May 19 21, 2016 issue

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VOL. 25 NO. 21

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MAY 19-21, 2016

Richmond School Board shelves school closings Free Press staff report

Armstrong High School will not be closed.

Nor will four Richmond elementary schools — Cary, OverbySheppard, Southampton and Swansboro.

And there will be no merger of two alternative schools.

After weeks of threatening closures and mergers and gen-

erating public support in lobbying Richmond City Council to pump more money into its coffers, the Richmond School Board backed down.

In a 6-3 vote Monday, the School Board rejected any further discussion of closing buildings to help eliminate 5,000 empty seats.

Instead, the board might look elsewhere to find the estimated $11 million needed to balance its approved budget. That money

is needed to cover the cost of Superintendent Dana T. Bedden’s academic improvement plan and meet other needs.

The needed money could come from new proposals Dr. Bedden and his chief financial officer, David Myers, presented at the meeting for the board to consider.

Please turn to A4

Future of food VSU Harding Street Urban Agriculture Center uses cutting-edge technology to grow fish, vegetables

By Malik Russell

A former recreation building in historic downtown Petersburg has been transformed

by Virginia State University into an innovative center for urban food production.

VSU’s Harding Street Urban Agriculture Center is using cutting-edge hydroponic and aquaponic technologies to revitalize a food desert and provide area residents with fresh vegetables and fish grown year-round at the center, thanks to a $1.5 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

According to Duron Chavis, the center’s project director and a VSU graduate, the center combines hydroponics, where vegetables are grown in water rather than soil, and aquaponics, where fish are grown in small tanks, in a way that allows the fish waste to work as fertilizer for the plants, which in turn, filter the water.

“Basically, we’re trying to multiply how much food you can grow (in a small space) by two, three, four or five times, while at the same time conserving water and energy,” Mr. Chavis told the Free Press.

The center’s hydroponics and aquaponics sections are located in the building’s former gymnasium and resemble something out of a science fiction movie, with huge white stacked towers with tiers of romaine lettuce that rise into the sky. Blue barrels of swimming tilapia are connected to containers growing mustard greens, romaine lettuce, lemon tomatoes and kale.

Mr. Chavis explains the renewable energy process used, where solar energy creates photosynthesis and the waste from the fish

fertilize the plants.

The center opened last spring and began selling its produce last summer from a van that travels to pop-up markets in Petersburg and Richmond.

The center will start public education and training programs in the next few months.

Plans include a program run in conjunction with the local social services department to provide workforce development training to

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Duron Chavis, project director of Virginia State University’s Harding Street Urban Agriculture Center in Petersburg, stands by the aquaponic barrels where tilapia are growing.

Toolkit, with technical and financial information and resources to help urban farmers and entrepreneurs. Officials estimate that local food sales from urban operations will reach $20 bil-

The VSU center, started with a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, operates in the former gymnasium of the old recreation center on Harding Street in downtown Petersburg.

people who will be certified to work in commercial kitchens.

The center also will provide classes and training to local residents and internships for VSU students in urban farming, hospitality, information systems and other majors, Mr. Chavis said. The products produced at the center also will be available for purchase by participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Urban farming has grown in such popularity that the USDA has created an Urban Agriculture

lion by 2019.

Indoor farming is “a niche lane that is a quickly growing sector of the market. The whole conversation around locally grown, organic food is a space that is virtually unoccupied by people

of color,” said Mr. Chavis.

Despite its relative exclusivity, Mr. Chavis believes indoor farming is a direction urban communities must travel.

“For African-American communities that are low income, urbanized and within the city, I think it’s a very healthy conversation to have when we start talking about local food production as a tool for job creation and entrepreneurship.

“When we think about green jobs as a sector where African-Americans are underrepresented, this is a very important bookmark or space that we can insert ourselves, because we have an expressed need across the nation. We are over-represented in areas designated as food deserts,” he said.

While the indoor farming facility represents a shift toward the future, VSU’s center maintains a more traditional urban farming presence. Five vacant lots now contain two orchards with 30 fruit trees, a micro farm and a vineyard with 100 feet of grapevines.

John Lewis, executive director of Renew Please turn to A4

Full-service grocery store planned for East End

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

A new full-service grocery store is headed to Church Hill, it was announced Tuesday.

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones, City Councilwoman Cynthia I. Newbille, 7th District, and T.K. Somanath, executive director of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, issued a joint statement about the planned market that is expected to bring about 25 full-time and 22 to 30 parttime jobs to this employmentstarved area of the city once it opens — likely a year or more from now.

The new supermarket is to be part of a potential $10 million to $20 million mixed-use development that is to include residential units, offices and retail shops in the two-block area bounded by Fairmount Avenue, Nine Mile Road, 25th and 26th streets.

The first new supermarket in this area in decades, the store also would complement plans for the $175 million redevelopment of the Creighton Court public housing community over the next few years. That includes the $50 million first phase that is to begin next year with redevelopment of the 20 acres where the

former Armstrong High School building stands, on North 31st Street near Nine Mile Road, and where new homes and apartments are to rise.

The new store would be Richmond’s first Jim’s Local Market, an urban-focused operation that opened its first store last week in Newport News and is owned and operated by Jim Scanlon, a former Martin’s Food Market regional vice president.

According to the statement, the project is outlined in an application to rezone the RRHAowned property that was subPlease turn to A4

Camburus & Theodore

Rendering of first Jim’s Local Market that opened May 10 in Newport News.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

James U. Johnston, known locally as Chocolate Chip, now makes his radio home in the studio at WCLM-AM 1450, based in South Side. Still going strong, he made his debut on the airwaves on WANT-AM on May 16, 1976.

Chocolate Chip: A radio treat for 40 years

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Chocolate Chip is still spinning records as a Richmond radio disc jockey.

Every Thursday from 1 to 4 p.m., he takes listeners on an R&B stroll down memory lane with his oldies show on WCLM-AM 1450.

Born James Ulysses Johnston — though it’s a name few people know — Chocolate Chip is marking the 40th anniversary of his start in radio this week.

At 62, he is among longest running DJs still working on Richmond radio. Most people who were around in the 1970s when he started playing music on the airwaves are retired or gone.

“My biggest thrill is being recognized,” said Mr. Johnston. “People treat me like radio royalty after they hear me on a commercial.”

He grew up with dreams of being a radio disc jockey like Kirby Carmichael and other Please turn to A4

A2 May 19-21, 2016

Richmond Free Press

Local News

Cityscape Slices of life and scenes in Richmond A multiple exposure photograph creates this view of “Thin Blue Line,” Michael Stutz’s striking sculpture on the east wall of the Richmond Police Department’s headquarters, 200 W. Grace St. The sculpture is worthy of extra attention this week, which has been designated National Police Week honoring the service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. The designation was begun in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy. Below, Richmond Police Capt. Marty Harrison and his wife, Sharon, attend the Officer Appreciation Day Service at Fourth Baptist Church in the East End, where Chief Alfred Durham gave remarks last Sunday. The service honored Richmond officers who have been killed in the line of duty and celebrated those currently serving.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Clement Britt

Postal union Manchester Courthouse to be election overturned; renamed for Marsh brothers on May 20 new vote ordered

Postal worker Michael C. Milner has won his fight to overturn the election of new officers of the Richmond-based Old Dominion Branch 496 of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

The U.S. Labor Department has upheld Mr. Milner’s complaint that the Dec. 16 election was so flawed it must be done over, according to a government document provided to the Free Press.

The document states that the union branch’s president, Thelma Hunt, reached a voluntary agreement May 9 with the Labor Department to hold new elections on or before July 15 to avoid further legal proceedings.

Ms. Hunt Mr. Milner Although a date has yet to be set, the new election is to be held under the supervision of the federal agency, the document states.

It’s a bitter pill for Ms. Hunt, the first woman to lead the Richmond-based branch in its 123-year history. Founded in 1893, the branch ranks among the oldest labor organizations in continuous operation in Virginia.

Ms. Hunt ran for president after serving 19 years as vice president. She served during the 22-year tenure of union president Ronald E. Hinton Sr., 67, who did not seek re-election.

She won by 11 votes over Mr. Milner, who challenged the results. He alleged 11 violations of election rules, including a failure to collect all the ballots and allowing 53 votes to be counted even though the names of the persons could not be verified as dues-paying members.

He also alleged that the branch failed to provide ballots to all eligible members because of its faulty mailing list and that the election supervisor took ballots home rather than maintaining them in a postal box.

Mr. Milner took his case to the federal Labor Department after the branch rejected his challenge and the union’s national office did not step in. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS

It took 16 months, but the long-awaited public ceremony to rename the Manchester Courthouse for Richmond’s first AfricanAmerican mayor, Henry L. Marsh III, and his late brother, Harold M. Marsh Sr., will take place Friday, May 20.

Mayor Dwight C. Jones, who proposed the renaming, will lead the 4 p.m. rededication of the building at 920 Hull St. in South Side.

The event will feature the unveiling of a new sign with the names of the sibling lawyers who are credited with major contributions to the political and civic life of the city.

Along with Mayor Jones, speakers will include Congressman Robert E. “Bobby” Scott, D-3rd; U.S. District Court Judge Raymond A. Jackson; Richmond District Court Chief Judge D. Eugene Cheek Sr.; Old Dominion Bar Association President Helivi L. Holland; and Richmond Bar Association President Vernon E. Inge.

Mr. Marsh and his niece, Dr. Erica E.

Brothers Henry and Harold Marsh

Marsh, daughter of Harold Marsh, also are to speak.

Richmond City Council endorsed Mayor Jones’ renaming plan in January 2015, but the ceremony was delayed to give the Marsh family time to assemble for the program.

Henry Marsh served on Richmond City Council for 25 years and, in 1977, became the first African-American mayor of Richmond. He was elected mayor by council colleagues after Richmonders voted into office the first African-American majority

on City Council.

In 1991, he gave up his council seat after winning election to the state Senate from the 16th District, stretching from Richmond to Petersburg. Repeatedly reelected, he resigned in 2014, after Gov. Terry McAuliffe appointed him as a commissioner of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

As an attorney, Mr. Marsh successfully fought numerous legal battles on the civil rights front as a partner in the renowned law firm of Hill, Tucker & Marsh, which is now closed.

Harold Marsh, also a partner in the law firm, earned a reputation for community service through his various roles as an attorney, as a substitute judge in the Richmond General District Court and as a supporter of Thomas Jefferson High School and its athletic teams long after his children had graduated. He was shot to death in August 1997 by a person embittered over the results of a civil suit.

— JEREMY M. LAZARUS

They paved RVA on Ice, put up a parking lot RVA on Ice will need a new home if it is to return next winter.

After six years, the popular outdoor ice skating rink no longer will be able to use the vacant lot on East Broad Street between 6th and 7th streets Downtown that faces the rear of the Dominion Arts Center and theaters on Grace Street.

The performing arts foundation that controls the land recently had the long vacant, dirt lot paved to create dedicated parking for the arts center.

The result: Skating on ice is out.

Despite losing its home, “RVA on Ice has not been scrapped,” city Press Secretary Tammy Hawley responded Monday to a Free Press query.

“The city is presently considering other location options, but no final decision has been made at this time,” she stated.

Begun in 2010, RVA on Ice operated during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS

Recycle old electronic equipment this Saturday Richmond residents can recycle old and broken computers and other electronic equipment, as well have their sensitive documents shredded, in an E-Cycle event 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at 6807 Midlothian Turnpike, the parking lot of a former Kmart.

The E-Cycle event is hosted by the Richmond Department of Public Works.

Most items will be accepted without charge, including five boxes of documents per car. There is a $10 fee for recycling televisions, but other items — ranging from printers, VCRs, camcorders and stereos to computer systems — will be taken without charge.

Details: Email Darlene.Mallory@Richmondgov.com or call (804) 646-8325. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS

Courtesy of Dominion Resources

Dominion’s new office tower for Downtown This rendering offers a view, left, of a new, 20-story office tower Dominion Resources is moving to develop at 6th and Cary streets. It will replace the vacant, six-story Richmond Plaza building that will be torn down. At right is a view of a potential companion building Dominion might build to replace the One James River Plaza building at 701 E. Cary St. This is the view north and west from Kanawha Plaza at 9th and Canal streets. Dominion is promising inclusion of African-American, minority and women-owned contracting businesses in the construction. Based on current building costs, Dominion is expected to invest between $100 million and $150 million in the new building.

Completion is expected in 2019, when Dominion would either renovate or replace One James River Plaza. The project is being undertaken to improve Dominion’s space Downtown and to provide room for projected employment growth during the next 10 to 15 years.

Richmond Free Press

May 19-21, 2016

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Richmond Free Press

A4 May 19-21, 2016

Local News

Full-service grocery store planned for East End Continued from A1

mitted to the city on Monday. The application is considered the first step in the lengthy approval process that must take place before construction could begin, likely in 2017.

The design and layout of the grocery store and the accompanying mixed-use development are still a work in progress, with details yet to be released.

Mr. Scanlon, though, is betting he can create success in an area that other supermarkets long ago deserted after losing money.

The last, locally owned Sunny’s Supermarket, closed in 2008.

“We believe we have a business model that’s right for urban areas like the East End of Richmond,” Mr. Scanlon stated, promising the new store would combine “quality products, affordability for all customers and a level of employee engagement that creates great customer service.”

The investment dollars for the development are largely coming from StevenA. Markel, vice president of the Richmond-based Markel Corp. insurance and investment group. Mr. Markel and his wife, Kathie Markel, have played significant fundraising roles for Virginia Commonwealth University and the Maymont Foundation.

In the announcement, Mr. Markel stated that he got involved in the project after “seeing what Jim has done in Newport News and seeing the commitment of the city, the housing authority and so many community partners. That has convinced me that this is the right thing to do.”

Still, this store will test how much this area has changed.

Currently, the only full-service grocery stores sit on the fringes, independently owned Community Supermarket at Mechanicsville Turnpike and Cool Lane and the Market at Tobacco Row, a Farm Fresh outlet at 25th and East Main streets.

While many drive into Henrico County to shop, residents without cars either walk to those stores or rely on the specialty shops, convenience and discount stores that dot Church Hill. In the past few years, the city Health District and others have worked to get such stores to add fresh fruits and vegetables to their shelves.

Despite the current boom in the grocery stores in the Richmond area, Jim’s Local Market is the first business announced to enter

the East End. No other chain, not even the new ones like Aldi’s, have been interested in developing a store in this area, where working- and middle-class families bump up against high levels of poverty, primarily in four public housing communities.

There have been plenty of signs of renewal. Begun 30 to 40 years ago south of Broad Street, the tide of change is spreading into once decaying areas by the housing authority, individuals and nonprofit groups.

A new grocery store, though, has been envisioned ever since the

city began pumping in new investment, in partnership with RRHA and the Bon Secours hospital chain, to try to stimulate growth along the Nine Mile Road corridor and the north end of 25th Street.

Mayor Jones’ administration has been out to lure a grocery store to the area since 2011, when the East End Initiative planning process was launched.

“I am thrilled that this proposal is finally advancing,” Mayor Jones stated. “The East End has needed healthy groceries and good jobs for a long time.”

Future of food grows with technology Continued from A1

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Romaine lettuce grows in hydroponic towers — without soil — at the VSU Urban Agriculture Center led by Duron Chavis.

Richmond, a leader in urban farming, education and training, said, “Indoor farming is a revolutionary idea” that can transform communities and turn urban blight into healthy places for entrepreneurship and locally produced food by utilizing technology to address social problems.

He said Mr. Chavis and the VSU center are “showing not only college students how to develop their professional skills in urban agriculture, marketing, science and biology, but also bringing in high school and middle school youths to learn about how the new phase of agriculture and urban agriculture are going to propel their generation into the future.”

Mr. Chavis predicted that indoor farming will become a global phenomenon.

“Fifteen years from now, we can definitely say that there will be shifts in the way that food is produced, and indoor farming will definitely be one of the ways that we’ll see, especially in urban areas.”

City Council puts controls on School Board budget

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond City Council is preparing to assert more control over Richmond Public Schools’ spending — with surprising help from Superintendent Dana T. Bedden who initially did not object to the idea.

As a result, the city’s governing body will not hand over a lump sum of local tax dollars to the School Board to spend as it deems best.

Instead, the council is dividing the money into nine categories spelled out in state law — ranging from instruction to pupil transportation, facilities and technology.

That’s the way the funding is spelled out in the school budget City Council approved Friday, May 13.

Under the spending plan that begins July 1, Richmond Public Schools will receive $179.4 million, including $151.5 million in local tax dollars, $26.3 million from state sales tax and $1.5 million in unspent money from last year.

Beginning July 1, the School Board will have to seek approval from the City Council to shift money from one category to another, much as the mayor must seek approval to shift money from one department to another to fill gaps.

Dr. Bedden now publicly opposes the spending handcuffs as “a bad idea,” as do members of the School Board.

However, on April 18, when Councilman Parker C. Agelasto pushed the idea forward, Dr. Bedden raised no objections.

During the budget session that was tape recorded, Dr. Bedden responded “No” when Mr. Agelasto asked him whether such categorical funding “would work a hardship on RPS.” “At the end of the day,” Dr. Bedden said, the most important thing was to have sufficient funding assigned to each category.

Just a few minutes later, Mr. Agelasto told the superintendent that other City Council members believed that shifting to categorical funding “would hamstring” the school system. And, again, Dr. Bedden denied it would.

It is not clear whether Dr. Bedden understood at that point what he was agreeing to even though he, with School Board approval, had to shift $2.5 million from instruction to cover excess costs for school bus service to balance a previous budget.

However, his lack of concern emboldened a council majority to move ahead.

School Board Chairman Jeffrey M. Bourne wrote in a statement to the Free Press that the council’s action would “create an unnecessary level of bureaucracy.”

“If there were an emergency situation that required (the School Board) to transfer funds from one category to another,” he stated, “we would have to request that budget amendment from the mayor, who would then have to submit it to the council for deliberation and action, which includes introduction, committee review and final vote. That process could easily take 30 to 45 days.

“We are perfectly willing to report on or present any financial data the council or the administration wants. There has to be a better, more efficient way to accomplish this, whatever the intent is,” Mr. Bourne stated.

At a May 3 council budget meeting, Ralph Westbay, the former chief financial officer for RPS who is still serving as a consultant, was asked whether the RPS Finance Office could provide accurate figures on the amount of money that should be allocated to each of the categories.

“Yes,” Mr. Westbay said. But without explicitly expressing opposition, he told the council that shifting to categorical funding “would ratchet up the complexity of balancing the school budget by an infinite number … and raise the risk that the School Board would overspend.”

He also told the council that the school system balanced its budget in recent years only by being able to move excess money Dr. Bedden from instruction to cover unanticipated costs for school transportation. However, his words did not change any minds.

Surprisingly, Dr. Bedden, Mr. Bourne nor any other member of the School Board showed up Friday, May 6, when City Council introduced the amended school budget that expressly provided for funding by category rather than as a lump sum.

That was the last chance for the superintendent and School Board members to appeal for a change before the council formally introduced the school budget and set it for passage to meet the May 15 state deadline for approving a public education budget for the locality.

School Board member Kim B. Gray, 2nd District, said she did not attend the council budget meeting because “I spoke with two Mr. Bourne council members (ahead of the introduction) and was pretty much told it was a done deal.”

Councilwoman Kathy Graziano, 4th District, who was unsuccessful in trying to prevent the budget shift, said she believes the council could have stripped the language from the school system’s budget before introducing the measure. “But no one was there to speak for doing that,” she said.

School closings shelved

Continued from A1

Examples of those money-saving proposals include increasing class sizes by an average of one student to shave 43 full-time teaching positions to save $3 million; spreading out a plan to improve pay for veteran teachers over three years to save $1.4 million; and using $3 million in savings from using substitutes to fill other vacant teacher positions.

Other proposals would eliminate $1.2 million in technology upgrades for schools and $1.9 million in other previously approved initiatives, such as hiring Spanishspeaking social workers and information system operators.

Another option would involve scrapping or delaying the entire $7.5 million needed to fund Dr. Bedden’s plan to improve academics, upgrade programs and build capacity.

The school closings were proposed solely as a way to pay for that plan.

Board Chairman Jeffrey M. Bourne, 3rd District, said the final budget decisions are likely to be made when the nine members gather again Monday, May 23, to continue talks.

Some decisions already have been made, such as slashing bus service to middle and high school students by creating hubs at elementary schools in the next school year to save $800,000; razing the old Elkhardt Middle School to save $50,000 a year; and closing two administrative buildings on North Side to save $300,000.

The school closing proposals — designed to provide $3 million in savings

— had galvanized teachers, parents and students. They repeatedly showed up to council meetings to plead for more money for schools.

In the end, the council managed to only come up with $5.5 million extra, far short of the $16.2 million the School Board had sought.

Including state funding, the councilapproved school budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 includes $280.3 million for public education — a 3.3 percent increase from current spending, but far less than the $292 million the School Board asked for in the budget it sent to the mayor and council. (Those totals do not include at least $61 million in additional federal funds for programs ranging from Head Start to Title 1 remediation.)

If Dr. Bedden’s plan is to survive, the board must eliminate other items or find savings.

Two weeks ago, School Board member Tichi Pinkney Eppes, 9th District, predicted there would be no school closings and urged her board colleagues to drop the charade.

Shot down then, Ms. Pinkney Eppes had her “I told you so” moment when Mr. Bourne and four other board members joined in killing the school closing plan.

Shonda Harris-Muhammed, 6th District, led the effort this time. She said the proposed closings were too rushed and urged the board to reject the idea until there was time to rezone school districts.

Along with Mr. Bourne and Ms. Pinkney Eppes, others voting to kill the closing proposal were Mamie Taylor, 5th District;

Donald Coleman, 7th District; and Dr. Derik Jones, 8th District.

The three other board members wanted to keep the closing option on the table given the size of the budget gap that remains, including newcomer J.E. “Dawson” Boyer, 1st District; Kimberly B. Gray, 2nd District; and Kristen Larson, 4th District.

Even as the board wrestled with its operating budget, one thing was unmistakably clear — there will be virtually no money to deal with school building decay.

The only funds Mayor Dwight C. Jones proposed and the council approved for capital improvements was $5 million, though the council also earmarked another $4 million to renovate Overby-Sheppard Elementary to prevent its closure and the potential damage that would cause to a new city-backed subdivision called Highland Grove that surrounds the school.

That $9 million total is not even close to the $41 million the School Board sought to replace roofs, deal with faulty heating and cooling systems, upgrade plumbing and electrical systems, cover the cost of leasing buses and deal with other structural problems.

The disparity between the money the school system needs to maintain buildings and the funding the city expects to provide is only projected to grow.

During the five-year period between 2017 and 2021, the council has approved providing $14.6 million in new capital funds. The School Board’s request: $94.5 million for that five-year period — an $80 million difference.

Chocolate Chip: A radio treat for 40 years

Continued from A1

favorites he listened to on his favorite station.

Fresh from serving in the Air Force, he got his chance after going to work at the Churchill Record Shop, a popular but now defunct store owned by the late Joe Turnage.

“I loved that job delivering 45s and albums and installing needles.” Mr. Johnston said.

The store is where he got his iconic nickname.

He had grown up with the family nickname of “Chip” or “Chipper.” One day, he said, “one of the guys in the store called me ‘Chocolate Chip’ after a Isaac Hayes song, and it caught on. From then on, I was Chocolate Chip.”

He credits Mr. Turnage with enabling him to get his shot at an on-air career. He said he pleaded with Mr. Turnage to allow him to do a commercial. Mr. Turnage finally put him on one in 1975.

“That was the springboard,” he said. “Ben Miles heard the commercial and wanted to know

who was the voice.”

Mr. Miles was then a DJ and rising manager at the area’s top black radio station, WANT-AM. And within a year, on Sunday, May 16, 1976, Chocolate Chip made his debut on the station.

He would go from one day a week to being a regular on the evening drive.

Since he left WANT in 1982, he has worked at various stations in Richmond and Norfolk, including WENZ, Magic 99 and WKIE. He acknowledges that he damaged his career by getting involved with drugs.

“It took me years to deal with my demons,” he said, “but I’ve been clean since 2001.”

Since 2008, he has been associated with WCLM. He remembers some of the great moments of his career — getting a kiss from Phyllis Hyman when he emceed her 1980 show at the Mosque, now the Altria Theater, and meeting Michael Jackson in 1978 when the entertainer hit a low point and had yet to bounce back with

the 1979 hit “Off The Wall.”

His role as a disc jockey and show emcee allowed him to meet some of the R&B greats, most notably the trio of Ray, Goodman & Brown, who became personal friends. He is still friends with Billy Brown, the only member of the original trio still alive.

Mr. Johnston also remembers getting in trouble with Marvin Gaye, who was booked at the Richmond Coliseum for a 1977 show. Mr. Gaye was running late and Mr. Johnston said he was told to go onstage and tell the increasingly antsy crowd of 11,000 that Mr. Gaye was in the building and would soon be out.

“I couldn’t do it. I went out and told the truth — that I didn’t know where Marvin was and that everyone was just hoping he would show.”

Mr. Gaye actually had arrived by then and went on a few minutes later, but Mr. Johnston said he didn’t know that.

After the show, he accompanied thenRichmond Mayor Henry L. Marsh III and state

NAACP Executive Director Jack Gravely to see Mr. Gaye in his dressing room. The star looked at him and said, “ ‘Why did you do me like that, youngblood?’ I was dumbfounded that he knew what had happened.”

He said Mr. Miles was upset with him at first for not announcing that Mr. Gaye was in the building, but then people started calling the station to say how much they appreciated his honesty.

“I guess you got me again,” he recalls Mr. Miles telling him.

Mr. Johnston said he’s still called on to emcee oldies shows like a recent one that featured Clarence Carter.

Still, he said his most important work these days is keeping up with his eight children — seven girls and a boy — and his eight grandchildren.

“That’s what I care about most,” he said.

“I still love the radio, but I am more focused on family.”

Richmond Free Press

May 19-21, 2016

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There’s an old proverb (non-biblical) that says, “March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers.” They left out the part about the sneezing, itching, eye-irritating, peak allergy season that is May. It’s fitting that the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) has declared May as National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month.

Unfortunately there is no cure for asthma or allergies. Allergy rates are on the rise in America, affecting more than 50 million people. Here in Richmond, allergies have become a very prevalent and unwelcomed part of life. The AAFA ranked Richmond 14 out of 100 on their list for, “The Most Challenging Places to Live With Spring Allergies.” That’s down four spots from number ten in 2015.

The goal of National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month is to raise awareness and educate those dealing with asthma and allergies. The UCAN program at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU is doing just that. The goal is to educate children and parents in the community, so that they can better self-manage asthma and live an active life.

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Most associate allergies with grass and pollen, an inescapable consequence of springtime.

Another association is of the four-legged persuasion. Some know it all to well—the red, teary, swollen eyes that come from playtime with man’s best friend and cuddling with that oh so cute kitty. While both of those common allergy associations are spot on, there is another area of allergy that is growing and affects many in the population—food allergies.

According to Food Allergy Research and Education, known as FARE, food allergy affect 15 million people in the U.S. and 1 in 13 children. More than 200,000 cases of food allergy reactions result in emergency department visits per year. Serious allergic reactions to food allergy can lead to anaphylaxis, which is life threatening.

In a research study the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), analyzed 452,237 children from 1988 to 2011. They found that food allergy increased at a rate of 2.1 percent among black children, and 1 percent among white children. Further studies are being conducted to determine the cause of this increase among black children. There is not yet a clear understanding of why food allergies are increasing across all segments of the population.

The best way to know if a food allergy is present is to schedule an appointment with a qualified physician for testing.

Your Journey to Wellness Starts Here

Thank You May is National Trauma Awareness Month, designated such in 1988 by President Reagan and Congress. When it comes to trauma care, VCU Health is Virginia’s premier resource and only Level 1 trauma center in the state.

The center is a state-of-the-art facility equipped to handle multiple types of challenging traumatic injuries. It’s also verified by the American College of Surgeons in adult, pediatric and burn trauma care.

Trauma care is provided via multiple disciplines to deliver direct help from subspecialty experts, which include The Pediatric Trauma Center, the Department of Emergency Medicine, the Department of Neurosurgery, The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Department of Radiology.

Through the Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education, VCU Health works with community groups and first responders to meet the requirements and best practices of emergency care. VCU Health also provides outreach programs such as the Injury and Violence Prevention Program. The mission is to reduce and prevent injuries and violence in Central Virginia.

You can learn more about the resources and programs available at the Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education by calling (804) 828-4204, or simply visit ctcce.vcu.edu.

The Richmond Ambulance Authority (RAA) is a worldclass organization providing EMS services to the city of Richmond. The RAA came about as an answer to a big problem in Richmond. In the 80s, EMS calls were being serviced by private ambulance companies. The emerging problem was that privat-

They are men and women of the RAA are operate by an ideal that people need to be there for each other. Here are a few words to the community about why public service is their passion.

Tiffany Samuels, Paramedic, Field Training Officer Tiffany Samuels is a true success story. She began her EMS career in 2008 with an entry-level position as a Vehicle Services Technician. Since then she has worked her way up to Clinical Services Committee Chair. “I know I always wanted to help people. I do what I do not because of money, but because of passion.” She is constantly training and learning, so that she can provide patients the best care possible. Her message to the community, “Go for your dreams.” Recently Samuels received the ‘Star if Life’ award from the American Ambulance Association.

Chris Stanton, Systems Status Controller Originally from Alabama, Chris Stanton has been with RAA for 3 years. Stanton is literally the voice of the RAA, receiving calls and deploying units to respond in the field. He framed his role

ized ambulances could pick and choose which calls they would respond to and which ones they wouldn’t. In a time where calls were frequent, especially in lower socioeconomic areas of the city, calls were not being serviced, and the community was suffering the consequences.

In 1991, the Richmond Ambulance Authority Act was created giving the city the authority to, “create and to regulate a unified emergency medical services system in order to preserve, protect and promote the public health,” according to the official act set forth on September 23, 1991.

Since then the RAA has done that job with precision.

Through technology, innovation and strong connections to the community, they continue to deliver on that mission. They are not attached to fire and rescue, as the EMS services in the surrounding counties. Instead, you will see them out in the community, parked at street corners and convenience stores. And that’s not because they’re taking a break. This is where technology and innovation come into play.

The RAA uses a dynamic deployment system that analyzes historical data to let them know where there are hot

zones in the city. These are areas where service calls have been high at a particular time and are likely to come in. It positions them to respond quickly to calls that come in. Which, for 911 calls is a response time of five minutes. Last year the RAA ran 50,000 911 calls.

This year the RAA will celebrate its 25th anniversary. Rob Lawrence, RAA Chief Operating Officer, said, “The world knows about the RAA, but not everyone at home does.” He’s speaking of the global reputation the RAA has of operational efficiency and excellence in care. It’s a reputation that brings in Air Force PJ (Special Operations Pararescue) candidates to Richmond. They learn their clinical training by being embedded with the RAA. Getting the community more involved is elevating awareness in Richmond. One way the RAA is doing that is by conducting educational sessions for community organizations.

Recently they ran a CPR class for the Richmond Citizens Police Academy. Two classes were held simultaneously, one in English and one in Spanish.

perfectly. “You’re talking to someone that is having the worst day of their life, and you’re the first person they’re talking to, while they’re in some sort of crisis.” He believes that the most awesome part of his job is that he’s helping someone, even if it is just by phone. His message to the community, “We’re here to make sure you get the right kind of help.”

a job, it’s a way of life. Helping people is a way of life. And we win what I call the EMS prize—which is that we get to do it all again tomorrow.”

Rob Lawrence, Chief Operating Officer In observing the environment at the RAA, one thing that was immediately clear is the high level of respect that other team members have for Rob Lawrence. He’s been in public service for over 33 years and with RAA for 8 of those years. Lawrence immigrated to the United States from the United Kingdom just to work at the RAA. Lawrence says, “We are developing EMS for the world and the world comes to Richmond to see us. We are also a public health service in addition to an emergency service.” They organize community programs to help increase the collective public health of the city. Lawrence says, “It is not

Richmond Free Press

A6 May 19-21, 2016

News

Gordon to lead Office of Community Wealth Building

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Reginald E. “Reggie” Gordon is leaving his leadership post with the American Red Cross to direct Richmond’s anti-poverty initiative.

Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced Wednesday that Mr. Gordon, chief executive officer for the Red Cross’ Eastern Virginia Region, will succeed University of Richmond professor Thad Williamson as director of the city’s Office of Community Wealth Building.

His appointment is effective June 13.

“We have been well served by Thad Williamson and appreciate the sabbatical he took to work with us” for the past two years, Mayor Jones stated in the announcement.

In Mr. Gordon, “I am confident we’ve identified the right fit for this next phase of community wealth building,” the mayor stated.

Mr. Gordon will oversee an office with 11 employees and a $1.8 million budget. Most of the budget is spent on the Center for Workforce Innovation, a city effort to provide employment opportunities to lift people out of poverty.

Mr. Gordon was not immediately available for comment, but is expected to be eager to accept the challenge of working to reduce poverty in

the city, where one in four residents and Duke University who later earned lives below the poverty line. a law degree from Howard University, He is taking a risk as his apMr. Gordon began his career as a legal pointment will last only so long as aid lawyer in Emporia, addressing the Mayor Jones is in office. Like other concerns of poor people. administrators, he could be replaced He left to work as a lawyer and when the new mayor, to be elected in ethics officer for the American Red November, takes office in 2017.

Cross in Washington, then returned to Others wonder how much he can Richmond to become a fundraiser with accomplish as the November electhe United Way of Greater Richmond tions for the next mayor and City and Petersburg.

Mr. Gordon Council loom.

In 1998, Mr. Gordon became the “He may be a good appointment,” said first executive director for Homeward, a pioneerArt Burton, director of Kinfolks Community, ing agency United Way launched that has led a nonprofit that seeks to uplift people in the the coordination of services for the homeless Mosby Court public housing community. But in the Richmond region. The agency is now “the goals and plans for the office are already independent. in place. He’s more of a caretaker. It will be He moved in 2005 to become executive up to the next mayor to determine whether this director of the William Byrd Community office will take a more aggressive approach to House, a multiservice agency, now defunct, dealing with the issues and problems involved that provided services to low-income children, with poverty. So far, that has not happened.” families, seniors and single adults from its base A Richmond native and North Side resident, in Oregon Hill.

Mr. Gordon will bring substantial experience Two years later, Mr. Gordon was tapped to working with programs to benefit the homeless be the CEO of the Greater Richmond Chapter and low-income people to his new post. of the Red Cross. He has led the chapter’s A graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School expansion to serve Eastern Virginia.

Seeking to benefit the community, he joined with several friends to create a giving circle for African-American men to donate to nonprofits that work with children and promote education, including Kinfolks.

Mr. Gordon is the recipient of numerous volunteer and leadership awards, a testament to his engagement in a range of other activities.

Among other things, he currently is a member of the Mayor’s Anti-Poverty Commission and represents the city on the board of the Greater Richmond Transit Co., where he was among supporters of the GRTC’s Pulse, the $65 million bus rapid transit system that is to begin construction by September.

He also serves on the board of the Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corp. and is a community trustee for the Junior League of Greater Richmond. He also has been a supporter of Boaz & Ruth and the Richmond Organization for Sexual Minority Youth (ROSMY).

Mr. Gordon also is a past chair of Leadership Metro Richmond’s board and has served on the boards of Bon Secours Healthsource, the Rotary Club of Richmond, the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation and the Dominion Energy Share Customer Advisory Board.

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Special delivery Cameras flash as Sgt. Robot, left, built by students at Richmond’s Franklin Military Academy, delivers House Bill 831 to a delighted and impressed Gov. Terry McAuliffe, above, at a signing ceremony Monday at the high school in Church Hill. Gov. McAuliffe praised the public military school’s students for the technology demonstration before signing into law legislation elevating computer science to equal status with English, math, science and history in the state’s Standards of Learning. Joining in applauding the students is state Secretary of Education Anne B. Holton, left. Last week, the governor signed a separate bill that puts vocational, career and technical education on par with academics as part of an overhaul of high school learning beginning in 2018.

New police chief takes helm in Ferguson Reuters

David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via Associated Press

Delrish Moss is sworn in May 9 as the new police chief of Ferguson, Mo., just weeks after a federal judge approved the town’s agreement with the federal Justice Department seeking to resolve racial bias in its criminal justice system.

FERGUSON, Mo. Ferguson, Mo., the site of violent protests after a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager in 2014, swore in an African-American police chief Monday.

The swearing-in of Delrish Moss, a 51-year-old veteran of the Miami Police Department, comes less than three weeks after a federal judge approved an agreement to reform Ferguson’s police department and municipal law code. The reforms are intended to fix what the U.S. Justice Department cited as widespread racial bias in the city’s police department.

The racial composition of the police in Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb of 21,000 people, has been a source of controversy because most officers are white, while twothirds of the town’s residents are black.

The Justice Department initiated a civil rights investigation into Ferguson’s policing after Michael Brown, 18, was shot and killed

by Officer Darren Wilson in 2014.

Chief Moss, who in his 32 years in Miami worked patrol, undercover assignments and homicide investigations, previously said Ferguson’s police department needed a massive recruiting drive to become more reflective of the community.

Chief Moss most recently was supervisor of Miami Police public information and community relations.

He is the third police chief in Ferguson since Mr. Brown’s death. Ferguson erupted into violent protests after a grand jury chose not to indict Officer Wilson.

Thomas Jackson, who was chief at the time of Mr. Brown’s death, resigned in March 2015 after being criticized for the handling of the resulting protests. Interim

Chief Andre Anderson, the city’s first black chief of police, resigned in December.

Mr. Brown’s death was one of several killings of unarmed black men that started a nationwide debate about the use of excessive force by police, especially against minorities.

The Justice Department found Ferguson police disproportionately arrested and issued traffic citations to black people to boost city coffers through fines, used police as a collection agency and created a culture of distrust that exploded when Mr. Brown was fatally shot.

The reform agreement requires that Ferguson provide its officers with bias awareness training and implement an accountability system, city officials have said.

The city also agreed police must ensure that stop, search and arrest practices are not discriminatory under law.

Gun used to kill Trayvon Martin auctioned; is bid real?

Reuters

Online bidding for the gun used by George Zimmerman to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., in 2012 ended on Wednesday, although it was not clear whether the final offer of $138,900 was legitimate.

Mr. Zimmerman’s offer to sell the Kel-Tec PF9 9mm handgun on UnitedGunGroup.com drew praise from gun rights enthusiasts and scorn from people who criticized him for seeking to profit from fatally shooting the 17-year-old.

Mr. Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the fatal shooting, which sparked debates on race relations, gun control and American justice. It also provided a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter civil rights movement.

In a statement on Twitter after the bidding closed, United Gun Group defended its decision to host the auction. The group said it had run simultaneous auctions for the gun, one for prequalified buyers and another for the public.

“George Zimmerman has informed United Gun Group that he currently is in the process of vetting several offers and verifying funds,” the statement said.

Mr. Zimmerman, who declined an email request for comment, said on his website that the “process of notifying the winning bidder will begin immediately.”

He previously said he would use money from the sale to counter violence against law enforcement officers by Black Lives Matter, and to fight Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s “anti-firearm rhetoric.”

United Gun Group owner Todd Underwood said on his website that tools were used to keep bogus buyers from driving up the price as they had last week, when bids during an initial auction topped $65 million under names such as “Racist McShootFace.”

The new auction began Tuesday. Minutes after it ended Wednesday, someone using the name “David Thorne” posted a comment claiming to have hijacked the bidding process once again.

“None of your bids are real,” Mr. Thorne wrote.

“I should know because they are almost all mine ...

Racist McShootface strikes again!”

Joe Burbank/Reuters/pool The final bid of $138,900 was made under the Sanford, Fla., police officer Timothy Smith holds up the 9mm name “John Smith.” The public auction listing was handgun used to kill Trayvon Martin during the 2013 murder trial of removed from the site about 10 minutes after it George Zimmerman. Mr. Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree concluded at noon Eastern Daylight Time. murder in the slaying of the unarmed 17-year-old.

Another auction site, GunBroker.com, rejected the listing for the gun last week, and two of America’s leading “I would like to thank and give the glory to God for a successful auction that has raised funds for several worthy causes,” auctioneers of guns said they also refused to handle the sale on ethical grounds. he wrote.

Richmond Free Press

May 19-21, 2016

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Local News

City to settle overtime suit with $2.76M payout

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The City of Richmond has agreed to pay $2.76 million to dozens of current and former Richmond Department of Social Services employees to settle a suit alleging the city failed to pay appropriate overtime.

The settlement would end a federal class-action suit Kimberly Cephas and 134 other employees brought against the city last year.

The agreement is awaiting Richmond City Council approval. An ordinance approving the settlement was introduced May 9, and approval is anticipated when it comes before the council for a vote next week.

The city has denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle, according to City Attorney Allen L. Jackson.

RAA wins award The Richmond Ambulance Authority is a 2016 winner of the American Heart Association’s “Mission: Lifeline Gold Award” for excellence in rapidly treating heart attack patients and improving patient outcomes.

The award was announced Monday as the nation marks Emergency Medical Services Week.

The AHA recognized the Ambulance authority and staff for success in treating STEMI, a type of heart attack or myocardial infarction caused by a sudden, complete blockage of a heart artery.

To qualify for the award, RAA had to meet various requirements, including ensuring that a minimum of 75 percent of STEMI patients arrived at the hospital and received definitive treatment with 90 minutes of the 911 call for help.

“We are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements in emergency medical care,” said Wayne Harbour, chief clinical officer for the Richmond Ambulance Authority. “We work closely with participating hospitals to ensure that STEMI patients receive the highest level of care as quickly as possible.”

RAA earlier was named the national EMS Agency of the Year. RAA is among 24 EMS agencies in the United States that are accredited by both the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services and the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch.

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The settlement is expected to provide an average of $20,444 per employee, although the amounts will vary depending on when the employees were hired and how many overtime hours each documented as working.

Along with localities across the country, Richmond has been facing expensive legal matters concerning overtime in recent years.

In anticipation of litigation, the city set aside $14 million in a special fund that has been tapped repeatedly.

The first suit involved 600 current and former police officers who sought to enforce a 2005 Virginia law that required payment of overtime for those who worked more than 80 hours a week, rather than 86 hours as had been city policy.

That suit ended in a 2012 settlement that provided $7.2 million for the officers. New policies also were put in place ensuring proper recognition of overtime work, as well as payment for police officers’ 30-minute lunch breaks.

Since then, the city has settled two other cases, one of which involved an additional 77 current and former police officers and another that involved 26 social workers.

The latest suit — and the final one in litigation — involved 135 current and former social workers, family services workers, family services specialists and social work specialists for city Social Services.

In the federal suit filed in June 2015, the employees claimed they regularly had to work more than 40 hours a week to handle heavy caseloads, particularly in child protection cases, but were never paid overtime for spending extra time on the job or working weekends.

In some cases, workers were assigned up to 130 active cases, or 10 times the recommended caseload.

While federal labor law allows the city to avoid paying overtime to professionals, the lawsuit alleged that the suing employees were stripped of the exercise of discretion and independent judgment

as management took control of decisions involving the removal of abused children from homes.

The suit claimed the employees were, thus, wrongly classified and should have been treated as typical office workers who qualify for overtime.

When the settlement is complete, the city will have spent at least $10.3 million to close out the four suits. That does not include the $1.26 million in legal fees the city spent to defend itself in three of the cases.

The bottom line: The total cost — $11.56 million — is about $2.5 million below the $14 million the city budgeted.

In a separate case, 42 deputies and employees of the Richmond Sheriff’s Office also settled a case involving Sheriff C.T. Woody Jr.’s alleged failure to pay appropriate overtime.

However, the Attorney General’s Office represented the Sheriff’s Office in that case, and the state was responsible for any payments.

HENRICO COUNTY TAXPAYERS THE 2016 FIRST INSTALLMENT PERSONAL PROPERTY AND REAL ESTATE TAX PAYMENT DUE DATE IS JUNE 6, 2016 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 2016 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 6, 2016.

• 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. Pay your bill with cash 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 6, 2016.

• 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 6, 2016 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 804.501.4678. General tax information can be found on the Department of Finance web site at henrico.us/finance/payments DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA

Together, we save lives National Emergency Medical Services Week | May 15-21 This week, we recognize our region’s emergency medical services personnel. We’re the health hub of an amazing community, and you’re an important and vital part of it. Together, we provide the very best care to patients in times of their greatest need. You’ve been called heroes countless times — because that’s exactly what you are. Thank you for all that you do, every day.

Call Rudy McCollum at (804)218-3614 24-7. Talk to an attorney for free

and get legal restrictions, fees, costs and payment terms.

Rudolph C. McCollum, Jr., Esq. McCollum At Law, P.C.

Mail to: P.O. Box 4595, Richmond, VA 23220 422 E. Franklin St., Suite 301, Richmond, VA 23219 (Franklin & 5th Sts.) We are a federally designated Debt Relief Agency under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and we help people file for bankruptcy.

Web Address: McCollumatLaw.com E-mail: rudy@mccollumatlaw.com 160519 Free Press.indd 1

4/25/16 11:52 AM

Richmond Free Press

Petunias in Downtown

Editorial Page

A8

May 19-21, 2016

60 years back, 60 years ahead Education is the great equalizer, so it has been said.

Take for example Irving L. Peddrew III. He was a teenage honors student at his all-black high school in Hampton whose future seemed limitless. He received offers to attend numerous schools across the nation. Yet he chose Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

That may not seem important, but for this young African-American man, it was a life-changing decision: The racial integration of the entire university fell on his back.

That was in 1953. He was the lone black student at the rural, public university with more than 3,000 students.

He was isolated and alone, unable to live on campus, eat in the cafeteria or participate in social activities like the rest of the students.

Even as three other black students joined him at Virginia Tech the following year, the burden of obtaining an education in those circumstances proved too difficult, and Mr. Peddrew left the university after three years.

Two of the others also left — one after a single year and the other after three years.

Last week, Virginia Tech did the right thing. It owned up to the extraordinary burden placed on Mr. Peddrew and awarded him an honorary bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.

He is now 80 years old.

When we talk about education and the opportunity it affords, we don’t always consider the total circumstance that often makes policy and practice two separate and distinct things. In Mr. Peddrew’s case, the policymakers finally opened the all-white Virginia Tech to an African-American student. But what he found in terms of actual practice was quite different from the support and resources given to his white counterparts.

That’s what the entire 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court was about — that the educational practice of “separate but equal” was in fact not equal — that AfricanAmerican students in racially segregated public schools were not given the same resources as their white counterparts.

Nor were the AfricanAmerican students enrolled in schools that were integrated in name only.

Unfortunately today, more than six Irving L. Peddrew III decades after Mr. High school graduation, 1953 Peddrew’s regretful experience at Virginia Tech and the Brown decision, our public schools are facing similar disparities of resources that threaten the future of our children.

A report issued Tuesday by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found little has changed, with deepening segregation of African-American and Latino students in high poverty K-12 public schools. These schools often offer fewer math, science and college prep classes, while having disproportionately higher rates of students who are held back in ninth grade, suspended or expelled.

“While much has changed in public education in the decades following this landmark decision and subsequent legislative action, research has shown that some of the most vexing issues affecting children and their access to educational excellence and opportunity today are inextricably linked to race and poverty,” the report said.

More than 20 million students of color attend racially and socioeconomically isolated public schools, according to Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Newport News, the ranking Democratic on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and one of the lawmakers who requested the study.

“This report is a national call to action,” Congressman Scott said.

While we applaud Virginia Tech for coming to terms with its hurtful actions of the past, we urge our readers to be mindful of the destruction of students occurring in the present.

Richmond Public Schools continues to wrangle over financial resources that are forcing cuts to programs and the number of teachers in classrooms. We are being made aware of growing violence and disciplinary issues that are detracting from the core educational mission and goals of our schools.

Where are we headed? Where are our children headed?

Back to the past? Or toward something better?

For the parents, teachers and advocates who flooded the streets and Richmond City Hall seeking more money for schools and to avert the closure of Armstrong High School and four elementary schools, we say: Stay involved. Show up at School Board meetings. Ask questions. Investigate where resources are going and how decisions made by the School Board and the schools administration will impact the children.

Will the children graduate to a brighter future, or like Mr. Peddrew, receive an acknowledgment of “we’re sorry, we failed you” 60 years from now?

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

‘Something bigger than myself’ “We’ve got a justice gap when too many black boys and girls pass through a pipeline from underfunded schools to overcrowded jails … Black men are about six times likelier to be in prison right now than white men.”

Those words rang in my ears and lingered in the air like a heavy, heavy fog that morning. As I stared at President Obama, I kept repeating to myself, “Right now?”

I had a lot to be proud of on that recent day, in that moment.

Here I was, sitting in the front row of a commencement, about to be hooded after earning my Ph.D. in political science from the Mecca, Howard University.

In a setting where the largest gathering of black scholars in the world convene to teach, nurture, support and to advance the goal of eliminating inequities related to race, color, social, economic and political circumstance, I was about to join their ranks.

I found myself sitting so close to actress Cicely Tyson, Dr. L.D. Britt of Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Ambassador Horace G. Dawson Jr. and President Obama, all of whom would receive honorary degrees, that I could see laugh lines on their faces. And, as if things couldn’t get any better, I knew my wife, Arvat, was among the crowd, thinking of me as I was thinking of her. Also, knowing that

our moms and one of our best friends were all sharing the same space with me, I realized another defining moment in my life was occurring.

President Obama’s remarks, an acknowledgement of an

Harry Watkins unjust circumstance for black men, spoken by the first African-American president of the United States at one of our country’s most notable HBCUs, was not lost on me. The message spoke volumes. In that moment, I felt the president’s words were a personal message to me and that I had arrived at a place along a path that was bigger than myself.

In a moment that seemed to stretch on for a while in my mind, memories of my childhood home in the public housing section of Jackson Ward on Hill Street in Richmond reminded me of how close to home President Obama’s remarks came.

I saw the faces of all the kids from my community who had not made it out of the projects, out of their teens or out of our collective circumstances.

I thought about the guys in middle school who would later, as adults, spend large amounts of time in jails and prisons and hooked on drugs. As a child who took unnecessary risks and sought out trouble, I easily could have taken a rocky path.

I remember clearly the political and cultural climate of Richmond in the late 1970s, the struggles of black families and communities, when education was touted by our teachers

and parents as our path to the future, a path many of us did not believe was accessible and others found completely unwelcoming.

Sitting at the commencement, I realized that somehow I successfully had navigated the crossroads of what could have been and what was. I could have easily remained on the path that includes a continued history of generational poverty and being comfortable in a community where drug and alcohol abuse, as well as frequent episodes of domestic violence within and outside of the home, was commonplace.

But in that moment, I realized that those experiences had prepared me for this life’s path, prepared me for my efforts as a social worker on behalf of at-risk children and families and prepared me for the work I would do in my current capacity at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Inc. In that moment, I knew I was led to this path by something greater than myself.

But this day did not come my way because I acted alone or made all the right choices. I had mentors — many mentors — some of whom would never know that they were serving in those roles. I had teachers and school administrators in Richmond Public Schools who encouraged and watched over me, parents who believed in my abilities, good friends and siblings who celebrated every milestone I achieved with the same sense of pride that I took in my own accomplishments.

I have had role models, the likes of whom would argue

Investing in black men

Mayors and community leaders in cities across the country are working every day to create vibrant and healthy communities where all of our youth, families and neighbors can thrive.

All too of-

Mitch Landrieu ten, though, the promise of safe, healthy and hopeful communities for all is not being realized for African-American men. Indeed, while they represent significant populations in many of our cities, these men face a disproportionate impact from violence.

The leading cause of death for African-American men ages 10 to 24 is homicide. Government figures show AfricanAmerican males experience homicides at more than four times the rate of all other men in the United States.

Since 1980, more than 650,000 people have been murdered in the United States.

That’s more lost to homicide

than the number of Americans killed during all the wars of the last 100 years combined.

One example: New Orleans, which has reported about 6,000 African-American males killed since 1980 — more than 90

Anthony Smith percent of the city’s murder victims over that period.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that reducing violence by 50 percent would save more than $35 billion yearly in medical and lost productivity costs.

Such statistics of violence are unacceptable. AfricanAmerican men need to be considered assets, and cities need to take action to stem the tide of violence involving African-American men.

A start has been made. Five years ago, a group of mayors partnered with philanthropic and community leaders to form a network focused on

eliminating violence involving African-American men. Today, nearly 80 mayors across the country are part of Cities United, working together as a national movement to uplift these men while confronting the chronic conditions they face.

Through Cities United, the aim is to address the root causes of violence and to come up with programs that build pathways to employment, education and increased opportunity. We do this by proactively engaging government officials, community members, clergy and business leaders in ongoing meetings aimed at increasing trust and transparency.

This is the way to develop long-range strategies to break the cycle of violence and to create solutions that can make our cities more livable for all of us.

(Charlottesville, Newport News and Hampton are the only Virginia cities participating in Cities United, according to the organization’s website.)

Governing magazine Mr. Landrieu is the mayor of New Orleans; Mr. Smith is executive director of Cities United.

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

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

the unconstitutional merits of segregated schools before the U.S. Supreme Court and would later become an associate justice of the same court; our nation’s first elected African-American governor; Richmond’s first African-American mayor; and a host of African-Americans whose legacies continue to inspire legions today.

I watched them all and I learned from their examples.

When I came upon that fork in the road, I was able to choose and to follow a path toward something bigger than myself.

In that moment at Howard University’s commencement, I realized more than ever that I am here to widen the path so that little black boys and girls do not have to be “lucky” to stumble upon it, but rather, they can choose the path that they want simply because it is their right to do so.

The writer is a senior research and policy analyst for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in Washington.

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City workforce center can help those denied federal job assistance

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

NOVEMBER 13-15, 2014

New boss at VSU

Lynch confirmation delayed until 2015?

Free Press staff, wire reports

Dr. Hammond

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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MAY 8-10, 2014

Stadium plan near death?

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Coach Michele Drayton enjoys being back with her players and assistant coach Wade Ellegood in the Albert H. Hill Middle School gymnasium Tuesday.

Heartwarming return for Albert Hill coach

By Joey Matthews

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“It was like coming home,” she added.

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

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

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

instead of coach.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

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

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

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

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

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

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

By Fred Jeter

where he, too, resides.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Petersburg man lost dream, but made $45,000 profit

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

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Quarterback sacked by DUI charge

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

8-year-old hero

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

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

By Joey Matthews

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

vived and is recovering at a local hospital.

Marty died from severe head trauma, police later reported.

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

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

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

Ben Jealous in new position Free Press staff, wire reports

SAN JOSE, Calif.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Raymond H. Boone advocated on his behalf.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

for providing information that resulted in the quick arrest.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Authorities have declined to identify the suspect because Please turn to A4

To Be a Participant You Must:  Be an African American/ Blac  Be an African American

increase the African American blood donor in blood We are conducting research to test a newthe strategy toAmerican increase African donor pool in American’s RVA & pool to learn moreBlack about African 

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By David P. Baugh

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

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

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

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

If a person is born with the right from their Please turn to A6

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

VOL. 23 NO. 41

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

OCTOBER 9-11, 2014

Virginia now for all lovers

Jubilant couples head to courthouse for marriage licenses

Area ministers weigh in on gay marriage

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Shamika Fauntleroy, left, and Kristea Thompson are planning a wedding ceremony after obtaining a marriage license Tuesday at the John Marshall Courts Building in Downtown.

Court ruling moves Va. to historic change

By Jeremy M. Lazarus and Joey Matthews

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

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

By leaving intact Virginia’s lower court ruling striking down a ban on gay marriage, as well Please turn to A6

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

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Federal judges order redrawing of Scott’s district

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

on a Richmond radio talk show.

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

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

He is slated to hold the town hall-style sessions Please turn to A4

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Miller fighting to retain control

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Paulette Singleton/Richmond Free Press

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

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

Free Press wire reports

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

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

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

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

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

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

VSU president sets town hall meetings

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

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

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

First Ebola patient dies in Dallas

complaint involves only one or two incidents.

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

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

All 15 sitting judges of the court participated in hearing the

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

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

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

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m

Carver Elementary teamwork fosters rewards for students

m

Community leaders, residents march in Mosby Court for peace

By Joey Matthews

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Deputy Chief Durham

A new top cop in town

By Joey Matthews

Rayvon Owen hometown ‘Idol’ He ang o R hmond Bo Cho oo

a en o na ona

By Joey Matthews

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By Jeremy M. Lazarus

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

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

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Rayvon Owen’s eyes sparkled with delight.

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

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

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

While he was eliminated Wednesday night, he elicited

age

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

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

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

The mayor called Rayvon “

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I want to acknowledge that

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Mayor touts anti-poverty efforts in city address

By Joey Matthews

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

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

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

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

applause about a dozen times.

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

He cited some of his administration’s povertyfighting efforts.

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

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

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

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

• Increasing workforce training.

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

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

By Joey Matthews

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Advocacy groups plan housing, services safety net for foster youths

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Petersburg jail to close

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Mob e home e den a ege a on d m na o n HUD omp a n

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

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

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

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

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By Jeremy M. Lazarus

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Mayor Jones at State of the City address.

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

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

State Dems hit with voting rights suit

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The suit also is a huge embarrassment for

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Joey Matthews

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

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

Related story on B3

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

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

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

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

young adults as the project develops.

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

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

Advocates point out that housing is an

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

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

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

While under contract, they can receive Please turn to A4

Like father, like son

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

End the inconvenience of empty newspaper boxes, fighting

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from donating blood

If you would to participate, please contactArnethea Arnethea Sutton at at (804)628-2982 or or If you would like tolike participate, please contact Sutton (804)628-2982 aadonorstudy@vcu.edu aadonorstudy@vcu.edu

By Joey Matthews

Richmond Free Press

Not

If you would like to participate, please contact Arnethea Su aadonorstudy@vcu.edu If you would like to participate, please Arnetheaplease Suttoncontact at (804)628-2982 or at (804)628-29 If you would likecontact to participate, Arnethea Sutton aadonorstudy@vcu.eduaadonorstudy@vcu.edu Is gay the new black?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Free Press wire reports

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Unfortunately for him, Mr.

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Council opposition threatens mayor’s dream

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She will arrive as VSU experiments with a new schedule

School of Allied Health SchoolProfessions of Allied Health Professions

School of Allied Health Professions

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

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

On Oct. 6, 2014, Virginia granted gays and

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Re “Ignoring call to duty: Failure to sign tion can assist these individuals because The goal of the Office of Community up for Selective Service hurts thousands,” CWI is supported by City of Richmond Wealth Building and Center for Workforce May 5-7 edition: general funds.

Innovation is to reduce poverty and build A Richmond Free Press article informed Mayor Dwight C. Jones opened the wealth in Richmond’s communities. CWI readers how failing to register for the Center for Workforce Innovation in 2011. is moving toward this goal by preparing Selective Service can hinder men from CWI became part of the Office of Com- people for careers that are in demand and receiving federal financial assistance, such munity Wealth Building in 2015. provide competitive wages. as workforce services and Pell Grants for The center assists job seekers who The Center for Workforce Innovation is education. are unemployed or underemployed with located at 900 E. Marshall St., less than one The inability to obtain workforce ser- establishing careers. Participants receive block from the GRTC temporary transfer vices and training can be detrimental to support in developing individual pathways station. Residents seeking employment asindividuals who truly want to better their toward employment, including connections sistance are invited to visit us or call (804) lives, gain careers and take care of their to resources, soft skills and job readiness 646-6464 for more information. families. development, career coaching, career Although federal programs are unable training and assistance with addressing VALARYEE MITCHELL NFL should follow NBA ‘Texas Tornado’ Dr. McCreary to assist individuals who did not register barriers.

CWI also builds relationships with Workforce Administrator, to end D.C. pro team’s racism Office of goes and goes mourned for the Selective Service, the City of businesses to best prepare job seekers for Community Wealth Building Richmond Free Press Richmond’s Center for WorkforceRichmond Innova- employer City of Richmond Freeneeds.

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

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A10 May 19-21, 2016

Sports Stories by Fred Jeter

Armstrong tennis players honing their game Metro Tennis Club based at Battery Park in North At Richmond’s Armstrong High School, the only Richmond. George Banks, a Richmond police ofgirls sport involving a net has been basketball. ficer, is a founding father of the club and also serves After Armstrong High School merged with as Armstrong High’s boys’ tennis coach. and moved into the former John F. Kennedy High Most of Coach Banks’ Wildcats over the years, School building on Cool Lane in 2004, girls tennis including current standout Isufu Ibrahim, got their practically vanished. The sport had little traction early lessons in the tennis club at Battery Park. previously at either school.

Davis, whose notable foot speed is among her “Since the merger, Armstrong had no girls’ team key assets on the court, was more of a track enuntil last year,” said Coach Gary King. “We’ve thusiast than tennis player as a youngster. come a long way.”

“It’s kind of funny how it happened,” Davis Armstrong boasts two of the best — if not the recalled. “My track club (Henrico Pacers) kind of best — players in Conference 26, and a handful disbanded for a while and my parents (Carol and of exciting up-and-coming Jonathan Davis) were looking for another sport,” underclassmen. she said. “My father bought me a tennis racket Coach King, a former footand said, ‘You can be another Serena.’ ” ball lineman at The College of Davis is the first to admit she hasn’t done it William & Mary, is a mountain alone. of a man filled with bubbly Her list of past and present coaches includes enthusiasm. Because tennis David Harris, a cousin of the late tennis star and players don’t necessarily come Richmond native Arthur Ashe Jr. Others helping to knocking on his door, he goes James Haskins/Richmond Free Press Coach King Armstrong High School tennis standouts Sharvae Ward, left, and Jazmine Davis are playing polish her game have been Tony McDonald, Donald looking for them.

Raspberry and Coaches King and Banks.

He admits he is as much recruiter as coach — conference matches this week, where Davis has been undefeated the last two years.

Combining smooth strokes with superior latand he has recruited well. eral speed, Davis is strong enough to smash winners and quick His one-two power punch at the top of his lineup showcases and cream.

“It’s all about communication,” said Ward. “We’re always enough to thwart her foe’s best shots.

Jazmine Davis, a 10th-grader who is undefeated in two years “I can get to a lot,” she says. of conference matches, and Sharvae Ward, another sophomore talking — ‘Go for it,’ ‘Don’t go for it.’ ‘I’ve got it.’ ‘You’ve got it.’ ” Ward has tennis in her bloodline. who also serves as Davis’ doubles partner.

Coach King said, “They’re good individually — even better Her mother, Kamaria Ward, played tennis at Henrico High Davis commutes to Armstrong from Richmond Community School, and her grandfather, Herbert Ward, was on the tennis High School, while Ward goes back and forth from Open High together.”

Conference 26 singles and doubles competition is taking place and football teams at John F. Kennedy High.

School.

Ward’s stepfather, Hakim Bey, also encouraged her to place Because Open and Community high schools don’t have ath- this week at Thomas Jefferson High School, with Davis and letic programs, students who attend the schools are allowed to Ward winning their first round individual and doubles matches on basketball — her first sporting love — on the backburner while participate in sports and other activities at their neighborhood Monday. Coach King is confident Davis and Ward will advance she chases the tennis ball. to the regionals, both individually and as a dynamic duo.

There just may be a girls’ tennis trophy, or two, on display schools.

Davis and Ward trace their tennis interest to the Richmond soon at Armstrong High.

At Armstrong, Davis and Ward blend as smoothly as peaches

For Toronto Raptors fans: Fast facts

Maybe it’s time for the National Basketball Association to shift its name to the International Basketball Association.

With the slogan “We the North,” the Toronto Raptors have reached the NBA Eastern Conference finals for the first time in franchise history.

Having eliminated the Miami Heat, the NBA’s lone Canadian entry has an Eastern Conference finals date with LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers.

The winner of that best-of-seven elimination series will advance to the NBA finals against the survivor of the NBA Western Conference final between the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

For Raptors fans around Richmond, here are some facts for the next playoff party.

In the beginning: The Raptors were a 1995 NBA expansion team, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies of Canada, who have since moved to Memphis.

The old Buffalo Braves — now the Los Angeles Clippers — played some games at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens from 1971 to 1975.

Raptors? Chosen by a vote of the

fans, the name was influenced by the science fiction novel “Jurassic Park,” featuring a velociraptor, a flying dinosaur. A raptor is a bird of prey.

Geography lesson: While Cleveland is in Ohio and Toronto is in Ontario, they are practically “backyard rivals.” The cities are just Coach 290 miles apart.

Toronto, population 2.6 million, is the fourth largest city in North America, behind Mexico City, New York City and Los Angeles. Toronto is about 8.5 percent African-American.

Far from home: Emerging as the Raptors’ rim protector is Bismack Biyombo from Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Africa. The 6-foot-9, 245-pound, 23-year-old Biyombo had 17 points and 16 rebounds in 41 high-energy minutes in Game 7 against the Miami Heat.

Biyombo, who never played collegiately, is one of nine players on NBA rosters from sub-Saharan Africa. There were a total of 101 international players from 36 countries on NBA opening

night rosters this year.

Famous fan: While filmmaker Spike Lee is a courtside regular at New York Knicks games, the Raptors’ celebrity spectator is singer-songwriter Drake, a Toronto native who has been billed as the Raptors’ “Global Ambassador.” There is even a “Drake Zone” at Air Canada Centre where fans Casey dress alike.

X’s and O’s: Calling the shots from the sidelines is Dwane Casey, one of just six NBA African-American head coaches.

Casey, who has been Toronto’s coach since 2011, was the star guard for the University of Kentucky’s 1978 NCAA championship team and was assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks’ 2011 NBA championship team.

Double trouble: Toronto’s 1-2 scoring punch of All-Star guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan combined for 65 points in the Raptors’ Game 7 win over the Miami Heat.

Lowry, who played at Villanova, and DeRozan, from University of Southern California, averaged a combined 45 points per game for the season.

Part-time heroes: The Raptors claim three Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers, although none are “all their own.”

Center Hakeem Olajuwon played just one season for Toronto after spending his first 17 NBA seasons with the Houston Rockets.

Lenny Wilkens coached in the NBA from 1969 to 2005, but was on the Raptors’ bench from 2000 to 2003.

Wayne Embry, the NBA’s first African-American general manager, ran the show in Milwaukee and Cleveland before coming to Toronto.

Local connection: Former Benedictine High School star Ed Davis was the Raptors’ first-round draft pick in 2010.

Davis played with Toronto until 2013, and is now with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Former Virginia Commonwealth University guard and Toronto native Sherman Hamilton serves as media analyst for Sportsnet and NBA TV Canada. Hamilton played on Canada’s 2002 Olympic team.

Black history: The Toronto Blue Jays won baseball’s World Series in 1992 and in 1993 under Cito Gaston, the first African-American manager to win the fall classic.

NBA Eastern Conference finals

Cleveland Toronto Cavaliers vs. Raptors

Best of seven games Game 2: Thursday, May 19 at Cleveland, 8:30 p.m., ESPN Game 3: Saturday, May 21 at Toronto, 8:30 p.m., ESPN Game 4: Monday, May 23 at Toronto, 8:30 p.m., ESPN Game 5: Wednesday, May 25 at Cleveland, if necessary Game 6: Friday, May 27 at Toronto, if necessary Game 7: Sunday, May 29 at Cleveland, if necessary

3 of 9 quarterbacks chosen in NFL draft are black

MJBL registration open

Registration is underway for the upper age groups of the Metropolitan Junior Baseball League.

The 13-15 and 16-19 age divisions are open to city and country residents and will be based at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in eastern Henrico County.

The MJBL is affiliated with Major League Baseball’s Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program.

A local all-star team will qualify for the RBI Regional in Prince George’s County, Md., in July.

For entry information, call Al Mumphery at (804) 833-6875.

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A wave of talented African-American quarterbacks has emerged as NFL headliners in recent years.

But what are the prospects for the next wave?

Does football’s Class of 2016 have much chance of joining the likes of Cam Newton (entered league in 2011) Russell Wilson (2012), Robert Griffin (2012), Teddy Bridgewater (2014) and Jameis Winston (2015) as Sunday heroes?

All of these quarterbacks made All-Pro in either their first or second year. It also doesn’t count Colin Kaepernick (2011 entry), who spurred the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl during his second season.

The next group of spiral throwers will be hard pressed to attain those credentials. There is no superstar, or even likely starter, on the near horizon.

Nine quarterbacks were selected in the recent NFL draft, three of whom are African-American — Jacoby Brissett, Dak Prescott and Cardale Jones.

Here’s a peek at the upcoming rookies: Brissett (North Carolina State University): Selected in the third round, 91st overall pick, by the New England Patriots; 6-foot-4, 231 pounds; 4.84 seconds for the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine; from West Palm Beach, Fla. Eventually, someone must replace 38-year-old Tom Brady and Brissett hopes to be the man. Currently, he is No. 3 on the depth chart behind Brady and Jim Garoppolo.

With Brady facing a possible fourgame suspension, Brissett could start the season as a top reserve.

As a Wolfpack senior, Brissett passed for 2,662 yards, rushed for 370 yards and accounted for 26 total touchdowns.

Brissett played two seasons at N.C. State after transferring from Florida.

Prescott (Mississippi State University): Chosen during the fourth round, 135th overall, by the Dallas Cowboys; 6-foot-2, 226 pounds; Combine 40-yard dash time was 4.79; from Sulphur, La.

Jacoby Brissett

Dak Prescott

The possible successor to injuryplagued Tony Romo, 36, passed for 3,793 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior at MSU, setting 38 school records.

Prescott, the Senior Bowl Most Valuable Player, is the first quarterback drafted by the Cowboys since Steve McGee in 2009.

There is an opening to quickly become No. 2. None of the Cowboys’back-ups from last year distinguished themselves.

Jones (Ohio State University): Selected in the fourth round, 139th

overall, by the Buffalo Bills; 6-foot-5, 253 pounds; Combine 40-year time, 4.81 seconds; from Glenville, Ohio.

Nicknamed “12 Gauge” because of his powerful throwCardale Jones ing arm, he led the Buckeyes to the National Championship as a late-season fill-in 2014, with the team beating Oregon in title game; started last season as the Buckeyes’ starter, but eventually lost position to J.T. Barrett, who remains at Ohio State.

In Buffalo, Jones becomes part of what may be an historic depth chart with three African-American quarterbacks. The clear No. 1 quarterback is Tyrod Taylor out of Virginia Tech, with E.J. Manuel, formerly of Florida State, No. 2 for now.

New chapter for RG3: After wearing

out his welcome in Washington, Griffin, the 2011 Rookie of the Year, eyes a rousing comeback in Cleveland, where he will play for Hue Jackson, the Brown’s first-year African-American coach.

Griffin was the No. 2 overall pick in 2011, after winning the Heisman Trophy at Baylor University.

Reports of his demise may be overrated. In nine games in 2014, he completed an impressive 69 percent of his passes before being benched, for good, in favor of Kirk Cousins.

After sitting out the 2015 season, Griffin signed a two-year, $15 million pact with the Cleveland Browns in March.

Failure and Cleveland football have become synonymous. If Griffin is to start, as expected, he will be Browns’ 25th starting quarterback since 1999. The northeastern Ohio city has enjoyed just one playoff season during that painful dry spell.

Few HBCU quarterbacks drafted by NFL

The last quarterback from a historically black college or university to be drafted by the NFL was Alabama State University’s Tarvaris Jackson in 2006.

Virginia Union University’s Shawheem Dowdy would like to end that decade-long drought.

There’s no faking the tape measure, scales or radar gun, and Dowdy has what the scouts generally covet — a large, durable frame and a howitzer for an arm.

It helps that Dowdy is also a surprisingly quick, nimble runner, adept at avoiding the rush and a load to bring down.

Working against Dowdy is the fact that he toils in the NCAA Division II, far removed from college football’s brightest lights.

Still, by any standards, Dowdy is a giant, both physically and statistically.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound quarterback from Baltimore passed for 2,410 yards and 20 touchdowns in 11 games last season, leading VUU to the NCAA Division II playoffs.

A dual threat, he also ran for 449 yards and four more touchdowns.

VUU’s draft history dates to 1961, when running back Hezekiah Braxton was picked by San Diego.

The Panthers have never had a quarterback drafted, but, in 1955, Leroy Vaughn made an impression on the Baltimore Colts in general — and on future megastar Raymond Berry in particular.

Becoming fast friends, free agent Vaughn and Berry, drafted out of Southern Methodist University, were rookies at the Colts’ training camp at Western Maryland College.

Prior to a preseason game, Berry and Vaughn had a photo taken at a Woolworth’s booth. A few years ago, Berry came across the old photo and forwarded it to the Baltimore Sun for publishing.

Berry went on to the NFL Hall of Fame. Vaughn, who played at VUU under Coach Tom Harris, spent 1955 on the Colts’ “taxi squad,” meaning he practiced

but didn’t play on Sundays.

Vaughn, who now lives in Midlothian and is the father of former Boston Red Sox slugger Mo Vaughn, didn’t miss becoming the first African-American quarterback in the NFL by much.

The first African-American to throw an NFL pass was Willie Thrower (out of Michigan State), who played a few games as a substitute in 1953 with the Chicago Bears.

James Harris, out of Grambling State University, was the first AfricanAmerican quarterback to start an NFL game when he debuted in 1969 with the Buffalo Bills.

There doesn’t appear to be a “next Steve McNair” (out of Alcorn State University) or a “next Doug Williams” (out of Grambling) on the horizon.

All athletes like Dowdy can do is continue to perform on a high level and hope scouts are more impressed by the quality of their talent than by size of their school.

May 19-21, 2016 B1

Section

B

Richmond Free Press

Joyner Fine Properties Welcomes

Happenings

Radcliffe Chambers Realtor®, MBA

Personality: Dr. Susan T. Gooden Spotlight on president of American Society for Public Administration Being in leadership is not always an easy thing.

Leaders must tackle the tough decisions and issues for their organization.

But Dr. Susan T. Gooden, professor of public administration and policy at Virginia Commonwealth University’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, is up to the challenge.

Dr. Gooden was inducted as president of the 8,000-member American Society for Public Administration during its annual conference in March in Seattle.

She is the first AfricanAmerican woman and first person from VCU to hold the organization’s highest office in its 77-year history.

The ASPA is the largest and most prominent professional association for public administration, and is dedicated to advancing the practice, art, science and teaching of public and nonprofit administration.

It recognizes core values of accountability, performance, professionalism, ethics and social equity.

The top issues facing public administration today, she says, are providing equity in public services and ensuring the public sector workforce has necessary resources.

The theme of her keynote address at the ASPA conference: “Race and Social Equity: A Nervous Area of Government.”

It’s also the theme of a book she has written.

Dr. Gooden believes that discussions of race and equity within policy and government remain an issue that many leaders are reluctant to engage in, even when it is clear that policies play a role in various social pathologies that disparately impact communities of color.

“I say ‘the nervous area of government’ because government organizations have a footprint relative to many of these inequities,” Dr. Gooden says. Because government policies are a part of the problem, they “also have to be a huge part of the solution.”

Connecting the dots between racial equity and policy has been a regular and committed part of Dr. Gooden’s career.

Prior to teaching at VCU, Dr. Gooden served as an associate professor at Virginia Tech, where she was founder and director of the Race and Social Policy Research Center.

This week’s Personality, Dr. Susan T. Gooden, is leading the way:

Tech; master’s degree in political science, and Ph.D. in political science, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University.

Family: Husband, Dr. Basil I. Gooden, and daughter, Caper C. Gooden.

How long I’ve been involved with American Society for Public Administration: Since 1995.

Reason: It is the primary professional association for my field and it is a very inclusive organization comprised of academics, practitioners and students. When I originally joined ASPA as a doctoral student, I was impressed that such a large organization was so accessible and welcoming of new members.

Why is this organization important: It promotes public service values and good governance in the United States and internationally. ASPA is recognized and respected worldwide as a leader in the promotion of public service and offers access to a rich network of public administration professionals.

How your presidency will differ from the presidencies of your predecessors: This is a difficult question because I greatly admire and respect the presidencies of my predecessors. I am working hard to develop ASPA chapters in all 50 states and to develop more international chapters. I am very excited about increasing ASPA international chapters in places such as Mexico, India and Rwanda.

Strategy for implementation: Provide chapterbuilding tools and resources to individuals domestically and internationally — and then get out of their way so they can establish chapters that are responsive to local needs and goals.

ASPA’s No. 1 goal today: To actively engage new and

Date and place of birth: May 30 in Franklin County.

Current residence: Short Pump in Henrico County.

Alma maters: Associate degree in natural science, Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville; bachelor’s degree in English and master’s degree in political science, Virginia

existing members in promoting pride in public service at the local, state, federal and international levels.

Number of chapters in Virginia: 3.

Number of chapters nationwide: 57.

Public administration is: The constant, vital executor of public services.

Why I entered public administration: Because it is an essential game-changer for promoting social equity.

What makes a good public administrator: Strong public service values, technical skills and empathy.

Why women need to be involved in public administration: Women and minorities need to be involved in public administration because the entire public needs to be visible and represented in the development and administration of public services.

Estimated percentage of women in the industry: 57 percent.

Why I became a teacher: To help train future public sector leaders about the importance of social equity and to promote a seat at the table for under-represented minorities in higher education.

Teaching philosophy: Talent and intelligence appear in many forms, and should be cultivated.

Young people need to consider this field because: There are complex public policy issues that require myriad minds to be effectively addressed.

Advice to aspiring students interested in public administration: Public administration touches every policy topic you can imagine — transportation, environment, health, education, agriculture, criminal justice, homeland security, youths, the elderly, the disabled. If you’re looking for a rewarding challenge, this is the field!

What make me tick: Social equity — as Nelson Mandela stated, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

Outlook at start of day: Ready to roll with optimism!

Let’s do it!

End of day: Time to reflect and recharge for tomorrow.

I place top value on: Authenticity.

How I unwind: Pilates.

Hobby: Unique international travel experiences — crossing U.N. borders, visiting interesting places like Saudi Arabia, Cyprus and Rwanda.

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Prized possession: My spirituality and my family.

Nobody knows: I can drive a tractor and feed cattle.

The best thing my parents ever taught me was: To always be an independent thinker.

Best late-night snack: Brownie Obsession from TGIFridays.

Person who influences me the most: My husband, Basil.

We’ve known each other for 28 years. When he reaches out to me for a heart-to-heart talk, I listen and respect his advice.

Person who influenced me the most: My grandmother, Kate Tinsley. She taught me so many important, practical things about life. She passed earlier this year at age 93. She was very active and sharp all of her life. I was blessed to have her in my life for so long.

Book that influenced me the most: “Flowers for Algernon”

by Daniel Keyes.

What I’m reading now: “Son of Virginia: A Life in America’s Political Arena” by former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder.

If I’ve learned one thing in life, it is: There is a window of opportunity to accomplish anything.

Next goal: To contribute to the understanding of social equity in public administration and policy from a comparative, international perspective.

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Richmond Free Press

B2 May 19-21, 2016

Happenings

‘Success is … in the lives that you impact,’ Delegate Aird tells VSU graduates

By Thomas Kidd

Virginia State University President Dr. Makola M. Abdullah was beaming like a proud father during this, his first, and the university’s 130th commencement held last Sunday at the Richmond Coliseum.

“We have much to be proud of,” said Dr. Abdullah, recognizing the university’s year of success which included the 2016 CIAA Men’s Basketball Championship and the completion of a new $84 million multipurpose center on the Ettrick campus.

“But all of those accomplishments pale in comparison to what we are doing today,” he said.

Dr. Abdullah congratulated the 632 graduates first for choosing the state-supported HBCU and, then, for remaining until completing their degrees.

Then turning his attention to the almost capacity crowd in the Downtown venue, he shouted, “World get ready, ’cause here they come!”

VSU not only paid tribute to the future at the ceremony, but also recognized and celebrated the past. A small delegation from the VSU Class of 1966, enjoying their 50th reunion, sat with the newest graduating class

Photos by Rudolph Powell/Richmond Free Press

during the ceremony.

It was a moment that resonated with keynote speaker, Delegate Lashrecse D. Aird of Petersburg, a 2008 graduate of VSU who represents the 63rd District in the Virginia General Assembly that includes Petersburg and parts of Hopewell and Chesterfield, Dinwiddie and Prince George counties.

Delegate Aird, 29, who is the youngest woman ever elected to the House of Delegates, recalled her years as a student.

“You will remember hanging on campus, open mic nights and those short-term loves,” she told the graduates.

“But as you move ahead, you will see that your time spent on hallowed ground was much more important than that.” It should be viewed as the place where they received the necessary training, experiences and skills needed to assist those who struggle, she said.

“Success is not in material things,” she told the audience, “but in the lives that you impact.”

She used her own life experience as a testament to her beliefs.

“There were those who doubted me because of my age,” she added. “They are the same people today that I have been able to help the most.”

Just six months after being elected to office, Delegate Aird has earned the reputation of being a tireless and trusted community leader. She is active with numerous civic boards and organizations

Awaiting the entry of graduates at Virginia State University’s commencement last Sunday are, from left, Dr. Weldon Hill, VSU provost; Delegate Lashrecse D. Aird, commencement speaker and VSU alumna; VSU President Makola M. Abdullah; and Harry Black, VSU rector. More than 600 degrees were conferred, with Morgan Pollard of Charlotte, N.C., below left, earning the distinction of having the highest GPA of the Class of 2016 with a perfect 4.0. Below, Brianna Williams and Justin Williams are “hooded” during the ceremony held at the Richmond Coliseum in Downtown.

and has risen to a leadership position in each organization.

For this and her continued support of VSU, she previously has received VSU’s Young Trojan Distinguished Alumni Award for two consecutive years.

The old guard is no more, she concluded. “This is our time. We are the new water — and nothing can hold us.”

Delegate Aird was recognized at the

ceremony with the VSU Presidential Medallion.

Also receiving the Presidential Medallion was actress Daphne Maxwell Reid, who was recognized for her eight years of service on the VSU Board of Visitors, as well as her contributions to students, education, the arts and the City of Petersburg.

Graduates James Cheives Jr. of Chester was this year’s recipient of the

Reginald F. Lewis Award of $5,000, and Morgan Pollard of Charlotte, N.C., was recognized as the highest ranking senior in the Class of 2016 with a 4.0 GPA. Brenda Stith-Finch, retired vice president of Verizon Communications and president of the VSU Alumni Association Northern Virginia Chapter was recognized with the Alumnus of the Year Award.

El ignites passion, inspires VCU grads

Photos by James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Pamela K. El, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for the National Basketball Association, regales and inspires Virginia Commonwealth University graduates and their families during commencement exercises last Saturday.

Ms. El, a VCU alumna, graduated in 1983. She also received an honorary degree during the ceremony at the Richmond Coliseum in Downtown. More than 5,000 students earned degrees.

By Thomas Kidd

“Go make the world a better place for people everywhere,” was the recurring message to the more than 5,000 graduates of Virginia Commonwealth University at commencement exercises last Saturday at the Richmond Coliseum.

“This begins not only a new chapter in your life, but a new chapter for humanity,” said VCU President Michael Rao. In addition to congratulating the graduates, he thanked them for the opportunity to be a part of their educational lives.

“What you’ve done here extends beyond our campus boundaries,” Dr. Rao continued.

“Lives will be changed — not just courses completed.”

President Rao charged the graduating class to join ranks with past and future VCU alumni to advance the human experience by solving the problems that today seem unsolvable.

His message was reinforced with a good dose of humor by keynote speaker Pamela K. El, a VCU Class of 1983 graduate who now is executive vice president and chief marketing officer of the National Basketball Association.

“VCU is a special place — sets you up for success in life,” said Ms. El, recalling her last days as an undergraduate on the urban campus. “Aside from

student debt, the sadness of leaving my friends behind and feelings of doubt about my future, I was all good.”

She told the graduates the best way to ensure success is to find their passion.

“Passion is a fire that burns inside,” she explained. “I’m passionate about red wine, country music, my current husband and my next husband, Denzel Washington,” she said to the laughs of the audience.

She went on to share that she recognized her passion while

still a student at VCU. “I told my academic adviser, ‘I simply want to talk to people.’

And it has culminated in being here having this conversation with you.”

She warned that the fulfillment of one’s passion is not easy, but realized through personal sacrifice and hard work.

“Now I get to tell the people about Stephen Curry and LeBron James. What could be better than that?”

Recognized as an industry leader for her expertise in brand management, marketing strategy, creative development and media, Ms. El is responsible for global marketing for the NBA, WNBA and NBA Development League.

She ended her talk with three musts: Show appreciation; see the Broadway show “Hamilton” and celebrate Saturday’s accomplishment.

“Find something only you can do and do it,” she added.

Ms. El was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree, VCU’s highest form of recognition.

Also honored at the ceremony were True and Charles S. Luck III, who were the recipients of the Edward A. Wayne Medal, which recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions or provided exemplary service to the university.

Richmond Free Press

May 19-21, 2016

B3

Happenings

Yoga behind bars

Relaxation, meditation techniques can help heal inmates

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Yoga and meditation are being offered at Richmond’s jail to help prepare inmates for positive re-entry into the community — and help keep them from returning to jail.

The program combines physical exercise, self-reflection and spiritual healing, according to Dr. Sarah H. Scarbrough, a specialist in public policy and criminal justice who directs the Richmond Justice Center’s various educational, cultural and support programs for inmates.

“When you apply these benefits to a prisoner population, it is evident why this is the exact setting where yoga and meditation are necessary,” said yoga instructor Chris Kresge.

The program “allows the residents to deal with their negative emotions and frustrations, and ultimately let them go,” Mr. Kresge said. “We often define ourselves in very limiting terms.

Yogic philosophy, on the other hand, is based in the search for the ‘true’ self, and is predicated on the idea that the mind is a diamond that is just covered in the dirt and grime of our poor choices.”

Women participate in a yoga class at the Richmond Justice Center taught by Ellie Burke.

Yoga was introduced more than seven years ago for male inmates, with a class for women added a few years later, Dr. Scarbrough said. She said classes are offered two days a week and rely on volunteer instructors like Mr. Kresge.

Sheriff C.T. Woody Jr. believes the programs are beneficial to participating inmates. He’s looking forward to the results of a study underway by Virginia Commonwealth University professors to quantify the effects of the program on participants.

Eight to 10 women currently participate in the yoga class held on Mondays and about 30 men participate in the meditation class on Tuesdays, Dr. Scarbrough said.

Another instructor, Cynthia Henebry, said that “in meditation, habitual reactions that harm ourselves and others naturally begin

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

to subside, and we have the opportunity to live more fully in the present, as it truly is.”

Jim Theobald, another volunteer instructor who has focused on meditative techniques for more than a decade, adds, “I began teaching to, hopefully, create awareness and perhaps some balance in the lives of the participants.”

Ellie Burke, who leads the class for women, said the students learn “to become less reactionary, regulate their emotions, and find a sense of calm regardless of the external stimulus. I also integrate Yoga Nidra, which is a deeply restorative practice that systemically relaxes the practitioner, helping to undo deep levels of physical and emotional tension.”

‘Celebrate Jackson Ward’ this weekend

The Richmond Symphony and a host of community arts groups will spend the weekend entertaining the public at a festival in Abner Clay Park called “Celebrate Jackson Ward: Past, Present and Future.”

The three-day event in the park at Brook Road, West Clay and West Leigh streets — across the street from the newly opened Black History Museum — starts from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 20, with Art 180’s “Really Big Show” of children’s art, organizers announced.

Rain or shine, the show will continue from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, May 21, featuring music by the Richmond Symphony and 17 other community groups.

The event continues from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

The festival comes just two weeks after nearly 10,000 people attended a similar three-day program in Chimborazo Park in the East End in which the symphony teamed with area groups to promote the arts.

The lineup 6 to 6:30 p.m. Richmond Jazz Society 7 p.m. Richmond Symphony in concert with Celebrate Jackson Ward Community Choir, Elegba Folklore Society Dancers and Virginia Repertory Theater Sunday, May 22 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. — James Pettis and Presto Production’s “Holding On;” Dance Candle 2:30 to 4:20 p.m. — Ebenezer Baptist Church Bell Choir and Praise Liturgical Dance; Saint Paul’s Baptist Church Male Chorus 4:30 p.m. — Community Celebration Additional information:www.celebratejacksonwardrva.com

Saturday, May 21 Noon to 1 p.m. — The Chorus of Friends Association for Children; TheatreLAB; City Dance Theatre; Virginia Repertory Theatre’s TRAIN 1 to 3 p.m. — Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra; Drums No Guns; Life’s Dream Music and Production School 3 to 4 p.m. — Daughters and Sons of Muntu; Richmond Youth Jazz Guild 4:15 to 6 p.m. — National Park Service Centennial Message; One Voice Chorus Ensemble; Ezibu Muntu African Dance Company

First African-American student to attend Va. Tech finally gets degree Free Press staff report

He lived in the home of an African-American couple, Mr. and Mrs. William Hoge, about a mile More than 60 years after Irving Linfrom campus, lugging his cadet uniform and gear wood Peddrew III of Hampton broke the back and forth each day. He was allowed to change color barrier to become the first Africanin the room of another cadet.

American student to attend Virginia Tech In the fall of 1954, three more African-American in rural Blacksburg, he finally received students entered Virginia Tech, Lindsay Cherry, Floyd his degree.

Wilson and Charlie Yates. They, too, lived in the Mr. Peddrew, now 80, was awarded an home of Mr. and Mrs. Hoge, and all but one left the honorary bachelor’s of science degree in university before earning a degree. electrical engineering during the univerAfter attending a six-week, multiracial program sity’s commencement Friday, May 13, at in Southern California with students from around the Lane Stadium. world and comparing their campus experiences, Mr. “Regretfully, he was not treated well,” Peddrew withdrew from Virginia Tech and enrolled President Tim Sands told the stadium filled in a Los Angeles community college “to get my GPA with 25,000 people in remarks that both up,” he said. honored Mr. Peddrew and apologized for Before he could transfer to UCLA or the University the actions of the past. of Southern California as he planned, he was drafted “He suffered social isolation and perinto the military and served in communications intelvasive discrimination on our campus and ligence in Berlin with the Army Security Agency. in the surrounding community … Three He later worked several years in the aerospace and years of isolation and accumulated injusfruit industries before returning to Virginia, where he Photos courtesy of Virginia Tech tices weigh heavily. His treatment here worked at the Newport News shipyard and at Hampton ultimately compelled him to continue his Irving Linwood Peddrew III, 80, of Hampton is the ninth person to receive an honorary University before retiring in 1994. studies on the West Coast and join the degree from Virginia Tech. Below, Mr. Peddrew in his Virginia Tech cadet uniform as a He never received a college degree — until the workforce there. That was not his choice. student in the 1950s. ceremony last week at Virginia Tech. It marked only We failed him,” Dr. Sands said. the ninth time in the university’s 145-year history than an indiAn honor student at all-black George P. Phenix High School vidual has been awarded an honorary degree. in Hampton, Mr. Peddrew received offers to attend several col“Irving Peddrew succeeded,” Dr. Sands told the audience in leges and universities but selected Virginia Tech. making the award. “He set an example of strength and character.

News outlets from the Roanoke Times newspaper to JET He set out to create a path for others to follow and they did. magazine published his photograph, proclaiming that the “first He wanted to make a difference in this community, the comNegro” had been admitted to Virginia Tech after a vote of the monwealth and the nation. And he has … No one here today university’s Board of Visitors in the fall of 1953. is more deserving of this degree than Irving Linwood Peddrew, The board approved his admission because no all-black, and it’s long overdue.” state-supported school in Virginia offered electrical engineerThe sea of graduates seated on the Lane Stadium field and ing, according to one article, and because the board was the people filling the stands rose in a standing ovation. “appraised by the Attorney General of Virginia of the nature Mr. Peddrew, who spoke to a small group of graduates the of the decision and precedents laid down by the Supreme day before the ceremony, told a Roanoke television station that Court of the United States, which have taken precedent over they should set their goals and aim high.

Virginia laws …”

“Accept the valleys with the high points and realize there Those precedents, coming well before the landmark Brown will be times when they are challenged,” he said. Even when v. Board of Education decision on May 17, 1954, striking down he worked in various industries, “there were always those you separate and unequal segregated public education in Virginia had to contend with who didn’t think as highly of me as I felt and throughout the nation, opened the doors of the all-white, they should and who evidenced their feelings of bigotry and public land grant institution to African-Americans for the first narrow-mindedness. time since its founding in 1872.

“They are still out there. They haven’t gone away,” he conMr. Peddrew, the only African-American among Virginia tinued. “But never give up, give out or give in. Realize many Tech’s 3,322 students that year, is said to be the first black to came before them and made sacrifices. They are walking on the attend any historically all-white, four-year public institution in shoulders of those who preceded them.”

11 former states of the Confederacy.

Ironically, in 2003, Virginia Tech renamed a residence hall In oral histories on file at the university, Mr. Peddrew spoke Peddrew-Yates Hall to honor Mr. Peddrew and Mr. Yates, who of the years of isolation and mistreatment at Virginia Tech, where in 1958, became the first African-American student to graduhe was a member of the Corps of Cadets. He was not permitted ate from the university. Neither had been allowed to live on to live on campus or eat in the cafeteria. campus.

Richmond Free Press

B4 May 19-21, 2016

Faith News/Obituary/Directory Sprucing up Evergreen These photos show the impact of the May 7 effort to clean up historic Evergreen Cemetery and three other adjacent African-American cemeteries located on the border between Richmond and Henrico County. The photo at left shows one plot before volunteers went to work, while the photo at right shows how it looks now. Martin Harris led members of the Maggie Walker High School Class of 1967 and other participants in the cleanup effort.

Among the volunteers was John Shuck, who, with his wife, Debbie, has spent the past seven years voluntarily working to restore the burial grounds. Maggie Walker alumni have taken on the project because Mrs. Walker, the famed banker and businesswoman, is buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

Before

BeBe Winans’ life story on stage

By Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service

WASHINGTON BeBe Winans, the seventh son of the famous gospel singing Winans family, owes much of his fame to 1980s televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.

Before they became mired in sex and money scandals, the Bakkers introduced Mr. Winans and his sister, CeCe Winans, to the millions of people watching their “PTL (Praise the Lord) Club” show on TV. That also paved the way for other black gospel artists such as Yolanda Adams and Donnie McClurkin to reach a broad audience.

“The PTL Network allowed us to be introduced to a whole new audience, a white Christian audience,” Mr. Winans said.

“And then when we started recording, we broke down doors in the white Christian marketplace where they weren’t playing any black artists, Christian artists on those radio stations.”

Mr. Winans was interviewed in Washington, where a musical he co-wrote about his life story will begin in July at the Arena Stage.

“Born for This: The BeBe Winans Story” attempts to break Mr. Winans out of any particular box. One of those boxes is the notion that he and his sister (born Benjamin and Priscilla) are joined at the hip.

“People assume that we don’t have separate lives, even though we’ve done as many years as solo projects,” he said.

The musical debuted last month in Atlanta.

When Mr. Winans first shared his project with director Charles Randolph-Wright, also the director of “Motown The Musical,” the six-time Grammy winner known for

“That album sold star on the Hollywood Walk rhythm and blues as a million copies for of Fame. Mr. Bakker, who was well as gospel had a the PTL Club,” said not available for comment, also much wider plan for Bil Carpenter, author attended the “Born for This” the theater stage. of “Uncloudy Days: opening in Atlanta.

“Originally, what The Gospel Music The production is not billed he had been workEncyclopedia.” “You as a “jukebox musical” because ing on was a project had to give a donation it features songs beyond the about the entire Winand they sent you the ones the duo performed. Nor is ans family, which album.” it a religious revival. Like the would take at least But in real life and rest of his music, Mr. Winans two weeks to do if you BeBe Winans on stage, the Bakkers’ hopes it will defy categories — went every night for four hours,” said Mr. Randolph- introduction of the Winans just as his career has — and siblings to their TV audience be an inspirational production Wright.

As co-writer of the produc- gave the African-American that some think could make it tion, Mr. Randolph-Wright performers a platform that to Broadway.

“It was hard for them, the focused on a “tiny section” prompted displeasure from about the appearances of then white staffers on the show and industry, to put me and my sister in a certain catalog,” he said. “If 15-year-old CeCe and 17-year- racist threats by critics.

“They took care of us,” Mr. there is a human being over there, old BeBe on the Bakkers’ show in Pineville, N.C. The actors who Winans said of the Bakkers, who then my music should be played play the roles of CeCe and BeBe he said were like a second set over there. If there are people Winans are actual brother-and- of parents as they appeared on over here, my music should be sister members of the Winans the show, far from their family played over here.” family — Deborah Joy Winans, home in Detroit. “They looked their niece, an actress who audi- out for us.”

Apparently, it was more than tioned for Mr. Randolph-Wright’s “Motown” production, and Juan the young siblings knew. After  Winans, their nephew, a Grammy Mr. Randolph-Wright wrote 1408 W. eih Sree  ichmo a. 0 804 5840 nominated-singer making his a scene about the threats, Mr.  Winans ran it by Mr. Bakker, now acting debut.  Much of the play focuses 76, when he had dinner with the on family — how Mr. Winans televangelist in Branson, Mo. Church School 8:45 a.m.

“He said, ‘Oh, yeah, we just deals with his sister getting Worship Service 10 a.m. the audition at PTL, and not kept them from ya’ll. We hid  him; how he and his brothers them from y’all. We protected ile Su 1 p.m. adjust when Ms.Winans gets ya’ll. But there was a whole married; and how he copes lot of threats’,” Mr. Winans  with the death of his closest told an audience at an event e ercies iisr  a.m. promoting the musical. brother, Ronald. ul ile Su :0 p.m.

In 2011, Mr. Winans got in It also focuses on the intersection of fame and faith — for touch with Mr. Bakker to invite ie oore Sree o the Winans duo, their young him to the ceremony when he  friend Whitney Houston and and Ms. Winans received a the eventually scandal-plagued Bakkers.

Although it includes more 1127 North 28th St., Richmond, VA 23223-6624 • Office: (804) 644-1402 than two dozen new songs writDr. Sylvester T. Smith, Pastor ten by Mr. Winans, the produc“There’s A Place for You” tion features some of the songs that made the duo famous, inTuesday Sunday 10:30 AM Bible Study cluding a version of “Up Where 9:30 AM Church School 6:30 PM Church-wide Bible Study We Belong,” which they sang 11:00 AM Worship Service 6:30 PM Men's Bible Study on the Bakkers’ show.

(Each 2nd and 4th) (Holy Communion

 

Good Shepherd Baptist Church

World’s oldest person dies at 116 in Brooklyn, N.Y. Associated Press

each 2nd Sunday)

Wednesday

6:30 PM Prayer Meeting

Photos by John Shuck

After

Thursday

(Following 2nd Sunday) 11:00 AM Mid-day Meditation

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.

PROVIDENCE PARK BAPTIST CHURCH 468 E. Ladies Mile Road, Richmond, VA 23222 (804)-329-1963 Dr. Jerome Clayton Ross, Pastor

celebrating

May 20-22, 2016

Friday, May 20 - 7:00 p.m.

The Diamond Sisters of Hanover County, Va. Christian Comedy show

Saturday, May 21 - noon

Prayer, Praise and Pizza Party

Speaker: Rev. Aamon R. Miller, Pastor Swansboro Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. Sunday, March 22 - 10:00 a.m.

Worship Service

Speaker: Rev. Robert A. Diggs, Sr., Pastor Tabernacle Baptist Church, Petersburg, Va.

St. Peter Baptist Church

Dr. Kirkland R. Walton, Pastor

Worship Opportunities Sundays: Morning Worship Church School Morning Worship

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

Unity Sundays (2nd Sundays) Church School 8:30 A.M. Morning Worship 10 A.M. Thursdays: Mid-Day Bible Study 12 Noon Prayer & Praise 6:30 P.M. Bible Study 7 P.M. (Children/Youth/Adults) 2040 Mountain Road • Glen Allen, Virginia 23060 Office 804-262-0230 • Fax 804-262-4651 • www.stpeterbaptist.net

Ebenezer Baptist Church 1858

“The People’s Church”

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

158th Church Anniversary SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2016

11:00 AM – WORSHIP SERVICE GUEST SPEAKER: REV. THURMAN O. ECHOLS, JR. AXTON, VIRGINIA

� �

“The Church With A Welcome” NEW YORK  Dr. Levy M. Armwood, Pastor  Susannah Mushatt Jones, the world’s Dr. Wallace J. Cook, Pastor Emeritus oldest person, has died in New York at 22 E. Leigh Street, Richmond, VA 23219 • 643-3825 age 116. thesharonbaptistchurch.com Rev. Dr. Paul A. Coles, Pastor Ms. Jones, who was affectionately known by family and neighbors as Miss Susie, died SUNDAYS WEDNESDAYS THURSDAYS Thursday, May 12, 2016, at a public housing 8:00 a.m. .... Morning Worship 6:00 p.m. ..... Prayer Service 1:30 p.m. facility for seniors in Brooklyn, N.Y., where 9:30 a.m. .... Church School 6:30 p.m. ..... Bible Study Bible Study she had lived for more than three decades, 11:15 a.m. ...Morning Worship 2003 Lamb Avenue Ms. Jones according to Robert Young, a senior consultant Dr. Arthur M. Jones, Sr., Pastor for the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group.

(804) 321-7622 She had been ill for the past 10 days, he said.

Church School - 9:30 a.m.

Her death leaves a 116-year-old woman from Verbania, Italy, 1813 Everett Street Richmond, Virginia 23224 • 804-231-5884 Worship Service - 11:15 a.m.

Emma Morano, as the world’s oldest person, and the only living Rev. Robert C. Davis, Pastor person who was born in the 1800s, Mr. Young said. Ms. Moreno Bible Study: Tuesday - 9 a.m. was just a few months younger than Ms. Jones, according to the Wednesday - 7 p.m.

Theme: Women organization, which attempts to track all living supercentenarians.

Preparing Prayer Services: Wednesday Sunday, May 22, 2016 – 11:00a.m.

Ms. Jones was born in a small farm town near Montgomery, Ala., For Such A (1st & 3rd ) 7 a.m. in 1899. She was one of 11 siblings and attended a special school for Speaker: Rev. Lucinda Williams, Time As This Every Wednesday 8 p.m.

Pastor Elect young black girls. When she graduated from high school in 1922, (Greater First Baptist Church of Soul City, Is Coming) Ms. Jones worked full time helping family members pick crops.

Communion - 1st Sunday Norlina, North Carolina She left after a year to begin working as a nanny, heading north to Esther 4:14 Music by Women of Union New Jersey and eventually making her way to New York.

“She adored kids,” Lois Judge said of her aunt in a 2015 interview with The Associated “A Caring Community Committed to Listening, Loving, Press. Ms. Jones never had any Learning and Leaning While Launching into our Future.” children and was married for only a few years.

May 22, 2016 Family members said last Join us for morning worship at 10:30 A.M. year that they credited her long life to love of family Revival! and generosity to others. After Funerals & Cremations May 16 May 19, 7:00 P.M. Nightly she moved to New York, Ms. Ministering on May 16/17: Jones worked with a group of Over time, some things change.

Rev. Dr. Adam L. Bond her fellow high school graduProvidence Baptist Church, Ashland ates to start a scholarship fund But, our tradition of providing service of the highest Ministering on May 18/19: for young African-American caliber has remained the same for over 100 years Rev. Kimberly Ridley women to go to college. She while serving Richmond and surrounding areas The Light Community Church, Richmond also was active in her public with dignity and excellence. housing building’s tenant patrol June 5, 2016 until she was 106.

First Pastoral Anniversary Celebration 115 E. Brookland Park Blvd., Richmond, Virginia 23222 Ms. Jones became Guinness Toll-Free: 1-888-603-3862 | Phone: 804-321-9095 World Records’ official oldest 2901 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Richmond, VA 23223 Fax: 804-321-1033 | www.scottsfuneralhome.com person when 117-year-old Misao (804) 648-2472 ~ www.mmbcrva.org Richard A. Lambert, Sr., President/CEO Okawa died in Tokyo last year.

Dr. Price London Davis, Senior Pastor

Sharon Baptist Church

Triumphant

Baptist Church

� �

Union Baptist Church

UBC Celebrates

Annual Women’s Day

Mosby Memorial Baptist Church

Richmond Free Press

May 19-21, 2016

B5

Faith News/Directory Meeting called for May 23 to unite city Uniting the City 2, a meeting called to bring Richmonders together, will be held 6 p.m.

Monday, May 23, at Fifth Baptist Church, 1415 W. Cary St., in the West End. Hosting the meeting are Keith Hicks and Regie Ford, who are encouraging leaders of civic, political, church and business organizations and residents from across the city to attend and express their concerns.

Information: Mr. Hicks, (804) 869-3032; Mr. Ford, (804) 426-5377.

Riverview

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

Rallying to save Belmead An intent crowd listens as volunteer Rodney Jackson rallies support last Saturday to keep the Pennsylvania-based Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament from selling their 2,265-acre Belmead property in Powhatan County. The SBS once operated two Catholic boarding schools for African-American students on the site. Mr. Jackson stands in front of the Belmead mansion, the former home of St. Emma Military Academy for Boys. The other school was St. Francis de Sales School for Girls.

About 200 people attended the rally, but the prospects are regarded as slim that the SBS leadership will change course. Already, the SBS essentially has dissolved the nonprofit FrancisEmma Inc. that managed the property for the Catholic order of nuns for the past 12 years.

Broad Rock Baptist Church 5106 Walmsley Blvd., Richmond, VA 23224 804-276-2740 • 804-276-6535 (fax) www.BRBCONLINE.org

PRESENTS 70 YEARS OF LIFE 50 YEARS OF MINISTRY 24 YEARS AS PASTOR AND PEOPLE PASTOR ROSCOE D. COOPER, JR.

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

azz

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

Wednesday Services

L

N THE AWN FREE ADMIS MAY 29, 2016 AT 3:00 P.M. SION FEATURING THE MAABC POSSE 5263 WARWICK ROAD RICHMOND, VA 23224 FUN AGES

7643 Hull Street Road (Off Pocoshock Blvd)

North Chesterfield, VA 23236 (804) 833-9493 or (804) 585-9186 Elder Maricia S. Hayes, Pastor WELCOME TO “THE UPPER ROOM” Morning Worship Service: 10:00 a.m.

(1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays) Sanctuary Prayer: 9:45 am 3RD SATURDAY EVENING Worship Service: 5:00 pm Ministering Encouragement and Hope WEDNESDAY “HOUR OF POWER” Bible Study: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm 2ND & 4TH SATURDAY MORNING Prayer Meeting: 8 am – 9 am

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

Attendance - 99 Sanctuary - All Are Welcome!

Wednesday Evening Bible Study 7 p.m.

Attendance - 110

Saturday 8:30 a.m. Intercessory Prayer

PASTORS: ROSCOE COOPER, JR., BARBARA E. INGRAM, DARRYL E. WALKER

Grace Evangelistic Ministries Church

Baptist Church

Sunday, May 22, 2016 10:45 AM – Divine Worship Message by: Pastor Bibbs

New Sermon Series: “I Desire God”

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

Join Us For Four Sundays At 10:45 AM Exploring Unique Ways of Falling Deeper In Love With God

Leadership Training Classes

June 1st – 6:30 PM Topic: Church Growth To Be Or Not To Be That Is The Question All Invited

SUNDAY SCHOOL - 9:45 A.M. SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE 11:00 A.M.

Twitter sixthbaptistrva

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

Also, for your convenience.

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

Facebook sixthbaptistrva

Rev. Dr. Yvonne Jones Bibbs, Pastor

“Lord, give us the people no one else wants” An Outreach Of Essex Village Ministries

Remember...

At New Deliverance, You Are Home!

See you there and bring a friend

Pastor Kevin Cook

OD & F FO LOTS O S OF ALL ID FOR K

With Mission, Growth, Prayer, Purpose, Vision We Are Growing In The Kingdom As We Grow The Kingdom

with Word, Worship and Witness

New Deliverance Evangelistic Church

“MAKE IT HAPPEN”

J

Theme for 2016: Becoming a Five-Star Church of Excellence

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

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

O

Sixth Baptist Church

Police Appreciation Week Friday, May 20, 2016 12:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Virginia Christian Alliance.

8659 Staples Mill Rd. Henrico, VA 23228 Free Hamburgers, Hotdogs and Cold Drinks For All Law Enforcement

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Hebrews 12:14 (KJV) www.ndec.net

Sundays

Sunday School - 10:00 am Pre-Worship Prayer - 10:45 am Worship Service! - 11:00 am

Tune in on Sunday Morning to WTVR-Channel 6 - 8:30 a.m.

Tuesdays

Community Wide Prayer - 7:00 pm

Dr. & Mrs. Joe Ellison, Jr. Senior Pastor & Founder

All Are Welcome!

THE NEW DELIVERANCE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (NDCA)

8659 Staples Mill Road | Henrico, Virginia 23228 Church (804) 937-1356 | www.cityparkchurch.org

ENROLL NOW!!!

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

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

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

Thirty-first Street Baptist Church C

o

everence e with e evanc R ing Dr. Morris Henderson, Senior Pastor bin

ST. PHILIP’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH Annual Women’s Day Celebration

❖

SUNDAYS Church School 9:30 a.m.

Morning Worship 10:30 a.m. ❖

WEDNESDAY MAY 25, 2016 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Recap (Q&A) of the month’s Bible studies on Esther with a sermon by Rev. Dr. Deborah Martin, Pastor of Real Life Ministries, Chester VA Featuring our Women’s Day Choir

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2016

10:30 A.M. EUCHARIST MINISTER TIFFANY HALL TERRY GUEST PREACHER

ST. PHILIP’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH 2900 HANES AVENUE RICHMOND, VA 23222 804-321-1266

823 North 31st Street Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 226-0150 Office www.31sbc.org

WWW . STPHILIPSRVA . ORG

THE VERY REV. PHOEBE A. ROAF, RECTOR Come Celebrate with Us!

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

all activities at mount olive baptist church, glen allen

Formal Gala Friday, JUne 3rd - 5:45Pm Speaker: rev. Dr. C. Diane MoSby, paStor anointed new life baptist church, henrico, va. call (804) 262-9614 for banquet tickets

Celebration ConCert satUrday, JUne 4th - 7:00Pm featuring dr. raymond wise and family of columbus ohio

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

pastor faith ministries interdemoninational church

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

2016 Theme: The Year of Restoration



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

Richmond Free Press

B6 May 19-21, 2016

Legal Notices/Employment Opportunities Continued from previous column

Divorce VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF CHESTERFIELD Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Walter Rogers v Cathyrony Wright Case No. 041CL6000595-00 Order of Publication The object of this suit is to: Obtain a divorce a vincullo matrimonii or from the bonds of matrimony.

It appearing from an affidavit that the defendant is: that diligence has been used without effect, by or on the behalf of the plaintiff to ascertain in what country or city defendant is I t i s O RD ER ED t ha t Cathyrony Wright appear at the above-named court and protect her interest on or before May 24, 2016 at 8:30 a.m.

An Extract Teste: WENDY S. HUGHES, Clerk VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER JERNIER COX, Plaintiff v.

RASHEEN COX, Defendant.

Case No.: CL16001030-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

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

It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 22nd day of June, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure Counsel for Plaintiff VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER MONICA BROWN, Plaintiff v.

MARK BROWN, Defendant.

Case No.: CL15000497-00 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, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure Counsel for Plaintiff VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER SHARON BOBB, Plaintiff v.

JUNIE BOBB, Defendant.

Case No.: CL16001274-00 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, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure Counsel for Plaintiff VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER LYLE BRADBY, Plaintiff v.

ANNA BRADBY, Defendant.

Case No.: CL16001220-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from Continued on next column

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 10th day of June, 2016 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

CUSTODY virgiNia: iN thE JuvENiLE aND DOmEstic rELatiONs District cOurt Of the City of Richmond Commonwealth of Virginia, in re AIDEN KNIGHT, Juvenile Case No. JJ091018-06, JJ091018-07 OrDEr Of puBLicatiON

The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”) of Amy Dean, (Mother), Unknown, (Father), of Aiden Knight, child, DOB 11/28/2014, “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 Unknown (Father), Amy Dean (Mother), appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interests on or before 7/11/16, at 9:20 AM, Court Room #1.

An Extract, Teste: EDWARD F. JEWETT,Clerk

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL The University of Virginia seeks a firm to provide: Office Title IX Investigators and Hearing Chairs To view a copy of RFP # LP051116 go to Procurement Services Site: http://www.procurement. virginia.edu/main/ publicpostings/RFP.html, or email pur-rfp@virginia.edu

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL The University of Virginia seeks a firm to provide: Painting Services To view a copy of RFP # FM051316 go to Procurement Services Site: http://www.procurement. virginia.edu/main/ publicpostings/RFP.html, or email pur-rfp@virginia.edu

Richmond Free Press

D/M/WBE SUBCONTRACTORS/SUPPLIERS WANTED T. A. Loving Company is seeking certified Swam, DBE, MBE, and WBE subcontractors and suppliers for the Pinehurst Gardens Area Sewer Rehabilitation Phase 2 which bids on June 8, 2016 at 3:00 PM. Plans and specifications are available at the following locations: TA Loving Company-Goldsboro and the Henrico County electronic Documents Web Portal www.ebidexchange.com/henrico.

Potential subcontracting opportunities include but are not limited to, survey, hauling, asphalt, traffic control, erosion control, line work, seeding, bypass pumping, CIPP liner work, MH Rehab and CCTV. Please contact Bill Musso (bmusso@taloving. com) if you are interested in submitting a proposal on any portion(s) of this project.

Contact via phone 919-734-8400; fax 919-7362148; or email. All quotations will be accepted up to bid closing time on bid date. TA Loving Company is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer

Employment Opportunities

St. Peter Baptist Church A progressive suburban church is seeking grant writers and a video media technician. Interested persons please forward resumes to spbcoffice@verizon.net. Salaries are negotiable.

call

644-0496

Triumphant Baptist Church

is seeking a part-time custodian.

Interested persons please forward resumé to triumphantbaptist@verizon.net or mail to 2003 Lamb Avenue, Richmond, VA 23222 Salary is negotiable.

Transplant Clinical Pharmacist in Richmond, VA.

Prospective pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, & therapeutic drug monitoring evaluation of all drug & non-drug therapy in transplant recipient.

Mail resume to: D. Slayden, VCU Health System Authority, 701 East Franklin Street, 9th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219.

New Deliverance Evangelistic Church Office Assistant

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

Case No. : CL16-1810-4 DORIS E. CROSTIC, Who May Be Deceased, and THE HEIRS, DEVISEES, ASSIGNEES OR SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST OF DORIS E. CROSTIC, et al., Defendants.

ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as “2207 Edwards Avenue”, Richmond, Virginia, Ta x M a p / G P I N # S 0 0 0 0460/008, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Doris E. Crostic.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, DORIS E. CROSTIC, who may be deceased, and the heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest of DORIS E. CROSTIC, 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 DORIS E. CROSTIC, who may be deceased, and the heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest of DORIS E. CROSTIC, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before June 24, 2016, 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

To advertise in the

TransiT sysTem

CUSTOMER SERVICE/ CALL CENTER REPRESENTATIVE

Part-Time $13.02 per hour (Increases to $13.52 after successful completion of the probationary period) Closes: May 25, 2016 GRTC is seeking candidates who possess excellent customer service skills for available positions in our Customer Service Call Center.

The qualified candidates will be at least 21 years of age, have a high school education, 1 year of call center experience and the ability to work in a high call volume environment. Candidates should apply online at www.ridegrtc.com. Only online applications are accepted.

GRTC is an equal opportunity employer with a drug-free work environment.

Full Time New Deliverance Evangelistic Church is currently seeking an Office Assistant. Excellent communication skills and experience and knowledge of MS office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) are required. Hours are Tuesday – Friday, 8 am – 6 pm.

J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College is the third largest community college in Virginia and offers a variety of programs and services to the residents of the City of Richmond and five surrounding counties.

Annually, our three campuses serve over 19,000 credit students and provide training for an additional 11,000 students through the Community College Workforce Alliance. During our 44-year history we have educated more than 300,000 people in the Richmond area.

Reynolds is seeking applicants who share in its commitment to students and teamwork. The College supports a culture of life-long learning, celebrating its diversity, and recruiting and retaining star quality employees.

The College is excited to announce part-time teaching opportunities for Summer 2016 and Fall 2016.

For specific teaching disciplines and information on how to apply, please visit the college’s website: www.reynolds.edu.

AA/EOE/ADA/Veterans/AmeriCorps/Peace Corps/Other National Service Alumni are encouraged to apply.

Please submit a resume to: employment @ndec. net, mail to 1701 Turner Road, North Chesterfield, VA 23225 or fax to 804-276-5272.

The City of Richmond is seeking to fill the following position:

Administrative AssistAnt A Downtown Richmond Church has an immediate opening for an experienced Administrative Assistant to join a small team. The ideal candidate is a computer savvy, reliable, self-starter who takes pride in their work. The skills needed include: good customer service, proficiency in Microsoft Office, and the ability to prioritize. This position requires about 30 hours per week with pay ranging between $12-17 per hour. A criminal background check is required. Email resume to rvachurchpersonnel@ gmail.com.

Musician Needed

Claims ReCoveRy speCialist VHDA’s Loan Servicing Department is seeking a Claims Recovery Specialist to join our team to provide administrative support to the claims department. The successful candidate will pull and review FHA and VA daily reports, working the exceptions. Incumbents will be responsible for uploading claims submissions to HUD through their portal and preparing file inventory for submission to the Library of Virginia. The Specialist will work closely with the bankruptcy department in setting up new files, boarding loans to the workstation with the Black Knight Mortgage System, uploading documents to the Bankruptcy Pacer system as needed and processing payments of invoices for routine property preservation.

The successful candidate will open, identify and distribute daily mail.

Requirements include experience with Black Knight servicing system and proficiency in Microsoft applications. The successful candidate must have strong written and verbal communication skills as well as strong organizational, documentation and analytical skills.

If you are interested in joining our team and feel you meet our qualifications, please submit your resume with cover letter stating salary requirements online only at: http://www.vhda.com/about/careers An EOE This position closes at midnight on Friday, May 27, 2016.

1st, 3rd, 4th Sundays Forward resume to: Shiloh Baptist Church P.O. Box 973 Powhatan, VA 23139 Or call Darlene at (804) 921-2564

DRIVERS:

CDL – A 1 yr. exp., Earn $1250 + per week, Great Weekend Hometime, Excellent Benefits & Bonuses, 100% No Touch/70% D & H

888-406-9046

Med Tech

Certified To Work 12-Hour Shift at Assisted Living Facility.

PCA or CNA to work PRN. Good Pay Good Days Off. Call For Appointment

(804) 222-5133

Accountant I, Finance General Accountant 25M00000046 Finance Apply by 05/29/2016 Accountant II, Finance General Accountant 25M00000098 Finance Apply by 05/29/2016 Accountant III, Finance General Accountant 25M00000084 Finance Apply by 05/29/2016 Benefits Program Specialist - Temporary 29M00000809 Department of Social Services Apply by 05/29/2016 Customer Account Specialist 35M00000898 Public Utilities Apply by 5/29/2016 Investigative Coordinator 25M00000007 Finance Apply by 05/29/2016 Summer Youth Counselor 14TEMP00200 Human Services Apply by 05/29/2016 Summer Youth Counselor Supervisor 14TEMP00300 Human Services Apply by 05/29/2016 ****************** 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

Background and credit checks will be performed as a condition of employment.

Hiring range - $33,987 – 44,181

BID COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA CONSTRUCTION ITB # 16-1197-5CE – Mechanicsville Gardens Water Line Rehabilitation This project consists of providing approximately 1400 feet of 6-inch and 8-inch water lines and 28 water service connections. Due 3:00 pm, June 15, 2016. Additional information available at: http:// henrico.us/purchasing/.

Public Notice The City of Petersburg has received an unsolicited development proposal for its property located at 125 E. Washington Street. The City of Petersburg welcomes additional proposals for the site by Tuesday, May 31, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. Proposals should be mailed to the Office of Economic Development, 400 E. Washington Street, Petersburg, Virginia 23803. Proposals may also be faxed to (804) 733-1276 or emailed to tjohnson@petersburg-va.org. For information about the property and the content for proposals, please contact the office by telephone at 804-733-2352 or email.

New LoaN ServiciNg SpeciaLiSt

Finance – Multifamily Lending

AssociAte Development officer Professional needed to support VHDA’s multifamily lending efforts and coordinate the loan process from inquiry to closing. Work will initially be done in collaboration with senior level staff, and then autonomously as experience level grows. Associate will analyze potential real estate financing opportunities through research, feasibility analysis, and administrative work.

Ideal candidate will possess some multifamily lending experience and be knowledgeable of area market and industry conditions. Advanced degree in Real Estate, Business, Finance or related field or equivalent commercial real estate experience preferred. Must have some experience in rental real estate underwriting to perform variety of work assignments with minimal supervision. Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook required. Must possess a current driver’s license in good standing and be able to travel, often overnight. Demonstrated organization and prioritization skills and proven attention to detail essential. Innovative problem solving, negotiation, and written & oral communication skills strongly preferred.

Should be able to work independently and in a team environment.

We offer a competitive salary with generous benefits package. Submit resume with cover letter stating salary requirements online only at: http://www.vhda.com/about/careers An EOE Background, credit, and driving record checks will be performed as a condition of employment.

Hiring Range - $59,439 – 77,271

VHDA is seeking a New Loan Servicing Specialist to ensure loans are boarded accurately onto the servicing system. The incumbent will complete critical account verification processes of all new loans boarded onto the servicing system within specified deadlines. Responsibilities include validation of data entered into the loan origination system against loan packages, correction to invalid loan data and performance of quality control of data integrity in the servicing system, setup of escrow buckets and establishment of insurance payees. The specialist will review and monitor daily new loan reports and correct any loan rejects or system errors.

The successful candidate will perform welcome calls to new customers to ensure they have clear instructions on where to send their first payment and ensure system generated welcome letters are sent on all new loans boarded.

Requirements include an Associate’s degree or equivalent work experience, several years of direct mortgage servicing/operations experience, familiarity with loan documents (e.g. Notes, Security Instruments, Loan Estimates, etc.) and experience with Black Knight servicing system. The successful candidate must have a demonstrated willingness to adapt to consistent changes in the mortgage servicing industry and the ability to effectively multi-task to meet deadlines. The ideal candidate is a capable problem solver with an analytical mindset that has the ability to work independently, successfully prioritize multiple functions and meet deadlines. Excellent organizational, communications and customer service skills with attention to detail required.

We offer a competitive salary with generous benefits package. Submit resume with cover letter stating salary requirements online only at: http://www.vhda.com/about/careers An EOE This position closes at midnight on Friday, May 27, 2016.

Background and credit checks will be performed as a condition of employment.

Hiring range - $33,987 – 44,181