Richmond Free Press
VOL. 29 NO. 13
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RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
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Metro Richmond responds to, prepares for pandemic/Photos B2
MARCH 19-21, 2020
Life interrupted Coronavirus pandemic disrupts work, study and play as the number of cases rises throughout the state By George Copeland Jr.
Coronavirus has been uncovered in Virginia’s capital city, adding to the anxiety and concern about the illness. Four people in Richmond have tested positive for COVID19, the latest development for a pandemic that has resulted in 77 infections and two deaths in the state and has seen local and state officials take increasingly measured steps to combat and prevent the virus’ spread. Mayor Levar M. Stoney confirmed the virus’ arrival in Richmond during a news conference Wednesday at City Hall. He said the people infected, two in their 20s and two in their 30s, recently had traveled outside the state. Three of the infected had traveled as part of a group trip to North Carolina with another person from Henrico County, who also has been confirmed as infected. The three cases were discovered during the investigation into the Henrico case, according to Dr. Danny T.K. Avula, director of the Richmond and Henrico health districts. The fourth person in Richmond testing positive for the virus traveled to New York, where he came in contact
Coronavirus tips
To protect yourself and others from coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the following:
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
A man rides his bicycle through Jackson Ward on Tuesday wearing a medical mask as an extra precaution during the continuing spread of COVID-19 in Virginia.
with a person who has tested positive. All four people have selfquarantined at home, as the Virginia Health Department works to trace their travels and
previous contacts. Officials announced Tuesday that a resident of Westminster Canterbury in Henrico County, a man in his 80s who had returned from a trip Florida,
also has been hospitalized at VCU Medical Center. Officials said he is one of two people being treated at VCU for the virus. “We are in uncharted ter-
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place or after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. • If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry. • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands. • Avoid close contact with people who are sick. • Put distance between yourself and other people if COVID-19 is spreading in your community. This is especially important for people at higher risk of getting sick, including older people and those with underlying medical conditions. • Stay home if you are sick, except to get medical care. • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze or use the inside of your elbow. • Throw used tissues in the trash, then immediately wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or clean your hands with a hand sanitizer. • If you are sick, wear a face mask when you are around other people (e.g., sharing a room or vehicle) and before you enter a health care provider’s office. If you are not able to wear a face mask, then do your best to cover your coughs and sneezes. People who are caring for you should wear a face mask if they enter your room.
ritory,” Mayor Stoney said. “Now is the time to increase our diligence and keep each other accountable.” Schools and libraries have been shut down, with a mass
shift to continue service through online resources in a bid to reduce the virus’ spread. Concerts, festivals and most Please turn to A4
RPS centers Richmond schools closed until April 13 open to families By Ronald E. Carrington
By Ronald E. Carrington
Kate Johnson had a difficult time finding where to pick up food at Chimborazo Elementary School on Monday. There was no sign posted on the front door of the school on East Marshall Street in the East End. Looking to pick up food and lesson plans for her three boys, Parker, a third-grader, Jonah, who’s in first grade, and her preschooler, in this new age of coronavirus, Ms. Johnson persisted until she found the right entry in the rear of the building. She picked up schoolwork and pre-packaged bags of breakfast and lunch for the boys before heading out. “I am going to be home and I want (the boys) to continue to read and work on their academics,” said Ms. Johnson, a part-time worker who said her employer will continue paying her for the next two weeks. Her husband, an employee at Virginia Commonwealth University, was still waiting to hear whether his department would be closed down because of the pandemic. She said she and her husband are telling their children to wash their hands more. “What really concerns me is our neighbors,” Ms. Johnson said. “A lot of them are over 60 years old.” The week started a stressful and chaotic time for many families as area schools and some before- and after-school programs shut down to help prevent the spread of COVID19. Parents across the city are scrambling to get child care as they adjust their work and family schedules, making sure their children are fed and keeping up with schoolwork. What started out as a twoweek closure for Richmond Public Schools suddenly expanded to become a four-week break, with more than 24,000 students out of classes until
April 13, or longer. Chimborazo Elementary was one of 20 school-based food distribution centers opened Monday by RPS to make sure families have what they need during this time of unsteadiness. On Tuesday, RPS officials announced that an additional 15 food distribution points would be opened in various community centers. On Monday and Tuesday, turnout for food was light. On those days, the breakfast packages included cereal, milk, juice, a pastry and a piece of fruit, while lunch included a ham and cheese croissant, fruit and vegetable and hamburger or cheeseburger sliders. “I think people are using what they have at home,” said Mark Cattie, coordinator at Blackwell Elementary School in South Side. “Toward the weekend, we may see a peak of people coming in because our children really need these meals.” Please turn to A4
Richmond Public Schools will be closed for an additional two weeks through spring break, reopening Monday, April 13, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Superintendent Jason Kamras made the announcement at the Richmond School Board meeting Monday night, noting, “This is an unprecedented time as we navigate the current situation.” The schools will be closed for students and staff. The superintendent, his senior staff, school principals, principal directors and custodians will remain on the job, however. Students were given learning activities packets when schools closed on Friday, March 13. If they did not get the packets, officials said families can pick them up at the food distribution centers. Additional learning activities for students at all levels also are available on the RPS website under Learning at Home Resources, www.rpstech.org/parents.html. Students will not be graded during the closure, officials
said. Last week, Gov. Ralph S. Northam ordered all Virginia public schools closed for two weeks beginning Monday, March 16, in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. That would have reopened schools for one week before spring break was to start on April 6. Under Mr. Kamras’ directive, schools will be closed for the next four weeks through the spring holiday. All RPS employees – full time and part time – will continue to be paid during this time, officials said Monday night. That includes hourly workers as the School Board approved allocating funding for the maximum possible hours for such workers during the school closing. “The closing could be longer than after spring break,” Mr. Kamras said, acknowledging that “the extension will put additional stress on families … in terms of child care, having food, as well as other day to day realities. However, it is important Please turn to A4
Closing Cathy’s Camp in midst of emergency By Jeremy M. Lazarus
The tents started to come down Wednesday. At this point, only a small group of people remain in the homeless community known as Cathy’s Camp beside the city’s cold weather shelter on Oliver Hill Way across from the Richmond Justice Center. “Maybe 20 to 25 people are left, and they should be moved” in the next day or two, Rhonda Sneed said Wednesday. She returned to the camp and used her phone to broadcast the tent
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Improving on history Tessneem Khalil, 7, right, helps uncover gravestones in the 104-year-old Woodland Cemetery in Henrico County. She is working with her mother, left, Rania Fetouh, and Kathleen Harrell, her teacher at Shady Grove Elementary School in Henrico County. Ms. Harrell has volunteered consistently on Sunday afternoons with Dr. John W.J. “Bill” Slavin to improve the neglected burial ground best known as the last resting place of Arthur Ashe Jr., the Richmond native who earned international renown in tennis and as a humanitarian. Please see story on B3.
removal around 7 p.m. That’s far sooner than the March 31 deadline the city imposed for everyone to be out and the tents taken away. Ms. Sneed is a co-founder of Blessing Warriors RVA, the all-volunteer group providing services to the homeless, and helped launch the tent city — named for the late Cathy Davis, the other co-founder — as a shelter for people who needed a place to sleep. The urgency to shut down the camp has been fueled by the coronavirus emergency. Without waiting for formal approval from City Council, Mayor Levar M. Stoney used his emergency authority to shift $2.1 million in city funds to spur the move of the camp residents to area hotels and motels. The measure was introduced Monday and is expected to win approval Monday, March 23, when City Council is scheduled to hold its regular meeting. The spending is part of a series of steps that Mayor Stoney announced to help stem the pandemic and help residents during the crisis, including dropping interest and penalties on late filing of all city taxes; halting all disconnections of utility services; closing libraries and recreation centers; and eliminating any city-sponsored public meetings, except for City Council. The funding has enabled Homeward, the regional homeless coordinating group, and its partners to relocate about 17 people from Cathy’s Camp to the Massad House Hotel in Downtown, and with help from Blessing Warriors RVA, to place the majority at the Rodeway Inn in Henrico County near the airport. The relocations began Monday, although the process was clearly uneven. Delivery of meals to those who were transferred to hotels did not begin until Tuesday. A few people walked back to the camp to get something to eat, including one man who walked at least 5 miles from the motel on Williamsburg Road near the airport. Complaints about bedbugs at the Downtown hotel led some to return as well. As of Tuesday, 50 people had been relocated, with another 12 relocated Wednesday, with meal service up and running, according to Kelly King Horne, Homeward’s executive director. “We plan to provide two weeks (stay in the hotels) and go from Please turn to A4
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March 19-21, 2020
Richmond Free Press
Local News
CORONAVIRUS CLOSINGS In light of local and state precautions underway to prevent the spread of COVID-19, please take note of the following closings, cancellations and scheduling changes: Government • U.S. Postal Service: Delivery will continue until further notice. • Virginia State Capitol and Pocahontas Building: Closed to the public through the end of March. • Richmond: Government offices and community centers closed to the public through Friday, March 20. City Council meetings canceled through March 31. • Chesterfield County: Government offices closed to the public through Sunday, March 22. • Henrico County: Government offices open with reduced operations. The public is encouraged to access services electronically or by phone. • Trash and recycling: Regular schedule. • ABC stores: Open, but customers are asked to call locations before coming in for purchases. • DMV customer service centers: Closed to the public. Vehicle registrations and driver’s license renewals available online, with a 60-day extension for those unable to renew online. • Virginia Department of Corrections: All visitations canceled until further notice. Courts • The Supreme Court of Virginia has suspended all Circuit and District court proceedings through Tuesday, April 7, and all deadlines for a period of 21 days as part of a declared judicial emergency which includes prohibiting new eviction cases for tenants unable to pay rent due to COVID-19.
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Construction fencing rings Virginia Commonwealth University’s old Franklin Street Gymnasium that soon will be demolished. Opened initially in 1952 and expanded in 1970 in the 800 block of West Franklin Street, the former home of the university’s basketball team is no longer needed. The building will be replaced with a modern $121 million structure filled with labs and classrooms focused on boosting student learning in such fields as biology, chemistry, kinesiology, math, physics and psychology. The planned, six-story structure will provide a space where learning, research and collaboration can occur across disciplines.
Schools • Richmond Schools: Closed until Monday, April 13. • Henrico Schools: Closed until Tuesday, April 14. • Chesterfield Schools: Closed until Tuesday, April 14.
Cityscape
Libraries • Richmond: Closed until further notice. Patrons are asked to keep any checked out materials until the libraries reopen. Public encouraged to use online resources. • Henrico County: Closed until further notice. Due dates are extended and fines are waived during this period. Library services available online. • Chesterfield County: Closed to the public through Saturday, March 21. Please call 804-751-CCPL to speak to staff from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fines related to closing are waived and due dates are extended. Visitors are encouraged to use library.chesterfield.gov.
GRTC eliminates fares; asks riders to take only essential trips
Other services • Hospitals and doctor appointments: Contact individual locations for updates and information. • GRTC: Buses operating on a regular schedule. • Shopping malls, stores, restaurants and entertainment venues: Contact individual locations for hours of operation. • Free Press offices: Open.
Virginia seeks waiver from SOL testing
Virginia’s schools superintendent is asking the U.S. Department of Education to consider canceling the Standards of Learning exams in the wake of school closures because of COVID-19. The U.S. Department of Education said it would grant flexibility from testing requirements on a school-by-school basis. But Virginia education officials said Tuesday they plan to ask for a statewide waiver because every school is dealing with the same disruption. The state doesn’t have a waiver yet, but joins the list of about a half dozen states that have requested one. The Virginia Department of Education “has advised school divisions of the flexibility they already have to delay Standards of Learning testing, but it is clear that we now have to take additional steps to ensure that schools and students — especially seniors completing their graduation requirements — are not adversely impacted by circumstances beyond their control,” Dr. James F. Lane, state superintendent of public instruction, said Tuesday. The state Department of Education also is looking at graduation requirements to make sure seniors who would otherwise graduate this spring won’t be denied diplomas. “That could mean exemptions from some requirements unrelated to coursework,” Dr. Lane said.
$10,000 reward for info in toddler’s death
The FBI is offering up to $10,000 for information leading to a conviction in the fatal shooting of 3-year-old Sharmar L. Hill Jr., who was killed Feb. 1 while playing outside his family’s home in the Hillside Court public housing community. The toddler was outside just after 4 p.m. when the shooting occurred in the 1700 block of Southlawn Avenue. He later died at a hospital. Police said they believe that Sharmar was struck while two groups of people fired guns at each other. The FBI said Monday that a car seen leaving the area appeared similar to a Shamar Hill Jr. vehicle taken in the carjacking of a Lyft driver a day earlier. Police have said they don’t know whether a man charged in the carjacking was involved in the toddler’s shooting. But the FBI said “investigators are not ruling anything out.” Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI’s Richmond Division at (804) 261-1044 or TIPS.FBI.gov or the Richmond Police Department at (804) 646-3929.
Transfer Station reopens Hopkins Road Transfer Station is back in action after three months of improvement work. The station at 3520 N. Hopkins Road reopened Monday to residents seeking to get rid of brush, tree limbs and other unwanted items. The station was shut down just before Christmas so the concrete floor where items are dumped could be replaced. Since then, only those with dump trailers could use the station while everyone else had to use the East Richmond Road Convenience Center in the East End. The Hopkins Road station operates from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.
Slices of life and scenes in Richmond
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
GRTC is no longer charging to ride. In a bid to protect its drivers and other employees from the spread of coronavirus, the transit company announced that it will stop collecting fares from passengers using Pulse, regular and express buses and CARE van service, effective Thursday, March 19. The company has kept its buses and CARE van operations running and stepped up cleaning of buses to help reduce the spread of the disease. Eliminating fares is the company’s latest precaution. GRTC stated that most riders would
need to enter and exit through the rear doors to reduce close encounters between passengers and operators at the fare box. Only individuals with walkers or in wheelchairs who might need driver assistance, and families with children in strollers, will be allowed to enter through the front doors to access the designated seating up front, GRTC stated. “We are continuing service during this state of emergency, but our first priority remains the safety, health and financial well-being of our employees, their families and our riders,” Julie Timm, GRTC’s chief executive officer, stated in Wednesday’s announcement.
“GRTC provides lifeline employment and health connections for many of our riders and is the primary source of income for nearly 500 GRTC employees,” Ms. Timm noted. “We take our obligations very seriously,” she continued. “GRTC is closely monitoring updates on the COVID-19 virus spread in Virginia so that we may continue to take all reasonable precautions to address the risk and to maintain critical mobility to meet the needs of our community. “We are asking all riders to assist in protecting our service by eliminating all non-essential trips and following all recommended health precautions,” she stated.
VCU, UR, U.Va. and state’s community colleges cancel spring commencement ceremonies By George Copeland Jr.
Spring commencement ceremonies have been canceled at many schools and universities across the nation, including Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Richmond, the University of Virginia, all 23 community colleges in the state, at Morehouse College and Howard University, where a positive case of coronavirus was confirmed. Dr. Glenn DuBois, chancellor of Virginia Community College System that serves more than 270,000 students annually at 23 institutions on 40 campuses statewide, lamented the decision in a statement released Wednesday, noting that it was driven by guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to avoid gatherings of 10 or more people during the next eight weeks. “What’s difficult is that the very things that make these ceremonies meaningful also make them dangerous in this pandemic,” Dr. DuBois stated. “While it’s a celebration of individual achievements, it’s a community celebration. Many of the same family members who travel far and wide to attend are at particularly high risk with this virus. And the hugs and high-fives that come naturally to so many of us in that moment fly in the face of the social
distancing practices we are asked to observe.” He said the community colleges will honor the Class of 2020 graduates later “at a time and in a manner that is safer for all concerned.” The cancellations Dr. DuBois speak to the scale of impact the coronavirus is having on Virginia’s colleges. UR, VCU, Virginia Union University, Virginia State University and others have moved to shut down their classes, moving college courses from the classroom to online. Operating hours and staff onsite are being reduced. For students unable to participate from home, many schools like VCU and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College have taken to altering computer stations in academic buildings and libraries to ensure “social distancing” between users. “There are some classes like welding where you really can’t move it online. So we’re looking at some alternative ways to provide that education,” said Joe Schilling, director of communications for Reynolds.
In a similar vein, some colleges have shifted their dining facility operations from self-serve halls to take-out stations, in order to lower the possibility of viral transmission or infection. Some schools, such as VSU, have closed or reduced their number of active residence halls, while others, such as VUU, are providing housing to students during this time, officials said. VUU has a large number of homeless students learning at the institution, officials said, with the makeup of the student population still on campus split between those unable to return home and those with no home to return to. “We’re trying to make smart decisions to ensure the safety and health of our students and our campus community,” said Pamela Cox, VUU assistant vice president for public relations and communication. Officials at VSU currently are processing exemptions from students unable to find housing outside of the college. “As everyone else around the country is doing, we are being mindful of the health and safety of all of our constituents, our faculty, our staff, our students and our local community,” said Gwen Williams Dandridge, director of marketing and communications for VSU. “In all of our decision-making, that is paramount.”
City voter registrar gets green light to move to bigger office By Jeremy M. Lazarus
By the time November’s presidential election arrives, Richmond is projected to have about 170,000 registered voters on its rolls. That would be a 14 percent increase from the 149,000 people who were on the voter rolls four years ago when Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton battled it out in the presidential contest. With the General Assembly and Gov. Ralph S. Northam ushering in new laws to make early voting easy, Richmond Voter Registrar Kirk Showalter is projecting that 60,000 to 65,000 of the city’s voters could cast ballots in the 45 days before Election Day, either by mail or in person. That would represent about half of the people who would vote, assuming a normal Richmond turnout of 70 percent to 75 percent of those registered. “I’m projecting that as many as 8,000 people could vote on the peak day before
the election,” Ms. Showalter said. While that’s fewer than the 12,000 people she initially projected, that still would be far more than have ever voted absentee. That’s why the 25year veteran registrar Ms. Showalter is eager to move out of the cramped space in City Hall to a new office that could offer more parking and increased space for voting machines that could reduce potential waits. After several years of pressing Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration to allow her to secure more room, Ms. Showalter has received the green light to move forward on leasing a combination office-warehouse space she has been eyeing. She found out March 6, when the mayor introduced his budget that it includes
funding for the move to a building that she believes has the room her office will need for operations, training, community meetings, secure records storage and, most importantly, early voting. Ms. Showalter, who declined to identify the building, credited Paul McClellan of the city Department of Economic Development, with working with the landlord to gain favorable lease terms. She said the CityAttorney’s Office is now working on a contract that would go to City Council for approval. If all goes well, including gaining a thumbs up from council for the lease and for the additional $1.7 million the mayor has proposed to cover the lease, the move and other election office expenses, Ms. Showalter said the location change could be accomplished in August. “The timeline is fragile,” she said, given that her office also will be focused on voter registration and preparations for the fall election. “But if everything aligns, we will be able to get it done.”
Richmond Free Press
March 19-21, 2020
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Local News
RPS and J. Sargeant Reynolds announce partnership to create new technical center By Ronald E. Carrington
Richmond Public Schools and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College are teaming up to create a new technical center in the former tobacco plant in South Side. RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras and Dr. Paula P. Pando, president of J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, spoke to the vison and need for a new technical training center during a March 5 meeting of the Richmond School Board’s Vacant Property Committee. Mr. Kamras said the plan for the 288,000 square-foot building at 2325 Maury St., which had been donated to the RPS Foundation in 2017 by Altria subsidiary U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, represents a special opportunity to provide RPS students with technical skills “to meet the needs of the 21st century, fill the gap in the skilled labor force and earn college credits.” “The stars are aligning between RPS and J. Sargeant Reynolds, higher education and nonprofits, the business and philanthropic communities to turn this space into an innovative center,” Mr. Kamras said. He also noted creating a technical center in “the area will help bring resurgence in this area, which doesn’t get a lot of attention or investment. This area desperately needs it.” The building is part of a 10-acre former tobacco complex, one block off of Jefferson Davis Highway. The building has large, open ballroom-type spaces with 20-foot ceilings where, for example, an entire diesel bay can be installed, officials said, as well as smaller open spaces for classrooms and student lounges. “We would not have to tear anything down.
The building is ready and has been well maintained,” said School Board member Jonathan Young, 4th District, chair of the Vacant Property Committee. After the committee toured part of the building, Dr. Pando said the demand is so high for skilled workers locally and nationally that many Reynolds students are poached early in their training. “The respective industries pluck our students as soon as they learn the basic skills and place them in jobs commanding $50,000 to $60,000 salaries without earning an associate degree. Automotive technicians, now a high technology field requiring a number of certifications and significant training, are quoted at $48,000 starting salary,” Dr. Pando said. She said the skilled trades are top priority fields for Virginia’s community college system and a focal point for Gov. Ralph S. Northam’s “Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back” initiative, known as G3. The G3 program provides wraparound financial assistance to help students at the lowest income levels with expenses, such as food, transportation, child care, as well as financial support to cover tuition, fees, and books at the state’s two-year public institutions, Dr. Pando noted. Joining with Reynolds to create a new technical center will give RPS students an added benefit as they look to the future and plan their academic and professional careers. “This is an opportunity for RPS to provide career pathways for students to learn tangible job skills as well as participate in the district’s Early College Academy as they earn a higher education degree,” Mr. Young said after the
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
View of former Philip Morris tobacco plant that Richmond Public Schools and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College hope to turn into a new technical school for students to train in fields ranging from auto mechanics to construction and advanced manufacturing. Altria donated the vacant plant at 2325 Maury St. three years ago to RPS, which could not afford the potential $40 million renovation cost. Reynolds is looking to gain state support for the project.
meeting. He said the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing in Disputanta would be a model for the joint project. CCAM is a public-private partnership committed to apprenticeship programs for college students designed to develop the state’s much-needed technically skilled and research workforce. At this time, details about the potential cost of the new technical center, funding sources and renovation details have not been disclosed. The School Board would have to approve the project and find funding. With J. Sargeant Reynolds involved, state funding could be available in addition to private companies and organizations looking to build
their future workforce. “Due to the shortage of workers, area industries needing to fill highly technical positions have an appetite to furnish state-of-the-art equipment in order to invest to build the workforce,” Dr. Pando told the committee. “In Central Virginia, J. Sargeant Reynolds is the only game in town with the skilled trades expertise and curriculum when it comes to the technology,” she said. “Industry partners are coming to the table in high numbers – Mercedes, Hyundai, Ford, Honda and more – to put pen to paper to demonstrate what they are going to put in.” Mr. Young said, “This is a time for RPS to strike while the iron is hot.”
U.S. colleges continue to grapple with ties to slavery By Carolyn Thompson Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. The promise of reparations to atone for historical ties to slavery has opened new territory in a reckoning at U.S. colleges, which until now have responded with monuments, building name changes and public apologies. Georgetown University and two theological seminaries have announced funding commitments to benefit descendants of the enslaved people who were sold or toiled to benefit the institutions. While no other schools have gone so far, the advantages that institutions benefited from the slavery economy received new attention as the formerly crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates talked about tax credits and other subsidies that nudge the idea of reparations toward the mainstream. The country has been discussing reparations in one way or another since slavery officially ended in 1865. Last August marked the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to American shores, launching the violence infflicted on black people to prop up the Southern economy. University of Buffalo senior Jeffrey Clinton said he thinks campuses should acknowledge historical ties to slavery but that the federal government should take the lead on an issue that reaches well beyond higher education. “It doesn’t have to be trillions of dollars ... but at least address the inequities and attack the racial wealth gap between African-Americans and white Americans and really everybody else, because this is an American-made institution. We didn’t immigrate here,” said Mr. Clinton, a descendant of enslaved people who lives in Bay Shore, N.Y. A majority of Georgetown University undergraduates voted last April for a nonbinding referendum to pay a $27.20-per-semester “Reconciliation Contribution” toward projects in underprivileged communities that are home to some descendants of 272 slaves who were sold in 1838 to help pay off the school’s debts. Georgetown President John DeGioia responded in October with plans instead for a university-led initiative, with the goal of raising about $400,000 from donors, rather than students, to support projects like health clinics and schools in those same communities.
Elsewhere, discussions of reparations have been raised by individual professors, like at the University of Alabama, or by graduate students and community members, like at the University of Chicago. At least 56 universities have joined a University of Virginialed consortium, Universities Studying Slavery, to explore their ties to slavery and share research and strategies. In recent years, some schools, such as Yale University, have removed the names of slavery supporters from buildings. New monuments have gone up elsewhere, including Brown University’s Slavery Memorial sculpture – a partially buried ball and chain – and the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers under construction at U.Va. “It’s a very diffused set of things happening around the nation,” said Guy Emerson Mount, an associate professor of AfricanAmerican history at Auburn University. “It’s really important to pay attention to what each of these are doing” because they could offer learning opportunities and inform national discussions on reparations. Virginia Theological Seminary in September announced a $1.7 million endowment fund in recognition of slaves who worked there. It said annual allocations would go toward supporting African-American clergy in the Episcopal Church and programs that promote justice and inclusion. The Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey followed with a $27.6 million endowment after a historical audit revealed that some founders used slave labor. “We did not want to shy away from the uncomfortable part of our history and the difficult conversations that revealing the truth would produce,” seminary President M. Craig Barnes said in October. In an October letter to Harvard University’s president, Antigua and Barbuda’s prime minister noted the developments at Georgetown and the seminaries and asked the Ivy League school to consider how it could make amends for the oppression of Antiguan slaves by a plantation owner whose gift endowed a law professorship in 1815. Harvard’s president wrote back that the school is determined to further explore its historical ties to slavery. Harvard in 2016 removed a slave owner’s family crest from the law school seal and dedicated a plaque to four enslaved
Work underway on $12M Baker School apartment project By Jeremy M. Lazarus
The long-awaited $12 million effort to transform the old Baker Elementary School building in Gilpin Court into 51 apartments is finally underway. Meanwhile, other housing developments involving the city’s housing authority remain stalled amid the building boom in Richmond. At Baker School, workers are doing interior demolition in beginning the final phase of replacing the 200 units for the elderly and disabled in Fay Towers, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s high-rise located two blocks north of the long-vacant school building. RRHA and its nonprofit partner, Maryland-based Enterprise Community Development, already have relocated many of the residents of Fay Towers. Already, 77 residents were relocated to apartments in a former Highland Park school building and another 72 have been or soon will be relocated to the new Jackson Ward apartment complex being completed in the block bounded by 1st, 2nd, Duval and Jackson streets, about two blocks east of Baker School. Enterprise is the developer of both. Another RRHA project that is moving forward is Armstrong Renaissance, which has brought new apartments and homes to the former site of Armstrong High School on North 31st Street in the East End. That development, in partnership with The Community Builders of Boston, provided new housing for some residents of the nearby Creighton Court public housing community.
Creighton Court, the nearly 70-year-old community of 503 apartments, is to begin its redevelopment into a mixedincome community. Demolition of about one-third of the public housing community’s vacant buildings, mostly facing Nine Mile Road, is to begin within the next year, RRHA has stated. However, Damon E. Duncan, RRHA chief executive officer, is keeping mum on RRHA’s delays on three other developments. He has not responded to two Free Press queries about the status of those projects. RRHA advertised in October 2018 for developers to undertake new home construction on 96 lots in the Blackwell community to close out the Hope VI redevelopment that began more than 20 years ago. No award has been made, despite RRHA’s receipt of responses from several nonprofits. Last August, RRHA separately sought one or more homebuilders to build on eight vacant lots it owns elsewhere in Richmond, including four on St. James Street in Jackson Ward. So far, RRHA has not issued an award notice on those properties. Nor is anything happening regarding the property at 3rd and Duval streets, which RRHA has kept undeveloped for 30 years. Sixteen months ago, RRHA issued a request for proposals for developers who could build a new hotel and about 60 apartments on its property that sits next to Club 533. RRHA issued a notice of award to an African-American-led development group last August, but has not posted a public notice of award or finalized negotiations to allow the development to proceed.
Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press
A Jesuit statue stands in front of Freedom Hall at Georgetown University in Washington. Students at the private university voted last year to add a fee to tuition to help pay for projects in communities that are home to descendants of the 272 slaves who were sold in 1838 by the university to help pay off the school’s debts.
people who lived and worked on campus. At the University of Buffalo, some have urged the public school to consider the responsibility it bears having been founded by the 13th U.S. president, Millard Fillmore, who signed the Fugitive Slave Act to help slave owners reclaim runaways. Students have not formally raised the idea of reparations, according to a school spokesman, but they led a discussion on the topic as part of Black Solidarity Week in the fall. Dr. William Darity, a Duke University public policy professor and an expert on reparations, said the voices of college students have helped bring attention to reparations in a way that hasn’t been seen since Reconstruction. But he has warily watched what he sees as a piecemeal approach to an issue he believes merits a congressional response. “I don’t want anybody to be under the impression that these constitute comprehensive reparations,” Dr. Darity said. Supporting a reparations program for all black descendants of American slaves “would be the more courageous act,” he said. Few Americans support reparations, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. It showed that only 29 percent say the government should pay cash reparations to descendants of enslaved black people. University of Buffalo associate professor Dr. Keith Griffler, who specializes in African and African-American studies, said he sees the cusp of a movement on college campuses. “And it’s probably not surprising that some of the wealthier private institutions have been the first to take those kinds of steps, because public universities still have their funding issues. “The conversations, just acknowledging these kinds of things,” Dr. Griffler said, “I think would go a long way toward making students feel that at least their voices are being heard.” Associated Press writer Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this article.
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A4 March 19-21, 2020
News
Coronavirus pandemic disrupts work, study and play as the number of cases rises throughout the state Continued from A1
sporting events across the country have been postponed or canceled. Restaurants that are open are being limited to 10 customers at a time or are offering only to-go service like Mama J’s Kitchen in Jackson Ward, while malls and movie theaters are cutting hours, along with government agencies that offer critical services, such as the Department of Social Services. Behind this dramatic effort and encouragement of people to keep away from each other is the deep concern the contagious virus could overwhelm hospitals and the rest of the public health system. With a vaccine still months away, separation to allow the virus to run its course in those infected appears to be the only option. The real problem is that identifying those who have COVID19 has proven nearly impossible. Testing is limited, and people can spread the virus to others for two to 14 days before they start having symptoms, including dry cough, fever and difficulty breathing. Estimates from top health experts are that there are 50 people infected for every confirmed case. According to the health experts, the number of people with the virus can double every three days and quickly get out of control. While most people will shake off the effects quickly, an estimated 15 percent of people who get the virus might need hospitalization and 5 percent could require intensive care and ventilators. Hospitals do not have the beds or ventilators to handle the hundreds and potentially thousands of patients who would need such care. At Free Press deadline on Wednesday evening, the Virginia Department of Health had confirmed 77 positive cases of the virus in the state, including two cases in Henrico, five in Chesterfield, and one in both Hanover and Goochland. The VDH also confirmed the deaths of two men in their 70s from the virus on Saturday and Monday, both of whom lived in James City County near Williamsburg. Currently, 1,278 people in Virginia have been tested for the coronavirus by the state lab, officials said. This doesn’t include testing done by private health labs, meaning the number of tests, and potential positive cases, are likely to rise in the coming days and weeks. To help speed the testing process and lighten the potential load on hospitals, the VDH established its first pop-up COVID-19 testing site Wednesday afternoon in Henrico’s Dorey Park, with
more than 100 people tested during the course of four hours. The VDH has plans for another pop-up location perhaps this weekend, but further details were not available Wednesday as health officials were still working to get more test kits from private companies. People interested in being tested must call (804) 205-3501 to be screened for symptoms and to be registered. “It’s the first time that we’re doing something like this. Our hope is that we can work out the kinks and then start to replicate this around the region,” Dr. Avula said. “There clearly is a need for more and more testing at the community level.” Bon Secours Health System also announced plans for regional sites devoted to testing for the virus, though no date has been given for when or where that will begin. To mitigate chances of the virus spreading further, Mayor Stoney said Richmond will be collaborating with health officials to enforce the 10-person limit on public gatherings that Gov. Ralph S. Northam imposed on Tuesday. An adoption of federal guidelines, the order affects restaurants, malls and other businesses serving the public and is one of many new measures by the state government to ensure public safety and lower the chances of transmission or infection. Other measures already in place include a two week hiatus for Virginia’s K-12 schools — with Richmond Public Schools closing through April 13, though online resources are being made available. Most universities are shifting to online courses, with students being cleared from campuses. Some schools, including Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Richmond, have canceled or postponed upcoming graduation ceremonies. Dominion Energy and Richmond Public Utilities are pitching in to help people stay in their homes by ending disconnections of electricity, water, sewer and gas service until the emergency is over. GRTC started providing free rides on every service, while the Virginia Supreme Court Wednesday ordered lower courts to halt all eviction hearings that do not involve an emergency. To help workers being laid off, the Virginia Employment Commission has dropped the state’s one-week waiting period to apply for unemployment. Other arms of the government are making it easier for businesses and workers to access aid. In other cases, access is being limited to reduce public contact and possible spread of the virus. For example, the state Department of Motor Vehicles has closed its offices and limited all service to online interactions.
“We can and will get through this difficult time, but we must do so together,” Gov. Northam said during a briefing on Tuesday. Last Friday, leaders with the City of Richmond and Henrico, Hanover, Chesterfield and Goochland counties declared local states of emergency, a day after Gov. Northam’s own state of emergency declaration, and hours before President Trump declared a national state of emergency. Officials also activated the Central Virginia All-Hazards Incident Management Team. The local declarations allow city and county leaders to secure public contracts and services with less oversight from governing bodies. Local officials also are planning to meet regularly to share resources, information and new developments. The State Corporation Commission on Monday directed all regulated utilities to suspend service disconnections for 60 days after a petition from Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring was sent calling for the suspension. Comcast has responded to the virus’ presence in Virginia by increasing the speed and access of its internet services, including offering free internet service to low-income households. Despite these steps, there are still more areas of Virginia life left unaddressed in the wake of the pandemic. While Gov. Northam noted the failure of a paid sick leave bill to pass the General Assembly earlier this year, he said there are currently no plans for legislative action beyond the reconvened session on April 22, despite calls from Republican and Democratic legislators for a special session. The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy on Tuesday called on the governor to use his emergency authority to institute paid sick and employment protections. Meanwhile, there is an effort to have some of those locked up released from jail. Attorneys with the Richmond Public Defenders Office asked the judges of the city’s General District, Juvenile and Domestic Relations and Circuit courts to order the release from jail of the city’s non-violent offenders. The letter urged the action to reduce the chances of the coronavirus among those now held in custody. Officials stress that Virginians will have to practice caution, cleanliness and selflessness for themselves and each other to slow the spread of coronavirus. Health officials, meanwhile, are urging anyone 65 or older to self-quarantine. “This is just the beginning,” Mayor Stoney said. “We have to be vigilant, personally vigilant, in this combat versus COVID-19.”
Richmond schools closed until April 13 Continued from A1
Neighborhood food distribution centers
Neighborhood-based food distribution centers are open 9:30 to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday at 15 locations around Richmond. East End • Fulton - Miss Girlee’s Parking Lot, 4809 Parker St., #1520 • Creighton Court - Management Office, 2101 Creighton Road • Fairfield Court - Management Office, 2506 Phaup St. • Mosby Court - Management Office, 1543 Coalter St. • Whitcomb Court - Management Office, 2302 Carmine St. West End • Randolph - Fifth Baptist Church, 1415 W. Cary St. • Maymont - Amelia St School Parking Lot, 1821 Amelia St. North Side • Bellevue/Pine Camp - Parking Lot, 4901 Old Brook Road • Battery Park - Gate Oaks Apartment Complex, 2907 Chamberlayne Ave. • Gilpin Court - Management Office, 1000 St. John St., Richmond, VA 23220, Brookland Park - Hotchkiss Field Community Center, 701 E. Brookland Park Blvd. South Side • Bellmeade - Recreation Center, 1800 Lynhaven Ave. • Hillside Court - Recreation Center, 1500 Harwood St. • Chippenham & Hull St - Timbercreek Apartments, 2200 Chateau Dr. • Belt Blvd. & Hull St.- Southwood Leasing Office, 1200 Southwood Pkwy.
to let them know now so they can plan for the future.” RPS has opened 20 food distribution centers from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at various schools where families can pick up breakfast and lunch for their children. On Wednesday, an additional 15 sites in neighborhoods around Richmond also were opened for families to pick up meals from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday. Many of the school-based food distribution centers had light turnout on Monday when they first opened, as the word was starting to filter out and parents were trying to find the exact locations. For example, at Chimborazo Elementary, food could be picked up in the rear of the school, while at Ginter Park Elementary, the pickup point was at the side entrance and for others, the schools’ front lobbies. Carver Elementary School was added Wednesday as a food distribution center, while Henderson Middle School was removed because of road construction. Mr. Kamras said the administration is working with partner agencies to deliver food to families that have difficulty getting to the distribution centers because of a lack of transportation or child care. “As we get into next week, the administration will know if there may be any meal shortages. The district has alerted the city and partners that additional support may be needed in getting resources for our families,”
RPS centers open to families Continued from A1
Linda Fleming, a mother of five pregnant with her sixth child, headed into Boushall Middle School with daughters, Radasia, 8, a third-grader, and Raeeke Bucler, 12, a seventh-grader. “Right now, I have to limit my working,” said Ms. Fleming, adding that she is using sick leave and vacation time to stay home with her children. “I don’t want my children to go to one babysitter after another because there is no one to stay home with them. I don’t want them to risk getting the coronavirus.” Lesley Moseley, whose daughter attends Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, picked up food from George Mason Elementary in Church Hill because it was closer to their home.
“My daughter had all of the homework assignments and she is keeping up to date on her work,” Mr. Moseley said. While normal routines are disrupted, the pandemic is pulling generations within families together. One grandmother of six, a retiree who did not want her name published, was leaving George Wythe High School with her arms filled with food. Three of her grandchildren attend Richmond schools, she said, while three attend school in Chesterfield County. Her concern, she said, centers on the unknown – who is a carrier of the virus and who isn’t. “I am doing all I can for my family,” she said. “There is no vaccine for the virus and that’s scary.”
Mr. Kamras said. During the meeting, the board approved a $533,000 budget transfer for deep cleaning supplies and services for all schools because of COVID19, as well as an additional $250,000 for nurses for special needs children through June 30, the end of the current fiscal year. The board also approved a resolution by board member James “Scott” Barlow, 2nd District, authorizing Mr. Kamras and board Chairwoman Linda Owen, 9th District, to make transfers of up to $1 million without a vote of the entire board. Any transfers can be halted, however, if at least two board members object. The emergency resolution can be removed by a majority vote of the board or when the COVID-19 state of emergency is lifted by federal, state and city officials. “I do hope people watching, as we respond to this crisis locally, have a better understanding as we go through this process of the integral role RPS and other school divisions play in our communities,” Mr. Barlow said. “We are not just an educational agency,” he said. “We supply nutritional and emotional support for our students and are likely more in touch with the needs of families than other agencies.”
RPS food distribution centers Richmond Public Schools has 20 food distribution centers open for families to pick up breakfast and lunch for their children. The centers are open 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. • Armstrong High School, 2300 Cool Lane • Binford Middle School, 1701 Floyd Ave. • Blackwell Elementary School, 300 E. 15th St. • Boushall Middle School, 3400 Hopkins Road • Broad Rock Elementary School, 4615 Ferguson Lane • Carver Elementary School, 1110 W. Leigh St. • Chimborazo Elementary School, 3000 E. Marshall St. • Fisher Elementary School, 3701 Garden Road • Francis Elementary School, 5146 Snead Road • George Mason Elementary School, 813 N. 28th St. • Ginter Park Elementary School, 3817 Chamberlayne Ave. • Greene Elementary School, 1745 Catalina Drive • Huguenot High School, 7945 Forest Hill Ave. • Lucille Brown Middle School, 6300 Jahnke Road • Miles Jones Elementary School, 200 Beaufont Hills Drive • Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, 1000 Mosby St. • Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School, 2409 Webber Ave. • Reid Elementary School, 1301 Whitehead Road • Summer Hill Preschool, 2717 Alexander Ave. • George Wythe High School, 4314 Crutchfield St.
Closing Cathy’s Camp in midst of emergency Continued from A1
there,” she said. It is not yet clear whether most of the camp’s residents will gain permanent housing. Ms. Sneed said that she is cooperating because the camp is “no longer safe” as a few newcomers continue to arrive. She said a man who had been treated for pneumonia and discharged from a hospital arrived on Tuesday night. “He could hardly breathe,” she said. The Richmond Sheriff’s Department also directed three homeless people who were discharged by the Justice Center, as the city’s jail is known, to Cathy’s Camp for housing. Initially, the people moved from the camp were among the healthier residents. City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray and Ms. Sneed were concerned that those making the relocation selections left a man with stage 2 cancer and a woman in a wheelchair in place. On Monday, after finding rooms available at the Rodeway Inn, Ms. Gray and Ms. Sneed received approval from Ms. Horne to send the sickest to the motel along with two caretakers.
“We also had to arrange transportation,” Ms. Gray said. Earlier that day as City Council met to affirm Mayor Stoney’s March 13 declaration of an emergency, Ms. Gray also led the council in insisting that the Stoney administration open the overflow shelter at the Annie Giles Community Resource Center so residents of the camp could wash up and use the bathrooms. Ms. Sneed is not sentimental about the impending end of the camp. “Everyone survived the winter,” said Ms. Sneed, who is now focused on keeping her promise to the relocated residents to visit, to bring clothing and personal care items and ensure they have food. Some also are mentally ill, and Ms. Sneed said she will be there to ensure they take their medication. She also said she would advocate for permanent housing for them once the emergency ends so they don’t wind up returning to the streets in a few weeks. “We need to make sure that doesn’t happen,” she said.
Richmond Free Press
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Unusual, extraordinary times This edition of the Richmond Free Press is a labor of commitment and care. Care for our extraordinary team members, care for our loyal and devoted readers and commitment to our advertisers who count on us to get their messages out to our readership. Every line of our news columns is selected to inform with news you can use and make you a bit safer and smarter. This week the coronavirus pandemic presents major challenges. Our newsroom was affected with symptoms that demanded social distancing. Advertisers were not sure of their plans, so many are not represented in this edition. Small businesses, like the Free Press, need customers, readers and advertisers to keep the faith. Nonprofits that serve the homeless and the food insecure need our support more than ever. Perseverance.
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Out with the status quo As America muddles its way through these perilous times, too many in the African-American community appear to be more confused than ever. We have traded our interests in for “electability” and “anybody but Trump.” The late NAACP Board Chair Julian Bond told us that we have no permanent friends and no permanent enemies, just permanent interests. Malcolm X called them permanent agendas. By failing to develop, understand and articulate our permanent interests/agendas, we fall victim to the problem of binary politics, the simplistic either-or scenario. Yes, this is a two-party system, but failing to have an afro-diasporic weltanschauung, or world view, continuously leaves us with the simplistic and deadly choices of the status quo: “Do you want lead in your drinking water or mercury? Do you want arsenic with your grits, baby, or do you want mamma to sprinkle a bit of strychnine on them for you?” Having an afro-diasporic weltanschauung does not mean that we
are a monolith. It recognizes that we share a common history and oppressor and we should have common issues and values. This rant of “anybody but Trump” is a perfect example of the dangers of binary politics, especially for the African-American
Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III community. Please don’t get this twisted. Yes, President Trump is disgustingly ignorant, vile, gauche, racist and an admitted sexual predator. However, following the simplistic narrative of “anybody but Trump” without an afro-diasporic weltanschauung as the basis of your analysis will not lead you to a better alternative. We’ve been told by some in leadership positions that “we know Joe (Biden) and Joe knows us,” “He is a public servant who has always worked for the best of who we are as a nation and we need that right now,” and “The answer to hatred and division is to reignite our spirit of common purpose … He’ll restore honor to the Oval Office and tackle our most pressing challenges.” Yes, we know Joe. He has quite a long record. His record on busing, the crime bill, Anita Hill’s testi-
mony against Clarence Thomas, plagiarism and other issues is very clear. I don’t write this to say that Joe Biden is the wrong choice. I write this to say that if your analysis is solely based on “electability” or “anybody but Trump,” then your analysis is shallow. In fact, it’s not even analysis; it’s reactionary. The African-American community can ill-afford reactionary politics. It’s not about the politics of personality. It’s about the politics of policy. “Anybody but Trump” ignores the fact that as president, Mr. Trump is a functionary of the U.S. government. His position on Venezuela is the same as previous administrations. Both Democrat and Republican administrations have had policies that included U.S. interference in Central and South American countries. His position on tax cuts and cuts to social programs builds upon tax policy and social policy cuts from previous administrations. Remember “ending welfare as we know it” under President Clinton and President Obama’s failed “Grand Bargain?” Again, I did not write this to say that Joe Biden is the wrong choice. I’m merely asking what do we get for our loyalty — more hope without substantive and systemic change? The issues that plague America
March Madness to Miserable May?
Monday marked the 193rd anniversary of the Black Press of America. It all began with Freedom’s Journal, guided by John B. Russwurm and Samuel F. Cornish. Its inaugural edition’s front page carried these words: “We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us.” Typically, publishers convened by the trade organization for the black press – the National Newspaper Publishers Association – meet at this time. This year, like nearly every other regional or national organization, NNPA members stayed in place to pay attention to the public they serve.
Basketball fans were looking forward to March Madness, those weeks when the best college teams face off against each other. Madness is replete this March, but it isn’t on the basketball courts. The dangerous coronavirus, which can be transmitted by a cough, a touch or “direct contact,” is spreading all over the world. It is madness that the United States, which loves to brag about our world superiority, comes up short when it comes to coronavirus testing. Many who have been exposed to the virus have not been tested because test kits are in short supply. In reaction, March Madness has been canceled, as has professional basketball and other sports. In New York and other locations, public safety prohibits large gatherings, causing St. Patrick’s Day parades to be canceled. Broadway has gone dark because of the prohibition of groups of more than 500 people. Some colleges and universities have told students to stay home for spring break and offered online classes. Some K-12 schools are closed for weeks because of the virus. And millions of workers have been told they should work from home because of the virus. All of these factors contribute to the volatile stock market. All of the gains shareholders realized since 2016 have now been wiped out. Much of this might have been avoided, but for the fact that No.45 initially did not take this virus
seriously. When informed of this pandemic, the president’s initial reaction was a wholly vacuous assurance that the virus was “just like the flu” and would go away “when it gets hot.” Instead, the repercussions from the coronavirus are massive. The stock market tanked during the week when No. 45 first dismissed
Julianne Malveaux the virus and then imposed travel restrictions, preventing some people from traveling to the United States. The spread of the coronavirus reveals weaknesses in the armor of the country, some describe as “the greatest country” in the world. The coronavirus has been declared a pandemic, a world emergency. The United States is woefully unprepared to manage this emergency. The focus of this administration has been to slash the public sector and provide tax breaks for the wealthy. Public health — or any other kind — has not been a priority. Managing a world pandemic is beyond the capacity of the private sector. Both Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have given substantive speeches on their approach to coronavirus. Unlike the president, these Democrats are concerned with the children who get school lunch when schools are closed. They are concerned with the contingent workers who won’t get paid when they don’t work, unlike government and other employees who will be paid no matter what. Both Mr. Biden and Sen. Sanders talked about the weakness in our public health system and the ways
that hospitals will be burdened if this virus gets worse. Yet No. 45 addressed this matter with a pithy 11-minute speech that was full of outright lies and misinformation. When No. 45 campaigned four years ago, he said he’d fix infrastructure, which is a bipartisan issue. As soon as he entered the Oval Office, the infrastructure plan was forgotten. A strong and resilient public health system should be part of our infrastructure. That sector has been ignored by an administration that would rather feather the nests of billionaires than ensure that everyone who has been exposed to the coronavirus can be tested. The National Society of Civil Engineers issues a report card on our nation’s infrastructure every two or three years. The most recent report card from 2017, gives us a D+ grade on our infrastructure, our highways and bridges, public buildings and waterways and more. We get a D+ and yet some brag about our “greatness.” Once we were a world leader, but now we are a laughingstock, especially when our country has abdicated from leadership, blaming the pandemic on China and Europe. Anyone who understands globalization knows that our countries are intertwined and there are no borders strong enough to eliminate disease. Will March Madness turn into Adversity April and Miserable May? Will the Congress pass measures that will ameliorate the effects of this virus on our health and on our economy? Candidates Mr. Biden and Sen. Sanders have offered ideas to minimize the impact of the coronavirus. Is anybody paying attention? The writer is an economist, author and educator.
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are systemic. Racism in America is organic. What do we get for our endorsements? An afro-diasporic weltanschauung is essential to developing the platform that serves as a baseline for any political candidate that seeks the AfricanAmerican vote. Any candidate seeking our support must commit to supporting a set of clear platform planks and policy initiatives that support the community. The 1972 Gary Declaration from the National Black Political Convention is the place to start. Yes, President Trump needs to go, but so does the status quo. The writer is the producer-host of the nationally broadcast call-in talk radio program “Inside the Issues with Leon” on SiriusXM satellite radio.
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Richmond Free Press
March 19-21, 2020 A7
Commentary
We jeopardize our freedoms when we take them for granted D e livering newspapers as a boy growing up in Richm o n d during the late 1960s and early ’70s, headlines and stories flew from my right hand onto front porch steps and stoops. The world of my youth was a violent place: War, assassination and civil unrest. I had to wash the ink of those days from my fingers each morning before breakfast, but the crucial role played by those printed words left an indelible impression. When I learned in school that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution included protecting the freedom of the press, I understood why. Spending my entire professional career as a journalist brought daily reinforcement that the Constitution’s sense of priorities was correct. A free press is inextricably linked to the defense of every freedom we cherish as Americans. Anything that diminishes the First Amendment threatens the Constitution itself, especially if that threat comes from the president of the United States. On April 5, 2019, President Trump declared this regarding the nation’s press: “They are truly the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.” Our own president, not some dictator of an authoritarian regime behind the Iron Curtain of my youth, composed those words and launched them through his Twitter account. The all-capitalized letters are Presi-
dent Trump’s own, emphasizing the ferocity of the attack. I cannot wash those words away. And President Trump has repeated them, over and over, regarding members of the press
Ken Woodley corps and their media outlets. His diabolical “fake news” is part of our national vocabulary. Our own president is doing this, not some foreign propagandist agent. And the damage will not disappear the moment he leaves office. My initial reaction was to pursue state legislation declaring the Commonwealth of Virginia a First Amendment Sanctuary. But in bouncing the idea off U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, I saw my error. “I don’t think we should pick and choose which provisions we like,” he responded via email. “We should follow them all.” The senator is correct. My original idea would have produced unintended collateral damage. Singling out one amendment — even the First Amendment — inherently diminishes the rest. I believe the Commonwealth of Virginia should declare itself a “U.S. Constitution Heritage State” and have forwarded this proposal to the office of Gov. Ralph S. Northam. Our Commonwealth is the birthplace of James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution.” If not Virginia, who? If not now, when? Yes, it would be symbolic, but symbols matter. They send unmistakable messages and have the power to promote good or evil. Symbols of ha-
tred, such as burning crosses and swastikas, have endured for decades. “The blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” that the Constitution declares is meant to secure constant nurturing and protection to ensure they apply equally to all people. This proposal is not antiTrump. It is pro-Constitution and all of the freedoms contained within it. The entire nation should be a U.S. Constitution “sanctuary.” Members of Congress swear an oath to “support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Members of the Virginia General Assembly promise to “support the Constitution,” as do all local elected officials. But that same oath was sworn in the 1950s and 60s when Prince Edward County’s Board of Supervisors voted to defund public education and lock every public school rather than integrate classrooms. Even though every American child had a Constitutional right to a public education, it took the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1964 Griffin decision to reaffirm that right. The moment we take our constitutional rights for granted — even something as basic and seemingly inviolate as public education — we place them in jeopardy. Let’s publicly embrace our constitutional rights, instead. Make Virginia a U.S. Constitution Heritage State. Promote and publicize the fact. Incorporate that phrase at Virginia welcome centers and tourism facilities. Place signage where
every interstate, primary and secondary road crosses our state line. Let everyone driving into Virginia be aware that they
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Are we worthy of the sacrifice? R e c e n t l y, while delivering a lecture on my extensive, overwhelmi n g l y b l a c k magazine collection, I showed students the June 28, 1963, issue of Life Magazine, the cover of which showed a grieving Myrlie Evers consoling her young son at funeral services for her husband, the great warrior Medgar Evers. Brother Medgar had been assassinated by a white racist terrorist. During my lecture, I stopped and asked the students if they knew who Medgar Evers was. Only three of the 50 students raised their hands affirmatively. This means that 46 of the 49 black students — one was Caucasian — had no idea of the major contributions that Brother Medgar had made in the fight for equal rights, equal opportunity and equal justice in the violently white supremacist state of Mississippi and throughout the former Confederate states of America. My immediate reaction was anger at the students. But I caught myself when realizing their ages. However, I did
explain to them that Brother Medgar’s son was crying hard for a father who had given his life to help the students and others enjoy some of the op-
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A. Peter Bailey portunities they have today. “If Medgar Evers and hundreds of others had not put their lives on the line, you would not be in the position you are in today,” I told the students. “It is absurd that someone from your homes, your churches, your schools, your fraternities and sororities etc., have not made you aware of such a talented, intelligent, determined and committed warrior.” The situation once again confirmed my position that the education system in this country will never in the foreseeable future teach the real history of black folks in the United States. It’s time for the aforementioned institutions
and organizations to make teaching our history an integral part of their agenda. In a February 1981 mustread Ebony Magazine article, “Why Black History Is Important to You,” the brilliant journalist and historian Lerone Bennett Jr. stated that our history is a bet that our ancestors placed that we must now cover. When 46 of 49 black students in a university classroom don’t know who Medgar Evers was, it is clearly evident that we, as African-Americans, are not covering the bet made by our ancestors. It also reinforces my belief that we, at least thus far, have not proven worthy of the supreme sacrifice made by ancestors such as Brother Medgar and numerous other warriors who were murdered and assassinated by white supremacist terrorists. The writer is an author and journalist based in Washington.
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General Assembly An Historic Session for Progress By Senator Jennifer McClellan This legislative session was truly historic. Last November, the voters of Virginia elected a new majority in Richmond – with a clear mandate to take action on building a fairer, more equitable Virginia that protects our civil rights and gives everyone opportunity, regardless of their zip code. This year, the General Assembly took huge steps toward delivering on that promise, passing landmark legislation on key issues from equal rights to climate change to health care. It was the most productive and progressive session in my 15 years in the legislature. Certainly there were still disappointments – and plenty of work to do next year – but this session made historic strides toward a stronger Virginia for all. I’m proud to have patroned 36 bills or resolutions that passed, working with my colleagues in the House and Senate; r
Made Virginia the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. And, I’m especially proud that our ERA resolution was led by women of color. r Created a state-based exchange under Obamacare to improve access to affordable care for Virginians - an effort I’ve been working on for 8 years. r Raised the minimum wage for domestic workers, removing Jim Crow-era restrictions and making Virginia the 1st state in the south to protect domestic workers’ rights. The bill also began the process of extended other workplace protections to domestic workers. r Passed the biggest climate change bill in Virginia history-indeed in all of the South. The Virginia Clean Economy Act moves Virginia to 100% clean energy by 2045, creates clean energy jobs, and protects frontline communities impacted by climate change and pollution. r Removed onerous restrictions on a woman’s ability to access abortion care, including mandatory ultrasounds and TRAP laws. r Took major action on affordable housing, expanding tools for localities to create affordable housing. r Extended protections to tenants, including a statement of their rights and responsibilities and giving more notice before demolitions of public housing. r Created a new commission to study Virginia’s crumbling schools and make recommendations on funding for school construction and modernization. r Disrupted the school-to-prison pipeline by passing laws to end the vague “disorderly conduct” charge that disproportionately led to students of color facing criminal charges for school-related incidents and restoring discretion to principal on which incidents to report to law enforcement and which to handle through the discipline process. r Addressed criminal justice reform, by raising the felony larceny threshold to $1,000, ending mandatory minimums for driving with a suspended license, studying the use of bail, and providing parole eligibility to hundreds of ‘Fishback inmates’ sentenced between 1995 and 2000. r Finally implemented Del. Delores McQuinn’s vision to address food deserts by incentivizing building and maintaining grocery stores in underserved areas. r Created a study on the legalization of the growth, sale, and possession of marijuana, with a focus on equity and communities that have been disproportionately impacted by marijuana prohibition. In short, we have taken massive steps forward. But there’s still work to do on education, equal rights, health care, and so many more issues. I want to thank all of my constituents for their engagement, ideas, and feedback during this extremely productive legislative session. I also encourage you to reach out over the coming weeks, especially as Virginia deals with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. My office stands ready to help. Paid for and authorized by Friends for Jennifer McClellan
Richmond Free Press
A8 March 19-21, 2020
Sports Stories by Fred Jeter
John Marshall High wins 2A state championship
Jason Nelson
Richmond royalty Here’s a list of state titles won by Richmond Pubic Schools’ boys’ basketball teams since the merger of the Virginia Interscholastic Association and the Virginia High School League in 1969: • Group AAA: Maggie L. Walker High School, 1971 and 1976 • Group AAA: Thomas Jefferson High School, 1975 • Group AAA: Marshall-Walker Complex, 1982 and 1983 • Group AAA: Jefferson-Huguenot-Wythe Complex, 1984 • Class 3: John Marshall High School, 2014 and 2018 • Class 3: George Wythe High School, 2015 • 2A: John Marshall High School, 2020
Lady Panthers’ NCAA hopes end with coronavirus
Virginia Union University’s quest for an NCAA women’s basketball title ended before it began. Because of the coronavirus, the NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournament was canceled one day before the Lady Panthers were to begin playing on March 12 in the NCAA Atlantic Regional in Indiana, Penn. Both the men’s and women’s championship events in all NCAA divisions were abruptly halted by officials last week. Thus, the Lady Panthers finish 23-4 in Coach AnnMarie Gilbert’s fifth season and the fifth straight year she has led her squad to the NCAAs. The team reached the NCAA final in 2017. There is some rebuilding to do. VUU loses seven women from this season’s team – six listed as seniors and one as a graduate (All-CIAA center Jasmine Carter). The departing seniors are Peyton Evans, Dy’Manee Royal, Breonn Hughley, Kishon Sutton, Raven Williams and Harmany Williams. On the plus side, much talent will return, especially in the form of twin sisters Shareka and Shameka McNeill. Both were juniors this year. Shareka was leading the nation in scoring (32.1 points) before suffering a seasonending knee surgery after nine games. With Shareka sidelined, Shameka led the team in scoring (12.1 points) and assists (3.5) while garnering All-CIAA honors. Another player set to return is Ifunanya Okoye, a talented 5-foot-11 sophomore who averaged 11 points and seven rebounds. *** Meanwhile, the CIAA has canceled all spring sports because of the coronavirus pandemic. Spring sports at VUU include men’s and women’s track and field, golf and women’s softball and bowling. At Virginia State University, cancellations include men’s and women’s track and field, men’s and women’s tennis, golf and women’s softball and bowling. Also canceled are spring football practices at all CIAA schools.
John Marshall High School’s statewide domination of boys’ basketball doesn’t figure to end any time soon. The Justices won the state 2A basketball championship with relative ease, dispatching Gate City High School 75-57 in the March 12 final at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center. John Marshall, finishing 24-2, prevailed with only one senior starter – Elijah Seward – and one senior backup – Raymont Lynch. “We set high standards,” said Coach Ty White. “Our goal is always the state championship.” The Justices won the 2014 and 2018 state crowns in Division 3. This was first season the team has played in Division 2. The divisions are based on a school’s enrollment. John Marshall’s most talked about player is 6-foot-10 junior center Roosevelt Wheeler, but 6-foot junior guard Jason Nelson and 6-foot-6 freshman forward Dennis Parker aren’t far behind. Wheeler figures to rank among the top big man prospects nationally in the Class of 2021. Already, he has taken recruiting trips to the University of Louisville, North Carolina State University and VCU. Wheeler settled for 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots against Gate City. His long-stemmed inside presence pretty much eliminated any inside scoring by the Gate City Blue Devils. Nelson, a transfer from Varina High School, is a do-it-all combo guard who can score inside and out and knows how to distribute and break down a defense. “Jason is a very smart player,” Coach White said. “He knows when to shoot and when to pass.” So far, Nelson has visited the University of Richmond and Vanderbilt University. Nelson comes from a winning background. His father, Jason Nelson Sr., was a member of Virginia Union University’s 2005 NCAA Divsion II championship squad. One can’t help but notice Parker’s exceptional talent. The varsity newcomer appears comfortable at any position on the floor. His only fault,
if you can call it that, is that sometimes he gets a bit carried away. Parker drew one technical foul for hanging on to the rim following a dunk, and was dangerously close to a second for a similar violation. Seward, the left-hander with the picture perfect 3-point release, hit three 3-pointers and had 17 points in his career ender. Lynch, an all-round talent with serious hops, had five points and four rebounds. Undecided on his college choice, Seward has scholarship offers from Virginia Union and Virginia State universities. All of the Justices’ success came this season despite losing five seniors off last year’s squad who earned college scholarships. It seems there’s no end to Joh Marshall’s talent pool. Its junior varsity team this year was 18-4. John Marshall’s relentless defensive pressure took its toll on Gate City, whose senior guard, Bradley Dean, had 32 points. But it took him 32 shots to get it, and he was charged with five turnovers. Dean finished 13-for-32 from the field, 4-for-14 from behind the arc. Every move Dean made on the court was contested by one or more Justices. “Our game plan was to make him work,” Coach White said. The Justices barely tapped the breaks in rolling through the region and state play. The Justices’ six postseason wins came by an average 37-point differential. In a postgame news conference, Gate City Coach Scott Vermillion criticized John Marshall for its close relationship with Team Loaded AAU, a travel offseason program that Coach White oversees. Coach Vermillion did not say John Marshall was doing anything against the rules, only that Team Loaded was serving as a quasi-feeder system for the Justices. “I’d like to see where those kids (from John Marshall) were born, grew up ... what feeder schools they came from,” Coach Vermillion said. Coach White chose not to engage in that controversy. “I didn’t like the narrative because it was
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
The John Marshall High School basketball team celebrates after defeating Gate City High School 75-57 to clinch the state 2A crown on March 12 at the Siegel Center in Richmond.
taking away from the kids – on both sides – who played a great game,” Coach White said. “Those kids needed to be celebrated at that moment. Gate City has a super program. “If Coach Vermillion wants to discuss the subject, I’d prefer he do so with me in a private conversation.” John Marshall finishes with 19 straight victories. The team’s only defeats were 70-69 on Dec. 27 to McEachern High School of Georgia, and 66-55 on Dec. 21 to Sierra Canyon School of California. At last look, Sierra Canyon was 30-4 and McEachern was 22-6. Typically, John Marshall plays a rugged schedule in November and December against nationally prominent opponents in high-profile tournaments and showcase events. Traditionally, the state tournament should provide the toughest challenges for a team. In John Marshall’s case, the state is likely the softest part of the schedule. John Marshall High versus Gate City High was the last game played during the state tournament. The Division 3 through 6 finals were canceled because of the coronavirus crisis, with co-champions declared in those classes. “I guess the coronavirus came one day too late to save us,” Coach Vermillion said with a laugh. It was an eerie sight exiting the Siegel Center in the late afternoon on March 12. Instead of all the excitement normally associated with state finals, workmen were cleaning up. Everyone was going home. The old Willie Nelson song came to mind: “Turn out the lights/The party’s over.” That is, until next season, when the Justices figure to kick up their heels again.
Wartime didn’t stop basketball trailblazer Wataru Misaka COVID-19 has done what World War II couldn’t. It has put a halt to one of America’s sporting treasures – the NCAA basketball tournament. In 1944, the United States was waging all-out war in Europe and the Pacific Theater. A hardto-fathom total of some 16 million Americans served in some capacity. Still, the basketball beat went on. Also in 1944, the University of Utah was the unlikely NCAA champion with a most unlikely hero, Wataru “Wat” Misaka, a 5-foot-7, 150pound second-generation Japanese American, or Nisei. He sped around the court in size 7 Converse sneakers. Raised in Ogden, Utah, by Japanese parents who were immigrants, Misaka became the first person of color to play in the NCAAs. Later, he became the first non-white male to play in the NBA. That was in 1947 with the New York Knicks. Misaka could have been angry about America’s treatment of its citizens of Japanese ancestry.
Wartime champions Here are the NCAA men’s basketball champions during World War II: • 1939: Oregon defeats Ohio State, 46-33 • 1940: Indiana defeats Kansas, 60-42 • 1941: Wisconsin defeats Washington State, 39-34 • 1942: Stanford defeats Dartmouth, 53-38 • 1943: Wyoming defeats Georgetown, 46-34 • 1944: Utah defeats Dartmouth, 42-40, OT • 1945: Oklahoma State defeats New York University, 49-45
About 160,000 Japanese Americans were detained in internment camps from 1942 to 1945. If he was bitter, it didn’t show. After helping Utah win the 1944 NCAAs, he dropped out of school to serve the next two years in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of staff sergeant. Many colleges shut down, or streamlined, their athletic programs during the height of the war. In fact, 1943 NCAA finalists Wyoming and Georgetown did not field teams in 1944. As a member of the Skyline Conference, Utah continued building a western powerhouse through the war years. The Utes would finish the 1944 season at 18-3, but it took a vehicular collision on a highway in Arkansas to enable the Utes to slip into the NCAA eight-team field. The University of Arkansas, an original tournament selection, backed out following a bus accident in which two of its best players were seriously injured. That opened the door for Utah, and the Utes seized the opportunity. Utah defeated Missouri 45-31 and Iowa State, 40-31, both in Kansas City, to punch its ticket to the final. On the brightest stage in New York, Utah topped Dartmouth in overtime, 42-40, before a packed house at Madison Square Garden. Throughout the tournament, there were streams of bigoted and threatening insults hurled Misaka’s way from the grandstands. He never let the angry taunts force him to lose focus. In the championship game, Misaka, the lead ball handler and defensive catalyst, scored four points while playing 41 of the 45 minutes. Arnie Ferrin, with 24 points, was named MVP before embarking on a successful career with the Minneapolis Lakers. While Ferrin went directly to the NBA, Misaka spent 1945 and 1946 in the military.
During the height of World War II, Wataru Misaka became the first player of color in the NCAA basketball tournament in 1944.
He returned to Utah in 1947, helping the Utes to the National Invitation Tournament title, also at Madison Square Garden, by defeating Kentucky. In the NIT finals, Misaka held Kentucky AllAmerican Frank Beard to a single point. Misaka played only briefly for the Knicks in the 1947-48 season before being cut at midseason. At that juncture, he turned down an offer to play for the Harlem Globetrotters, preferring to return to Utah and earn a degree in electrical engineering. Had he signed with the Globetrotters, he would have become first non-African-American to play for the touring group. Misaka died in November 2019 in Salt Lake City at age 95. He is remembered as a trailblazing athlete who broke down barriers and wouldn’t let anything stop him or his teams – not even World War II.
MEAC Tournament cancellation stops NSU; Hampton defeated in Big South championship Norfolk State University’s promising basketball season ended in unexpected fashion when the MEAC Tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus. The Spartans were preparing for a March 12 quarterfinal against Coppin State University when the signal came. In addition, all MEAC spring sports have been canceled. NSU finishes 16-15 overall and 12-4 in MEAC. Coach Robert Jones will lose two prominent seniors – leading scorer Jermaine Bishop (16 points per game) and third leading scorer Steve
Whitley (10 points per game). Hampton University, a former MEAC member, had better luck in its second trip to the Big South Tournament. The Pirates defeated Longwood and Radford universities before losing to host Winthrop University of South Carolina 76-65 in the championship game on March 8. HU now has the gargantuan task of replacing senior guard Jermaine Marrow. The All-Big South standout finished his career with 2,680 points, breaking the state Division I mark held by Virginia Military Institute’s
Reggie Williams. Returning for HU will be Ben Stanley, the 6-foot-6 sophomore from Midlothian’s Millwood School. Stanley averaged 22 points and seven rebounds for Coach Buck Joyner. Led by Marrow’s 25-point scoring average, the Pirates finished 15-19. Hampton also will be getting a future boost from two transfers from nearby Old Dominion University. Guard Marquis Godwin and 7-footcenter Dajour Dickens transferred to HU following the fall semester. Both are Hampton natives.
March 19-21, 2020 B1
Section
B
Richmond Free Press
Happenings
Personality: Kelly King Horne
Spotlight on homeless advocate and executive director of Homeward For Kelly King Horne, the coronavirus pandemic is just the latest challenge added to the stack that she deals with daily. As executive director of Homeward, the 22-year-old nonprofit planning and coordinating group for homeless services in the Richmond area, Ms. Horne is on the front line of community response to finding shelter and new housing for individuals and families who have lost theirs. For the past 13 years in her job, she has served as a kind of traffic director in developing a shared vision of the need and effort to find solutions, guided by data on the homeless. The demand for help is unceasing. Every month, up to 1,000 families and individuals call the Homeless Crisis Line seeking help to find a place to live for themselves and their families, says Ms. Horne, 50, a Charleston, S.C., native who has lived most of her life in Chesterfield County. The flood of calls evidences the housing crisis so many face. Soaring rents, illness, job losses, divorces, addiction and a host of other problems can leave people without a roof over their head. The good news is the work that Homeward and its partners have done to build housing capacity over the years. Its system to collect data on those in need guides their efforts. Currently, the Richmond area has various housing options that can serve about 1,320 individuals and families — from year-round shelters to permanent housing — that come with supportive services, Ms. Horne says. The bad news: That’s not enough to meet the need, she says. And the viral pandemic only has added to the struggle for resources for those involved in working with people trying to regain shelter. “Every day, I wake up knowing I will fail in meeting the need,” she says. “But I know this work matters and that I and everyone else involved are making a difference.” Since the coronavirus hit, Ms. Horne has been working to drum up help for the vulnerable people on the streets to gain shelter. Many have health challenges that make them more vulnerable to contracting the virus. With major assistance from the city during the past few days, Ms. Horne and partner agencies have been working to relocate people from Cathy’s Camp, the tent encampment that sprang up next to the city’s cold weather shelter across the street from the Richmond Justice Center. As of Wednesday, at least 62 people at Cathy’s Camp had been moved for two-week stays at hotels and motels, most notably the Rodeway Inn near the airport in Henrico County. Ms. Horne also has worked with partners who are engaging staff and volunteers to deliver meals to those who have been moved from Cathy’s Camp and to begin the case work that could determine what other assistance can be provided to link them to permanent housing. Meanwhile, she is working with others to set up clinical services for those who might become ill. For her, the challenge has played to her strengths, including her ability to work with people and focus on the problem at hand. “I am good at making connections,” Ms. Horne says. “We have a robust network, and we are bringing all that to bear” to ensure that the most vulnerable are not forgotten. “People should have housing,” she says. “My goal is to work with others to make this a better place for those in need
and in places not fit for human habitation. That does not include everyone with unstable housing, including families living in hotels or with others or those in drug and alcohol rehab centers.
than we found it.” Meet homeless advocate and this week’s Personality, Kelly King Horne: Occupation: Executive director of Homeward, a regional homeless services coordinating group. Date and place of birth: Nov. 22 in Charleston, S.C. Current residence: Chesterfield County, across the street from where I grew up from age 8. Education: Bachelor’s degree American University; and master’s in religious studies, Stanford University.
Homeward’s partners: We have too many to list, but some examples include CARITAS, the Daily Planet, Housing Families First, HomeAgain, Liberation Veteran Services, Richmond Behavioral Health Authority, Safe Harbor, Salvation Army and the YWCA. Some provide shelter, some do outreach, some serve veterans, some serve victims of domestic violence and some serve single adults. Homeward’s top service: Perhaps the Homeless Crisis Line, (804) 972-0813, which is a main point of access for those facing or in unstable housing situations. It is staffed by partner agencies. The hotline receives about 5,500 calls a month from 750 to 1,000 households, many of whom are facing eviction. With such huge numbers, we do not have enough capacity to house everyone. We work on problem solving and helping people manage their crisis. Those taking the calls try to help them figure out if there
are friends or family members they can stay with or to identify needed resources. Impact of COVID-19 on homeless: We are in emergency mode and working to provide alternative housing to unsheltered people, most notably those in Cathy’s Camp in Shockoe Valley. We have been working with the Daily Planet Health Services, shelter and housing partners and local governments. The situation is fast-moving and evolving, but we are working to address the urgent needs of unsheltered individuals. Main concern: We know many of those who are homeless already have other health conditions that would make the virus more serious for them. The Centers for Disease Control, the governor and others are urging social distancing that may not be possible for the unsheltered. We want to make sure they can engage in social distancing, that individuals have consistent access to sanitation and have comfortable beds if they need to recover. Status to date: As of Wednesday, 62 people had been moved from Cathy’s Camp primarily to motels. At this point, we are starting to shift to begin case management for those who have been moved. Ongoing concern: That there could be a flood of new people with housing issues. These
are people who are employed hourly who are getting laid off and have no other source of income, such as restaurant workers. We need a stronger safety net so that we are not seeing huge numbers of people who could lose their housing due to what is going on. Importance of housing: Housing is the key to stability in life. It is the platform to achieve our hopes and dreams and the foundation for health, education and employment. People who are in their own home are more likely to get the help they need. Current area housing for homeless: Together, the Richmond area has come a long way. Currently, there are 820 units of permanent, supportive housing that include services. Another 168 individuals and families are rapidly rehoused, with 20 new households being served each month. Year-round shelters serve 331 people, including 70 children. This doesn’t count people who are in residential drug and alcohol rehab programs. We could use 300 more units of permanent supportive housing. It’s being worked on, but will take time. Biggest gap for homeless services: Services for older homeless people with medical conditions. We have few resources for such individuals. Our shelters are not equipped
to serve people who should be in assisted living centers with skilled staff. These often are people who worked for low wages, have physical and mental challenges and need greater care than can be provided. Their stories can be heartbreaking. My philosophy: People should have stable housing, but there are never enough resources. I get up every morning knowing that what we are doing is going to fail, but that the work matters and that we make a difference. Nobody knows: I am fluent in Romanian and served two years in the Peace Corps in the Republic of Moldova before I started with Habitat for Humanity. Best late-night snacks: Popcorn and Tootsie Rolls. When I lived in Europe, I used to get care packages of Tootsie Rolls, coffee and Texas Pete hot sauce. If I had more time, I would: Go to state parks with my family. The best thing my parents ever taught me: It is OK to fail. The author whose books influenced me the most: Agatha Christie. Her mystery novels are all about people and relationships and problem solving. If I’ve learned one thing in life, it is: That all people have dignity.
Family: Husband, Jonathan Horne, a carpenter; daughters, Charlotte, 14, and Georgia, 12. Homeward is: A planning, coordinating and support agency that partners with governments, nonprofits, faith organizations and others to prevent, reduce and end homelessness primarily in Richmond and Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover counties. When Homeward was founded: In 1998 through United Way of Greater Richmond, though now it is independent. It grew out of a City of Richmond task force on homelessness, with the focus being on people, not boundaries. The federal government also provided the impetus by seeking to fund a community response to homelessness, rather than to individual nonprofits. When I joined Homeward: In 2003. I served as partnership coordinator. I arrived after working for Habitat for Humanity in Eastern Europe and Northern Ireland. I was named executive director in 2007. Homeward’s services: We are the lead agency for the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care for homelessness. Homeward works with partners to create data on homelessness, including conducting twice yearly counts of homeless adults. We also maintain a computerized information system that tracks trends and seeks to spot gaps; collaborate with partners to apply for annual federal and state grants that are the mainstay of programs; educate about and raise awareness of homelessness through workshops; and provide technical support and information on best practices to partners through committees. Number of homeless in Richmond area: Our latest point-intime count on Jan. 23, in which we went out and physically counted adults and interviewed them, indicated there were 548 homeless people, with 130 being unsheltered single adults, up from the 497 people we counted last winter. Though modest, it was the first increase in 11 years. Definition of homelessness: We use the more restrictive U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development definition which limits the homeless to those staying in shelters
POSTPONED Please stay informed on this and all of our upcoming events by visiting our website at www.vuu.edu or following us on social media.
Richmond Free Press
B2 March 19-21, 2020
Happenings
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Above, shoppers practicing social distancing while waiting for Costco on Broad Street in Western Henrico to open last Saturday. Left, a sign in a window of Richmond’s City Hall provides prevention tips. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to each declare emergencies. They also have asked all Virginians avoid congregating in groups of 10 or more.
Preparing for the
CDC
Coronavirus Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Shelves are bare in area grocery stores across the city and beyond Friday. “This is like a Christmas rush on steroids, yet at Christmas we are prepared for the crowds and long lines,” one shopper commented. Photos by Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
A motorist in Western Henrico wears a protective mask and gloves on Saturday.
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School uses its electronic sign to post health messages to the community.
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
A customer stocks up on toilet paper at Costco, while below, others wait their turn at the Costco Saturday.
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
Carytown looks deserted Tuesday morning. This stretch of Cary Street between Belmont and Sheppard streets, is typically filled with cars. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and requirements for social distancing, this is the new normal for retail districts around the country and the world.
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Richmond Free Press
B3
March 19-21, 2020
Faith News/Directory
38-year-old scientist crosses into the realm of preserving historic African-American cemetery By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Woodland Cemetery, the burial place of humanitarian and tennis great Arthur Ashe Jr. and thousands of other African-Americans, is looking spiffier, thanks to the dogged persistence of one man, John William Joseph Slavin. Since September 2018, Dr. Slavin, an innovative scientist whom friends call “Bill,� has spent his Sunday afternoons cleaning up the 104-year-old private cemetery located at 2300 Magnolia Road in Henrico County, just east of Highland Park in the city’s North Side. Armed with weed whackers, shovels, saws, bags and other equipment, the volunteer caretaker and a few friends have gone after the litter, tall grass, vines and trees that have started to take over the grounds and obscure the gravestones. The cemetery’s story is all too typical of African-American cemeteries founded long ago without perpetual care funds to ensure future maintenance. Today, volunteers are a key to reclaiming such cemeteries. For example, John Shuck, Marvin Harris and Brian Palmer have been notable leaders in working to restore Evergreen and East End cemeteries and in recruiting volunteer brigades to take part. Woodland dates to 1916 when banker and black newspaper editor John Mitchell Jr. joined with a group to buy the property to create the cemetery. Since 1973, the cemetery has been owned by Richmonder Isaiah Entzminger, 94, who cared for the property until advanced age and illness left him unable to handle the work. For the past three years, the cemetery essentially has been abandoned. Enter Dr. Slavin, 38, who has no connection with anyone buried there, but has become
Jeremy M. Lazarus/Richmond Free Press
Dr. John Slavin gets ready for more weed whacking at private Woodland Cemetery in Henrico County. He has been volunteering every Sunday for 18 months to help clear overgrown grass, vines and trees and restore the historic, private African-American cemetery that dates to 1916.
the cemetery’s most significant advocate as it fits into his idea of creating a walking and biking trail to connect with Downtown. He came upon Woodland Cemetery as he explored the area and potential routes, and believed the burial ground would be an important element of the route. He also saw the
2IVERVIEW
"APTIST #HURCH 2604 Idlewood Avenue Richmond, Va. 23220 (804) 353-6135 www.riverviewbaptistch.org Rev. Dr. Stephen L. Hewlett, Pastor Rev. Dr. Ralph Reavis, Sr. Pastor Emeritus
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Good Shepherd Baptist Church Dr. Sylvester T. Smith, Pastor “There’s A Place for You�
151 years of Christian Ser
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400 South Addison Street Richmond, Va. 23220
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Ebenezer Baptist Church 1858
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216 W. Leigh St. • Richmond, Va. 23220 Tel: 804-643-3366 • Fax: 804-643-3367 Email: ebcofďŹ ce1@yahoo.com • web: www.richmondebenezer.com
Ebenezer Baptist Church is suspending all regular activities and worship services indeďŹ nitely. Please check our website, http://www.richmondebenezer.com or our Facebook page
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Transportation Services (804) 859-1985
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“Reclaiming the Lost by Proclaiming the Gospel�
Wednesday Bible Study 7p.m.
Broad Rock Baptist Church 5106 Walmsley Blvd., Richmond, VA 23224 804-276-2740 • 804-276-6535 (fax) www.BRBCONLINE.org
Early Morning Worship ~ 8 a.m. Sunday School ~ 9:30 a.m. Morning Worship ~ 11 a.m. 4th Sunday UniďŹ ed Worship Service ~ 9:30 a.m. Bible Study: Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. & 7 p.m. Sermons Available at BRBCONLINE.org
“MAKE IT HAPPEN� Pastor Kevin Cook
Upcoming Events
In light of current health advisories in place due to COVID-19, call the main office or check our website for service time updates.
In the Meantime, Rest Assured‌ That God remains faithful! That we are called to be the Church in all seasons. That the mission of the church continues.
Support Online At http://mmbcrva.org/give 2901 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 648-2472 ~ www.mmbcrva.org Dr. Price London Davis, Senior Pastor
Weekly Worship: Sundays @ 10:30 A.M. Church School: Sundays @ 9:00 A.M. Bible Study: Wednesdays @ Noon & 6:30 P.M.
11:00 AM Mid-day Meditation
Weekly Worship: Sund Church School: Sunda Bible Study: Wednesdays @
500 E. Laburnum Avenue, Richmond, VA 23222 www.sharonbaptistchurchrichmond.org (804) 643-3825 Rev. Dr. Paul A. Coles, Pastor
Stop by & see what God is up to at MMBC.
All donations will help us assist individuals and families facing medical emergency crisis
—Martin Lut
St. Peter Baptist Church
Lenten Season Mosby joins with the larger Christian Community Worship Opportunities in celebrating the Lenten season as a time of Sundays: All Sunday services have beenreflection, fasting & prayerful consecration. Join us suspended for the remainder of the month. on the journey and follow along with our Lenten Join us for online streaming this Sunday Calendar at www.mmbcrva.org $R +IRKLAND 2 7ALTON 0ASTOR
at 10 AM. Visit our WEBSITE, look under “/NLINE 3ERVICES,� and access the “0ASTOR S -ESSAGE.�
Bible Study Opportunities Thursdays: All Bible Study sessions have been suspended for the remainder of the month.
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Dessert T Saturday, December 21
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May 29 - 30, 2020
In His Presence: Restored, ReNewed, and Ready for Warfare “No Fear, No Limits and No Excuses�
Bishop G. O. Glenn D. Min., Pastor
Mother Marcietia S. Glenn First Lady
SUNDAY
SUNDAYS
8:00 a.m. Sunday School 9:30 a.m. Worship Service
Church School 9:30 a.m. Morning Worship 10:30 a.m.
That Chr
omen With Mission and Purpose (WWMP) Conference
Dr. Alvin Campbell, Interim Pastor â?–
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1701 Turner Road, North Chesterfield, Virginia 23225 (804) 276-0791 office (804)276-5272 fax www.ndec.net
-OUNTAIN 2OAD s 'LEN !LLEN 6IRGINIA /FlCE s &AX s WWW STPETERBAPTIST NET
Thirty-first Street Baptist Church
MMBC Creative
New Deliverance Evangelistic Church
Tithing Opportunities Download the Tithe.ly giving app for Apple and Android devices. Your gift is safe/secure and goes directly to our church.
WEDNESDAYS Bible Study 7:00 p.m.
ALL
“I refuse to accept the view th bound to the starless midnight bright daybreak of peace an become a reality‌. I believe unconditional love will
Looking for a welcoming place All activities, meetings and services have been suspended until the first Sunday in April, to worship this week? unless otherwise notified.
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Sunday Service 10 a.m.
3HARON "APTIST #HURCH
Dr. Wallace J. Cook, Pastor Emeritus Rev. Dr. Adam L. Bond, Pastor-Elect
ring: Featu of oices The V ment it Comm d an , ration h Gene rc n u e h z Cho tist C e Bap v li O Mt.
Dr. Robert L. Pettis, Sr., Pastor
Tuesday Sunday 10:30 AM Bible Study 9:30 AM Church School 6:30 PM Church-wide Bible Study 11:00 AM Worship Service 6:30 PM Men's Bible Study (Each 2nd and 4th) (Holy Communion Thursday each 2nd Sunday) Wednesday (Following 2nd Sunday)
Come worship with us!
Twitter sixthbaptistrva
2006 Decatur Street Richmond, VA 23224 zbcoffice@verizon.net
Dr. Alonza L. Lawrence, Pastor
1127 North 28th St., Richmond, VA 23223-6624 s Office: (804) 644-1402
Sunday, March 29, 2020 Service will not be held in our sanctuary. Join us for 11:00 AM Worship by going to our website www.sixthbaptistchurch.org
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Baptist Church
1408 W. Leigh Street ¡ Richmond, Va. 23220 (804) 358—6403
tiny Rural Retreat in Wythe County in far Southwest Virginia where he was born and grew up and the fields of chemistry and computers in which he has spent his career. A transplant to Richmond, he is much better known as the founder and leader of two novel nonprofits, Indie Lab RVA, which provides community-based lab space to allow people to test ideas and gain knowledge, and Hack.RVA, a creative, computer-filled space “dedicated to the art of making things in a fun and positive community.� Indie Lab enabled him to connect with another innovator, JoEl Meeks-Matous, 63, a recognized expert in nanotechnology and new thinking about materials, who had his own business in Los Angeles that he folded into Indie Lab. Mr. Meeks-Matous got involved in the cemetery project even as the two men worked to create Librecycle, a fresh approach to recycling the precious metals in computer hardware that has outlived its usefulness. Mr. Meeks-Matous, who remains based in Los Angeles, takes part in the Sunday work when he is able to spend time in Richmond. Dr. Slavin remains committed to the work of caring for the cemetery. For him, it is an opportunity to create community connections that did not exist.
6:30 PM Prayer Meeting
Zion Baptist Church
“The Church With A Welcome�
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condition of the grounds. Since taking the initiative 18 months ago, Dr. Slavin has created a Woodland Cemetary Volunteers page on Facebook as a volunteer recruitment tool. That page, he said, helped attract a steady volunteer, schoolteacher Kathleen Harrell. His engagement with the cemetery is a world apart from
Moore Street Missionary
WEDNESDAY SERVICES Noonday Bible Study 12:00 p.m. (Noon) Sanctuary - All Are Welcome! Wednesday Evening Bible Study 7:00 p.m. (Bible Study)
Holiday Inn Newport News - Hampton (757) 223-2110 Code – NDW Cuto date for hotel reservations - April 28, 2020 King Room $125 | Double Room $142
• Hotel cut/o and Room block will end on April 28, 2020 and Conference Registration price will increase after midnight on April 28, 2020.
Visit our website at www.ndec.net for costs, registration and other information
Tune in on Sunday Morning to WTVR - Channel 6 - 8:30 a.m.
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SATURDAY
CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (NDCA)
THIRD SUNDAY 10:30 a.m. Children’s Church Higher Achievement
8:30 a.m. Intercessory Prayer
NOW ENROLLING!!!
823 North 31st Street Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 226-0150 Office
You can now view Sunday Morning Service “AS IT HAPPENS� online! Also, for your convenience, we now offer “full online giving.� Visit www.ndec.net.
6 weeks to 4th grade Before and After Care For more information Please call
(804) 276-4433
Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm
Richmond Free Press
B4 March 19-21, 2020
Sports Plus
‘Count Blockula’ Hassan Whiteside leads NBA in blocked shots Taking a timeout By Fred Jeter
The area under the backboards is where Hassan Whiteside feels most at home, and he doesn’t take kindly to trespassers. The 7-foot, 235-pound center for the Portland Trail Blazers led the NBA in blocked shots at the time league play was suspended, and is arguably the elite rejecter of this era. “I’m a defensive guy,� Whiteside told NBC Sports. “I feel like I’m the best rim protector in the league, and it’s not even close.� Answering to “Count Blockula,� Whiteside averaged 3.1 blocks per game, well ahead of runner-ups Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Brook Lopez, both at 2.4. Blocking is not all Whiteside does. His 14 rebounds per game is second only to Andre Drummond, averaging 15.7. Whiteside also averages 16.3 points per game, a step up from his 13.8 career norm. Whiteside has been doing this for a while. His most proficient season was 2015-16 when he led the NBA with 3.68 rejections per game. His 985 career blocks from 2010 to the present are the most of any active player. Blocked shots are harder to come by now than long ago. The “3-Point Revolution� has resulted in fewer shooting attempts near the hoop. For example, Brian Taylor led the NBA in 3-point tries in 1979-80 with 239. Last season, James Harden was the most frequent shooter from the distance with 1,028 attempts. The record for blocks per game was set in 1984-85 when 7-foot-4 Mark Eaton averaged 5.56. Next is Manute Bol, who averaged 5.0 in 1985-86. Before entering the NBA as the Sacramento Kings’ second round
The NBA has suspended its season until further notice due to coronavirus. Announcement of the suspension came March 11 when All-Star center Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for the illness. Since then, a second Utah player, Donovan Mitchell, also has tested positive.
Hassan Whiteside
draft choice in 2010, Whiteside led the NCAA in blocked shots as a Marshall University junior, accumulating 182. Whiteside played for Sacramento from 2010 to 2012 and the Miami Heat from 2014 to 2019 before going to Portland in 2019 in a four-team trade involving Miami, the L.A. Clippers and the Philadelphia 76ers. His rise to star status hasn’t been a clean ride. In between NBA stints, he played for three teams in the NBA G-League and also for teams in Lebanon and China. From Gastonia, N.C., Whiteside has a wandering nature that was apparent while in school. He played for five different high schools — Hunter Huss, Ashbrook and Forestview high schools and The Patterson School in North Carolina and at Eastside High School in New Jersey, where his father lived.
The NBA did not make blocked shots an official statistic until 1972-73, meaning such legendary big men as Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Walt Bellamy and Nate Thurmond missed their chance for the record book. With play suspended, here are other individual leaders in the NBA through about 65 games of a normal 82-game regular season. • Scoring: James Harden, Houston Rockets, 34.4 • Assists: LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers, 10.6 • Steals: Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers, 2.1 • Field-goal percentage: Mitchell Robinson, New York Knicks, 74.2 percent • 3-pointers made: Harden, 271 • 3-point percentage: George Hill, Milwaukee Bucks, 48 percent • Free-throw percentage: Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns, 91.6 percent • Double-doubles: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks, 52; Whiteside is second with 51
Legal Notices/Classifieds City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the City of Richmond Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, April 6, 2020 at 1:30 p.m. in the Fifth Floor Conference Room of City Hall and the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing on Monday, April 13, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the Second Floor of City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, to consider the following ordinances: Ordinance No. 2020-089 To amend Ord. No. 2014222-204, adopted Nov. 10, 2014, as previously amended by Ord. No. 2018-328, adopted Jan. 14, 2019, which authorized the special use of the property known as 2319 Grove Avenue for the purpose of authorizing an expansion to an existing day nursery, to modify the fencing requirements for the rooftop play area, upon certain terms and conditions. The City of Richmond’s current Master Plan designates a future land use category for the subject property as Single Family Residential at Medium densities. Primary uses for this category are single family and two family dwellings, both detached and attached, at densities of 8 to 20 units per acre. Includes residential support uses such as schools, places of worship, neighborhood parks and recreation facilities, and limited public and semi-public uses. The current zoning for this property is R-6 (Single Family Attached Residential). Ordinance No. 2020-090 To authorize the special use of the property known as 2852 Hull Street for the purpose of a single-family detached dwelling, upon certain terms and conditions. The property is currently located in the B-3 General Business District. The City of Richmond’s Current Master Plan designates a land use category for the subject property as Single Family Low Density (SF-LD) which are primarily detached dwellings at densities up to seven units per acre. The density of the project is approximately 8 units per acre. Interested citizens who wish to speak will be given an opportunity to do so. Copies of the full text of all ordinances are available by visiting the City Clerk’s page on the City’s Website at www.Richmondgov. com and in the Office of the City Clerk, City Hall, 900 East Broad Street, Suite 200, Richmond, VA 23219, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Candice D. Reid City Clerk
City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, March 23, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the Second Floor of City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, to consider the following Continued on next column
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ordinances: Ordinance No. 2020-091 To amend Ord. No. 2019041, adopted May 13, 2019, which adopted the Fiscal Year 2019-2020 General Fund Budget and made appropriations pursuant thereto, by increasing anticipated revenues from real estate taxes and the amount appropriated to the NonDepartmental agency, Affordable Housing Trust Fund line item, by $2,100,000.00 for the purpose of transferring this $2,100,000.00 to the Department of Housing and Community Development’s Affordable Housing Non CDBG Areas special fund and to amend Ord. No. 2019042, adopted May 13, 2019, which adopted the Fiscal Year 2019-2020 special fund budgets and made appropriations pursuant thereto, by increasing estimated re c ei pt s f ro m t he s e transferred funds and the amount appropriated to the Department of Housing and Community Development’s Affordable Housing Non CDBG Areas special fund by $2,100,000.00 for the purpose of providing additional funding for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Ordinance No. 2020-092 To extend the deadline for filing an application or certification by real estate taxpayers claiming an exemption or freeze under City Code §§ 26364 or 26-365 for the taxable year 2020 only from Mar. 31, 2020, to Apr. 30, 2020. Interested citizens who wish to speak will be given an opportunity to do so. Copies of the full text of all ordinances are available by visiting the City Clerk’s page on the City’s Website at www.Richmondgov. com and in the Office of the City Clerk, City Hall, 900 East Broad Street, Suite 200, Richmond, VA 23219, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Candice D. Reid City Clerk
Divorce VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER ANISSA HOLMES, Plaintiff v. RICKY HOLMES, Defendant. Case No.: CL19000369-00 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 served with the Complaint by posted service appear on or before the 18th day of May, 2020 at 9:00 AM, and protect his interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Counsel VSB# 27724 The Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER Continued on next column
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MARSELLIS THOMAS, SR., Plaintiff v. DEBBIE THOMAS, Defendant. Case No.: CL18002544-00 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 served with the Complaint by posted service appear on or before the 18th day of May, 2020 at 9:00 AM, and protect her interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Counsel VSB# 27724 The Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667
Case No.: CL20001101-00 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 18th day of May, 2020 at 9:00 AM, and protect her interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Counsel VSB# 27724 The Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667
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 29th day of April, 2020 at 9:00 AM, and protect his interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Counsel VSB# 27724 The Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER TONNY HENDERSON AKA TONY HENDERSON, Plaintiff v. MICHELLE TYLER, Defendant. Case No.: CL20000571-00 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 18th day of May, 2020 at 9:00 AM, and protect her interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Counsel VSB# 27724 The Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER KEANNA HOOD, Plaintiff v. WILLIAM BARRETT, Defendant. Case No.: CL20001103-00 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 18th day of May, 2020 at 9:00 AM, and protect his interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Counsel VSB# 27724 The Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER IRENE BROWN, Plaintiff v. GARY BROWN, Defendant. Case No.: CL20001102-00 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 is a nonresident of the Commonwealth of Virgainia, appear here on or before the 18th day of May, 2020 at 9:00 AM, and protect his interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Counsel VSB# 27724 The Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER FRANK CANNON, JR., Plaintiff v. THERESA CARROLL GIVENS CANNON, Defendant. Case No.: CL20001043-00 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 29th day of April, 2020 at 9:00 AM, and protect her interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Counsel VSB# 27724 The Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER JAMES DABNEY, JR., Plaintiff v. ANGELA DABNEY, Defendant.
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER CANDICE YOUNG, Plaintiff v. CURTIS YOUNG, Defendant. Case No.: CL19001748-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground
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VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HENRICO REBECCA NGUYEN, Plaintiff v. HAI THANH LA, Defendant. Case No.: CL20-869 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to: Put defendant on notice of the plaintiff’s complaint for divorce. It is ordered that Hai Thanh La appear at the abovenamed court and protect his/ her interests on or before April 27, 2020 at 9 a.m. An Extract Teste: Heidi S. Barshinger, Clerk Sherri A. Thaxton, Esq., 4124 E. Parham Road Henrico, Virginia 23228 (804) 647-1199 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER AMY DISNEY, Plaintiff v. TYREL DISNEY, Defendant. Case No.: CL20000792-00 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 20th day of April, 2020 at 9:00 AM, and protect his interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Counsel VSB# 27724 The Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667
custodY CHESTERFIELD JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, in re ORTEGA LARA, WENDI SARAI SARA LARA PORTILLO, Plaintiff v. JOSE BENJAMIN ORTEGA ZAVALA, Defendant. Case No.: JJ098673-01-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to determin custody of Wendi Sarai Ortega Lara (DOB: 6/28/05), whose mother is Sara Lara Portillo, and whose father is Jose Benjamin Ortega Zavala, pursuant to Virginia Code Section 16.1241A3. Father’s whereabouts are unknown. It is ORDERED that the Jose Benjamin Ortega Zavala appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or before May 11, 2020 at 9:00 AM. Soulmaz Taghavi, Esq. (804) 614-6920 Continued on next column
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other LEGAL NOTICE IN THE GENERAL DISTRICT COURT OF RICHMOND CITY, VIRGINIA: IN RE: SEIZURE AND/ OR IMPOUNDMENT OF ANIMALS Owner: Unknown NOTICE TO: Unknown Owner of 1 adult German Sheppard, female, black/brown; 1 adult pit bull type, male, white/ black; 8 puppies - all from the adult female Sheppard, all black/brown. YOU WILL PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that on the 20th day of April, 2020 at 11:00 a.m., or as soon hereafter as the matter may be heard, in the General District Court of Richmond City, 400 N. 9th Street,2nd Floor, Richmond, VA 23219, the undersigned will request the Court make a determination pursuant to the Petition filed herein whether the animal(s) listed in said Petition were abandoned, cruelly treated or kept in such a condition as to constitute a direct and immediate threat to its life, safety or health pursuant to §3.2-6567 and §3.2-6569 of the Code of Virginia, 1950 as amended. Reannen R. Bosworth, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Richmond, Virginia.
Thank you for your interest in applying for opportunities with The City of Richmond. To see what opportunities are available, please refer to our website at www.richmondgov.com. EOE M/F/D/V
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