Chief Durham: ‘This is not Ferguson’
Police
officer
in
the
alley
beside
DJ
Market
and
Deli
only
after
he
first
shot
at
them
as
he
ran. at
Cary
and
Meadow
streets
in
the
West
End. This
is
the
first
incident
in
which
a
Richmond
“This
is
not
Ferguson.” His
funeral
service
was
held
Wednesday
at
Joseph
Police
officer
has
fatally
shot
someone
since
Chief
That
was
the
assessment
of
Richmond
Police
Chief
Jenkins
Jr.
Funeral
Home,
just
two
blocks
away. Durham took the top job in February. Alfred
Durham
on
Aug.
6,
a
day
after
Keshawn
D.
Initial
accounts
of
the
incident
by
witnesses
supHargrove,
20,
was
shot
and
killed
by
a
Richmond
port
reports
that
two
officers
fired
at
Mr.
Hargrove
Please turn to A4 By Joey Matthews
Richmond Free Press © 2015 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 24 NO. 33
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
EE FR
FR EE
Chief Durham
AUGUST 13-15, 2015
Tale of the tests
Richmond SOL scores rise, but still below state average By Jeremy M. Lazarus
The
good
news:
More
students
in
Richmond
Public
Schools
passed
state
Standards
of
Learning
tests in reading, history and math in spring 2015 compared
with
the
previous
year.
That’s
in
line
with
the
state
trend
of
rising
pass
rates.
The
bad
news:
The
pass
rates
during
Superintendent
Dana
T.
Bedden’s
first
full
academic
year
show
the
percentage
of
the
city’s
23,000
students
succeeding
on
the
SOL
tests
in
Richmond
is
still
well
below
state
pass
rates
in
core
subjects.
And
in
one
area,
writing,
the
percentage
of
Richmond
students
who
passed
dropped
eight
percentage points — from 56 percent in 2014 to 48 percent, according to results released Tuesday by
the
Virginia
Department
of
Education.
The
pass
rates
will
determine
school
accreditation,
which
will
be
announced
later.
This
year,
only
11
of
the
city’s
44
schools
were
fully
accredited based on 2014 test results. In
a
statement
issued
Wednesday,
Dr.
Bedden
found
the
results
“clearly
indicate
that
Richmond
Public
Schools
continues
to
make
progress.” He
pointed
to
“the
strides
made
by
our
students in mathematics (up seven percentage points from 2014), reading (up six percentage
points from 2014) and
history
(up
two
percentage points from 2014).” He also acknowledged
that
a
drop
in
the
writing
pass
rate
“shows
that opportunities for improvement remain. These reDr. Bedden sults further underscore
the
importance
of
the
Academic
Improvement
Plan
(AIP)
we
have
designed
to
(help)
our
students improve their academic performances so they can meet or exceed academic standards in the years ahead.” School Board Chairman Donald Coleman, in
a
separate
statement
to
the
Free
Press,
noted
that
“RPS
is
committed
to
seeing
SOL
scores
improve”
and
expressed
his
belief
that
the
AIP
would
make
that
happen
and
result
in
more
fully accredited schools. The
7th
District
representative
also
called
on
all
residents
to
“do
all
we
can
to
help
our
students recognize the importance of education”
and
to
support
public
education
as
a
“top
priority”
so
Richmond
can
reach
“its
potential
as a thriving city.” Kristen
Larson,
the
School
Board’s
vice
chair,
stated in an email that the positive test results provide
“a
good
start
to
this
year’s
implementation
of
the
district’s
Academic
Improvement
Plan.
“Overall
the
district
is
headed
in
the
right
direction, but there is still a lot of room for improvement
and
work
to
be
done,”
the
4th
District representative added. The results make it clear that Dr. Bedden’s efforts to turn around academic achievement remain
a
work
in
progress.
Consider
the
results
on
SOL
reading
tests.
Across
the
state,
the
VDOE
reported
that
79
percent
of
students
passed
their
SOL
reading
tests in 2015, up 5 percentage points from the 74
percent
that
passed
in
2014.
In
Richmond,
59
percent
of
students
passed
reading tests in grades three through high school, up six percentage points from the 2014 result of
53
percent,
but
still
20
percentage
points
below
the
state.
In
the
math
arena,
62
percent
of
Richmond
students
passed
SOL
tests,
up
7
percentage
points
from
2014
when
55
percent
passed.
But
across
Please turn to A4
Black lawmakers angered over Va. Supreme Court predicament
The battle over the map of Virginia’s congressional districts is
about
to
get
underway.
Next
week,
the
Republican-dominated
General
Assembly
will
return
for
a
special
session
that
Gov.
Terry
McAuliffe
called
with
the goal of making changes to the 2012-approved map to satisfy a federal court. The
court
ordered
the
map
redrawn
by
Sept.
1
after
finding
the
current
district
boundaries are illegal for emphasizing race and improperly packing African-Americans into
the
3rd
Congressional
District
that
Rep.
Robert
C.
“Bobby”
Scott,
Virginia’s
lone
black congressman, represents. Rep. Scott But it is unclear if the redistricting legislative
session
will
be
successful.
The
court
could
end
up
having
to
redraw
the
lines
if
Gov.
McAuliffe
and
his
allies
and
the
GOP
leadership
fail
to
find
common
ground,
an
increasingly
likely scenario. Republicans
and
Democrats
are
on
different
mapping
wave-
Republicans stick a thumb in the eye of the governor, and allow
Judge
Rossie
D.
Alston Jr., an equally respected Virginia Court of Appeals judge
from
Prince
William
County,
to
be
Roush voted in as a historic third African-American member of the seven-member court without
any
serious
scrutiny
when
the
special
legislative
session begins on Monday. In
the
end,
the
black
lawmakers resolved to back Gov. McAuliffe
and
stick
with
Justice
Roush. They are especially infuriated by the Republicans’ refusal to schedule a hearing at
which
both
Justice
Roush
and Judge Alston could be questioned about their records and judicial philosophy so that lawmakers
—
and
the
public
—
can
decide
who
would
be
the better choice. “Justice
Roush
is
a
judge
with
22
years
of
experience
who
is
now
a
sitting
justice.
Explanations
given
for
removing her are vague, perplexing, and inexplicable,” Sen. Mamie E.
Locke
of
Hampton,
chair
of
the
Virginia
Legislative
Black Caucus, said in a letter Monday
to
GOP
House
and
Senate leaders. “We
can
also
add
that
removal of a gubernatorial interim appointment has not been
done
in
well
over
a
century.
Which
begs
the
question,
why
now?” Sen.
Locke
continued:
“This
wrangling
has
yet
again
put
the General Assembly in the position of being accused of political posturing, placing
Please turn to A4
Please turn to A4
By Jack White
African-American members of the Virginia General Assembly are seething at Republican leaders for putting them in a predicament over a judicial selection to the Virginia Supreme Court. The
problem
began
when
intransigent
Republican
lawmakers became angered by Gov. Terry McAuliiffe’s refusal to
postpone
a
Aug.
17
special
legislative session devoted to legislative redistricting until after the fall General Assembly elections.
The
GOP
leadership
decided to take their revenge by unceremoniously dumping Gov. McAuliffe’s choice for a seat on the state’s highest court
—
a
white
female
—
and
electing an AfricanAfrican male. Gov. McAuliffe denounced the Republicans’ plan last week
as
a
“political
temper tantrum.” But the situation left
Virginia
LegisJustice lative Black Caucus
members
with
a
difficult
choice.
They
could
opt
to
fight
a dogged battle to keep Justice Jane Marum Roush, a highly regarded jurist from Fairfax County
whom
Gov.
McAuliffe
appointed in late July, on the state
Supreme
Court
knowing that the effort is doomed because Republicans control both houses of the General Assembly. Or
they
could
stand
by,
watch
Battle over congressional lines starts next week By Jeremy M. Lazarus
James Haskins/Richmond Free Press
Bubblicious Tyleia Carter, 6, blows big bubbles Saturday at the East End Get Fresh Fair and Farmers Market. The event was held on Accommodation Street behind the Mosby Court Resource Center and offered a variety of nutritious vegetables and fruits for sale, as well as live music, games for children, health screenings and more. Please see an additional photo on B2.
Full appeals court rebuffs McDonnell’s request By Jeremy M. Lazarus
James R. Spencer in January would
become
effective.
Former Gov. Bob McDonnell The appeals court, in its is a big step closer to reporting new
order,
did
not
mention
to prison. whether
Mr.
McDonnell’s
Tuesday, as legal experts bond
would
be
continued.
If
anticipated, the 15 judges of it
is
not,
he
likely
would
be
the 4th U.S. Circuit Court required to report to a federal of Appeals issued an order prison fairly quickly. rejecting the former Virginia However,
his
lawyers
plan
governor’s request to reconto request that the appeals Mr. McDonnell sider his conviction on 11 court
allow
Mr.
McDonnell
corruption charges. to
remain
free
while
he
makes
a
long
shot
He had asked the full court to consider his appeal
within
90
days
to
the
U.S.
Supreme
case after a three-judge panel of the Richmond- Court,
which
does
not
have
to
hear
his
based court upheld his conviction July 10, case.
The
high
court
takes
100
or
fewer
finding
that
he
“received
a
fair
trial
and
was
cases a year. duly
convicted
by
a
jury
of
his
fellow
VirginMr. McDonnell still maintains that that he ians”
when
his
case
was
heard
last
year. did
not
violate
the
law
or
sell
his
office
when
According to the court’s order, eight of he
and
his
wife,
Maureen,
accepted
gifts
and
the judges voted against rehearing the case loans
worth
$177,000
from
a
businessman
and
seven
“deemed
themselves
disqualified
seeking state support for his tobacco-based and did not participate.” dietary product. The
appeals
court
allowed
Mr.
McDonnell
to
Meanwhile,
Mrs.
McDonnell
remains
free
remain
free
while
it
considered
his
request. while
the
4th
Circuit
considers
her
appeal
of
The court has not yet issued a mandate her nine convictions on corruption charges. closing
the
case
so
that
the
two-year
sentence
Her
case
is
to
be
heard
in
October.
She
was
imposed by U.S. Senior District Court Judge sentenced to a year and a day in prison.
City readying community for September bike races By Joey Matthews
Hundreds
of
bike
riders
will
pedal
at
break-neck
speeds
along Richmond area streets past cheering spectators during the upcoming
UCI
Road
World
Championships. Elite
bicyclists
from
around
the
world
are
scheduled
to
compete
in
12
races
over
nine
days
from
Saturday,
Sept.
19,
through
Sunday,
Sept.
27.
Courses
will
range
from
14
miles
to
160
miles
and
will
wind
through
Richmond
and
Henrico
and
Hanover counties. The
opening
ceremony,
which
is
free,
will
be
6:30
p.m.
Friday,
Sept.
18,
at
Brown’s
Island
in
Downtown.
Richmond
native
and
American
Idol
finalist
Rayvon
Owen
is
scheduled
to
sing
the
national anthem at the event. The
main
staging
area
for
the
races
will
be
at
the
Greater
Richmond Convention Center at 5th and Broad streets. Officials
are
expecting
up
to
450,000
spectators
from
around
the
world
to
enjoy
the
world-class
competitions. Mayor
Dwight
C.
Jones
and
others
integral
in
luring
the
event
to
Richmond
say
the
local
economy
will
get
a
huge
boost,
Please turn to A4