World Series Championships Kansas City Monarchs remembered B6
Richmond Free Press © 2014 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 23 NO. 43
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
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Sneakerheads are coming B2
OCTOBER 23-25, 2014
‘Disabled not welcome’ Federal lawsuit seeks elimination of barriers at apartments
Tennis president fined for slurs about sisters Serena, Venus
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
about 5,000 students for 2015. However, these part-time students would not live on campus and would be participating in lower cost programs, which would add far less to the university’s bottom line than 1,000 full-time students. Dr. Miller’s forecast for VSU was issued ahead of an Oct. 31 special meeting of the board of visitors called by Rector Harry Black to consider Dr. Miller’s future at the university. Rumors are rife that he could be asked to resign.
Are the housing rights of disabled people being protected in Richmond? No, say two fair housing watchdog groups, when it comes to new construction. They made the claim in filing a federal lawsuit against an apartment complex going up on the edge of Church Hill. They allege the units are being designed and built with barriers to people in wheelchairs in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act. But the complex owner, as well as Richmond building inspectors and others charged with riding herd on the construction of the $15 million Shockoe Valley View Apartments at Cedar and Mosby streets, say the 151-unit complex is being built in compliance with the federal housing law, statewide building code and other applicable rules and regulations. The decision on who is right will be up to a federal judge. The case is expected to test Richmond’s enforcement of the federal housing law, which for more than 25 years has dictated that new, multifamily apartments be accessible to the disabled. The issue came to the forefront this week when Richmondbased Housing Opportunities Made Equal teamed with the National Fair Housing Alliance to file the case in Richmond federal district court against the apartment complex owner and developer, Genesis Properties, and the architect and builder. The suit emerged after HOME followed its practice of sending in anonymous testers to check on compliance with the federal law’s protections for the disabled. “I just wish they had talked with me first,” said Ronald H. Hunt, head of Genesis, which owns and operates more than 1,300 Richmond apartments. He termed the allegations in the suit “absurd.” “They don’t know what they are talking about,” he said. Protecting the disabled is a new front for HOME, best known for battling housing discrimination against African-Americans, Latinos and other people of color. HOME and its national partner are asking the court to order changes to eliminate the barriers that disabled people with mobility issues would face if they tried to rent in the complex. Mr. Hunt reports that the complex to date has not received any rental applications from disabled people in wheelchairs or with other mobility issues. According to the complaint, potential residents who use wheelchairs would face front-door steps or narrow, steep thresholds on some first-floor units that would bar entry; kitchen designs that would make it difficult to use stoves and refrigerators; and bathroom layouts that would make it impossible to close the door or use the sink. “The physical barriers found at Shockoe Valley View Apartments are just like posting a sign that says, ‘Disabled people are not welcome,’ ” said Heather M. Crislip, president and CEO of HOME. Under the housing act, she said, all newly built units have to be fully accessible to people with mobility challenges, an interpretation of the Fair Housing Act apparently embraced by the federal agency charged with enforcement — the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. According to Douglas Murrow, the Richmond building commissioner charged with ensuring compliance, the state building code that includes regulations to ensure accessibility for the disabled has a different interpretation. In an email, he stated that only 2 percent of the apartments in a new complex like Shockoe Valley View must be fully ac-
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Free Press wire report
SINGAPORE Tennis champion Serena Williams slammed the Russian Tennis Federation president this week for using “extremely sexist, racist and bullying” comments after he described Serena and sister, Venus, as the “Williams brothers.” The WTA took swift action and fined Shamil Tarpishchev $25,000 and disqualified him from working in an organizational Xinhua/Then Chih Wey/Newscom capacity for a year after he made the comments on Russian State Serena Williams expresses dismay at “bullying remarks” of the president of the Russian Television Oct. 17. Tennis Federation during a Singapore press conference for the Women’s Tennis Mr. Tarpishchev, who also Association. The world No. 1 spoke out before preparing to play in the WTA Finals, the is an Inter- season wrap-up. She advanced after winning her first match Monday. national Olympic Committee member, made an official apology By Christian Finkbeiner tives to Ebola. During the weekend, Oct. 18 several members and volunteers Mr. Tarpishchev after the First it was a problem “over packed boxes of medical and food WTA demanded it. there.” supplies that will be shipped to three Serena was unhappy with Now it’s over here. high-risk counties in Liberia. his remarks. “I thought they And people are scared. The supplies, which include 250 were very insensitive and ex“It’s the stigmatization,” said Dr. boxes of rice and beans, will take tremely sexist, as well as racist. Calvin A. Birch, pastor of African four to six weeks by cargo ship to I thought they were in a way Christian Community Church in reach Liberia, Dr. Birch said. bullying,” she told reporters in Henrico County. “That’s the big In the United States, while one Singapore. obstacle.” is more likely to get struck by Dr. Birch “I’ve done the best that I can Dr. Birch is chairman of Virginlightning than contract the Ebola do, and that’s all I can say. So I ians in Action for Liberia Against Ebola. virus, people are still afraid. just wasn’t very happy with his The campaign began in August, formed As was the case with the AIDS scare in comments. I think a lot of people by Virginia residents with personal connec- the 1980s, many Americans ignore facts and weren’t happy as well. tions to Liberia. indulge that fear. “But the WTA and the The West African nation is one of three hit And fear begets panic, prejudice and myriad USTA (United States Tennis hardest by the Ebola epidemic. Nearly 5,000 other problems. Association) did a wonderful people have died from the Ebola outbreak “The fear is reasonable,” Dr. Birch told job of making sure that — in in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone since the Free Press. “Nobody wants to die, and this day and age, 2014 — for December 2013. Please turn to A4 Many VALAE participants have lost rela-
Local supplies, hope headed to Africa’s Ebola-stricken areas
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No boost for VSU enrollment until 2018 By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Dr. Keith T. Miller has publicly waxed optimistic about recruiting more students and reversing the enrollment slide at Virginia State University. But in an 11-page memo the Free Press obtained, the embattled VSU president offers a less rosy view. Based on current trends, he projects it could take up to four years to stem the decline in undergraduate enrollment, a situation that signals continuing financial challenges for the university that already
is coping with a $19.5 million deficit this year. Dr. Miller’s memo also projects that the only substantial increase in student numbers during the next four years would come from adults enrolling in continuing education and online courses, or from high school students taking VSU courses for college credit through a dual-enrollment program. He projects that VSU will have 1,000 such part-time students next year. These part-time students would comprise 20 percent of VSU’s projected total enrollment of
Mayor’s plan keeps Squirrels at The Diamond By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Mayor Dwight C. Jones has kept his promise. He has returned to City Council with his latest proposal regarding a minor league baseball stadium in Richmond. But surprisingly, the proposal he has presented has nothing to do with building a replacement stadium in Shockoe Bottom for the Richmond Flying Squirrels — a proposal now drawing fire from Hollywood star Lupita Nyong’o, who won an Academy Award for her impassioned acting in the movie “12 Years a Slave. ” Instead, Mayor Jones’ new proposal is a lease that could keep the Double A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants playing through 2019 at the team’s current home — The Diamond on the Boulevard. The proposed lease would replace one that the Flying Squirrels signed two years ago with the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, a regional group that has owned The Diamond. The RMA plans to turn over ownership of the stadium to the city at the end of this year.
According to Chris A. Beschler, acting chief administrative officer for Richmond, the city and the team need a lease in place in order to have a smooth transition when the city becomes the stadium’s landlord. The proposed lease, which is currently on City Council’s meeting agenda for Monday, Oct. 27, provides for the Flying Squirrels to play the 2015 and 2016 seasons at The Diamond. After that, the team and the city could mutually extend the lease a year at a time for up to three years before a new lease would be required. If nothing else, the proposed agreement signals that Mayor Jones has given up any realistic hope of having a new stadium in place before his second and final term in office ends Dec. 31, 2016. As the Free Press reported last week, the mayor appears to be putting more priority in gaining a proposed children’s hospital for Please turn to A4
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Little helper Camden Talley, 4, lends his great uncle Jeremy Rountree a hand. The pair spread gravel to slow weeds in a garden near their home. Location: Chimborazo Boulevard and N Street in Church Hill.