Richmond Free Press December 17-19, 2020 edition

Page 1

Meet this week’s charming Personality B1

Richmond Free Press © 2020 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 29 NO. 52

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

ee Fr

Fr ee

Wilson up for Man of the Year A8

DECEMber 17-19, 2020

Roll up your sleeve Va. officials introduce COVID-19 vaccine with initial inoculation of front line health workers By George Copeland Jr.

Dr. Audrey Roberson misses her family. The nurse manager of VCU Health’s Medical Respiratory Intensive Care Unit, Dr. Roberson was one of the first health workers at VCU Medical Center in Downtown to care for COVID-19 patients and has been on the front lines of the efforts to address the pandemic’s spread in Virginia. The work in the months since has left Dr. Roberson — out of necessity — distanced from her mother, an eight-year survivor of breast cancer, and other relatives for months, while having to face the stresses of a worsening health crisis. When the opportunity arose to be one of the first in Virginia to get a shot of the new COVID-19 vaccine, the choice was obvious for Dr. Roberson. On Wednesday, Dr. Roberson became the first VCU Health professional to receive a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. She got it while participating in an online news conference showing the first vaccinations for front line workers at VCU Medical Center. The program is part of a state and national push to vaccinate as many people as possible before the winter season fully sets in. “I’m here for my family,” said Dr. Roberson, who was joined by Gov. Ralph S. Northam, a physician who has had the coronavirus, VCU officials and other health care workers. “I’m also here for my work family and to let them know that we can do this, and that help has arrived, and 2021 is on the horizon and we’re going to have a better year,” Dr. Roberson said. After being inoculated by nurse Veronica Nolden, Dr. Roberson cheered, along with Gov. Northam and others. “Relief is finally here,” Dr. Roberson said. She, like others who have received the vaccine, will get a second dose in three weeks. VCU Health received its first shipment of 3,900 doses of the vaccine on Tuesday, after the federal Food and Drug Administration gave Pfizer a thumbs-up to begin distribution late last Friday. State health officials indicated the first shipPlease turn to A4

Free COVID-19 testing Free community testing for COVID-19 continues. The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations: • Thursday, Dec. 17, 2 to 4 p.m., Second Baptist Church of South Richmond, 3300 Broad Rock Blvd., South Side. Drive-thru testing. • Friday, Dec. 18, 10 a.m. to noon, Regency Square parking deck, 1420 N. Parham Road, Western Henrico. Drive-thru testing. • Monday, Dec. 21, 10 a.m. to noon, Eastern Henrico Health Department, 1400 N. Laburnum Ave., Eastern Henrico. Drivethru testing. Appointments are encouraged by calling the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Testing will be offered while test supplies last. The Chesterfield County Health Department also is offering free COVID-19 testing at the following location: • Second Baptist Church, 5100 W. Hundred

Please turn to A4

Kevin Morley/VCU University Relations

Dr. Audrey Roberson reacts after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday from nurse Veronica Nolden at VCU Health. Gov. Ralph S. Northam applauds in the background. Dr. Roberson, a nurse manager of the medical respiratory intensive care unit, was the first front line medical worker at VCU Health to receive the Pfizer vaccine.

VSU, NSU receive multimillion $ bonanzas Free Press staff report

Virginia State University just received a gift of $30 million, the largest private donation since its founding 138 years ago. Norfolk State University also received a record-setting gift of $40 million. The two Virginia schools are benefiting from the largesse of MacKenzie Scott, a published novelist who is the billionaire ex-wife of the world’s richest man, Amazon founder and chief executive Jeffrey P. “Jeff” Bezos. On Tuesday, Ms. Scott, already widely known for her philanthropy, announced she has awarded a total of $4.2 billion to 384 organizations, including 23 historically Black colleges and universities and the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship and United Negro College funds. Her latest gifts represent a $2.5 billion increase from the $1.7 billion in charitable giving she announced in July and has been distributing during the past four months. She stated she accelerated her giving due to the “wrecking ball” of the coronavirus that has boosted billionaires like herself, a beneficiary of the boom in online sales by global retailer Amazon. “I asked a team of advisers to help me accelerate my 2020 giving through support to people suffering the economic effects of the crisis,” Ms. Scott stated. “They took a data-driven approach to identifying organizations with strong leadership teams and results.” She stated that she started with a list of nearly 7,000 organizations and whittled it down to those she felt had a “high potential for impact.” The beneficiaries of her giving also include food banks, nonprofit food delivery services, United Way and YMCA chapters and other

people-helping charities. VSU President Makola M. Abdullah, in a statement typical of the overjoyed recipients, enthused that “Ms. Scott’s generosity will touch the lives of students for years to come.” “Thanks to her investment,” Dr. Abdullah continued, “students who are living through the challenges of a pandemic, a social justice movement and reduced scholarship funding will have additional resources as they continue to pursue

Every year, more than 2,300 special education students — 20 percent — are awarded essentially worthless diplomas when they graduate. That is one of the key findings of a new report showing Dr. that, despite substantial improvements, significant flaws remain in the state’s K-12 education program for disabled students – particularly

Black children — that leaves many ill-prepared for life after school. Issued Monday, the 132-page report from the watchdog Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission buttresses concerns from parents and the federal government about a Lane Virginia educational program that costs $2.6 billion a year. That’s about 15 percent of the $16 billion that is poured into the state’s public schools

yearly in local, state and federal funds. State Sen. Janet Howell of Fairfax, vice chair of the commission, called the report “devastating” after listening to a summary that outlined ways in which state and local school divisions have yet to meet requirements to provide a “free, appropriate public education” to disabled students. Dr. James E. Lane, the state superintendent of public instruction, pledged to implePlease turn to A4

Please turn to A4

Hampton president to step down after more than 40 years Free Press staff report

academic degrees, including 12 doctoral programs; increased the endowAfter more than four decades at ment from $29 million to more than the helm, Hampton University Presi$300 million; put four satellites into dent William R. Harvey announced orbit through grants and arrangements Monday that he will step down in with NASA; built a weather antenna June 2022. to detect hurricanes and storms up A native of Brewton, Ala., Dr. to 2,000 miles away; and opened a Harvey, 79, came to Hampton in 1978 proton beam cancer treatment center Dr. Harvey when it was still called Hampton that was one of only a handful in the Institute and was “slowly losing ground,” the nation when it opened in 2010. university said in a news release. But under his The campus and student enrollment also have leadership, the institution experienced a “steady, grown in the 43 years Dr. Harvey has been in four-decade plus climb of greatness.” Please turn to A4 During his tenure, Hampton added 92 new

History in her hands

State watchdog report finds significant flaws in state’s special education efforts By Jeremy M. Lazarus

their dreams of a world-class education.” VSU Rector Huron F. Winstead lauded Ms. Scott as “a shining example of how allies can leverage their wealth to create change.” Ms. Scott, whose wealth has jumped by $24 billion to $60 billion, according to Forbes magazine, also sent huge checks this month to HBCUs ranging from Bowie State and Morgan State universities in Maryland to Elizabeth City

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Storie Nzassi, the 7-year-old granddaughter of Delegate Delores L. McQuinn of Richmond, holds an enlarged copy of the cover of National Geographic Magazine’s January edition featuring a projection of George Floyd’s face on the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond. The Monument Avenue statue became a rallying point for protesters against police brutality and racial injustice following Mr. Floyd’s death in May at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. Images representing the struggle for civil rights and equality in the United States were projected onto the monument by Richmond artists Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui and photographed by Kris Graves for the cover. The youngster was attending a news conference last Friday with her grandmother at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, where Gov. Ralph S. Northam proposed $11 million in state funds be used to transform Monument Avenue. Please see related story on A2.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Richmond Free Press December 17-19, 2020 edition by Richmond Free Press - Issuu