Richmond Free Press December 6-8, 2018 Edition

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Meet the RPS ‘Teacher of the Year’

Redd retires

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Richmond Free Press © 2018 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 27 NO. 49

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

Dr. Corey Walker leaving VUU School of Theology By Jeremy M. Lazarus

www.richmondfreepress.com

DeCEMBER 6-8, 2018

In limbo

City Councilman Parker C. Agelasto casts decisive vote in latest poll on Coliseum project despite looming questions over his qualifications to hold 5th District seat

Virginia Union University will soon start looking for a new dean for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology. In a surprise move, Dr. Corey D.B. Walker announced in a letter to the students and faculty that he is leaving what he called his “dream” job as a VUU vice president, theology school dean and professor of religion and society on Dec. 31. Dr. Walker, who became dean on July 1, 2017, issued his resignation just 17 months after succeeding Dr. John W. Kinney, who retired after 27 years. VUU will lose an academic who was in demand as a lecturer on religion and culture around the world. He hinted that the “difficult decision” resulted from a disagreement over his management of the graduate theology school. In the Nov. 30 letter, Dr. Wa l k e r stated that he decided “after much Dr. Walker prayerful consideration that the position I accepted has fundamentally changed, and I feel it is only appropriate that I continue the Kevin Lamarque/Reuters journey that brought me back The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried into Washington National Cathedral on to Richmond in another profesWednesday by military pallbearers past his son, left, former President George W. Bush, and in the pew at right, sional capacity.” President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump; former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama; former A graduate of the VUU President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton; and former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter. seminary, he described the decision as “even more difficult because to come home (to lead the theology school) was a dream come true.” VUU spokeswoman Pamela H. Cox said Monday that “nothing nefarious was involved.” Instead, she said that Dr. Free Press wire reports of a thousand points of light.” Walker had accepted another The former president died peacefully on Friday, Nov. 30, position elsewhere. She deFormer President George H.W. Bush was celebrated with 2018, at his Houston home. The 94-year-old was surrounded clined to offer specifics until the high praise and loving humor Wednesday at a farewell to the by family and friends and reportedly had talked with his son, university releases an official man who was America’s 41st president and the last president George, on the phone, telling him that he loved him. statement to the campus. to serve on active duty in wartime. The former president had been struggling for some time Insiders at the school told the The current president and three former U.S. presidents with a form of Parkinson’s disease and had been hospitalized Free Press that Dr. Walker has looked on at Washington National Cathedral as a fourth former with pneumonia several times in recent months. accepted a position at nearby president — George W. Bush — eulogized his dad. Union Theological Seminary, “To us,” the son said of his father, “his was the brightest Please turn to A4

adjacent to the unincorporated Union Hill community that freedmen and former slaves established after the Civil War. With residents of Union Hill divided over the project, the state NAACP previously joined environmental justice groups and others in urging that the Please turn to A4

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State NAACP president muddies group’s stance against Dominion Energy pipeline project The Virginia State NAACP is reaffirming its opposition to Dominion Energy’s $6.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline because it believes a key element of the pipeline — a natural gas compressor station —poses a pollution risk to a historically African-American community in Buckingham County, 75 miles west of Richmond. The civil rights group restated that position in a letter to Gov. Ralph S. Northam ahead of a high-stakes meeting next week of the state Air Pollution Control Board. According to officials, the organization wants

to put an end to any questions about its stance on the project after the group’s president issued a letter appearing to endorse the pipeline. The Air Pollution Control Board, reduced from seven to four voting members because of actions by the governor and Rev. Chandler one member’s conflict of interest, is scheduled to meet Monday, Dec. 10, to consider approval for a permit for the crucial compressor station that Dominion Energy wants to build on land

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond City Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, 5th District, is continuing to play a prominent role on the nine-member governing board despite ongoing concerns about the legality of his seat on council since his move last summer to another council district. On Monday, despite feeling ill, Mr. Agelasto cast the decisive fifth vote to enable the council to move ahead over the objections of Mayor Levar M. Stoney to set up a citizens’ commission to review the $1.4 Mr. Agelasto billion plan to replace the Richmond Coliseum and develop new businesses and thousands of new apartments nearby. The commission would be established if the council formally approves the legislation at its meeting on Monday, Dec. 10. 2nd District Councilwoman Kim B. Gray, who proposed the commission, said that the city and the council repeatedly have created commissions to review proposals. Along with Mr. Agelasto and Ms. Gray, the commission proposal secured the support of Council President Chris A. Hilbert, 3rd District; Kristen N. Larson, 4th District; and Reva M. Trammell, 8th District, during a meeting of the council’s Organizational Development Committee. Mr. Agelasto’s status as a council member since his move to the 1st District was not mentioned. Still in talks over the planned Coliseum deal and unable yet to introduce any legislation to spell out the details, Mayor Stoney and his administration objected to the council doing what he has done in dealing with issues like the statues on Monument Avenue — establish a commission. Mayor Stoney, who argues that the commission is not need-

Nation bids farewell to former President George H. W. Bush

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

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Dynamic duo

On separate TEDx stages, a local mother and daughter share their perspectives on education and identity By Samantha Willis

They were already close, but Dr. Hollee Freeman said her bond with her daughter is even stronger after they were invited to speak at separate local TEDx events within weeks of each other. Danielle Freeman Jefferson, Dr. Freeman Dr. Freeman’s daughter, agreed. “It was an amazing experience, and it definitely added another layer to our relationship and how we understand each other,” said Ms. Jefferson, a freshman at North Carolina A&T State University. The TED talks series, which spotlights innovation

and thought leaders from a spectrum of disciplines worldwide, began in 1984 in Monterey, Calif. During that first event, speakers gave presentations on technological wonders such as the compact disc and electronic book. Since then, the series has expanded to include independently organized TEDx mini-conferences Ms. Jefferson in cities worldwide. Dr. Freeman, 51, and Ms. Jefferson, 18, were nominated to speak at the separate Richmond area TEDx events and selected by different organizing Please turn to A4

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Waiting for Santa Cheryl Brunson of Henrico and her three granddaughters are bundled up against the cold as they await the holiday floats and marching bands — and Santa — last Saturday at the 35th Annual Christmas Parade in Richmond. The youngsters, from left, are Maleah Atkinson and Lyric Dunlap, both 3, and Kha’mya Atkinson, 8. Please see more photos on A2 and B3.


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