Richmond Free Press August 4-6, 2022 edition

Nichelle Nichols was first to chart path B3

Richmond Free Press © 2022 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 31 NO. 32

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

Big mistake

ee Fr

Fr ee

Meet this week’s Personality B1

AUGUST 4-6, 2022

Tear gas released on Lee statue protesters was in error

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Twenty-five minutes before an 8 p.m. curfew was to go into effect, Richmond Police officers began firing tear gas and other noxious chemical agents to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who had gathered around the now removed Robert E. Lee statue in the city’s West End. More than two years later, the mystery appears to be solved as to why dozens of officers undertook what appeared to be an illegal action on June 1, 2020 — violating people’s constitutional right to assemble peaceably and stoking the local fires of protest over the Minneapolis Police murder of George Floyd.

In a seven-page report released July 29, Richmond’s top prosecutor, Colette W. McEachin, confirmed what Mayor Levar M. Stoney and then-Police Chief William Mayor Stoney C. Smith tried to tell an angry crowd of people who marched to City Hall the next day to protest the gassing — that the release of chemical agents at the Lee statue before the curfew took effect was a mistake.

She issued that conclusion in announcing that none of the officers who deployed chemical agents would face criminal charges, though the action has led to multiple civil suits for damages.

Mrs. McEachin determined that the officers acted after rePlease turn to A4

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

The city’s ‘Night Out’

The Richmond Police Department celebrated National Night Out, which it calls “the biggest citywide party of the year,” on Tuesday, Aug. 2. The annual event brings together police and neighbors to support crime prevention during an evening of music and entertainment. Among this year’s festivities were fun and games at the Satellite Restaurant, 4000 Richmond Highway in South Side. Below right, Acting Lt. Brian Sheridan of Richmond’s Second Precinct plays a little b-ball with area children while above rappers ShaaBiggaa and Hiii Siddity of Girll Codee perform. At Meadow Park in the Fan, below left, Richmond Police Chief Gerald M. Smith chats with area residents Matt and Nancy Costello.

City housing director, church leaders discuss shelter options $3M on the table for homeless

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Ninth District City Councilman Michael J. Jones hopes a network of churches can be developed to provide shelter for the homeless during inclement weather, particularly during winter cold.

Dr. Jones, a full-time pastor himself, sought to make that happen by convening a meeting last week between a city official with money to spend and 15 to 20 pastors whose churches might have space that could be used.

The official was Sherrill N. Hampton, city director of housing and community developDr. Jones ment, who has $3 million to spend with faith groups and nonprofits who would operate the shelter.

Dr. Jones got involved after opposing the city’s plan to create a central shelter for 150 people at the Liberation Church, 5501 Midlothian Turnpike, in his district.

He rejected that idea, arguing that a decentralized approach that would have multiple sites to handle 25 to 30 people apiece would be better and have less impact on surrounding communities.

Please turn to A4

City jail inmate charged for attacking deputy

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

It took three weeks, but a Richmond City Justice Center inmate with a long rap sheet has been charged with the malicious wounding July 7 of a female deputy whose jaw was shattered

and who suffered other serious facial injuries in a brutal attack.

Sheriff Antionette V. Irving disclosed the arrest of Sakeem J. Bell on July 29 in a rare press release Sheriff from her office concerning an action taken against an inmate alleged to have committed serious offenses.

Already jailed for a year awaiting a probation revocation hearing that is to be held later this month, Mr. Bell was arraigned Aug. 1 in the new case and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Sept. 13 in Richmond General District Court.

Behind the scenes, the Free

Press has been told that Sheriff Irving came under serious pressure to act to prevent the Richmond Police Department from taking over the case.

Ahead of her acIrving tion, the Free Press was told police detectives had interviewed the deputy and were preparing to file charges against Mr. Bell if the sheriff, who has gained a reputation for not preferring charges against inmates, did not.

The sheriff, before bringing the charge, had sent Mr. Bell to Central State Hospital for evaluation. The Free Press was Please turn to A4

Appreciation: Bill Russell lived a life like very few others

By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press

Bill Russell hated autographs. Saw no point to them. If he was out dining and got approached by someone asking for his signature, Mr. Russell’s usual response was to instead ask the person to join him at the table to have

Related story on A9

Courtesy NNPA

Bill Russell, the Boston Celtics legend, receives the Medal of Freedom at the White House in February 2011. Mr. Russell is shown accepting his medal from then-President Obama. The award is presented to civilians for being “the best of who we are and who we aspire to be.”

Conflict of interest sparks tense discussion for RPS School Board Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Ready to reel Father and son fishermen, Denzel Terrell and 6-yearold Deion Terrell, trek the pedestrian bridge from Brown’s Island to Belle Isle looking to land a big catch this summer.

By Holly Rodriguez

The Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center arose as a topic of discussion during the Richmond School Board meeting Monday night.

But the potential conflict between the School Board and the city, regarding rights and ownership of the facility in light of Mayor Levar Stoney’s Diamond District redevelopment plan,

was not the cause of discussion. A conflict of interest for the Board’s legal counsel, revealed during executive session, was at issue for Vice Chair Kenya Gibson, 3rd District.

The public is not allowed to be present during the School Board’s executive sessions.

Ms. Gibson said she believed the matter of the Please turn to A4

a conversation about life.

The autograph-seekers almost always declined.

Oh, the stories they missed.

Mr. Russell, the greatest winner in the history of team sports, died Sunday, July 31, 2022 at 88. The basketball legacy is beyond well-known: 11 championships in 13 years with the Boston Celtics, first Black coach Please turn to A4

Free COVID-19 testing, vaccines Free community testing for COVID-19 continues.

The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following location: • Thursday, Aug. 4, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. – Fulton Neighborhood Resource Center, 1519 Williamsburg Road.

Call the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for more information on testing sites, or go online at vax.rchd.com.

The Virginia Department of Health also has a list of COVID-

Please turn to A4

Richmond Free Press

A2 August 4-6, 2022

Local News

City to exchange gift cards for rifles, handguns, broken weapons

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond’s first gun buyback program — largely regarded by experts as a publicity stunt — is set for 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, at Liberation Church, 5501 Midlothian Turnpike, Mayor Levar M. Stoney announced Tuesday.

The program will have a total of $67,500 in gift cards to distribute and will continue until the gift cards run out, the mayor indicated at the press briefing.

The program will pay out $250 in gift cards for an operational assault rifle, $200 for a working handgun, $150 for a usable rifle and $25 for a broken, jammed or nonfunctional weapon, he said.

He said he is hoping for a big response that would allow the gift cards to be gone quickly.

Participants must be 18 or older, the mayor said. Those who have an unloaded gun packed in the trunk can just drive in, let a city police officer take it with no questions asked and receive one or more gift cards from Amazon, Walmart, Target or Kroger, he said.

The gift cards will only stretch so far, making it unlikely any substantial number of guns will be collected. The $67,500 will only buy 270 assault rifles or 337 handguns or 450 rifles, or some mixture of those weapons. That compares with the 2,700 nonfunctioning guns that could be purchased.

The city is teaming with the California-based Robby Poblete Foundation, which has operated three or four community gun buyback programs since 2017, to undertake this initiative. The foundation bought the cards using city-provided funds. The city in total is spending about $83,000 in federal funds to pay personnel involved and to dispose of the weapons.

City Council approved the buyback program in mid-June as an antidote to the violence that has hit Richmond, as it has multiple cities, despite substantial research that such programs have no impact on shootings, homicides or suicides.

Mayor Stoney acknowledged this buyback “is not a panacea” that will reduce the shootings that have made poor sections of the city more dangerous.

At best, he said, every gun that comes in “is one gun that can no longer be used to hurt someone else,” he said.

He said the gun buyback is just one element of the city’s efforts to fight violence.

Other elements include a targeted police initiative Operation Red Ball, which resulted in the arrest of 177 youths and adults with records for shooting and violence, with the majority from public housing communities.

The outcome of the operation city police coordinated with law enforcement partners was announced Tuesday and appears to have largely focused on scooping up felons who illegally possessed weapons in the largest effort yet to quell city violence.

The mayor said the city also is investing in recreational programming for children and youths, and contracting with nonprofits to increase the availability of after-school programming after classes resume in September.

Other elements include increased funding in pre-school operations to enable parents to work, and fresh support for a basketball league that provides an outlet for youths and adults who might otherwise get into trouble.

“We’re throwing the kitchen sink” at the violence issue, the mayor said.

Property owners given more time to apply for tax exemptions

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Elderly and totally disabled property owners in Richmond will have the whole year to apply for exemptions from real estate taxes, beginning in January 2023.

Jumping on a change in state law, City Council has approved allowing homeowners who are over 65 or totally disabled to apply between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 for an exemption, which ranges from 25 percent to 100 percent, depending on household income.

The council’s action means applications can be filed at any time, eliminating the March 31 deadline that was in place this year.

Fifth District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch spearheaded the change that her eight colleagues endorsed after the General Assembly authorized localities to extend the application deadline earlier this year.

The move comes as the number of participants in the city program continues to shrink.

In the 2020-21 fiscal year, only 1,881 property owners were approved to have property taxes reduced or eliminated, down 8 percent from the 2,052 owners approved in the 2019-2020 fiscal year and down 14 percent from the 2,206 owners approved the previous year, according to a city report.

Ms. Lynch said she hopes that the longer deadline would encourage more city residents to participate in the program.

Long in force, the program eliminates real estate taxes for elderly and disabled owners with a household income of $30,000 or less.

Those qualifying also no longer have to pay for trash and recycling pickup service, either.

Renters who meet the age or disability requirements also can gain an exemption for paying for refuse and recycling services through the public utility bills.

Of those in the program, 1,271 participants or 68 percent qualified for 100 percent real estate tax relief, the city report stated.

The program also exempts households with annual incomes from $30,000 to $40,000, from 75 percent of taxes; those with incomes from $40,000 to $50,000 from 50 percent of taxes; and those with incomes from $50,000 to $60,000 from 25 percent of taxes.

Qualifying households must have a total net worth of $350,000 or less, as well, according to the program requirements.

RPS receives award for fighting hunger

By Holly Rodriguez

Richmond Public Schools is one of six school districts in the state to receive a 2022 Food for Thought Award from the Virginia School Boards Association.

RPS won for the “Meal Access to Fight Hunger” category, for school districts with more than 10,001 students.

Established in 2012 by former VSBA president Joan Wodiska, the awards “educate, engage, and empower school leaders to address childhood hunger and provide all students in Virginia with healthier, more nutritious school meals.”

All six divisions were recognized at the VSBA Conference on Education in July.

The winners, by category, are: Healthy School Meals (Below 10,000 Student Population) Caroline County Public Schools (Above 10,001 Student Population) Stafford County Public Schools Meal Access to Fight Hunger (Below 10,000 Student Population) Page County Public Schools

(Above 10,001 Student Population) Richmond City Public Schools Wellness and Physical Activity (Below 10,000 Student Population) Isle of Wight County Public Schools (Above 10,001 Student Population) Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools

Cityscape Slices of life and scenes in Richmond

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

This sign, outside of Richmond Medical Center For Women on Arthur Ashe Boulevard, makes it clear that the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court will not stop women in Virginia from exercising their reproductive rights.

Judge, after slow process, tosses lawsuit seeking new Virginia elections

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Members of the Virginia House of Delegates can continue to represent unconstitutional districts that the state Supreme Court abolished in December.

U.S. District Court Judge David J. Novak made that certain Monday when he threw out the final effort of three state residents to force elections this November in the new constitutional House districts the state’s highest court put in place before Christmas based on late-arriving results of the 2020 Census.

Among other things, Judge Novak found that he could not order new elections without generating “significant cost, confusion or hardship” in violation of a long-standing U.S. Supreme Court principle involving the authority of federal courts in redistricting cases.

The result: Voters will have their first opportunity to elect the 100 House members from the new districts in November 2023 as the current two-year terms expire.

The three plaintiffs who had repre-

sented themselves, Jeffrey Thomas Jr. of Richmond and Michelle Thomas and Phillip Thompson of Loudoun County, expressed disappointment but said there would be no appeal.

“It is too late in the process,” Mr. Thompson stated in response to a Free Press query.

Judge Novak, writing for a three-judge court, had previously knocked out a suit that political strategist Paul Goldman of Richmond had brought prior to the 2021 House elections in an effort to force elections this year in the new constitutional House districts drawn using data from the 10-year national population census.

One reason that the time ran out was Judge Novak’s failure to move quickly on a significant constitutional question – whether House members who won in 2021 should serve one year or two years in unconstitutional districts with huge differences in populations.

Forty years ago, federal courts needed just two weeks to decide elections for the Virginia House could be held in 1981 using unconstitutional districts, but that new

elections would need to be held in 1982 using constitutional districts and again in 1983 to protect the right of citizens to have representatives from districts of roughly equal population.

But Judge Novak refused to speed up the process and allowed the Goldman case to drag on for a year.

In his new 49-page opinion throwing out the latest suit, Judge Novak blamed the plaintiffs and the Attorney General’s Office for the slow pace.

But the evidence of his responsibility can be found in his citation of the 1981 case of Hugh C. Cosner, chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Spotsylvania County, v Gov. John N. Dalton that resulted in House elections three years in a row.

As Judge Novak noted, the Cosner v.

Dalton case was decided by a three-judge panel before the 1981 elections were held due to the swift action of his predecessors.

The same opportunity existed for him to lead a panel of judges to quickly decide the Goldman case prior to the 2021 House elections, but he chose to delay instead.

Cities face crisis as fewer kids enroll and schools shrink The Associated Press and Chalkbeat

CHICAGO On a recent morning inside Chalmers School of Excellence on Chicago’s West Side, five preschool and kindergarten students finished up drawings. Four staffers, including a teacher and a tutor, chatted with them about colors and shapes.

The summer program offers the kind of one-on-one support parents love. But behind the scenes, Principal Romian Crockett worries the school is becoming precariously small.

Chalmers lost almost a third of its enrollment during the pandemic, shrinking to 215 students. In Chicago, COVID-19 worsened declines that preceded the virus: Predominantly Black neighborhoods like Chalmers’ North Lawndale, long plagued by disinvestment, have seen an exodus of families over the past decade.

The number of small schools like Chalmers is growing in many American cities as public school enrollment declines.

More than one in five New York elementary schools had fewer than 300 students last school year. In Los Angeles, that figure was over one in four. In Chicago it has grown to nearly one in three, and in Boston it’s approaching one in two, according to a Chalkbeat/ AP analysis.

Most of these schools were not originally designed to be small, and educators worry coming years will bring tighter budgets even as schools are recovering from the pandemic’s disruption.

“When you lose kids, you lose resources,” said Mr. Crockett, the Chalmers principal. “That impacts your ability to serve kids with very high needs.”

A state law prohibits Chicago from closing or consolidating schools until 2025. And across

Nam Y. Huh/The Associated Press

Charisma Edwards, 5, center, checks out the artwork of a classmate during a class at Chalmers Elementary school in Chicago last month. America’s big cities are seeing their schools shrink, with more and more of their schools serving small numbers of students.

the U.S., COVID-19 relief money is helping subsidize shrinking schools. But when the money runs out in a few years, officials will face a difficult choice: Keep the schools open despite the financial strain, or close them, upsetting communities looking for stability for their children.

“My worry is that we will shut down when we have all worked so hard,” said Yvonne Wooden, who serves on Chalmers’ school council.

Her children went to the pre-K through eighth-grade school, and two grandchildren attend now. “That would really hurt our neighborhood.”

The pandemic accelerated enrollment declines in many districts as families switched to homeschooling, charter schools and other options. Students moved away or vanished from school rolls for unknown reasons.

Many districts like Chicago give schools money for each student. That means small schools sometimes struggle to pay for fixed costs — the principal, a counselor and building upkeep.

To address that, many allocate extra money to small

schools, diverting dollars from larger schools. In Chicago, the district spends an average of $19,000 annually per student at small high schools, while students at larger ones get $10,000, according to the Chalkbeat/AP analysis.

“I love small schools, but small schools are very expensive,” Chicago schools chief Pedro Martinez told the school board recently. “We can get some really creative, innovative models, but we need the funding.”

At the same time, these schools are often stretched thin.

Very small schools offer fewer clubs, sports and arts programs.

Some elementary schools group students from different grades in the same classroom, although Mr. Martinez has vowed that won’t happen next year.

Manley Career Academy High School on Chicago’s West Side illustrates the paradox. It now serves 65 students, and the cost per student has shot up to $40,000, even though schools like Manley offer few elective courses, sports and extracurricular activities.

“We’re spending $40,000 per pupil just to offer the bare minimum,” said Hal Woods of the

advocacy group Kids First Chicago, which has studied declining enrollment in the district. “It’s not really a $40,000-per-pupil student experience.”

Small schools are popular with families, teachers and community members because of their tight-knit, supportive feel. Some argue districts should pour more dollars into these schools, many in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods hard hit by the pandemic. Schools serve as community hubs and points of local pride even as they lose students — as is the case in North Lawndale.

Race also looms large.

Nationally, schools with more students of color are more likely to be closed, and those in affected communities often feel unfairly targeted.

The prospect of closing schools is particularly fraught in Chicago, where 50 schools were shuttered in 2013, most in predominantly Black neighborhoods. The move frayed trust between residents and the district and, according to University of Chicago research, markedly disrupted learning for low-income students.

Chicago will use about $140 million of the $2.8 billion in COVID-19 relief it got to help prop up small schools this school year, officials said. Mr. Martinez, who took over as schools chief last fall, has sidestepped talk of closures, saying he wants to study how the district can make its campuses more attractive to families — and push for more money from the state.

In contrast, Richmond Public Schools, in Richmond, Va., is working on plans now to build a new George Wythe High School in South Side. This follows the opening of three new schools—Marsh Elementary, Cardinal Elementary and River City Middle—during the pandemic.

Richmond Free Press

August 4-6, 2022 A3

Local News From the Free Press to the front office

St. Joe’s student-athlete flexes writing skills as summer news intern

By Bonnie Newman Davis

our first-ever track and field state championship.”

Most journalists will tell you that nothing Mr. Adams’ passion for track led him to beats seeing your name in print or havpursue a college athletic career, and upon ing something tangible that says to family, graduating from Collegiate in 2020, he refriends and future employers, “I did this.” ceived a track and field scholarship to Saint For the past 10 weeks, Richmond Free Joseph’s, where, as a member of its track team, Press summer news intern Donald J. Adams Jr. he specializes in jumps and sprints. has written several articles for this newspaper “My love for sports has not only extended that bear his byline, along with several shorter to playing them; this past fall I served as a stories that seldom identify the reporter. creative intern for the Saint Joseph’s athletic Among Mr. Adams’ articles is the front- department, which gave me the opportunity page announcement about former to serve as a sideline photographer First Lady Michelle Obama’s visit to for both the men’s and women’s Richmond in May, NBA players and basketball teams during scrimmages their family ties, professional sports and game days,” he says. “This messaging about gun violence, and was a vital part of my sophomore the annual Camp Diva Market year experience, learning the inner Day sponsored by Girls For A workings and behind the scenes of Change. a Division I athletic department’s Upcoming features include comoperations.”

Mr. Adams mentaries on how overturning Roe Mr. Adams’ future plans include v. Wade impacts women athletes and a look merging his business studies with athletics back at the World Athletic Competitions. and physical fitness, with a long-term goal of In addition to reporting and writing, Mr. owning a franchise of gyms that help athletes Adams has pitched in on our Wednesday perform at a high level and non-athletes “feel production nights by reading and proofing and look their best.” copy, making last-minute phone calls or findAfter college, his short-term goal is to work ing photos to make a story pop. in the front office or marketing department During his internship, Mr. Adams, a rising of a professional or collegiate athletic team junior at Saint Joseph’s University in Phila- to learn how they conduct their day-to-day delphia, has been eager to assist and learn, business operations. while handling each of his assignments with We are confident that Mr. Adams’Richmond aplomb and grace.

Free Press summer internship experience has Before attending St. Joe’s, also known prepared him for front offices in Richmond, as Hawk Hill, Mr. Adams’ passion for ex- Philadelphia and beyond. tracurricular activities were nurtured for How can we be so sure?

13 years at Richmond’s Collegiate School.

He’ll know what questions to ask and to From kindergarten through 12th grade, he double check spelling, grammar and dates. participated in activities such as writing for He won’t rely on Google or text messaging the school newspaper, photography and serv- for information. Rather, he will pick up the ing as co-president of Collegiate’s diversity phone and go straight to the source. club (Mosaic).

He will continue to value good eye conBesides those pursuits, Mr. Adams has tact. participated in multiple varsity-level sports.

He won’t be discouraged when asked to “I participated in basketball, football and revise an assignment, or to produce a docutrack and field, and was a member of my ment on deadline. school’s football team during my junior year, He’ll never consider any work too menial when I also received All Preparatory football or complain about long hours. accolades,” he says. “During my senior year, He will someday hire his own interns.

I won the VISAA State Championship for Thank you for your service, Mr. Adams. the long jump, and helped my school secure Carpe diem!

Jackson Ward Collective hosts business conference

By Holly Rodriguez

The term “Black Wall Street” is often associated with the prosperous residential and business community that was destroyed in the Tulsa, Okla., massacre 101 years ago.

But there were similar places of prosperity in Black communities throughout the United States, including Richmond’s Jackson Ward.

Building on that legacy to generate success for Black-owned businesses today, The Jackson Ward Collective will host the BLCK Street Conference in Richmond on Monday, Aug. 8, at The Collaboratory of VA. Networking sessions the day before and the evening after the conference are designed for attendees to learn more about their respective businesses. “[In the past,] Black Wall Street was necessary in Jackson Ward because we had to be self-sufficient,” said Melody Short, a founder of the Jackson Ward Collective. “We want to inspire people with the success of the past, but also want to inspire them with what is going on here now.”

Based on the stage of growth for an attendee’s business, the conference has three different tracks to be explored: Learn, Grow and Own. The Learn track provides resources for aspiring entrepreneurs, such as someone who has a side hustle; the Grow track is for people who have been in business a few years and are looking for resources to expand; and the Own track is for entrepreneurs who want to scale up or wind down their business.

Conference workshops will cover topics ranging from how to get access to capital for funding to leveraging technology for your company.

The keynote speakers for the event will be Julien and Kiersten Saunders, the couple behind the rich & REGULAR brand.

Co-authors of the book “Cashing Out: Win the Wealth Game by Walking Away,” the power

Courtney Jones/The Jones Photography and Media Company

The Jackson Ward Collective’s co-founders are, from left, Melody Short, Rasheeda Creighton and Kelli Lemon. Below, Julien and Kiersten Saunders, founders of the rich & REGULAR brand, are keynote speakers during the BLCK Street Conference on Aug. 8.

duo has built their brand from sharing their own hardships with money. Those hardships started with the two of them parting ways as a couple after arguing about money.

Conference attendees can expect to hear the couple’s story, from debt and scarcity thinking to reaching a goal of more than $1 million in savings, using a new strategy on building prosperity.

“They will hear financial secrets on how to build wealth easily; how to improve their relationship with their partner and communicating about money,” Mr. Saunders said. “You will learn how to reconcile uncomfortable truths regarding combatting racism and finances all at once.”

The couple is on a book tour, and as they do in every city they visit, will make a contribution to fight food insecurity here in Richmond.

“People are coming from California, Atlanta, Tennessee, Maryland and D.C.,” Ms. Short said.

Although the conference is sold out, interested business owners can visit the organization’s website, jacksonwardcollective.com, to be added to the wait list.

Richmond Free Press

A4 August 4-6, 2022

News

Tear gas released on Lee statue protesters was in error Continued from A1

ceiving a lawful, though mistaken order from Chief Smith, who resigned a few days later.

According to the report, Chief Smith erroneously believed he was authorizing officers to deploy the chemical agents against a crowd that trying to pull down the Stuart statue then located on Monument Avenue 500 feet east of the Lee statue.

Overall, the report paints a picture of a confused and overwhelmed police command that was ill-prepared for this test of the department’s ability to maintain order amid the huge uproar over police brutality and racial injustice.

The report indicated that Chief Smith did not assign or dispatch a ranking officer, such as a lieutenant, captain or major, to take charge of the response at either statue as the protests began that night, leaving sergeants and patrol officers in charge.

Chief Smith also never established a clear line of communication from either scene, the report indicated, but instead allowed himself and his staff to be bombarded with reports over multiple channels from individual officers.

One glaring error, according to the report, involved how officers were dispatched from the staging area, located north and west of the statues, to deal with the upheaval that night.

The dozens of officers who responded around 7:30 p.m. mostly came east along Monument Avenue, arriving at the Lee statue first and stopping there, instead of moving past to reinforce the nine officers at the Stuart statue who had issued a mayday call for help dealing with their crowd of 400 people. Essentially, those arriving officers had no direction as to where to go and made the decision themselves after seeing the crowd at the Lee statue, the report stated.

The most egregious error, the report found, was the failure of Chief Smith and his staff to demand location information from the multiple officers who were delivering reports or to provide location information themselves, particularly when it came to authorizing the use of chemical agents.

“This lack of clarity contributed to the overall confusion and chaos,” the report stated, and led Chief Smith to authorize he first use of chemical agents at the wrong place, the Lee statue.

Flying overhead, an officer around 7:29 p.m. reported and transmitted video to Chief Smith of people climbing onto the

City jail inmate charged for attacking deputy Continued from A1

told that the hospital quickly sent him back without doing an evaluation after he allegedly assaulted a staff member.

The Free Press has been told that inmates alleged to have committed lesser assaults on deputies, including punching them or throwing hot water on them, have yet to be charged.

That also appears to be the case in instances where inmates have stabbed other inmates or have committed sexual assaults against other inmates.

Allegations that the sheriff has not brought charges against inmate attackers can be found in complaints victims have filed with the federal court seeking damages. Most of the complaints, though, have either not succeeded or have not been pursued after the initial filing.

Serving at the jail is stressful for the staff. The Free Press has been told that at least two captains have been hospitalized in the past two weeks as the result of stress-related spikes in their blood pressure.

Free COVID-19 vaccines Continued from A1

19 testing locations around the state at www.vdh.virginia.gov/ coronavirus/covid-19-testing/covid-19-testing-sites.

Want a COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot?

The Richmond and Henrico health districts are offering free walk-up COVID-19 vaccines at the following location: • Thursday, Aug. 4, 1 to 4 p.m. – Richmond Henrico Health District, 400 E. Cary St., Pfizer for ages six months and older, Moderna for ages six months to 5 years old and ages 12 years and older, appointments encouraged.

People can schedule an appointment online at vase.vdh. virginia.gov, vaccinate.virginia.gov or vax.rchd.com, or by calling (804) 205-3501 or (877) VAX-IN-VA (1-877-829-4682).

VaccineFinder.org and vaccines.gov also allow people to find nearby pharmacies and clinics that offer the COVID-19 vaccine and booster.

Those who are getting a booster shot should bring their vaccine card to confirm the date and type of vaccine received.

RHHD also offers at-home vaccinations by calling (804) 205-3501 to schedule appointments.

As with last week, new COVID-19 cases in Virginia have largely stayed at a flat rate, according to the Virginia Department of Health, while hospitalization data from the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association increased by three percent.

As of last Thursday, the city of Richmond and counties of Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover are still at high levels of community COVID-19.

A total of 3,239 new cases of COVID-19 were reported statewide Wednesday for the 24-hour period, contributing to an overall state total of 1,968,329 cases in Virginia since the pandemic’s outbreak. As of Wednesday, there have been 453,071 hospitalizations and 20,995 deaths statewide.

The state’s seven-day positivity rate rose to 23.1 percent on Wednesday. Last week, the positivity rate was 22.9 percent.

On Wednesday, state health officials reported that 71.9 percent of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated, while 82.2 percent have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

State data also showed that more than 3.6 million people in Virginia have received booster shots or third doses of the vaccine.

Among those ages 5 to 11 in Virginia, 328,797 have received their first shots as of Wednesday, accounting for 45.4 percent of the age group in the state, while 285,468 children, or 39.4 percent, are fully vaccinated and 36,743 children have received a third vaccine dose or booster, making up 5.1 percent of that age group.

On Wednesday, 31,114 children from the ages of zero to four have received the first doses, making up 6.8 percent of the population in Virginia, while 4,188 are fully vaccinated. As of Wednesday, fewer than 165,300 cases, 989 hospitalizations and 15 deaths have been recorded among children in the state.

State data also shows that African-Americans comprised 22.1 percent of cases statewide and 23 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 11.3 percent of cases and five percent of deaths.

Reported COVID-19 data as of Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022 Cases Hospitalizations Deaths 53,142 1,172 520 Richmond Henrico County 77,772 1,569 973 Chesterfield County 86,377 1,566 791 Hanover County 25,059 735 305 Compiled by George Copeland Jr.

Stuart statue and trying to hacksaw the legs, Ms. McEachin’s reported stated, noting that no similar aerial surveillance was over the Lee statue.

The officer overhead shortly thereafter notified the chief that people were trying to put ropes around the statue to pull it down.

“Based on the information transmitted

by Air 3 about what protesters were doing Mrs. McEachin at the Stuart monument, an RPD sergeant requested permission from command to disperse the crowd with chemical agents,” according to the report.

According to the report, Chief Smith, who had just seen the video of the attack on the Stuart statue, authorized the sergeant to use the chemical agents at 7:31 p.m., but “neither the sergeant nor RPD command ever specified at which monument the chemical

agents was authorized to be deployed. “Officers began deploying the agents at the Lee statue four minutes later, the report noted.

“The evidence is clear that RPD command believed that permission was being granted to ‘use gas’ at the Stuart monument,” according to the report. “It is also clear that the sergeant requesting permission believed that permission was being granted to ‘use Mr. Smith gas’ at the Lee monument.”

Those who deployed the chemical agents did so “only after receiving a lawful order and authorization from command – that is, from the chief of police.

“There is no evidence that any officer violated the chain of command and deployed chemical agents prior to receiving Chief Smith’s permission to do so,” she wrote in exonerating the officers.

City housing director, church leaders discuss shelter options for homeless population Continued from A1

However, he said that the need for shelter is just too great for him to just state a viewpoint and then step aside.

He took out his Rolodex and began dialing pastors whom he thought might have in an interest or would be willing to at least listen to Ms. Hampton’s pitch.

Dr. Jones said he was happy with the response from churches. He said that pastors from South Side and North Side participated in the call. Whether the meeting results in space being made available remains to be seen.

Ms. Hampton has set an Aug. 25 deadline for receiving applications from faith groups or nonprofits for shelter operations. How far the $3 million will stretch is uncertain.

Her hope is the funding will ensure an overflow shelter at one or more locations

for the next two winters.

For decades, the city has arranged for a winter shelter to provide overflow space when private shelters fill up to prevent people from freezing to death. Last winter, more than 300 people a night were sheltered at two locations during cold weather, though both locations have since closed.

For years, Oct. 1 has been the opening date under a policy the council put in place, but Ms. Hampton has already stated Nov. 1 would be the first date when a city-supported overflow shelter would open.

Meanwhile, members of City Council, most notably 5th District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch, have been pushing for the creation of a year-round shelter where people could have a place to stay when a major storm is forecast or a summer heatwave grips the area.

City Hall has backed the idea but

indicated support only for a 75-bed to a 100-bed shelter, which would have potentially left dozens of people without any place to go when bitter cold set in, a tropical storm struck or heat spikes to dangerous levels.

Hopes that Richmond and its two neighbors, Chesterfield and Henrico counties, could work together to buy a motel to become a year-round shelter have yet to work out. The localities collectively have $11 million in federal funds to use for that purpose, but have yet to find a location that would work for that price.

Council President Cynthia I. Newbille had indicated the governing body might hold a special meeting this month to focus on the shelter issue with winter beginning to loom, but no session has been scheduled.

Bill Russell lived a life like very few others Continued from A1

in the NBA, first Black coach to win an NBA title, Hall of Fame player, Hall of Fame coach, Olympic champion, NCAA champion, member of the league’s 75th anniversary team, and the namesake of the NBA Finals MVP award which, had it existed when he played, he would have won at least a half-dozen times.

But if those souvenir hounds had taken Mr. Russell up on the chance to sit with him for a meal, they might have heard about his obsession with golf. Or the mating habits of bees, something he penned a column about once. Or expensive cars with souped-up sound systems so he could blare the music of Laura Nyro, Janis Ian, or Crosby, Stills and Nash — some of his favorites.

“His mind was bigger than basketball,” author Taylor Branch, who spent about a year living with Mr. Russell near Seattle in the 1970s while working with him on a book, said Sunday. “And so was his personality, as great as he was in basketball.”

Take away all the on-court accomplishments, and Mr. Russell still lived a life.

He stood side by side with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s, the height of the Civil Rights Movement. He was in the audience when Dr. King delivered the “I Have A Dream” speech in Washington in 1963. He marched in Mississippi after the slaying of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. He supported Muhammad Ali when the fighter refused to go to Vietnam. He helped start the National Basketball Players

Association. President Obama — at about 6-foot-2, a taller-than-average individual — had to stretch a bit when draping the Presidential Medal of Freedom around Mr. Russell’s neck in 2011, even after Mr. Russell crouched down to accommodate the moment.

“He endured insults and vandalism, but he kept on focusing on making the teammates who he loved better players, and made possible the success of so many who would follow,” Mr. Obama said that day.

“And I hope that one day, in the streets of Boston, children will look up at a statue built not only to Bill Russell the player, but Bill Russell the man.”

Mr. Russell once was asked about being a Black star in Boston, a city with a complicated history when it comes to race.

The premise was that it had to be difficult for Mr. Russell to live in such a place, to play for fans in such a city.

“What I ascribed to do, and I did quite well, is every time I came into an adversarial situation, I decided to take control of it so that if a guy came up to me and tried to give me a bad day, I made sure that he was the one who left with the bad day,” Mr. Russell said.

“And so, to do this took thought, planning and discretion and intelligence. That was the way I conducted my life.”

Case in point: The apparent invasion of raccoons into Reading, Mass., around 1958.

In his second season with the Celtics, Mr. Russell bought a house in Reading.

He left for a road trip and his garbage cans got turned over. Same thing happened

during the season’s second road trip. Mr. Russell went to the police, who surmised that raccoons must be the culprits. Russell asked for a gun permit.

“The raccoons heard about that,” Mr. Russell said. “Never turned the trash cans over again.”

The gun never got purchased, either.

It would be a disservice — an insult, really — to look at Mr. Russell as only a basketball player, even as one of the greatest ever. He’s still second on the NBA’s all-time rebounding list, behind only Wilt Chamberlain, and will probably be in that spot forever since nobody has come remotely close to him in the last 50 years. He won five MVP awards, tied for second-most with Michael Jordan, one behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s league record.

“That’s what I did,” Mr. Russell said in 2009. “It wasn’t who I was.”

That’s the lesson. He didn’t shut up and dribble. He stood for what he believed, stood with who he believed in. Being fearless on the basketball court was easy.

Being fearless in the real world — even when dealing with matters of race in some of the nation’s darkest times on that topic — was somehow even easier.

“He had such curiosity about human nature, about psychology,” Mr. Branch said. “It was a treasure for me to be around Bill and see how he viewed the world in all of its dimensions.”

The world has many of them. So did Mr. Russell. And on Sunday, the world lost an absolute legend.

Oh, the stories we will miss.

Conflict sparks discussion for RPS School Board Continued from A1

School Board’s counsel having a conflict of interest, and, whether or not the School Board had counsel to explore the board’s legal rights regarding the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center is a matter that should be discussed in public.

“We own a piece of property that Richmond City wants to purchase for development,” she said. “And now we are being told [our] legal counsel has a conflict of interest — it seems late in the game to be told.”

School Board Chair Dr. Shonda HarrisMuhammed, 6th District, disagreed. “Anything related to legal discussion should be done in executive session,” she countered.

Jonathan Young, 4th District, read part of the state code regarding closed meetings of public bodies in government before offering his opinion that discussing the board’s options, given the admitted conflict of interest by counsel, should be public.

The exchange became more heated when Dr. Harris-Muhammed again said, “I am not going to discuss legal matters in public.”

Ms. Gibson said the School Board is a public body required to have public sessions, and there are certain circumstances that do require closed sessions. But this was not one of those circumstances. “. . . There is no litigation right now,” she shot back. “We are talking about whether or not we have a lawyer . . . a matter of public interest.”

Mr. Young made a motion for Dr.

Harris-Muhammed and Mr. Kamras to identify if it is appropriate to solicit pro bono legal services to offer a legal analysis of the School Board counsel’s position.

Stephanie Rizzi, 5th District, seconded, and the motion passed. Dr. Harris-Muhammed volunteered to provide a report on her and Mr. Kamras’ findings.

In other matters, Mr. Kamras provided an update on employment vacancies, transportation and food service employee vacancies. Early last month, Richmond, Chesterfield and Henrico all reported teacher vacancies above 200. During the last two weeks of July, RPS cut teacher vacancies by 22 percent, from 209 on July 15 to 163 on July 29. Half of bus driver vacancies have been filled, from 18 to 9 covering the same period with five offers pending. Food service vacancies have been reduced by 25 percent, from 67 to 50. There also are 21 additional vacancies for custodians, nurses and social workers.

Progress has been made, but a total of 243 positions need to be filled.

RPS has ramped up recruitment efforts, with sign-on bonuses and outreach, Mr. Kamras said. Mr. Kamras also reported that school lunch is changing for the coming school year. Students, teachers and staff can expect “full, in-house meal prep” at schools with fully operational kitchens.

School cafeteria staff will receive food to be prepared on-site, instead of the prepackaged meals served last year. Food for several schools that do not have full kitchens will be prepared at “kitchen hubs” and distributed to those schools.

Regarding transportation, Mr. Kamras said RPS is analyzing enrollment data for route planning this upcoming year.

Transportation schedules are scheduled to be ready by Aug. 22, one week before school begins.

Dana Fox, director of RPS school construction, gave a report on the status of the George Wythe High School and William Fox Elementary School construction projects.

This week at George Wythe, crews are working to identify any asbestos that may exist on the property and the civil engineer is working on early site work plans to submit to the City for approval. The CSX tract of land running from Westover Hills to Hopkins Road behind the school is being purchased by the City.

“There will likely be a shared use path through it — a path for walkers, bicycles, etc.,” Ms. Fox explained in an email. “That is a long-range plan for the City.”

RPS, RRMM, the design firm for the project, and the Department of Public Works met and will continue meeting to discuss use of the CSX tract, bus stops, access paths, and overall traffic patterns surrounding Wythe.

At Fox, six firms submitted proposals to be considered for the school’s renovation.

Quinn Evans Architects was selected. The contract cost was reported to be a basic contract total of $1,598,791 with selected additional services totaling $385,286, for a total of $1,984,077. Debris removal has started in the auditorium area and will continue into the second floor classroom wing.

Richmond Free Press

August 4-6, 2022 A5

Local News

Virginia Court of Appeals denies Terrence Richardson’s innocence petition

By George Copeland Jr.

An effort to free two Sussex County men sentenced to life in jail following the 1998 murder of a Waverly police officer continues to face major obstacles after a petition to exonerate one of the convicted men was rejected after months of legal deliberation.

On June 21, a panel of judges in the Virginia Court of Appeals denied a rehearing of Terrence J. Richardson’s innocence petition in a 12 to 5 decision. The petition sought to overturn a 1999 state conviction for the fatal shooting of Officer Allen W. Gibson, and could have paved the way for the reversal of the federal conviction that led to Mr. Richardson’s and Ferrone Claiborne’s life sentences.

New York attorney Jarrett Adams, who represents the families of Mr. Richardson and Mr. Claiborne, had earlier filed a brief on Mr. Richardson’s behalf calling for a rehearing of

the petition. The innocence petition was first denied in late June, months after a court hearing, and was first filed by Mr. Richardson in 2021.

“You’re talking about an officer being killed. You’re talking about so many questions remaining,” Mr. Adams said. “Why can’t they have an opportunity to be heard in front of a court and present their evidence?”

Mr. Richardson and Mr. Claiborne pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter of Officer Gibson in state court as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. A federal judge would later charge them of conspiracy to distribute drugs in 2001, acquitting them of Officer Gibson’s murder, but handing them life sentences based on their guilty pleas in state court.

It wasn’t until years later that new evidence withheld from Mr. Richardson’s and Mr. Claiborne’s lawyers was revealed, prompting the two men’s attempt to have their convictions overturned.

Mr. Miyares

Mr. Herring

Their efforts were initially bolstered by the work and presence of former Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring, who supported their efforts along with the Virginia NAACP and former Virginia House Delegate Jerrauld C. “Jay” Jones. Mr. Herring submitted a 78-page brief in support of the petition following a months-long investigation by his office’s Conviction Integrity Unit into the case.

“It is clear from the record that some information and evidence presented in Mr. Richardson’s federal

trial was unavailable to him when he pled guilty in state court,” Mr. Herring said in his petition, “including information that a key witness lied to state investigators and lied during the preliminary hearing.

“No rational fact-finder would have found Richardson guilty had that information been presented in his proceeding in state court,” the petition continues. “The federal jury acquittal is conclusive in that regard.”

The attorney general’s office swiftly reversed its support for the petition when Jason Miyares became attorney general in January. Mr. Herring has made no reference to the case or voiced his support for Mr. Richardson and Mr. Claiborne since leaving his office.

In a dissenting opinion to the latest denial, five appellate judges pointed to this sudden change in support from the attorney general’s office, as well as the nature of the convictions

responsible for Mr. Richardson and Mr. Claiborne’s life sentences, as key points that merited further review of Mr. Richardson’s petition.

“Richardson’s appeal and petition for rehearing raise several issues of such significance to the full court that it deserves the attention of the full court,” the judges wrote. “For these reasons, the full court should review this case.”

So far, no further action regarding Mr. Richardson’s petition has been seen or filed in the Appeals Court. For his part, Mr. Adams is now drafting an appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court that will be filed within the next two weeks.

“At least five appellate judges found that Mr. Richardson deserved to have his claims heard by the entire appellate court,” Mr. Adams said.

“If our system cares nothing about innocence, the fabric of our constitution, which is knitted by due process, comes apart at its seams.”

No charges for officer who pepper-sprayed Army lieutenant

By Ben Finley The Associated Press Norfolk A former police officer in Virginia should not be criminally charged but should be investigated for potential civil rights violations after he pepper-sprayed, struck and handcuffed a Black U.S. Army lieutenant during a 2020 traffic stop, a special prosecutor has determined.

The prosecutor’s findings are the latest fallout from a confrontation involving two police officers and a uniformed military officer that drew outrage and national attention to the small town of Windsor, about 70 miles southeast of Richmond.

The man who was pulled over, Caron Nazario, was never charged. Video of the December 2020 traffic stop surfaced in April 2021 after Mr. Nazario sued in federal court, alleging that his constitutional rights were violated.

The images sparked outrage and served as a grim reminder to many Black Americans that a military uniform doesn’t necessarily protect against mistreatment by police.

In December, then-Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s office sued the town, alleging that it operated in a way that discriminated against Black Americans.

One of the officers, Joe Gutierrez, was fired from the department. He was the target of the special prosecutor’s criminal probe.

“Although I find the video very disturbing

Windsor Police via Associated Press

In this image made from Windsor, Va., police video, a police officer speaks with Caron Nazario during a traffic stop, Dec. 20, 2020, in Windsor, Va. A special prosecutor in Virginia says a former police officer should not be criminally charged after he peppersprayed, struck and handcuffed the Black U.S. Army lieutenant.

and frankly unsettling, Gutierrez’s use of force to remove Nazario did not violate state law as he had given multiple commands for Mr. Nazario to exit the vehicle,” Special Prosecutor Anton Bell said in his report, dated July 29 and posted online by Mr. Nazario’s attorneys.

“The problematic issue, however, were

Gutierrez’s statements throughout the entire ordeal, which would lead a reasonable person to wonder whether underlying bias was at the root of how and why Mr. Nazario was treated in like manner,” Mr. Bell wrote.

Mr. Bell’s findings were first reported Aug. 1 by The Virginian-Pilot newspaper.

The incident began when Mr. Nazario was driving home from his duty station, according to his lawsuit. Officer Daniel Crocker radioed that he was attempting to stop a vehicle with no rear license plate and tinted windows.

Mr. Crocker said the driver was “eluding police” and he considered it a “high-risk traffic stop,” according to a report that’s included in the lawsuit. One of Mr. Nazario’s attorneys, Jonathan Arthur, later explained that Mr. Nazario was trying to stop in a well-lit area “for officer safety and out of respect for the officers.”

The other officer, Mr. Gutierrez, was driving by and decided to join the traffic stop, the lawsuit stated. By the time the two officers reached Mr. Nazario’s SUV, the license plate was visible in the rear.

At one point, Mr. Gutierrez told Mr. Nazario he was “fixin to ride the lightning,” a reference to the electric chair that was also a line from the movie “The Green Mile,” a film about a Black man facing execution, the lawsuit said.

Mr. Nazario got out and asked for a supervisor. Mr. Gutierrez responded with “knee-strikes” to his legs, knocking him to the ground, the lawsuit says. The two officers struck him multiple times, then handcuffed and interrogated him.

The traffic stop was captured on Mr. Nazario’s cellphone as well as the officer’s body-worn cameras.

Filmed in Ruther Glen, Virginia, and co-produced by PBS and VPM, THE GREAT AMERICAN RECIPE is a new cooking competition celebrating the multiculturalism that makes American food unique and iconic.

WATCH FRIDAYS 9 p.m.

OR STREAM ANYTIME!

Richmond Free Press

Belle Island’s Emerald Wall

Editorial Page

A6

August 4-6, 2022

Who’s manning Richmond City Jail?

For several weeks the Richmond Free Press has reported ongoing violence at Richmond’s City Jail.

On July 7, Deputy S. Cole was assaulted at the Richmond City Justice Center. The petite female deputy was violently beaten by an inmate, suffering facial injuries that required hospitalization and surgery.

The inmate alleged to have committed the assault has a history of mental health challenges. Following the attack, Sakeem Jamar Bell was taken to Central State Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Petersburg. He was there no longer than a day, and is back at the jail after being arraigned in Richmond City General District Court on felony charges of malicious assault to law enforcement officers.

One of our recent articles about jail violence at the Richmond City Justice Center includes comments from Sheriff Antionette Irving.

This was good news, so to speak, as previous Free Press efforts to speak with the sheriff had failed. Thus, we are led to believe that our questions about jail conditions would still be unanswered had not Sheriff Irving basically been ordered to talk by a member of Richmond City Council On July 26, Sheriff Irving, re-elected last fall to a second four-year term, broke her silence when called to appear before 8th District Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell, chair of the city’s Public Safety Standing Committee.

Asked about the jail’s ongoing violence, reported to include beatings, sexual assault and drug use, the sheriff acknowledged the issues, but added that everything being reported isn’t true. She also attributed many of the jail’s problems to a lack of a sufficient number of deputies.

Sheriff Irving stated there are currently 160 vacant deputy positions. Shifts that previously had 40 deputies have been running with as few as 10, and mandatory overtime policies are little help in the face of such staffing shortages.

And even though the jail that opened in 2014 was built to house 1,132 people is currently averaging just over 600 inmates a night, Sheriff Irving contends the current population is harder to deal with.

About 60 percent of the residents in the East End facility have mental health challenges and are prescribed daily medication. More than half are being held for violent crimes.

Add in major increases in broken cell locks and other equipment, and it is clear the risks are significant for both inmates and deputies.

Despite the sheriff’s words, it was alarming to hear Ms. Trammell say during the question-and-answer session that she has seen videos of violence at the facility, and that inmates’ family members routinely ask her for help. We must assume other city council members also have been contacted given that the jail serves all of Richmond’s nine districts.

It also is disturbing that negative reports about Richmond’s jail are not new. In May 2021, Free Press reporter Jeremy M. Lazarus quoted several former jail employees who addressed many of the same issues.

“Deputies have been spat on, had hot water thrown on them. They have had bleach thrown in their face. One had his nose broken,” said one former supervisor.

“You can’t do this job with so few people. It left the inmates in control,” another former lieutenant added.

All of this leads to several questions.

Do certain inmates truly run the jail as has been suggested and in accordance with the video footage Ms. Trammell says she has seen?

What are other council representatives, members of the Virginia General Assembly who represent Richmond, and local court judges doing to address this violence?

Before our questioning continues, it may be worth noting that a jail that equates to a holding cell for violence is not a “good look” for Richmond. The city just spent $450,000 on its new “Richmond Real” branding campaign. It is a depot for new luxury apartment buildings, encourages Virginia Commonwealth University’s ever-expanding footprint and continues to pine for a casino and other business and industry — all while allowing its jails to fester with unruly inmates who choose chaos over calm.

There is no excuse for allowing such conditions to persist.

Haven’t we advanced enough as a society, as a city, to end, rather than put a bandage on the city’s dangerous jail conditions?

Well, yes. And no.

Long before the city’s newest jail opened eight years ago, one of the Richmond’s earliest jails, built in 1902 was awash in crime. A 2021 Valentine museum blog reveals: “Built directly beneath the Marshall Street Viaduct, the main bridge that spanned Shockoe Valley at the time, the jail’s hidden location only added to its problems. Passersby on the bridge easily lowered contraband into unscreened cell windows. The window bars were so cheap that prisoners filed through them faster than the city could replace them. Once a prisoner broke out, it was easy to disappear without being seen, often by hopping a train on the nearby C&O tracks.

Politicians joked that it was a jail “easier to get out of than to get in.”

There’s more.

“After Prohibition in 1920, Richmond City Jail went from being a problem to an outright joke,” the Valentine blog notes. “Unable to accommodate the masses of arrests each night, City Sergeant George Saunders, who ran the prison, adopted a laissez faire attitude to wait the law out. Alcohol flowed freely, prostitutes worked the (large common) room, and prisoners largely came and went at will.

“The permanent party beneath the Marshall Street Viaduct enraged citizens and politicians, though the building remained unchanged until 1934, when an escape turned deadly.”

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Plan won’t end economic violence

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, signed into law on June 25, 2022, was a win for the Biden-Harris Administration.

The legislation was genuinely bipartisan, moreso in the Senate, where 15 Republicans joined 50 Democrats to pass the legislation, than in the House, where only 14 Republicans joined Democrats in passing the legislation.

While I often think of the Senate as the more partisan of the two legislative bodies, it is notable that 30 percent of Republican Senators were willing to join their colleagues to stop gun violence and to provide funds for mental health, and community violence intervention, school safety, and some control. In contrast, fewer than 7 percent of Republican Congressional representatives were willing to cross party lines.

Buoyed by the legislative victory, President Biden has now released a Safer Communities Plan, which is reflected in his 2023 budget. (https://www.whitehouse. gov/briefing-room/statementsreleases/2022/07/21/fact-sheetpresident-bidens-safer-americaplan). While many aspects of this plan are laudable, one of the most troubling aspects is the plan to commit $13 billion over five years to flood the streets with 100,000 more police officers.

The program uses the correct language by saying it will support “accountable” policing, but not a week goes by when we do not learn of the unaccountable policing that rankles anyone who believes in human rights.

We don’t have to go back down memory lane to call the names of Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland or George Floyd.

Just this year, there have been more martyrs. Jayland

Julianne Malveaux Walker was executed in Akron, Ohio. Patrick Loyola was killed in Grand Rapids, Mich. Amir Locke was asleep on a couch in his cousin’s apartment in Minneapolis when a no-knock warrant allowed police offers to enter and shoot him in the head.

And yet we need more police?

Violence is in the news, and it is escalating. During the weekend of July 23-24, 65 people were shot and five killed in Chicago. While many describe Chicago as the epicenter of gun violence, no city is immune to it. No city is immune to other forms of violence, as well.

I think, especially of economic violence, how economic tools are used to forcefully take life, liberty, and supply from people.

The market forces that create homelessness are forms of economic violence. The gentrification that pushes people out of their neighborhoods is a form of

economic violence. Rising prices and the inflation that hits poor people harder are also forms of economic violence. We get alarmed about physical violence, but we are far too silent about economic violence.

The World Health Organization defines violence as “The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community that either result in or has a high likelihood resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation.”

Unpacking that definition, it is clear that this country was built on a foundation of violence.

Taking Native land and eliminating much of the Native population was violence. Enslaving African people was violence.

Lynching was violence. More benignly but still harmful, mass incarceration, gentrification, segregation, and blighted schools are violence. We pass legislation to combat some forms of violence.

We decry gang violence without asking where these gangs come from, how they were formed, and what in our culture glorifies violence.

I will not make excuses for those who pick up guns and kill folks, even when it is young men shooting each other in the street.

There are not enough “mental health” so-called explanations to contextualize the rabid monsters who shot up Black elders in Buffalo, New York, or baby Latino

MAGA meets fascism As much as I call myself a zealot for free speech, I also find it prudent sometimes to remember the value of not speaking.

Or, at least, in pursuit of reasoned discourse I will seek a substitute that sounds less inflammatory.

One of them is an F-word.

No, I know what you’re probably thinking, but I don’t mean that F-word.

I’m talking about “fascist.”

Do I hear gasps from the gallery? Yes, that’s why I usually avoid using the word.

It sounds inflammatory, even when it sounds appropriate.

That’s partly because so few people seem to know what it really means beyond, perhaps, allusions to Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator in the World War II era. He did the world the courtesy of telling us upfront what he and his National Fascist Party were all about.

In short, fascism is a dictatorial governing system characterized by ultranationalism— including racial and religious nationalism—autocracy and elitism, often at the expense of individual rights.

Or as I define it in terms Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously used to define obscenity, “I know it when I see it.”

I knew fascism when I saw it on Jan. 6, 2021, as deliriously angry Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in a

failed attempt to block the official electoral vote count, just because their guy didn’t win.

Those self-important “patriots” are better described as peeved-off MAGA (“Make America Great Again”) mobsters, unwilling to let democracy get in the way of their “freedom” to trash the nation’s seat of self-rule.

Lock them up.

Fortunately, then-Vice President Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican, refused to obey

Clarence Page the mob’s call for him to (1) be hanged or (2) exercise powers that he knew he didn’t have.

Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, seemed to be putting the ship back upright with reassuring words. “The United States Senate will not be intimidated,” he said. “We will not be kept out of this chamber by thugs, mobs or threats.”

But voters are a different matter. The restoration of what appeared to be normal constitutional order didn’t last long.

In February, for example, the venerable Republican National Committee officially declared the insurrection to be a “Democratled persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”

That’s a mighty big burden to hang on the word “legitimate.”

And that burden only grew as the RNC also rebuked two GOP lawmakers, Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger

of Illinois, for daring to serve on the House committee investigating the Capitol attack, of which Cheney is co-chair.

How dare they attempt, you know, such quaint old-fashioned notions as bipartisan truthseeking and accountability?

I’m still reluctant to use the F-word to describe politics in my own beloved country. But when the shoe fits, as my mom and dad used to say, wear it.

Besides, I’ve been hearing the F-word with greater frequency in the Age of MAGA as the ex-president’s influence over the party and its allied media has increased.

You could hear it in the reliably self-righteous rhetoric of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican and podcaster. She ignited a storm of “She is a Nazi” tweets after she endorsed Christian nationalism in a speech at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit, a growing showcase for MAGA stars, in Tampa.

The angry tweets were a big gift to her liberal-triggering ways, enabling her to play the victim card with extra self-righteousness. That’s showbiz.

I, too, love my God and my country but not the far-right political version that Greene professes as gospel. The Constitution protects her right to choose her religious or political beliefs, but not dictate them to the rest of us.

The writer is a syndicated columnist and senior member of the Chicago Tribune editorial board.

The Free Press welcomes letters The Richmond Free Press respects the opinions of its readers. We want to hear from you.

We invite you to write the editor. All letters will be considered for publication. Concise, typewritten letters related to public matters are preferred. Also include your telephone number(s). Letters should be addressed to: Letters to the Editor, Richmond Free Press, P.O. Box 27709, 422 East Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23261, or faxed to: (804) 643-7519 or e-mail: letters@richmondfreepress.com.

innocents in Uvalde, Texas.

And there is no excuse for the economic violence that traps people in poverty-tinged existences with either inadequate housing or none, with food bank food or less. Poverty is a form of economic violence. Joblessness is a form of economic violence.

Predatory capitalism is a form of economic violence, and many corporate entities benefit from economic violence.

If we want to combat violence, we need to fight all of it, from the shootings in the streets to the racist killings in supermarkets to the capitalistic violence that pushes people into poverty that can generate nothing but pain, despair, and violence. The Safer Communities Plan is a step in the right direction, but it is a misstep if it hinges on putting more police on the streets.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author, and dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Los Angeles.

Richmond Free Press 422 East Franklin Street Richmond, VA 23219 Telephone (804) 644-0496 FAX (804) 643-7519 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 27709 Richmond, VA 23261 ______________

Founder Raymond H. Boone President – Publisher Jean P. Boone

jeanboone@richmondfreepress.com

Managing Editor Bonnie Newman Davis bonniedavis@richmondfreepress.com

Vice President – New Business Development Raymond H. Boone Jr.

jrboone@richmondfreepress.com

Vice President – News Enhancement Jeremy M. Lazarus

jeremylazarus@richmondfreepress.com

Vice President – Production April A. Coleman

aprilcoleman@richmondfreepress.com

Staff Writers Fred Jeter, Frances Crutchfield Hazel Trice Edney Photographers Sandra Sellars

sandrasellars@richmondfreepress.com

Regina H. Boone

reginaboone@richmondfreepress.com

James Haskins, Rudolph Powell and Clinton A. Strane ______________

Vice President – Administration Tracey L. Oliver traceyoliver@richmondfreepress.com

Advertising Traffic Coordinator Cynthia Downing advertising@richmondfreepress.com classifieds@richmondfreepress.com

Advertising Fax: (804) 643-5436 National Advertising Representative NNPA ______________

Distribution GouffyStyle LLC ______________

Richmond Free Press is published weekly by Paradigm Communications, Inc. Copies of the Richmond Free Press (one copy per person) are free of charge at outlets in the Richmond area. Back copies are available at the Free Press office at $3 per copy. Bulk orders can be made prior to any upcoming edition at special rates.

A Publication of PARADIGM COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

422 East Franklin Street Richmond, VA 23219 Telephone (804) 644-0496

Follow the Free Press on @FreePressRVA @RichmondFreePressUSA

Richmond Free Press

August 4-6, 2022 A7

News/Letter to the Editor

Harris cites climate ‘crisis,’ pushes $1B for floods, storms

By Matthew Daly The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Vice President Kamala Harris called climate change an “immediate” and “urgent” crisis on Aug. 1 as she detailed more than $1 billion in federal spending to respond to disasters such as deadly flooding in Kentucky and wildfires ravaging her home state of California.

On a visit to Miami, the vice president announced a series of grants being made available to states to help communities across the nation prepare for and respond to climate-related disasters.

Touring the National Hurricane Center before the grant announcement, Vice President Harris said disasters such as the Kentucky floods and California wildfires show “how immediate, how current and how urgent″ it is to address extreme weather being experienced in the United States and around the world.

“Climate change has become a climate crisis, and a threat has now become a reality,″ she said in a speech at Florida International University.

Vice President Harris cited deadly floods that have swept through Kentucky and Missouri, “washing away entire neighborhoods,″ leaving at least 35 dead, including children. At least two people were killed in a wildfire in Northern California that was among several fires menacing thousands of homes in the western U.S. Hot and gusty weather and lightning storms threatened to boost the danger that the fires will keep growing, “The devastation is real. The harm is real. The impact is real,″ Vice President Harris said. “And we are witnessing it in real time.″ In 2021, the United States experienced 20

Vice President Harris

Noah Berger/The Associated Press

A man runs to a truck as a wildfire called the McKinney fire burns last week in Klamath National Forest, Calif.

climate-related disasters that each caused over $1 billion in damage, Vice President Harris said, citing a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There were about six such disasters per year in the 1990s.

“The frequency has accelerated in a relatively short period of time,” Vice President Harris said.

“The science is clear. Extreme weather will only get worse, and the climate crisis will only accelerate.″ The White House is leading a government-wide response to climate disasters that “recognizes the urgency of this moment and our ability to do something about it,” Vice President Harris said,

adding that leaders such as herself and President Biden “have a duty to act, not only after disaster strikes, but before disaster strikes, and that is why we are here today.”

The billion-dollar grant program announced

by Vice President Harris doubles spending from last year on programs to defend against extreme weather events across the country. President Biden announced last month that the administration will double spending yet again in the budget year that begins in October, spending $2.3 billion to help communities cope with soaring temperatures through programs administered by FEMA, the Department of Health and Human Services and

other agencies.

The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, or BRIC, program, supports states, local communities, tribes and territories on projects to reduce climate-related hazards and prepare for natural disasters such as floods and wildfires. The program is funded through FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund and the bipartisan infrastructure law signed

by President Biden last year.

“Communities across our nation are experiencing firsthand the devastating impacts of the climate change and the related extreme weather events that follow — more energized hurricanes with deadlier storm surges, increased flooding and a wildfire season that’s become a year-long threat,” said FEMA head Deanne Criswell.

A total of $1 billion will be made available through the BRIC program, with another $160 million to be offered for flood mitigation assistance, she said.

The grant program is among a series of Biden administration actions intended to reduce heatrelated illness and protect public health, including a proposed workplace heat standard.

HUD announces $2.8B in grants for homeless services The Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing $2.8 billion in fresh funding for homeless services organizations across the country.

T h e f u n d ing, announced Monday, Ms. Fudge will be allocated via competitive bids through HUD’s Continuum of Care Program, the largest source of federal grant support to housing and services programs for people experiencing homelessness.

HUD funds approximately 7,000 homeless services projects annually through the

City Council collective bargaining vote is a win I want to say kudos to Richmond City Council for voting and allowing most city employees to unionize. This should definitely help with morale and also recruitment of many qualified candidates.

This should be a win-win for everyone. This should also help with more productivity from the workers.

When I worked for the city, there were many times you had no one to turn to.

This is a game changer where you have your representative sitting at the table with your best interest at heart.

I salute those city workers who did not give up and attended City Council meetings on a regular basis. Without them, this would never have come about. Richmond showed that it is an aggressive city willing to do what is in the best interest of its workers and citizens.

My only wish is that we had this type of opportunity when I worked for the city, even though my years there were enjoyable.

It does my heart good to see people come together for the greater good.

ERNEST PARKER JR. Richmond

program. Applications for the new round of funding are due to HUD by Sept. 29.

A HUD statement announcing the funding said that existing Continuum of Care participants can “renew existing projects, apply for new projects and to reallocate resources from

lower performing projects to better serve people experiencing homelessness.”

The announcement specifies that the new funding will prioritize services for homeless youths and for “survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.”

Other priorities in the funding include an emphasis on racial equity and anti-discrimination policies for LGTBQ+ individuals. Access to the Continuum of Care funding will also be expanded to welcome applicants from Native American tribes and internal tribal

housing support programs.

HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said in a statement that the new funding “will help more Americans experiencing homelessness move into homes and access critical supportive services like health care, education, and job training.”

Secretary Fudge added that the Biden administration seeks to “prioritize equity in homelessness efforts and the humane treatment of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, and the funding announced today will help communities do just that.”

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF AN APPLICATION BY VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY D/B/A DOMINION ENERGY VIRGINIA FOR APPROVAL OF A RATE ADJUSTMENT CLAUSE: RIDER B, BIOMASS CONVERSIONS OF THE ALTAVISTA, HOPEWELL, AND SOUTHAMPTON POWER STATIONS CASE NO. PUR-2022-00088 •Virginia Electric and Power Company d/b/a Dominion Energy Virginia (“Dominion”) has applied for approval to revise its rate adjustment clause, Rider B. •In this case, Dominion has asked the State Corporation Commission (“Commission”) to approve Rider B for the rate years April 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024, for Rate Year 1, and April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025, for Rate Year 2.

•For Rate Year 1, Dominion requests a revenue requirement of $33,655,668, which would increase the monthly bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month by $0.33.

•For Rate Year 2, Dominion requests a revenue requirement of $33,667,579, which will result in no bill impact change from Rate Year 1.

•A Hearing Examiner appointed by the Commission will hold a telephonic hearing in this case on November 16, 2022, at 10 a.m., for the receipt of public witness testimony. $Q HYLGHQWLDU\ KHDULQJ ZLOO EH KHOG RQ 1RYHPEHU DW D P LQ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V VHFRQG ÀRRU FRXUWURRP ORFDWHG LQ WKH 7\OHU %XLOGLQJ (DVW 0DLQ 6WUHHW 5LFKPRQG 9LUJLQLD WR UHFHLYH WKH WHVWLPRQ\ DQG HYLGHQFH RI WKH &RPSDQ\ DQ\ UHVSRQGHQWV DQG WKH 6WD൵ •Further information about this case is available on the SCC website at: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information.

2Q -XQH 9LUJLQLD (OHFWULF DQG 3RZHU &RPSDQ\ ³'RPLQLRQ´ RU ³&RPSDQ\´ ¿OHG ZLWK WKH 6WDWH &RUSRUDWLRQ &RPPLVVLRQ ³&RPPLVVLRQ´ LWV ELHQQLDO XSGDWH ¿OLQJ RI WKH Company’s rate adjustment clause, Rider B (“Application”) pursuant to § 56-585.1 A 6 of the Code of Virginia (“Code”). Through its Application, the Company seeks to recover costs associated with the major unit conversions of the Altavista, Hopewell, and Southampton Power Stations from coal-burning generation facilities into renewable biomass generation facilities (collectively, the “Biomass Conversion Projects” or “Conversions”). ,Q &DVH 1R 38( WKH &RPPLVVLRQ DSSURYHG WKH SURSRVHG &RQYHUVLRQV DV PDMRU XQLW PRGL¿FDWLRQV XQGHU &RGH $ DQG UHLVVXHG DPHQGHG FHUWL¿FDWHV RI public convenience and necessity for the Altavista, Hopewell, and Southampton Power Stations (the “CPCN Order”). The CPCN Order also authorized Dominion to recover costs associated with the construction of the Biomass Conversion Projects. All three Biomass Conversion Projects became operational in 2013.

In this proceeding, Dominion has asked the Commission to approve Rider B for the two rate years beginning April 1, 2023, and ending March 31, 2024 (“Rate Year 1”), and beginning April 1, 2024, and ending March 31, 2025 (“Rate Year 2”). The two components of the proposed revenue requirement for Rate Year 1 are the Projected Cost Recovery Factor and the Actual Cost True-Up Factor. The proposed revenue requirement for Rate Year 2 is comprised only of the Projected Cost Recovery Factor. The Company is requesting Projected Cost Recovery Factors of $23,072,581 for Rate Year 1 and $33,667,579 for Rate Year 2 and an Actual True-up Factor for Rate Year 1 of $10,583,087. Thus, the Company is requesting a total revenue requirement of $33,655,668, for Rate Year 1 and $33,667,579 for Rate Year 2.

For purposes of calculating the revenue requirement, Dominion utilized a rate of return on common equity of 9.35%, consistent with the Commission’s Final Order in Case No. PUR-2021-00058 (“Triennial Final Order”), for the time period after the date of the Triennial Final Order. The Company utilized a ROE of 9.2%, approved by the Commission in Case No. PUR-2019-00050 for the time period prior to the Triennial Final Order.

If the proposed Rider B for Rate Year 1 is approved, the impact on customer bills would depend on the customer’s rate schedule and usage. According to Dominion, implementation of its proposed Rider B on April 1, 2023, would increase the monthly bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month by approximately $0.33. Implementation of Rider B for Rate Year 2 will result in no bill impact change compared to Rate Year 1. The Company indicates it has calculated the proposed Rider B rates in accordance with the same methodology as used for rates approved by the Commission in the most recent Rider B proceeding, Case No. PUR-2021-00111.

Interested persons are encouraged to review Dominion’s Application and supporting documents in full for details about these and other proposals.

7$.( 127,&( WKDW WKH &RPPLVVLRQ PD\ DSSRUWLRQ UHYHQXHV DPRQJ FXVWRPHU FODVVHV DQG RU GHVLJQ UDWHV LQ D PDQQHU GL൵HULQJ IURP WKDW VKRZQ LQ WKH $SSOLFDWLRQ DQG VXSSRUWLQJ GRFXPHQWV DQG WKXV PD\ DGRSW UDWHV WKDW GL൵HU IURP WKRVH DSSHDULQJ LQ WKH &RPSDQ\¶V $SSOLFDWLRQ DQG VXSSRUWLQJ GRFXPHQWV The Commission entered an Order for Notice and Hearing that, among other things, scheduled public hearings on Dominion’s Application. On November 16, 2022, at 10 a.m., a Hearing Examiner appointed by the Commission will hold a telephonic hearing for the purpose of receiving the testimony of public witnesses, with no public witness present in the &RPPLVVLRQ¶V FRXUWURRP 2Q RU EHIRUH 1RYHPEHU DQ\ SHUVRQ GHVLULQJ WR R൵HU WHVWLPRQ\ DV D SXEOLF ZLWQHVV VKDOO SURYLGH WR WKH &RPPLVVLRQ D \RXU QDPH DQG E WKH telephone number that you wish the Commission to call during the hearing to receive your testimony. This information may be provided to the Commission in three ways: (i) by ¿OOLQJ RXW D IRUP RQ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V ZHEVLWH DW scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting; (ii) by completing and emailing the PDF version of this form to SCCInfo@scc.virginia.gov; or (iii) by calling (804) 371-9141. This public witness hearing will be webcast at scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting.

Beginning at 10 a.m. on November 16, 2022, the Commission will telephone sequentially each person who has signed up to testify as provided above.

2Q 1RYHPEHU DW D P LQ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V VHFRQG ÀRRU FRXUWURRP ORFDWHG LQ WKH 7\OHU %XLOGLQJ (DVW 0DLQ 6WUHHW 5LFKPRQG 9LUJLQLD D +HDULQJ ([DPLQHU DSSRLQWHG E\ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ ZLOO FRQYHQH D KHDULQJ WR UHFHLYH WHVWLPRQ\ DQG HYLGHQFH R൵HUHG E\ WKH &RPSDQ\ UHVSRQGHQWV DQG WKH 6WD൵ RQ WKH $SSOLFDWLRQ The Commission has taken judicial notice of the ongoing public health issues related to the spread of the coronavirus, or COVID 19. The Commission has taken certain actions, and may take additional actions going forward, that could impact the procedures in this proceeding. Consistent with these actions, in regard to the terms of the procedural framework HVWDEOLVKHG EHORZ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ ZLOO DPRQJ RWKHU WKLQJV GLUHFW WKH HOHFWURQLF ¿OLQJ RI WHVWLPRQ\ DQG SOHDGLQJV XQOHVV WKH\ FRQWDLQ FRQ¿GHQWLDO LQIRUPDWLRQ DQG UHTXLUH electronic service on parties to this proceeding.

Pursuant to 5 VAC 5-20-140, Filing and service RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH WKH &RPPLVVLRQ KDV GLUHFWHG WKDW VHUYLFH RQ SDUWLHV DQG WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 6WD൵ LQ WKLV PDWWHU VKDOO EH DFFRPSOLVKHG E\ HOHFWURQLF PHDQV 3OHDVH UHIHU WR WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 2UGHU IRU 1RWLFH DQG +HDULQJ IRU IXUWKHU LQVWUXFWLRQV FRQFHUQLQJ &RQ¿GHQWLDO RU ([WUDRUGLQDULO\ Sensitive Information.

An electronic copy of the public version of the Company’s Application may be obtained by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company, Lisa R. Crabtree, Esquire, Dominion Energy Service, Inc., 120 Tredegar Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, or lisa.r.crabtree@dominionenergy.com.

2Q RU EHIRUH 1RYHPEHU DQ\ LQWHUHVWHG SHUVRQ PD\ ¿OH FRPPHQWV RQ WKH $SSOLFDWLRQ E\ IROORZLQJ WKH LQVWUXFWLRQV RQ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V ZHEVLWH scc.virginia.gov/casecomments/Submit-Public-Comments 7KRVH XQDEOH DV D SUDFWLFDO PDWWHU WR VXEPLW FRPPHQWV HOHFWURQLFDOO\ PD\ ¿OH VXFK FRPPHQWV ZLWK WKH &OHUN RI WKH 6WDWH Corporation Commission c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118. All comments shall refer to Case No. PUR-2022-00088.

2Q RU EHIRUH 6HSWHPEHU DQ\ SHUVRQ RU HQWLW\ ZLVKLQJ WR SDUWLFLSDWH DV D UHVSRQGHQW LQ WKLV SURFHHGLQJ PD\ GR VR E\ ¿OLQJ D QRWLFH RI SDUWLFLSDWLRQ DW VFF YLUJLQLD JRY FON H¿OLQJ 7KRVH XQDEOH DV D SUDFWLFDO PDWWHU WR ¿OH D QRWLFH RI SDUWLFLSDWLRQ HOHFWURQLFDOO\ PD\ ¿OH VXFK QRWLFH E\ 8 6 PDLO WR WKH &OHUN RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ DW the address above. Such notice of participation shall include the email addresses of such parties or their counsel. The respondent simultaneously shall serve a copy of the notice of participation on counsel to the Company. Pursuant to Rule 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, Participation as a respondent, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice, any notice of participation shall VHW IRUWK L D SUHFLVH VWDWHPHQW RI WKH LQWHUHVW RI WKH UHVSRQGHQW LL D VWDWHPHQW RI WKH VSHFL¿F DFWLRQ VRXJKW WR WKH H[WHQW WKHQ NQRZQ DQG LLL WKH IDFWXDO DQG OHJDO EDVLV IRU WKH action. Any organization, corporation, or government body participating as a respondent must be represented by counsel as required by Rule 5 VAC 5-20-30, Counsel, of the Rules RI 3UDFWLFH $OO ¿OLQJV VKDOO UHIHU WR &DVH 1R 385 2Q RU EHIRUH 2FWREHU HDFK UHVSRQGHQW PD\ ¿OH ZLWK WKH &OHUN RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ DW VFF YLUJLQLD JRY FON H¿OLQJ, any testimony and exhibits by which the respondent H[SHFWV WR HVWDEOLVK LWV FDVH $Q\ UHVSRQGHQW XQDEOH DV D SUDFWLFDO PDWWHU WR ¿OH WHVWLPRQ\ DQG H[KLELWV HOHFWURQLFDOO\ PD\ ¿OH VXFK E\ 8 6 PDLO WR WKH &OHUN RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ DW WKH DGGUHVV OLVWHG DERYH (DFK ZLWQHVV¶V WHVWLPRQ\ VKDOO LQFOXGH D VXPPDU\ QRW WR H[FHHG RQH SDJH $OO WHVWLPRQ\ DQG H[KLELWV VKDOO EH VHUYHG RQ WKH 6WD൵ WKH &RPSDQ\ DQG DOO RWKHU UHVSRQGHQWV VLPXOWDQHRXVO\ ZLWK LWV ¿OLQJ ,Q DOO ¿OLQJV UHVSRQGHQWV VKDOO FRPSO\ ZLWK WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH LQFOXGLQJ 9$& Filing and service; and 5 VAC 5-20-240, Prepared testimony and exhibits $OO ¿OLQJV VKDOO UHIHU WR &DVH 1R 385 $Q\ GRFXPHQWV ¿OHG LQ SDSHU IRUP ZLWK WKH 2൶FH RI WKH &OHUN RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ LQ WKLV GRFNHW PD\ XVH ERWK VLGHV RI WKH SDSHU ,Q DOO RWKHU UHVSHFWV H[FHSW DV PRGL¿HG E\ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 2UGHU IRU 1RWLFH DQG +HDULQJ DOO ¿OLQJV VKDOO FRPSO\ IXOO\ ZLWK WKH UHTXLUHPHQWV RI 9$& Copies and format, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice.

7KH SXEOLF YHUVLRQ RI WKH &RPSDQ\¶V $SSOLFDWLRQ DQG RWKHU GRFXPHQWV ¿OHG LQ WKLV FDVH WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH DQG WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 2UGHU IRU 1RWLFH DQG +HDULQJ may be viewed on the Commission’s website at: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information.

VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY d/b/a DOMINION ENERGY VIRGINIA

Employment Opportunities

­

CarMax Enterprise Services, LLC (“CES”) seeks multiple Sr. Principal Software Engineers in Richmond, VA to develop experimental solutions using product design, management and systems architecture.

Reqs. BS+7 yrs. exp. To apply: Submit resume to https://careers.carmax.com. Reference job posting requisition#JR-099328

CarMax Enterprise Services, LLC (“CES”) seeks multiple Principal Engineers, Data in Richmond, VA to design and implement solutions that will typically require multiple sprints to complete. Reqs. BS+5 yrs. exp. To apply,submit resume to https:// careers.carmax.com. Reference job posting requisition #JR-099331

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

Richmond Free Press

A8 August 4-6, 2022

News

DOJ: Buffett company discriminated against Black homebuyers

By Ken Sweet The Associated Press

NEW YORK A Pennsylvania mortgage company owned by billionaire businessman Warren Buffett’s company discriminated against potential Black and Latino homebuyers in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware, the Department of Justice said Wednesday, in what is being called the second-largest redlining settlement in history.

Trident Mortgage Co., a division of Berkshire Hathaway’s HomeServices of America, deliberately avoided writing mortgages in minority-majority neighborhoods in West Philadelphia such as Malcolm X Park; Camden, N.J.; and in Wilmington, Del., the Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in their settlement with Trident.

As part of the agreement with the government, Trident will have to set aside $20 million to make loans in underserved neighborhoods.

“Trident’s unlawful redlining activity denied communities of color equal access to residential mortgages, stripped them of the opportunity to build wealth, and devalued properties in their neighborhoods,” said Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in a prepared statement.

Sen. Vincent Hughes, a Philadelphia Democrat, grew up a few blocks from the West Philadelphia park where a news conference on the settlement was held July 27.

Sen. Hughes said portions of his life have been framed by the discriminatory lending practices that prevent Black and brown communities from building wealth.

Sen. Hughes’ father worked for one of the oldest Blackowned savings and loans, a company name Berean that would finance mortgages for Black families when they were turned away by other banks and lenders.

Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer via The Associated Press

Kristen Clarke, at podium, assistant attorney general for the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, is joined with, from left, New Jersey First Assistant Attorney General Lyndsay Ruotolo, Pennsylvania state Sen. Vincent Hughes, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, Rohit Chopra, CFPB Director, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and Jacqueline C. Romero, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania during a press conference at Malcolm X Park on July 27 in West Philadelphia, Pa. Trident Mortgage Co., a division of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire’s HomeServices of America, discriminated against potential Black and Latino homebuyers in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware, the Department of Justice said Wednesday, in what they are calling the second largest redlining settlement in history.

“I’ve had people come up to me and say, ’Vince, your dad gave me a mortgage for my first home when I was turned down everywhere else. If it wasn’t for Berean and your dad, I wouldn’t have been able to buy my home,” Sen. Hughes said.

“We witnessed that discrimination in real time.”

Redlining is a term used to describe when banks deliberately avoid making loans to non-white communities. Banks and the U.S. government used to draw on maps in red marker those neighborhoods that were deemed undesirable to make home loans. The neighborhoods were almost always areas where racial minorities lived, and even included other historically discriminated-against communities such as Jewish

YOU CAN STILL FILE

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Get rid of debts that you can’t pay.

“Get A Fresh Start” Keep paying on your house and car as long as you owe what they are worth.

Also Chapter 13 “Debt Adjustment” STOPS FORECLOSURES, GARNISHMENTS AND HARASSING PHONE CALLS

OTHER LEGAL SERVICES PROVIDED: Divorce, Separation, Custody, Support, Home Buy or Sell

Start with as little as $100

Call Rudy McCollum at (804)218-3614 24-7. Talk to an attorney for free

and get legal restrictions, fees, costs and payment terms.

Rudolph C. McCollum, Jr., Esq. McCollum At Law, P.C.

Mail to: P.O. Box 4595, Richmond, VA 23220 422 E. Franklin St., Suite 301, Richmond, VA 23219 (Franklin & 5th Sts.) We are a federally designated Debt Relief Agency under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and we help people file for bankruptcy.

Web Address: McCollumatLaw.com E-mail: rudy@mccollumatlaw.com

neighborhoods.

The practice effectively cut off entire communities from the primary pathway for wealth generation in the U.S.: homeownership. To this day, Black and Latino households are far less likely to own their home compared to their white counterparts.

The alleged redlining activity happened between 2015 and 2019 — Trident stopped writing mortgages in 2020. Along with avoiding making mortgages in minority neighborhoods, the Trident employees made racist comments about making loans to Black homebuyers, calling certain neighborhoods “ghettos.” One manager of Trident was photographed posing in front of a Confederate flag.

The marketing materials used

by Trident involved exclusively white individuals, and nearly all of the company’s staff were white.

Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s attorney general who is running for governor, called the behavior by Trident “systematic racism, pure and simple.”

Philadelphia has a long history of racism toward Black homebuyers. The Philadelphia City Council released a report Wednesday that found that 95 percent of all of the city’s home appraisers were white and a racial gap remains between how homes owned by Black homeowners are valued versus homes owned by white owners.

Hughes said he and other legislators were furious about revelations of the redlining by

Trident and others in a 2018 investigation by Reveal into Mr. Buffett’s mortgage companies.

They pressed Mr. Shapiro during an appropriations hearing, and the attorney general responded by setting up a hotline to gather personal stories.

As part of the settlement, Trident agreed to hire mortgage loan officers in impacted neighborhoods as well as pay a $4 million fine. Since Trident no longer operates a lending business, a separate company will be contracted to provide the $20 million in loan subsidies, the Justice Department said.

The largest redlining case involved Wisconsin-based Associated Bank, which was charged with discriminatory practices between the years 2008 and 2011. The bank

COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2023 7KH &RXQW\ 0DQDJHU¶V UHFRPPHQGHG DPHQGPHQW WR WKH EXGJHW IRU ¿VFDO \HDU LV SUHSDUHG DQG SXEOLVKHG LQ V\QRSVLV IRUP VROHO\ IRU WKH SXUSRVHV RI ¿VFDO SODQQLQJ DQG SXEOLF LQIRUPDWLRQ 3XEOLFDWLRQ RI WKLV SURSRVHG DPHQGPHQW GRHV QRW FRQVWLWXWH DQ DSSURSULDWLRQ RI IXQGV IRU WKRVH SXUSRVHV E\ WKH %RDUG RI 6XSHUYLVRUV )XQGV FDQQRW EH DOORFDWHG RU GLVWULEXWHG XQWLO WKH\ DUH DSSURSULDWHG E\ WKH %RDUG 7KH DPHQGPHQW FRQVLVWV RI HVWLPDWHV DQG LV D UHTXHVW VXEPLWWHG WR WKH &RXQW\ 0DQDJHU ZLWK KLV UHFRPPHQGDWLRQV FRQFHUQLQJ WKH UHTXHVW

We stand

for Equality Justice Opportunity Freedom and we fearlessly fight for Equality Justice Opportunity Freedom Richmond Free Press The People’s Paper

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¿VFDO \HDU

PROPOSED AMENDMENT (67,0$7(' $'',7,21$/ 5(6285&(6 &$3,7$/ )81'6

)XQG EDODQFH

7RWDO &DSLWDO 5HVRXUFHV

727$/ 5(6285&(6

&$3,7$/ )81'6

&$3,7$/ 352-(&76 )81'

(GXFDWLRQ

7RWDO &DSLWDO 3URMHFWV )XQG

727$/ 5(48,5(0(176

100,000

readers weekly.

*LYHQ XQGHU P\ KDQG WKLV UG GD\ RI $XJXVW

7DQ\D 1 %UDFNHWW &OHUN +HQULFR &RXQW\ %RDUG RI 6XSHUYLVRUV

August 18, 25 Editions

CALL TODAY TO RESERVE SPACE Let our courteous and knowledgeable advertising sales representative help you today.

Please ask for Cynthia Downing.

School Supplies Apparel Important, Exciting Event Before/After-School Care Beauty and Hair Care Health or Dental Care Computers Mobile Phones Cosmetics Automobiles Food and Drinks

/.3

Improve your bottom line!

More than

KWWS KHQULFR XV ¿QDQFH GLYLVLRQV RI¿FH RI PDQDJHPHQW DQG EXGJHW

Advertising Opportunities

ADVERTISE IF SELLING OR OFFERING:

$ FRS\ RI WKH SURSRVHG DPHQGPHQW LV DYDLODEOH IRU LQVSHFWLRQ LQ WKH &RXQW\ 0DQDJHU¶V RI¿FH DW WKH +HQULFR *RYHUQPHQW &HQWHU +XQJDU\ 6SULQJ DQG (DVW 3DUKDP 5RDGV DQG LV DOVR DYDLODEOH WR EH YLHZHG RQ WKH &RXQW\¶V ZHEVLWH DW

"ACK TO 3CHOOL

g Back to School New t turin s Yo a e us F g uC u A an U se Every Week in

(67,0$7(' $'',7,21$/ 5(48,5(0(176

Richmond Free Press

BOOST SALES!

settled with regulators in 2015 for $200 million.

The Trident settlement also involves the first redlining case against a nonbank mortgage lender. Since the Great Recession, roughly half of all mortgages in the country are underwritten by companies that immediately sell off the mortgage to investors. These nonbank lenders include firms such Quicken Loans, Rocket Mortgage and Loan Depot, among many others.

“Credit discrimination is illegal regardless of whether the lawbreaking company is a traditional bank or a nonbank lender,” said Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

In a statement, HomeServices of America said they “strongly disagree” with the Justice Department’s and CFPB’s findings in the settlement, noting that Trident did not have to admit to wrongdoing as part of the case. Mr. Buffett himself did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but historically has deferred any comment to Berkshire’s subsidiary companies.

Sen. Hughes said he did not have personal experience with Trident, but he said he was not surprised to learn the company’s statement after the settlement was announced denied there was wrongdoing.

“That’s what these companies do, right? None of them admit it, they just wind up paying the money,” he said.

Associated Press reporter Claudia Lauer contributed to this report from Philadelphia.

AP business writer Josh Funk contributed from Omaha, Neb.

(804) 644-0496 Space reservation deadline: Friday, prior to Thursday publication date Materials deadline: Monday, prior to Thursday publication date

Richmond Free Press

August 4-6, 2022 A9

Sports Stories by Fred Jeter

Basketball icon Bill Russell dies William Felton “Bill” Russell, the greatest team sports champion of all time and the NBA’s first Black superstar, died Sunday, July 31, 2022.

Mr. Russell was 88 and lived in Mercer Island, Wash.

Listed as 6-foot-10 and renowned for his brilliant rebounding, defense and a team-first attitude, Mr. Russell led the Boston Celtics to 11 NBA titles, from 1957 to 1969, including eight in a row.

The intimidating, goateed center was a five-time league MVP, 12-time All-Star and four-time rebounding leader.

In his illustrious career, Mr. Russell scored 14,522 points (15.1 average), collected 21,620 rebounds (22.5 norm) and passed for 4,100 assists (4.3).

His intense battles in the paint against 7-foot-1 Wilt Chamberlain are legendary. Chamberlain usually scored more points, but Russell’s Celtics more often prevailed.

With his long arms, precision timing and leaping ability,

Mr. Russell is almost surely the NBA’s all-time leader in blocked shots, although that statistic was not kept during his career.

The Boston Celtics Ownership Group made this statement following Mr. Russell’s death: “Bill embodied character and commitment and is one of the finest people to ever live.

He will be remembered forever and deservedly so.”

Formative years:Born in Monroe, La., the Russells moved to Oakland, Cal., when he was eight. Far from being an overnight success, he was cut as an eighth-grader from the Herbert Hoover Middle School hoops team and was hardly recruited by colleges while at McClymonds High, even though the team won two California state titles.

Despite his height, he had only one scholarship offer, from nearby University of San Franisco, where he came into his own. The Dons claimed NCAA titles in 1955 and 1956, both times winning

Bill Russell

the championship game by double digits.

A touch of Gold: Led by Mr. Russell and his San Francisco teammate, K.C. Jones, the Americans overwhelmed in the competition at the ’56 Olympics in Melbourne.

The U.S. routed Uruguay 101-38 in the semifinals, and

the Soviet Union 89-55 for the gold. Mr. Russell was nearly Olympic caliber in track and field, too, having high jumped 6 feet, 9¼ inches and run the 400 in 49.6 while at San Francisco.

1956 NBA Draft: With the first overall pick, Rochester took guard Si Green from

Duquesne, then the St. Louis Hawks picked Russell No. 2 overall.

Somehow, Boston owner Red Auerbach worked out a deal with the Hawks to send Ed McCauley and Cliff Hagan to St. Louis for rookie Russell.

That trade shifted the course of NBA history for more than a decade.

Celtics dynasty: To be fair, Mr. Russell was surrounded by sensational talent at Boston Garden.

His teammates include Naismith Hall of Famers-to beK.C. Jones, Sam Jones, John Havlicek, Satch Sanders, Don Nelson, Tom Heinsohn, Frank Ramsey, Bill Sharman, Bob Cousy and JoJo White.

From 1964 to 1966, Mr. Russell’s backup center was John Thompson, later named to the Naismith Hall as a college coach.

All-time coincidence: In 1966 Mr. Russell became the NBA’s first Black coach following Auerbach’s Boston retirement.

In 1975, Frank Robinson

NBA’s Top 10 rebound leaders

(Average per game)

Wilt Chamberlain Bill Russell Bob Petit Jerry Lucas Nate Thurmond Wes Unseld Walt Bellamy Dave Cowens Elgin Baylor George Mikan

22.9 22.4 16.2 15/6 15.0 13.9 13.6 13.6 13.5 13.4

became the first Black major league baseball manager, with Cleveland.

Mr. Robinson and Mr. Russell were basketball teammates at McClymonds High.

Legacy: Mr. Russell in 1975 became the first Black man elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame. In 2011 he was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barach Obama.

His No. 6 jersey is retired by the University of San Francisco and the Celtics.

‘Chief Connection Officer’ Former NSU point guard is among nation’s top rugby players

Amanda Nunes dominates Julianna Pena for the World MMA title before a huge pay-per-view audience July 30 in Dallas.

‘The Lioness’ gets her prey Amanda Nunes had revenge in her corner and that, combined with her flying fists and feet, was enough to regain her UFC bantamweight belt.

Known as “The Lioness,” the 34-year-old Brazilian won a dominant decision (50-45, 50-44, 50-43 on judges’ cards) over Julianna Pena July 30 in Dallas.

Pena, the “Venezuelan Vixen,” had stunned the MMA world Dec. 11, 2021 by upsetting Nunes in Las Vegas.

“The Lioness, if she doesn’t get her prey the first time, she sets a trap and gets it the second time,” Nunes told the media.

Surpassing Ronda Rousey, Nunes is generally considered the greatest female MMA fighter in history, and the loss to Pena ranked with the most head-spinning upsets in the annals of the sport.

In front of a global pay-per-view audience at American Airlines Center, Nunes pounded her opponent unmercifully throughout the five rounds, dropping her on multiple occasions.

Pena was bloodied and badly beaten and taken to a plastic surgeon after the fight.

Nunes is the first openly lesbian champ in MMA history. Her wife, Nina Nunes, also is an MMA fighter.

As a Norfolk State University women’s basketball point guard, Jazamine “Jaz” Gray was known for her passing talent. She tossed for 230 career assists.

Since then, Gray has passed the test in another sport — rugby.

The 29-year-old Raleigh, N.C., native has made the U.S. Women’s Sevens National Team and has represented America in international competition in locales such as Spain, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.

Considered one of the nation’s top rugby players, she looks forward to wearing the red, white and blue in the upcoming Olympic and World Cup events.

The former Spartan combines speed, strength, stamina and toughness on the pitch, earning the nickname “Chief Connection Officer.”

Gray’s considerable talents haven’t gone unnoticed by the national press. In the June 6 edition of Sports Illustrated, Gray was named to the magazine’s Elle-evate: 100 Influential Black Women in Sports list.

Contributing to SI’s selections was Empower Onyx.

Following graduation from NSU in 2015, Gray began working as a personal trainer at the Results Fitness Gym in North

“Jaz” Gray

Carolina. The facility is owned by her brother, Jeramie.

While working at the gym Gray was introduced to rugby by a client. Despite knowing little about the sport initially, Gray decided to give it a shot.

“I couldn’t even tell you what was going on during that practice. I just remember decid-

ing to come back again,” NSU’s website quotes her as saying.

“I just kept coming back and enjoyed it.”

Gray soon started playing on elite club teams, which led to her making the U.S. National squad and receiving a Sports Illustrated tribute.

Virginia Union golfers’ academic skills saluted

Alkin Barkley, Hayden Garcia, Joseph Graham II, Ahmad Reedus, Zaccheus Spann, Travon Willis

Virginia Union University’s golf team believes in posting low scores on the course but high scores in the classroom.

With a 3.73 overall grade point average, The Panthers has been declared Academic National Champion by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

This marks the third straight year the Panthers have scored at least a 3.5 GPA.

“This team exemplifies the term ‘studentathlete,’” said coach E. Lee Coble.

Team members are Alkin Barkley, Hayden Garcia, Joseph Graham, Ahmad Reedus, Zaccheus Spann and Travon Willis.

On the links, VUU finished first this past season in competitions at St. Augustine’s in Raleigh, Elizabeth City, N.C., Virginia State and in the CIAA Northern Division meet in Richmond.

Hopewell and Chester alums candidates Great expectations Spartans rely on Davis’ for major college football awards offensive moves for wins

The 804 area code is producing big-time running backs.

TreVeyon Henderson and Chris Tyree are each on the Doak Walker Watch List. The annual Walker award goes to the nation’s premier ball carrier.

Henderson, out of Hopewell High School, is entering his sophomore season at Ohio State University.

TreVeyon Tyree starred at Thomas Dale High in Henderson Chester before enrolling at Notre Dame University, where he is a rising junior.

Henderson was arguably the nation’s top freshman a year ago, rushing for 1,248 yards and 15 Buckeyes’ touchdowns. He averaged 6.8 yards per tote.

Henderson also is an early Heisman Trophy candidate.

Tyree accumulated 827 all-purpose yards for the Fighting Irish as a rusher, receiver and kick returner. He had 115 receiving yards against Oklahoma State, and returned a kickoff 96 yards

for a TD against Wisconsin.

Playing for powerful programs at Ohio State and Notre Dame, Henderson and Tyree likely will receive the kind of media attention necessary to capture high honors.

The two headliners will be going headto-head Sept. 3 when Notre Dame travels to Columbus to face OSU on national TV. In 1995 Eddie George was OSU’s lone Chris Walker Award recipient. George played at Tyree Fork Union Military Academy, Va., before heading to college. Notre Dame has never had a Walker winner.

Last year’s Walker recipient was Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker (no relation to Doak), now a rookie with the Seattle Seahawks.

Doak Walker was a three-time All-America back at Southern Methodist University in the 1940s. He went on to NFL fame with Detroit.

J.J. Davis was a freshman phenom last year at Norfolk State University, and much more is expected this season from the now sophomore.

A transfer from his hometown school, the University of Cincinnati, Davis is the MEAC preseason Offensive Player of the Year.

A year ago, the 5-foot-9, 170-pound tailback topped the MEAC with 887 rushing yards and led all of NCAA-FCS with J.J. Davis a 7.2-yard per carry norm.

Davis scored 11 Spartans touchdowns last season and compiled 1,288 all-purpose yards. He had four games of rushing for more than 100 yards, with a high of 217 vs. North Carolina Central.

He was MEAC offensive Rookie of the Year in 2021 and first team All-MEAC. Overall, NSU is picked to finish third in the MEAC behind defending champion South Carolina State and N.C. Central.

A10 August 4-6, 2022

Richmond Free Press

The only way you get to #1 is by putting clients first.

World’s Best Bank is a huge honor, but we couldn’t have earned it — or others we’ve received — without our 200,000+ teammates and millions of clients around the globe.

Together, we’re demonstrating that we deliver great results for clients while helping address important priorities for our employees and the Richmond community. It’s amazing what we have the power to do when we work together.

Victor Branch President, Bank of America Richmond

What would you like the power to do?® Learn more at bankofamerica.com/richmond

Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC © 2022 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.

August 4-6, 2022 B1

Section

B

Richmond Free Press

Happenings

Personality: Vanessa Evans

Spotlight on president of the Richmond Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Sorority life is a point of pride for Vanessa Evans.

The North Chesterfield resident joined Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in 1986 while enrolled at North Carolina Central University. Having no prior experience with sororities, she was “mesmerized” by the group’s active role on the campus and in the larger community, which inspired her to become a member.

Founded in 1913, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is an organization of college-educated women committed to the constructive development of its members and to public service with a primary focus on the Black community.

As a private, not-for-profit organization, its purpose is to provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world, according to the sorority’s website. The sorority currently has 1,000 collegiate and alumnae chapters located in the United States, Canada, Japan (Tokyo and Okinawa), Germany, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica, West Africa and the Republic of Korea.

Ms. Evans now leads the sorority’s Richmond Alumnae Chapter in her second term as its president, the latest of many roles she’s taken in the organization.

And while her time as a leader began in the midst of once-ina-lifetime circumstances, her enthusiasm for Delta Sigma Theta and the chapter’s members remains unchanged.

“If you know me, you know I am passionate about my sorority, because I see the impact we have in the communities where we live, work and raise families,” Ms. Evans says. “It has been a pleasure and a privilege to lead the amazing and hard-working women of the Richmond Alumnae Chapter.”

Ms. Evans’ first term as chapter president began two years ago, as Delta Sigma Theta

adjusted its operations greatly in response to the spread of COVID-19 on the national and local level, while still trying to continue its mission of community service and improvement.

“I can’t say what being a president is like without thinking of Zoom because that’s all I have known for the past three years,” Ms. Evans says. “I’m very excited about finding out.

It will be a wonderful day when we can have our first meeting as a larger group.”

Similar work is being done in the larger Delta Sigma Theta organization, which will host the sorority’s 30th South Atlantic Regional Conference this week, Aug. 4 through 7, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

Ms. Evans cites the regional conference as a major undertaking not just for the Richmond chapter, but for other chapters that will participate.

Throughout all her responsibilities and goals for her term as president, Ms. Evans says she is thankful for the accomplishments of Delta Sigma Theta, its chapters and its members. Even with 36 years of experience as a member of the sorority, she remains impressed by the commitment of members to the sorority’s mission, and she intends to do her part to ensure the Richmond chapter continues for years to come.

“I consider myself a servant leader, and I just want to push others forward and put them in the spotlight if I can,” Ms. Evans says. “Everything that shines a light on the Richmond Alumnae Chapter doesn’t come from me, it comes from the chapter and the hard work that they put in to make it seem as if the chapter president is doing such a great job.”

“I just (want) to thank the Richmond Alumnae Chapter sorors for everything they have done.”

Meet the leader of one of Richmond’s premier sororities,

Vanessa Evans: Volunteer position: President, Richmond Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Date and place of birth: Sept.

27 in Lumberton, N.C. Where I live now: North Chesterfield.

Education: Bachelor’s in business administration, North Carolina Central University.

Occupation: Customer management account manager with PepsiCo. Family: Three siblings, seven nieces and nephews and lots of cousins, along with a host of Delta sisters.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is: A sisterhood. My commitment to sisterhood, scholarship, service and social action started in college with the Alpha Lambda Chapter, where I was also the chapter president. After graduation, I joined the Durham Alumnae Chapter where I learned how to work together in the name of Delta. After moving to Richmond, a city I have called home for 22 years, I joined Richmond

Alumnae Chapter.

When and where founded: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was founded in 1913 on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. Founders: There are 22 “illustrious” founders.

When Richmond Alumnae Chapter was chartered: Feb. 7, 1942.

Notable facts for Richmond and Delta Sigma Theta: • Home to the South Atlantic Region’s ninth Regional Director, Thelma Pettis.

• Home to the granddaughter of Founder Jimmie Bugg Middleton, the late Margaret “Peggy” Brazil.

• The birthplace of our 10th National President, Dorothy I. Height with a historic Delta marker in Dr. Height’s honor that stands prominently in the Blackwell neighborhood where she was born.

Brief profile of chapter membership: The Richmond Alumnae Chapter currently has 425 members and the chapter’s members have been Deltas from two years to 77 years. Members’ professions range from corporate professionals, educators, doctors, health care providers, lawyers, authors, journalists and entrepreneurs.

When elected RichmondAlumnae Chapter president: June 2020; re-elected June 2022.

Number one goal or project as president: I believe the number one goal is actually two-fold: managing the business aspects of the chapter for successful operations and effectiveness, along with ensuring the needs of the members are met for positive sisterhood interaction.

How chapter participates in the community: We are a public service organization and, under

the Five Point Programmatic Thrust of Economic Development, Educational Development, International Awareness and Involvement, Physical and Mental Health and Political Awareness and Involvement, we provide meaningful community service and public service initiatives.

Through our fundraising efforts, the chapter has awarded over $40,000 in scholarships in the past two years. We have several youth initiative programs (Delta Academy, Delta GEMS, EMBODI, the annual Laverne Morton Williams High Achievers, L. Rita Davis Oratorical Contest and Jabberwock Scholarship program) to engage and enlighten youths who are in middle and high school.

Most important project: Along with the Beta Epsilon, Eta Tau and Rho Rho chapters, our most import project at this time is hosting a memorable and exciting regional conference. With love, care, time and dedication the conference co-coordinators, Kimberly Stevens and Danielle Stokes along with the hardworking committee chairs and members, are ready to welcome our guests to RVA. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority’s Regional Conference is: A carryover from 2020 when it was canceled due to the pandemic. The conference theme is “S.E.E.ing the 22 in You; A Vision of Excellence.” The South Atlantic Regional Director, Dr. Patricia R. Johnson and our Regional Representative, Illana Jamison, will preside over the conference proceedings along with our National President and Chair of the National Board of Directors Elsie Cooke-Holmes.

The regional conference service project is the Safe Harbor Emergency Response Fund.

Who attends: Members of the “Sensational” South Atlantic Region of Delta Sigma Theta,

which is comprised of the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and the country of Bermuda.

How I start the day: I start my day with the news around 5:30 a.m. and normally work begins around 7 a.m. with rich dark coffee and Splenda.

The three words that best describe me: Friendly, organized and passionate.

Best late-night snack: Buttered popcorn.

How I unwind: Watching a baking show although I don’t bake.

What I have learned during the pandemic about myself: I really do not enjoy cooking.

Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: Drive in silence.

A quote that I am inspired by: “Whatever anybody says or does, assume positive intent.” ­— Indra Nooyi At the top of my “to-do” list is: Clean out my office so I can paint the walls.

The best thing my parents ever taught me: My mother taught me the power of education even though she did not have any formal education.

The person who influenced me the most: My brother, Elijah, who taught me that hard work never hurt anyone but laziness is a silent enemy.

Book that influenced me the most: “The Shack” by Wm. Paul Young.

What I’m reading now: “The Other Black Girl” by Zakiya Dalila Harris.

Next goal: My next Delta Sigma Theta goal is to move the Richmond Alumnae Chapter from the virtual status of the past two years into a safe in-person meeting model for the sisterhood and continue positive programs in the community.

Richmond Free Press

B2 August 4-6, 2022

Happenings

Regina H. Boone / Richmond Free Press

Poetry in motion Pulitzer Prize-winner Rita Dove captivated her audience at the Library of Virginia on July 28 when the renowned poet and University of Virginia professor read excerpts from her 2021 work, “Playlist for the Apocalypse.” Among those eager to have their books signed after Ms. Dove’s reading was Richmonder Gwen Corley Creighton, who, like Ms. Dove, is a native of Akron, Ohio. “I had to come see my homegirl,”Ms. Corley Creighton said, bubbling with pride. The program was part of the library’s Carole Weinstein Author Series, which supports the literary arts in Virginia by bringing new and veteran authors to the Library of Virginia.

PREMIER SPONSOR

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

tertainment ”

“pure and joyful en Art – Julinda D. Lewis, RV

THROUGH AUG 7 SHOW SPONSOR

NOVEMBER THEATRE/ARENSTEIN STAGE

Celebrating community Hundreds came to Battery Park on July 30 for the 29th annual Northside Reunion. There was food, music and plenty of fun in the sun during the free event that brought together folks who grew up in or frequented Northside.

Some of those catching up, right, included childhood friends and 1979 graduates of Thomas Jefferson High School Irvin Carter, left, and Chuck Mack. Above, other TJHS Class of ’77 alumna Avis Winston (from left), Glenda Robinson, and Lucille Peterson of Petersburg used the event as a warm-up for their upcoming 45th high school class reunion.

VIRGINIA REPERTORY THEATRE | 804-282-2620 | VIRGINIAREP.ORG

THE NEW YORK TIMES

AUG 12 – 28 Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Museum narratives Initiatives of Change partnered with several Richmond museums for its Intersecting History Museum Crawl on July 31. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., attendees were given free rides and entry into the American Civil War Museum, Virginia Holocaust Museum, The Valentine, Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design to “intersect with new narratives they may not typically experience regarding race, justice and public memory.” Above, participant Suzan Royce Moore took in Richmond Free Press photojournalists’ Sandra Sellars and Regina H. Boone’s photography exhibit “(Re) Framing Protest: Design + Hope” at the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design on Monument Avenue.

Moses and Kitch hang out on the corner —talking trash, passing the time, and hoping that maybe today will be different. As they dream of their promised land, a stranger wanders into their space and derails their plans.

Emotional and lyrical, Pass Over crafts everyday profanities into poetic and humorous riffs, exposing the unquestionable human spirit of young Black men looking for a way out. A sensation on Broadway in 2021, Pass Over is a rare piece of politically charged theater by a bold new American voice.

Content Warning: Pass Over contains very strong, racially-loaded language, adult themes, and violence. We strongly encourage reading about the production—particularly in regard to age appropriateness.

American Shakespeare Center’s beautiful Blackfriars Playhouse is in Staunton Virginia, just a short drive from the Richmond area.

PERFORMANCE CALENDAR AND TIPS ON PLANNING YOUR VISIT AT

AmericanShakespeareCenter.com

STAUNTON, VA

The NMAAHC celebrates hip-hop with block party

By Donald J. Adams Jr.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture will host its first HipHop Block Party on Saturday, Aug. 13 at the Washington, D.C. museum.

Featured events will be day and evening performances, activities and presentations that detail the origins and history of hip-hop.

The celebration commemorates the one-year anniversary of the Smithsonian’s Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap, a collection of hip-hop CDs and photos that show the growth and history of hip-hop spanning over four-decades. Hosted by radio personality Vic Jagger, the daytime session is from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and includes a free hip-hop dance workshop taught by dance troupe Culture Shock DC, a live panel discussion and performances from local and

national artists.

Starting at 7 p.m., performances from Grammy-nominated rapper D. Smoke and a dance party featuring hip-hop pioneer DJ Spinderella will continue until midnight.

Indoor performances will be in Heritage Hall on the mu-

seum’s first floor, and outdoor performances will be on a main stage between 15th Street and Madison Drive.

Tickets for the event are free, but registration is required and can be found on the NMAAHC website at https://nmaahc. si.edu/block-party.

2007 VENABLE STREET ~ UNION HILL ~ RVA CALEXANDERSCLEANERS.COM 804.658.4466 TUES & THURS 10-4 SAT 10-2 APPTS WELCOMED FOR OTHER TIMES

Dry Cleaning ~ Laundering ~ Alterations ~ Embroidery

Richmond Free Press

August 4-6, 2022 B3

Obituaries/Faith Directory

James William Cheagle, who fought discrimination in law enforcement, dies at 79

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

statistics. He also appreciated music and travel.

Born in Lynchburg, Dr. Cheagle joined the Richmond Retired Richmond Police Capt. James William Police Department in the mid-1960s after serving in Cheagle, who was a leader in fighting racial bigotry the U.S. Air Force, his daughter said. within the department, has died.

He soon became a key member of the Richmond In the 1970s, as a sergeant, he became a plaintiff in Black Police Officers Association. After earning his a class action suit that alleged the department engaged undergraduate degree from Virginia Commonwealth in racial discrimination in hiring and promotions. The University in 1972, he joined another police sergeant suit led to a settlement that increased opportunities for and future major, the late Wille C Jones, in becoming Black officers. named plaintiffs in the suit that the RBPOA brought.

“He was a leader who never sought to shine a In the aftermath of the suit, Dr. Cheagle moved spotlight on himself,” said his daughter, Tonya C. up in rank. Then a captain, he retired around 1986, Rice. “He was loyal to his friends and generous to his daughter said, after commanding the department’s Dr. Cheagle others, without seeking recognition. He truly believed Second Precinct in South Side, the first ranking Black in the Golden Rule of doing for others what he would have wanted officer to lead a precinct in the city. done for himself.”

A true believer in education, he earned a master’s degree in Dr. Cheagle, who held a Ph.D. in criminal justice, succumbed to public safety in 1988 and added the doctorate in the administration cancer on Friday, July 22, 2022, his family said. The Chesterfield of justice and public safety in 2002 from Armstrong State University County resident was 79. in Savannah, Ga., now part of Georgia Southern University.

Family and friends gathered Friday, July 29, at Mimms Funeral He was a longtime member and past president of Club 533, Home to celebrate the life of the police officer who was known and was a former president and board member of Engine Co. #9 for his sense of fashion, love of sports and knowledge of baseball and Associates, a Richmond group that honors the original Black

Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Uhura on ‘Star Trek,’ dies at 89

By Lindsey Bahr The Associated Press

Nichelle Nichols, who broke barriers for Black women in Hollywood as communications officer Lt. Uhura on the original “Star Trek” television series, has died at the age of 89.

Her son Kyle Johnson said Ms. Nichols died Saturday, July 30, 2022, in Silver City, N.M. “Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away. Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration,” Mr. Johnson wrote on her official Facebook page Sunday. “Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.”

Her role in the 1966-69 series earned Ms. Nichols a lifelong position of honor with the series’ rabid fans, known as Trekkers and Trekkies. It also earned her accolades for breaking stereotypes that had limited Black women to acting roles as servants and included an interracial onscreen kiss with co-star William Shatner that was unheard of at the time.

Mr. Shatner tweeted Sunday: “I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Nichelle. She was a beautiful woman & played an admirable character that did so much for redefining social issues both here in the US & throughout the world.”

“Star Trek: Voyager” alum Kate Mulgrew tweeted, “Nichelle Nichols was The First. She was a trailblazer who navigated a very challenging trail with grit, grace, and a gorgeous fire we are not likely to see again.”

Like other original cast members, Ms. Nichols also appeared in six big-screen spinoffs starting in 1979 with “Star Trek: The

Ms. Nichols

Motion Picture” and frequented “Star Trek” fan conventions.

She also served for many years as a NASA recruiter, helping bring minorities and women into the astronaut corps.

More recently, she had a recurring role on television’s “Heroes,” playing the great-aunt of a young boy with mystical powers.

The original “Star Trek” premiered on NBC on Sept. 8, 1966. Its multicultural, multiracial cast was creator Gene Roddenberry’s message to viewers that in the far-off future — the 23rd century — human diversity would be fully accepted.

“I think many people took it into their hearts ... that what was being said on TV at that time was a reason to celebrate,” Ms. Nichols said in 1992 when a “Star Trek” exhibit was on view at the Smithsonian Institution.

She often recalled how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a fan of the show and praised her role. She met him at a civil rights gathering in 1967, at a time when she had decided not to return for the show’s second season.

“When I told him I was going to miss my co-stars and I was leaving the show, he became

firefighters and police officers in the city.

Dr. Cheagle participated in securing historic markers paying tribute to the city’s first four Black police officers, who were hired in 1946, and the first 10 Black city firefighters, who were hired in 1950.

Dr. Cheagle also was a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and Fourth Baptist Church.

Along with his daughter, survivors include sisters Roslyn V. Cheagle, Hettie I. Cheagle and Rozelle C. West of Lynchburg; brothers, Beverly K. Cheagle and Alton C. Cheagle of Lynchburg; his caregiver and former wife, Ingrid C. Cheagle; and two grandchildren.

Riverview Baptist Church Sunday, August 7, 2022 Sunday School - 9:30 A.M. Morning Services - 11 A.M.

Sermon by: Rev. Lawrence Jordan

Via Conference Call (202) 926-1127 Pin 572890# In Person Sunday Service also on FACEBOOK and YouTube 2604 Idlewood Avenue, Richmond, Va. 23220 (804) 353-6135 • www.riverviewbaptistch.org

“The Church With A Welcome”

Sharon Baptist Church

very serious and said, ‘You hated being called “Gracie,” cannot do that,’” she told The which everyone insisted on, she Tulsa (Okla.) World in a 2008 said in the 2010 interview. When she was a teen her mother told interview. “‘You’ve changed the face her she had wanted to name her of television forever, and there- Michelle, but thought she ought fore, you’ve changed the minds to have alliterative initials like of people,’” she said the civil Marilyn Monroe, whom Nichols loved. Hence, “Nichelle.” rights leader told her.

Ms. Nichols first worked “That foresight Dr. King had was a lightning bolt in my life,” professionally as a singer and dancer in Chicago at age 14, Ms. Nichols said.

During the show’s third moving on to New York nightseason, Ms. Nichols’ character clubs and working for a time withSERVICE” the Duke Ellington and and Mr. Shatner’s Capt.“BACK James IN Our doors are open again Hampton bands before Kirk shared what was described Lionel every Sunday @ 11:00 am. for her to Hollywood as the first interracial Live kiss Streaming to be coming Every Sunday At: film(Broad debut inRock 1959’s “Porgy and broadcastBRBConline.org on a U.S. television or YouTube Baptist Church) the first of several small series. In the episode, “Plato’s “MAKEBess,” IT HAPPEN” Stepchildren,” their characters, film and TV roles that led up to who always maintained a pla- her “Star Trek” stardom.

Ms. Nichols was known as tonic relationship, were forced into the kiss by aliens who were being unafraid to stand up to Mr. Shatner on the set when controlling their actions.

The kiss “suggested that others complained that he was there was a future where these stealing scenes and camera issues were not such a big deal,” time. They later learned she Eric Deggans, a television critic had a strong supporter in the for National Public Radio, told show’s creator.

In her 1994 book, “Beyond The Associated Press in 2018.

“The characters themselves Uhura,” she said she met Mr. were not freaking out because Roddenberry when she guest a Black woman was kissing a starred on his show “The Lieuwhite man ... In this utopian- tenant,” and the two had an affair like future, we solved this issue. a couple of years before “Star We’re beyond it. That was a Trek” began. The two remained lifelong close friends. wonderful message to send.”

Worried about reaction from Southern television stations, showrunners wanted to film a second take of the scene where the kiss happened off-screen.

Baptist Church But Ms. Nichols said in her 1408 W. Leigh Street · Richmond, Va. 23220 book, “Beyond Uhura: Star Trek (804) 358—6403 and Other Memories,” that she Dr. Alonza L. Lawrence, Pastor and Mr. Shatner deliberately flubbed lines to force the original take to be used.

Despite concerns, the episode aired without blowback.

In fact, it got the most “fan mail that Paramount had ever gotten on ‘Star Trek’ for one episode,” Ms. Nichols said in a 2010 interview with the Archive of American Television.

Born Grace Dell Nichols in Robbins, Illinois, Ms. Nichols “Your Home In God’s Kingdom”

500 E. Laburnum Avenue, Richmond, VA 23222 www.sharonbaptistchurchrichmond.org (804) 643-3825 Rev. Dr. Paul A. Coles, Pastor

Sundays Morning Worship 10:00 A.M.

Back Inside

Broad Rock Baptist Church 5106 Walmsley Blvd., Richmond, VA 23224 804-276-2740 • 804-276-6535 (fax) www.BRBCONLINE.org

“BACK IN SERVICE” Our doors are open again Mask required • Must provide vaccination card Every Sunday @ 11:00 am.

Live Streaming Every Sunday At: BRBConline.org or YouTube(Broad Rock Baptist Church)

“MAKE IT HAPPEN” Pastor Kevin Cook

Moore Street Missionary

Worship With Us This Week!

Communion Sunday Worship On Site & Virtual August 7, 2022 @ 10:00 A.M.

Looking for a welcoming place to worship this week?

Stop by & see what God is up to at MMBC.

Additional Opportunities to Engage with Us: *Faith Formation/ Church School (Sat. @ 9:00 AM) Zoom Meeting ID: 952 9164 9805 /Passcode: 2901 *Give Via: http://mmbcrva.org/give Or through Givelify

Good Shepherd Baptist Church 1127 North 28th St., Richmond, VA 23223 s Office: (804) 644-1402

2901 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 648-2472 ~ www.mmbcrva.org Dr. Price London Davis, Senior Pastor

Dr. Sylvester T. Smith, Pastor “There’s A Place for You”

+PJO VT BU ". FBDI TU BOE SE 4VOEBZ GPS JO QFSTPO XPSTIJQ TFSWJDF <RX PD\ FRQWLQXH WR OLYH VWUHDP RQ <RX7XEH *RRG 6KHSKHUG %DSWLVW &KXUFK 59$

Thirty-first Street Baptist Church

*Faith Formation/ Church School (Sat. @ 9:00 AM) Zoom Meeting ID: 952 9164 9805 /Passcode: 2901 *Bible Study (Wed. @ 7:00 PM) Zoom Meeting ID: 854 8862 2296 *Give Via: http://mmbcrva.org/give Or through Givelify th Reverence evance wi

https://youtu.be/qqzhnIEQyQc for inspirational messages from Pastor Smith

7M\XL &ETXMWX 'LYVGL 8LIQI 1SFMPM^MRK *SV 1MRMWXV] 6IJVIWLMRK 8LI 3PH ERH )QIVKMRK 8LI 2I[ A 21st Century Church With Ministry For Everyone

We Embrace Diversity — Love For All! Come worship with us!

Back Inside Sundays Join us for 10:00 AM Worship Service Live on Facebook @sixthbaptistrva Live on Youtube @sixthbaptistrva Or by visiting our website www.sixthbaptistchurch.org 400 South Addison Street Richmond, Va. 23220

(near Byrd Park)

Rev. Dr. Yvonne Jones Bibbs, Pastor

(804) 359-1691 or 359-3498 Facebook Fax (804) 359-3798 sixthbaptistrva www.sixthbaptistchurch.org

Triumphant

Baptist Church 2003 Lamb Avenue Richmond, VA 23222 Dr. Arthur M. Jones, Sr., Pastor (804) 321-7622 OPEN FOR IN PERSON WORSHIP Morning Worship - 11 am Conference Calls are still available at: ( 503) 300-6860 PIN: 273149 Facebook@:triumphantbaptist

g inin b om

R el

Worship With U

❖ Special Days on The Horizon C The doors of the church ~June 26, 2022 (10:00 A.M.)- Deaconess Consecration are open for worship!

Rev. Dr. Joshua Mitchell, Senior Pastor

No registration required.

Join us in person or online on Facebook or YouTube

10:30 a.m. Sundays

Thursday Facebook Live Check in With Pastor 8:00 P.M. Via http://Facebook.com/mmbcrva

Sunday Morning Virtual Worship

10:30 A.M. Via http://Facebook.com/mmbcrva Or http://mmbcrva.org/live

823 North 31st Street Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 226-0150 Office

C

Richmond Free Press

B4 August 4-6, 2022

Legal Notices Divorce VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER MICHELLE RUSSELL, Plaintiff v.

QUINCY JONES, Defendant.

Case No.: CL22001890-00 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, appear here on or before the 20th day of September, 2022 at 9:00 AM, and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Esquire VSB# 27724 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 OLGA TOMAS MACARIO, Plaintiff v.

MARCIEL LAYENES VASQUEZ, Defendant.

Case No.: CL22002238-00 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 September, 2022 at 9:00 AM, and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER KEVIN ROUSEY, Plaintiff v.

MELISSA ROUSEY Defendant.

Case No.: CL22002161-00 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 12th day of September, 2022 at 9:00 AM, and protect her interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER LISA WILSON, Plaintiff v.

EDWARD WILSON, Defendant.

Case No.: CL22002165-00 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 12th day of September, 2022 at 9:00 AM, and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667

Continued from previous column

Continued from previous column

Continued from previous column

Continued from previous column

Continued from previous column

It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown appear here on or before the 12th day of September, 2022 at 9:00 AM, and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667

of Ernest Lee (Father), Unknown Father (Father), Shanika Chantel Nichols (Mother) of 16En’Naja Myblessyn Lee, child DOB: 4/16/2021, “RPR” means all rights and responsibilities remaining with Parent after transfer of legal custody or guardianship of the person, including but not limited to rights of: Visitation; adoption consent; determination of religious affiliation; and responsibility for support and that: It is ORDERED that the defendants, Ernest Lee (Father), Unknown Father (Father), Shanika Chantel Nichols (Mother) to appear at the above-named Court and protect his/her interest on or before 9/20/2022, at 9:00 A.M., Courtroom #2 MCG.

briefly described as 2712 Chamberlayne Avenue, Tax Map Number N0000761/001, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Neighborhood Housing Services of Richmond, Inc. An Affidavit having been filed that SCOTT D. STOLTE, TRUSTEE of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 1818071 on August 29, 2018, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/ or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that SCOTT D. STOLTE, TRUSTEE of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 1818071 on August 29, 2018, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949

Claim of Rights to my Heirs I, Michael Prince Hodges Competent to speak, of sound Mind, claim all rights and title To my heirs as follows: their Names Khaiden Malachi Shackleford Cevallos, Kai Avery Shackleford Cevallos, Makeibe Lamar Harris Hodges with respect to any derivatives of the name thereof Anyone With any proof, knowledge to rebut my claim, shall state and Declare by public notice there Higher Claim and forward a copy To the following: notary Brittney Beo 3502 unit J Within 30 days of the first publishing date of this notice Note: All claims are subject to The Laws and Statues of the State of Virginia

to find that Rita J. Cousins and LeJene Cousins are the rightful owners of 1922 Princess Anne Avenue, City of Richmond, Virginia, and further identified as Tax Map #E000-0251-025 (the “Real Estate”), having acquired ownership by adverse possession, and grant such other relief as may be proper.

It is ordered that the fact of such petition be advertised, and notice is now given that on September 1, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. in the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond located at 400 North Ninth Street, Richmond, VA 23219 the Court will hear evidence on

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER ANNETTE ARRINGTON, Plaintiff v.

ROOSEVELT ARRINGTON, Defendant.

Case No.: CL22002164-00 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 12th day of September, 2022 at 9:00 AM, and protect his interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Esquire Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE COUNTY OF HENRICO JOHN LEE RICKS, Plaintiff, v.

LOUDORIS CAUTHEN RICKS, Defendant Civil Law No.: CL22-3920 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of the abovestyled suit is to obtain a divorce from the bonds of matrimony from the defendant on the grounds that the parties have lived separate and apart without interruption and without cohabitation for a period of more than one year, since April 12, 2012.

And it appearing by Affidavit filed according to law that the above-named defendant, is not a resident of this state and that due diligence has been used by or in behalf of plaintiff to ascertain in what county or city the defendant is, without effect.

It is therefore ORDERED that the said Loudoris Cauthen Ricks do appear in the Clerk’s Office of the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Henrico County, 4301 East Parham Road, Henrico, Virginia 21273, on or before September 19, 2022 and do whatever necessary to protect their interest in this suit.

I ask for this: Rudolph C. McCollum, Jr. VSB# 32825 P.O. 4595 Richmond, Virginia 23220 Phone -(804) 523-3900 Fax -(804) 523-3901 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE CITY OF RICHMOND REINA ZULMA RIVERA ALVARADO, Plaintiff v.

RONAL WALDEMAR PEREZ DE LA CRUZ, Defendant.

Case No.: CL22-2753-2 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce a vinculo matrimonii from the bond of matrimony from the Defendant on the ground of having lived separate and apart for a period of more than a year, pursuant to §20-91(A) (9) of the Code of Virginia; and It appearing to the court that the Defendant Ronal Waldemar Perez De La Cruz, cannot be found, and that diligence has been used with effect to ascertain the location of the party to be served; it is, therefore.

ORDERED that the D e f e n d a n t , R onal Waldemar Perez De La Cruz, appear at the abovenamed court and protect his interests on or before the 7th day of September, 2022.

I ask for this: Taylor R. Fisher (VSB #96130) Evolution Divorce & Family Law, PLLC 1500 Forest Avenue, Suite 117 Richmond, Virginia 23229 (804) 793-8200 (main) Counsel for Plaintiff

custodY

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER BEATRICE OWENS, Plaintiff v.

ROBERT OWENS, Defendant.

Case No.: CL22002166-00 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.

VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re EN’NAJA MYBLESSYN LEE RDSS v.

ERNEST LEE, UNKNOWN FATHER & SHANIKA CHANTEL NICHOLS File No. J-99663-10-11-12 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to: terminate the residual parental rights (“RPR”)

Continued on next column

Continued on next column

PROPERTY VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

HUDSON POINDEXTER, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL22-2875 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 1300 2/3 North 32nd Street, Tax Map Number E000-0720/011, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Hudson Poindexter.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, HUDSON POINDEXTER, upon information and belief deceased, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that HUDSON POINDEXTER, upon information and belief deceased, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES OF RICHMOND, INC, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL22-216 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property Continued on next column

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

HERMAN L. MORTON, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL22-3027 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 1804 Gordon Avenue, Tax Map Number S000-0641/006, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Herman L. Morton.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, HERMAN L. MORTON, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that HERMAN L. MORTON, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949 Legal Public Notice

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR HENRICO COUNTY In re; The Estate of Julia A Michaelyan, deceased Complainant, v.

David A. Shanahan and Parties Unknown Respondents.

Case Number CL22-3461 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to effect final distribution of the Estate of Julia A. Michaelyan, deceased, a resident of the County of Henrico.

And an affidavit having been made and filed that David A. Shanahan, if living is not a resident of this State and the Complaint having been filed that there are or may be persons interested in the subject to be distributed whose names are unknown and making them parties defendant by the general description of “parties unknown,” Now therefore it is ORDERED that the said nonresident defendant, David A. Shanahan, if he be living, said the said persons by the general description of “parties unknown” do appear on September 13, 2022 at 9 a.m. and do what is necessary to protect their interests.

The Estate of Julia A. Michaelyan

By Counsel I ask for this: Eppa Hunton, Esq. VSB #19135 Eppa Hunton, PC 8401 Patterson Ave., Suite 101 Henrico, VA 23229 804-747-4547 Fax 804-747-4951 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND RITA J. COUSINS and LeJENE COUSINS Plaintiffs v.

UNKNOWN HEIRS, DEVISEES, AND SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST OF HAYES COUSINS UNKNOWN HEIRS, DEVISEES, AND SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST OF OLIVIA COUSINS UNKNOWN HEIRS, DEVISEES, AND SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST OF ANNE C. MORRIS UNKNOWN HEIRS, DEVISEES, AND SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST OF EDNA COUSINS Defendants Case no.: CL22-2368 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is

Continued on next column

Continued on next column

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE THE RICHMOND REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY ON PROPOSED PRIVATE ACTIVITY BOND FINANCING FOR TOWNES AT RIVER SOUTH APARTMENTS MULTIFAMILY HOUSING FACILITY Notice is hereby given that the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (the “Authority”) will hold a public hearing on the request of River South Preservation, / 3 DQ DI¿OLDWH RI 5HODWHG $IIRUGDEOH //& WKH ³%RUURZHU´ ZKRVH DGGUHVV LV 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Floor, New York, New York 10001, for the issuance by the Authority of a maximum stated principal amount of $14,300,000 of its revenue bonds WKH ³%RQGV´ WR ¿QDQFH RU UH¿QDQFH D SRUWLRQ RI D WKH FRVW RI DFTXLULQJ FRQVWUXFWLQJ renovating, rehabilitating and equipping a multifamily residential rental housing SURMHFW FRQVLVWLQJ RI EXLOGLQJV FRQWDLQLQJ DSSUR[LPDWHO\ XQLWV D SURSHUW\ RI¿FH and maintenance buildings, to be known as Townes at River South Apartments (the “Project”) on approximately 16 acres of land located at East 9th and Everett Streets in WKH &LW\ RI 5LFKPRQG 9LUJLQLD LQFOXGLQJ WKH IROORZLQJ VWUHHW DGGUHVV ORFDWLRQV ( 9th Street, 307 E. 12th Street, 201 E. 9th Street, 215 E. 9th Street, 301 E. 11th Street, 301 E. 9th Street, 312 E. 9th Street, 301 E. 12th Street, 210 E. 9th Street, 301 E. 10th Street, 315 E. 11th Street, 300 E. 9th Street, 304 E. 9th Street, 200 E. 9th Street, 204 E. 9th Street, 209 E. 9th Street, 307 E. 9th Street, 311 E. 9th Street, 314 E. 10th Street, 308 E. 10th Street, 300 E. 10th Street, 313 E. 10th Street, 305 E. 10th Street, 310 E. 11th Street, 306 E. 11th Street, 300 E. 11th Street, 309 E. 11th Street, 300 E. 12th Street, 304 E. 12th Street, 312 E. 12th Street, 311 E. 12th Street, 315 E. 12th Street, 323 E. 12th Street, 331 E. 12th Street, 1205 Decatur Street, 1113 Decatur Street, 1016 Decatur Street, 1101 Decatur Street, 1008 Decatur Street, 1009 Decatur Street, 1000 Decatur Street, 1001 Decatur Street, 13 E. 12th Street, 15 E. 10th Street, 115 E. 9th Street, 111 E. 9th Street, 112 E. 9th Street, and 116 E. 9th Street, (b) the funding of reserve funds as permitted by applicable law and (c) the costs incurred in connection with the LVVXDQFH RI WKH %RQGV FROOHFWLYHO\ WKH ³3ODQ RI )LQDQFH´ 7KH 3URMHFW ZLOO PHHW WKH UHTXLUHPHQWV RI D TXDOL¿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

Continued on next column

Continued from previous column

Continued from previous column

this matter from any interested individual.

I ask for this: Hugh T. Antrim, VSB # 14721 ThompsonMcMullan, P.C. 100 Shockoe Slip Richmond VA 23219 (804) 649-7545 (804) 649-0654 facsimile

ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to: Petition this Court to order the sale of 2020 Ford Escape valued at $22,950 located in Henrico County.

It is ORDERED that the defendant appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or before 9/12/2022, at 10:00 A.M.

VIRGINIA: IN THE GENERAL DISTRICT COURT-CIVIL OF HENRICO Commonwealth of Virginia, in re WHITES TOWING INC v.

GREGORY STEWART Case No. GV22004008-00 Continued on next column

To advertise in the Richmond Free Press call 644-0496

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE THE RICHMOND REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY ON PROPOSED PRIVATE ACTIVITY BOND FINANCING FOR GUARDIAN PLACE II APARTMENTS MULTIFAMILY HOUSING FACILITY Notice is hereby given that the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority WKH ³$XWKRULW\´ ZLOO KROG D SXEOLF KHDULQJ RQ WKH UHTXHVW RI )DLU¿HOG *XDUGLDQ 3ODFH ,, LLC (the “Borrower”), whose address is 3811 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 750, Arlington, Virginia 22203, for the issuance by the Authority of a maximum stated principal amount RI RI LWV UHYHQXH ERQGV WKH ³%RQGV´ WR ¿QDQFH RU UH¿QDQFH D SRUWLRQ of (a) the cost of acquiring, constructing, renovating, rehabilitating and equipping a multifamily residential rental housing project consisting of one building containing DSSUR[LPDWHO\ XQLWV WR EH NQRZQ DV *XDUGLDQ 3ODFH ,, $SDUWPHQWV WKH ³3URMHFW´ on approximately 3.874 acres of land located at 3840 Mastin Lane in the City of Richmond, Virginia, (b) the funding of reserve funds as permitted by applicable law and (c) the costs incurred in connection with the issuance of the Bonds (collectively, the ³3ODQ RI )LQDQFH´ 7KH 3URMHFW ZLOO PHHW WKH UHTXLUHPHQWV RI D TXDOL¿HG UHVLGHQWLDO UHQWDO SURMHFW ZLWKLQ WKH PHDQLQJ RI 6HFWLRQ G RI WKH ,QWHUQDO 5HYHQXH &RGH RI DV DPHQGHG 7KH 3URMHFW LV H[SHFWHG WR EH RZQHG DQG XVHG E\ WKH %RUURZHU RU D SDUW\ UHODWHG WR WKH %RUURZHU 7KH SXEOLF KHDULQJ ZKLFK PD\ EH FRQWLQXHG RU adjourned, will be held at 9:30 a.m. on August 9, 2022 before representatives of the $XWKRULW\ 'XH WR WKH RQJRLQJ &29,' SDQGHPLF LQ DFFRUGDQFH ZLWK DSSOLFDEOH IHGHUDO 9LUJLQLD DQG ORFDO ODZ WKH SXEOLF KHDULQJ ZLOO EH FRQGXFWHG WKURXJK WROO IUHH conference call. Members of the public may participate in the public hearing by using WKH GLDO LQ QXPEHU DQG FRQIHUHQFH FRGH VHW IRUWK EHORZ ',$/ ,1 180%(5 &21)(5(1&( &2'( 7KH %RQGV ZLOO QRW SOHGJH WKH FUHGLW RU WKH WD[LQJ SRZHU RI WKH $XWKRULW\ RU WKH &LW\ of Richmond, Virginia but will be payable solely from the revenues derived from the Borrower and pledged therefor.

7KH SXEOLF KHDULQJ ZLOO SURYLGH DQ RSSRUWXQLW\ IRU LQWHUHVWHG SHUVRQV WR EH KHDUG DQG FRPPXQLFDWLRQV DQG ZULWLQJV WR EH UHFHLYHG DQG FRQVLGHUHG ,QWHUHVWHG SHUVRQV ZLVKLQJ WR H[SUHVV WKHLU YLHZV RQ WKH 3ODQ RI )LQDQFH PD\ DOVR VXEPLW ZULWWHQ FRPPHQWV SULRU WR WKH WLPH RI WKH KHDULQJ WR WKH $XWKRULW\¶V FR ERQG FRXQVHO 0LFKDHO : *UDII -U (VT 7\VRQV %RXOHYDUG 6XLWH 7\VRQV 9LUJLQLD DQG 1DQF\ *ULI¿Q &KDPEOLVV (VT (DVW 0DLQ 6WUHHW 6XLWH 5LFKPRQG 9LUJLQLD 7KH KHDULQJ VKDOO SURYLGH WKH IXOOHVW RSSRUWXQLW\ IRU WKH H[SUHVVLRQ RI RSLQLRQ for argument on the merits, and for the introduction of documentary evidence pertinent to the issuance of the Bonds.

5,&+021' 5('(9(/230(17 $1' +286,1* $87+25,7< NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE THE RICHMOND REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY ON PROPOSED PRIVATE ACTIVITY BOND FINANCING FOR GUARDIAN PLACE I APARTMENTS MULTIFAMILY HOUSING FACILITY Notice is hereby given that the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority WKH ³$XWKRULW\´ ZLOO KROG D SXEOLF KHDULQJ RQ WKH UHTXHVW RI )DLU¿HOG *XDUGLDQ 3ODFH , LLC (the “Borrower”), whose address is 3811 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 750, Arlington, Virginia 22203, for the issuance by the Authority of a maximum stated principal amount RI RI LWV UHYHQXH ERQGV WKH ³%RQGV´ WR ¿QDQFH RU UH¿QDQFH D SRUWLRQ of (a) the cost of acquiring, constructing, renovating, rehabilitating and equipping a multifamily residential rental housing project consisting of one building containing DSSUR[LPDWHO\ XQLWV WR EH NQRZQ DV *XDUGLDQ 3ODFH , $SDUWPHQWV WKH ³3URMHFW´ on approximately 2.696 acres of land located at 1620 North Hamilton Street in the City of Richmond, Virginia, (b) the funding of reserve funds as permitted by applicable law and (c) the costs incurred in connection with the issuance of the Bonds (collectively, the ³3ODQ RI )LQDQFH´ 7KH 3URMHFW ZLOO PHHW WKH UHTXLUHPHQWV RI D TXDOL¿HG UHVLGHQWLDO UHQWDO SURMHFW ZLWKLQ WKH PHDQLQJ RI 6HFWLRQ G RI WKH ,QWHUQDO 5HYHQXH &RGH RI DV DPHQGHG 7KH 3URMHFW LV H[SHFWHG WR EH RZQHG DQG XVHG E\ WKH %RUURZHU RU D SDUW\ UHODWHG WR WKH %RUURZHU 7KH SXEOLF KHDULQJ ZKLFK PD\ EH FRQWLQXHG RU adjourned, will be held at 9:30 a.m. on August 9, 2022 before representatives of the $XWKRULW\ 'XH WR WKH RQJRLQJ &29,' SDQGHPLF LQ DFFRUGDQFH ZLWK DSSOLFDEOH IHGHUDO 9LUJLQLD DQG ORFDO ODZ WKH SXEOLF KHDULQJ ZLOO EH FRQGXFWHG WKURXJK WROO IUHH conference call. Members of the public may participate in the public hearing by using WKH GLDO LQ QXPEHU DQG FRQIHUHQFH FRGH VHW IRUWK EHORZ ',$/ ,1 180%(5 &21)(5(1&( &2'( 7KH %RQGV ZLOO QRW SOHGJH WKH FUHGLW RU WKH WD[LQJ SRZHU RI WKH $XWKRULW\ RU WKH &LW\ of Richmond, Virginia but will be payable solely from the revenues derived from the Borrower and pledged therefor.

7KH SXEOLF KHDULQJ ZLOO SURYLGH DQ RSSRUWXQLW\ IRU LQWHUHVWHG SHUVRQV WR EH KHDUG DQG FRPPXQLFDWLRQV DQG ZULWLQJV WR EH UHFHLYHG DQG FRQVLGHUHG ,QWHUHVWHG SHUVRQV ZLVKLQJ WR H[SUHVV WKHLU YLHZV RQ WKH 3ODQ RI )LQDQFH PD\ DOVR VXEPLW ZULWWHQ FRPPHQWV SULRU WR WKH WLPH RI WKH KHDULQJ WR WKH $XWKRULW\¶V FR ERQG FRXQVHO 0LFKDHO : *UDII -U (VT 7\VRQV %RXOHYDUG 6XLWH 7\VRQV 9LUJLQLD DQG 1DQF\ *ULI¿Q &KDPEOLVV (VT (DVW 0DLQ 6WUHHW 6XLWH 5LFKPRQG 9LUJLQLD 7KH KHDULQJ VKDOO SURYLGH WKH IXOOHVW RSSRUWXQLW\ IRU WKH H[SUHVVLRQ RI RSLQLRQ for argument on the merits, and for the introduction of documentary evidence pertinent to the issuance of the Bonds.

5,&+021' 5('(9(/230(17 $1' +286,1* $87+25,7<

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE THE RICHMOND REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY ON PROPOSED PRIVATE ACTIVITY BOND FINANCING FOR SOUTH GATE APARTMENTS MULTIFAMILY HOUSING FACILITY

',$/ ,1 180%(5

Notice is hereby given that the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (the “Authority”) will hold a public hearing on the request of VST South Gate LLC, RU DQ DI¿OLDWH WKHUHRI FRQWUROOHG E\ VXFK HQWLW\ WKH ³%RUURZHU´ ZKRVH DGGUHVV LV 101 W. Commerce Road, 2nd Floor, Richmond, Virginia 23224, for the issuance by the Authority of a maximum stated principal amount of $10,000,000 of its revenue bonds WKH ³%RQGV´ WR ¿QDQFH RU UH¿QDQFH D SRUWLRQ RI D WKH FRVW RI DFTXLULQJ FRQVWUXFWLQJ renovating, rehabilitating and equipping a multifamily residential rental housing SURMHFW FRQVLVWLQJ RI EXLOGLQJV FRQWDLQLQJ DSSUR[LPDWHO\ XQLWV SURSHUW\ RI¿FH and maintenance buildings to be known as South Gate Apartments (the “Project”) on approximately 4.312 acres of land located at East 36th and Maury Streets in the City of Richmond, Virginia, (b) the funding of reserve funds as permitted by applicable law DQG F WKH FRVWV LQFXUUHG LQ FRQQHFWLRQ ZLWK WKH LVVXDQFH RI WKH %RQGV FROOHFWLYHO\ WKH ³3ODQ RI )LQDQFH´ 7KH 3URMHFW ZLOO PHHW WKH UHTXLUHPHQWV RI D TXDOL¿HG UHVLGHQWLDO rental project within the meaning of Section 142(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of DV DPHQGHG 7KH 3URMHFW LV H[SHFWHG WR EH RZQHG DQG XVHG E\ WKH %RUURZHU RU D SDUW\ UHODWHG WR WKH %RUURZHU 7KH SXEOLF KHDULQJ ZKLFK PD\ EH FRQWLQXHG RU adjourned, will be held at 9:30 a.m. on August 9, 2022 before representatives of the Authority. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in accordance with applicable federal, Virginia and local law, the public hearing will be conducted through toll-free conference call. Members of the public may participate in the public hearing by using the dial-in number and conference code set forth below:

&21)(5(1&( &2'(

',$/ ,1 180%(5

7KH %RQGV ZLOO QRW SOHGJH WKH FUHGLW RU WKH WD[LQJ SRZHU RI WKH $XWKRULW\ RU WKH &LW\ RI 5LFKPRQG 9LUJLQLD EXW ZLOO EH SD\DEOH VROHO\ IURP WKH UHYHQXHV GHULYHG IURP WKH %RUURZHU DQG SOHGJHG WKHUHIRU

CONFERENCE CODE: 1533568#

The public hearing will provide an opportunity for interested persons to be heard and communications and writings to be received and considered. Interested persons wishing to express their views on the Plan of Finance may also submit written FRPPHQWV SULRU WR WKH WLPH RI WKH KHDULQJ WR WKH $XWKRULW\¶V FR ERQG FRXQVHO 0LFKDHO : *UDII -U (VT 7\VRQV %RXOHYDUG 6XLWH 7\VRQV 9LUJLQLD DQG 1DQF\ *ULI¿Q &KDPEOLVV (VT (DVW 0DLQ 6WUHHW 6XLWH 5LFKPRQG 9LUJLQLD 23219. The hearing shall provide the fullest opportunity for the expression of opinion, for argument on the merits, and for the introduction of documentary evidence pertinent WR WKH LVVXDQFH RI WKH %RQGV 5,&+021' 5('(9(/230(17 $1' +286,1* $87+25,7<

7KH %RQGV ZLOO QRW SOHGJH WKH FUHGLW RU WKH WD[LQJ SRZHU RI WKH $XWKRULW\ RU WKH &LW\ of Richmond, Virginia but will be payable solely from the revenues derived from the %RUURZHU DQG SOHGJHG WKHUHIRU The public hearing will provide an opportunity for interested persons to be heard and communications and writings to be received and considered. Interested persons wishing to express their views on the Plan of Finance may also submit written comments prior to the time of the hearing to the Authority’s co-bond counsel, Michael W. Graff, Jr., Esq., 1750 7\VRQV %RXOHYDUG 6XLWH 7\VRQV 9LUJLQLD DQG 1DQF\ *ULI¿Q &KDPEOLVV Esq., 707 East Main Street, Suite 1000, Richmond, Virginia 23219. The hearing shall provide the fullest opportunity for the expression of opinion, for argument on the merits, DQG IRU WKH LQWURGXFWLRQ RI GRFXPHQWDU\ HYLGHQFH SHUWLQHQW WR WKH LVVXDQFH RI WKH %RQGV RICHMOND REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY