proud.

Main point I will make in valedictory address: Ranking doesn’t matter; everyone should feel significant.

Universities that made scholarship offers: Bridgewater College, George Mason University, Randolph Macon College.

The university I selected: Virginia Commonwealth University.

Reason: Research opportunities, social diversity and finances.

How attitude figures in scoring high: Always want to improve and eventually you will.

What motivates me to study: Making my teachers in each specific class proud.

A good teacher is: One who respects his/her students as adults rather than just mere children.

Career goal: Still trying to figure that out, but possibly a doctor.

Ultimate ambition: To always want to learn, even when I’m significantly older.

The secret to earning “A’s”: There is none. Don’t just focus on grades, but rather focus on what you dedicate to that class.

Most unforgettable experience at my high school: Charleston “Minimester” trip.

Teacher who influenced me the most: All my teachers influenced me, so it wouldn’t be fair to give all the credit to just one.

What I like most about Richmond: Its unique culture and atmosphere that no other city can completely match.

What I like least: That our citizens have to fight for education when schools should be given ultimate precedence.

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No. 1 suggestion for improving Richmond: Acknowledge that inner-city education is hard to provide at a satisfactory level, but it can be done.

Perfect day: Hanging out with my family.

How I relax: Sleep — really, it helps.

Best late-night snack: Leftover sandwich.

Three words that best describe me: Kind, joyful and overall positive.

Nobody knows that I: Can be very sappy sometimes.

The persons who influenced me the most: My parents and sister.

What I’m reading now: I’m thinking about what new book to start now.

My next goal: Graduate college.

Celebrate African and African American Art : Culture King

Sat, Jun 11 | 11 am–3 pm Free | Open to the public | No registration required Enjoy performances, demonstrations, hands-on art activities, and more!

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Learn to Be Prepared for Disasters Saturday June 18, 2016 Locations throughout Central VA Sign Up at www.SurvivorDay.com or dial 2-1-1 Learn about:  Food & Water Safety  Household Safety  First Aid & Hygiene  Planning & Documents  Fraud/Home Security/Identity Protection  Basic Active Shooter Awareness

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County Board Room 7516 County Complex Rd Hanover VA 23069

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J.E.J. Moore Middle School 11455 Prince George Drive Disputanta VA 23842

Colonial Heights Technical Center 3451 Conduit Rd Colonial Heights VA 23834

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Main Library 101 E Franklin Street Richmond VA 23219

County Administration Building 202 South Church Lane Tappahannock VA 22560

Petersburg Fire Training Division 1151 Fort Bross Road Petersburg VA 23805

Individuals with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations should contact Kathy Robins, Senior Planner, at the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission at 804-323-2033 or by email at krobins@richmondregional.org at least 10 business days prior to the event. Every effort will be made to provide reasonable accommodations.

Presented by the Central VA Emergency Management Alliance with funding from the US Department of Homeland Security. Points of view or opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of FEMA's Grants Programs Directorate.

You’re invited Richmond community members honor ancestral remains Join the East Marshall Street Well Planning Committee in a community conversation with the Family Representative Council on their recommendations for the best way to honor the ancestral remains and preserve East Marshall Street Well history.

Family Representative Council members will share reflections on their learning experience and work process at the fifth community consultation.

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Richmond Free Press

B2 June 2-4, 2016

Happenings

Esperanza Spalding

Herbie Hancock

The Roots

7th Annual Richmond Jazz Festival set for Aug. 11-14 An eclectic mix of Grammy Award winners, world-class singers and musicians and local talent will highlight this year’s Richmond Jazz Festival, sceduled for Aug. 11 through 14.

Herbie Hancock, The Roots, Al Jarreau, Michael Franks, Esperanza Spalding, Ramsey Lewis, Diane Schuur, Wyclef Jean, Tome Browne and Jean Carne, Buckwheat Zydeco,

Arrested Development, Vanessa Williams and Morris Day and the Time are just a few of the performers who will take the stage.

The festival will be hosted by several venues, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Hardywood Park Craft Brewery on Thursday, Aug. 11, the Hippodrome Theater in Jackson Ward

New ‘Roots’ relevant to new generation

By Jack White Special to the Free Press

In the history of American television, there has never been anything like the original version of “Roots.”

Broadcast in 1977, the miniseries based on Alex Haley’s account of tracing his enslaved ancestor Kunta Kinte back to Africa was watched by 100 million people and triggered a cultural explosion.

Since then, it has been impossible to think of America without considering slavery and racism.

Millions of people — black and white — have dug into their own family’s origins, creating a genealogical industry based on DNA testing and archival research.

The self-serving myth that something other than slavery was the cause of the Civil War is gone with the wind, even though hard-core apologists for the Confederacy continue to insist otherwise. The debate has been especially heated here in Virginia, the former secessionist state where much of “Roots” is set.

And yet, for all its impact during the past four decades, the original series seems to have lost much of its emotional wallop. That is, in part, because the story and its iconic characters — Fiddler, Kizzy and Chicken George — have become so familiar that they have lost their capacity to shock.

But it is also because America has changed so much since “Roots” made its debut. Back then, the notion that an African-American could be president was laughable. Today, President Obama is nearing the end of two terms in the White House. Back then, the dominant racial issue was busing. Today, it is police killings of unarmed young men.

Movies such as “Django Unchained” and “12 Years a Slave” have been big hits, occupying portions of the artistic examination of slavery that “Roots” once had all to itself.

Such huge shifts in the racial zeitgeist called for a new, updated rendition of the classic that would appeal to a rising generation. In a recent interview, LeVar Burton, who starred as Kunta Kinte in the 1977 version, described a conversation with David Wolper, the son of Mark Wolper, executive director of the pioneering production. “He explained that he had attempted to show the original

to his children, and the response was very lukewarm,” said Mr. Burton.

“They understood why ‘Roots’ was important to him, but they didn’t feel it had much relevance to them.”

The result of those conversations is the astonishing new four-part retelling of “Roots” that debuted on Memorial Day on the History, A&E and Lifetime cable channels. The new version tells much the same story as its iconic predecessor, This poster promotes the 2016 version of “Roots.” but in a more nuanced and complicated way. Like the original repeatedly tries to escape, but also kills series, the new version is a mixture of several white people in the process. Stunfact and fiction, a cinematic version of ning performances by Forest Whitaker a historical novel, rather than a work (Fiddler), Regé-Jean Page (Chicken George) and Laurence Fishburne (Alex of history.

In this new version, Juffure, from Haley) provide subtle context.

As in the original, Kunta Kinte is which Kunta was kidnapped, is no longer a simple African village, but a finally broken and forced to accept metropolis throbbing with commerce the slave name “Toby” by a brutal in, among other things, slaves. Kunta, horsewhipping at the hand of a white played with compelling intensity by overseer. Like many scenes in the new rising star Malachi Kirby, is no longer version — such as the shooting in the a stripling out to gather firewood, but a back of a runaway slave that evokes confierce Mandinka horse warrior who, once temporary incidents of police violence or brought in chains to America, not only the massacre by Confederate soldiers of hundreds of black Union fighters after the battle of Fort Pillow in Tennessee — the depiction of this pivotal moment is so harrowing that many viewers will find it painful to watch.

But they should make the effort. The new version may attract fewer viewers — roughly 5.3 million watched the first installment on May 31 — but it is a powerful and moving production that will reinforce the legacy of the original and make it relevant to a new generation.

In the end, it matters little if the new series adheres strictly to the mundane T:11.5" facts of our history, so long as it captures the spirit of the times. LeVar Burton says that he wants the new production to stir a new conversation in which “it is absolutely, unavoidably clear that America today is directly related to America of the antebellum South and This poster was used to promote the the slave trade.”

1977 “Roots” miniseries This is a “Roots” for today and the next 40 T:11.5" years.

on Friday, Aug. 12, and at the 100-acre Maymont, a park with rolling hills, lush gardens and a Victorian mansion, on Friday, Aug. 13 and Saturday, Aug. 14.

This is the seventh year for the event put on by marketing and promotions guru Ken Johnson, president of Johnson Inc., with a range of corporate sponsors. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Maymont Foundation and the Richmond Jazz Society.

This year’s theme: “Love Music, Love Life.”

“Each year, Ken curates a roster of artists that will bring to Richmond a diverse audience from across the country and the globe,” said Jasmine E. Roberts, senior director of client services at Johnson Inc. “He strategically selects worldrenowned, award-winning talent … until he has a roster that will connect with festival patrons and deliver a one-of-a-kind experience.”

Attendance at the four-day event ranges between 10,000 to 15,000 people, depending on the weather, Ms. Roberts said.

In addition to the music, the Richmond Jazz Festival will feature complimentary wine tastings from Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, chef demonstrations, artist meet-and-greets and more than 30 food and merchandise vendors.

Admission is free for the events at the VMFA and Hardywood Brewery; $30 for “Homegrown at the Hipp” at the Hippodrome; and $85 for single-day tickets for Maymont, or $160 for the weekend.

For details, including the festival schedule, go to www. jazzatmaymont.com or www.Facebook.com/RichmondJazzFestival.

Mobile Justice Tour in Richmond June 7

Two local grassroots organizations are sponsoring the 5th Annual Mobile Justice Tour from 1 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 7, at the East End Public Library, 1200 N. 25th St. Resources Information and Help for the Disadvantaged (R.I.H.D.) and Bridging the Gap in Virginia will be registering people to vote and leading workshops on strategies to fight mass incarceration.

The event is free and open to the public.

The Mobile Justice Tour will travel throughout the state through October to educate and empower people impacted by incarceration and talk about legislative solutions. Voter registration assistance will be available for the more than 200,000 felons whose voting rights were restored recently by Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

The tour also seeks to connect advocates and activists throughout Virginia.

Legislative awareness workshops will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 5 to 7 p.m.

Information: Contact R.I.H.D. at (804) 426-4426.

60th Annual Festival of Arts starts Friday at Dogwood Dell Some of the area’s best musical groups will be featured this summer at the 60th Annual Festival of Arts at Dogwood Dell.

The festival, sponsored by the City of Richmond, gets underway this weekend and will feature free dance, music and theater performances and festivals.

Opening the summer festival will be the Richmond Ballet with performances at 8:30 p.m. Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4.

Other favorites slated to perform during the summer are Plunky and Oneness, One Voice Chorus, Desiree Roots Centeio and Cathy Motley-Fitch of The Richmond Divas and the Elegba Folklore Society.

Other highlights include a Gospel Music Fest hosted by Dr. Bobby Jones and Sheilah Belle, a Latin Jazz & Salsa Festival and Opera in the Park.

Theater and musical productions will include “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “Spamalot.”

For detailed information, including a schedule, go to www. richmondgov.com/parks/programmingdogwooddell.

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Richmond Free Press

June 2-4, 2016

B3

Happenings

Memorial Day weekend 2016 Between the sun and the showers, Memorial Day weekend was a time for reflection and remembrance of family members who have died and those in the military who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Hundreds of people attended the 60th Annual Memorial Day Ceremony sponsored by the Commonwealth of Virginia and American Legion District 11 at the Virginia War Memorial on South Belvidere Street in Richmond.

The ceremony included presentation of wreaths by more than

40 organizations, music by the 392nd Army Band from Fort Lee and St. Andrew’s Legion Pipes and Drums and speeches by retired Admiral John C. Harvey Jr., state Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, and James E. Chapman, commander of the American Legion’s Virginia Department.

The weekend traditionally marks the start of summer, with cookouts, fishing, water sports and other outdoor fun. People across the Richmond area took advantage of city parks and the James River to enjoy the long weekend with family and friends.

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Shane Paris Kennedy, 3, in the arms of his mother, Diana Kennedy, at Monday’s ceremony at the Virginia War Memorial. Below left, the eternal flame burns at the feet of the statue of Memory. Flowers and a flag adorn a crypt in the mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Henrico County.

Janice Smith places a wreath for the American Red Cross at the Virginia War Memorial ceremony.

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Left, Jerome Ruffin prepares burgers last Saturday for his family’s annual Memorial Weekend cookout in Byrd Park. Above, Larry Smith shows off his catch at Chapel Island Park in the East End. He threw the sunfish back because of its size.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Lynnara Brice, 7, relaxes on the James River last Saturday with her family, from left, Rich Green, Sandra Gebhardt and Alexander Brice.

Richmond Free Press

B4 June 2-4, 2016

Faith News/Directory

Church fashion show to benefit victims of domestic violence

The Saved Anointed and God Appointed (SAGA) Ministry of Worship and Praise Deliverance Church will host Slay 4 A Purpose Fashion, a fashion show to highlight the issue of domestic violence.

The event will be held 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, June 25, at the church, 3006 E. Laburnum Ave. Organized by Timika Cousins, a member of the SAGA Ministry, the fashion show will bring together more than 40 models and 11 local designers, some of whom are victims of drug abuse and domestic violence.

According to Ms. Cousins, she came up with the idea as a means to expand the church’s ministry to groups that need it most.

“Our mission is to show young women and men that we all struggle with obstacles in life like domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse

Bible Study: Tuesday - 9 a.m.

Wednesday - 7 p.m.

Prayer Services: Wednesday (1st & 3rd ) 7 a.m.

Every Wednesday 8 p.m.

Communion - 1st Sunday

Sunday, June 5, 2016 10:45 AM – Divine Worship

Deacons, Deaconess and Trustees Anniversary Special Guest Speaker: Dr. David Forbes Raleigh, North Carolina All Invited

New Sermon Series: “I Desire God” (Exploring Unique Ways of Falling Deeper In Love With God)

Facebook sixthbaptistrva

Church School 8:45 a.m.

Worship Service 10 a.m.

 ile Su

1 p.m.

 e ercies iisr  a.m. ul ile Su :0 p.m. ie oore Sree o

400 South Addison Street Richmond, Va. 23220 (near Byrd Park) (804) 359-1691 or 359-3498 Fax (804) 359-3798 www.sixthbaptistchurch.org

Bishop G. O. Glenn D. Min., Pastor Mother Marcietia S. Glenn First Lady



Sunday

Ebenezer Baptist Church “The People’s Church”

Noonday Bible Study 12noon-1:00 p.m.

11:00 a.m.

9:30 a.m.

Every 3rd Sunday 2nd Sunday, 11 a.m.

Mon. 6:30 p.m.

Tues. 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Wed. 7:45 p.m.

Wed. 4:30 p.m.

Wed. 6:00 p.m.

Thurs., 11:45 a.m.

Dr. Levy M. Armwood, Pastor  Dr. Wallace J. Cook, Pastor Emeritus

Wednesday Services

Sanctuary - All Are Welcome!

Wednesday Evening Bible Study 7 p.m.

Attendance - 132

Saturday 8:30 a.m. Intercessory Prayer

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

Also, for your convenience.

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

THE NEW DELIVERANCE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (NDCA)

ENROLL NOW!!!

Accepting applications for children 2 yrs. old to 3rd Grade Our NDCA curriculum also consists of a Before and After program.

Now Enrolling for our Nursery Ages 6 weeks - 2yrs. old.

For more information Please call (804) 276-4433 Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm

St. Peter Baptist Church

Dr. Kirkland R. Walton, Pastor

Theme for 2016: Becoming a Five-Star Church of Excellence With Mission, Growth, Prayer, Purpose, Vision We Are Growing In The Kingdom As We Grow The Kingdom

Remember...

At New Deliverance, You Are Home!

See you there and bring a friend

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



Sixth Baptist Church

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



Sunday Worship Sunday Church School Service of Holy Communion Service of Baptism Life Application Bible Class Mid-Week Senior Adult Fellowship Wednesday Meditation & Bible Study Homework & Tutoring Scouting Program Thursday Bible Study

Church School - 9:30 a.m.

Worship Service - 11:15 a.m.

New Deliverance Evangelistic Church

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216 W. Leigh St. • Richmond, Va. 23220 • Tel: 804-643-3366 Fax: 804-643-3367 • Email: ebcoffice1@comcast.net • web: ebcrichmond.org

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

Rev. Dr. Yvonne Jones Bibbs, Pastor

1408 W. eih Sree  ichmo a. 0 804 5840

1858

Baptist Church

Twitter sixthbaptistrva

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and we all can survive it,” she said.

“We all are beautiful, and no matter what we go through, we still can achieve our goals,” she added.

The event will feature poetry and makeovers for women suffering from domestic violence.

A portion of the evening’s proceeds will go to the Carol Adams Foundation, a Richmond-based organization that assists victims of domestic violence and their families.

“We all have a divine purpose,” Ms. Cousins said. “This fashion show is meant to enhance everyone’s inner beauty. It’s to show everyone that no matter what we go through in life, we are still beautiful inside and out.

“We’re Slaying 4 A Purpose because we went through what we did for God’s purpose.”

Tickets are $10. Children 6 and under are free.

For information and tickets, (804) 729-2229.

Triumphant

with Word, Worship and Witness

 

Worship Opportunities Sundays: Morning Worship Church School Morning Worship

(804) 303-6297 – (804) 303-6797-FAX PASTORS: ROSCOE D. COOPER, JR., BARBARA E. INGRAM, DARRYL E. WALKER

8 A.M. 9:30 A.M. 11 A.M.

Unity Sundays (2nd Sundays) Church School 8:30 A.M. Morning Worship 10 A.M. Thursdays: Mid-Day Bible Study 12 Noon Prayer & Praise 6:30 P.M. Bible Study 7 P.M. (Children/Youth/Adults)

NOW ENROLLING: AGES 5-12 YEARS OLD JOIN US FOR 11 WEEKS OF SUMMER ACTIVITIES AND ADVENTURES JUNE 20, 2016 THRU SEPTEMBER 2, 2016 MONDAY – FRIDAY (6:30 AM – 6:00 PM)

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & COST CONTACT: (804) 303-6291

2040 Mountain Road • Glen Allen, Virginia 23060 Office 804-262-0230 • Fax 804-262-4651 • www.stpeterbaptist.net

Come Celebrate with Us!

Pastoral Family 20th anniversary JUne 3rd - 5th, 2016

all activities at mount olive baptist church, glen allen

Formal banqUet Gala Friday, JUne 3rd 5:45Pm – reCePtion, 7:00Pm – dinner Speaker: rev. Dr. C. Diane MoSby, paStor anointed new life baptist church, henrico, va.

Celebration ConCert satUrday, JUne 4th - 7:00Pm Free event

featuring dr. raymond wise and family of columbus ohio

sUnday worshiP - JUne 5th - 10:00am Dr. C. Dexter WiSe, iii

pastor faith ministries interdenominational church columbus, ohio

Mount Olive Baptist Church Rev. Darryl G. Thompson, Pastor

2016 Theme: The Year of Restoration

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8775 Mount Olive Avenue Glen Allen, Virginia 23060 (804) 262-9614 Phone (804) 262-2397 Fax www.mobcva.org

Richmond Free Press

June 2-4, 2016

B5

Faith News/Directory

Dr. Roscoe D. Cooper Jr. celebrates his 70th birthday, 50 years in ministry, 24 years as South Side church founder

By Malik Russell

Growing up in North Philadelphia, church was both family and community for Dr. Roscoe D. Cooper Jr. Life, love, community and support are interchangeable and reflective not only within the walls of a church but in the hearts of the congregation, expressed in the way they value and treat each other.

It represents an ideal that has served him well and that he, in turn, has tried to express to others.

Last Sunday, more than 300 family members, friends and church members gathered to thank and celebrate Dr. Cooper and his 70 years of life, 50 years in the ministry and 24 years as the founding pastor of the Metropolitan African American Baptist Church in South Side.

Despite hovering storm clouds, the celebrants enjoyed the Jazz on the Lawn birthday-ministerial anniversary event outdoors until early evening rain forced them to move the music and dancing inside.

“It was a wonderful celebration,” Dr. Cooper said Tuesday.

His actual birthday was May 23.

Dr. Cooper said that as the son of a pastor, he knew early on where his path lay. Yet, it was not a journey without struggle, he said, reminiscing about his days in college at Cheney State University in Pennsylvania, where he had second thoughts about the obstacles facing him and his resolve to overcome them.

He later went on to earn a master’s degree in divinity from Andover Newton Theological

School in Massachusetts and a doctor of divinity degree at Virginia Union University.

His accolades also include being elected as the general secretary of the 8 million-member National Baptist Convention USA in 1994 and serving as an officer of the Richmond area chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

He said the support given to him as a high school student by church members allowed him to stay on course. He said he thought about quitting, “but I thought if I did, I wouldn’t just let myself down, but all these people who had invested in me, were praying for me, who wanted to see me make something of myself.”

When he graduated from high school, members of the church pooled their resources to help him and other students heading to college.

“We had a little party and people would come down and put money in your hand and tell you, ‘When you go up to that college, you make something of yourself.’ ” This, he said, moved him because they were poor and working-class people willing to invest in him “to have a better life than they did,” he said.

The experience would impact his entire life and philosophy as a minister. More importantly, it helped him to guide others through life and spirituality, he said.

“I think I’m a good preacher, but I really wanted to be a pastor,” Dr. Cooper said.

The idea of community supporting community and reaching out to those most in need is what he hopes defines his ministry. It is also a key reason why 24 years ago he left Fifth Street

Photos by Clement Britt

Dr. Roscoe D. Cooper Jr. and his wife, Christa W. Cooper, center, are surrounded by family for his combined birthday-ministerial anniversary celebration that kicked off last Sunday at Metropolitan African American Baptist Church in South Side.

Baptist Church after 19 years in the pulpit to open Metropolitan African American Baptist Church. Not only did he want to create a church family connected to their historical cultural origins, but also one that accepts, values and cherishes human beings regardless of their station in life. It’s this idea of love and acceptance that he hopes others remember him by.

“I would say that our church is a church that offers acceptance, help and hope,” he said of the church at 5263 Warwick Road. The church

has about 300 members.

Many gathered to show him the difference he has made in their lives and the hope he has placed in their hearts.

As Dr. Cooper said, love and acceptance are things we all can provide to each other. The simple act of doing so means we are doing God’s work.

A good part of this, he said, is helping people to “trust God and to recognize that God works with people through people.”

MetroPosse members, from left, James Edmonds, Neal Bowens, Del Rogers and Percy Minor perform during the Jazz on the Lawn celebration honoring Dr. Cooper.

Right, Diamond McManus hits the high notes during her performance.

Organization of ministers’ Riverview wives, widows hosts conference Baptist Church

The Virginia Association of Ministers’Wives and Ministers’ Widows will host a conference to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the organization’s international association.

Several community events that are open to the public will be held during the weeklong celebration slated for Friday, June 24 through Friday, July 1 at the Richmond Marriot, 500 E. Broad St., in Downtown.

The public events include: Saturday, June 25 — Husband’s Worship Service, 7:30 p.m., with speaker Dr. Kenneth

Dennis.

Sunday, June 26 — Morning worship, 10:30 a.m., with the Rev. Myeskia Cogar-Watson of Columbia, Md.; Holy communion, 7:30 p.m., with Dr. Joseph Fleming of Portsmouth.

Monday, June 27 — Welcome night program, 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 28 — Women in Worship, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, June 29 — President’s Night, 7:30 p.m., featuring Dr. Beverly W. Glover, international president.

Thursday, June 30 — IAMWMW Commencement, 2:30

p.m., with Dr. Kevin E. Turner of Portsmouth; Black and White Gala Awards Banquet, 7:30 p.m., featuring Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. of Chicago, a former spiritual adviser to President Obama and a member of Virginia Union University’s Board of Trustees; $75 donation.

The InternationalAssociation of Ministers’ Wives and Ministers’Widows unites women from various denominations into one Christian fellowship.

For more information, go to www.facebook.com/ VAMWMW/

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

SUNDAY SCHOOL - 9:45 A.M. SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE 11:00 A.M.

Mission Statement: People of God developing Disciples for Jesus Christ through Preaching and Teaching of God’s Holy Word reaching the people of the Church and the Community.

Sharon Baptist Church 22 E. Leigh Street, Richmond, VA 23219 • 643-3825 thesharonbaptistchurch.com Rev. Dr. Paul A. Coles, Pastor

SUNDAY, JUNE 5, 2016 No 8 a.m. Service | 8:30 a.m. Church School 10:00 a.m.

Morning Worship & Holy Communion

WEDNESDAYS 6:00 p.m. ..... Prayer Service 6:30 p.m. ..... Bible Study

THURSDAYS 1:30 p.m.

Bible Study

Grace Evangelistic Ministries Church 7643 Hull Street Road (Off Pocoshock Blvd)

North Chesterfield, VA 23236 (804) 833-9493 or (804) 585-9186

Elder Maricia S. Hayes, Pastor WELCOME TO “THE UPPER ROOM” Morning Worship Service: 10:00 a.m.

(1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays) Sanctuary Prayer: 9:45 am 3RD SATURDAY EVENING Worship Service: 5:00 pm Ministering Encouragement and Hope WEDNESDAY “HOUR OF POWER” Bible Study: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm 2ND & 4TH SATURDAY MORNING Prayer Meeting: 8 am – 9 am

Thirty-first Street Baptist Church

Mosby Memorial Baptist Church

“A Caring Community Committed to Listening, Loving, Learning and Leaning While Launching into our Future.”

June 5, 2016 First Pastoral Anniversary Celebration 10:30 A.M. Morning Worship

Guest Speaker: Rev. Dr. Penni Sweetenburg-Lee Founder, Pastor & CEO, Triple “P” Enterprises Evangelistic Ministries

3:00 P.M. Afternoon Service

Guest Speaker: Rev. Dr. John W. Kinney Ebenezer Baptist Church, Beaverdam Worship Leader: Rev. Dr. Adam Bond Providence Baptist Church, Ashland

Upcoming Events Choir Day June 12, 2016 @ 3:00 P.M. 2901 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 648-2472 ~ www.mmbcrva.org Dr. Price London Davis, Senior Pastor

May 29, 2016

C

o

everence e with e evanc R ing Dr. Morris Henderson, Senior Pastor bin ❖

SUNDAYS Church School 9:30 a.m.

Morning Worship 10:30 a.m.

Good Shepherd Baptist Church 1127 North 28th St., Richmond, VA 23223-6624 • Office: (804) 644-1402 Dr. Sylvester T. Smith, Pastor “There’s A Place for You” Tuesday Sunday 10:30 AM Bible Study 9:30 AM Church School 6:30 PM Church-wide Bible Study 11:00 AM Worship Service 6:30 PM Men's Bible Study (Each 2nd and 4th) (Holy Communion Thursday each 2nd Sunday) Wednesday (Following 2nd Sunday) 6:30 PM Prayer Meeting

11:00 AM Mid-day Meditation

❖

MENTAL HEALTH

WORKSHOP

Saturday, June 11, 2016 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Learn about depression, mood and anxiety disorders Register by June 7 823 North 31st Street Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 226-0150 Office www.31sbc.org

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.

Sunday School ~ 9:30 a.m.

Morning Worship ~ 11 a.m.

4th Sunday Unified Worship Service ~ 9:30 a.m.

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

Sermons Available at BRBCONLINE.org

“MAKE IT HAPPEN” Pastor Kevin Cook

Richmond Free Press

B6 June 2-4, 2016

Sports Plus

Washington Nats manager Dusty Baker recalls his ‘heckuva good time’ in Richmond

By Fred Jeter

It has been 45 years since he last swung a bat at the former Parker Field, but Dusty Baker remembers Richmond.

Graciously, Baker, the current Washington Nationals manager, granted an interview to the Free Press on May 28, prior to the Nats’ home game with St. Louis.

Baker played parts of the 1969, 1970 and 1971 seasons with the Richmond Braves. He was just 20 years old and only two years out of Del Campo High School in Carmichael, Calif., when he debuted at the old ballpark on The Boulevard in Richmond.

Along with some background information, here are a few “Dusty” memories of the River City: Eggleston Hotel: “That’s where the black players stayed. White players stayed across the ‘Nickel Bridge.’

I tried driving across that bridge and the man at the gate asked me who I was and where was I going.”

Located at Second and Leigh streets in Jackson Ward, Eggleston’s famous guests included such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, James Brown and Redd Foxx. The building collapsed in 2009 and was demolished.

Street life: “I came from a pretty sheltered background (in Northern California). In Downtown Richmond, I saw pimps, prostitutes, guys running the numbers game. It opened my eyes to a lot of things.”

Teammates: Ralph Garr, aka “The Roadrunner,” from Monroe, La., was his first roommate. “He taught me a lot about how things were in the South.”

Garr hit .366 in Richmond in 1970 and was called up to the parent team, the Atlanta Braves.

Along with Garr, Baker’s other African-American teammates with the Richmond Braves included Tommie Aaron, Hank Aaron’s brother; Hank Allen,

Dusty Baker

the brother of big league star Richie Allen; Oscar Brown, the brother of NFL player Willie Brown; and Cuban pitcher Luis Tiant, who was in the twilight of his career.

Satchel Paige: As a publicity stunt at Parker Field, Paige, at age 65, pitched an inning of a RichmondAtlanta exhibition game.

“Ralph (Garr) bunted on him (Paige),” Baker recalled with a chuckle.

Hal Breeden: “Hal could really hit. I remember thinking, if he’s not good enough to be in the big leagues, who is?”

In 1969, Breeden had 37 homers and 116 runs batted in for Richmond.

Managers: “I played under Clyde King and then Mickey Vernon (in Richmond).” Coincidence or not, there is a framed photo of Vernon in Baker’s Nationals stadium office.

“Honorable” crooks: “Thieves broke into my

car and stole my records (45s and albums) and my (music) box in Richmond. But when they found out who I was, they brought everything back a few days later.”

The letter: “In 1971, I thought I should be in Atlanta and didn’t want to be (in Richmond). I was pouting and not playing well.

“I’ll never forget a letter (mailed to Parker Field) from a little girl asking me, ‘Are you the same Dusty Baker who was my favorite player last year? If you’re not the same Dusty Baker, send the other one back to us.’

“I never met (the little girl), but that opened my eyes. It woke up me.”

Great expectations: “When I signed, people were calling me ‘the next Hank Aaron.’ ” Traffic jam: The talented and crowded Atlanta outfield during the 1969-1971 timeframe included Aaron, Rico Carty, Mike Lum, Tony Gonzalez and, starting in 1971, Garr. “Atlanta sent me back to Richmond because they wanted me to play every day.”

RVA final thought: “All in all, I had a heckuva good time.”

The rest is history: A two-time All-Star, Baker would go on to slug 242 homers and drive in 1,013 runs in a big league career ending in 1986 with Oakland.

He managed the San Francisco Giants, the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds before joining the Washington Nationals earlier this spring. Baker and Los Angeles’ Dave Roberts are currently the lone AfricanAmerican managers in Major League Baseball.

In 1981, Baker played a lead role for World Series champion Los Angeles.

In October, the former Richmond star hopes to win a

High-five legend It has been said that Dusty Baker, along with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Glenn Burke, invented — or at least popularized — the high-five.

On Oct. 2, 1977, after slugging his 30th home run of the season, Baker was greeted at home plate by Burke, who extended his right hand high above his head.

Baker reached high to slap Burke’s hand.

“No, I didn’t invent the high-five,” Baker said in an interview. “I was just responding to Glenn. It seemed like the thing to do.”

It turned out to be a famous home run. Los Angeles became the first team with four players hitting a least 30 homers. The other L.A. sluggers were Ron Cey, Steve Garvey and Reggie Smith.

Baker would be a part of an even more famous homer on April 8, 1974, at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium.

Baker was on deck when Hank Aaron swatted his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s record.

Legal Notices/Employment Opportunities Continued on next column

City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE

To advertise in the

Richmond Free Press call

644-0496 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, June 13, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the Second Floor of City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, to consider the following ordinances: Ordinance No. 2016-146 To amend section 43 (Step-Based Pay System for Sworn Fire Fighters and Police Officers) of Article III of the pay plan adopted by Ord. No. 93117-159 on May 24, 1993, for the purpose of providing for a step advancement for certain sworn fire and police personnel.

Ordinance No. 2016-147 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to accept funds in the amount of $19,600 from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and to appropriate the increase to the Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Special Fund Budget by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the Department of Fire and Emergency Services by $19,600 for the purpose of providing mass care shelter equipment and supplies for the city of Richmond during disasters and emergency situations.

Interested citizens who wish to speak will be given an opportunity to do so.

Copies of the full text of all ordinances are available by visiting the City Clerk’s page on the City’s Website at www.Richmondgov. com and in the Office of the City Clerk, City Hall, 900 East Broad Street, Suite 200, Richmond, VA 23219, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Jean V. Capel City Clerk

Notice is hereby given that the City of Richmond Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, June 20, 2016 at 1:30 p.m. in the Fifth Floor Conference Room of City Hall and the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing on Monday, June 27, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the Second Floor of City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, to consider the following ordinances: Ordinance No. 2016-167 To authorize the special use of the property known as 21 West Clay Street for the purpose of authorizing one two-family attached dwelling and accessory parking, upon certain terms and conditions.

The Downtown Master Plan states that, “Historic Jackson Ward is also an example of the general urban condition in Richmond. The district represents the historic pattern of settlement in Downtown Richmond, with a connected network of blocks and streets and buildings shaping the public space.

A mix of buildings types exist in the neighborhood, ranging from single-family homes to rowhouses to mixed-use, main street buildings” (p.3.24).

Ordinance No. 2016-168 To authorize the special use of the property known as 3903 Hill Monument Parkway for the purpose of permitting an accessory dwelling unit and accessory parking, upon certain terms and conditions. The Land Use Plan of the City of Richmond’s Master Plan designates the subject property for Single-Family (Low Density) land use. Primary uses in this category are single-family detached dwellings at densities up to seven units per acre.

The density of the parcel if developed as proposed would be approximately 7 units per acre.

Ordinance No. 2016-169 To authorize the special use of the property known as 4618 West Grace Street for the purpose of permitting a second floor lodging unit accessory to a dwelling unit, upon certain terms and conditions. The City of Richmond’s Master Plan designates the subject property for Single-Family (Low Density) land use. Primary uses in this category are “single family detached dwellings at densities up to seven units per acre” (p.

133). The authorized residential density of the parcel would be approximately 6 units per acre.

uses are single-family and two-family dwellings, both detached and attached, at densities of 8 to 20 units per acre. Included are residential support uses such as schools, places of worship, neighborhood parks and recreation facilities, and limited public and semi-public uses” (p. 133).

Ordinance No. 2016-171 To amend Ord. No. 2014121-201, adopted Nov. 10, 2014, which authorized the special use of the property known as 1650 Overbrook Road for the purpose of authorizing multifamily dwellings with up to 205 dwelling units, to permit up to 117 multifamily dwelling units and other site amenities, upon certain terms and conditions. For the Near West Planning District, The Master Plan states that “There are a number of vacant industrial and commercial properties within the District, many of which are within or adjacent to residential neighborhoods. Creative reuse strategies for these buildings or sites are needed” (p. 229).

Ordinance No. 2016-172 To close, to public use and travel, a portion of Rowe Street located between South 1st Street and South 2nd Street, consisting of 1,177± square feet, and a 4’± strip of South 2nd Street along its northwest line at its intersection with Rowe Street, consisting of 527± square feet, upon certain terms and conditions.

Interested citizens who wish to speak will be given an opportunity to do so.

Copies of the full text of all ordinances are available by visiting the City Clerk’s page on the City’s Website at www.Richmondgov.com and in the Office of the City Clerk, City Hall, 900 East Broad Street, Suite 200, Richmond, VA 23219, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Monday through Friday.

Jean V. Capel City Clerk

Divorce

Continued on next column

fice of the Law Division of the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond, John Marshall Courts Building, 400 North 9th Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, on or before August 8, 2016 and do whatever necessary to protect her interest in this suit.

An Extract, Teste: EDWARD F. JEWETT, Clerk NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS

BY PUBLICATION STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, BUNCOMBE COUNTY In the General Court of Justice, District Court Division Justina H. Scallion v.

Dale R. Scallion, 16-CVD-1055 TO: DALE R. SCALLION: Take notice that a pleading seeking relief against you has been filed in the above -entitled action. The nature of the relief being sought is: Absolute Divorce. You are required to make defense to such pleading not later than July 6, 2016, and upon your failure to do so the party seeking service against you will apply to the court for the relief sought. This, the 26th day of May, 2016.

Laura G. Hooks, Attorney for Plaintiff, One Oak Plaza, Ste 209, Asheville, NC 28801, Tel: 828.333.2630 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER TAMMY DESPRES, Plaintiff v.

JAMES DESPRES, Defendant.

Case No.: CL16000970-00 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, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests.

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

Ordinance No. 2016-170 To authorize the special use of the property known as 616 North 25th Street for the purpose of authorizing a retail store and twofamily attached dwelling with no parking required, upon certain terms and conditions. The Richmond Master Plan designates this area as Single-Family (medium density). “Primary

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

MICHELLE BROWN, Defendant.

Civil Law No.: CL16-1762 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 for a period of more than one year, since July 7, 2003. And it appearing

by Affidavit filed according to law that Michelle Brown, 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 Michelle Brown do appear in the Clerk’s of-

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER DAWN JAMES-TAYLOR, Plaintiff v.

ANDREW TAYLOR, Defendant.

Case No.: CL16001386-00 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, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure

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Counsel for Plaintiff VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF CHESTERFIELD Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Walter Rogers v Cathyrony Wright Case No. 041CL6000595-00 Order of Publication The object of this suit is to: Obtain a divorce a vincullo matrimonii or from the bonds of matrimony.

It appearing from an affidavit that the defendant is: that diligence has been used without effect, by or on the behalf of the plaintiff to ascertain in what country or city defendant is It is ORDERED th a t Cathyrony Wright appear at the above-named court and protect her interest on or before May 24, 2016 at 8:30 a.m.

An Extract Teste: WENDY S. HUGHES, Clerk VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER JERNIER COX, Plaintiff v.

RASHEEN COX, Defendant.

Case No.: CL16001030-00 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 22nd day of June, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests.

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

CUSTODY virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt IN the COunty of Chesterfield Commonwealth of Virginia, in re EMILY ELIZABETH JEAN & DYLAN JAMES CAROLINA BLUE MCMILLIAN, JIM HARFORD WILLIAMS v.

JOSHUA RAY JEAN & ELIZABETH ANN MCMILLIAN Case No. JJ067715-06-00, JJ052464-07-00 OrDEr Of puBLicatiON

The object of this suit is to: Determine custody of Emily Elizabeth Jean (DOB: 1/5/05) and Dylan James Jean (DOB: 12/3/01), whose mother is Elizabeth Ann McMillian, and whose father is Joshua Ray Jean, pursuant to Virginia Code Section 16.1-241A3.

It is ORDERED that the defendant Joshua Ray Jean & Elizabeth Ann McMillian appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or before August 8, 2016 at 10:00 A.M. virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND Continued on next page

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DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of the City of Richmond Commonwealth of Virginia, in re SOPHIA RINEHULTS, Juvenile Case No. JJ091775-04, OrDEr Of puBLicatiON

The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) of Unknown, (Father), of S O P H I A RI N E H U LT S , child, DOB 11/06/2015, “RPR” means all rights and responsibilities remaining with parent after transfer of legal custody or guardianship of the person, including but not limited to rights of: visitation; adoption consent; determination of religious affiliation; and responsibility for support.

It is ORDERED that the defendant Unknown (Father), appear at the abovenamed Court and protect his/her interest on or before 9/7/2016, at 9:30 AM, Court Room #5.

Diane Abato, Esq. 730 E. Broad St., 8th Floor Richmond, Virginia 23219 804-646-3493

PROPERTY Virginia: In the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond Theo Jones, Plaintiff v.

Bernice D. Washington, et al, Defendants.

Case No. 760CL15002102-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION TO: Bernice D. Washington AND Unknown Heirs, Devisees, Successors in Interest and/or Assigns of Bernice D. Washington

The object of suit is to quiet title in and establish title in the plaintiff to 105 West 21st Street, Richmond, Virginia 23224, that was willed

by Milton Jones, to Lillian Jones Dobbins and Herbert Dobbins, her husband, in Will Book 15, page 358, probated February 16, 1959; both died intestate, leaving Bernice D. Washington, as a potential heir to said property, now a lot.

An affidavit having been made and signed that the heirs, devisees, successors in interest and/or assigns of Bernice D. Washington, believed to be deceased, whose names are unknown, are or may be interested in the property to be disposed of in this suit, and if any such heirs, devisees, successors or assigns there be, it is therefore

ORDERED, that each of said parties appear on or before July 10, 2016, and do whatever is necessary to protect their interest.

A Copy, Teste: EDWARD F. JEWETT, Clerk I ask for this: Audrey Freeman JaCobs Continued on next page

DRIVERS:

Continued from previous column

(VSB 13166) Attorney at Law 2214 East Marshall Street P.O. Box 7970 Richmond, Virginia 23223 804.643.0500

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BID COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA CONSTRUCTION BID ITB # 16-1204-5JK Greenwood Park Phase I Development Due 2:30 pm, June 21, 2016 Additional information available at: http://www. henrico.us/departments/ purchasing/bids-andproposals/

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