Virginian crowned Miss USA B3
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Monday, May 22: Deadline to register n o i to vote in the at Reg isTr e n June 13 primary Deadli
VUU, VSU, VCU and Hampton celebrate Class of 2017
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VOL. 26 NO. 20
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May 18-20, 2017
Russian roulette
Feds pull out big gun to oversee Trump investigation Free Press staff, wire report
Mr. Hilbert
Mayor Stoney
Hilbert to mayor: Don’t veto City Council budget By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Did President Trump fire FBI Director James Comey for refusing to shut down a criminal investigation against the president’s crony, retired Gen. Michael T. Flynn, who briefly served as national security adviser? That question is now swirling around the increasingly embattled president after reports indicated that Mr. Comey detailed the attempt to stop the investigation in a memo he wrote to himself following a private meeting with the president. While President Trump followed a familiar script — deny, deny, deny — as he jetted off on a nine-day trip to the Middle East and Europe, the reports rocked Congress as the administration has been struggling to manage a growing list of scandals. Veterans in Congress are hearing echoes of Watergate, the scandal that forced President Richard M. Nixon to resign 44 years ago to avoid impeachment. Some legislators already are labeling President Trump’s action obstruction of justice and calling for his impeachment, though most are treading more carefully. So far, a House committee has asked the FBI to provide copies of the Comey memo to learn more about what might have happened and whether President Trump’s misstep is as serious as the reports in the New York Times and on NBC News suggested. Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department, led by Trump loyalist Jeff Sessions, took an unexpected step to avoid any appearance that it is under President Trump’s thumb. The department announced Wednesday that a special prosecutor has been named — former FBI Director Robert Mueller — to take over the probe into allegations that advisers to the 2016 Trump
Money allocated to fix potholes or plow streets cannot be used for picking up trash unless Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney secures approval to shift the funds from Richmond City Council. And dollars allocated to improve pay for police and firefighters cannot be shifted to buy needed equipment unless the mayor receives the council’s permission. Molly Riley/Reuters/File Photo TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY By a vote of 6-3 Monday night, City Council ushered in a new Former FBI Director Robert Mueller was chosen Wednesday era of increased oversight over the way tax dollars are spent. Please turn to A4 The vote came as the council approved a series of ordinances to lead the Trump-Russian investigation. laying out spending plans for the 2017-18 fiscal year that will begin July 1. The decision strips Mayor Stoney and his administration of discretion to move money around within major departments like Public Works, although smaller units, including the Mayor’s Office and City Council appointees, will retain full control of their money. for candidates to replace Superintendent give the public the opportunity to voice By Holly Rodriguez Will it have any effect on city resiDana T. Bedden. their opinion on the next candidate. dents? Communication. Transparency. VisDr. Bedden and the School Board “We want public buy-in, for (people) to Mr. Agelasto Yes, said Mayor Stoney, who was absent ibility. mutually agreed last month to end his share their thoughts involving what they from the meeting. These are qualities participants listed contract on June 30, two years short of want in our next superintendent,” said In just his fifth month in office, the youthful mayor fumed as priorities for the next superintendent his original contract. School Board Chairwoman Dawn Page. in a statement after the vote that City Council is taking “micro- of Richmond Public Schools during the The abrupt end to Dr. Bedden’s tenure, More than 50 people turned out for managing to a new level.” He also said the change will “make first of four community forums held by combined with the School Board’s silence Tuesday’s meeting. They were divided into city government less efficient and make it harder to deliver the the Richmond School Board on Tuesday about the reason for his departure, angered groups to answer seven questions such as services our residents deserve.” night at Huguenot High School. many in the RPS community and disrupted the desired professional background and No, said Council President Chris A. Hilbert. “This is inside The goal of the forums is to gather trust and confidence in the board. The fobaseball,” he said. ‘I don’t think it will have a huge impact public input as the national search starts rums are an attempt to calm the fury and Please turn to A4 outside City Hall.” Mr. Hilbert urged Mayor Stoney to accept the council’s action in the spirit of “cooperation and collaboration” he espoused when he took office in January. Mr. Hilbert essentially warned the mayor that he would lose if he vetoes the council’s amendment to the budget that creates what is described as a “program budget.” That means money is appropriated by programs and service codes within departments rather than as a lump sum per department as was previously the case. Associated Press Mr. Hilbert provided the sixth vote to pass CHICAGO the budget and made it clear that he would vote Former President Obama unveiled plans for his future presidential center, painting a Please turn to A4 picture of a buzzing hub for youth and community programs on the South Side of Chicago where he raised his family and launched his political career. The former chief executive fielded questions from residents at a May 3 forum near the site on the shores of Lake Michigan, delving into nitty-gritty details of traffic patterns, green space and job creation, while Mr. Obama avoiding any mention of his successor in the White House. “What we want this to be is the world premier institution for training young people and leadership to make a difference in their communities, in their countries and in the world,” he told the friendly crowd that included Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, his Courtesy of the Obama Presidential Center one-time chief of staff. Models show the planned design of the 200,000-square-foot Obama Presidential It was one of President Obama’s rare pub- Center, which is scheduled to open in 2021 in Chicago’s Jackson Park on Lake lic appearance since he left office, providing Michigan. The center will have three buildings — a multistory museum and two single another glimpse of post-presidential life. In story structures to contain a library and a forum. Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press late April, he participated in a University of Chicago panel with students, saying young model of the center, which also will include $2 million to summer job efforts in the city. people are the key to solving the nation’s a public plaza and classrooms. He said Chicago has a lot to offer, but most Twins Cydney and Camryn Hamlin, 6, of most pressing problems and he hoped his President Obama said construction of people outside the city only see headlines Philadelphia are ready and waiting to see center would play a role in it. the center — up to 225,000 square feet about the violence. big sister Tyler Stafford get her degree at The Obama Presidential Center will fea- overall — would take about four years, but “We don’t want to wait for a building,” he Virginia Union University’s commencement ture three structures, including a tower-like programming would begin this year. He said said. “This is about reaching out right now.” last Saturday at St. Paul’s Baptist Church. museum and tree-lined walkways. The Obama he and former First Lady Michelle Obama, The duo led Ms. Stafford’s cheering Foundation displayed drawings and a miniature who also attended, would personally donate Please turn to A4 section. Please see area commencement
Common concerns emerge in forum on superintendent search
Plans unveiled for Obama Presidential Center
Future grads
coverage and photos, B2 and B3.
Richmond Free Press
A2 May 18-20, 2017
Local News
Wellness center dedicated
Once a gas station, this Church Hill site is now home to the new Sarah Garland Jones Center for Health Communities. The new $1.5 million center developed by Bon Secours Virginia Health System with private donations opened Tuesday at 2600 Nine Mile Road. Bon Secours officials announced at the dedication that the building will bear the name of Dr. Jones, the pioneering African-American physician who in 1902 founded and ran the forerunner to Richmond Community Hospital, which is now part of Bon Secours. The building’s renovation and opening took longer than expected. Groundbreaking took place in April 2016, with plans to open four months later. The new center has three components, according to Bon Secours. Slices of life and scenes First, the building houses a in Richmond commercial kitchen for ClassA-Roll, a Bon Secours program that provides community cooking classes and food skills training to promote healthy eating. The kitchen also will be available for preparation of community dinners. The building also includes space for a coffee shop that nonprofit Church Hill Activities and Tutoring, or CHAT, plans to operate to provide jobs and entrepreneurial experiences for neighborhood teens. Finally, the building includes a separate 900-square-foot community room to be used for health and wellness programs and meeting space for neighborhood groups.
Cityscape
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
GRTC announces Richmond schools receive federal art grant new rewards program for riders People who ride the bus now can get discounts on the price of a meal at area restaurants, as well as savings at other merchants and attractions. GRTC on Monday announced the new RideGRTC Rewards program, calling the price discounts a fresh way “of thanking riders and further connecting them with the best of Richmond.” Albert’s Pizzeria, Burger Bach, Caribbean Chef, Duck Donuts, the Richmond Flying Squirrels, the Richmond Kickers, the Science Museum of Virginia and Island Yoga Fitness are among the initial 23 private and public operations to team with GRTC in providing discounts to passengers, according to the transit company. “This program was created in response to our riders requesting to be rewarded for frequently riding GRTC,” said David Green, chief executive officer for the regional public transit company. There are no special coupons or member cards required, he said. Riders just have to “flash their GRTC daily, weekly or monthly ticket” to qualify for the discount, he said. Currently, 15 restaurants, three fitness centers, two professional sports programs and one museum are on the list of discount providers. Pedego Electric Bikes and Segway of Richmond also are participating. The list of partners can be found on the GRTC website, www. RideGRTC.com, with more on the way, Mr. Green said. GRTC also is entering people who purchase tickets through its website into a monthly drawing that also provides rewards. Information on both programs: (804) 358-4872, www. RideGRTC.com or GRTC’s Facebook page. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS
Dominion Riverrock slated this weekend Dominion Riverrock returns this weekend with a fresh sampling of fun, games, live music and athletic competitions on the riverfront. The three-day event, which promotes itself as “the nation’s premier outdoor sports and music festival,” will feature a circusstyle atmosphere, according to the schedule. On tap: Cyclists doing tricks on their bikes, people climbing huge rocks, kayaks racing in the James River, dogs leaping into a large pool and a host of other activities, according to the program. People can sign up for events, stay on the sidelines to cheer on competitors or simply enjoy the show as a spectator. Along with running and rowing events, Riverrock also will feature an array of bands pumping out music. Open to the public without charge, Riverrock will run from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, May 19; 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 20; and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 21. Location: On and around Brown’s Island at the south end of 5th and 7th streets in Downtown. One of the opening events on Friday, the Filthy 5K Mud Run gives the flavor of this festival. Competitors will have to run and crawl through mud pits as part of the race that covers 3.1 miles. Dominion Energy teams with booster groups for sports tourism and the city’s Downtown to stage the annual event. Information: Sports Backers, (804) 285-9495; Venture Richmond, (804) 788-6466; or dominionriverrock.com.
Three Richmond schools will be beneficiaries of the Turnaround Arts Program, a national program the provides equitable access to arts education. Woodville Elementary and Binford and Martin Luther King Jr. middle schools will receive intensive arts education resources to help improve students’ academic and testing performance, Richmond Public Schools officials announced. The program will begin in the 20172018 school year. The program will include art, dance, theater and music programs, arts integration across multiple subject areas, and incorporation of the use of musical instruments guided by high-profile artist mentors. Legendary guitarist and musician Dan Zanes of the 1980s band The Del Fuegos will serve as mentor at Woodville Elementary; Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Jason Mraz will work with Binford Middle School; and hip-hop violin-viola duo Kev Marcus and Wil B of the group
Black Violin will be mentors at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. The mentors’ responsibilities will include providing a motivational morning greeting, guidance in artistic endeavors and special projects. An annual check-in will be held at each school to measure progress. According to RPS spokeswoman Kenita Bowers, the school system applied for the grant and was selected based on criteria that included demonstrated need and opportunity, strong school leadership with district support and a commitment to arts education. Turnaround Arts started as a pilot program in 2012 in eight U.S. public schools. Research concluded the schools showed increases in reading proficiency among students, improvement in math, increases in attendance and decreases in suspensions. The program since has expanded to 72 schools.
RPS officials did not announce the monetary value of the grant. Kathy Fletcher, the national program director, said the arts not only develop skills needed for academic success, but also offer a style of teaching and learning that highly engages students and teachers. “When teachers use the arts to help students understand content, they also give students the opportunity to communicate and collaborate,” she said. “This concept is very simple, and with an infusion of the arts in schools, we see attendance go up, families become more engaged, and in turn, academic scores rise.” The program, which also receives some private funding, is run by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, a White House advisory committee on cultural issues; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the U.S. Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Arts. — HOLLY RODRIGUEZ
Family medical history prompts man to enter ‘Man of the Year’ campaign By Holly Rodriguez
Dwight Taylor knows the pain of losing a loved one to cancer and the triumph of celebrating a loved one beating the disease. His mother, a registered nurse at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, died of breast cancer in 1993. His father battled prostate cancer last year. So when the managing partner at Firestone Complete Auto Care in Mechanicsville was recruited to raise money as a candidate for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Virginia Chapter’s 2017 Man & Woman of the Year campaign, he readily agreed. “I’ve learned that one of the ways cancer travels is through the bloodstream,” Mr. Taylor said. “So the work of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society benefits anyone with cancer, if, for no other reason, than to keep the cancer from spreading,” he said. Mr. Taylor is among 12 Virginia candidates vying for the man or woman of the year title and the only AfricanAmerican. Every dollar raised on behalf of a candidate counts as one vote. The candidate with the
most votes wins. “I have heard The 10-week about several cancer campaign culmiresearch advancenates Saturday, May ments during my 20, with a gala at the involvement with Altria Theater that LLS,” he stated in includes a cocktail a campaign mesreception, live and sage. “I strongly silent auctions, dinbelieve that if the ner, music, dancing treatments available and the announcetoday were accesMr. Taylor ment of the 2017 sible to my family Man & Woman of the Year. when my mother was diagThe deadline to donate and nosed, she might be here to vote is Friday, May 19. meet my twins today.” “I got started and then I Nick Faraone, executive realized that I’ve got to bring director of the Leukemia & my ‘A’ game,” said Mr. Taylor, Lymphoma Society’s Virginia a James Madison University Chapter, said a new record was graduate and member of Phi set last year when the campaign Beta Sigma Fraternity. “This raised $476,000. is some serious competition According to the society’s here.” statistics, African-Americans Mr. Taylor said his goal is to are at twice the risk for multiple raise $100,000. He is dedicating myeloma as Caucasians. his effort to his late mother, The LLS has partnered with Peggy Anne Taylor. the National Black Church Ini-
tiative, a faith-based coalition of 34,000 churches across the nation, to raise awareness of the prevalence of the disease in the African-American community and how LLS can help with the high cost of treating it. “We offer diagnosis-specific information, let people know what treatment options are available and provide grants from $2,000 to $10,000 for insurance co-pays, deductibles and travel assistance,” Mr. Faraone said. Other Virginia chapter candidates are Debbie Belin, Lauren Blanchard, Jonathan Blank, Amanda Brzostowski, Mark Doloresco, Jordan Forbes, Laura French, Kerri O’Brien, Joey Slye, Lisa Spagnoli and Lisa Zajur. For more information on the campaign, donations and gala tickets, go to www.mwoy. org/va.
Senior fair May 23 at Hotchkiss Community Center Yes, there is a free lunch, according to Richmond City Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson. The city’s 6th District representative plans to provide it to all comers on Tuesday, May 23, at an informational and entertainment fair she will host for the 60-plus set titled “For the Love of Our Seniors.” Time: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Place: Hotchkiss Community Center, 701 E. Brookland Park Blvd. Along with the free meal, participants will be able to line dance, listen to music and secure information on health, wellness, security and tax relief from a group of 14 public and
private vendors. For example, the Richmond Sheriff’s Office will offer information on its program to make it easier to locate relatives with dementia who wander off, while the city Finance Department will help people sign up for real estate tax relief. Vendors will include Sheltering Arms Rehabilitation Center, Anthem’s CareMore, the Virginia Relay, the Richmond Ambulance Authority, VanGo and the Office of the Attorney General. Information: Kiya Stokes, (804) 646-7964 or Kiya.Stokes@Richmondgov.com.
Clement Britt
Strawberry Street Festival Youngsters from Richmond’s William Fox Elementary School perform during the 38th Annual Strawberry Street Festival last Saturday. The event featured games, rides, raffles, auctions and, of course, strawberries. Proceeds from the festival benefit the school.
Richmond Free Press
May 18-20, 2017
A3
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Richmond Free Press
A4 May 18-20, 2017
News
Plans unveiled for Obama Presidential Center Continued from A1
He said there would be future community meetings to discuss other aspects of the center in Jackson Park, and hoped it could be used to spur economic activity in the area, which includes several downtrodden neighborhoods. He projected the center would create thousands of jobs, including temporary construction jobs and up to 300 permanent positions. The Obama Foundation has said much of the exhibition design work for the museum will be performed by minority- and women-owned businesses. New York-based Ralph Appelbaum Associates will lead a team of several firms and individuals with expertise in media, lighting and acoustics in designing exhibits. The project is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but officials did not discuss cost at the unveiling event. President Obama said he envisioned recording studios where musicians could help young people work on music and space where movie direc-
Hilbert to mayor: Don’t veto City Council budget Continued from A1
Courtesy of the Obama Presidential Center
The single story buildings will have landscaped roofs that offer views of Jackson Park Lagoon and Lake Michigan.
tors could take on community storytelling. The center will also have exhibits with campaign memorabilia and personal artifacts. “Let’s face it, we want to see Michelle’s dresses,” he joked. The event was held at the South Shore Cultural Center, a park facility where the Obamas
held their wedding reception 25 years ago. President Obama also noted that he lived not far from the site and his daughters were born at a nearby hospital. He also squashed any notion that the library was ever going to be elsewhere. Multiple locations in three states — Illinois, New York and Hawaii — ini-
tially pitched proposals. “The best things that have happened to me in my life, happened in this community,” he said. “Although we had a formal bidding process to determine where the presidential library was going to be, the fact of the matter was it had to be right here on the South Side of Chicago.”
Common concerns emerge in first RPS forum on superintendent search Continued from A1
preferred management style of a new superintendent and the single big ticket item they would like a new superintendent to implement. One group that was exclusively Spanishspeaking was designated to address Latino student concerns. The question that prompted the most response from participants was, “What are the characteristics you want to see in the next superintendent?” Responses that repeatedly surfaced included a strong communicator, transparency of the administration and visibility in the community. “If we were satisfied, we wouldn’t be here today,” said David F. Jones, who has two children in city schools. “The characteristics we are looking for are characteristics of anyone who we would want to be around our kids.” Sam Banks, who works in the RPS IT department, said transparency, communication and visibility will set the school system on the track of much-needed change, helping to improve culture at many schools and build morale. However, repairing school culture does not stop at the administrative level, he said. “We need to offer some training to some of our parents, too,” he continued. “They need to know that what you may view as acceptable behavior in your home may differ than the behavior the teacher expects from your child in the classroom.” Mr. Banks and several other participants expressed the need to have a superinten-
dent who is accessible to parents and teachers. “This person has to inspire others and . . . not be afraid of parents,” Mr. Banks said. “You have to create the vision, live Ms. Page it and be it — teach a class one day, do the morning announcements, be visible, be seen.” Most of the participants agreed that these qualities are important, but other concerns were raised. Gustavo Angeles, a volunteer with the New Virginia Majority advocacy group, said the Spanish-speaking group wants a new superintendent to ensure equal treatment of all students, address student transportation issues and allow transfer of academic credits from a student’s home country upon enrollment in RPS. Mr. Angeles talked about an academically talented student who was in the 11th grade before moving to the United States and enrolling in RPS. Once here, many of his credits did not transfer, and he was placed in the ninth grade. He will be 20 when he graduates from high school, Mr. Angeles said. The group representing Latino student reached full consensus that a new superintendent’s background should be in education rather than a nontraditional background. This idea was met with strong opinions from the entire group. One participant, a RPS teacher, said she
believes the new superintendent should “come up through the ranks.” “I don’t think you can really identify with my challenges as a teacher unless you’ve been there,” she said. But Mr. Jones disagreed. He said with the financial constraints plaguing public schools, economic savvy is a must for the person who will take on the leadership role. “The money we need has to come from somewhere because we know we aren’t going to get it from the city,” he said. “The superintendent is the CEO of our company, Richmond Public Schools. And if we have a budget shortfall and he or she doesn’t know where the money is coming from, you aren’t doing your job.” Charlotte Hayer, president of the Richmond Education Association, said the forums are important in helping the community and the school system move past the recent controversy surrounding Dr. Bedden and his departure. “This forum speaks to who we are as a community,” she said. “Our children are important and need the right opportunity so their glory can come out and be seen.” The next forums, all scheduled for 6:30 to 8 p.m., will be held Thursday, May 18, at Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School, 2409 Webber Ave.; Tuesday, May 23, at John Marshall High School,4225 Old Brook Road; and Wednesday, May 24, at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, 1000 Mosby St. The board plans to post the findings of the forums on its website, www. rvaschools.net.
to override the mayor if Mayor Stoney uses his veto power to try to kill the council’s amendment. It take six votes to override a veto, and Mr. Hilbert’s vote would be key to maintaining the council’s action. While he did not support the shift to a program budget, Mr. Hilbert is determined to avoid upheaval over the change. His decision is a boost for the five council members who firmly supported the change, including the two authors, Kim B. Gray, 2nd District, and Kristen N. Larson, 4th District. Others supporting the change were Parker C. Agelasto, 5th District; Reva M. Trammell, 8th District; and Michael J. Jones, 9th District. The no votes came from council Vice President Cynthia I. Newbille, 7th District; Ellen F. Robertson, 6th District; and Andreas D. Addison, 1st District. All three argued that the council has not done enough study to ensure the new approach is sound and would not impede city operations. While rare in Virginia cities with modern finance operations, governing boards in many counties in the state still approve all spending. Ms. Gray and Ms. Larson, who previously served on the Richmond School Board, noted that the School Board votes on all expenditures before money is spent and the approved items are listed on the school system’s website. Previously, the city administration was required to seek council approval only to move money from one department to another, with the administration and department heads having free rein to move money within departments as long as they did not go over their budgets. Mayor Stoney tried to ward off what he sees as a blow to his management of the city. Ahead of the vote, he introduced a budget transparency ordinance that would require his administration to disclose in monthly financial reports to the council any shifts of money that departments make from one line item to another line item. The push for increased oversight results in part from the city administration’s decision in December to spend without the council’s approval $1.9 million on employee bonuses before the departure of former Mayor Dwight C. Jones. Council members also are frustrated at the administration’s disclosure that fiscal year 2016 ended June 30, 2016, with a $13 million surplus despite repeated claims from Chief Administrative Officer Selena Cuffee-Glenn that Richmond did not have enough money to keep the grass in parks, schools and other public property mowed, fill all potholes or collect tree limbs, appliances and other bulk items. Ms. Trammell remains particularly incensed that city residents pitched in to mow grass on public property when taxpayer money to get the job done was reported to be short. After the vote, Mr. Agelasto explained the need for greater City Council oversight by pointing to an amendment the mayor introduced that would move money in the 2016-17 budget from one department to another. The amendment, for example, calls for shifting $2.6 million to Fire and Emergency Services to cover the cost of new breathing apparatus. The public request for bids went out in October, Mr. Agelasto said, even though the department did not have enough money in its budget to cover the cost. He said he wonders if the administration knew the funding would be available later in the year, without giving any heads up to the council. He also noted that the amendment calls for taking $1.46 million in unspent personnel money from the Police Department, which has been advocating for months for additional dollars. Police Chief Alfred Durham said the money represents funds that were earmarked to pay the salaries of 23 officers, but was not spent because those officers retired or took jobs elsewhere. He said the administration’s plan to take the money would not affect operations. He said he has enough money on hand to start training a new recruit class of 23 officers in mid-June, a week after 18 current recruits graduate. However, Mr. Agelasto and other members consider it ludicrous that an administration that pushed to get $1.6 million in additional funds for the Police Department in January to pay for a recruit class is now telling the council the department is expected to finish the fiscal year with more money than it actually needed. “This is a trust issue,” he said.
Feds pull out big gun to oversee Trump investigation Continued from A1
campaign improperly and illegally colluded with Russia to get President Trump elected. A separate Senate probe is underway in which U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner of Virginia is playing a major role. The Comey memo report dropped like a bombshell during a week that began with news that President Trump disclosed classified information to high-ranking Russian visitors to the White House, including that nation’s ambassador. Mr. Comey has been mum publicly since his firing last week, but friends, upset at his discharge, spread the news about the memo. According to a friend of Mr. Comey, the former FBI chief wrote the detailed memo on Feb. 14, just a day after President Trump ousted Gen. Flynn for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador, the same one who met with Mr. Trump. The New York Times first reported the existence of the memo, which appears to be one of many documents Mr. Comey drafted regarding his conversations with President Trump. “It’s very rich in detail and hopefully it will come out soon,” the friend of Mr. Comey has told news outlets that agreed to keep his identity confidential. “There are other memos about his meetings, too. He tried to write down every word President Trump said to him as soon as he could.” On Capitol Hill, where Republicans have so far generally backed President Trump, a new mood is evident among members. Many expressed deep concern about the latest revelations and
demonstrated a new willingness for His words proved prescient after congressional involvement. President Trump abruptly fired Mr. Among the Republicans pulling Comey, despite the FBI’s ongoing away from the president is House investigation into whether Trump’s Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz campaign aides colluded with Russian of Utah. officials ahead of the election. Instead of ignoring the potential The White House gave varying scandal, Rep. Chaffetz sent a subpoena justifications for the firing. The initial to the FBI to produce the memo and explanation was that Pesident Trump Mr. Comey also is seeking Mr. Comey’s appearfired the FBI director based on a recomance before the committee. mendation from top Justice Department officials. A Senate committee also wants to hear from But President Trump later refuted this, saying Mr. Comey. he was going to fire Mr. Comey regardless and The White House pushed back, issuing a tough with the Russia investigation in mind. statement denying the reported allegation. The New York Times earlier reported that “While the president has repeatedly expressed President Trump had asked Mr. Comey during his view that Gen. Flynn is a decent man who a dinner to pledge his loyalty to him, a request served and protected our country, the president that Mr. Comey declined. The White House has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to disputed that account as well. end any investigation, including any investigation President Trump then fueled the controversy involving Gen. Flynn,” the statement read. by suggesting he had his own documentation “The president has the utmost respect for our that could prove damning Mr. Comey, though law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. the president has yet to back up his words. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of “James Comey better hope that there are no the conversation between the President and ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts Mr. Comey.” leaking to the press!” President Trump tweeted But the accusation against President Trump, in response to that story last Friday. whose approval rating has plummeted to hisThe White House has since refused to comment toric lows, is one of the most serious since he on whether President Trump is recording convertook office. sations in the Oval Office. A number of people The Comey memo was expected by some. close to him admitted they did not know. “One thing I learned at DOJ about Mr. Then, adding to the White House’s headaches, Comey: He leaves a protective paper trail news broke on Monday in the Washington whenever he deems something inappropriate Post that President Trump had divulged clashappened. Stay tuned,” Matthew Miller, a former sified information to Russian foreign minister DOJ spokesperson, wrote on Twitter after Mr. Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Comey’s dismissal. Kislyak.
The White House scrambled to contain the fallout, alleging President Trump had done nothing improper even while declining to say whether he had in fact divulged confidential information. For Democrats on the Hill, the reports on the memo provided further evidence that President Trump’s actions need to be thoroughly investigated. “Enough is enough. The Congress really needs to get to the bottom of this,” Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, told reporters. “If true, this is yet another disturbing allegation that the president may have engaged in some interference or obstruction of the investigation.” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, called it “stunning, breathtaking to think that a president of the United States would consider reaching out to the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and ask them to stop the investigation on anyone, particularly someone who was the national security adviser and is facing allegations that he had undisclosed conversations with the Russians.” “Each day as this unfolds,” Sen. Durbin continued, “this pattern of obstruction of justice grows.” Some Republicans acknowledged the growing seriousness of the situation. GOP Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho acknowledged that this latest revelation could be serious trouble. “That would be a problem, if it’s true. That would be a problem,” Sen. Simpson said. Asked if it is an impeachable offense, he said, “I’m not ready to go there yet. But that would be a problem.”
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May 18-20, 2017
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Alt-right protesters hold a torchlight rally around the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville last Saturday in an effort to keep the statue in place. The Charlottesville City Council voted in February to sell the statue and change the name of Lee Park downtown where it is located.
Charlottesville roils with protests over Confederate statue
Free Press wire report
CHARLOTTESVILLE Protests reminiscent of Ku Klux Klan rallies are rattling Charlottesville over the city’s plans to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park in downtown. A group carrying torches and led by white nationalist Richard Spencer held a demonstration around the statue last Saturday night to protest its removal. The protest was swiftly condemned by city leaders, who said it evoked images of the racist KKK. “This event involving torches at night in Lee Park was either profoundly ignorant or was designed to instill fear in our minority populations in a way that harkens back to the days of the KKK,” Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer said in a statement.
“I want everyone to know this: We reject this intimidation ... such intolerance is not welcome here.” That demonstration was followed by a candlelight counterprotest Sunday night, where speakers preached tolerance and protesters hung a banner on the statue’s base that stated, “Black Lives Matter” and “F**k White Supremacy.” Police made three arrests after several right wing protesters showed up and a scuffle broke out. A police officer was injured when an object thrown from the crowd struck him in the head. The tensions have made this historic city, home of President Thomas Jefferson’s mountaintop home, Monticello, and the University of Virginia, the latest Southern battleground over the contested removal of Confederate monuments — symbols of the Civil War that represent heritage to some, hate to others.
Michaele White/Governor’s Office
Making history Gov. Terry McAuliffe gives Richmond Delegate Delores L. McQuinn his pen Wednesday after signing a history-making bill into law that she patroned through the General Assembly. The new law ensures that 19th-century graves, monuments and markers of African-Americans will get the same state support as the burial sites of Confederate soldiers who fought to keep them enslaved. The governor also signed a second bill Richmond Delegate Jennifer L. McClellan ushered through the legislature that clears the way for the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities to preserve and tell the story of sites in the state linked to enslaved people. Among those taking part in the signing ceremony are, from left, Richmond Delegate Betsy B. Carr; Powhatan Delegate R. Lee Ware; Delegate McQuinn; Fairfax Delegate Eileen FillerCorn; Petersburg Delegate Lashrecse D. Aird; Delegate McClellan; Virginia Outdoor Foundation Executive Director Brett Glymph; state Secretary of Natural Resources Molly Ward, hidden; and First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe. The ceremony took place in front of the Civil Rights Monument in Capitol Square.
Rev. Barber to head national poor people’s campaign Special to Trice Edney News Wire from the Wilmington Journal
Although he insists that he’s “really not leaving,” the Rev. William J. Barber II, the nationally known activist and president of the North Carolina State Conference NAACP, said he will be “transitioning” from the state presidency next month to join a national “poor people’s campaign” to address issues of poverty and social inequality. “I’m not going to run for another term (as president) of the North Carolina NAACP, and I will step down in June,” the civil rights leader said last week during a teleconference. Maintaining that the North Carolina NAACP is “strong in our legal victories, strong in our organizational structure, strong financially and strong in the clarity of agenda,” Rev. Barber expressed confidence that the next state president, who is expected be selected from among the organization’s four vice presidents, will be up to the task. Rev. Barber has been president of the North Carolina chapter, the largest in the South, since 2005. He led the once troubled conference into national prominence with weekly Moral Monday demonstrations at the North Carolina state legislature since 2013, and challenged the state on controversial cases of racial injustice, including voting rights, economic justice and increasing the minimum wage, criminal justice and environmental issues. The key to Rev. Barber’s success has been his ability to lead diverse racial and religious coalitions to demand change on issues ranging from equal education to affordable health care. Subsequently the Christian leader was invited to 23 states last year to do “moral revival” training, sparking Moral Monday demonstrations
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Rev. Barber
as far away as Chicago. In recent years, Rev. Barber has been recognized as a key voice in the progressive movement nationally. He has been key in interviews with national media and was asked to address delegates during the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. He provided the keynote sermon at Riverside Church in Harlem last month commemorating the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s April 4, 1967, “Beyond Vietnam” address. His numerous appearances across the country gradually fueled speculation that Rev. Barber was seeking a national leadership role. He has confirmed that he will be “following a deep calling” and “transitioning to an expansion of the work around the country.” “We found that there is a deep hunger for a shift in our moral narrative in the nation, and I’ve been asked by a number of moral leaders and impacted persons and advocates to join with them in helping to bring some leadership, energy and unity to helping to build the poor people’s
campaign, and a national call for a moral revival.” Rev. Barber said the campaign will focus on 25 states and the District of Columbia, with at least half of them in the South, culminating with the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s 1968 Poor People’s Campaign. “In the times in which we live, our country still needs to address the issues of systemic racism, poverty, the war economy and militarism and our national morality,” Rev. Barber said. “We need a moral narrative.” Rev. Barber said he will remain a member of the North Carolina NAACP chapter and on the national NAACP board. He will not leave his church, Greenleaf Christian Church, in Goldsboro, N.C. The church, he said, keeps him in close touch with the needs of the people. He will join the national effort under the banner of his own social justice group known as “Repairers of the Breach.” His organization will partner with the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and other social justice and theologian activists to sponsor “The Souls of Poor Folk: Auditing America 50 years after the Poor People’s Campaign Challenged Racism, Militarism, Poverty and Our National Morality.” “In 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others knew the nation needed a Poor People’s Campaign to challenge extremism,” Rev. Barber said. “Today, we recognize that in order to challenge the extremist policies that are being proposed at the highest levels of government, which hurt the most vulnerable, we need a Moral Revival Poor People’s Campaign. We must advance a moral movement in America, that can move beyond the limited language of left versus right politics.”
At least 60 publicly funded symbols of the Confederacy have been removed or renamed since the 2015 massacre of nine black parishioners in a Charleston, S.C., church by a self-described white supremacist, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Amid protests last week, workers in New Orleans removed the second of four monuments to vanquished Confederates, the latest one a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The debate over the Lee statue in Charlottesville has reached Virginia’s gubernatorial race, where several Republican candidates have called for it to remain. One, GOP candidate Corey Stewart, who is chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, chose the Lee statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond to hold a television interview. In a separate interview earlier in the week, he said it’s time for white people to “stop apologizing.” Meanwhile, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello, a native of Charlottesville, supports the statue’s removal and wound up in a Twitter battle with the racist Mr. Spencer following last Saturday’s rally. “We won. You lost, little Tommy,” Mr. Spencer tweeted. “Actually, you lost. In 1865,” Mr. Perriello replied in a tweet, referencing the year the Civil War ended. “150 years later, you’re still not over it.” “We’re not re-fighting the Civil War. We’re fighting for a White future,” Mr. Spencer responded via a tweet. “We’ll easily defeat weaklings like yourself.” The Charlottesville City Council voted in February to remove the bronze statue of Gen. Lee, which was installed almost a century ago and depicts the Confederate in uniform astride a horse. The city also voted to rename Lee Park, where the statue stands, and another nearby park named for Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. A group of residents have sued the city to keep the Lee statue in place. A judge has agreed to block its removal for at least six months while the litigation proceeds.
U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeal of N.C. laws targeting African-American voters Free Press wire reports
WASHINGTON In a victory for African-American and other nonwhite voters in North Carolina, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to lift the racist label that a federal appeals court in Richmond pinned on the state. The U.S. Supreme Court took the action in refusing to consider a July 2016 ruling from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which deemed unconstitutional a three-year-old voting law North Carolina imposed. The federal appeals court determined the North Carolina legislature illegally targeted African-Americans “with almost surgical precision” with election changes designed to suppress their vote. As a result of the 2016 ruling, North Carolina was barred from requiring voters to show state-mandated IDs to cast ballots and from reducing early voting from 17 days to 10 days. The ruling also forced the state to reinstate same-day registration and pre-registration of teens and to count votes cast in the wrong precinct, all items that were eliminated under the so-called voting reform law passed in 2013. The new Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein had tried to withdraw the appeal, which was filed last year when Republican Pat McCrory was governor. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said the fact that one group of officials filed the appeal and another group was trying to drop the appeal created uncertainty for the justices over who had authority to seek review of the appeals court ruling. The dispute is similar to the court fight over Texas’ voter ID law, also struck down as racially discriminatory. A similar voter ID measure in Virginia was upheld because of a provision enabling voters without identification to get a free photo ID at voter registration offices. Republicans in the three Southern states and others moved to enact new voting measures after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 ruled that states with a history of voter suppression no longer needed to receive advance approval from the U.S. Justice Department before changing laws dealing with elections. That was a key element of the Voting Rights Act. Voters, civil rights groups and the Obama administration still filed lawsuits challenging the new laws under another provision of the Voting Rights Act that remains intact. The Trump administration, which supports the concept of keeping minority voters from participating in elections, already has dropped its objections to the Texas law. When the law passed, North Carolina Republicans said voter ID was a sound requirement to increase the integrity of elections. But the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the state provided no evidence of the kind of in-person voter fraud the ID mandate was designed to address. Instead, the court found intentional racial bias on the part of the Republican-majority legislature that approved it and former Gov. McCrory who signed it into law. Justice Roberts noted in a statement that rejection of North Carolina’s appeal is not a comment on the high court’s view about the substance of the law.
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May 18-20, 2017
Let the questions begin The nation moved one step closer to learning the truth about President Trump and his connections to the Russians with the appointment Wednesday of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special prosecutor in the unfolding investigation. Truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is what we need right now following a week of bombshells involving the man in the White House. Among the latest actions and allegations: * President Trump acknowledging leaking highly classified information gleaned from Israeli allies to Russian officials in the Oval Office. * James Comey, the FBI head who was leading the probe into the Trump campaign’s possible collusion with the Russians to throw the 2016 presidential campaign to Mr. Trump, being fired. * Mr. Comey’s friends disclosing contents of a memo he wrote following a February dinner conversation with President Trump, in which the president asked Mr. Comey to drop the criminal investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael T. Flynn. * President Trump suggesting in a tweet that he may have taped his conversations with Mr. Comey. * And Russian President Vladimir Putin saying Wednesday that he can provide transcripts of the meeting Russian officials had with President Trump in the Oval Office. This is becoming a scandal even Olivia Pope can’t handle. By firing Mr. Comey, President Trump widely opened himself to claims of obstruction of justice and abuse of power as well. We ask what is this special affinity President Trump seems to have with and for the Russians? What happened to his campaign and inaugural claims of putting America first? And for all the conservatives in Congress who had a lot to say when former President Obama was in office — “No drama Obama” — why are they so silent now when the nation’s chief executive is trampling on the Constitution and the rule of law? We urge Mr. Mueller to use all tools at his disposal to get at the truth for the sake of the American people and our democracy. We urge him to subpoena any tapes President Trump may have. We also urge Mr. Mueller to subpoena President Trump’s tax returns and release them to the public. The No. 1 mission for everyone in Washington right now should be to help President Trump come clean. Let the questions begin.
Grave equity We praise Gov. Terry McAuliffe for righting a longstanding disparity in the state that had Virginia taxpayer dollars going to support the maintenance of Confederate gravesites, while those of African-Americans from that era are ignored. On Wednesday, Gov. McAuliffe signed into law a bill that will help change that. The measure, shepherded through the Virginia General Assembly by Richmond Delegate Delores L. McQuinn, provides state funds for historic African-American gravesite upkeep at such places as Evergreen and East End cemeteries in Richmond and Henrico County. Cemeteries like these two are dotted across the commonwealth, holding our ancestors and our legacy — people who were pioneers in their fields and role models for their families, our communities and the nation. Among those buried in Evergreen Cemetery are nationally renowned banker and businesswoman Maggie L. Walker and crusading newspaperman John Mitchell Jr. By preserving gravesites of nearly 7,000 people who lived between 1800 and 1900, we are preserving a connection with our history by honoring people who were instrumental in advancing civil rights, voting rights, education, medicine, economic progress and racial equality for people of color and all citizens. While the amount the state is providing is minimal — $35,000 annually — it is equal to the $5 per grave allotment that the state has been putting toward Confederate graves and burial markers for the last 100 years. The money will boost the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, families and others who have been clearing vines and overgrowth from the old cemeteries. Moreover, it marks a sea change in the Old Dominion that continues to genuflect to the ghosts of Confederates. By now acknowledging the importance of African-American history and providing equal state funding toward preserving it, the state is moving toward equity and recognition of the full humanity of its African-American citizens.
Get ready to vote On Tuesday, June 13, Virginia voters will go to the polls to choose a candidate to run on the Democratic or Republican tickets for governor and lieutenant governor. In some localities including Richmond, the primary election also will include candidates vying to represent their political party in the November general election for the House of Delegates and for local offices. The deadline to register to vote in the June 13 primary is Monday, May 22. If you already are to registered to vote, we applaud you. If you aren’t yet registered, or need to change the information on your current registration, we urge you to do it by Monday’s deadline. Details on how to register: www.elections.virginia.gov/ registration/how-to-register/index.html or call the Virginia Department of Elections, (804) 864-8901. Democracy works only when you exercise your rights. The right to vote is paramount, and one we cannot take for granted. Register now and be ready to vote on Tuesday, June 13.
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
Voter suppression is the real culprit After President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey because of, as the president admitted, the “Russian thing,” he struck a new blow to American democracy. The president created a commission on “election integrity,” stemming from his fantastical claims of voter fraud in the 2016 election. In reality, fraudulent voting is virtually nonexistent. The claims of widespread voter fraud are a fraud. Voter suppression, on the other hand, is a real, present and increasing threat to our democracy. And all signs are that President Trump’s commission will add to that threat. President Trump named Vice President Mike Pence as chair, with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a leading advocate of ballot-restricting legislation, as vice chair. Mr. Kobach has made a national spectacle of himself as a crazed pursuer of mythical voter fraud. In Kansas, he has led Republican efforts to suppress the vote.
As Ari Berman of The Nation reports, Mr. Kobach claimed that “the illegal registration of alien voters has become pervasive,” although he could point to only five alleged cases of noncitizens voting in Kansas during the previous 13 years. Mr. Kobach helped push through a law that required documentary proof of citizenship to
Jesse L. Jackson Sr. register to vote, such as a birth certificate, a passport or naturalization papers. That requirement disproportionately impacts the elderly, the poor and the young, who often don’t have access to such papers. Since the law went into effect in 2013, Mr. Berman reports, “one in seven Kansans who attempted to register have had their registrations held ‘in suspense’ by the state.” To solve the non-problem of voter fraud, in 2015 Kansas gave Mr. Kobach the power to prosecute such cases. So far, he has convicted nine people. Only last month did he convict his first and only noncitizen for voting fraud. The Kansas City Star noted the paltry results Mr. Kobach has to show for his
unique prosecutorial powers, mocking him as the “Javert of voter fraud,” a reference to the obsessed police inspector of “Les Miserables.” Now Mr. Kobach will be the driving force leading President Trump’s commission. Its purpose, no doubt, will be to cry wolf about voter fraud and push more states to pass harsh legislation to suppress the vote. Unlike voter fraud, voter suppression is real and growing. The most significant outside factor in the 2016 campaign was not the scattered cases of voter fraud, or Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hacking, or even former FBI Director Comey’s interventions. The most significant factor was the suppression of the vote — particularly the African-American vote — in North Carolina, Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee. As Mr. Berman has argued, federal court records show that “300,000 registered voters, 9 percent of the electorate, lacked strict forms of voter ID in Wisconsin.” A recent study by Priorities USA, a Democratic PAC, estimated that Wisconsin’s harsh voter ID laws “reduced turnout by about 200,000 votes” — disproportionately African-American votes.
Kudos to Bethune-Cookman grads
I could not be more proud of the students at Bethune-Cookman University than if I had raised them myself. Responding to the university’s very late selection of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos (hereafter referred to as DeVoid, as she is devoid of good sense, history, literacy and even courtesy) for the commencement speaker, graduating seniors chose to turn their back on a woman who described HBCUs as “pioneers of school choice.” Their repudiation of her very right to be present was well coordinated. It reflects student ability to be sophisticated, not reactive, when confronted with a speaker that epitomizes the very refutation of their HBCU education. It is my hope and dream that these students can continue to operate in formation as they oppose oppression. I don’t know how Ms. DeVoid came to be B-CU’s commencement speaker. I suspect that the White House and Omarosa Manigault of the Office of Public Liaison for the Trump administration made a call to offer an administration speaker and the university went for it. Maybe Trump whisperer Manigault’s new hubby, Florida Rev. John Allen Newman, has some ties to the college and he saw this as a way of burnishing wifey’s credentials as an HBCU savior. Maybe there are a bunch of black Republicans on the B-CU board standing in the wings hoping for goodies from 45. Truly, this is all speculation, but most of the time commencement speakers are secured months before graduation. This speaker was thrust on students and their
families just 10 days before the ceremony. What was B-CU President Edison Jackson thinking? In his statement on May 1, he said, “The legacy of Dr. Bethune is that she was not constrained by political ideology, but worked across all parties to support B-CU. Moreover, students are
Julianne Malveaux directly impacted by funding dollars that are dispersed through the Department of Education.” Maybe President Jackson thought he was making friends by inviting Ms. DeVoid to speak at B-CU’s graduation. Actually, he made a spectacle of the graduation by inviting a woman who had already disparaged HBCUs with her ignorance. And he did it in the same week when her boss, 45, said and then quickly reversed himself that he was not sure that some federal provisions for HBCUs, such as the HBCU Capital Finance Program, are constitutional. It is odious that Ms. DeVoid has received an honorary degree from B-CU. What has she done to earn it? According to President Jackson, “Through Secretary DeVos’ life work, her contributions extend far beyond her home state of Michigan. Secretary DeVos has supported educational opportunities for students in over 25 states and supported Central Florida through several philanthropic efforts: 100 Black Men of Central Florida; Jones High School, and the Parramore neighborhood located in Orlando to name a few. Secretary DeVos is a graduate of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. She is the wife of community activist, entrepreneur and philanthropist Dick DeVos, where they have four adult children and six grandchildren.” This earns her an honorary
degree? Really? We in HBCU Land play ourselves cheap. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Columbia, Georgetown, and Stanford aren’t rushing to give Betsy DeVoid honorary degrees. They don’t think she deserves them. The woman with a simple undergraduate degree from the unremarkable Calvin College, whose only contribution to the education arena is her rabid embrace of school choice, should not get an honorary degree from anywhere. Unfortunately, Bethune-Cookman University was first in line to debase itself. The low point of the commencement was the spectacle of President Jackson chiding his students because they had the integrity to protest the presence of Ms. DeVoid. He is their leader, their guru, their mentor. He should not have threatened his students, but instead offered them and Ms. DeVoid a series of palliative statements designed to honor the protest spirit of Dr. Bethune and the awkwardness of the moment. If I were a member of the Bethune-Cookman Class of 2017, I would contribute for the next few years to a fund that supports student activists. I’d find a classmate to run the fund outside the confines of the university. I’d support the fund because I support my college, but not an administration that insults the best day of our college career with an odious and repugnant speaker. We have to resist the ways that 45 and his minions like Ms. Manigault are pimping HBCUs. “Woke” black people have to be aggressive in our financial support of HBCUs, and indifferent to the disingenuous overtures that would bring a devoid presence like Betsy DeVos to an HBCU campus. The writer is an economist, author and former president of Bennett College.
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President Trump won the state by 22,748 votes. The 2016 election was the first in 50 years without the full protections of the federal Voting Rights Act. Fourteen states had new voting restrictions in effect for the first time. Now Mr. Berman reports, 87 bills to restrict access to the ballot have been introduced in 29 states this year. Arkansas and Iowa already have passed strict voter ID laws. These bills are being pushed because they make it harder for certain communities to vote — and Republicans benefit when they vote in smaller numbers. When politicians can pick their voters — by voter suppression laws, by gerrymandering, by big money campaigns — rather than voters picking their leaders, democracy is mocked. Political leaders in both parties should be pushing to make it easier — not harder — to vote. Instead, voter suppression has become a partisan weapon. Our very democracy is under assault. The writer is founder and president of the national Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
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Letters to the Editor
‘Afraid of the wolf in the closet’ It should not be surprising to decent, honest, thinking people what we hear in the news from the White House. We have a president who does not regard the truth, does not respect other people, does not know his business sense does not equate to presidential sense, does not know his wealth is not sufficient to persuade every individual, does not know all his appointees are not clever liars like him, does not know he needs to listen to somebody, and most dangerous, does not know that he does not know. President Trump clearly showed who he was during his campaign. He lies about anyone and anything and continues to get away with it. Those who have sold their souls to the devil trying to destroy President Obama for eight years set the climate for what we are now dealing with. President Trump’s smooth flow of words and con artist ability fooled many into supporting him and believing all the great promises he made. They don’t want to admit that they now are afraid of the wolf in the closet and dare not speak in opposition to him. Maybe if the money trail could be followed and the president’s tax returns revealed, it may help people better understand what this nation has been struggling to learn for the past four plus months in trying to distinguish between the truth and lies from the most unpredictable president this nation has ever known.
Slavery was a choice Isaac Winston lived in the Greenwood section of Hanover County in the early part of the 18th century. After his parents died, he was willed a great deal of land and black people who were being forced to do slave work. He disagreed with the repugnant “institution” and decided to free his captured minions. He also gave them up to 160 acres of land each. He then moved to West Virginia, a portion of which later became Illinois. He ran for governor and won. He died around 1750. This completely throws out the excuse often used by Confederate apologists. People had choices to make and most white people, North and South, chose the concept of racial hatred and superiority. After George Washington was elected president of the United States, he frequently corresponded with his best friend, Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette would constantly request that President Washington emancipate those held in forced servitude. President Washington would reply, “If we were to set them free, who would we get to do the work?” He should have listened to the Funkadelics — “Free Your Mind and Your … Will Follow!” That would have done him a whole lot of good.
For more than eight years, the Republican Congress and others — and now President Trump — have worked desperately to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which they called Obamacare. They have not repealed it or replaced it, nor have they contributed anything to make it better. President Obama never said the bill was perfect. He also invited Congress to contribute to the bill through the process, but to no avail. Common sense would tell anyone to try to improve what was finally achieved after previous presidents tried unsuccessfully to get a national health plan. President Trump is trying to change, repeal, discard or destroy many other things that have been accomplished by other presidents. He cannot accept corrections, suggestions or warnings. Considering the status of our nation at this point, if there are
HENRICO COUNTY TAXPAYERS THE 2017 FIRST INSTALLMENT PERSONAL PROPERTY AND REAL ESTATE TAX PAYMENT DUE DATE IS JUNE 5, 2017 The Cashier’s Office of the Department of Finance, County of Henrico, Virginia, located in the Administration Building at the Henrico County Government Center, 4301 E. Parham Road and at the Eastern Government Center, 3820 Nine Mile Road, Henrico, Virginia will be open daily Monday through Friday from 8:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. to receive payments for the 2017 Personal Property and Real Estate Tax Bills. • Deposit boxes are located at the entrance of both Government Centers for use twenty-four hours a day. • Use the envelope provided with the bill for check payments. Payments must be postmarked on or before June 5, 2017. • Payments may be made by credit card, debit card and e-check by logging on to henrico.us/finance/payments or by telephone at 1.855.748.6015. • Cash payments can be made at any 7-ELEVEN nationwide. Obtain a PayCode at henrico.us/paynearme. A nominal fee is charged for these services. • Citizens making payments through a bill pay service should allow sufficient business days for their payment to reach the County’s bank account on or before June 5, 2017. • Cash, checks and debit cards (pin-based) are accepted for payments at the Eastern and Western Cashier’s offices. Credit cards are also accepted at the Cashier’s office in both locations for a nominal fee. Tax bills have been mailed and payments must be received on or before Monday, June 5, 2017 to avoid a late payment penalty of 10% of the tax due. In accordance with the Personal Property Tax Relief Act, personal use vehicles eligible for tax relief have been identified as qualified on the bill, and the specific dollar amount of tax relief provided is shown. For assistance please email TaxHelp@henrico.us or call 804.501.4729. General tax information can be found on the Department of Finance web site at henrico.us/finance/payments
any honest, thinking, truthful representatives in Washington, it is time for them to wake up and take responsibility for their actions and inactions, regardless of their political persuasion or position. They need to distinguish between truth and lies and take proper action to address the serious problems the nation is facing. No nation can thrive when every statement made or every move made is questionable and lies continue to build. A serious situation demands serious action. The future of the country is at stake. RUBY H. WALDEN Suffolk
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Notice to Citizens of Richmond, Virginia As directed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) has completed its proposed FY 2018 Annual Agency Plan. The proposed Annual Agency Plan (for fiscal year beginning October 2017) includes information about the housing authority’s current policies, operations, programs, and services. A copy of the proposed Annual Agency Plan and supporting documents will be available May 16, 2017 through June 30, 2017 for public review at the Authority’s Administrative offices located at 901 and 918 Chamberlayne Parkway, Richmond, Virginia and all Public Housing Management Offices between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Also, review copies can be obtained from our website at www.rrha.com. All interested persons wishing to comment on the proposed plan may submit written comments to RRHA, Attention: Office of the Chief Operating Officer, 901Chamberlayne Parkway, Richmond, Virginia 23220, by June 30, 2017. A public meeting to receive comments on the proposed plan will be held Wednesday, June 14, 2017, at 5:30 p.m. at the Calhoun Family Investment Center, 436 Calhoun Street, Richmond, Virginia 23220. The public meeting will be wheelchair accessible. A sign language interpreter or other accommodations will be provided upon request. To request assistance, please contact RRHA four (4) business days in advance of the meeting at (804) 780-4276 or TDD – Dial 711. RICHMOND REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER (M/F/H). The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, elderliness, disability, or familial status.
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA
BERNARD A. GORDON Glen Allen
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Richmond Free Press
A10 May 18-20, 2017
Sports Stories by Fred Jeter
Huguenot to get new basketball coach
Ksaan Brown, activities director at Richmond’s Armstrong High School, has accepted the position of head boys basketball coach at Huguenot High School, starting with the 2017-18 season. Brown previously coached basketball at Meadowbrook High School in Chesterfield County. Brown will succeed longtime Huguenot Falcons Coach Leroy “Bo” Jones Sr. “I’ve always had the itch to get back into coaching,” Brown told the Free Press this week. “I am excited about the opportunity to be part of the up-and-coming school.” In each of his four seasons at Meadowbrook, Brown guided the Monarchs to the second round Ksaan Brown of the Group AAA Central Region playoffs. His teams twice won the Henrico Holiday Hoops Tournament. Jones, an alumnus of Maggie Walker High School and Virginia State University, has been teaching and coaching in various capacities at Huguenot for 38 years. His standout players included his son, Bo Jones Jr., in the 1990s. His son is the girls basketball coach at Huguenot. The Huguenot boys team was 15-8 this past season and was eliminated by Hanover High School in the Conference 4A playoffs.
VUU golf team finishes 4th in Florida championship Led by sophomore Allan Day, the Virginia Union University golf team finished fourth in the 31st Annual PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championships in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Day, a former Clover Hill High School standout who transferred to VUU from Longwood University, posted rounds of 74-80-77 for a 54-hole total of 231 in the event held May 11 through 14. VUU’s other scoring: Joshua Mohun Coach Coble (239), Robel Woldagabriel (240), Paul Meints (241) and Bartosh Kaminski (248). Another VUU student, Sergio Escalante, competed individually, shooting 237 that didn’t count in team scoring. The University of West Alabama won the event, followed
by Lincoln University of Missouri and California State University at Dominguez Hills. The University of West Alabama and Cal State are not historically black universities, but West Alabama but has minority enrollment of roughly 50 percent and Cal State’s has a student population that’s 58 percent Hispanic and 16 percent African-American. Coach E. Lee Coble’s Panthers were Allan Day followed in the tournament finish by four HBCUs — Livingstone College of North Carolina, fifth; Fayetteville State University of North Carolina, sixth; Miles College of Alabama, seventh; and Virginia State University, eighth.
Age has no hold on Roughriders’ Herb Jones
Herb Jones
James Haskins/Richmond Free Press
Don’t let the high mileage fool you. Herb Jones has as a one-on-one counselor for students with special needs plenty of tread left. at Huguenot High School. He also has helped coach the Jones is a top reason the Richmond Roughriders have Huguenot Falcons junior varsity football squad. run roughshod over the competition during the team’s Known as “Agent 5” for wearing the No. 5 jersey first first season in the Arena Pro Football league. for the Raiders and now for the Roughriders, Jones went The shuffleboard crowd will have to wait for the to Virginia Beach’s Kellam High School, where he was former Virginia Union University (Class of 2007) All- lightly recruited. CIAA receiver. It was by pure chance he enrolled at VUU. At 32, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Jones remains a feared “To be honest, I’d never heard of Union. I didn’t pass catcher, as evidenced by his seven touchdowns in even know where it was,” he recalled. the Roughriders’ bone-crushing 5-0 start. That changed when former VUU Assistant Coach Action continues Saturday, May 20, when the Willie Gillus spotted Jones at an exposure camp after his River City Raiders from senior year at Kellam. St. Charles, Mo., trek to With his long strides and A review of Richmond’s history with semipro indoor/ the Richmond Coliseum sure hands, Jones quickly arena football: for a 7 p.m. kickoff. established himself, first, Team Name League Years Record Like it or not, Jones as a walk-on and, later, as a Speed af2 1999-2003 41-26 accepts “ol’ folk” status scholarship player at VUU Bandits AIFL 2005-’06 21-3 on a team roster with an under head Coach Willard Revolution IFL 2010-2011 16-13 average age of 25. Bailey. Raiders AIFA/PIFL 2010-2015 45-35 “Actually, Herb is older In four seasons with the Roughriders APF 2017 5-0 than I am,” 29-year-old Panthers, from 2003 through All teams played at the Richmond Coliseum, with Coach Mook “Hollywood” 2006, Jones snagged 119 the exception of the Revolution, which was based Zimmerman said with a passes for 1,935 yards and at the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center and outdoors chuckle. 23 touchdowns. His most at SportsQuest, now called River City Sportsplex, in “He can still move it, productive year was in 2005, Chesterfield. though. He can definitely with 50 catches, 860 yards Before indoor football came in vogue, Richmond move it.” and nine touchdowns. had four outdoor pro teams based at City Stadium. Asked about 40-yard AfterVUU, Jones dabbled They were the Rebels (1964-1966), the Mustangs (1967), the Roadrunners (1968) and the Saints (1970, dash times, Zimmerman in playing with area semipro an affiliate of the NFL New Orleans Saints). referred to Jones as “a teams such as the Vipers gamer.” before actually signing a “I don’t really know his 40,” said Coach Zimmerman. contract. He also is no stranger to the flag football field. “But Herb is one of those guys with better game speed Jones started his Roughriders tenure with flying black than stopwatch speed.” and green colors when he hauled in four touchdown Jones played with the Richmond Raiders from 2010 aerials in the season opener in early April with an 84-8 to 2015, establishing franchise records for catches (270), home win over the Birmingham Outlawz of Alabama. yardage (3,000-plus) and touchdowns (50). “I try and bring some veteran leadership, some arena The Raiders folded following the 2015 season, leaving experience, to a young team,” he said. Jones to skip 2016 — “I chilled out,” he said — while Among those he has schooled is quarterback Jim the new Richmond Roughriders was formed. Laughrea, who made the rookie mistake of running hard So why does a man in his 30s risk his bones and into the restraining wall that surrounds arena gridirons. joints in a full contact, collision sport with minimal “I had to tell Jimmy the wall is undefeated,” he said financial gain as incentive? with a laugh. “He’s been more careful since.” “Two reasons,” Jones said without hesitation. “First, I Not only is the wall undefeated, but so is Father still have the itch. Second, I never won a championship Time. with the Raiders, even though we came close. I want Jones is too shrewd to test the wall. But at least for a ring before I go.” now, he’s keeping a full stride ahead of Father Time With a VUU degree in criminal justice, Jones serves and heading for the end zone.
VCU basketball roster changes with new coach Virginia Commonwealth University’s socalled basketball offseason has been anything but “off” in terms of news. There has been a steady flow of traffic — both arriving and departing — at the Atlantic 10 Conference university in Richmond. Here are some highlights, so far: The Siegel Center’s front door began revolving when Coach Will Wade resigned March 20 after two seasons at VCU (51-20 record) to become head coach at Louisiana State University. Within hours, former Rams assistant Mike Rhoades, who had been head coach at Rice University the past two seasons, was hired as Coach Wade’s successor. That triggered a chain reaction as the Rams player roster changed. Most recently, Coach Rhoades signed Tyler Maye, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound guard out of Farmville Central High School in North Carolina. Maye averaged a whopping 36 points this season for the 14-9 Farmville Central Jaguars. As a junior, Maye scored 28 points per game for the North Carolina state 2A champions. Maye played the first of two varsity seasons at private Greenfield School in Wilson, N.C. Two recruits of Coach Wade — Levar Batts and Mayan Kiir — reneged on VCU as a result of the coaching change. Batts opted for North Carolina State University, while Kiir changed to LSU. Rising senior Ahmed Hamdy-Mohamed, a 6-foot-9 post player, transferred to Texas Christian University for his senior season. Rising sophomore Marquell Fraser also announced he would be transferring to a yet undetermined school. Kevin Easley, who had committed to VCU as a high school junior (Class of 2018) in Indianapolis, Ind., decommitted and re-opened his recruiting. On the upside: Two other Wade signees — Sean Mobley and Marcus Santos-Silva — announced they
will attend VCU despite the coaching change. Marcus Evans, who played for Coach Rhoades at Rice, has left the Houston school to join Coach Rhoades at VCU. Native Richmonder Khris Lane, who led LongMarcus Evans wood University in scoring this past season, is transferring to VCU as a graduate transfer with immediate eligibility. Lane split his high school years between Meadowbrook High School, Trinity Episcopal and Benedictine. Lewis Djonkam, a native of Northern Virginia who played this past season at Hargrave Military Academy, decommitted from Duquesne University and signed with VCU. The changes may not be over. NCAA Division I schools are allowed 13 scholarships and VCU’s total rests now at 12. Coach Rhoades continues to hit the recruiting trail for the upcoming season and beyond. A possible recruit: Senior-to-be Darius Thompson, a native Tennessean who is leaving the University of Virginia as a graduate transfer. Thompson would be immediately eligible. Coach Rhoades didn’t travel alone from Rice University. Moving with Rhoades to VCU are two Rice assistant coaches, J.D. Byers and Brent Scott, plus video coordinator Joey Rodriguez. Rams fans recall Rodriguez as a standout on VCU’s 2011 Final Four team. At VCU, Rodriguez becomes director of player development. Byers also coached previously with Coach Rhoades at Randolph-Macon College. Also returning to VCU as an assistant coach is Jeremy Ballard, who coached with Rhoades at VCU from 2012 through 2015. Ballard most recently was an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh.
There is a certain state of flux at VCU, not uncommon with coaching changes. VCU personnel for the upcoming season will include talent recruited by three different head coaches — former Coach Shaka Smart, former Coach Wade Khris Lane and Coach Rhoades. Starting this week, here’s how the Rams roster looks for 2017-18: Seniors: 6-foot-6 newcomer Lane and 6-foot-7 Justin Tillman and 6-foot-1 Jonathan Williams, both recruited to VCU by former Coach Smart. Juniors: None. Sophomores: 6-foot-4 Malik Crowfield,
6-foot-5 DiRiante Jenkins and 6-foot-4 Samir Doughty, recruited to VCU as a freshman by Coach Wade, and 6-foot-6 Issac Vann, who was recruited to VCU by Coach Wade following one season at the University of Maine. Freshmen: 6-foot-9 Sean Mobley and 6-foot-6 Marcus Santos-Silva, recruited to VCU by Coach Wade, and 6-foot-8 Djonkam, a Rhoades recruit. Sitting out: Evans, a 6-foot-1 guard, averaged about 20 points per game in two seasons at Rice. He must sit out this season and will gain eligibility in 2018-19, with two seasons left to play. Expect more news sooner rather than later. No VCU roster these days should be written with anything more permanent than a pencil.
Rams also making NFL news Virginia Commonwealth University has no football team, but one of its former basketball athletes is holding an NFL contract. Mo Alie-Cox, known for his intimidating basketball presence 2013 through 2017, has signed a free agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts as a tight end. The 23-year-old Alexandria native will report to the Colts’ OTA, Organized Team Activities, sessions May 22 and 23 in Indianapolis. Alie-Cox impressed last month in an individual workout before scouts representing some 23 NFL teams at Sports Center of Richmond on Overbrook Road. Chosen to throw passes to Alie-Cox at the SCOR workout was Malcolm Bell, the former Henrico High School and North Carolina Central University quarterback. Weighing a muscular 262 pounds, AlieCox measured 6-foot-51/2 with a 861/4 wing span. He ran a hand-timed 4.76 seconds for the 40-yard dash and posted a 35.5-inch vertical leap. Alie-Cox, who has not played football since
his freshman year in high school, is one of six tight ends on the Colts’ 90-man offseason roster. The Colts’ incumbent regular is Jack Doyle, who caught 59 passes for 584 yards and five touchdowns in 2016. Another returning veteran is Erik Swoope out of the University of Miami, who is in his second season with the Colts. A vacancy occurred during the offseason when veteran Dwayne Allen left the Colts to sign with the New England Patriots. Others vying to make the Colts’ 53-man in-season roster are Brandon Williams, a fifth-year player who has come over from the Seattle Seahawks, and freeagent rookies Darrell Daniels from the University of Washington and Colin Jeter from Louisiana State University. The Colts have a proud tradition with tight ends, going back to Baltimore. John Mackey, who played with the Colts from 1963 to 1971, is a member of the NFL Hall of Fame. The annual John Mackey Award goes to college football’s premier tight end.
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Happenings
Personality: Dr. Staci E. Carr Spotlight on president of Autism Society Central Virginia Dr. Staci E. Carr is passionate about helping individuals and families living with autism spectrum disorder. She says that from a young age, she knew she wanted to help people. As a psychology student in 1994, she began working with a 9-year-old girl diagnosed with autism and was driven to learn more about the subject. When she moved to Richmond in 2001, she had been working in the field as a autism consultant and researcher on topics such as skill development, sexuality and autism and evidencebased practices for intervention. Now, she is using her knowledge about autism in volunteer service on the board of the Autism Society Central Virginia. She got involved with the board in 2015 and became its president earlier this spring. “I am honored to be president of the board, and am eager to work with the amazing staff and board members to continue the work that we do to help all those affected by autism,” Dr. Carr says. As president of the organization, she is leading the nonprofit’s 15th Annual 5K Run/Walk scheduled for Saturday, May 27, at Innsbrook Pavilion. The event is the ASCV’s primary fundraiser thanks to the help of more than 150 volunteers. Last year, more than 1,600 participants ran or walked in the event, with the organization raising more than $100,000 to help with its mission of educating, advocating and supporting individuals with autism spectrum disorder and their families. A 2014 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that the prevalence of autism was 1 in every 68 births in the United States and almost 1 in 42 boys, a rate that continues to rise. Dr. Carr says three major areas are examined to evaluate whether a person has autism — communication, behavior and social interaction. Signs of autism include impairments in social communication and interaction and repetitive patterns of behavior. The disorder often is under-diagnosed among African-Americans, she says, because evaluators tend to look more at behavior. This
Want to go? What: Autism Society Central Virginia’s 15th Annual 5K Run/Walk When: 8 a.m. Saturday, May 27, with the Kids Dash starting at 8:30 a.m. and the 5K starting at 9 a.m. Where: Innsbrook Pavilion, 4951 Lake Brook Drive, Glen Allen Details: This family-friendly race includes entertainment, food, exhibitors and a Kids Fun Zone. Cost: Registration fee depends on age and whether participant will run in the timed or non-timed events. Information and registration: http://ascv.org/ascv-5k/ Contact: Autism Society of Central Virginia at (804) 257-0192.
can lead to misdiagnoses, she says, such as having an emotional disturbance, attention deficit disorder or other disorders. Additionally, she says, some physicians may dismiss parents’concerns about their child, while other parents may rely on public school systems to recognize that their child has autism. The Autism Society Central Virginia, she notes, can provide parents and families with information and referrals, individual and family support and education through a variety of workshops. Meet this week’s Personality and advocate for those with autism, Staci E. Carr: Date and place of birth: March 23 in Warren, Mich. Occupation: Technical assistance coordinator, VCU Autism Center for Excellence. Current residence: Brandermill in Chesterfield County. Education: Master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University; master’s of education, Harvard University. Family: Daughter, Morgan, 15, and son, Peter, 11. When Autism Society Central Virginia was established: Early 1990s. Mission of ASCV: To improve the lives of all affected by autism by maximizing self-sufficiency, independence and quality of life. When I was elected ASCV board president: Spring 2017. Length of term: Two years with up to three terms in succession. When and why I got in-
volved: I have been involved since I moved here 16 years ago. When I moved to Richmond, I knew that I wanted to help a local organization in addition to my job in the field. What is autism? A lifelong developmental disability that is usually apparent during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a “spectrum disorder” that affects individuals differently by varying degrees. There is no known single cause for autism. We do know that early intensive intervention often leads to the best outcomes for those with an autism diagnosis. Importance of family support: Families supporting one another with support from organizations builds a community of understanding, acceptance and hope. There are always parents of newly diagnosed children and caregivers of teens and adults across the spectrum who can offer advice and share experiences.
was leaving Michigan, my family and my home to follow my heart. This was my first adult move. I was in charge for my own rent, food and transportation. I was 21, with a lot to learn. The book that influenced me the most: “Let Me Hear Your Voice: A Family’s Triumph Over Autism” by Catherine Maurice. The book is about a little girl with autism and her parents’ journey from diagnosis. What I’m reading now: First, for pure pleasure, “The Magnolia Story” by Chip Gaines, Joanna Gaines and Mark Dagostino, and “Living Sensationally: Understanding Your Senses” by Winnie Dunn. If I’ve learned one thing in life, it is: Listen with an open mind and heart!
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Biggest challenges: Continuing growth of our services by adding staff and getting more office space. We are a nonprofit and run on a very tight budget, so we need more funding. Our goal, though it may be a lofty dream, is to meet the needs of everyone touched by autism. We could do more if: We had more funding and staff. Best late-night snack: Granny Smith apples and Swiss cheese. Three words that best describe me: Dedicated, passionate and open-minded. Greatest source of inspiration: My two children. They are kind, compassionate, accepting and open-minded. They don’t see differences; they see similarities. I knew I was all grown up when: I moved to New York City to work for a company that provided in-home services for children with autism. That was in 1996. I
Upcoming Free Health Seminars We’ll be offering the following free health seminars at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s Kelly Education Center, located at 1800 Lakeside Avenue. Registration is recommended. Free parking available.
Thursday, May 18, 2017 | 5:30 p.m. Rooting for a Cure Wednesday, May 24, 2017 | 5:30 p.m. How Obesity Affects Your Health
James Haskins/Richmond Free Press
Race for the Cure Thousands of people — many dressed in the signature pink — take part in the 20th Annual Susan G. Komen Central Virginia Race for the Cure on Saturday in Downtown. The annual fundraiser, launched to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research, kicked off from Brown’s Island with a competitive race-walk, followed by a recreational run and walk. The event also brings together a community of breast cancer survivors and their families, who are a source of support for one another and others. Organizers and participants have raised more than $290,000 of the $400,000 goal for the event.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017 | 5:30 p.m. Postpartum Depression: Breaking the Silence Register online at vcuhealth.org/events or call (804) 628-0041 for more information.
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Happenings
Celebrating weekend commencements — ‘Cause other people to want to learn,’ Hampton U grads told Free Press wire reports
daughters and three of her six grandchildren all are Hampton University graduates. HAMPTON Dr. Harvey also awarded two outstanding Love learning, help others and do your alumnus-at-large awards to HU graduates best. who have impacted the world. The recipients That was the advice that NASA pioneer were John B. Spencer, an HU professor Katherine G. Johnson offered Sunday to emeritus who was chair of the university’s the 917 people awarded undergraduate and Department of Architecture for 25 years, graduate degrees at Hampton University’s and Rear Adm. Sylvia Trent-Adams, acting 147th commencement. U.S. surgeon general and a former officer Mrs. Johnson is the retired NASA Langley in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. mathematician who was a key to the nation’s “There is a job for you, graduating Class early success in manned space flights and of 2017, in every single occupation known gained national prominence through the to man,” Dr. Harvey told the graduates. movie “Hidden Figures.” “Look at the dais. Look at Mrs. Johnson. The 98-year-old West Virginia native Look at the surgeon general. It is your who now lives in a retirement community responsibility to make something happen. in Newport News was on stage at the comNobody’s going to give you anything. You mencement, but delivered her remarks in a make it happen.” video recording. In her talk, valedictorian J’niyah KnoxRandy Singleton “You will do better if you cause other Wilson of Hampton directed her classmates Retired NASA mathematician and pioneer Katherine G. Johnson, 98, gets a laudatory handshake people to want to learn. And you will do from Hampton University President William R. Harvey after her videotaped commencement to change the world. better if you at all times want to learn, address Sunday to graduates and their families. “Across the globe, there are humans want to teach, want to help,” she told the whose lives are afflicted by some oppressive audience at Armstrong Stadium on campus. Johnson’s calculations to send a man into orbit and her Presiden- types of ‘isms,’ whether it is sexism, racism, classism, colorism “You’ve got it made graduating from Hampton,” she contin- tial Medal of Freedom awarded in November 2015 by President or even ageism,” Ms. Knox-Wilson said. “Although those fights ued. “People already know that you know a lot of information, Obama. He added to her list of awards by bestowing her with are a part of our journey ahead and will be formidable challenges and you will use it and use it well, because they know that you an honorary doctorate of science from the university, which was to our progress, I know we can win those fights. picked good information to pass along.” founded in 1868 and held its first graduation in 1871. “Do you know how I know? I know because we are resilient, Hampton University President William R. Harvey noted Mrs. Mrs. Johnson’s husband, retired Lt. Col. JamesA. Johnson, her three we are purposeful, we are Hamptonians.”
‘Know who you are rolling with,’ VSU graduates are told By Thomas Kidd
to use your mind, body and talent without your control over it?” Virginia State University graduates were told He then encouraged the graduates to take in no uncertain terms during commencement time to identify their true value, to master their last Saturday to “Get Out.” craft and gifts and to seek a mentor so they These words came from a fired up Jeff Johnson, won’t fall under the temptation of selling out a media and messaging strategist who delivered for a paycheck. the keynote address at the ceremony held in the “I like money,” Mr. Johnson said as the audience university’s Multi-Purpose Center. laughed. “I get excited every time the check clears. Mr. Johnson, the managing principal of But you don’t have to sell your soul to get it.” the Baltimore-based strategy firm JIJ ComMr. Johnson did not hold back in citing munications, referenced the companies and institutions blockbuster film of the same that he said he considers to name by writer-producerbe sellouts. director Jordan Peele several “I’ve been on BET times during his speech to and I watched them do it drive home the necessity of (sellout),” he said of the Black African-Americans to sucEntertainment Network that ceed without selling out. was co-founded by Sheila “In the last two years, Johnson and her former we’ve seen more content husband, Robert Johnson, but on the small and big screens sold for $3 billion in 2001 produced by those who to the media conglomerate look like us,” Mr. Johnson Viacom. told the graduates and their “I’ve seen people turn their families. backs for six figures,” Mr. The communications exJohnson told the crowd. pert then singled out the film He was equally frank in his not only for its financial criticism of Bethune-Cookand critical success but man University in Florida. for having a message relThe historically black instievant for African-American tution invited U.S. Secretary graduates about to enter the of Education Betsy DeVos workforce. to be their commencement “As you go out into the speaker last week despite VSU valedictorian Stacey Elder world, know who you are petitions signed by hundreds rolling with,” he told the audience. “Chris didn’t of students, alumni and supporters of the college know who he was rolling with,” he said about urging the university’s administration to rescind the film’s main character, an African-American the invitation. who had a white girlfriend whose parents were Earlier this year, Mrs. DeVos, who was apwealthy. pointed to the cabinet post by President Trump, He went on to explain that Chris couldn’t called HBCUs “real pioneers when it comes to identify with his girlfriend’s values, cultural back- school choice,” failing to realize and acknowlground and, more importantly, family history. edge that most of the colleges were the only “Who you talk to, hang with and be around option for African-American students because have a lot to do with your success,” he said. of segregation. “Are you aware that there is a system set up During her commencement address May 10,
Fashion forward
Rudolph Powell/Richmond Free Press
Deron Bennett gets hooded by Octavia Bryson during Virginia State University’s commencement Saturday at the VSU Multi-Purpose Center.
Mrs. DeVos was interrupted by persistent boos from the crowd, while about half the graduates stood and turned their backs on her. BethuneCookman’s president, Dr. Edison O. Jackson, was widely criticized by students, their family and alumni, for inviting Mrs. DeVos on such an important occasion. “You don’t stand for a legacy when you invite folk who don’t believe what you believe or support you,” Mr. Johnson told the VSU graduates and their families. He ended his address with gentle words of hope and a charge to the graduates to pay back the blessings they have received thus far. “It is my hope that you will be the freest human beings — whether black, Hispanic, Asian or white. Get out, but go back in and build up.” With 624 degrees conferred on Saturday, VSU officials elected to have a morning and afternoon ceremony to accommodate the graduates, their
Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Models strut the runway, showing off fashion forward designs at Runway 2017: LAUNCH. The event last Wednesday showcased 125 original garments designed by juniors and seniors in Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising. The show, held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, drew a crowd that was awed by the fashion segments featuring knitwear, dresses, menswear and denim, among others. The production was staged by VCU students in collaboration with faculty and sponsors.
families and friends in the new facility. Mr. Johnson performed double duty, offering the keynote address at both. VSU also recognized two outstanding students — valedictorian Stacey Elder of Richmond, who had a perfect 4.0 GPA in earning a bachelor of science degree in management, and Aicha Camara who was this year’s winner of the annual Reginald F. Lewis Prize that is awarded to a senior in the VSU College of Business. Ms. Camara was presented with a plaque and a check for $1,000. Retired Lt. Col. Darryl W. Sharp Sr. received the Virginia State University Alumnus of the Year Award. “We are proud to call you grads, scholars and Trojans,” VSU President Dr. Makola M. Abdullah told the graduating class. “In the words of The Temptations, ‘Get ready ’cause here they come!’ ”
Richmond Free Press
May 18-20, 2017
B3
Happenings
VUU, VCU, VSU and Hampton Class of 2017 ‘We all fail. The key is what you do that next day,’ Gov. McAuliffe tells VUU grads By Saraya Wintersmith
statement accompanying the May 5 appropriations act signed by President Trump to keep the federal government operating Gov. Terry McAuliffe stressed the importance of taking chances through Sept. 30. and embracing setbacks as he addressed Virginia Union UniverIn the statement, the White House announced that it would sity’s Class of 2017 during commencement on Saturday. treat a program that helps HBCUs obtain low-cost construction He said his own path to entrepreneurship and his loss of the loans “in a manner consistent with the (constitutional) requireDemocratic gubernatorial nomination in 2009 were not easy. ment to afford equal protection of laws.” “You’re going to fail. We all fail. The key is what you do Many HBCU administrators and supporters fear the statement that next day,” the governor said. signals that President Trump will end a capital financing program “I got crushed 2-1” in that initial primary election, he said. that helps HBCU repair, renovate and build new facilities. “It was a painful experience. The VUU audience groaned in “But let me tell you something, folks. disapproval at Gov. McAuliffe’s menI got out of bed that next day and I got tion of it. right back to work and I spent four years “I’d be lying if I sugarcoated the world crisscrossing the Commonwealth of you are about to inherit,” the governor Virginia, and that is why I am now the told the graduates. “Like generations 72nd governor of the Commonwealth past, you will be charged with doing of Virginia,” he said to the cheering everything in your power to make it a graduates and their families. better world. The good news is, Virginia Commencement for the 152-year-old Union University has prepared you to historically African-American institurise to that challenge.” VUU Co-Valedictorians tion was moved because of the threat He also acknowledged three highNhat Hoang Van Le and Taylor White of foul weather from Hovey Field on achieving students during his remarks. campus to St. Paul’s Baptist Church in Henrico County. The He praised Dominique Vaultz, a mass communications major university awarded 177 undergraduate degees, 133 master’s from New York, for her achievement as a first-generation college degrees and 13 doctorates during the ceremony. student, and announced her acceptance to Emory University’s Gov. McAuliffe offered remarks in his usual lively, high-energy Law School. style before receiving an honorary degree and then dashing off He also hailed VUU’s co-valedictorians, Nhat Hoang Van Le to Wake Forest University in North Carolina for the commence- of Vietnam and Taylor Lauren White of Maryland, who both ment of his daughter. had 4.0 GPAs. He described for the audience the national political climate In his own address to the graduating class, Mr. Le thanked in 2013, around the time that many students from the graduating the university for its support as he became VUU’s first graduate class arrived and enrolled at VUU. with a triple major of chemistry, mathematics and physics. “We had just re-elected America’s first black president. ISIS Remarking on the emotions connected with moving on from was not yet a household name, and for some people, for some college, Gov. McAuliffe said he also found the occasion equally reason, they thought Macklemore was actually a good rapper,” festive and bittersweet. he said, laughing with the crowd. “As governor, I have given many commencement addresses,” “Today we find ourselves in a world where saying ‘Black he said. “This will be the last address as governor, so I clearly Lives Matter’ is somehow a political statement and where a saved the best for last,” he said to cheers. president of the United States just this week questioned the Also receiving honorary degrees were the Rev. Yvonne J. Bibbs, value and constitutionality of HBCUs,” he said, referring to a the first female pastor in the 94-year history of Sixth Baptist Church
Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Marquis Johnson of Newport News is elated to get his degree in mass communications from Virginia Union University during Saturday’s ceremony at St. Paul’s Baptist Church in Henrico.
in Richmond, in recognition of her “outstanding humanitarian efforts” in Richmond and in the state; VUU benefactors James E. and Barbara B. Sellman, who have donated more than 300 pieces of art to the university’s Museum Galleries from their worldwide travels and art collecting; and Dianne Watkins Walker, who spearheaded the effort to restore a carillon in the university’s historic Belgian Building through the nonprofit she founded, Bells for Peace, and to repair the building’s exterior and light the tower. Former VUU President Claude G. Perkins also was granted the title of president emeritus by the VUU Board of Trustees.
‘People just want to be listened to,’ Sen. Kaine tells VCU grads By Thomas Kidd
The graduating class of Virginia Commonwealth University received a message aimed at the head as well as the heart during Saturday’s commencement exercises. University President Michael Rao thanked the graduates for assisting VCU in becoming one of the premier research universities in the country, and then offered a unique twist on how they should continue the learning process. “Changing your mind is not a sign of weakness,” President Rao told the graduates. “But it is a sign that you know more than you knew yesterday.” He went on to encourage them to enter the next phase of their lives challenging generally accepted beliefs, including things they learned at VCU. To further support this view, he quoted George Bernard Shaw, “Progress is impossible without change. Those who cannot change their minds can’t change anything.” “We are counting on you,” he told the audience at the Richmond Coliseum for the commencement, where more than 5,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees were conferred.
He then introduced the morning’s keynote speaker, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a former Virginia governor and former Richmond mayor who ran for vice president in November on the Democratic ticket with presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Sen. Kaine said that while he graduated from the University of Missouri and Harvard Law School, he enjoyed a long and intimate relationship with VCU. “All three of my kids attended VCU and I’ve been many times to the MCV emergency room,” he quipped. He said he was honest with himself about his role as keynote speaker. “No one is interested in what a graduation speaker has to say,” he continued. “I remember nothing of what my high school graduation speaker said — and I was the speaker.” He said he did, however, remember an after-graduation conciliatory kiss from his ex-girlfriend and also recalled being too cool to hug his parents, offering them handshakes instead. He advised graduates that before they embark on an evening of celebration, they should reconcile any ill feelings they have with classmates or professors and then to show enthusiastic appreciation to those who helped them to get to this point in
James Haskins/Richmond Free Press
Newly minted nurses celebrate receiving their degrees during the Virginia Commonwealth University commencement Saturday at the Richmond Coliseum.
their life. He then detailed three experiences in his life that illustrate the power of listening. A congressional aide impressed him, he said, with her ability to calm ranting constituents simply by allowing them to vent.
The second involved a conversation with a Republican colleague in the Virginia General Assembly who he discovered by listening that he had more in common with philosophically than he originally thought. The last example involved a
cultural connection he made while campaigning for vice president. He said he was the first candidate on the national ticket to speak fluent Spanish. And after talking on the campaign trail with voters from a Latino community, he discovered they were not impressed so much by the fact that he could speak with them in Spanish, but that he could listen to them in their language. “You will find that listening will be involved in many aspects of your success. People just want to be listened to,” he said. Returning to the podium, President Rao let the senator know his words didn’t fall on deaf ears. “Senator, they were listening,” President Rao said. Also at the ceremony, VCU recognized Pamela K. and William A. Royall Jr. with the Edward A. Wayne Medal, which honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions or provided exemplary service to the university. Sogand Karimian, who majored in nursing, also received the VCU Board of Visitors Award, which recognizes an outstanding undergraduate for academic achievement, leadership and service to the university and community at large.
Virginia Beach woman wins Miss USA crown, stirs controversy Miss District of Columbia USA Kara McCullough was named Miss USA 2017 during the annual pageant held Sunday in Las Vegas. Little did the 25-year-old scientist from Virginia Beach know that after triumphing over 50 other contestants, her crown would come with controversy. Her first days as Miss USA have been spent trying to put out the flames that her words ignited. It all started during the Q&A portion of the pageant, when contestants must show off their poise and knowledge in answering questions related to current events. Ms. McCullough, who graduated with a degree in chemistry from South Carolina State University and now works at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was asked whether she considered affordable health care for all United States citizens a right or a privilege. “I’m definitely going to say it’s a privilege,” she answered Sunday night. “As a government employee, I am granted health care and I see firsthand that for one to have health care, you need to have jobs.” During another question-and-answer round, she was asked her opinion on feminism and if she considers herself a feminist. She responded that she would like to exchange the term for “equalism.” “I don’t want to consider myself like this die-hard, you know, like, ‘I don’t really care about men,’ ” she continued. “One thing I’ll say, women, we are just as equal as men when it comes to opportunity in the workplace.” When she won, social media blew up over her answers to the pageant questions, particularly the notion that health care
should be tied to a job. On Tuesday morning, she went on ABC TV’s “Good Morning America” to respond to the mounting backlash. In talking with host Michael Strahan, she shifted her earlier stance. “I am a woman. I’m going to own what I said,” she told Mr. Strahan. “I am privileged to have health care, and I do believe that it should be a right. And I hope and pray moving forward that health care is a right for all worldwide. “I am privileged to have health care. I want people to see where I was coming from. Having a job, I have to look at health care like it is a privilege,” she continued. With regard to feminism, Ms. McCullough said she wanted to be clear that women should get the recognition they deserve. “I don’t want anyone to look at (it) as if I’m not all about women’s rights because I am,” Ms. McCullough said on the show Tuesday. “We deserve a lot when it comes to opportunity in the workplace as well as leadership positions. I’ve seen and witnessed firsthand the impact women have.” As Miss USA, Ms. McCullough will go on to represent the United States in the Miss Universe pageant. This is not the first crown for Ms. McCullough, who was born in Naples, Italy, to a military family. She was crowned Miss South Carolina State University at the historically black college in Orangeburg in April 2012. She is the second consecutive Miss District of Columbia to win the Miss USA pageant. Deshauna Barber, a 2011 graduate of Virginia State University and commander in the Army Reserve, was Miss USA 2016. Ms. McCullough said she wants to inspire young people to pursue careers in the STEM fields.
John Locher/Associated Press
Miss District of Columbia USA Kara McCullough reacts Sunday as she is announced as Miss USA 2017. The 25-year-old scientist from Virginia Beach was crowned by Miss USA 2016 Deshauna Barber, a 2011 graduate of Virginia State University.
Richmond Free Press
B4 May 18-20, 2017
Faith News/Directory
Missing from church on Mother’s Day: Women wishing to be moms By Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service
For years, Mother’s Day worship services were simply too much for Candace Wohl. She would arrive at her church, just after a failed in vitro fertilization treatment, only to witness a baby dedication and proclamations that “our church is a fertile one.” “I’m never coming back to a Mother’s Day service,” she decided at the time. But after the birth of her 3-year-old daughter, Ms. Wohl, a conservative Christian, wrote to the clergy at Believers Church in Chesapeake. She asked for more sensitivity and suggested a litany for the service that included a prayer for “fruitfulness” for the infertile women in the congregation. “It’s a little ask; it’s a little win,” she said of the women in the pews who are wishing for an acknowledgment of their grief on the day honoring mothers. “But it goes a long way.” Laywomen with popular blogs — such as In Due Time and Trials Bring Joy — and women clergy authors are increasingly writing about their personal experience with infertility. They’re bringing the issue into pulpits and church basements and sharing its causes and treatments to help the faithful understand their expensive and often unsuccessful attempts to give birth or to adopt. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 12 percent of U.S. women — or 1 in 8 — ages 15 to 44 years have difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term. The Rev. Elizabeth Hagan, an American Baptist minister who adopted a child after struggles with miscarriages and infertility, said whenever she has been in a pulpit on Mother’s Day she strives to include women who are struggling to have babies as well as those who have lost children or their own mothers. “It’s like a time bomb waiting to explode, I think, in many congregations,” said Rev. Hagan, 37, author of “Birthed: Finding Grace Through Infertility.” “Many of them do not feel safe in church on Mother’s Day in particular, and so anything that a clergyperson can do to acknowledge the grief goes a long way to help people feel welcomed.” The stories of women in the Bible giving birth in old age after decades without children — from Sarah in the Torah to Elizabeth in the New Testament — have become sources of inspiration for some and pain for others. “I think oftentimes they’re used with decent intention to give hope and to have faith. But, in reality, I think they do the exact opposite,” said Justine Brooks Froelker, an author and counselor whose rounds of IVF with her husband produced three embryos but their surrogate never got pregnant. Ms. Froelker, 37, author of “The Mother of Second Chances,”
New Deliverance Evangelistic Church
Photo courtesy of the Rev. Stacey Edwards-Dunn
Fertility for Colored Girls launches a Detroit chapter.
has written online devotionals for a Bible app to help readers find other verses — about trusting God and finding peace — to walk through what she calls “The Complicated Gray,” longing for traditional motherhood while learning to love life as it is. The Rev. Stacey Edwards-Dunn, an executive minister at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, has focused on the challenges faced by African-American women who often counter a stereotype of being hyperfertile. Her group, Fertility for Colored Girls, a national organization, is connected to more than 50 churches. It raises money for infertility treatment and adoption and holds support group meetings, in person and by phone, to share concerns and “praise reports.” “I found that many pastors do not know what to do or say,” said Rev. Edwards-Dunn, 46, author of the new book “Hold On to Hope: Stories of Black Women’s Fertility, Faith and Fight to Become Mommies.” She suggests that they learn the vocabulary of infertility — from ART, assisted reproductive technology, to vasectomy — and
Willie Mae Lawson March 12, 1913 – May 20, 2012
Remembering The Love You Shared, Your Giving Heart And The Way You Cared.
1701 Turner Road, North Chesterfield, Virginia 23225 (804) 276-0791 office (804)276-5272 fax www.ndec.net
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL JUNE 26 - 30, 2017 6:30 P.M. - 8:30 P.M. / NIGHTLY
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Broad Rock Baptist Church 5106 Walmsley Blvd., Richmond, VA 23224 804-276-2740 • 804-276-6535 (fax) www.BRBCONLINE.org
Bishop G. O. Glenn D. Min., Pastor Mother Marcietia S. Glenn First Lady
Wednesday Services Noonday Bible Study 12noon-1:00 p.m. Attendance - 52 Sanctuary - All Are Welcome! Wednesday Evening Bible Study 7 p.m. Attendance - 120
Saturday 8:30 a.m. Intercessory Prayer
of faiths report hearing this kind of advice: “You just have to let go and let God.” “Have you prayed about it?” “You just have to believe.” Across the board, this prompted infertile women to shy away from sharing their circumstances. “They were worried that people wouldn’t understand and they didn’t want to hear religious platitudes when their hearts were broken,” said Ms. Johnson, who, with her husband, went through surgeries and five cycles of reproductive treatments before she gave birth to their 2-year-old daughter, Hazel. Ms. Wohl, 37, heard platitudes and criticisms along the seven years that included a hysterectomy, adoptions that fell through and the use of a surrogate for the birth of her daughter. She is now host of a Hampton Roads support group for Resolve: The National Infertility Association. She views Mother’s Day from two perspectives — answered and unanswered prayers. “I’m really happy for me but I’m really sad for the other people,” she said, “because I know what they’re feeling and I know what they’re going to go through.”
In Loving Memory of
Elder Percy G. Dennis January 13, 1947 – May 19, 2015
“MAKE IT HAPPEN”
Deeply Loved, Greatly Missed The Family
Pastor Kevin Cook
THE NEW DELIVERANCE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (NDCA)
Ebenezer Baptist Church
ENROLL NOW!!! Accepting applications for children 2 yrs. old to 3rd Grade
1858
“The People’s Church”
Sixth Baptist Church
216 W. Leigh St. • Richmond, Va. 23220 Tel: 804-643-3366 • Fax: 804-643-3367 Email: ebcoffice1@yahoo.com • web: www.richmondebenezer.com
th
60
Anniversary W e urch h C Theme: The Church That Jesus Built: eken From Enslavement to Freedom By Faith Speaker: Rev. Wilbert Talley, Pastor
Theme for 2016-2020: Mobilizing For Ministry Refreshing The Old and Emerging The New A 21st Century Church With Ministry For Everyone
Third Union Baptist Church, King William, VA
Dr. Levy M. Armwood, Pastor Dr. Wallace J. Cook, Pastor Emeritus
Guest Speaker:
Rev. Brenda Phillips, Associate Minister Fifth Baptist Church, Richmond, VA
May 21, 2017
Come worship with us!
Sunday, May 21, 2017 11:00am Worship Service
Community Conversation: Ebenezer’s Role in Jackson Ward Friday, May 26, 2017 • 6 p.m. Jazz Vesper Service | Saturday, May 27 • 5 p.m. Anniversary Worship Service | Sunday, May 28 • 11 a.m.
We Embrace Diversity — Love For All!
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d
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Tune in on Sunday Morning to WTVR-Channel 6 - 8:30 a.m.
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
Photo courtesy of Resolve
Candace Wohl, at podium, during Resolve: The National Infertility Association Advocacy Day in Washington.
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
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Sunday 8:00 a.m. Sunday School 9:00 a.m. Worship Service
simply show they care and are willing to refer congregants to an expert who may be able to help them. Although the religious voices calling for an end to the silence about infertility are predominantly female, some prominent men have joined the chorus. Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore has suggested pastors call infertile couples forward for special prayer and Mere Orthodoxy founder Matthew Lee Anderson recently argued that “infertile couples help expand the scope of familial love” in the church. Infertility also is being recognized across faiths with programs that offer loans for infertile Jewish individuals and couples and a campaign to launch research and a support group for Muslim women facing infertility. Church teachings don’t necessarily influence women’s plans to use or refuse reproductive technologies. Bethany Johnson, co-author of studies of women who have considered such treatment, said one Catholic woman decided to start IVF and now has two children, while another was advised by church leaders to shun IVF and has been unsuccessful in attempts to get pregnant through alternative therapies such as acupuncture and special diets. The Catholic Church’s official stance calls in vitro fertilization — in which embryos are created in a lab before being transferred to a woman’s uterus — “immoral.” Beyond the ethical, physical and financial challenges of infertility are the day to day dealings with people of faith whose words may shame rather than support, advocates say. Ms. Johnson, 36, a researcher at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, said people she has surveyed from a range
Rev. Dr. Yvonne Jones Bibbs, Pastor
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Spring Revival At MMBC May 22- 25, 7:00 P.M. Nightly
"Positioned to Listen, Empowered to Launch: Let The Walls Fall!" Guest Preachers For the Week: Rev. Melvin Shearin, Pastor, Great Hope Baptist Church, RVA Rev. Dr. C. Diane Mosby, Pastor, Anointed New Life Baptist Church, RVA Rev. Dr. Joseph P. Lee, Jr., Pastor, Bank Street Memorial Baptist Church, Norfolk Rev. Dr. Cheryl Ivey Green, Executive Minister, First Baptist Church of South Richmond
Weekly Worship: Sundays @ 10:30 A.M. Church School: Sundays @ 9:00 A.M. Bible Study: Wednesdays @ Noon & 7:00 P.M. 2901 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 648-2472 ~ www.mmbcrva.org Dr. Price London Davis, Senior Pastor
Mosby Memorial Baptist Church
“A Caring Community Committed to Listening, Loving, Learning and Leaning While Launching into our Future.”
Triumphant
(near Byrd Park)
Baptist Church
2003 Lamb Avenue Dr. Arthur M. Jones, Sr., Pastor (804) 321-7622 Church School - 9:30 a.m. Worship Service - 11:15 a.m. 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
Richmond Free Press
May 18-20, 2017
B5
Faith News/Directory
Gardens sprouting from the work of area churches By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Thirty-first Street Baptist Church 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.
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
From left, Francine McNair, lead gardener at Eden’s Community Garden at Second Baptist Church of South Richmond, Marc A. Jolley, garden adviser, and Deion Coleman, garden director, pause for a moment by the broccoli plants. The garden employs a cistern and water filtration system that uses runoff from the church (Living Intentionally, parking lot.
Write: I’ll Listen Ministry “Enthusiasm” P.O. Box 16113 Richmond, Virginia 23222
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Cost: $135 per week Registration: $75
Complete the Registration Form on anointednewlife.org under Media/Downloads For more information, call (804) 658-1630 or email at anlbccamplive@yahoo.com
Baptist Church 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
June 26th • August 17th Monday • Thursday | 7 AM • 6 PM Vict ) orio rist h usly C and Exceptionally 4 e a y r s 6 -1 Includes: Breakfast 12
Ages :
At Second Baptist Church in South Side, volunteer gardeners are preparing to produce a cornucopia of vegetables and herbs on a quarter-acre garden plot next to the sanctuary on Broad Rock Boulevard. Separately, 31st Street Baptist Church in Church Hill and its nonprofit partner, Tricycle Gardens, are in the midst of their renewed effort to grow a bounty of fresh food for East End residents on the nation’s first designated urban farm that sits on nearly an acre behind the sanctuary. And Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church in Jackson Ward is in the throes of testing urban gardening in raised beds installed by a parking lot in a partnership with Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Across the community, African-American churches are taking a leadership role in the community gardening movement in Richmond. The purpose: To bring fresh produce to areas where residents without personal transportation live a mile or more from a fullservice grocery store. The most ambitious project is being spearheaded by one of the area’s largest churches, St. Paul’s Baptist, the Henrico County-based, 9,000-member worship center that Dr. Lance Watson leads. The church, which has had a community garden in past years through a partnership with the nonprofit Another Chance to EXCEL, or ACE, is going bigger this year with a program called “Let’s Get Growing.” St. Paul’s is teaming with the National Black Farmers Association, as well as ACE and another nonprofit, Kinfolk Community Empowerment Center, to develop a 5-acre garden on its land on Creighton Road, the site of its main sanctuary. The project also calls for growing produce at two other locations. One is Farmstrong, a community garden at Armstrong High School on Cool Lane. The other is a section of the Mosby Court public housing community northwest of Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, where a community gardening effort is to be expanded. The church’s plans call for planting 20 to 30 gardens, up from 15 household gardens last year and seven the year before. “We hope to create employment opportunities, along with fresh produce for sale to stores and area residents,” said Arthur Burton, founder and chief executive of Kinfolk Community Empowerment Center that aims to help people in the Mosby Court area. He said the NBFA expects to provide gardening equipment and to partner with agricultural extension agents from Virginia State University to offer gardening training to residents. The goal, he said, is to use urban gardening as way to teach people to cut their food budget, become more self-sufficient, improve their neighborhoods and potentially create employment. The garden at Second Baptist is a prime example of the partnerships churches are creating to make gardens more than
produce centers. Dubbed Eden’s Community Garden, the space has developed through a partnership between the church led by the Rev. Ralph S. Hodge and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Second Baptist, which occupies a former grocery store, got involved because it was tired of facing a $7,800 annual bill from the city for stormwater control. The foundation was seeking a partner to showcase ways to reduce polluting runoff from big parking lots like the one at the church. Using a federal grant, the foundation enabled the church to install a 10,000-gallon cistern to collect rainwater, which became irrigation for the garden during the hot summer. In wet times, much of the overflow from the cistern is stored in trenches 6 feet deep that were excavated beneath the garden and filled with gravel and topsoil to filter the water. “It’s a beautiful thing to be here on a day of heavy rain and watch this system work,” Rev. Hodge said. “It soaks up the runoff nutrients that the bay doesn’t need, but our plants do.” The church also gave up 18 parking spaces on the parking lot in the front to create a rain garden to collect more of the runoff. During the past two growing seasons, church volunteers have reaped big harvests of tomatoes, peppers, beans, snow peas, melons, mustard greens, berries, garlic, basil and other produce. The project is self-supporting through the sale of the produce to church members, with the rest used in the church’s kitchen or distributed to neighbors in need. The church also works to spread the community garden message through classes that it invites VSU’s extension agents to hold for area residents. As Rev. Hodge has found, the church’s gardening success is reliant on the willingness of church members to get involved.
non-refundable
(will apply to final payment)
Anointed New Life Baptist Church • 1616 E. Parham Road, Henrico, VA 23228
SUNDAY SCHOOL - 9:45 A.M. SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE 11:00 A.M.
08 W. eih Street ichmond a. 30 80 38603
10 a.m. Sunday, May 21, 2017 m d Ma
❖
WEDNESDAYS Bible Study 12:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. ❖
MONDAY-FRIDAY Nutrition Center and Clothes Closet 11:30 a.m. & 1:00 p.m. 823 North 31st Street Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 226-0150 Office www.31sbc.org
ablished 1867 Est
Church School
8:30 a.m.
New Mercies Ministry 6 a.m. Wednesday Bible Study 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
St. Peter Baptist Church
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.
Dr. Kirkland R. Walton, Pastor
Sharon Baptist Church
Come and Join us in Worship as we Celebrate
Spring Revival 2017
22 E. Leigh Street, Richmond, VA 23219 • 643-3825 thesharonbaptistchurch.com Rev. Dr. Paul A. Coles, Pastor
“All Things Through Christ!” · Philippians 4:13 Monday, May 22, 2017 • Rev. Robert A. Diggs, Tabernacle Baptist Church, Petersburg, VA
Sr.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017 • Rev. Michael R. Lomax Westwood Baptist Church, Richmond, VA
First Baptist
Church Centralia You are cordially invited to the
Anniversary Celebration Sunday, May 21, 2017 11 a.m. Service
Guest Speaker: The honorable Congressman A. Donald McEachin
Dr. Wilson E. B. Shannon PasTor Mrs. Cynthia Smith Shannon FirsT lady
Reception to follow in the Samuel Moss carter Family Life center 2920 Kingsdale Road, North Chesterfield, Virginia 23237 DR. WilsoN E. B. shaNNoN, Pastor www.firstbaptistcentralia.org • churchoffice@firstbaptistcentralia.org (804) 275-0407
Sunday, May 21, 2017 8:30 a.m. ... Sunday School 10:00 a.m... Morning Worship
WEDNESDAYS
THURSDAYS
6:00 p.m. ..... Prayer Service 6:30 p.m. ..... Bible Study
1:30 p.m. Bible Study
Wednesday, May 24, 2017 • Rev. Dennis Edwards Fourth Baptist Church, Richmond, VA
Good Shepherd Baptist Church
Worship at 7:00 p.m. Nightly
1127 North 28th St., Richmond, VA 23223-6624 • Office: (804) 644-1402
2040 Mountain Road • Glen Allen, Virginia 23060 Office 804-262-0230 • Fax 804-262-4651 • www.stpeterbaptist.net
Zion Baptist Church 2006 Decatur Street, Richmond, VA 23224 ZBCOFFICE@VERIZON.NET Dr. Robert L. Pettis, Sr., Pastor (804) 859-1985 Church Office
AnnualSpRing
2017
Revival
“Rekindle Our Fire” Sunday, May 21st at 10 AM
- Psalm 85:6
DR. ROBERT L. PETTIS, SR. Monday, May 22nd thru Wednesday, May 24th 7:30 PM Nightly Prayer and Praise - 7 PM Tuesday Wednesday Monday May 23rd May 24th May 22nd
Rev. Ralph S. Hodge Pastor Second Baptist Church South Richmond
Dr. Rodney D. Waller Rev. Darran T. Brandon
Pastor Pastor First African Baptist Church Little Zion Baptist Church Richmond Carson
For Transportation, call the Church Office
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
Mount Olive Baptist Church Rev. Darryl G. Thompson, Pastor
2017 Theme: The Year of Elevation (First Peter 5:6)
8775 Mount Olive Avenue Glen Allen, Virginia 23060 (804) 262-9614 Phone (804) 262-2397 Fax www.mobcva.org
11:00 AM Mid-day Meditation
Sundays
8:00 a.m. Early Morning Worship 9:30 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 a.m. Morning Worship
Tuesdays
Noon Day Bible Study
Wednesdays
6:30 p.m. Prayer and Praise 7:00 p.m. Adult Bible Study
Richmond Free Press
B6 May 18-20, 2017
Legal Notices/Employment Opportunities City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, May 22, 2017 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. 2017-101 To amend Ord. No. 2016053, adopted May 13, 2016, which adopted the Fiscal Year 2016-2017 General Fund Budget and made appropriations pursuant thereto, by reducing total appropriations by $4,147,757, transferring funds from various agencies and nondepartmental programs in the City’s accounting system, and appropriating the transferred funds to various agencies and non-departmental programs. (COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, May 18, 2017, 5:00 p.m., Council Chamber) Ordinance No. 2017-102 To amend City Code § 1216, concerning monthly financial synopses, for the purpose of requiring that each monthly financial synopsis include an itemization of each transfer of an expenditure authorization between line items. (COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, May 18, 2017, 5:00 p.m., Council Chamber) 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 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER JENNIFER HINSON, Plaintiff v. JOHN HINSON, Defendant. Case No.: CL17001216-00 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 7th day of July, 2017 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 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER REGINA GIBBONS, Plaintiff v. CHARLES GIBBONS, Defendant. Case No.: CL17001215-00 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 7th day of July, 2017 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 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF Chesterfield ALICIA E. RAMOS, Plaintiff v. JUAN JESUS VEGA, Defendant. Case No.: CL17-949 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 a affidavit that diligence has been used without effect, by or on the behalf of the plaintiff to ascertain in what county or city defendant is. It is ORDERED that Juan Jesus Vega appear at the above-named court and protect his/her interests on or before the 21st day of June, Continued on next column
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2017 at 9:00 a.m. A Copy, Teste: WENDY S. HUGHES, Clerk
in re TYLER AiDEN BANKS Case No. J-90236-11-12 The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) JOY STEPHONE BANKS (MOTHER), & JALAWRENCE WHITAKER (FATHER) of TYLER AIDEN BANKS, DOB 3/14/2013, “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 Joy Stephone Banks (Mother), & Jalawrence Whitaker (Father) to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before July 31, 2017 at 9:40Am, CourtRoom #4
ERIN PAGE MCCARTHY WOLFE, Petitioners, v. RITA PEARLE BATES, Respondent. In re: Britney Page Wolfe (DOB: 04/08/2001) Case No. CA17-15 April 26, 2017 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to obtain a step-parent adoption. WHEREFORE, an affidavit having been filed by the Petitioners that due diligence has been used without effect to ascertain the location of Rita Pearle Bates, it is ORDERED that Rita Pearle Bates appear before this Court on 5th day of July 2017 at 8:30 a.m. to protect her interests herein. A Copy Teste: WENDY S. HUGHES, Clerk Sarah J. Conner, Esquire Friedman Law Firm 9401 Courthouse Rd., Suite A Chesterfield, VA 23832 804-717-1969
an interest in the property by inheritance, Affidavit having been made and filed that there are or may be persons whose names are unknown, interested in the subject matter of this suit; It is ORDERED that Unknown Heirs of Alice B. Wright, and Parties Unknown, if then living or be dead, their heirs devisees, or successors in title, and other unknown heirs or unknown parties who have an interest in the subject matter of this suit, who are proceeded against as Unknown Heirs and Parties Unknown, appear before Court on or before July 6, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. to protest their interests, if any, in this suit. A Copy Teste: HEIDI S. BARSHINGER, Clerk Paul R. Mack (VSB#25197) SAUNDERS, PATTERSON & MACK 10620 Trade Road North Chesterfield, VA 23236 (804) 330-3350 Telephone (804) 330-3811 Facsimile prmack@spmvalaw.com Counsel for Plaintiffs
YARBROUGH, DECEASED, FLOYD SMITH, DECEASED, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JUNE 22, 2017, and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter. An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER JENNIFER IYANDA, Plaintiff v. FATAI IYANDA, SR., Defendant. Case No.: CL17001040-00 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 15th day of June, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. and protect her 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 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF CHESTERFIELD KELLY A. KANG, Plaintiff v. SWARN SINGH KANG, Defendant. Case No.: CL-913 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce. WHEREFORE, an affidavit having been filed by the Plaintiff, Kelly A. Kang, that due diligence has been used without effect to ascertain the location of the Defendant, Swarn Singh Kang, it is ORDERED that Swarn Singh Kang appear before this Court on June 2, 2017 at 11:00 a.m., to protect his interests herein. An Extract, Teste: WENDY S. HUGHES, Clerk Mary Ashby Brown, Esquire (VSB$74718) Friedman Law Firm, P.C. 9401 Courthouse Rd., Suite A Chesterfield, VA 23832 (804) 717-1969 (telephone) (804) 748-4161 (telecopier) mabrown@friedmanlawva.com Counsel for the Plaintiff/Wife
CUSTODY virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of thE city Of richmOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re ELIJAH JABBAAR File No. J-91956-04-05-08 The object of this suit is to: Provide notice of Elijah Jabbaar’s custody status to UNKNOWN (FATHER) and KATRINA CABBLE (MOTHER) of ELIJAH JABBAAR child, DOB 10/08/2015 It is ORDERED that the defendant Unknown (Father) & Katrina Cabble to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before July 17, 2017 at 2:40Pm, CourtRoom #4 virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of thE cOuNty Of HENRICO Commonwealth of Virginia, in re THOMAS TOLLEY File No. J-1000236-01,02 The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) of RODNEY DOVE, identified birth father and any other possible unknown birth father of a child known as Thomas Tolley who was born on February 17, 2017 to Christina Leigh Tolley in Richmond, Virginia. The birth mother has given her consent to adoption and has executed an affidavit identifying the birth father as Rodney Dove but stating that his whereabouts is unknown. It is ORDERED that the defendant RODNEY DOVE (Father) and UNKNOWN FATHER to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before July 5, 2017. virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of thE city Of richmOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re QUON’ASIA WHITAKER File No. J-92163-05-06 The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) DAQUON WHITAKER (FATHER), & Keonna Faison (Mother) of Quon’Asia Whitaker child, DOB 2/24/2016, “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 DAQUON WHITAKER (Father) & KEONNA FAISON (Mother) to appear at the abovenamed Court and protect his/her interest on or before July 11, 2017 at 9:20Am, CourtRoom #2
virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of thE city Of richmOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re SKYE Miracle Williams-Johnson Case No. J-92789-06-07 The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) TIERRA L. WILLIAMS (MOTHER), & UNKNOWN (FATHER) of SYKE MIRACLE WILLIAMSJOHNSON DOB 10/4/2016. “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 Tierra L. Williams (Mother), & Unknown (Father) to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before July 12, 2017 at 2:00Pm, CourtRoom #5 virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of thE city Of richmOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re MELVIN BURKE, JR. & LILVELL MAYO-BURKE Case No. J-90987-10, J-90988-10 The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) MELVIN BURKE, SR. (FATHER) of MELVIN BURKE, JR., child, DOB 12/1/2012 & LIVELL MAYO-BURKE, child DOB 3/19/2014. “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 Melvin Burke, Sr. (Father) to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before July 17, 2017 at 9:20Am, CourtRoom #4 virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of thE city Of richmOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Yolanda Harris Case No. J-91792-05-06 The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) BETTY SPENCER (MOTHER), CHARLIE MOSES HARRIS (FATHER) of YOLANDA HARRIS, DOB 10/19/2014, “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 Betty Spencer (Mother), & Charlie Moses Harris (Father) to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before July 24, 2017 at 10:30Am, CourtRoom #4 Virginia: In the circuit Court for the County of Chesterfield ERIN PAGE MCCARTHY WOLFE, and ERIC C. WOLFE Petitioners, v. JERRY WAYNE BROCKWELL, JR., Respondent. In re: Peyton Mathew Wolfe (DOB: 08/09/2001) Case No. CA17-14 April 26, 2017 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to obtain a step-parent adoption. WHEREFORE, an affidavit having been filed by the Petitioners that due diligence has been used without effect to ascertain the location of Jerry Wayne Brockwell, Jr., it is ORDERED that Peyton Mathew Wolfe appear before this Court on 5th day of July 2017 at 8:30 a.m. to protect his interests herein. A Copy Teste: WENDY S. HUGHES, Clerk Sarah J. Conner, Esquire Friedman Law Firm 9401 Courthouse Rd., Suite A Chesterfield, VA 23832 804-717-1969
virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of thE city Of richmOND Commonwealth of Virginia,
Virginia: In the circuit Court for the County of Chesterfield ERIC C. WOLFE, and
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virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of Chesterfield Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Kimberly Hernandez, adriana hernandez v. albert soriano Case No. JJ091324-01-00 OrDEr Of puBLicatiON The object of this suit is to: Determine custody of Kimberly (DOB 10/27/02), whose mother is Adriana Hernandez and whose father is Albert Soriano pursuant to Virginia Code Section 16.1-241A3. Father’s last known address was 1632 Valor Street, Petersburg VA 23803. It is ordered that the defendant appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or before June 23, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of the City of Richmond Commonwealth of Virginia, in re JAYDEN RASHAWN PRETTY, A Juvenile CHILDREN’S HOME SOCIETY OF VIRGINIA V. DUVELL SMITH, CHRISTOPHER JONES AND ANY UNKNOWN BIRTH FATHER OrDEr Of puBLicatiON The object of this suit is to: Pursuant to VA Code § 16.1-277.01, Children’s Home Society of Virginia is requesting that the Court terminate the residual parental rights of the named birth fathers, Duvell Smith and Christopher Jones, whose whereabouts are unknown, and any unknown birth father, whose identity and whereabouts are unknown, and transfer custody of the infant, Jayden Rashawn Pretty, DOB 12/30/16 to the Children’s Home Society of Virginia with the right to place the infant for adoption. It is ORDERED that the defendant Duvell Smith, Christopher Jones or any Unknown Birth Father appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or before May 23, 2017.
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v. Case No.: CL17-1854 LUCILLE CORBIN, DECEASED et al., Defendants. ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 418 North 23rd Street Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number E0000257/003, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Lucille Corbin. An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, LUCILLE CORBIN, DECEASED, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of «Parties Unknown.” IT IS ORDERED that LUCILLE CORBIN, DECEASED, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JUNE 22, 2017, and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter. An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7940
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE COUNTY OF HENRICO MARK HOPKINS And VALERIE HOPKINS, Plaintiffs, v. THE UNKNOWN HEIRS OF ALICE B. WRIGHT, And PARTIES UNKNOWN Defendants Case No. CL17-902 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to establish title by adverse possession to certain parcel of real property in Henrico County, Virginia, being originally owned by Alice B. Wright, more particularly described as follows: THAT certain lot, piece or parcel of land, commonly known as 5524 Moss Side Avenue, Henrico County, Virginia, Parcel ID number 786-750-5688, Plan of Club Court, Block 5, Lot10, conveyed to Alice B. Wright by Club Court Development Corporation by deed dated January 7, 1929, recorded in the Henrico County Circuit Court Clerk’s office June 17, 1929, in Deed Book 246C Page 457. Unknown Heirs and Parties Unknown may have
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v. Case No. : CL17-1906 WINNIE V. SMITH, DECEASED, et al., Defendants. ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 4713 Fitzhugh Avenue, Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map Number W0190065/008, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record Winnie V. Smith. An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, WINNIE V. SMITH, DECEASED, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action; that NOVEL SMITH, DECEASED, BERTHA TONEY, DECEASED, GARLAND SMITH, DECEASED, ROY SMITH aka ROY LEE SMITH, DECEASED, ANNE YARBROUGH, DECEASED, and FLOYD SMITH, DECEASED, who may have an ownership interest in said property, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action; and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.” IT IS ORDERED that WINNIE V. SMITH, DECEASED, NOVEL SMITH, DECEASED, BERTHA T O N E Y, DECEASED, GARLAND SMITH, DECEASED, ROY SMITH aka ROY LEE SMITH, DECEASED, ANNE
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PROPERTY
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE COUNTY OF HENRICO CASE No. CL-16002894-00 DOUGLAS G. HARTMANN and MICAH C. HARTMANN PLAINTIFF, V. PATRICIA ANN JACKSON WOOLRIDGE, ET AL. 3823 Belker Ct. N. Chesterfield, VA 23234 And RONNIE LEE JONES (Address Unknown) And WAYNE JONES (Address Unknown) And THE UNKNOWN HEIRS, D E VI S E S A N D SUCCESSORS OF ELMOND JONES, LOUISE P. JONES, EMORY WILSON JONES, FRANCIS S. JONES, LILLIAN L. SCOTT, WALTER J. JONES, LILA O. JONES, CARLOTTA J O N E S , H O WA R D R . JONES, JACOB P. JONES, DOROTHY INEZ PERRY JONES, ARRINGTON JONES SR., ZACHERY WOOLRIDGE, ALBERTA JONES GARNETT and any other Parties Unknown, if then living or be dead, their heirs , devisees, assigns or successors in title, and other unknown heirs or parties whose names are unknown who may have an interest in the real property described herein and are made Defendants hereto as “PARTIES UNKNOWN” DEFENDANTS ORDER OF PUBLICATION CASE NUMBER CL-16002894 The object of this suit is to partition real property in Henrico County, Virginia, to wit all that certain lot, piece or parcel of land, with the improvements thereon, lying and being in Varina Magisterial District, Henrico County, Virginia situated on the western side of Buffin Road, containing 5.381 acres, all as shown on the plat by Jennings-Stephenson, P.C., dated January 6, 2006, a copy of which is recorded in the Clerk’s Office of the Circuit Court of Henrico, County, VA in Deed Book 4201, Page 1728. AND BEING part of the same real estate conveyed by deed to Elmond Jones by deed from Margaret G. Cross and O.B. Cross, her husband, dated August 1, 1931 recorded August 13, 1931, in Deed Book 253-A, page 2, Clerk’s Office of the Circuit Court of Henrico County, Virginia. Elmond Jones died intestate in 1945, survived by a widow, Louise P. Jones and four sons and two daughters, namely; Wilson Jones, Jacob P. Jones, Arrington Jones, Sr., Walter Jones, Carlotta J. Jones and Lillian L. Scott, his sole heirs at law. All heirs, including Ronnie Lee Jones, his successors in interest and/ or assigns if any; Wayne Jones, his successor in interest and/or assigns if any; and PARTIES UNKNOWN who may have an interest in the property described above. Affidavit having been made and filed that due diligence has been used without effect to ascertain the existence of and location of certain parties to be served, and that there are or may be persons whose names are unknown who are interested in the subject matter of this suit; It is ORDERED that, Ronnie Lee Jones, Wayne Jones and PARTIES UNKNOWN, if then living or be dead, their heirs, devisees, assigns, or successors in title, and other unknown heirs or parties who have an interest in the subject matter of this suit, who are proceeded against as PARTIES UNKNOWN, appear before Court on or before June 5, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. to protect their interests, if any, in this suit and/or the referenced property; and Counsel for Plaintiff I ask for this: Stephen B. Wood (VSB 26581) The Wood Law Firm, PLC 1503 Santa Rosa Road Suite 109 Richmond, Virginia 23229 Telephone: (804) 288-4007 Facsimile: (804) 288-5973 Cell (804)873-0088 Steve.wood@woodlawrva.com
TransiT sysTem
GRTC TRANSIT SYSTEM SPECIALIZED TRANSPORTATION SERVICES REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS GRTC Transit System invites all interested parties to submit proposals for providing specialized transportation services. Interested firms may download a copy of RFP #160-17-06 from GRTC’s website, www.ridegrtc.com (menu options: About Us, then Procurement) or obtain a copy by calling Tonya Thompson at (804) 358-3871. A mandatory pre-proposal conference will be held on Thursday, June 1, 2017 at 10:00am. Responses are due no later than 11:00 am on July 11, 2017. All inquiries pertaining to the request or any questions in reference to the solicitation documents should be directed to: Tonya Thompson Director of Procurement (804) 358-3871, ext. 372
GO Virginia Region 4 RFP Region 4 of the state’s new GO Virginia initiative to create more higher paying jobs has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for consultants to help draft its Economic Growth and Diversification Plan. Region 4 serves the Richmond and Crater Regional Planning Districts. Interested planners can see and download the RFP at GrowCapitalJobs.org under the Updates tab. Responses are due by 2 pm May 23, 2017. Email to info@growcapitaljobs.org or by mail or delivery to GROW Virginia Jobs Foundation, 200 South Third Street, Richmond, VA 23219.
Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg, VA
is looking for an experienced Minister of Music to coordinate the music ministry team of the church under the supervision of the Pastor. Send resume highlighting qualifications to: Charles Lee, III Gillfield Baptist Church 209 Perry Street Petersburg, VA 23803.
SaleS aSSiStant NBC12 Advertising Sales seeks a detail oriented, technology savvy Sales Assistant capable of producing creative high impact sales presentations, managing multiple projects simultaneously, inputting orders, and being an overall part of the selling process. This position requires someone who understands what it means to work hard and is comfortable in a fluid and fast paced environment. Successful candidate must possess a positive attitude and be experienced with PowerPoint, Excel and Photoshop. For the right person, this opportunity can be a stepping stone to future opportunities in our organization. Competitive salary, full benefits. Drug Screen required. Apply on line at https://careers-raycommedia.icims.com. EOE M/F/D/V.
TransiT sysTem
GENERAL UTILITY Starting Rate: $16.61 per hour Closing Date: 23 May 2017 GRTC Transit System seeks a detailed oriented individual, 21 years of age or older, who can work independently and in a team environment to perform various vehicle service duties. This position requires weekend and weekday availability. The hours will vary depending on shift. High school education required. Must have, at a minimum, a valid Virginia Class B CDL Learners Permit with P Endorsement required. Candidates must have a good driving record with a point balance of five (5) or better and must be able to pass a background check along with a pre-employment drug test and a DOT physical. Candidates may apply online at www.ridegrtc. com. No paper applications accepted. GRTC is an equal opportunity employer with a drug-free work environment.
The City of Richmond is seeking to fill the following positions: Capital Project Manager 29M00000174 Department of Public Works Apply by 05/28/17 Engineer IV – City Bridge 29M00000603 Department of Public Works Continuous Maintenance Technician II – Water Utility 35M00000210 Department of Public Utilities Apply by 05/28/17 Maintenance Worker I - Stormwater 35M00000836 Department of Public Utilities Apply by 05/28/17 Materials Technician, Warehouse and Inventory Control (Wastewater) 35M00000124 Department of Public Utilities Apply by 05/28/17 ****************** For an exciting career with the City of Richmond, visit our website for additional information and apply today! www.richmondgov.com EOE M/F/D/V
Graphics position: The Richmond Free Press is seeking a reliable and creative person for a part-time graphics position. Proficient in Indesign and Photoshop to produce accurate, quality camera-ready advertisements and creative news page layouts for print production. Meticulous attention to details. Must be able to be flexible and work under deadline in a team environment is essential. Submit resumé and samples of work to address: Human Resources, Richmond Free Press, P.O. Box 27709, Richmond, Virginia 23261. No phone calls please.
Vote
Freelance Writers: Richmond Free Press has immediate opportunities for freelance writers. Newspaper experience is a requirement. To be considered, please send 5 samples of your writing, along with a cover letter to news@ richmond freepress.com or mail to: Richmond Free Press, P. O. Box 27709, Richmond, VA 23261. No phone calls.
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