By Brodie Greene
her, her friends and her family. “I wanted to give them a space for all those people who wanted to do something and didn’t know how,” Figueroa said. After coordinating with organizers of the nationwide movement, Figueroa took it on herself to register the protest and find speakers for it. She said she plans to orchestrate more protests in the future.. Attacks on the LGBTQ+ community hit close to home for Lyn Jones, a 16-year-old activist and blog writer, who
By Paula Phounsavath
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., met with community leaders Monday morning at Health Brigade, formerly Fan Free Clinic, for a roundtable discussion on their concerns about President Donald Trump’s controversial executive orders.
Local leaders, including Mayor Danny Avula, Health Brigade Executive Director Karen Legato and nonprofit organization executives supporting underserved communities, shared their concerns. They discussed the potential closure of the Medicaid portal, the negative impact on homeless services and the uncertainty facing immigrant communities under the threat of U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“The obvious reason to have this is that you’re all affected and I want to hear how, so I can do my job better,” Kaine said to community leaders during the panel discussion. “The less obvious reason why I really need to do this is, if you weren’t telling me, I don’t know.”
Many community leaders at the roundtable criticized the Trump administration’s policies. Legato emphasized that “it’s not just fear and anxiety” but real challenges that individuals have faced since Trump took office.
“I’m calling this psychological terrorism because it feels like it is bombarding with everything you can out of the White House,” she said. “When it hits multiple groups like this, I mean, you can see just the
chaos in this room.”
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – an executive office that manages the president’s budget, policies and programs – ordered a pause in a memorandum on Jan. 27 on disbursing almost $3 trillion worth of federal loans and grants to states and governmentfunded organizations.
OMB Acting Director Matthew Vaeth said in the memo that the temporary pause was to review federal programs consistent with President Donald Trump’s priorities and “ending ‘wokeness.’” This left many Americans confused about which programs the pause would apply to, but the Trump administration later clarified that mandatory government spending such as Medicaid,
By Brodie Greene
During
While
By Paula Phounsavath
The Richmond School Board unanimously approved new policies and resolutions aimed at protecting immigrant students during Tuesday night’s meeting. Before the budget public hearing, Chairwoman Shavonda Fernandez, 8th District, read a resolution affirming students’ right to access education and privacy protections from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
This followed President Donald Trump’s Jan. 21 decision to lift a policy that had restricted ICE from conducting raids in sensitive areas, including schools. Superintendent
Free Press staff report
Chief Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn of the Supreme Court of Virginia has announced his retirement, effective Jan. 1, 2026. His departure will coincide with the conclusion of his term as chief justice, which began Jan. 1, 2022. Goodwyn was appointed to the Supreme Court of Virginia in 2007 by then-Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. He was unanimously elected by the General Assembly in 2008 and re-elected in 2020. Before joining the Supreme Court, he served more than 10 years as a judge on the Circuit Court for the City of Chesapeake and two years on the city’s General District Court.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Conference of Chief Justices and chairs its Criminal Justice Committee. He is also a former co-chair of the Virginia Access to Justice Commission and a recipient of the Virginia Bar Association’s Gerald L. Baliles Distinguished Service Award.
Before his judicial career, Goodwyn was a research associate professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and a litigation partner at a Norfolk law firm. He earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1983 and his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1986.
Clarence T. Hunter Jr., a former deputy chief of police at Virginia Union University, has been named chief of the Virginia Commonwealth University Police Department.
Hunter, whose career began with the Richmond Police Department in 1990, has served in multiple law enforcement agencies across the region. He was deputy chief of police at Virginia Union from August 2022 to September 2023. His experience also includes leadership roles in the Henrico County Police Division, where he served as deputy chief and later assistant chief of police.
His appointment, effective Feb. 10, follows a national search. The final three candidates visited VCU in December, meeting with students, faculty and staff.
“VCU is fortunate to welcome Clarence Hunter as chief of police, an experienced law enforcement professional whose background with community policing aligns with VCU’s mission and values,” said Meredith Weiss, VCU’s senior vice president for finance and administration.
Hunter has been a Fair and Impartial Policing national master instructor for more than a decade, working to address bias in policing and providing anti-bias and diversity, equity and inclusion training to law enforcement agencies.
Before entering law enforcement, Hunter served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and the Virginia Army National Guard, retiring at the rank of master sergeant. He earned a bachelor’s in organizational leadership from Mountain State University and is a graduate of leadership programs at North Carolina State University, the University of Richmond and the Police Executive Research Forum.
A swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 10, at 3 p.m. in room 303 of the James Cabell Branch Library.
Hunter succeeds John Venuti, who will become the associate vice president for public safety at VCU and VCU Health.
Free Press staff report
Felicia Ganther has been appointed as the new senior vice chancellor for academic and workforce services at the Virginia Community College System.
“Dr. Ganther brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our core leadership team,” said VCCS Chancellor David Dore. “I’m excited that she will play a vital role in advancing our mission, the Accelerate Opportunity strategic plan, and our One-System objectives.”
Felicia Ganther
Ganther previously served as a presidential Fellow with the League for Innovation in the Community College, where she led the development of the League’s new Center for Workforce Solutions. She also helped pilot fast-track credentials with the construction industry. Most recently, she was president of Bucks County Community College, where she improved enrollment rates and secured significant funding for various initiatives.
“I am humbled and honored to serve Virginia’s Community Colleges at this critical time in the evolution of higher education,” said Ganther. “I believe my experience will help me make a contribution to our students and our colleges.”
Editor’s Note
By Ashley Murray
Thousands gathered on Capitol Hill
Wednesday to protest the Trump administration’s bulldozing of U.S. disaster aid and critical medical care in war-torn and poverty-stricken regions around the globe.
The future of American humanitarian efforts is unclear after U.S. Agency for International Development employees were told late Tuesday to prepare for administrative leave and abandon global posts within a few weeks.
A throng of demonstrators near the U.S. Senate office buildings carried signs reading “Republicans, where are your spines?” and “USAID makes America safe, strong and prosperous.”
They encircled Democratic lawmakers and former USAID officials, who pleaded with the crowd to “not give up” as the Republican-held Congress allows “Elon Musk’s illegal takeover of USAID” — as Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs of California put it.
“And let’s be clear, while USAID might be first, it is not going to be the last. But joke’s on them because who knows better how to work in an authoritarian country than all of you?” she said to a cheering crowd that included humanitarian workers.
DOGE takeover
Individuals identifying themselves as part of Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” forcefully entered the computer systems at USAID’s Washington, D.C., headquarters over the weekend. Democratic lawmakers have vowed “to fight this legally in every way we can,” Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey told the crowd.
In response to questions about Musk’s personnel gaining entry to USAID, President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that the agency is “run by radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out and we’ll make a decision.”
Trump placed Musk in charge of the “U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization” that, according to Trump’s own executive order, is supposed to modernize federal technology and software. Musk has used it to gain access to USAID, as well as the Treasury Department’s payment systems — for which the department is now facing a lawsuit. All workers on leave All “direct hire” USAID workers will be placed on leave as of 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Friday, according to a message posted late Tuesday on USAID.gov. The message is the first item to appear on the website since it went dark Saturday.
Workers who are “designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs” will be notified by Thursday at 3 p.m. Eastern if they are expected to continue working, according to the memo. Overseas workers have 30 days to leave their posts unless given an exception for a special circumstance.
“Thank you for your service,” the message concluded.
The Department of State did not respond to States Newsroom’s questions regarding how many workers will remain employed and where they will continue humanitarian missions.
AIDS epidemic under President George W. Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.
Atul Gawande, a surgeon who led USAID’s global health program for three years prior to Trump’s second administration, led the crowd in a “Let them work” chant.
“Until two weeks ago, there was a malaria team with world experts, and they are gone. Until two weeks ago, there was a TB (tuberculosis) team, and they are gone,” Gawande said.
“They have called this ‘shock and awe.’ It is shock and destroy. You cannot dismantle a plane and fire the crew in mid-flight, but that’s what an oligarch with unchecked power is doing to life-saving foreign assistance programs,” Gawande said.
Brian York, 41, of Fairfax County, Virginia, stood in the crowd with a doublesided hand-drawn sign bearing the messages “Let’s Make America Gracious Again” and “Defend USAID.”
“I support my government. I was a Boy Scout. My father was a naval aviator. I actually like this country, and I want it to do better than this,” York said.
List of ‘waste, fraud and abuse’
The White House maintains that USAID “has been completely unaccountable for decades, run by bureaucrats with agendas who believed they answered to nobody.”
In a post on X Wednesday, White House communications personnel listed 28 of what they characterized as problematic USAID projects.
“We will fight their violation of civil service laws. We will fight their violation of civil rights laws. We will fight their violations of separation of powers. We will fight their violations of our Constitution of the United States of America,” Booker said, issuing a plea for Republicans to join in sponsoring legislation to save USAID.
Two-thirds of the roughly 10,000 USAID employees work overseas. The top 10 recipients of USAID assistance in 2023, the most recent complete data available, were Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan and Syria, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Without specifying details, including the length of funding, the post specifically listed: “$6.3 million for men who have sex with men in South Africa,” “$1.3 million to Arab and Jewish photographers,” “$20 million for a new Sesame Street show in Iraq,” “$1.5 million for ‘art for inclusion of people with disabilities,’” and “$500K to solve sectarian violence in Israel.”
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“This is not about demonizing a political party. It is about telling the truth about Donald Trump’s actions and Elon Musk’s actions,” Booker said.
Rep. Madeleine Dean told the crowd, “Do not fatigue.”
“These are not normal times,” said the Pennsylvania Democrat. “What is going on is corrupt. It is cruel, it is chaotic, it is lawless, it is unconstitutional, and that’s the point. Do not go home. Please stay with us. Bring more people to us and demand the same of our Republican colleagues. Where are they? When will they stand up to this lawless administration?”
“You know who’s cheering today?” Bama Athreya, former USAID deputy administrator, asked the crowd. “ISIS is cheering. Al Qaeda is cheering as we recall thousands of people around the world” who give young people and families “options,” she said. Ukraine aid
Congress allocated roughly $40 billion for USAID in 2023. That year, the agency allocated a large chunk to governance and humanitarian aid for Ukraine as the Eastern European nation faces a continued invasion from Russia.
The agency also carries a reputation for its work containing global health emergencies — perhaps best known for administering funds to fight the global
“President Trump is STOPPING the waste, fraud, and abuse,” concluded the post on X, which is owned by Musk, a billionaire Trump campaign donor. USAID’s X account disappeared over the weekend.
Democratic lawmakers protested outside USAID headquarters Monday as Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he was now acting administrator of the agency. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, one of the protesting lawmakers, said he would block Trump’s forthcoming Department of State nominations — a move that will slow down, but not stop, the nominations in the GOP-led chamber.
This story originally appeared on VirgniaMercury.com
grew up with two mothers. “Rights for minorities are being targeted and I want to call attention to that because my family is so affected by it,” Jones said.
Jones volunteered to speak at the event after hearing about it three days prior. “I do not have public speaking experience, but I thought ‘Well, it’s time to start.’ So I wrote a speech and I showed up,” she said.
As Trump’s administration has rapidly introduced new policies, people are turning to protest because they are scared and unsure of what to do, according to Sabrina Burfield, a protestor at the event. However, those opposed to the Trump administration cannot stop their advocacy at protest, she said.
Jason Kamras assured the community on Jan. 27 that RPS immigrant students would remain protected, regardless of their status.
Additionally, RPS Ombudsman Victoria Gochez presented an updated immigration policy outlining staff training on handling federal immigration law enforcement. The revised policy further restricts ICE from entering school grounds and requires compliance with school division policies. Fernandez expressed her gratitude to Gochez and her team for their responsiveness.
Shavonda
Fernandez
“Thank you for being proactive, and not reactive to the federal mandates that were brought down,” Fernandez said. “These are unprecedented times, but with the commitment that we have with our fellow colleagues in [the RPS] administration, I have no doubt that we will ride and wait.”
In another matter, the School Board also approved sign-on bonuses in an 8–1 vote to attract new hires and encourage returning teachers for the upcoming school year.
Kamras outlined the bonuses full-time teachers will receive for the 2025-2026 academic year, allocating $3.35 million to the FY26 budget — an increase of $2.6 million from the previous year. The incentive plan was amended to prioritize staffing at schools with the highest vacancies.
Teachers who sign their offer letter before June 1 for the 2025-2026 academic year will receive a $7,500 early commitment signing bonus but must agree to a three-year contract with RPS. Returning preschool teachers in hard-to-staff positions will receive a $2,500 retention bonus with a required one-year commitment.
“We need collective action. We need people to actually organize, to talk with each other, to not just stand around fighting for their own cause. Instead we’ll be unified,” she said.
As a trans woman, Burfield could be directly affected by executive orders issued under Trump’s administration. However, she refuses to live in fear. “They can take my identification cards. I don’t care. I’m still going to be Sabrina Evelyn Burfield, and I don’t plan to go down without swinging,” she said.
Charles Gaertner traveled from Charlottesville to voice his concerns about the conservative organizations and individuals Trump has empowered, such as billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. Although much of the protest centered around Donald Trump, Gaertner believes the focus needs to be on showing Trump’s supporters that they made the wrong choice.
“We’re wasting time demonizing him. He loves it. We’re wasting time ringing our hands. We need to go to our neighbor who voted for Trump and say, ‘Don’t you see where this is going? Don’t you see how absurd and insane this is?’”
SNAP benefits and Social Security are exceptions to the freeze.
The OMB rescinded the federal funding freeze within 48 hours on Jan. 29.
Though the federal freeze has been rescinded, Trump ordered a pause in federal funding from the bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, which Congress passed and then-President Joe Biden signed in 2022. This pause means that localities, companies and organizations that received federal funding from these laws remain uncertain of their allotment status.
Virginia Housing Alliance Executive Director Brian Koziol weighed in on the rescinded federal funding freeze, stating it was not well-managed.
“The freeze was pretty inelegantly rolled out, I think, probably kind of embarrassing if I had done something like that,” Koziol said.
In addition to rescinding the federal funding freeze, Trump signed an executive order rolling back DEI programs within the federal government. Amy Strite, executive director of SPAN Center, a nonprofit organization focused on elderly care, pointed out the implications of the executive order.
“Not only do we have a mandate to serve
individuals at greatest risk, we have made it our commitment,” Strite emphasized. “How do we continue to honor that and uphold that? It’s a big question weighing on us as well.”
Toward the end of the roundtable discussion, Kaine said he plans to take the community leaders’ concerns to his congressional colleagues and urge local officials to keep serving its citizens.
“If it gets hard, then tell us it’s hard and tell us what questions you have,” he said. “The job of those [who are] disappointed is to have the backs of those who are afraid and that’s what we’re trying to do right now.”
“We’re a small business. I got two kids. I got a business. I got a daytime job. For us to try to find time is very tough nowadays,” Lemon said.
That probably won’t change after Sunday, when an advertisement featuring Penny’s Wine Shop in Jackson Ward will air during the local broadcast of the Super Bowl. The commercial is part of a “50 States, 50 Stories” campaign, which will highlight the impact that Google Gemini, a artificial intelligence program, has had on 50 small businesses.
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With a busy schedule, the owners of the Penny’s began to use artificial intelligence to create marketing materials for their business. They employ it to craft emails and their monthly newsletter, something that previously took nearly four hours.
“It’s very easy to say, ‘Here are the points that I want to touch. Please generate something for me’ and it’ll do what it needs to do,” Lemon said, adding that they were approached by Google representatives last year about the advertisement.
The use of artificial intelligence is not uncommon in small businesses, and is expected to increase in 2025. According to a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 41% of small businesses say they use AI, an increase of 17% from 2023. According to a survey conducted by J.P. Morgan, 48% of small business owners plan to implement artificial intelligence in their businesses in 2025, while around 46% expressed concern about the potential negative impact on business.
“Our goal has always been good people, good wine, good food, good times,” Lemon said. “We always set out to have an approachable way of presenting ourselves in our business. It’s a fantastic opportunity.”
By Nathaniel Cline
A push to allow African American studies as a history credit for Virginia high schoolers cleared a major hurdle Monday, with bills advancing in both the House and Senate.
House Bill 1824, introduced by Del. David Reid, D-Loudoun, and Senate Bill 1462, sponsored by Sen. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, would let students substitute African American history or AP African American studies for required history and social studies credits. The Senate bill was amended to swap it in for World History II instead of Virginia and U.S. History.
Both measures cleared their respective chambers on second reading, making a final nod on Tuesday all but certain.
The effort has drawn strong support from educators.
“We believe that African American history is U.S. history, and we, the executive board of the VSSLC, are excited to support this bill,” said Neely Minton, co-legislative liaison and
president-elect of the Virginia Social Studies Leaders Consortium, at a January subcommittee hearing. However, some lawmakers pushed for adjustments. Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, a public school teacher, backed an amendment to ensure that “every kid” still takes Virginia and U.S. History. The debate over African American studies comes amid heightened scrutiny of race-related curriculum by Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration. The first AP African American studies course was added last year, but not without controversy — Youngkin’s education department proposed dozens of revisions before its approval, The Washington Post reported. With both bills now moving forward, the next test will come at crossover, when the opposite chambers review and vote on the proposals. If they pass, they head to Youngkin’s desk for final approval. This story originally appeared at VirginiaMercury.com.
By Paula Phounsavath
After months of production, the Armstrong Leadership Program will premiere its documentary on the program’s summer trip focused on the African American experience on Feb. 25 at 5:30 p.m. at the Richmond Hill Chapel on 2209 E. Grace St.
The 20-minute documentary, “I Am My Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams,” follows students on a recent two-week summer trip through the Deep South, where they explored and reflected on the struggles and triumphs of African American history.
The documentary was captured through camcorders, tape recordings and sit-down interviews with a local film production team, Wild Bridge Films.
“It was a lot to try to capture, but I think that it’s really important to them, and especially such a time as this,” said ALP Executive Director
Yvette Davis-Rajput.
The summer trip was a part of ALP’s Cultural History Immersion Project, a program designed to educate the 10 student leaders — known as “CHIP Ambassadors” — on Black history. The students traveled to Greensboro, North Carolina; Atlanta; and Tuskegee, Montgomery and Selma, Alabama; from July 31 to Aug. 3.
Davis-Rajput emphasized the importance of Black History Month as a vital part of American history, including that students should remain connected to their ancestral roots.
“We still carry that flame of justice,” she said. “I just wanted to ensure that there’s not as much disconnect, but they feel that connection.”
After the screening, there will be a panel discussion, moderated by public historian and University of Richmond adjunct professor, Lauranett Lee. A soul food dinner reception will be catered by The Underground Kitchen, follows.
DOMINION ENERGY VIRGINIA
On August 7, 2024, the State Corporation Commission (“Commission”) issued an Order Directing Evidentiary Proceeding, Pilot and Improvements to the Interconnection Process (“Order”) in Case No. PUR-2022-00073. This Order, among other things, directed that a separate evidentiary proceeding be convened on Virginia Electric and Power Company’s (“Dominion” or “Company”) requirements surrounding the use of dark fiber-optic cables for direct transfer trip (“DTT”). In Case No. PUR-2022-00073, parties raised concerns surrounding the costs of DTT as well as concerns regarding maintaining grid safety and reliability with the addition of significant levels of utility distributed energy resources (“DER”). As such, in its Order the Commission found that DTT-related issues raised in Case No. PUR-2022-00073 warranted a formal evidentiary proceeding, which would allow parties to establish a robust factual record on the use of DTT by Dominion to interconnect generation facilities subject to the Regulations Governing Interconnection of Small Electrical Generators and Storage, and the Regulations Governing Net Energy Metering, and to establish a record on possible related alternatives which are not unduly burdensome and expensive. The Order directed Dominion to make a filing in a new docket, on or before November 15, 2024, that: (i) proposes revisions to its terms and conditions applicable to interconnection customers and net metering customers and (ii) addresses certain issues specified in the Order.
On November 15, 2024, Dominion filed its petition (“Petition”) in the instant docket. In its Petition, the Company proposes criteria for interconnections requiring fiber based DTT. To determine if a generation site requires DTT, the Company proposes to use a load to generation ratio (“LTGR”) screen. Dominion asserts that the LTGR screen would be done on a threephase interrupting device upline from the proposed generator, where the total light loading realized by the interrupting device would be divided by the aggregate generation of each protective device. According to the Company, if the ratio is less than 3:1, the DER developer or customer would be required to install DTT from the upline device to the proposed site. The Company claims that the LTGR screen would ensure that all electrical sources connected to the distribution system without DTT would experience a minimum of three times more load than generation during a fault event when disconnected from the distribution system, which would ensure that the generator would promptly disconnect during fault conditions.
As part of its Petition, in compliance with a directive in the Order, Dominion presents potential alternatives to DTT, specifically: (i) minimum import protection and (ii) ground switch. In addition to these two alternatives, the Company states that it is currently piloting dual carrier cellular as an alternative to fiber as the primary communication medium to transmit a DTT signal for midsized net metering projects ranging from 250 kilowatts to 1 megawatt.
Dominion states that, while various alternatives currently exist, DTT remains a viable, responsible, and dependable protection solution that: (i) provides grid safety and reliability; (ii) provides Dominion with a dependable tool to ensure public and personnel safety during fault and islanding conditions; (iii) directly signals the DER to disconnect in the event of a fault and/ or an island, making it highly reliable for system protection; and (iv) has several advantages, including providing a nearinstantaneous response by directly commanding DER to trip, remaining effective regardless of loadgeneration balance or system conditions, and minimizing nuisance trips and avoiding unnecessary disconnection of DER.
Interested persons are encouraged to review Dominion’s Petition and supporting documents in full for additional details of the Company’s proposals in this case.
The Commission entered an Order for Notice and Hearing in this proceeding that, among other things, scheduled public hearings on Dominion’s Petition. A hearing for the receipt of testimony from public witnesses on the Company’s Petition shall be convened telephonically at 10 a.m. on September 30, 2025. On or before September 23, 2025, any person desiring to offer testimony as a public witness shall provide to the Commission: (a) your name, and (b) the telephone number that you wish the Commission to call during the hearing to receive your testimony. This information may be provided to the Commission in three ways: (i) by filling out a form on the Commission’s website at scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting; (ii) by completing and emailing the PDF version of this form to SCCInfo@scc.virginia.gov; or (iii) by calling (804) 371-9141. This public witness hearing will be webcast at scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting
Beginning at 10 a.m. on September 30, 2025, the Commission will telephone sequentially each person who has signed up to testify as provided above.
On September 30, 2025, at 10 a.m., or at the conclusion of the public witness portion of the hearing, whichever is later, in the Commission’s second floor courtroom located in the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, the Commission will convene a hearing to receive testimony and evidence related to the Petition from the Company, any respondents, and the Staff of the Commission (“Staff”). To promote administrative efficiency and timely service of filings upon participants, the
Commission has directed the electronic filing of testimony and pleadings, unless they contain confidential information, and required electronic service on parties to this proceeding.
An electronic copy of the Company’s Petition may be obtained by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company: Jontille D. Ray, Esquire, McGuireWoods LLP, Gateway Plaza, 800 East Canal Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, or jray@mcguirewoods.com Interested persons may also download unofficial copies of the Petition and the public version of other documents filed in this case from the Commission’s website: scc.virginia.gov/pages/ Case-Information
On or before September 23, 2025, any interested person may submit comments on the Petition by following the instructions found on the Commission’s website: scc.virginia. gov/casecomments/Submit-Public-Comments. Those unable, as a practical matter, to submit comments electronically may file such comments by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission, c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118. All such comments shall refer to Case No. PUR-2024-00211.
Interested persons that wish to file written comments or testimony may consider discussing, among any other remarks, the following topics:
• Describe under what circumstances, if any, DTT should be required;
• The operational considerations supporting any proposed use of DTT and/or any alternatives to DTT, including perceived benefits and limitations of those options (such as the feasibility, effectiveness, latency, grid safety and reliability, cybersecurity, availability, location and project size of each alternative);
• Any response to the information provided by Dominion in its Petition;
• Detail any specific projects submitted to Dominion for which, in your view, DTT should not have been required;
• Provide examples of projects constructed in other jurisdictions by a utility with similar operational characteristics (such as similar voltage levels) to Dominion, but where DTT was not required; and
• Provide any additional information that would be useful for the Commission to know in ruling on this issue.
On or before April 15, 2025, any person or entity wishing to participate as a respondent in this proceeding may do so by filing a notice of participation with the Clerk of the Commission at scc.virginia.gov/clk/efiling. Those unable, as a practical matter, to file a notice of participation electronically may file such notice by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the Commission at the address listed above. Such notice of participation shall include the email addresses of such parties or their counsel, if available. The respondent simultaneously shall serve a copy of the notice of participation on counsel to the Company, any other respondents and Staff electronically as described above. Pursuant to 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, Participation as a respondent, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, 5 VAC 5-20-10 et seq. (“Rules of Practice”), any notice of participation shall set forth: (i) a precise statement of the interest of the respondent; (ii) a statement of the specific action sought to the extent then known; and (iii) the factual and legal basis for the action. Any organization, corporation, or government body participating as a respondent must be represented by counsel as required by 5 VAC 5-20-30, Counsel of the Rules of Practice. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2024-00211. For additional information about participation as a respondent, any person or entity should obtain a copy of the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing.
On or before August 12, 2025, each respondent may file with the Clerk of the Commission, at scc.virginia.gov/clk/efiling, any testimony and exhibits by which the respondent expects to establish its case. Any respondent unable, as a practical matter, to file testimony and exhibits electronically may file such by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the Commission at the address listed above. Each witness’s testimony shall include a summary not to exceed one page. All testimony and exhibits shall be served electronically on the Staff, the Company, and all other respondents simultaneous with their filing. In all filings, respondents shall comply with the Rules of Practice, as modified herein, including, but not limited to: 5 VAC 5-20-140, Filing and service and 5 VAC 5-20-240, Prepared testimony and exhibits. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR2024-00211.
Any documents filed in paper form with the Office of the Clerk of the Commission in this docket may use both sides of the paper. In all other respects, except as modified by the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing, all filings shall comply fully with the requirements of 5 VAC 5-20-150, Copies and format, of the Rules of Practice.
The Company’s Petition, the Commission’s Rules of Practice, the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing, and other documents filed in the case
For the third consecutive year, Richmond is ranked among the top 10 U.S. cities with the highest percentage of Black-owned businesses, according to a new analysis from LendingTree. The report found that 7.6% of businesses in Richmond are Black-owned, an increase from 5.6% in last year’s study. The River City is home to more than 1,800 Black-owned businesses and has the 22nd highest Black population rate in the country.
Women play a significant role in Black business ownership, with 39.1% of Black-owned businesses in the U.S. led by women — nearly double the percentage of women-owned businesses overall. St. Louis (7.3%) and Charlotte, North Carolina (7.1%), follow Richmond in the rankings. Nationally, Black-owned businesses have increased by 22.2% year over year, now making up 3.3% of all U.S. businesses. For the full report, visit LendingTree.com.
Mrs. Marion Nanton Jones, widow of Rev. Dr. Miles Jerome Jones, former pastor of Providence Park Baptist Church, celebrated her 100 th birthday on February 5, 2025.
Mrs. Jones, a native of New York was surprised by her son, Keith and wife, Shelia, of Fredericksburg, Virginia with a delightful family celebration which was attended by relatives from New York and Maryland. Mrs. Jones also has one grandson, Kelvin and wife Kristine, two great grandsons, Keiren Miles and Korbin Braddock. The members of Providence Park Baptist Church honored Mrs Jones during the 10:00 a.m. worship service on Sunday, February 2, 2025.
I remember the first time I heard about Black History Month. It’s one of those memories that’s etched in my mind from elementary school. Unlike the time we were called to the cafeteria for free candy bars and comic books — though I can’t remember why — this moment wasn’t one of the best. It was a jarring realization, the first of many to come as I became more aware of the status of Black Americans in this country.
The teachers told me that February was Black History Month, which sounded cool. They told me about the people and places we’d be learning about for the next few weeks, some of the names I recognized, but many of them were new to me. The younger version of myself wondered how Black people had managed to set this up, where we get a month of education and celebration every year, and everyone else was expected to join in, to some extent. It was later that I heard the reasoning and the history behind what was once known as “Negro History Week,” when it was created by Carter G. Woodson back in 1926. Woodson, an educator known as the “father of Black history,” established the weeklong focus on Black history to shed light on the stories that were left out of mainstream textbooks and common historical narratives. In 1976, Gerald Ford, the first president I remember, expanded it to a month and it became what we know today.
Here’s what disturbed me as a young man: The powers that be recognized Black History Month and, in doing so, acknowledged the reasons for it. Yet those same powers continued to push Black history to the margins in textbooks and allowed stories of African Americans to go untold in museums, mainstream media and government policy. Maybe I didn’t have the words for it back then, but I wondered: If we all know this injustice is happening in our schools and beyond, why is it allowed to continue? The month serves as a balm, but why does the pain persist? I feared what kind of hypocritical and complex world that awaited me in adulthood. I found that out later.
Every year, it seems some people complain about the existence of Black History Month. I won’t repeat their tired arguments, which stem from having to confront the reality of American history for just 28 days each year. What they don’t realize is that, by voicing their ignorance, they’re actually making the case for keeping the annual celebration. They need to learn; it’s a shame that they won’t give themselves a chance.
As long as Black History Month exists, the struggle to make this history a part of everyday life will continue. So, as we celebrate, let’s remember to ensure that the history we honor is reflected every day of the year.
As the investigation into Wednesday’s air disaster in Washington was still getting underway, President Donald Trump didn’t bother to wait for actual evidence to figure out what was to blame: “DEI.”
That’s shorthand, in case you haven’t heard, for di versity, equity and inclusion programs, a controversial hiring practice that has be come a onesize-fits-all bludgeon for the president and his allies to use against Democrats — even when facts don’t support them.
Such partisan eagerness to demonize DEI for every disaster reminds me of the liberal critics whom former United Nations Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, a Ronald Reagan appointee, labeled the “blame America first” crowd for their habitual response to foreign policy challenges.
Now Trump, with his notoriously casual regard for inconvenient facts, habitually responds to disasters by blaming DEI first.
We saw that as wildfires recently burned through the hills of Los Angeles and internet trolls blamed DEI, apparently because Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is Black and the city’s fire chief, Kristin Crowley, a 22-year vet-
The 47th President has attacked our government like a bull in a China closet. He is doing his best to upend precedent and policy, as he promised that he would.
eran of the department, is the first woman and openly queer person to lead it.
Among the trolls beating that bogus drum was Trump’s billionaire buddy Elon Musk, who shared screenshots of the fires and wild accusations like “DEI means people DIE.”
Similarly, waves of trolls blamed the collapse of Balti-
more’s Francis Scott Key bridge on “Baltimore’s DEI mayor,” Brandon Scott, who happens to be Black, as soon as he appeared on TV to update the public.
The X account of something called the Young Conservative Federation posted a picture of a Black woman, Karenthia Barber, who served as a port commissioner. Her bio listed her experience in DEI audits and consulting.
That led Phil Lyman, a Republican and gubernatorial candidate in Utah, to chime in with an attack on Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who also, yes, happens to be Black.
Lyman wrote on X: “This is what happens when you have Governors who prioritize diversity over the wellbeing and security of citizens.”
The allegation might have risen above ignorant innuendo if Lyman had tried to show any
now reign could attempt to erase history, and they will continue to attempt to rewrite reality. Erasing the Tuskegee Airmen is at the tip of the iceberg.
evidence that the governor, the mayor or the port commissioner had anything to do with the container ship striking the bridge.
But that’s the exciting life DEI has taken on in the MAGA imagination. It’s no longer merely a set of principles in the realm of hiring and workplace relations. It now elects “diverse” agents of destruction into government.
In another twist to the craziness, a trans woman wrongly named as one of the pilots in this week’s deadly air collision urged the public to spread the word on how fake this news really was.
“Some craziness has happened on the internet and I’m being named as one of the pilots of the DC crash,” posted Jo Ellis, a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot for the Virginia National Guard. “It’s insulting to the victims and families of those lost and they deserve better than this BS from the bots and trolls of the internet.”
I remember how diversity policies began in the 1960s when the racially inflamed violence and politics of the decade spread to ranks of the military. I had been drafted, and I witnessed some of the tensions firsthand, as well as a services-wide effort to weed out racial discrimination.
Anti-discrimination efforts resulted in some excellent promotions in the U.S. armed forces. Many excellent African
Americans and others who had been turned down for promotions got a second look. One of them was Colin Powell, who would later rise to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and served as the first Black secretary of state.
But that’s not to say that I don’t have questions about DEI policies, just as many other practically minded people on the right and the left or in between. It’s no simple matter to fight discrimination against women and minorities without swinging too far into the “reverse discrimination” that creates unfair outcomes as well. DEI may seem like a pain, but everyone wants fairness. That’s a goal worth working for. Even when we fall short, that means we should reach higher. The writer is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
He has issued hundreds of executive orders, pardoned convicted criminals (like himself), manipulated the truth through websites, abolished DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion measures), put hundreds on administrative leave, and caused more damage in just a few days than most do in a lifetime. Additionally, wholesale deportations of undocumented people have shattered families, disrupted communities and upended some international relationships.
These people are so creative that they can turn a violent insurrection into a benign Capitol tour, although who comes to a Capitol tour with weapons and bear spray?
The folks who chose to stay home during this election are regretting it. There were those who said that he wouldn’t be “so bad”, but he has been worse than we could ever have imagined. But it is what most voters, that is those who were not suppressed out, chose.
The Department of Defense, zealous acolytes genuflecting at the President’s anti-DEI stance, decided to scrub references to the Tuskegee Airmen in their Air Force training videos. Within days, his morally compromised choice and marginally selected Secretary of Defense reversed that decision. The Tuskegee Airmen videos are back in. This is not cause for celebration. The fact that the anti-DEI forces that
The violent, insurrection crowd has been described by the current president as “peaceful” and “hos-
tages,” even as many have been convicted of assault against law enforcement officers. If they can erase the unlawful actions of Jan. 6, they can attempt to erase the massive contributions of African American people to this country. We will not be erased.
Carter G. Woodson, founder of Negro History Week, now African American History Month, established our historical presence because of our nation’s tendency to forget injustice. Many, like Presidential sidekick Elon Musk, who has encouraged Germans to move “past guilt” of the Holocaust, indeed exhorting them not to “lose” their culture “in some sort of multiculturalism.” He is the Trump whisperer, and it is likely that he and 47 are having similar conversations about the role that multiculturalism has in contemporary society. They don’t want to go back and embrace our flawed past. Instead, they’d prefer to swallow our difference with a sense of misplaced pride in our past.
The unsuccessful attempt to erase Tuskegee from Air Force
training tapes is not the worst thing this administration has done. Abruptly halting federal grand programs, including food assistance, impact millions and is an unnecessary flexing of power muscles. Peremptorily and illegally firing inspectors general in several government departments is a bullying tactic. Somebody does not want inspectors general because they do not want illegal actions to be inspected. With skillful manipulation of the facts, there are those who can characterize them as justified, not illegal and non-Constitutional acts.
CNN anchor Jim Acosta announced his departure from the network on Jan. 28. He left an ominous parting message – “It is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant … Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give into the fear. Hold onto the truth and hope.”
I’m grateful to Acosta for putting it out there, and disappointed that so many others are holding their tongues and currying favor with the felon-in-chief. Where does that leave AfricanAmerican people? We are living in a sad and empowering time. What did we do before government assistance? What did we do before federal dollars subsidized our Black History Month celebrations? What did we do without DEI programs? We survived. We thrived. We heard the song, “God Bless the Child” and we went to get our own. We taught our history in churches and in Saturday schools. We gathered in salons in private homes. We taught our children about our struggles. We didn’t need the government to do it.
The writer is an economist and author.
It could be easy at times to forget that Sen. Henry Marsh was even there, listening quietly from his back-row desk in the Senate of Virginia.
Marsh, who died last week at the age of 91, wasn’t flashy or given to florid oratory. He had long ago tilted at his share of windmills in a consequential career as a civil rights lawyer and political leader who cut a wide swath on behalf of people of color. The years had taught Henry L. Marsh III to listen harder than he spoke. It served him well as he continued his fight at an age when most people who have achieved as greatly as he had were peacefully retired. When he did speak, it was softly — just above a whisper — and sometimes haltingly, but his words were heard. They were rooted in the bitter experience of a Black man who had spent most of his life casting Jim Crow’s yoke off his people, so he commanded the attention of friends and adversaries alike.
of Law. Both would become Virginia trailblazers. In 1989, Wilder became the nation’s first elected Black governor. In 1977, Marsh became the first Black mayor of Richmond, once the seat of a seditious breakaway government formed to perpetuate the enslavement of Black people.
Before that, Marsh had taken up the causes of African Americans’ rights as a young attorney in the small Richmond firm established by his role model, Oliver Hill, a legendary Black litigator whose work led to the
Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision that ended segregated public schools in America.
Alongside Hill, Spottswood W. Robinson III and Samuel Tucker, Marsh was part of the legal dream team that attacked institutionalized discrimination in housing, employment, voting rights and Massive Resistance, Virginia’s shameful bid to circumvent Brown.
In a time before political parties became intractable redoubts of hardened and sometimes extreme conflicting ideologies, Marsh’s gentle voice made a difference.
Few people brought the sort of portfolio to the General Assembly that Marsh did. He had been a classmate and roommate of Doug Wilder at Howard University’s School
Marsh not only helped bury the lie of “separate but equal” in the middle years of the 20th century, he had endured disparate levels of public school funding: first-rate facilities, plentiful faculty and brand new textbooks for all-white schools; leaky, substandard buildings where Black children and teachers using textbooks cast off from white schools shivered in winters and sweltered every summer. That’s why Marsh, a Democrat, was a steadfast foe of
Republican efforts to use public school funds for vouchers to help pay the costs of attending private schools and privately run but publicly funded charter schools that operated independently of public school regulations.
In 2000, for the first time since Reconstruction, the GOP held majorities in both the House of Delegates and the Senate. Charter schools legislation, which had floundered in the 1990s, was on track to finally pass.
The Senate was a more collegial place then. The charter schools bill was up for third reading and a final Senate floor vote. The most anticipated words on the bill would come from a genuine lion of the Civil Rights movement.
Marsh could have thundered against what he regarded as a latter-day form of segregation. He could have banged his fist on his desk and recounted his own compelling childhood story of walking to school while his white contemporaries rode buses, of third- and fourth-hand books and of a cramped one-room school. He could have gone for the jugular emotionally. He didn’t.
I’ve long since lost my clips and notes from that day. My faded and dusty recollection is that his floor remarks were brief and direct, noting his opposition to diverting public resources away from those with the least. The bill passed the Senate 2118 and eventually became law.
I do, however, remember asking him in a Capitol hallway afterward why he didn’t invoke his considerable personal history and fill his speech with fury and pathos. His response
was so soft I missed it the first time, begged his indulgence and asked him to repeat it. I leaned forward.
“I said I didn’t need to,” he said. “This isn’t about me.”
A quarter of a century later, those two sentences abide with me as the essence of Henry Marsh. It never was about him. It was about others — the poor, the voiceless, the forgotten. No life could have a better epitaph.
The writer is a columnist for the Virginia Mercury.
They need specific blood types that match their own to minimize the risks of repeated transfusions. African American blood donations are best for these patients.
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF AN APPLICATION BY VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY FOR APPROVAL OF ITS 2024 DSM UPDATE PURSUANT TO § 56-585.1 A
• Virginia Electric and Power Company (“Dominion”) has applied for approval to: implement demand-side management (“DSM”) programs, which include one new program, one pilot, five redesigned programs, and a modification to the measure mix of the Phase XI Residential Income and Age Qualifying Bundled energy efficiency (“EE”) Program to supplement the overall DSM Portfolio; and to revise its Riders C1A and C4A, through which Dominion recovers the costs of its DSM programs.
• Dominion requests a total of $96,647,628 for its 2025 Riders C1A and C4A. According to Dominion, this amount would increase the monthly bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatthours of electricity per month by $0.04.
• A Hearing Examiner appointed by the Commission will hold the telephonic portion of the hearing in this case on May 19, 2025, at 10 a.m., for the receipt of public witness testimony.
• An evidentiary hearing will be held on May 19, 2025, at 10 a.m., or at the conclusion of the public witness portion of the hearing, whichever is later, in the Commission’s second floor courtroom located in the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, to receive the testimony and evidence of the Company, any respondents, and Commission Staff.
• Further information about this case is available on the Commission’s website at: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information
On December 13, 2024, Virginia Electric and Power Company (“Dominion” or “Company”) made a filing pursuant to § 56-585.1 A 5 of the Code of Virginia (“Code”); the Rules Governing Utility Rate Applications and Annual Informational Filings of Investor-Owned Electric Utilities of the State Corporation Commission (“Commission”), 20 VAC 5-204-5 et seq.; the Commission’s Rules Governing Utility Promotional Allowances, 20 VAC 5-303-10 et seq.; the Commission’s Rules Governing Cost/Benefit Measures Required for Demand-Side Management Programs, 20 VAC 5-304-10 et seq.; the Commission’s Rules Governing the Evaluation, Measurement, and Verification of the Effects of Utility Sponsored Demand-Side Management Programs, 20 VAC 5-318-10 et seq.; and the directive contained in Ordering Paragraph (4) of the Commission’s July 26, 2024 Final Order in Case No. PUR-2023-00217. Specifically, Dominion filed with the Commission an application requesting: (1) approval to implement demand-side management programs (individually, “DSM Program” or “Program” and collectively with other DSM Programs, the “DSM Portfolio”) as “Phase XIII,” which includes one new program, one pilot, five redesigned programs, and a modification to the measure mix of the Phase XI Residential Income and Age Qualifying Bundled energy efficiency (“EE”) Program to supplement the overall DSM Portfolio; and (2) approval of an annual update to continue the rate adjustment clauses designated Riders C1A and C4A (collectively, the “Application”). In its Application, the Company requests approval to implement the following DSM Programs as the Company’s “Phase XIII” programs, which include EE and “demand response” (“DR”) DSM Programs, as these terms are defined by Code § 56-576:
• Residential Smart Thermostat (DR) (Redesigned)
• Non-residential Small Business Improvement (EE) (Redesigned)
• Non-residential Data Center (EE) (Redesigned)
• Non-residential Enhanced Prescriptive (EE) (Redesigned)
• Non-residential Curtailment (DR) (New program)
• Non-residential Distributed Generation (DR) (Redesigned)
• Residential Battery Storage Pilot (DR)
Dominion requests authorization to operate the non-pilot Phase XIII DSM Programs without predetermined closure dates. Dominion proposes an aggregate total cost cap for the Phase XIII programs in the amount of approximately $222.3 million. Additionally, the Company requests the ability to exceed the spending cap by no more than 15%.
The Company asserts that the total amount of spending proposed in this Application on EE programs, when combined with the Company’s prior requests for EE spending since the passage of the 2018 Grid Transformation and Security Act (“GTSA”), consists of approximately $933.9 million compared to the required $870 million, excluding any amount of projected lost revenues. Further, the Company asserts that the total amount of spending proposed in this Application on EE programs targeting low-income individuals, when combined with the Company’s prior requests for EE spending since the passage of the GTSA and the Virginia Clean Economy Act, consists of approximately $110 million of the proposed $933.9 million, excluding any amount of projected lost revenues.
The Company requests, through revised Riders C1A and C4A, recovery of projected costs for September 1, 2025, through August 31, 2026 (“2025 Rate Year”), associated with the Phases II through XIII programs.
The two key components of the proposed Riders C1A and C4A are the Projected Revenue Requirement, which incorporates operating expenses for all programs and capital costs (including amortization expense related to the Phase X – Voltage Optimization Program) that are projected to be incurred during the 2025 Rate Year, and a Monthly True-Up Adjustment, which compares actual costs for the calendar year 2023 True-Up period to the actual revenues collected during the same period. In the Application, Dominion requests the following:
If the proposed Riders C1A and C4A for the 2025 Rate Year are approved, the impact on customer bills would depend on the customer’s rate schedule and usage. According to the Company, implementation of the proposed Riders C1A and C4A, and the withdrawal of Rider C2A, on September 1, 2025, would increase the monthly bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month by $0.04. The Company represents that it has calculated the revised rates for Riders C1A and C4A in accordance with the same methodology approved in Case No. PUR-2023-00217.
Dominion states that the Company has complied with the Commission directives and filing requirements relevant to this instant filing, specifically the Commission’s directives in its Final Order in the Company’s Evaluation, Measurement, and Verification (“EM&V”) proceeding, Case No. PUR-2020-00156. The Company requests Commission approval of Phase XIII Program EM&V Plans.
Interested persons are encouraged to review the Application and supporting documents for additional details of the Company’s proposals.
TAKE NOTICE that the Commission may apportion revenues among customer classes and/ or design rates in a manner differing from that shown in the Application and supporting documents and thus may adopt rates that differ from those appearing in the Company’s Application and supporting documents.
The Commission entered an Order for Notice and Hearing that, among other things, scheduled public hearings on Dominion’s Application. On May 19, 2025, at 10 a.m., the Hearing Examiner will hold a telephonic hearing for the purpose of receiving the testimony of public witnesses. On or before May 12, 2025, any person desiring to offer testimony as a public witness shall provide to the Commission: (a) your name, and (b) the telephone number that you wish the Hearing Examiner to call during the hearing to receive your testimony. This information may be provided to the Commission in three ways: (i) by filling out a form on the Commission’s website at scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting; (ii) by completing and emailing the PDF version of this form to SCCInfo@scc.virginia.gov; or (iii) by calling (804) 371-9141. This public witness hearing will be webcast at scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting
Beginning at 10 a.m. on May 19, 2025, the Hearing Examiner will telephone sequentially each person who has signed up to testify as provided above.
On May 19, 2025, at 10 a.m., or at the conclusion of the public witness portion of the hearing, whichever is later, in the Commission’s second floor courtroom located in the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, the Hearing Examiner will convene a hearing to receive testimony and evidence from the Company, any respondents, and the Commission Staff. Should the evidentiary hearing continue past May 19, 2025, the proceedings will thereafter be carried out virtually.
To promote administrative efficiency and timely service of filings upon participants, the Commission has directed the electronic filing of testimony and pleadings, unless they contain confidential information, and required electronic service on parties to this proceeding.
Electronic copies of the public version of the Application may be obtained by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company, Vishwa B. Link, Esquire, McGuireWoods LLP, Gateway Plaza, 800 East Canal Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, or vlink@mcguirewoods.com Interested persons also may download unofficial copies of the public version of the Application and other documents filed in this case from the Commission’s website: scc.virginia.gov/pages/ Case-Information
On or before May 12, 2025, any interested person may submit comments on the Application by following the instructions found on the Commission’s website: scc.virginia.gov/casecomments/ Submit-Public-Comments. Those unable, as a practical matter, to submit comments electronically may file such by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission, c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118. All comments shall refer to Case No. PUR-2024-00222.
On or before March 17, 2025, any person or entity wishing to participate as a respondent in this proceeding may do so by filing a notice of participation at scc.virginia.gov/clk/efiling. Those unable, as a practical matter, to file a notice of participation electronically may file such notice by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the Commission at the address listed above. Such notice of participation shall include the email addresses of such parties or their counsel, if available. The respondent simultaneously shall serve a copy of the notice of participation electronically on counsel to the Company, any other respondents, and Commission Staff as described above. Pursuant to Rule 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, Participation as a respondent, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice, any notice of participation shall set forth: (i) a precise statement of the interest of the respondent; (ii) a statement of the specific action sought to the extent then known; and (iii) the factual and legal basis for the action. Any organization, corporation, or government body participating as a respondent must be represented by counsel as required by Rule 5 VAC 5-20-30, Counsel of the Rules of Practice. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2024-00222. For additional information about participation as a respondent, any person or entity should obtain a copy of the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing
On or before March 24, 2025, each respondent may file with the Clerk of the Commission, at scc.virginia.gov/clk/efiling, any testimony and exhibits by which the respondent expects to establish its case. Any respondent unable, as a practical matter, to file testimony and exhibits electronically may file such by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the Commission at the address listed above. Each witness’s testimony shall include a summary not to exceed one page. All testimony and exhibits shall be served electronically on Staff, the Company, and all other respondents simultaneous with its filing. In all filings, respondents shall comply with the Commission’s Rules of Practice, including 5 VAC 5-20-140, Filing and service; and 5 VAC 5-20-240, Prepared testimony and exhibits. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2024-00222.
Any documents filed in paper form with the Office of the Clerk of the Commission in this docket may use both sides of the paper. In all other respects, except as modified by the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing, all filings shall comply fully with the requirements of 5 VAC 5-20-150, Copies and format, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice.
The public version of the Company’s Application and other documents filed in this case, the Commission’s Rules of Practice, and the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing may be viewed at: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information
By Michael Phillips
Saturday brought some of the state’s top young basketball talent together as the “Coaches for the Cure” event raised money for cancer research before a large crowd at the Henrico Sports and Event Center.
There was no mistaking the main event, and it delivered in a big way.
The night’s final showdown pitted local powerhouse John Marshall against one of Tidewater’s top teams, Woodside. It was an opportunity for Woodside’s star player, Silas Barksdale, to showcase his talent in front of his future home fans, and he did just that, scoring 16 points as VCU’s coaching staff watched from the stands.
Barksdale dueled with John Marshall junior standout Latrell Allmond, who finished with 17 points. But it was Allmond who had the ball last, and that proved to be the difference.
With 2.7 seconds remaining, Allmond hit a 3-pointer to break a tie and give the Justices a 50-47 victory in the marquee matchup.
“That was a great atmosphere,” John Marshall coach Ty White said. “That doesn’t happen too often, to get 3,000 people in the gym. They want to see good basketball, and it was a great night.”
Allmond defends during the John Marshall game
Annual Coaches for the Cure High School Basketball
and hit the game-winning shot in the final seconds,
The Justices executed the end of each half masterfully, getting a Troy Henderson layup just before the halftime horn, then holding the ball for the final 40 seconds to set up Allmond’s game-winner off a pass.
Free
The Richmond Flying Squirrels are gearing up for a big 2025 season, with Dennis Pelfrey returning as manager for his fourth year. This will make him the longest-tenured manager in team history.
The 2025 staff will also see familiar faces. Returning for another season are pitching coach Paul Oseguera, hitting coach Cory Elasik, fundamentals coach Lipso Nava, athletic trainer Tim Vigue and strength & conditioning coach Michelle Kuda. All are set to continue shaping a team already brimming with potential.
Pelfrey, who took the reins in 2022, made history by leading the team to back-to-back postseason appearances — the first time in Flying Squirrels history. Under his leadership, Richmond clinched the Southwest Division’s first-half title in 2022, ending an eight-year playoff drought. In 2023, they sealed a second-half division crown and boasted the second-best regular-season record in franchise history. Since Pelfrey’s arrival, 23 players have made MLB debuts, including 22 with the San Francisco Giants.
various leagues, beginning his coaching career in 2011. His managerial resume includes successful stints with the Gary SouthShore RailCats and Florence Freedom.
Oseguera, returning for his fourth season as pitching coach, helped the Flying Squirrels’ pitchers set a franchise-record .236 opponents’ batting average in 2023. He’s no stranger to success, having also helped lead the Low-A San Jose Giants to a California League championship in 2021.
Elasik, in his third season as hitting coach, oversaw the team’s explosive offense in 2023, which set multiple franchise records, including runs (658), RBIs (604) and walks (552). Prior to his time in Richmond, he guided Eugene to back-to-back championships in 2021 and 2022.
Nava, returning for his third stint on the staff, brings invaluable experience. This year marks his 18th season with the Giants, and his fifth with Richmond. His previous managerial success with San Jose and his 17-year playing career in multiple leagues worldwide have made him a standout on the coaching staff.
with Desmon Rose adding 11 and Aiden Argabright
reaching double figures with 10. But it was Allmond who stole the spotlight, getting open on the perimeter as Woodside’s zone defense focused on protecting the interior.
“It’s amazing to come through for my team,” Allmond said, adding his respect for Barksdale.
“Silas, he’s a beast, man. He’s gonna keep going and be among the best bigs at VCU. I’m looking forward to seeing him play there next year.”
The evening session started with Hopewell holding off Varina late in a spirited game. Hopewell won 63-56, with Deshawn Spellman scoring 24 points. The Blue Devils were led by Caleb Wyche with 13.
The event began with a cancer walk in the morning before a full slate of six basketball games. One of the featured matchups included a pair of middle school teams, Manchester and Fairfield, offering fans a glimpse of King Bacot, already considered one of the nation’s top recruits in the Class of 2029.
Bacot’s older brother, Armando, was a star at North Carolina. King scored 29 points and helped lead his team to victory.
White said he hoped the event played a small role in the ongoing fight against cancer while producing matchups that keep basketball fans warm through the winter.
This story also appears at The Richmonder.
Free Press staff report
A respected leader known for her dedication to student-athletes will be honored at the RVA Sports Awards this month at the Altria Theater. The Richmond Region Tourism Foundation recently announced that the late Peggy Davis is this year’s Community Champion Award honoree. Davis, who spent more than 20 years as Virginia State University’s associate vice president for intercollegiate athletics, transformed the Trojans into a powerhouse, earning over 20 NCAA tournament appearances and 26 CIAA championships. She died on Oct. 16.
“Peggy was an inspiring and dedicated leader,” said Danielle Fitz-Hugh, vice president of community relations at Richmond Region Tourism. “She took VSU’s sports programs to new heights while championing diversity and inclusion across college athletics throughout her career.”
Her leadership extended beyond the university as the first female interim commissioner of the CIAA, a two-time Hall of Fame inductee and a seven-time CIAA Athletic Director of the Year. She led major upgrades to VSU’s athletic facilities, including the $84 million Multipurpose Center and field turf enhancements at Rogers Stadium. Davis also helped the Trojans achieve their highest-ever graduation and academic success rates, earning national recognition from the NCAA. The RVA Sports Awards will be held on Feb. 8 at the Altria Theater to celebrate the people, teams and moments that shape the Richmond region through sports.
Proceeds will support the Richmond Region Tourism Foundation’s Sports Tourism Grant initiative and scholarships for VSU and VCU students. For more information visit RVASportsAwards.com.
“I’m so happy to be back in Richmond for the 2025 season,” Pelfrey said. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of my time in Richmond with the best front office and fans in Minor League Baseball. Our goal this year stays the same: To bring an Eastern League championship to Richmond.”
Before joining the Flying Squirrels, Pelfrey led the High-A Eugene Emeralds to a Northwest League championship in 2021. As a player, he spent six seasons in professional baseball across
Vigue and Kuda also bring significant expertise to their roles. Vigue, the team’s athletic trainer, returns for a second season in Richmond, and Kuda, now in her fourth year with the Giants organization, enters her second season as strength & conditioning coach.
The Flying Squirrels begin the 2025 season on Friday, April 4, at The Diamond against the Akron RubberDucks, the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. Tickets are available now at SquirrelsBaseball.com.
Free Press staff report
Norfolk State head football coach
Michael Vick is adding more firepower to his staff, this time with a familiar face to the MEAC — Tory Woodbury, who will serve as the Spartans’ new special teams coordinator.
Woodbury arrives from Howard University, where he held the dual role of tight ends coach and special teams coordinator. Under his guidance, the Bison’s special teams unit blocked six field goals, ranking fifth in the FCS. Howard also stood out as one of just two teams in the MEAC that prevented any blocked punts during the season.
experience, having spent years coaching at both the collegiate and professional levels. Woodbury played a key role in the Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl LV victory in 2022.
The former NFL player brings a wealth of
A standout quarterback at WinstonSalem State, Woodbury enjoyed a stellar eight-year professional career in the NFL, playing for the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills. Beyond football, Woodbury has been deeply involved in community service. He founded the Tory Woodbury Foundation in 2002, an organization that has provided school supplies, clothing and meals to children in need in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Free Press staff report
As excitement builds for the Super Bowl, another highstakes competition is set to take place in Richmond. On Friday, Feb. 7, five students from Virginia Union University will participate in the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges’ (VFIC) 25th annual Applied Ethics Bowl at the University of Richmond. The event features teams from Virginia’s top independent colleges to deliberate on ethical dilemmas in the theme of “Ethics and Artificial Intelligence.”
VUU’s team includes Elle Cosby, Kristian Cunningham, Emoniee Hallowell, Mekhi McGainey and Blessing Solesi. The team, led by faculty coordinator Tim Wenzell, professor of English, will compete against student teams from other Virginia colleges, presenting their views on artificial intelligence through a series of case studies. The event will kick off at 10:30 a.m. with an opening session in the University of Richmond’s Ukrop Auditorium. The first round of competition is scheduled for 11 a.m. in the
Robins School of Business. Rounds two through four will run from 2 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., and the championship round will be held at 6 p.m. in the Jepson Alumni Center, followed by the announcement of the winner at 6:30 p.m.
Anyone can attend and view the rounds at no cost. Last year’s champions, Mary Baldwin University, will return to defend their title against strong competition, including 2024 runner-up University of Lynchburg. For more information, visit www.vfic.org.
Spotlight on the president of the Metro Richmond Chapter of the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College
HBCUs have played a critical role in the achievement of African Americans and their contributions to the U.S. To maintain the legacy and secure educational opportunities for future generations, alumni proudly provide financial support. Patricia Jones leads the charge locally as president of the Metro Richmond Chapter of the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College, a private, all-female HBCU in Atlanta.
Jones believes the policies of the Trump administration will impact Spelman students, although Spelman College has high alumnae-giving rates among HBCUs.
“I’ve already seen the financial impacts of those who receive financial aid,” she said.
“Parent loans have been cut, and about 80% of our students are on financial aid.”
When Jones was a senior at Matoaca High School, she had a full scholarship to Virginia Union University, but a marketing mailer from Spelman sparked her curiosity about the school.
“I had never heard of Spelman, but I was encouraged to make a campus visit,” said Jones. “There was something about how the women carried themselves and the welcoming campus that did it for me.”
When she returned, a family meeting was held to discuss her college plans because her school choice would financially impact the entire family. The family agreed that Spelman College offered her a great opportunity despite the increased cost.
Jones studied biology at Spelman because she wanted to become an oncologist. Although her academic studies aren’t directly applicable to her current role as a chemist with the Henrico County Department of
Public Utilities, she can apply what she learned at the school to her volunteer work as an EMT in Chesterfield County Meet a bird-watcher who likes to travel to the scenic Appomattox Water Authority on sunny days and this week’s Personality, Patricia A. Jones: Occupation: Chemist, Henrico County Department of Public Utilities.
Date and place of birth: July 30, Richmond.
Where I live now: Chesterfield.
Education: Bachelor of science degree in Biology.
Family: Mother, Cheryl; son, Brandon; grandsons, Dartanian and Yosiah.
What is Metro Richmond National Alumnae Association of Spelman College (NAASC):
The oldest chapter of the three chapters in Virginia of the NAASC. The chapter includes Spelman alumnae in West Virginia, Southwest Virginia, the Charlottesville Shenandoah Area, Fredericksburg to Woodbridge, Williamsburg to Yorktown, Central Virginia and Petersburg to the North Carolina line.
Mission: The Metro Richmond Chapter (NAASC) supports Spelman College through student recruitment, sisterhood, community service and financial support.
When and why Metro Richmond NAASC was founded: In 1990, Lisa M. Overton, class of ’82, founded the chapter because she saw a need for a chapter in Virginia. The chapter was officially chartered on May 18, 1991.
History of Spelman College: Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, it
became Spelman College in 1924. Spelman College is a historically Black college and a global leader in educating women of African descent dedicated to academic excellence in liberal arts and sciences and the intellectual, creative, ethical and leadership development of its students. Spelman empowers the whole person to engage in many cultures of the world and inspires a commitment to positive social change. The student body comprises more than 2,100 students from 43 states and 10 foreign countries, with 21,000+ alumnae representing 47 states and 24 countries.
When elected Metro Richmond NAASC president: I was initially elected in 2004 and served until 2006. I was re-elected in 2014 and presently serve.
Why I accepted the position: As president, I have the opportunity to meet and work with Spelman alumnae at the state, regional and national levels in
addition to prospective and current students.
No. 1 goal or project as president: Promote and encourage the Spelman alumnae sisterhood among the local and statewide alumnae.
Strategy for achieving goal or project: I established the “By Way of the Spelman Walk — Conversation and Fellowship Among Spelman Sisters.”
I plan an activity for alumnae where they live to connect them with each other and share NAASC information.
Biggest challenge: It is a challenge to encourage local alumnae to engage in local activities.
Why Spelman College is special to its alumnae: Spelman College represents the interests and needs of our diverse alumnae by affirming the history and traditions of the college through innovative programs and services that strengthen alumnae ties and encourage lifelong support of our alma mater.
I am a member of the class of: 1990.
My Spelman College experience impacts me today: I have had the pleasure of meeting Spelman sisters from the Class of 1935 to the Class of 2028 and witnessing our pride in the alma mater and its accomplishments over the years.
How the Metro Richmond NAASC makes a difference in our community: The chapter supported the United Way by collecting books for their Steps to Success Kindergarten book drive program; providing backto-school supplies for the Petersburg YMCA back-to-school
supplies program; participating in the Sisters to Sisters Network block walks; and the March of Dimes March for Babies Walk.
Upcoming event: We will have our inaugural Women of Excellence Benefit Luncheon on Saturday, March 29, at noon at the Deep Run Recreation Center. We will recognize selected women and organizations who have impacted the local community. The Women of Excellence Trailblazer Award will be presented to U.S. Rep. Jennifer L. McClellan of Virginia’s 4th Congressional District. Tiffany Williams will receive the Barbara P. Elias Alumna Award, and Girls For A Change will be honored with the Women of Excellence Change Organization Award.
The event will benefit: The event will benefit the chapter’s Della Bannister Book Award.
Since 2013 the chapter has awarded 25 book awards totaling $16,500 to 22 students. Students are eligible to receive the award twice while attending Spelman College. There are currently 63 students in our contact area attending Spelman College.
Della Bannister is: She was the oldest charter member in our chapter. Education was very important to her, and for many years, she was an assistant professor of Home Economics at Virginia State College (now University).
Why this is a hot ticket: The event will allow attendees the opportunity to meet and learn more about the honorees as well as support the education of Spelman College students.
Ways readers can stay in touch with our chapter: Email: mrcnaasc@gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram.
Where to get information about attending Spelman College: Spelman.edu.
If you are a Spelman alumna, how can you join the alumnae association: National membership can be attained through naasc.org or paid through the Metro Richmond Chapter NAASC along with the chapter dues. How I start the day: My mornings start with a moment of prayer.
Three words that best describe me: Dedicated, dependable and supportive.
Dream dinner party guest: Michelle Obama. Her conversations are inspiring and uplifting. Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: Watching the various birds on my bird feeders during the day.
Inspirational quote: “When you know your why, your what becomes more impactful because you’re walking towards or in your purpose,” by Michael Jr. Most influential person: My father, and since his passing in 2019, I have seen his traits in my actions.
Most influential book: “War Room” influenced me because prayer changes things. I learned that when I feel down, I just stop what I am doing and say a prayer. My current read: “We Make the Road by Walking,” by Brian D. McLaren.
Next goal: Completion of the chapter’s Virginia Spelman license plate campaign. The goal is to reach the 350 pre-orders making Spelman College the first non-Virginia HBCU to have a state of Virginia license plate.
Feb. 6
Black History Month: Poetry Slam/Open Mic
5 p.m., Ginter Park Branch Library
Celebrate Black History Month with poetry and music, which have played vital roles in Black American history. Share your favorite poem, song or an original piece at this open mic event.
In the Driver’s Seat: How One Family Transported Black Students in 1930s Hanover
7 to 8 p.m., Libbie Mill Library
Join Patricia Hunter-Jordan, granddaughter of Lucian Hunter, for a discussion of how her family provided transportation for Black students in 1930s Hanover, a time when Black students had to walk up to 5 miles to school.
Feb. 7
Artist Talk with Glenn Ligon
6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Leslie Cheek Theater, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. New York artist Glenn Ligon
will discuss his art practice, exploring critical perspectives of American history. The talk will feature his recent work, “A Small Band,” now on display.
Feb. 8
The Moton School Story 6 to 7 p.m.,
Chesterfield County Public Library – Clover Hill Branch
Learn about the Moton School in Farmville, a pivotal site in the civil rights movement, through stories shared by educators from the Moton Museum.
Loki Mulholland in Conversation
Noon to 1:30 p.m., The Park RVA, 1407 Cummings Drive. Loki Mulholland, Emmy-winning filmmaker and activist, discusses his work on race and social justice, with clips from his award-winning documentaries. The conversation will be moderated by Sherri Mehta, followed by a book signing.
Feb. 10
Richmond Urban Renewal Conversation
6:30 to 7:45 p.m., Richmond Room, Main Library
Join an expert to discuss the lasting impacts of urban renewal on modern-day Richmond, while exploring displays of forgotten spaces. rvalibrary.org
Feb. 11
Banner Lecture Series: The Story of Virginia
Noon, Virginia Museum of History and Culture
Author Ric Murphy will discuss the 1619 arrival of the first Africans in Virginia, exploring their legacy and the controversial circumstances surrounding their arrival. The lecture can be viewed via livestream on the museum’s Facebook and YouTube channels. vmfa.museum
Ongoing
We Are the Builders: Honoring the Contributions of Black Workers in Virginia
This exhibition at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia highlights the contributions of Black Virginians to America’s development, with a focus on labor. A related offsite exhibition features artifacts from the museum’s collection. blackhistorymuseum.org
Joybells, will pitch her family recipe-inspired gourmet pie business on ABC’s “Shark Tank” this Friday Feb. 7, at 8 p.m. Moore was selected from tens of thousands of applicants in September 2024 to present her company to the panel of investors known as
the Sharks for a potential investment.
“I am blessed! It was amazing, brutal and a great learning experience,” Moore said of her time on the program.
Joybells’ recipes trace back six generations to Moore’s third greatgrandmother Susan Mae Howell. Moore, who carries the family nick-
name “Joyebell,” is the first in her family to turn these traditions into a business.
The company recently partnered with a manufacturer to produce homestyle gourmet desserts. Their products will be available in Kroger’s frozen bakery section in June and Schnucks stores in the Midwest beginning in
April. Costco locations are also expected to carry the brand at a later date. Joybells will launch nationwide shipping through its website, joybells.com, on Feb. 7.
“E-commerce gives our nationwide Joybells family of customers the opportunity to experience their gourmet pies while we work to expand our original recipe footprint in the frozen desserts marketplace,” Moore said.
The Library of Virginia presents two free events in support of Virginia Opera’s world-premiere production of “Loving v. Virginia,” co-commissioned with the Richmond Symphony. The opera is based on the true story of Mildred and Richard Loving, a Virginia couple who were criminally charged for their interracial marriage, took their case to the Supreme Court and won a landmark victory for Civil Rights in the United States.
Free Press staff report
Michael Gregory Brown, a Richmond native and champion for social justice, died peacefully at St. Mary’s Hospital on Jan. 26, following a brief illness. He was 77. Funeral services were held Feb. 3 at Joseph Jenkins Jr. Funeral Home.
Born July 12, 1947, to the late George W. Brown and Doris Wilder Brown, Brown grew up in the North Side of Richmond, where he and his family attended the historic First African Baptist Church. He graduated from
Maggie L. Walker High School and later attended Hampton Institute, though his education was briefly interrupted when he was drafted into the Army. Brown served in the Vietnam War, where he earned a Purple Heart.
After returning from Vietnam, Brown earned a degree from Virginia Union University and became a dedicated advocate for social justice and political change. He served as the Secretary of the Virginia State Board of Elections, working to ensure voter access and make voting more accessible, especially in underserved communities. Brown also worked with the NAACP and assisted in numerous state and
local Democratic political campaigns, including those for his uncle, former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, during his historic campaigns for lieutenant governor and governor of Virginia. Brown, the grandson of renowned Black photographers at Brown Studio, was deeply involved in civic engagement and worked to empower voters and promote democracy. He is survived by his wife, Valery Y. R. Bates; two daughters, Shani Brown and Michelle Brown Harris (Marek); one grandson, Micah Benjamin Harris; his uncle, Gov. Wilder; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and other relatives, as well as friends.
Free Press staff report
Denise V. Thomas-Brown, a passionate advocate for underserved communities, died Dec. 22, 2024, in Richmond. She was 66. Born Oct. 4, 1958, at Richmond Community Hospital, Thomas-Brown was the daughter of the late Merrill L. Thomas of Annapolis, Maryland, and Jeanette Pitchford-Thomas of Richmond. Thomas-Brown graduated from John Marshall High School in 1976 and earned an associate degree in business administration from Pan American Business School. She later obtained a Master of Divinity from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University in 2013. Denise continued her education, pursuing a Master of Arts in Christian education.
She dedicated over 30 years to serving her community, with a particular focus on housing and recovery support services. Her work included roles as director of women’s programs for the Next Step Transitional Program, consultant to the Portsmouth Community Service Board, executive assistant at The Healing Place, consultant to the Daughters of Zelophehad Transitional Housing Program and women’s program manager at Hilliard House. She also served as multisite outreach director at St. Paul’s Baptist Church, executive director of SAARA of Virginia and corrections program manager for the McShin Foundation. Thomas-Brown was also a recovery specialist for the Virginia Center for
Addiction Medicine and held a variety of leadership roles.
In 2018,Thomas-Brown,was the keynote speaker for the Portsmouth Community Awareness Summit, where she shared her personal journey. Her impactful storytelling drew attention to the dangers of fentanyl. In recognition of her work, she was appointed to the Governor’s Substance Abuse Services Council in July 2023.
Thomas-Brown’s family was central to her life, particularly her two sons, Joseph N. Brown III and Marcel A. Minor II, whom she loved deeply. She also found support within her Narcotics Anonymous family, attending meetings regularly to encourage others in their recovery.
Thomas-Brown’s spiritual journey began with St. Paul’s Episcopal Church’s Prison Ministry and the Richmond Hill Retreat Center. Her faith was a cornerstone of her 29 years of long-term recovery, exemplifying the power of community and resilience. She is survived by her sons, Joseph and Marcel; brothers David Michael Thomas (Sandy), Merrill Larnell Thomas II, Larry Edwards (Betty), Philippe Graff (Rosy); and sisters Michelle M. Benning (Amos) and Evelyn Black Brisbon Smith. She is also mourned by her niece Aryn Benning, cousins Judy Connelly and William T. Mitchell, as well as friends, family and colleagues. Thomas Brown’s Celebration of Life service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday Feb. 15, 2025 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
Free Press staff report
Retired 1st Sgt. Charles H. Taylor Sr., a decorated veteran and longtime Richmond-area businessman, died Jan. 19 at age 92. Taylor, known as “Pop” or “Pop Taylor,” was with his wife of 40 years and his son-in-law at the time of his death. His celebration of life service took place Jan. 29.
Born July 4, 1932, Taylor was one of 11 children of John and Berneice Taylor. At 17, he joined the Army, following a family tradition of military service.
During his 20-year military career, Taylor served in Korea and Vietnam, earning three Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts. He was among the last of the Buffalo Soldiers of the 24th Infantry
Regiment, known for their distinctive all-black uniforms. His service took him to Fort Knox, Kentucky; Fort Stewart, Georgia; Japan; Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and Thailand. After retiring from the military, Taylor worked as a foreman at Philip Morris before founding C.H. Taylor Oil Co. Inc. in 1976. The company became one of Richmond’s most recognized Blackowned businesses and operated for more than 40 years.
Taylor was also active in veterans’ organizations. He helped form
Free Press staff report
Richmond’s Maggie L. Walker, a pioneering businesswoman and the nation’s first Black female bank president, will be honored in a special living history presentation featuring storyteller Theresa G. Theresa G, a veteran broadcaster and historical interpreter, will bring Walker’s legacy to life in “In the Presence of Mag-
gie Walker.” Known for her portrayals of figures such as Sally Hemings, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou and Coretta Scott King, Theresa G has built a reputation for capturing the voices and stories of influential women.
Teresa G
Beyond her performances, she is the owner of G Communications, a company dedicated
to etiquette training through her program “Neighbors & Napkins.” She is also an acting coach, conference speaker and fashion show commentator. Active in the community, Theresa G has served on several boards including Richmond Broadcasters and is a member of Good Shepherd Baptist Church
in Petersburg where the Rev. Jeffery Reaves is pastor. The event is free to attend, with parking available across River Road and behind the church.
the Military Retirees Club of Richmond in 1972 and co-founded Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10654 in 1976. In his honor, the retirees’ club established the First Sergeant (Ret.) Charles H. Taylor Legacy of Service Award.
A member of Prince Hall Free and Accepted Masons, Mocha Temple, for more than 40 years, Taylor was also a longtime member of Providence Baptist Church.
Taylor was predeceased by his parents, a son, one sister and five brothers. He is survived by his wife, Doris S. Taylor; children Patricia Armstead, Crystal Hendricks and Charles Taylor Jr.; a devoted son-in-law, Vincent W. Langhorne; nine grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; four sisters and many extended family members and friends.
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER NIKKI PATTERSONRUSSEL, Plaintiff v. PATERIAN RUSSEL, Defendant. Case No.: CL24002946-00
VIRGINIA:
CLYDE WALLACE, Plaintiff v. JANICE BROWN, Defendant. Case No.: CL25000083-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months. It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 7th day of March, 2025 at 9:00 AM and protect her interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804 798-9667
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER LESLIE WOODARD, Plaintiff v. HENRY WOODARD, JR., Defendant. Case No.: CL25000088-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months.
It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 7th day of March, 2025 at 9:00 AM and protect his interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804 798-9667
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER KIMBERLY SHAW, Plaintiff v. LEA MCCLENDON-SHAW, Defendant. Case No.: CL25000082-00 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.
Defendant. Case No.: CL24000425-00 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
It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 7th day of March, 2025 at 9:00 AM and protect her interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804 798-9667
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER JESSICA JOHNSON, Plaintiff v. RYLAND JOHNSON, JR., Defendant. Case No.: CL24003277-00 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, who has been
parental rights (“TPR”) of the Jennifer Donly (Mother) of Rylnn Chichester, child DOB 09/05/2023. “TPR” 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 Jennifer Donly (Mother) to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before May 27, 2025, at 9:00 A.M., COURTROOM #2.
VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re BRIANNA DANDRIDGE, a juvenile RDSS, Plaintiff v. ASHLEY RUSSELL, Defendant File No. JJ103600-05-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“TPR”) of the Ashley Russell (Mother) of Brianna Dandridge, child DOB 01/24/2013 “TPR” 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 Ashley Russell (Mother) to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before May 6, 2025, at 2:20 P.M., COURTROOM #2.
VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re ZAYVIANA MCCOY, a juvenile RDSS, Plaintiff v. ASHLEY RUSSELL & UNKNOWN FATHER, Defendant File No. JJ103601-06-00 File No. JJ103601-05-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“TPR”) of the Ashley Russell (Mother) & Unknown Father (Father) of Zayviana McCoy, child DOB 01/04/2024 . “TPR” 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 Ashley Russell (Mother) & Unknown Father to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before May 6, 2025, at 2:20 A.M., COURTROOM #2.
VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re DRE’ONA CLAIBORNE RDSS V. LATASHA POLLARD Case No. JJ103477-MEL ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to: Provide notice to Latasha Pollard (Mother) of Dre’ona Claiborne, child DOB 06/21/2016, of custody status and that: It is ORDERED that the defendants Latasha Pol lard (Mother), to appear at the above-named Court to protect her interest on or before 03/17/2025, at 9:00 AM, COURTROOM #4.
N. Laburnum Avenue
linear feet of 5 foot wide sidewalk, curb ramps and crosswalks, 900 linear feet of curb and gutter, including an enclosed storm drainage system, and lane widening of approximately 9 feet to match adjacent pavement widths in some locations, a wooden pedestrian bridge to avoid extending two box culverts, improvements to two bus stops that could include shelters and other amenities, and ten dedicated park and ride spaces identified in the parking lot of the Eastern Henrico Recreation Center. Improvements are proposed along the eastern side of N. Laburnum Avenue between Harvie Elementary School and the previous Fairfield Library location. Construction is currently planned for September 2027. Project information which includes the construction plans, project schedule, National Environmental Policy Act documentation in the form of a Programmatic Categorical Exclusion (PCE), National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106 and 36 CFR Part 800 information, and funding information can be reviewed at the County of Henrico, Department of Public Works, Administration Annex Building, 4305 E. Parham Road, Henrico, VA. Telephone: (804) 501-5532. If your concerns cannot be satisfied, the County is willing to hold a public hearing. You may request a public hearing by sending a written request to Kevin Newcomb, P. O. Box 90775, Henrico, VA 23273-0775, on or before February 14, 2025. If a request for a public hearing is received, notice of the date, time and place of the public hearing will be provided. The County ensures nondiscrimination and equal employment in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If you need more information or special assistance for persons with disabilities or limited English proficiency, contact Kevin Newcomb at the above address, phone number, or at New038@henrico.gov.
VDOT UPC: 115411 Project: VDOT 7555-043-959 Federal Aid Project: NHPP-5A27(963)
