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EGACY Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.
WEDNESDAYS • Jan. 22, 2020
INSIDE • Black Americans’ view of Trump dissected - 2 • More people are behaving badly at funerals - 8 • McEachin named honorary Tuskegee Airman - 11 • Bernie Sanders in the Dem primary homestretch - 13
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Charlottesville banned these far-right activists, but they’ve now brought their guns to Richmond
DB - Far-right activists and groups banned from rallying with weapons in Charlottesville, after the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally were back to the state for a pro-gun rally in Richmond, where tensions ran high. The demonstration was triggered by a package of gun control bills backed by Virginia’s Democratic governor, Ralph Northam, and set to be passed by the Democraticmajority state legislature. The laws would, among other things, require mandatory background checks for gun buyers and institute a monthly cap on firearm purchases. In response, dozens of Virginia jurisdictions have declared themselves “Second Amendment
sanctuaries” and refused to enforce any future gun laws. Internet hoaxes have proliferated about Northam’s plan, falsely claiming that the governor is set to shut down the electric grid or even team up with the United Nations to disarm Virginians. The pushback reached fever pitch Monday at the state capitol, where the Virginia Citizens Defense League, an anti-gun control group, has organized a “Lobby Day” for gun activists. The VCDL has tried to tamp down some tensions, urging attendees not to bring long guns as a “distraction.” On Friday, lawmakers banned guns from the Capitol building ahead of Lobby Day, which was also expected
to draw some pro-gun control activists. It was not clear how close gun rights supporters were able to carry their weapons to the Capitol; the Virginia government also considered potential changes to rules about possessing guns outdoors in the Capitol area, according to the Washington Post. The event also drew militia groups from across the country, and plenty of internet chatter that Monday would kick off the “boogaloo”—far-right slang for a violent American revolution or civil war. It also drew in at least four people and organizations who were in Charlottesville on the day of the “Unite the Right” rally when white supremacist James Alex Fields killed counter-protester Heather Heyer with his car. Right-wing internet personality Tammy Lee, for example, has described herself as a Charlottesville rally organizer and is currently barred under a consent agreement with the city from rallying there with weapons. Lee has been promoting an event called “Militias March on Richmond” on Monday, and plans to attend with her group, “Declaration of Restoration.” Other militia figures banned from armed protest in Charlottesville, including New York Light Foot Militia member George Curbelo and Pennsylvania Light Foot Militia member Christian Yingling, have
also discussed plans to attend events in Richmond. It is unclear if they were here Monday. Lee and Yingling didn’t respond to requests for comment. Curbelo, who said his militia was only in Charlottesville to “curb the violence,” said he was considering traveling to the event. Far-right internet personality Joshua Shoaff, who has more than 540,000 Facebook fans under the pseudonym “Ace Baker,” urged his audience in livestreams to rally in Richmond on Monday. In 2018, Shoaff and his group, American Warrior Revolution, also signed an agreement with the city of Charlottesville that bans them from returning to the city to rally while armed. Shoaff, a Tennessee resident, has gone further than most other right-wing personalities in his calls for violence in Richmond. In a December broadcast, he advocated for the hanging of Rep. Donald McEachin, a black congressman, after McEachin suggested Northam could use the National Guard to enforce new gun laws. “I hope to see you personally on Lobby Day, because I would love nothing more than to tell you to your face that you’re a coward, you’re a tyrant, committing treason,” Shoaff said in a December livestream. “And as a good friend of mine said
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The LEGACY
2 • Jan. 22, 2020
News 8 in 10 black Americans describe Trump as ‘racist’, are pessimistic about country President Trump made a stark appeal to black Americans during the 2016 election when he asked, “What have you got to lose?” Three years later, black Americans have rendered their verdict on his presidency with a deeply pessimistic assessment of their place in the United States under a leader seen by an overwhelming majority as racist. The findings come from a Washington Post-Ipsos poll of African Americans nationwide, which reveals fears about whether
(from page 1) just a few minutes ago, treason is punishable by death. I’m not telling you that I’m going to kill you, I’m telling you that your acts constitute treason, and the punishment for treason is hanging in the middle of the street.” Shoaff continued to promote violence against the legislator later in his broadcast. “You should be pulled out of office by the hair on your head, walking down the streets of the capital, walked up to the steps of a swinging rope that’s placed around your neck, because you, sir, are a tyrant and you’re committing treason,” Shoaff said. “And you would be a good example to set for the other elected officials who are doing the same thing.” In an interview, Shoaff stuck by his calls for lawmakers who support gun control laws to be hanged. “If you think that our founders were against hanging tyrants, then
their children will have a fair shot to succeed and a belief that white Americans don’t fully appreciate the discrimination that black people experience. While personally optimistic about their own lives, black Americans today offer a bleaker view about their community as a whole. They also express determination to try to limit Trump to a single term in office. More than 8 in 10 black Americans say they believe Trump is a racist
and that he has made racism a bigger problem in the country. Nine in 10 disapprove of his job performance overall. The pessimism goes well beyond assessments of the president. A 65 percent majority of African Americans say it is a “bad time” to be a black person in America. That view is widely shared by clear majorities of black adults across income, generational and political lines. By contrast, 77 percent of black Americans say it is a “good time” to be a white person, with a wide majority saying white people don’t understand the discrimination faced by black Americans. Courtney Tate, 40, an elementary school teacher in Irving, Tex., outside Dallas, said that since Trump was elected, he’s been having more conversations with his coworkers — discussions that are simultaneously enlightening and
exhausting — about racial issues he and his students face everyday. “As a black person, you’ve always seen all the racism, the microaggressions, but as white people they don’t understand this is how things are going for me,” said Tate, who said he is the only black male teacher in his school. “They don’t live those experiences. They don’t live in those neighborhoods. They moved out. It’s so easy to be white and oblivious in this country.” Francine Cartwright, a 44-year-old mother of three from Moorestown, N.J., said the ascent of Trump has altered the way she thinks about the white people in her life. “If I’m in a room with white women, I know that 50 percent of them voted for Trump and they believe in his ideas,” said Cartwright, a university researcher.
(continued on page 10) you really need to study, bro,” Shoaff said. Shoaff has also promoted the idea that the Richmond event could set off a new civil war or revolution, saying in one Facebook broadcast that he’d be “excited” if the event becomes “the second shot heard round the world.” Shoaff isn’t alone among Richmond attendees in flirting with the idea that the Richmond “Lobby Day” and related events could end in a violent clash. While the VCDL has tried to position itself as a more moderate voice among the Monday rallygoers, a video posted to its Facebook page in December asked whether the “boogaloo” would “begin in Virginia.” Chris Hill, a member of the Three Percenter militia, repeatedly described the Monday events as a prelude to “boogaloo” in a YouTube video. “It’s looking like Boogaloo!” Hill said. “Hey, if you’re down with a boogaloo, if they want to bring the fucking boogaloo, thumbs up! Thumbs up, guns up!”
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Jan. 22, 2020 • 3
Regional jail sued for breaking inmate’s bone, refusing treatment; officials deny allegations STEVE ROBERTS, JR VG - A former Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail inmate has sued the jail after he alleges a corrections officer broke his finger and then jail authorities refused to give him medical treatment. Shawn M. Stokes, a resident of Honaker — a small town three hours west of Roanoke, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail for violating his constitutional rights and assault and battery, according to federal court filings in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Stokes seeks $750,000 plus attorneys fees. In November 2017, Stokes was arrested and taken to the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail by YorkPoquoson Sheriff’s Office deputies VPRJ inmates await their turn to get their pictures take for their VA State ID through the DMV Connect after he ran from them, according to program at the VPRJ. PHOTO: Contributed/ file online court records. repaired on Feb. 14, 2019. “Jerry” Denton III of Virginia Beach, against them and the jail hasn’t Stokes remained in jail as the The guard’s alleged assault on it’s not his first time taking VPRJ done that, Denton said. “(It) is a case against him progressed. In the inmate combined with the jail’s to court. Denton has sued the jail on little unusual.” September 2018 he sprained his inaction to provide proper medical behalf of two other clients in the last A federal judge has yet to set dates finger and received medical care, but care were a violation of the eighth year and a half. Those cases remain for any hearings, and the lawyers in November, a jail guard grabbed amendment to the constitution ongoing. on both sides have yet to discuss the onto Stokes’ finger and deliberately against cruel and unusual In many similar cases, a defendant schedule for the case. twisted it, the lawsuit alleges. The punishment. will ask a judge to dismiss the case guard told Stokes he was trying to C. Walker Terry, the jail’s “teach (Stokes) a lesson.” attorney, declined to comment The guard broke Stokes’ finger and Tuesday. The jail denied the Stokes asked for medical assistance allegations against it in a December from the time of the alleged incident filing. through Feb. 14, 2019, according to The corrections officer at the the suit. heart of the lawsuit has received a Stokes told a nurse and other jail promotion from the rank of sergeant officials that he was in pain and to lieutenant and the jail said in its needed help, but his requests were filings that if the officer did take any ignored, the lawsuit said. The finger action, it would have been legally wasn’t x-rayed or examined until justified. Jan. 3, 2019 and was surgically For Stokes’ attorney, Jeremiah
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4 • Jan. 22, 2020
Legislators keep focus on health care policy nurses who service mental health. In an email, Adams said that one of her primary goals for this session is the expansion of affordable insurance coverage. “I’m looking to create a Special Needs Insurance plan for individuals with developmental disabilities to contain costs and improve quality of care expectations,” Adams said. “I will also be submitting a bill to fully and broadly treat the Hepatitis-C Virus with the goal of eradication; as well as create an affordable, comprehensive insurance plan option for small business owners and their employees.” Adams said these measures will affect her constituents. Ware also seeks to lower the cost of insurance payments with HB 58. Ware pre-filed House Bill 58 on Dec. 3. The bill would eliminate a provision that requires insured
ALEXIS ANGELUS CNS - Richmond-area legislators have maintained a focus on health care policy after Medicaid expansion in the General Assembly’s last session. Del. Dawn Adams D-Richmond, and Del. Lee Ware, R-Powhatan, have proposed bills in the new session that started Wednesday to focus on insurance carriers. Adams’s bill, House Bill 1057, aims to guarantee insurance payments to licensed nurses, while Ware’s bill, House Bill 58 specifies balance billing procedures to emergency services providers. HB 1057, which was filed by Adams on Jan. 7, would ensure that insurance carriers provide payment to licensed clinical nurses who are legally performing a service. This would eliminate a provision that guarantees this payment only for
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patients to shoulder extra costs if they are treated by emergency service providers outside of their insurance network. Ware’s aide said Ware was not available to comment on HB 58. If passed, the law would obligate insurance carriers to pay the extra amount to the out-of-network provider according to new standards of emergency services billing. Ahead of the General Assembly’s 2018 session, Ware filed HB 1714, a bill similar to HB 58, that directed insurance companies to pay the additional cost of an out-of-network emergency services amount. HB 1714 was left in the House Committee on Appropriations in February 2019. In HB 58, Ware has expanded on HB 1714’s provisions on standards for calculating the health carrier's payment to the out-of-network
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Jan. 22, 2020• 5
Richmond Mayor Stoney announces enhancements to Navy Hill project agreement Mayor Levar Stoney recently announced a series of enhancements made to the Navy Hill project agreement, including the intention of CoStar to bring 2,000 well-paying jobs to the neighborhood. “This interest from a NASDAQ 100 company that already has a strong presence in our city shows that with Navy Hill, Richmond can increase our tax base and bring new jobs downtown,” said Stoney. “Richmond can be competitive.” CoStar announced in 2016 that it would headquarter its primary operations center in Richmond. The compact has infused more than $250 million into the local economy from its riverfront location at 501 South 5th Street. The company employs approximately 4,000 people worldwide. “The Navy Hill development delivers everything a company like CoStar is looking for – access to transit, entertainment, conferencing, and new multi-family residential housing, all in a walkable and vibrant neighborhood,” said Andrew Florance, founder and CEO of CoStar Group. “Without the Navy Hill development as a completepackage option – we would not be talking about significantly expanding our commitment to the city of Richmond, a place where we already employ nearly 1,000 people. “Richmond has so much to offer, which is why we would like to keep growing with it, providing competitive careers and compensation for residents in the process. “Our employees have investigative, insightful minds and they think long-term. We do too. With Navy Hill, we’re able to plan not only for the growth that the company will experience in the near term – but also what the company can do 10 years from now. We’re eager to see
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney this proposal move forward, and even more excited to potentially deepen our commitment to Richmond.” “CoStar’s exciting announcement that Navy Hill could be home to 2,000 new employees and a 400,000 square foot office building is exactly what Navy Hill was designed to do,” said Thomas F. Farrell II, chairman of The NH Foundation Board of Directors. “With City Council approval, we can revitalize our downtown, improve economic opportunity, and make Richmond the place for innovative companies and their employees to grow, thrive and live. “Additionally, we have been listening to residents and are working hard to address their concerns by shrinking the size of the increment financing area, building more affordable housing units in the project area, and providing the City with more revenue, more quickly.
We look forward to continuing our work with Council to deliver the best project for the city, taxpayers and residents.” “I’ve always spoken about the transformational opportunity that the Navy Hill project embodies,” said Stoney. “This is further proof that our downtown redevelopment isn’t just about buildings. It’s about the economic empowerment of thousands of Richmonders.” In addition to CoStar’s promise to bring 2,000 jobs as a tenant of the proposed project, the mayor also announced developments in the size of the increment finance area, the proposed transit center and affordable housing. House Bill 1345, introduced by Del. Jeff Bourne, would allow Richmond to use a portion of the state sales tax revenues in the project area to pay down the debt on the new arena. If it passes, the bill will allow the administration to reduce the size of
the increment finance area by more than half. Working with the Better Housing Coalition, the Navy Hill Development Corporation has identified two opportunities within the project area to build units for residents between 40 and 60 percent annual median income. With the addition of those two sites, the proposal meets the 15 pecent affordable housing threshold that Councilwoman Ellen Robertson and Richmond City Council requested in 2018. The mayor also announced that NHDC and GRTC are studying two options for the location of the proposed GRTC transit center – the original 9th street location and an additional site on Broad Street. “We want GRTC to have the opportunity to kick the tires on these options and advise us on what works best for GRTC and our residents,” said Stoney.
6 • Jan. 22, 2020
Op/Ed & Letters
The LEGACY
Bourne, Dominion’s clown prince? JEFF THOMAS It’s a good thing Del. Jeffrey Bourne is such an amateur. Anybody carrying the water for Dominion CEO Tom Farrell and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney’s deeply unpopular Coliseum project by introducing a bill for them on the first day of session would be wise to be a little more subtle about who was pulling his strings. There is voluminous evidence that Dominion’s Coliseum plan is illconceived and has been throughout its sordid history. To give one brief example, Esson Miller is a careful attorney who served as the former staff director of the Virginia Senate Finance Committee and the Virginia General Assembly Legislative Services Division. He wrote in Style Weekly that Dominion’s Coliseum project made him so distraught that he woke up in a cold sweat from a nightmare that burglars were robbing his house. “I recently awoke at 4 a.m. from a recurring nightmare I have when suffering from any type of personal fiscal stress. In my nightmare, a burglar has broken into our home and is rummaging through our valuables. I confront him, after hearing an unrecognizable noise downstairs, and then immediately wake up from the nightmare in a cold sweat. This morning, however, my fiscal stress was not produced by The LEGACY NEWSPAPER Vol. 6 No. 4 Mailing Address P.O. Box 12474 Richmond, VA 23241 Office Address 105 1/2 E. Clay St. Richmond, VA 23219 Call: 804-644-1550 Online www.legacynewspaper.com
actions I have taken or not taken, but by those already taken by our mayor and about to be confirmed by our City Council. That action is the Coliseum replacement proposed by important leaders doing business within the city. They are rummaging through the city’s fiscal well-being, putting it at severe risk that could have long-term detrimental impact.“ Hard, really, to think of comparable statements by any state’s leading expert in public finance. Bourne’s last foray into Dominion’s unsound Coliseum proposal was in early 2018. Richmond voters had just passed a referendum with more than 85 percent of the vote calling on their local government to fix the city’s dilapidated schools that are the source of so many of its problems. Bourne agreed to shepherd this referendum through the General Assembly, but he submitted a different bill to the House, one that would modify the referendum language to permit a tax increase to fund schools. “The mayor believes Delegate Bourne’s version is an improvement,” said Stoney’s spokesman. Sen. Glen Sturtevant’s Senate version of the bill remained identical to that passed by Richmond voters. Bourne’s bill died a quick death in a House subcommittee, where the chairman coolly “told Bourne after the bill was killed to ‘take a good look’ at the Senate The LEGACY welcomes all signed letters and all respectful opinions. Letter writers and columnists opinions are their own and endorsements of their views by The LEGACY should be inferred. The LEGACY assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. Annual Subscription Rates Virginia - $50 U.S. states - $75 Outside U.S.- $100 The Virginia Legacy © 2016
version.” The next day, Sturtevant’s bill passed unanimously through the full Senate, and less than three weeks later, Sturtevant’s bill passed through that same House subcommittee unanimously. On its way to passage, the bill would not receive a single vote against it from any politician in the state. Gov. Ralph Northam signed the bill into law on April 4, 2018. Unlike many other legislators, Bourne has not been terribly busy between then and now. His district is 86.7 percent Democratic, or about 25 points more Democratic than Massachusetts. No Democrat or Republican cared to run against him last year, and he won his election against Libertarian Gary Wells with 88 percent of the vote. Something curious happened on the way to his 70 percent unopposed cakewalk. Dominion started to have serious trouble passing its corrupt Coliseum scam, and Dominion gave Bourne’s campaign $21,000 cash, $19,000 of it in October 2019. Was Libertarian Pete Wells a Bloomberg-level businessman? Politicians in Virginia enjoy a unique kind of freedom: “Virginia is the only state where lawmakers can raise unlimited campaign donations from anyone, including corporations
and unions, and spend the money on themselves,” Associated Press reporter Alan Suderman wrote in a must-read article. By a similar turn of fate, Bourne has become very fortunate indeed since he was first elected to the House of Delegates in November of 2017. By early January 2018, he was appointed to “the newly created position of general counsel for the Branch Group,” a large construction and general contracting firm with substantial local government contracting interests. In addition to creating a special new job for a new member of the House of Delegates, it wouldn’t be the Virginia Way if Branch didn’t stand to benefit from the Coliseum deal. According to Richmond BizSense, “Documents submitted to City Council and posted on the city’s website list more than 30 firms that have contributed to the project. About half of those businesses are locally based, ranging from Richmond architecture firms Baskervill and SMBW to area contractors Branch Builds, Hourigan and W.M. Jordan Co.” Branch Builds is a subsidiary of the Branch Group that employs Bourne. At the same time that Bourne was
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Jan. 22, 2020• 7
P.T. Hoffsteader, Esq.
(from page 6) finding lucrative new employment opportunities, Dominion was facing a serious problem. It absolutely must have a pliant Virginia General Assembly because 65 pecent of its profits come from its Virginia monopoly. When Dominion, the ostensibly ‘private company,’ absorbed VEPCO, the governmentguaranteed monopoly, in the early 1990s, VEPCO generated over 90 percent of its profits. And, in a state political establishment that claims to worship business, Dominion’s interests in raising electricity rates to send profits to Wall Street are anti-business and take money out of the Virginia economy as effectively as any tax. The Activate Virginia pledge for politicians with integrity never to take money from Dominion or ApCo represents an existential threat to their business model. Dominion has responded like a drug dealer with a shrinking customer base, relentlessly flooding the system with money to keep the addicts hooked. (For those that play the Virginia Way game like former Senator John Watkins, a sinecure awaits to reward years of loyalty for allowing Dominion the honor of being his top donor, but, more importantly, to send a signal to those still in office. Reflecting the moral compass of such people, after former Gov. Bob McDonnell was indicted, Sen. John Watkins insisted that free gifts were a part of his salary. “The
press isn’t going to be satisfied until [gifts are] zero. Maybe that’s the way we should be going, but if we do, everybody in here deserves a pay raise, commensurate with what directors of a company with a budget as big” [sic].) Seeking to circumvent this ban and fight the growing threat of Virginia democracy, Dominion executives have increased their personal giving. For his recent non-election, Bourne received $2,500 from Tom Farrell, $2,000 from Bob Blue, $1,500 from William Murray, and $1,000 from Diane Leopold. The opening day of session was a historic day that should have belonged to the people of Virginia. Jeffrey Bourne used it to carry legislation written to benefit the most corrupt and despised company in Virginia and its Republican CEO. Farrell has a different view of history than that expressed by the majority of Virginia Democrats last Wednesday. In his version, Confederate soldiers and slaveowners fought to “free the slaves” and President Lincoln and General Grant conspired in the Oval Office to murder children. Here is a page from Dominion CEO Farrell’s “Field of Lost Shoes”, a 2014 film about the Civil War that he wrote, produced, acted in, and took $1 million in public money to pay somebody to direct. This really can only be described as a Soviet level of propaganda, something about which Tom Farrell was quite proud.
This movie is so interesting because it is pure id. There were no Dominion spokespeople or Board members or market forces intervening to create the usual phalanx of deniability between Farrell’s decisions and public knowledge of them. Making a historical fantasy movie about Confederate soldiers freeing slaves is what Farrell chose to do with all of his freedom and autonomy. The Coliseum project reflects such a worldview. For those who do not know Richmond, the area north of Broad Street is historically black and south is historically white. The VCU Health campus and surrounding government areas are probably the most integrated and accessible places in the entire city: everyone got sick or had to go to court or City Hall at some point, after all. There are plenty of people in the area slated for ‘redevelopment:’ Richmond is a majority black city, and maybe twothirds of the people in this area at any time happened to be AfricanAmerican residents just living their lives. Yet Richmond’s Chamber of Commerce leaders penned their feelings about it in Richmond’s inimitable coded language: “Do we want the space between the VCU Medical Center and the convention center to become a walkable, attractive area filled with residents and visitors or do we prefer blocks of unattractive old office buildings that encourage folks
to stay away?” “Folks” did not “stay away:” even in the map above that the city submitted in its request for proposals, one can see hundreds of cars in mostly full parking lots. Thousands of people worked and conducted business there everyday, despite the Chamber leaders’ evident fear to even walk in the area filled with un-people. The Coliseum is one block north of Broad, but the area was not some ghost town that nobody visited, and it was astonishing to hear it repeated again and again that the area was some variation of an “urban wasteland,” as the Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial board opined. The paper’s op-ed pages published two opinion pieces in December 2018 and January 2019 purported to be by local university presidents of color. NH spokesperson Jeff Kelley wrote an op-ed submitted under Tom Farrell’s name and another that VCU submitted under President Michael Rao’s name. These are not sophisticated people, and the timing seemed a bit overkill. According to internal documents, at 2:40 PM on December 6, 2018, Kelley wrote Pam Lepley, Vice President of University Relations at VCU, that “we can absolutely push back” the Rao op-ed because “we have one running for Farrell...” That Sunday morning, Dec. 9, Blue Virginia published a longform piece that went viral and exposed the racism behind the Coliseum urban renewal.
8 •Jan. 22, 2020
The LEGACY
Faith & Religion Oh no you didn’t: Ministers struggle with people behaving badly at funerals JEFF BRUMLEY BNG - It’s just amazing how rude people can be at funerals these days, ministers say Seemingly without fail they see mourners talking on cell phones during services, making inappropriate comments about the deceased or watching them slurp fast-food fountain drinks in front of caskets – to name a few. Perhaps most galling of all, they say, is the apparent audacity of those behaving inconsiderately. “It’s the boldness with which people do things that blows my mind,” said LaTonya McIver Penny, the senior pastor at New Mount Zion Baptist Church in Roxboro, North Carolina. McIver Penny and two other ministers interviewed by Baptist News Global shared similar sentiments on the topic of rude behavior at funerals. But they aren’t alone. The issue has reached a level sufficient to have experts offering suggestions to mourners on how to act – and more importantly, not act – when attending memorials and funerals. Huffington Post recently presented advice from etiquette experts on the subject, warning potential offenders against arriving late, using cell phones, bringing coffee or dressing like a night club is the next destination. In general, don’t be a distraction, those experts said. Oh, and avoid cheesy theological statements to try to comfort the bereaved.
‘Exacerbating grief’ Doyle Sager, lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Jefferson City, Missouri, told BNG he has plenty of experience in the matter, including hearing weak comments like “she’s in a better place” now. Sager said via e-mail that he’s heard “lots of inane statements as people try to theologize” by saying “God wanted your 2-year-old baby for His garden in heaven, etc.” Sager also recalled a man who apparently had gone out to eat before a funeral. “A gentleman walked up the casket for viewing before the service, Hardees fountain drink in his hand.” But insensitive behavior is nothing new in the funeral realm, said Barry Howard, the pastor at Wieuca Road Baptist Church in Atlanta. It was once common, at least in the South, for funerals to last for hours and feature multiple preachers playing on grief and fear to evangelize mourners, he said. Howard, who has conducted more than 1,024 funerals during his career, said he considers it inappropriate manipulate emotions to win new church members, or to get old ones back. “That’s preying on and exacerbating grief,” he said. Most of the etiquette issues today result from unchurched Americans being unaware of how to behave in churches – or having any concept of sacred space, Howard said. Improper dress and language and bringing beverages into sanctuaries
Bad funeral behavior is not just in movies featuring Madea. likely results from that trend, he said. “People should respect the custom of the church, and many of them do post signs,” he said. But it’s something that’s going to take time. “We’re back to a learning curve,” Howard said. ‘A basic lack of respect’ No one seemed ready to make the issue a generational one, however. McIver Penny, for example, said young adults are not the problem here. “We can’t blame Millennials for this. Their dresses are a littler shorter, but that’s about it,” she said. “Most incidents involve middleagers who don’t go to church or who show up in club clothes or go out to smoke.” But there are plenty of incidents to go around for all ages, she added. Coming and going from the sanctuary during the funeral – to use the restroom, have a smoke or take a call – is routine, McIver
Penny said. Or, it’s common to see individuals who are texting each other or taking selfies and, in some cases, taking calls right there in the pews. “They’ll answer the phone and say, ‘I’m at a funeral,’” she said. “The craziest thing I have seen is the family (of the deceased), all on their phones on the front row and they weren’t paying attention at all to the funeral.” Another recent trend is mourners standing to make comments – invited or uninvited. “People will get up and talk about the bad stuff people did, or make it all about themselves,” she said. “I heard someone say ‘I remember when we used to get drunk back in the day. . . . ’” McIver Penny agreed the issue stems from an unchurched culture. “I think it’s just a basic lack of knowledge and a basic lack of respect.”
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10 • Jan. 22, 2020
The LEGACY
(from page 2) “I look at them and think, ‘How do you see me? What is my humanity to you?’ ” The president routinely talks about how a steadily growing economy and historically low unemployment have resulted in more African Americans with jobs and the lowest jobless rate for black Americans recorded. Months ago he said, “What I’ve done for African Americans in two-and-a-half years, no president has been able to do anything like it.” But those factors have not translated positively for the president. A 77 percent majority of black Americans say Trump deserves “only some” or “hardly any” credit for the 5.5 percent unemployment rate among black adults compared with 20 percent who say Trump deserves significant credit. In follow-up interviews, many said former president Barack Obama deserves more credit for the improvement in the unemployment rate, which declined from a high of 16.8 percent in 2010 to 7.5 percent when he left office. Others said their personal financial situation is more a product of their own efforts than anything the president has done. “I don’t think [Trump] has anything to do with unemployment among African Americans,” said Ethel Smith, a 72-year-old nanny who lives in Lithonia, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta. “I’ve always been a working poor person. That’s just who I am.” Black Americans report little change in their personal financial situations in the past few years, with 19 percent saying it has been getting better and 26 percent saying it has been getting worse. Most, 54 percent, say their financial situation has stayed the same. A similar 56 percent majority of African Americans rate the national economy as “not so good” or “poor,” contrasting with other surveys that find most Americans overall rate the economy positively, although there are sharp political divides on this question. Beyond questions about the economy, African Americans see a range of concerns impacting the country overall as well as their own communities. Just 16 percent of black Americans believe that most black children born in the U.S. today have “a good opportunity to achieve a comfortable standard of living.” A 75 percent majority think most white children have such an opportunity. More than 8 in 10 say they do not trust police in the United States to treat people of all races equally, and 7 in 10 distrust police in their own community. Black Americans also widely sense that their experiences with discrimination are underappreciated by white Americans. Just about 2 in 10 say that most white Americans understand the level of discrimination black Americans face in their lives, while nearly 8 in 10 say they do not. The starkly negative outlook appears to be a turnabout from previous points during both the Obama and George W. Bush presidencies,
according to surveys asking related questions. A 2011 Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation survey found 73 percent of black women said it was a “good time” to be a black woman in America, while a similar survey in 2006 found 60 percent of black men saying it was a good time to be a black man. Yet the Post-Ipsos poll also finds that 65 percent of black Americans say they feel optimistic about their own lives most or all of the time. This positive personal outlook crosses age and political groups, and while it peaks among those who are older and with higher incomes, roughly half of black Americans with incomes under $35,000 annually say they feel optimistic about their own lives. Dana Clark, a father of 11 children in Ontario, Calif., said he tells all of his children that it’s possible to succeed in America, but that they’ll have to work harder than the white children they encounter. “I tell them we’re going to set this plan up. Whatever you want to do you’re going to be able to do it,” he said. “But it ain’t going to be easy, especially if [you] want to make some money because you’re going to be in a world where they’re not going to expect you to be there. You can get what you want, but you’ve got to work harder, faster and stronger.” The survey, by The Post and Ipsos, a nonpartisan research firm, is one of the most extensive recent surveys focused on views of the country and President Trump among black Americans, who are often represented by only small samples in customary national polls. It was conducted among 1,088 non-Hispanic black adults, including 900 registered voters, drawn from a large online survey panel recruited through random sampling of U.S. households. Few black voters responded positively to Trump’s campaign appeal for their votes. Exit polls taken during the 2016 election showed just 8 percent of African Americans supported Trump and 89 percent backed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, although black turnout was significantly lower than in 2008 and 2012 for the election and reelection of Obama, the country’s first black president. In the Post-Ipsos poll, roughly three-quarters of black adults say the things that Trump is doing as president are “bad for African Americans,” while a similar majority says Obama’s actions as president were good. Kenneth Davis, a truck driver who lives outside
Detroit, said that when Trump was elected, coworkers who secretly harbored racist thoughts felt emboldened to publicly express them. “One gentleman is waving the Confederate flag on the back of his pickup truck,” said Davis, 48, who is a Marine Corps veteran. “He was very brave to say ‘Trump’s president, I’m going to get my window (painted).’ ” Retired federal prison warden Keith Battle said the political climate has exposed “unresolved racial issues” and that Trump has emboldened white supremacists. Battle, who lives in Wake Forest, N.C., said white supremacists “are not the majority of whites in America, but there is a significant amount still, I’d say 30 percent, and I think they’re just leading the country down a path of, eventually, chaos. They’re feeling jeopardized of losing their white privilege.” Survey respondents were asked to say how Trump’s presidency has affected them personally or African Americans in general. The responses illuminated the data in the poll. “Donald Trump has not done anything for the African American people,” said one person. “He has created an atmosphere of division and overt racism and fear of immigrants unseen in many years,” said another. A third said, “He has taken hatred against people of color, in general, from the closet to the front porch.” Others echoed that sentiment, saying that the president has emboldened those with racially prejudiced views and therefore set back race relations for years. “I sense a separation between myself and some of my white associates,” one person wrote. Trump’s overall approval rating among black Americans stands at 7 percent, with 90 percent disapproving, including 75 percent who disapprove “strongly.” Similarly large majorities of black men and women disapprove of Trump, as do black Americans across different age, education and income levels. Trump receives somewhat higher marks among self-identified black conservatives, with 25 percent approving of his performance, compared with 5 percent of moderates and 3 percent among liberals. Few black Americans appear open to supporting Trump’s bid for reelection at this point. He receives between 4 and 5 percent support among black registered voters in head-to-head matchups against eight potential Democratic nominees. But the level of Democratic support depends on who is the party’s nominee, peaking at 82 percent for former vice president Joe Biden and falling to 57 percent for former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg. The Post-Ipsos survey was conducted Jan. 2-8, 2020, through Ipsos’s KnowledgePanel, a large online survey panel recruited through random sampling of U.S. households. Overall results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points among the sample of 1,088 black adults overall, and four points among the sample of 900 registered voters.
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Jan. 22, 2020• 11
Whitney Houston, Notorious B.I.G. head 2020 Rock Hall of Fame Class STACY M. BROWN NNPA - Whitney Houston and the Notorious B.I.G. head an accomplished class who have earned induction into the 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Houston, who died in 2012 at the age of 48, was the preeminent voice of her generation. In addition to two Emmy Awards, Houston earned six Grammys, 30 Billboard Music Awards, and 22 American Music Awards. In 1992, Houston starred alongside Kevin Costner in the blockbuster film, “The Bodyguard,” which earned $411 million at the box office. The soundtrack, which featured a bevy of hits by Houston, became the second best-selling ever with more than 45 million units sold worldwide. B.I.G., whose legal name was Christopher Wallace, died after being shot in 1997 at the age of 24. The induction ceremony will be held at Cleveland’s Public Hall on May 2 and will air live on HBO and the SiriusXM Rock and Roll Hall of Fame radio station. In addition to Houston and Wallace, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, the Doobie Brothers, and T. Rex will join the 2020 class. Additionally, Jon Landau and Irving Azoff, two of the most successful managers in rock history, will be presented with the special Ahmet Ertegun Award for their contributions to the industry. This year’s inductees count as diverse a group the Hall has seen. “Each of those bands has helped shape the form that rock & roll has taken over the years,” Michael McDonald, who is being inducted for his work in the Doobie Brothers, said. “That’s what I like to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame do: pick those bands that have sculpted what we see rock & roll as today.”
Honorary Tuskegee Airman
Congressman A. Donald McEachin (D- VA-04), was last week named an honorary Tuskegee Airman by the Howard Baugh Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Read the full story online at legacynewspaper.com
12 • Jan. 22, 2020
The LEGACY
UR Law School awarded $25,000 grant from to provide pro bono legal services to low-income seniors The Richmond School of Law has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Regirer Foundation in support of a Medical-Legal Partnership between the University of Richmond School of Law and the Richmond Health and Wellness Program at Wendy Perdue VCU Health System. The Medical-Legal Partnership provides medical and social services to about 400 residents at Dominion Place Apartments, an affordable housing facility for seniors or individuals with disabilities living on or below the poverty line. Leigh Melton, a UR law school visiting faculty member who specializes in elder law, will oversee the program and supervise six third-year law students who, along with Richmond area and Legal Aid attorneys, will work with the local communities to provide pro bono legal services. “Community partnerships of this nature are a hallmark of a Richmond Law education because they provide an opportunity for our curriculum to extend beyond the classroom and for our students to serve the community,” said Wendy Perdue, dean of the Richmond School of Law. “The generous support for this partnership will help us continue these important services.” These services are a component of a broader and ongoing medical-legal partnership effort to assist the Richmond community. Richmond law students, under the leadership of Tara Casey, director of the Carrico Center, and in partnership with VCU Health and the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, also provide free legal services related to housing, family law, public benefits, and other issues at The Health Hub at 25th, located at Nine Mile Road and North 25th Street in Richmond’s East End.
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Jan. 22, 2020• 13
In the Iowa caucus homestretch, candidate Sanders takes aim at incumbent Trump JOHN BACHTELL DAVENPORT, Iowa (PW) – “It is absolutely imperative we defeat the most dangerous president in modern American history,” declared Sen. Bernie Sanders to a packed room of several hundred supporters at St. Ambrose University here recently “And we’ll defeat him by telling the truth and talking about the issues.” Sanders’ latest swing through Iowa took place just weeks before Democratic voters in this state participate in the Iowa Caucuses on Feb. 3. It is the nation’s first in a long chain of events that will determine the Democratic presidential nominee in the 2020 elections. Sanders leads in the state according to the latest Des Moines Register/CNN poll, followed closely by Elizabeth Warren, with Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden trailing further back. A solid core of unwavering supporters buoys Sanders. Many of these voters have stuck with him since the 2016 election. The polls also show many voters are still undecided, making for a fluid race. Sanders noted the incoming attacks by the Trump campaign in recent days. “They’re getting worried. They know what we know – that is we are the strongest campaign to defeat Donald Trump. We will expose Trump for the liar and fraud he is.” He was joined by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D – Mich., who introduced him as a builder of a people-powered movement. “We need somebody who is courageous, who won’t sell us out,” she declared. “I’m exhausted by the broken promises. He’s as angry as me. He sees the pain of economic oppression.” Sanders didn’t disappoint the
Bernie Sanders speaking in Iowa PHOTO: John Bachtell/PW crowd who came expecting him to blast billionaires and wealth concentration, economic and political corruption, and call for radical structural reforms like Medicare for all, the Green New Deal, free college tuition, and democratic governance. People are living paycheck to paycheck, and an increasing number of people are dying from “diseases of despair” in response to their economic circumstances. People are turning to opioids, alcohol, and suicide said, Sanders. “Our job is to give people hope, to have a government not based on greed and hatred and divisiveness. We need a government based on love and compassion and bringing our people together,” said Sanders. He called for raising the minimum wage, making it easier to form
unions, creating millions of jobs at living wages rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure. Sanders also spoke to a rally in Iowa City Jan. 12 hosted by the Sunrise Movement, which last week announced they were endorsing him. Thousands of young climate activists make up the Sunrise Movement. They popularized the Green New Deal, and their endorsement is considered very significant. “We believe a Bernie Sanders presidency would provide the best political terrain in which to engage in and ultimately win that struggle for the world we deserve,” the Sunrise Movement said in a statement. “Sen. Sanders has been calling the climate crisis “the most important issue facing civilization” since the
1980s, and he’s stood alongside movements fighting it since then, too. In the 2016 election, Sanders was mocked by pundits for stating in a Democratic debate that climate change represented the United States’ greatest geopolitical threat. Now, that position is widely held.” Sanders told the Davenport crowd that, unlike Trump, he believes in science. “Everything scientists are telling us is that the climate crisis is happening far quicker and is far worse than we thought. Bold action is needed now, he said. “With rising sea levels, many of our cities will be partially or completely underwater,” said Sanders. “It means countries like China, Vietnam, and India will see
(continued on page 17)
14 • Jan. 22, 2020
The LEGACY
Cheers erupt as Virginia lawmakers vote to become pivotal 38th state to ratify ERA
Dels. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-Prince William, and Hala Ayala, D-Prince William, speak to reporters outside the gallery of the House of Delegates after voting to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. PHOTO: Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury NED OLIVER VM - Cheers erupted at the Capitol as the Equal Rights Amendment cleared both chambers of the General Assembly on Wednesday, making Virginia the 38th and final state needed to ratify the amendment enshrining gender equality in the Constitution. Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-Prince William, who sponsored the ERA resolution as one of the first women to attend the previously allmale Virginia Military Institute, spoke about the uneven history of equality in Virginia, a state that fought against women’s suffrage,
desegregation and interracial marriage. The ERA vote, she said, was “the vote of a lifetime.” “It’s Virginia again on the battleground of equality,” Carroll Foy said. “I don’t know about you, but I think it’s right on time for Virginians to finally be on the right side of history.” For now, the vote remains largely symbolic. The National Archives and Records Administration, which is responsible for certifying the ratification of constitutional amendments, said it will abide by a legal opinion issued by the Justice Department recently that said the ERA is no longer a valid amendment
because a deadline imposed by Congress has expired, according to the Associated Press. Advocates plan to challenge the deadline in court. Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress are pursuing legislation to remove the deadline The uncertainty did not dampen celebration at the Capitol. Joined on the floor by one of her two daughters, Del. Kelly ConvirsFowler, D-Virginia Beach, said she’s grateful to have a husband who “recognizes equal duties” at home in a society that still expects women to always be the ones missing work to take care of sick kids. “It is time to change our standard
of equal to truly mean equal, regardless of sex,” said Convirs-Fowler, who has a third daughter on the way. Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, Virginia’s first openly transgender legislator, talked about how much the state has changed since 2006, when the General Assembly and voters approved a ban on same-sex marriage. “Today, rather than single out someone, rather than leave people behind, we are making a statement of affirmation about what we are for. Not who we are against,” Roem said. Republican lawmakers in the House unsuccessfully attempted to delay Wednesday’s vote, crying foul over late additions to the resolution’s text, including a clause relaying poll results showing more than 80 percent of Virginians support the ERA. Their efforts to have the resolution sent back to committee failed. Del. John McGuire, R-Henrico, who is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Henrico, spoke in opposition to the ERA, noting that women have risen to posts at the height of political power without the ERA in place. “I gotta tell you Madam Speaker, I’m very proud of you,” McGuire told newly elected Speaker Eileen FillerCorn, D-Fairfax, the first woman to hold the job. “You didn’t need the ERA to become the speaker.” But ultimately the measure passed with bi-partisan support, with four Republicans in the House casting votes in support and seven Republicans supporting the measure in the Senate. “Despite the fact that its past the ratification deadline and this vote may be purely symbolic, I still will support it,” said Sen. Jen Kiggans, R-Virginia Beach.
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Jan. 22, 2020• 15
Obamacare curbed racial and ethnic coverage gaps, but progress has slowed GABBY GALVIN Racial gaps in access to health care narrowed after the Affordable Care Act took effect, a new study says, yet stubborn disparities persist. These gaps in health insurance coverage have fallen across the country since 2014, especially in states that expanded eligibility for Medicaid, according to the analysis from The Commonwealth Fund, a health care foundation. Researchers assessed access to care by looking at the shares of adults 19 to 64 years old who lacked insurance coverage from 2013 to 2018, as well as those 18 to 64 who skipped health care due to cost concerns and those who had a regular source of care, such as a primary care doctor or a nurse practitioner. Groups were divided by race and ethnicity. “Ensuring that everyone can afford and receive high-quality health care is essential to a high-performing health system,” said Sara Collins, The Commonwealth Fund’s vice president for health care coverage and access. Access to health care is closely tied to insurance status in the U.S., and the analysis found shrinking racial disparities amid major improvements in coverage rates for black, Hispanic and white adults since 2013. The law’s major provisions, including rules many states have used to expand Medicaid, took effect in 2014. States, like Virginia, that expanded their Medicaid programs saw the largest improvement overall. From 2013 to 2018, the black-white gap in insurance coverage dropped from 8.4 to 3.7 percentage points in expansion states, for example, while the Hispanic-white gap fell from 23.2 to 12.7 percentage points. Gains were so significant that the
uninsured rate among blacks in expansion states in 2018 – 10.1 percent – was lower than the 12.3 percent rate among whites in nonexpansion states, the report says. Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia have adopted Medicaid expansion, though expansion has not yet taken effect in Nebraska. In Kansas, meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and Republican Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning introduced a proposal last week that could bring expansion to the state. “Despite the positive effect of Medicaid expansion on coverage and access inequities, almost half of black working-age adults are living in the 15 states that have still not implemented Medicaid expansion,” said Jesse Baumgartner, a research associate at The Commonwealth Fund and lead author of the study. More than a third of working-age Hispanic adults lived in nonexpansion states, according to the analysis. “This means that the failure to expand Medicaid in the remaining 15 states has a larger negative impact on black and Hispanic communities,” Baumgartner said. The Affordable Care Act also led to a decline in cost-related barriers to care, the report found. In 2013, about 23 percent of black adults and 28 percent of Hispanic adults said they didn’t get the health care they needed due to the cost. In 2018, those shares had fallen to 17.6 percent among black adults and 21.2 percent among Hispanic adults, though each share remained significantly higher than the 12.9 percent of white adults who skipped care because of costs. Almost all of the improvement in access to care occurred between 2013 and 2016, researchers noted, and the
stalled progress since then is largely due to a combination of factors, including the lack of Medicaid expansion and congressional inaction to strengthen the ACA, also known as Obamacare. Efforts to weaken the law – including Congress’ repeal of the individual mandate penalty and the Trump administration's loosening of restrictions on short-term health plans – also contributed to the stalled progress, Collins said. “We know that’s had an effect,” she said. Aside from expanding Medicaid, the report says lawmakers could improve health care access by addressing the “Medicaid coverage gap” – when people’s incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid, but too low to qualify for premium
insurance subsidies. The Kaiser Family Foundation says more than 2 million low-income uninsured adults fall into this gap. Improving health insurance coverage isn’t the only solution to reduce racial disparities in health access and outcomes, though, and researchers said better access to the health care system will do little to curb inequities within it. “There are long-standing inequities in how people are treated, the care that people get,” Collins said. “I think we’re still going to continue to see racial disparities, despite … these very significant coverage expansions.” “There’s still a significant amount of work to do within the delivery system itself,” she said.
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16 • Jan. 22, 2020
The LEGACY
Calendar 1.23, 9 a.m.
University of Richmond professors Laura Browder, Tyler and Alice Haynes Professor of American Studies, and Patricia Herrera, associate professor of theatre, have co-curated an exhibition, that opens at The Valentine Museum, that explores the history of and the misconceptions about the HIV/ AIDS disease in Richmond. “Voices From Richmond’s Hidden Epidemic” will be on display at The Valentine to May 25.
1.29, 7 p.m. “Our sweeping American story, wonderful and woeful as it is, leaves out too many people who have been denied and disregarded, folks who should be returned to our national narrative. This exhibition breathes life into those forgotten individuals, restoring to them their humanity and their place in history.” --Gayle Jessup White Gayle Jessup White, descendant of Thomas Jefferson and member of some of the families he enslaved, became Monticello's first Community Engagement Officer in 2016. She accepted the position after years of researching her family’s oral tradition connected to Jefferson. As an International Center for Jefferson Studies fellow, she combed through old letters, documents and records, and was ultimately able to confirm that she is not only a Jefferson descendant through one of his great- great -grandsons, but also is related to two well-documented families enslaved at Monticello, the Hemingses and the Hubbards. She will share the 50-year-long journey that led her back to Monticello, the home of her ancestors.
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES, ANNOUNCEMENTS & EVENTS
NASCAR open house planned Richmond Raceway will host an Open House for fans on Saturday, Jan. 25 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The free event will take place in the FanGrounds, Richmond’s modernized infield, and include NASCAR celebrity appearances and a behind-the-scenes tour of the NASCAR Cup Series garages along with food, music, and games. The Open House will also offer fans the opportunity to purchase NASCAR and INDYCAR race tickets, FanGrounds passes, and more for the 2020 race season at America’s Premier Short Track. “As we wave the green flag on another season making memories with race fans, we will start our year by hosting an Open House to welcome fans back for the 2020 NASCAR season,” said Richmond President Dennis Bickmeier. “America’s Premier Short Track will be open for fans to tour the FanGrounds, meet NASCAR celebrities, race in the Richmond Raceway Simulator, and much more. We look forward to helping fans prepare for the new season at the Action Track.” On Jan. 25, Richmond will open to the general public with a full schedule of activities. Rick Mast, former NASCAR driver and Virginia native, and Richmond President Dennis Bickmeier will participate in Q&A’s. Mast will also be available to meet with fans and sign autographs at the Open House. DJ will be playing music, food trucks will serve signature dishes, and fans can participate in games and turn a few laps in the Richmond Raceway Simulator. Fans can take a tour of the FanGrounds including Gatorade Victory Lane, Dixie Vodka Victory Lane Club, garages and media center to get a sample of the experience of a NASCAR or INDYCAR race weekend. There will also be photo opportunities for fans throughout the FanGrounds to capture memories with friends and family. Fans will have the opportunity to take a pace car ride around America’s Premier Short Track. For a $5 donation to Richmond Raceway Cares, fans will get to experience the track similar to NASCAR’s best with laps around Richmond’s iconic ¾-mile D-shaped oval. Additionally, Racing Virginia tracks and drivers will have displays in the garage stalls to showcase the connection of local short track racing across the Commonwealth of Virginia. For more information on the Open House, visit richmondraceway.com/ openhouse.
Submit your calendar events by email to: editor @ legacynewspaper.com. Include the who, what, where, when & contact information that can be printed. Deadline is Friday.
2.6, all day
Congressman A. Donald McEachin (VA-04) has announced a Black History Month Essay Contest for middle and high school students (grades 6-12) residing in Virginia’s 4th Congressional District. The prompt of the contest is “What Black History Month means to me.” “Black History Month honors the historic and present contributions that African American men and women have made in our country,” said McEachin. Middle school students should submit an essay 350-500 words in length and high school students should submit an essay 500-750 words in length to VA04.Projects@ mail.house.gov . Winners will be notified individually and announced on McEachin’s social media in February.
Ongoing
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Va. lawmakers request support for Norfolk Harbor Project U.S. senators, Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA), along with U.S. representatives, Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Rob Wittman (R-VA), led the entire Virginia congressional delegation recently, in sending a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requesting a New Start designation for the Norfolk Harbor widening and deepening project in the Army Corps Work Plan. A New Start designation would allow the Norfolk Harbor project to advance to its next stage of construction and receive Army Corps funding. Currently, the project is progressing using a combination of state and local funds. “Thanks to the cooperation between the Port of Virginia, the Norfolk District, and the rest of the Army staff, construction on the first constructible element, deepening Thimble Shoal Channel – West, began in December 2019, 18 months ahead of schedule,” wrote the members of Congress. “The next steps are to complete the Design during Construction (DDC) on the remaining elements and prepare the next segment for award and construction. In order to maintain this schedule, the project requires a New Start designation and $2.5 million for construction in the 2020 Work Plan as well as $49.4 million in the President's 2021 budget request.” The Port of Virginia has benn hailed as an important commercial and economic engine for Virginia, generating more than $78 million annually. In their letter to OMB, the members of Congress reiterated that the funding is critical to ensure timely completion of a two-way traffic channel to better accommodate commercial ships and vessels deploying from Naval Station Norfolk.
“As you know, one lane traffic is not sustainable at the Port of Virginia as the size of commercial vessels continues to grow. One lane traffic creates uncertainty and inefficiency for businesses and their supply chains. “Additionally, as home to the world’s largest naval base – Naval Station Norfolk – the deepening and widening of Norfolk Harbor will support the critical functions of the U.S. Navy. The completion of this project will ensure the continued safe and timely passage of larger commercial and military vessels through Norfolk Harbor,” they said. “The rapid growth of larger vessels entering maritime trade makes it essential that this project proceed as quickly as possible. The public and private non-federal interests have invested billions of dollars on land-side infrastructure and are prepared to provide their cost share to complete this crucial navigation project in a timely manner.” In December, Warner and Kaine voted in favor of the government funding bill that included $2.5 million for the Norfolk Harbor Widening and Deepening project and critical language authorizing six Army Corps New Starts. The Army Corps will announce which projects will receive New Start designations in their Work Plan, which must be released no later than 60 days after the Energy and Water appropriations bill was signed into law. In addition to Warner and Kaine, Scott and Wittman, the letter was signed by representatives Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Don Beyer (D-VA), A. Donald McEachin (D-VA), Ben Cline (R-VA), Elaine Luria (D-VA), Denver Riggleman (R-VA), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), and Jennifer Wexton (D-VA).
Sen. Tim Kaine (L) and Sen. Mark Warner
(from page 13) massive flooding.” In addition to more flooding across the Midwest, farmers in Iowa will see shorter growing seasons and more droughts and more extreme weather events. Sanders called for transforming the energy system of the country and leading the world in that direction. “We will reach out to countries and people all over the world and say, we are in this together. No one will escape this. Maybe instead of spending $1.8 trillion on weapons of destruction, we pool our resources to save our world. “Our message to the fossil fuel industry is that their short-term profits are not more important than the future of this planet,” said Sanders. Sanders’s consistency in his positions is an endearing quality attracting many of his supporters. To them, this makes Sanders authentic and incorruptible. “I’m the same person I was forty years ago, he often says. “I like that he has a record of voting pro-worker and against (antilabor) right to work laws,” said Connie Haussmann, a UAW member from Davenport. Haussmann said her co-workers had mixed opinions of the candidates, but they were all upset by what’s happening economically, particularly the impact of corporate trade deals.
“I agree with all of his stances on climate change, Medicare for All, and helping other LGBTQ people such as myself,” said Emily Castro who attended with three friends from across the river in East Moline, Ill. Welcoming Sanders was Joe Kugly, general manager of the Quad City River Bandits, a minor league baseball team in the area. Kugly lauded Sanders for standing up to the billionaire owners of Major League Baseball who want to shut down 40 minor league teams in cities and towns like Davenport across the country. “Bernie stepped up to the plate first, and there were over 100 members of Congress who joined in right behind him,” said Kugly. “Bernie stood up for all of us in the 160 minor league markets. His leadership showed me how powerful it is to take a stand and not back down from these billionaires.” Sanders invoked the quote by Nelson Mandela, that “it always seems impossible until it is done.” Nothing ever really changes, he said, unless millions of people stand up and fight for justice. “That’s why the message of our campaign is ‘us, not me,” said Sanders. “No president, not even Bernie Sanders, can do it alone. Ours is a political movement that tells the one-percent that this country belongs to all of us.”
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18 • Jan. 22, 2020
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Monday, Feb. 10, 2020 Gates open at 9:00 AM Auction begins at 10:00 AM
Auction will include the vehicles listed below plus many others: 2007 1996 2000 1998 2001 1992 2005 2004 2000 2000 2003 2011 2000 1998 1995 2001 1991 2000 1998 2002 1995 2004 2002
CHEVROLET AVEO KL1TD56627B061639 RAVENS TRAILER 1R1F24827TK960179 TOYOTA 4RUNNER JT3GN86R4Y0147152 NISSAN SENTRA 1N4AB41D5WC759389 FORD FOCUS 3FAHP31311R136282 LEXUS SC 400 JT8UZ30C2N0017990 NISSAN ALTIMA 1N4BL11D65C117715 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX 2G2WP522341251238 FORD TAURUS 1FAFP55U9YG250490 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX 1G2WP52K1YF347366 CHEVROLET MALIBU 1G1ND52J33M603804 DODGE JOURNEY 3D4PG1FG4BT540609 HONDA ACCORD 1HGCG1658YA037161 HONDA ACCORD 1HGCG1651WA069544 OLDSMOBILE 98 REGENCY 1G3CX52K4S4314072 HONDA ACCORD 1HGCG165X1A067008 CHEVROLET CAPRICE 1G1BL5371MW246752 JAGUAR S-TYPESAJDA01C4YFL76153 CADILLAC DEVILLE 1G6KD54Y9WU782023 FORD TAURUS 1FAFP56S72A256425 CHEVROLET CAPRICE 1G1BL52W0SR105921 SUZUKI QUADSPORT Z400 JSAAK47A942109145 PONTIAC GRAND AM 1G2NE52F62C254839
SEIBERT’S is now accepting vehicles on consignment! Reasonable Seller’s Fees.
642 W. Southside Plaza Dr. Richmond (804) 233-5757
WWW.SEIBERTSTOWING.COM VA AL # 2908-000766
To file a housing complaint, call the Virginia Housing Office (804) 367-8530 or (888) 551-3247. For the hearingimpaired, call (804) 367-9753, or e-mail fairhousing@ dpor.virginia.gov
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE CITY OF RICHMOND BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS Ad Size: 1 column(s
Will hold a Public Hearing in the 5th Floor Conference City Hall, 2 Issues (1/15Room, & 1/22) - $73.7 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA on February 5, 2020, to consider Rate: $11 per co the following under Chapter 30 of the Zoning Code: Includes Internet BEGINNING AT 1:00 P.M. Please review the proof, make any needed BZA 06-2020: An application of John & Mandy and Amber If your response is Tennyson not received by409 deadE Reitz for a building permit to construct an addition to a single-family detached dwelling at 521 SOUTH PINE Ok STREET. X_____________________
BZA 07-2020: An application of David Shanklin for a building permit to construct a security wood fence accessory to an existing single-family Ok with changes X _________ attached dwelling at 1602 WEST GRACE STREET.
Roy W. Benbow, Secretary REMINDER: Deadline is Phone: (804) 240-2124 Fax: (804) 646-5789 E-mail: Roy.Benbow@richmondgov.com
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
Place your “For sale”, “Wanted”, and “Service”... ads here.
Jan. 22, 2020• 19
www.LEGACYnewspaper.com
CU00012453- Procurement 0121 HAMPTON SOLICITATION
AUCTIONS ATTN. AUCTIONEERS: Advertise your upcoming auctions statewide or in other states. Affordable Print and Digital Solutions reaching your target audiences. Call this paper or Landon Clark at Virginia Press Services 804-5217576, landonc@vpa.net EDUCATION/CAREER TRAINING AIRLINES ARE HIRING – Get FAA approved hands on Aviation training. Financial aid for qualified students Career placement assistance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance SCHEV certified 877-204- 4130 FARM EQUIPMENT GOT LAND? Our Hunters will Pay Top $$$ To hunt your land. Call for a FREE info packet & Quote. 1-866-3091507 www.BaseCampLeasing.com HELP WANTED / DRIVERS Need CDL Drivers? Advertise your JOB OPENINGS statewide or in other states. Affordable Print and Digital Solutions to reach truck drivers. Call Landon Clark at Virginia Press Services 804-521-7576, landonc@vpa.net REAL ESTATE FOR SALE ATTN. REALTORS: Advertise your listings regionally or statewide. Affordable Print and Digital Solutions that get results! Call Landon Clark at Virginia Press Services 804521-7576, landonc@vpa.net SERVICES DIVORCE-Uncontested, $395+$86 court cost. WILLS $195.00. No court appearance. Estimated completion time twenty-one days. Hilton Oliver, Attorney (Facebook). 757-490-0126. Se Habla Espanol. BBB Member. https:// hiltonoliverattorneyva.com.
HAMPTON CITY
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CITY OF HAMPTON Thursday, February 20, 2020 3:00 p.m. EST-ITB 20-30/CLP Coliseum Drive Extension - Segment A (UPC 108731) VDOT Project No: U000-114-R01, P101, R201, C501, D622 Federal Project No.: PE: STP-5A03(825) RW: STP-5A03(921) & CN: STP5A03(922). A Non-Mandatory Attendance Pre-bid Meeting will be held on Friday, January 31, 2020 at 10:00 AM (EST); Public Works Conference Room, 4th Floor, Hampton City Hall located at 22 Lincoln Street. The work under this project consists of new 4-Lane roadway extension of Coliseum Drive from Hampton Roads Center Parkway to Butler Farm Road over the Billy Woods Canal as well as a 10' multiuse path along one side of the roadway and a 5' sidewalk on the other. This is a Federal funded project and a 12% DBE goal has been set.
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