Richmond Free Press October 12-14, 2023 edition

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OCTOBER 12-14, 2023

A year after scathing New York Times article, Bon Secours’ prescription for East End community includes jobs, training, upgraded facilities

Annual checkup

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond Community Hospital continues to buzz with construction as its owner, Bon Secours, builds up operations at the East End health care center.

The hospital system also is undertaking a major employee recruitment effort with the city’s Office of Community Wealth Building to fulfill its promise to diversify its work force and provide job opportunities for people living near the hospital.

All of the projects are part of Bon Secours’ efforts to carry out a three-year plan to upgrade health offerings and services at the 104-bed hospital that it purchased in 1995 from a group of Black doctors. The projects also are intended to end criticism that Bon Secours used Richmond Community as a cash machine for the rest of its Richmond-area operations.

A year ago, the New York Times alleged Bon Secours ofPlease turn to A4

Bon Secours Medical Center

File photo

Va. Dems call on Justice Department to investigate removals from voter rolls Kaine and Reps. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, Jennifer McClellan, Abigail Virginia’s Democratic CongresSpanberger, Donald Beyer, Jennifer sional delegation has asked the U.S. Wexton and Gerry Connolly.

Department of Justice to investigate The letter quoted an Oct. 3 statereports that eligible Virginia voters ment by the Virginia Department of were removed from the voter rolls by Elections that acknowledged more Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s adthan 10,000 individuals whose voting ministration, and to determine whether rights had been restored were removed Gov. Youngkin any violations of the Voting Rights Act from voter rolls over the past nine or other federal laws were committed. months. Some of those removals were caused by The request was made in a letter sent to At- a systems error that recorded technical probation torney General Merrick Garland on Oct. 6, and was signed by U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Please turn to A4

By Debora Timms

Private school’s closure leaves students without a classroom

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

George Copeland Jr./Richmond Free Press

Perry Whitaker, a Drive to Work client, recently spoke during the Second Chance luncheon at the Jefferson Hotel about how the organization helped him obtain his driver’s license and employment after he was no longer incarcerated. Standing to his left is Drive to Work’s CEO Sara R. Wilson.

The sudden closure of Richmond-based Metropolitan Day School has left some disabled public schools students in a lurch.

Driven In operation for more than two decades, the private school in North Side abruptly shut down Sept. 6 after a damaging rainstorm exposed serious problems with the building that made it unusable without major renovation.

The 13 students who were enrolled at Metropolitan were assigned there to gain access to Mr. Whitaker was among several Drive to

By George Copeland Jr. its specialized services for students with severe Work clients who recently gathered at The emotional and behavioral problems.

Perry Whitaker is on the road to rebuild- Jefferson Hotel for the group’s annual Second At least 10 of the students were from Richmond ing his life.

Chance luncheon. Politicians and judges also Public Schools.

The founder and owner of A Step Above attended the event that celebrated Drive to The Free Press has been told that most of the LLC, Mr. Whitaker’s life took a turn after Work’s success in aiding their clients. students have not seen the inside of a classroom he was incarcerated from 2015 to 2022 for For Mr. Whitaker, staying focused was since Metropolitan shut down, an apparent violapossession of controlled substances. He key. tion of federal and state laws requiring local school lost his driver’s license in the process and “I just continued to push and push and systems to provide a free and appropriate education, endured an uphill battle to get it back and push,” Mr. Whitaker said, as he shared his or FAPE, to students with disabilities. find employment. journey. “Working is therapy for me — I’m The Free Press has sent a request for a response Today, a year after his release in June at peace and I just love it.” from RPS officials and members of the School 2022, Mr. Whitaker has found a new future Jeremy Lazarus/Richmond Free Press The luncheon was just one of many initiaBoard. Most appear to have been unaware of the Dr. Donna Robinson’s son, Shamar through faith, community and the aid of tives provided by Drive to Work, which since private school’s closing and indicated a response L. Muhammadali, 12, has been an organization that helped him regain his would be forthcoming after the situation was accompanying her to work since his Please turn to A4 driver’s license. investigated. private school closed last month.

One example of the students who are out of school is seventh-grader Shamar L. Muhammadali, the adopted son of Dr. Donna M. Robinson, who has been raising him since his parents died.

Now 12, Shamar was sent to Metropolitan two years ago after being diagnosed with ADD and ADHD, she said.

Those initials are acronyms for children who cannot sit still in a classroom and have major difficulty staying focused.

“He needs to go to school, but he hasn’t had anywhere to go,” said Dr. Robinson, a Fulton-area resident.

She said she notified Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press Shamar’s home school, Martin Luther King Jr. Middle, after being told that Metropolitan Hundreds of people from Richmond and other parts of the region attended the 35th Annual 2nd Street Festival Oct. 7-8 in Historic Jackson Ward. The popular festival celebrates the history and culture of Jackson Ward with dancing, music, refreshments and more. Festival goers also couldn’t resist taking a peek — up would not reopen.

Program helps residents regain driver’s licenses, better quality of life

It’s a classic

Please turn to A4

close or not — at the lineup of classic cars. Caleb Wilson, 3, and Caiden Wilson, 7, smile for the camera while their mother, Simone Wilson, keeps a watchful eye on them. Please see more photos on B2.

Richmond Free Press

A2 October 12-14, 2023

Local News

Fairfield meeting to feature local candidates, Thornton’s farewell message Free Press staff report

Henrico County Board of Supervisors Chairman and Fairfield District Supervisor Frank J. Thornton will hold his final Fairfield Constituent Meeting on Monday, Oct. 16, to highlight local candidates in the Nov. 7 general election and to share a farewell message as he prepares to retire.

Mr. Thornton has invited the candidates for the following offices to make brief remarks: Fairfield District representative of the Board of Supervisors and the School Board as well as Henrico County Sheriff, Clerk of the Circuit Court and Commonwealth’s Attorney. He also will share a brief history of the Henrico County Mr. Thornton Civic League.

Mr. Thornton, who took office Jan. 1, 1996, will retire from the Board of Supervisors when his seventh term ends Dec. 31. With his election, he became Henrico’s first Black supervisor.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the Eastern Henrico Recreation Center, 1440 N. Laburnum Ave. The public is invited to participate in person or remotely via WebEx. To join the meeting by phone, dial 1-415-655-0002 and enter the access code 2301 082 5146 and then, if prompted, the password 24856652.

For more information, please call (804) 501-4208 or visit henrico. us/supervisors/fairfield-district.

Marvin Mundy approved for parole

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Marvin M. Mundy could be home for the holidays.

The Richmond native who has spent 36 years in prison for his role in the 1988 murder of the night manager and a guest at a Henrico County hotel has been approved for parole.

In August the Richmond Free Press spotlighted the compelling case he made for release, and the Virginia Parole Board recently agreed he had served enough time.

The board on Sept. 8 approved his parole after the latest review of his fitness to leave prison and live a productive live.

His family said Mr. Mundy was overjoyed at the news, though he has some mandatory Department of Corrections’ programs he must complete before the prison doors will open for him.

He is expected to complete them within Mr. Mundy 90 days, his family said, which could allow him to celebrate Christmas with his fiancée, Michelle Leonard, and his family, outside of confinement.

It is unclear whether that will happen. His family said they are hopeful, but added no one would not be surprised if he were released in early 2024. He is currently housed in the Greensville Correctional Center.

Mr. Mundy’s request for parole received support from at least 14 Department of Corrections employees and various elected officials, including 4th District Congresswoman Jennifer L. McClellan, according to a report the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse (VCCC) at Washington and Lee University Law School wrote spelling out the reasons the Parole Board should release him.

During his time in prison, Mr. Mundy was credited with saving the lives of a guard at the Greensville Correctional Center and the warden at the Buckingham Correctional Center from attacks by other prisoners.

Since entering prison, the Muslim convert also has become a licensed barber who cuts other prisoners’ hair, completed high school, took training classes in eight different occupations, completed counseling programs and devised several counseling programs of his own to assist other inmates.

Cityscape

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Slices of life and scenes in Richmond

A lounge area on one of two bridges connecting both sides of the Greater Richmond Convention Center overlooks Marshall Street in Downtown Richmond.

VCU class creates story maps of 2 historic Black cemeteries Free Press staff report

Graduate students in a Virginia Commonwealth University class have created online story maps of two historic Black burial grounds, the Cemeteries of Barton Heights in Richmond and Woodland Cemetery in Henrico County.

The result: A wealth of information about the historic sites drawn from archival research, mapping technology and interviews with descendants that can be accessed by the community.

The information has been placed at storymaps.arcgis.com. The information on Barton Heights can be accessed with a computer search for Cemeteries of Barton Heights storymaps; the information on Woodland can be found with a search for Woodland Cemetery story maps.

The story maps are the creation of students in Dr. Meghan Gough’s class in Sustainable Community Development at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. The class is part of the program for students seeking master’s degrees in urban and regional planning.

The students developed the story maps in partnership with the Descendants Council of Greater Richmond Virginia, the Woodland Restoration Foundation and Friends of East End Cemetery.

“We wanted to use the story maps as a tool to share the history and importance of these cemeteries. By working alongside

descendants, we were able to learn about and honor people who lived, worked and contributed to this city,” said Dr. Gough, an associate VCU professor of urban and regional studies.

“We hope this project contributes to community dialogue about our collective past,” said Dr. Gough, who also co-leads the Cemetery Collaboratory with Dr. Ryan K. Smith, a VCU history professor who specializes in Richmond cemeteries, and two faculty members at the University of Richmond.

Peighton L. Young, co-chair of the Descendants Council Dr. Gough of Greater Richmond Virginia said the story maps “engage the whole of Richmond’s community by making knowledge of these cemeteries accessible. By doing so, they encourage the average person to get involved in preserving some of our city’s most sacred places.

“This project emphasizes the need for everyone to understand these sites as part of our shared past, our shared history and our public memory,” added Mr. Young, who has relatives buried at Woodland.

William Teeples, a student in the class, said he hopes the story maps will allow descendants of those buried to connect with other descendents and add more

information about the people who are buried there.

The 12-acre Barton Heights Cemeteries is located along St. James Street in North Side and dates to 1815, according to city records. Up to eight separate Black organizations provided burials on what had been known as Academy Hill before it closed in 1904.

Historian Diane Lester revived interest in the cemeteries in the 1990s that have long been property of the city. The city fenced them and assigned them to its Cemetery Division to maintain them.

The private Woodland Cemetery began operations in 1916, after a failed attempt to launch it in 1891. The neglected and overgrown cemetery, long in private hands, was purchased by Marvin Harris and the Woodland Restoration Foundation in 2020 with help from Henrico County and the family of tennis great and humanitarian Arthur Ashe Jr., who is buried there.

The foundation has continued to maintain it with help from a large cadre of volunteers.

John Shuck, a board member and volunteer coordinator with the Woodland Restoration Foundation, said the story map on Woodland is a valuable resource.

“It kind of gives the overall history of what’s been going on at Woodland,” Mr. Shuck said. “I think it’s good to have everything wrapped up at one place in one package.”

Free community testing for COVID-19 continues The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations: • Thursday, Oct. 12, 1 to 5 p.m. - Henrico Arms Apartments, 1566 Edgelawn Circle.

• Friday, Oct. 13, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Southside Women, Infant and Children Office, 509 E. Southside Plaza.

Call the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 2053501 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 COVID19 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 vaccines for COVID-19 and more. Those interested 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 COVID19 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.

The Pfizer booster is approved for ages 12 and up, while the new Moderna booster is for ages 18 and older.

As with previous COVID-19 boosters, the new doses can only be received after an initial two vaccine shots, and those who qualify are instructed to wait at least two months after their second COVID-19 vaccine.

The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts also offer bivalent Pfizer and Moderna boosters to children between the ages of 5 and 11. Children in this age range will be eligible after at least two months since their last vaccine dose.

Compiled by George Copeland Jr.

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State Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Shelton smiles while getting a flu shot on Tuesday at the Bon Secours Sarah Jones Garland Center for Healthy Living in Richmond’s at Richmond Community Hospital. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney chats with Sam Patterson, the liaison for Richmond City Councilwoman Cynthia Newbille. Mike Lutes, president, Bon Secours Richmond, is in the background.

Flu fight Virginia State Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Shelton, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and other local officials gathered Tuesday at the Bon Secours Sarah Jones Garland Center for Healthy Living at Richmond Community Hospital to encourage Virginians young and old to receive a seasonal flu shot to protect themselves and others from illness.

“Flu vaccine is plentiful, and I urge everyone eligible to get vaccinated. I get a flu shot every year because it’s easy and effective protection during a time of year when respiratory viruses are circulating,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Shelton. “Nobody wants to be sidelined with the flu, and while most healthy people get over the flu, people with underlying health issues are at greater risk for serious flu complications.”

Now is the time to get a flu shot as the colder months approach when people spend more time indoors, which is often associated with elevated rates of cold, flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV),

and COVID-19 infection, Dr. Shelton and other health care providers said.

“Bon Secours is committed to improving the health status of patients in our community,” said Mike Lutes, president of Bon Secours Richmond. “We encourage members of the community to talk with their primary care providers about protecting themselves against the flu, which hospitalizes thousands of people every year.”

“Getting an annual flu shot is a simple and effective way to protect yourself and your loved ones from serious illness” added Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association President and CEO Sean T. Connaughton. “Taking that precautionary step can help keep children healthy and in school and people going about their lives without interruption due to sickness. It can also help reduce burden on the health care delivery system during the winter months when flu, RSV and COVID-19 cases tend to increase, leading to more visits to the doctor and

hospital stays.”

During Tuesday’s event, flu shots were made available to participants, including a brave and smiling Dr. Shelton who rolled up her sleeve to receive a vaccine dose.

“Getting a flu shot makes sense for so many reasons,” noted Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney. “Not only does it offer personal protection against illness, it is also a way to be considerate of our communities and the people around us.”

The CDC recommends that most Americans age 6 months and older receive an annual flu shot, which can reduce a person’s risk for becoming ill and can help reduce the severity of illness in people who contact the virus.

Flu shots are covered by many commercial insurance plans and Medicare and Medicaid. They are available at many medical practices and pharmacies.

Anyone looking for a flu shot is encouraged to visit https://www.vaccines.gov/ find-vaccines/

Richmond Free Press

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Richmond Free Press

A4 October 12-14, 2023

News

A year after scathing New York Times article, Bon Secours’ prescription for East End community includes jobs, training, upgraded facilities Continued from A1

fered a prime example of hospital systems using operations in low-income areas to gain revenue from a federal drug discount program, 340B, to expand operations in middle- and upper-class areas.

“Profits Over Patients: How a Hospital Chain Used a Poor Neighborhood to Turn Huge Profit,” the New York Times headline read in the Sept.

24, 2022, article.

The 340B program allows hospitals to buy expensive cancer drugs at a steep discount and bill insurance companies full price, generating a stream of revenue that is to be used to improve services in areas with high levels of poverty.

Although Bon Secours said it does just that in stoutly rejecting the newspaper’s assertion, the allegations have caught the attention of Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician.

He has begun an investigation into the use of 340B funds by the Bon Secours Richmond operation and the Cleveland Clinic through the Senate’s health committee on which he is the ranking minority member.

Bon Secours, which has asserted that it operates its 340B program through Richmond

Community “with the highest level of integrity,” plans to cooperate with the senator’s inquiry in an effort to dispel what it calls “a misleading picture of the high-quality, compassionate care that the hospital provides to the city of Richmond and the East End.” Meanwhile Bon Secours continues to move forward on plans in development well before the Times’ article appeared.

After opening a $16.5 million office building on the campus earlier this year, Bon Secours now has a $4.5 million project underway to install a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suite in the hospital to replace equipment that failed in 2022, as well as a temporary replacement.

Another $2 million is being spent to install an urgent care center that is to open by early January in the new office building.

Additional expenditures are being made to spruce up the hospital’s campus at 28th Street and Nine Mile Road, according to Bon Secours.

Separately, a recruitment initiative is set to launch next Saturday, Oct. 21, with a job fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bon Secours Sarah Garland Jones Center, 2600 Nine Mile Road, it has been announced.

The hospital system, which previously only paid for current employees seeking to move

up or change jobs to enroll in educational programs, now plans to offer that same benefit to applicants who need additional training and certifications.

The hospital system, according to a Bon Secours spokesman, has begun offering paid tuition to people seeking positions in fields ranging from nursing and nursing support positions to medical assisting and laboratory and respiratory positions. Also, tuition coverage will expand next year for careers such as pharmacy tech and surgical technology, Bon Secours stated, as well as for foundational programs such as the GED or high school equivalency.

Such initiatives have tended to quiet, though not silence Bon Secours’ most severe local critics, notably the Richmond Coalition for Health Care Equity (RCHCE), which used the New York Times article as a springboard to lobby Bon Secours to use the 340B savings to improve health care in the East End and other low-income areas.

The addition of an on-site pharmacy and the restart of obstetrics and gynecology services on the Richmond Community campus are among ways Bon Secours is carrying out its plan.

Bon Secours also has established new protocols to simplify the transfer from its emergency

room of patients needing more intensive care than it can provide. It is working to create an outpatient clinic of health issues involving the brain, feet and crucial hormones as well as offering surgery, cancer treatment and lung care, according to the hospital.

Responding to the Bon Secours’ initiatives, the RCHCE stated again that it is “encouraged

by Bon Secours’ progress on its commitment to make much needed improvements to medical services available at Richmond Community Hospital, and in diversifying its medical and support workforce and its suppliers.”

Despite the praise, the coalition cautioned that it still believes “Bon Secours continues to underperform in the area that triggered the storm of negative media coverage and community uproar: its lack of transparency regarding the amount of money it makes through Richmond Community Hospital’s participation in the federal 340B discounted drug pricing program, and the extent to which that money is reinvested in RCH and the medically needy Richmond City community it serves.”

The coalition concluded that it would “soon have more to say based on (survey results) of East End residents’ opinions regarding Richmond Community Hospital and its services.”

Program helps residents regain driver’s licenses, better quality of life Continued from A1

its founding in 2007, has sought to help the formerly incarcerated and low-income residents regain driver’s licenses and privileges necessary for travel and work.

The organization was founded by former Virginia Secretary of Public Safety O. Randolph Rollins, who served under Gov. L. Douglas Wilder’s administration.

While Mr. Rollins did not attend the luncheon, other highprofile guests included Virginia Sen. Lamont Bagby, Delegate Betsy Carr, and others who came to show their support for Drive to Work’s mission and accomplishments.

“In this room, we share a common belief that everyone deserves a second chance, regardless of the challenges they have encountered in life,” Drive to Work Chairman Sharon L. Burr said. “The ability to drive is often taken for granted. But for many, it’s a key to self-sufficiency and a fresh start.”

In the 16 years since its creation, Drive to Work has grown to serve 97% of Virginia’s cities and counties, as well as 34 other states and the Washington, D.C. area. Over 14,400 people have sought the group’s help to regain or work toward their driver’s licenses in that time, with 28 licenses restored between July 2022 and June 2023.

The correlation between transportation and job opportunity is the cornerstone of Drive to Work’s many initiatives. From inperson and online driver instruction and improvement courses, re-entry education through collaboration with groups such as the Department of Corrections and the Dignity of Work Foundation, the group works on multiple fronts to provide restoration and renewal for those in need.

“It took two years to get my driving privileges reinstated,” said Kenneth Judkins Sr., who lost his driver’s license in October 2003 due to driving under the influence. “I now have my own handyman service.”

“Thank you for a second chance,” he told the audience.

Drive to Work is in the midst of its latest endeavor, the Blue Ridge Mile program, which focuses on the systemic issues faced navigating the courts and DMV to regain or obtain driver’s licenses.

The program first started with a pilot partnership between Drive to Work, Buena Vista General District Court and Washington & Lee University’s Shepherd Program for Poverty.

W&L students trained by Drive to Work have helped residents going through the legal process to gain or restore their driver’s licenses since 2022, with 61 clients assisted and seven licenses restored as of January.

“I don’t see any benefit in putting someone in jail or putting more suspension time on someone who doesn’t have a driver’s license,” said Buena Vista District Court Judge Robin Mayer, who was inspired to find solutions after seeing people repeatedly return to court with no progress in getting licenses, leading to client frustration and oversized caseloads.

“With 10 people on every docket I just needed a little help.”

The program has already expanded to the Lexington/Rockbridge General District Court since it started a year earlier and was recognized with a Leyburn Award from Omicron Delta Kappa for outstanding community service and leadership in March.

While Drive to Work has made strides to address the challenges of license restoration, there remain several aspects of that process that are inefficient, obfuscated or make the effort more difficult for all involved.

Drive to Work President and CEO Sara R. Wilson highlighted several current issues the group will address in the future, including driving while suspended cases that get purged from the legal system due to their age, issues in customer service, and the financial toll and frequent travel needed to get driver’s licenses, among other problems.

As such, Drive to Work plans to advocate for a number of measures in the year ahead and beyond, a temporary restricted license for motor vehicle-related civil judgments and improving

George Copeland Jr./Richmond Free Press

Kenneth Judkins Sr. shares his Drive to Work journey during the organization’s Second Chance Luncheon recently at the Jefferson Hotel.

communication between the courts and the Department of Motor Vehicles when it comes to these cases and the information needed.

“The goal at the end of the day is to help people get their licenses and be valuable, contributing members of society,” Ms. Wilson said. “And feel good about themselves and achieve and accomplish a goal.”

Va. Democrats call on Justice Department to investigate removals from voter rolls Continued from A1

violations as new felony conviction — a problem the Youngkin administration says it is working to correct.

Several days later it acknowledged that at least 270 voters were impacted by this error and erroneously removed. As it continues trying to identify affected voters, the administration has stated that it will reinstate eligible voters as quickly as possible and notify them of this action.

The Democratic letter writers suggest however, that there could potentially be thousands of Virginia voters who may have been disenfranchised because of this error. This is an “enormous

barrier to the democratic process,” especially with early voting already underway, the letter states.

Virginia is one of the only states that permanently disenfranchises citizens with felony convictions unless the governor restores this right to them, according to the letter. Since the 1980s, governors from both parties have tried to simplify the process for restoring voting rights. The Democratic Congressional delegation argues this course was reversed by Gov. Youngkin and restoration of voting rights is now subject to a “slower and more opaque process.”

The delegation cites previous issues with Virginia’s voter registration system, including the delayed processing of hundreds of thousands of voter registrations last year and

the state’s withdrawal in May from the interstate Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) which aims to keep voter rolls up to date.

The closing paragraph of the letter urges immediate action from the Justice Department to investigate how the removals happened and what is being done to ensure voters illegally removed are notified of their eligibility to vote.

The Democratic Congressional delegation said swift action is necessary “to ensure every citizen’s right to the ballot box is protected as required by the Voting Rights Act.” All 140 seats in the General Assembly are on the ballot in November.

Private school’s We stand and weclosure fearlessly fight leaves students without for for Equality a classroom Equality Continued from A1 Justice Justice Dr. Robinson said it took at least a Opportunity week for a staff member Opportunity to respond and another week before a potential solution was offered.

Freedom Freedom

She said she was initially promised that Shamar would receive a laptop computer and would be able to get one hour of virtual learning a day while another placement was located.

“That was hardly enough,” she said. “But even that didn’t The People’s Paper happen.”

She said she was finally told MLK lacked the staff to provide & 'SBOLMJO 4USFFU 3JDINPOE 7JSHJOJB r

the virtual learning sessions via computer.

Two more weeks passed, she said, before she was contacted by another private school in response to an RPS request. She said she was given an appointment for Shamar to be interviewed on Oct. 19 to see if he would be a fit with the program.

“There is no guarantee he will be allowed to attend,” Dr. Robinson said.

Since the closure, Shamar has accompanied her to work at a private residential Christian school in Chester.

Dr. Robinson said she creates worksheets for him to complete and also has him connect with virtual educational programming and games using his cell phone.

“But I’m too busy to serve as his teacher,” she said.

“I’m doing the best I can, but he needs to be in a classroom,” she said. “RPS sent him to Metropolitan. When that school closed, they had a responsibility to make sure he was placed in a classroom setting at MLK or in another private school.

“I want to him to have an education, and I am upset that RPS does not seem to be taking their duty to serve Shamar seriously.”

Richmond Free Press

We stand

for Equality Justice Opportunity Freedom

and we fearlessly fight for Equality Justice Opportunity Freedom

Richmond Free Press The People’s Paper

& 'SBOLMJO 4USFFU 3JDINPOE 7JSHJOJB r

Richmond Free Press

To Our Patients and Communities: Thank you for entrusting us with your care.

We are pleased to announce that we have signed a new long-term agreement with Anthem. This means that you will be able to have full access to the Bon Secours providers you trust with the confidence that they are in-network and covered by your Anthem insurance plans.

We appreciate your support as we continue to provide care to you and your family.

Being part of this community is an honor. It’s also a responsibility we take seriously, and we are committed to serving you with dignity, respect and compassion.

17114BONPRI (10-23)

October 12-14, 2023 A5

Richmond Free Press Mushrooms in Jackson Ward Editorial Page

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October 12-14, 2023

Needed: A better deal Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration hoped to expand a program that helps city employees to buy homes in the city.

City Council members blocked that plan.

Why? Because members of the governing body wanted more emergency funding that aids desperate lower-income families to stave off eviction or to pay unexpected bills that could wipe out paychecks.

So a deal was cut.

The administration agreed to provide an additional $800,000 in city tax dollars for the emergency fund that the Presbyterian-affiliated nonprofit HumanKind administers for the city. The ordinance authorizing that expenditure is expected to be approved at the next council meeting on Monday, Nov. 13.

In response, the council voted Monday to allow the administration to use $1.3 million in federal American Rescue Plan money to expand the home purchasing to all qualifying employees. The program previously was open only to police officers, firefighters and teachers.

The program provides up to $25,000 per purchaser and is designed to serve those employees below management ranks.

We think the council sold out cheap. Instead of $800,000, council should have sought double the amount that the administration plans to use for the expanded homebuyer assistance program.

The reason?

The need for emergency help far exceeds the number of city employees who need help buying homes. At most, the expanded program could only serve 52 employees, if each gained $25,000. And with the average price of Richmond area homes hovering around $350,000, $25,000 does not stretch very far.

The emergency fund already has helped more than 500 families and is continuing to add to that number.

Initially $1 million in federal funds started the program last year. The council then insisted another $1 million be included in the current budget that started July 1.

The initial $1 million is spent, and that rate of spending means the second $1 million will run out in December.

If that level of payout continues as anticipated, the fresh $800,000 would run out in May. If this fund is a priority for City Council, and we think it should be, its members need to be serious about providing sufficient money now and in the future to keep it viable.

During Monday’s council meeting, 5th District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch, the leading advocate for the emergency aid, said the vision is for the fund to have enough money to meet urgent needs and also help struggling homeowners pay their property tax bills.

That isn’t going to happen if council takes the easy way out and shortchanges the fund in exchange for allowing the administration to proceed with a worthy, but essentially small proposal that will aid a relatively small number of individuals.

Mayor Stoney has been a supporter of direct aid. An example is The Richmond Resilience Project he started in 2020 with a grant from the Robins Foundation that allowed 18 low-income families to each receive a $500 a month stipend with no strings attached for two years.

Fresh grants expanded the grants in 2022, enrolling 37 families for two years.

Yet, as he approaches his final year in office, Mayor Stoney has not made this family crisis fund a top priority for his administration. In our view, the council must insist that he does.

Conflict “War is hell,” Union Gen. William T. Sherman once observed during the Civil War. It has remained an apt description of the terror and agony that conflict produces, and it certainly applies to what is happening in Ukraine, and now in Israel and Gaza.

We can only grieve the widespread suffering and death that has resulted from the eruption of war between Israel and the Hamas organization based in Gaza.

Like many, we condemn the hate-filled Hamas force for launching on Oct. 7 a surprise barrage of rockets on Israeli communities along with a short-lived, but brutal assault that left 1,000 civilians dead.

Likewise, we mourn the loss of 900 civilian lives in Gaza from Israel’s counteroffensive.

Along with those killed, thousands have been wounded on both sides. The vast majority of the victims of this conflict are civilians, including many women and children, and these numbers are rising by the hour.

Knowing there are 150 hostages in Gaza haunts us. We read about or watch on television a panicked woman being dragged off by militants on a motorcycle, a terrified mother, wrapped in a blanket, clasping her two young children.

Eli Elbag had tried for 12 hours to contact his soldier daughter Liri, 18, who was training to be a lookout at the Gaza border, reports the Associated Press. A video showed her “crowded into the back seat of an Israeli military truck that militants had commandeered, sitting next to two other hostages, one with blood covering his face.”

Mr. Elbag said he understands the Israeli operation but remains concerned for Liri’s safety.

“Nobody,” he told the AP, “can understand what we are feeling.”

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Public education is vital to a democracy America owes much of its prominence and prosperity to the fact that it has led the world in popular education. Even without a public school system, we had the highest literacy in the world in the 19th century. We were among the first to provide public school to the young through the 12th grade.

We were the first to open the doors of colleges and universities – significantly through the GI Bill after World War II – to children from all levels of income.

Today, however, public education in the United States is under siege. Public schoolteachers and librarians have become punching bags in the political wars.

Teachers are underpaid and overstressed. College is priced out of reach for more and more children, with administrators and facilities consuming ever more of the resources, while professors and graduate assistants fall behind. Schools are now battlefields in our partisan political wars. Job satisfaction for public schoolteachers is at a 50-year low. Thousands are

leaving the profession and fewer and fewer college students are taking it up.

Florida offers a good example.

Its governor, Ron DeSantis, has made the “war on wokeism” a centerpiece of his presidential political campaign. He has signed into law multiple “educational gag orders” – criminalizing classroom discussions on race, gender

Jesse Jackson and history that might make white students “feel guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress.” School libraries are purged of books, with librarians at risk if they don’t fall in line. Even the teaching of Shakespeare has been censored in some districts as too racy for children to hear (the same children who too often share far more shocking material on social media).

Florida teacher salaries are ranked 48th in the country. Now teachers are not only unpaid but they are assailed, vilified and threatened – not only with the loss of a job but with potential criminal charges.

The result – not surprisingly – is that the brightest and best teachers are headed North. When Gov. DeSantis became governor in 2019, the Nation Magazine

reports, Florida already had a teacher shortage in grades K through 12 of 2,217. When he began his second term four years later, that number had more than doubled. This August, the Florida Education Association reported the number of unfilled positions at an unimaginable 7,000. The destructiveness of Gov. DeSantis’ war on wokeism is likely to be felt for a generation.

As public institutions engaged with children, schools have always been centers of controversy. In the South, segregation enforced separate but unequal schools, dividing children by race. In the North, as Jonathan Kozol detailed, public schools reflected the “savage inequality” of neighborhood disparities in wealth and race. Busing is routine across America, but it became a lightning rod when courts ordered busing to try to integrate schools in metropolitan areas.

Passionate debates about what is taught, what books are read, what history is imparted are inevitable. We want children to learn about America’s triumphs, but we also can’t whitewash our history and present it as a fairy tale. Children need to learn about our victories and our failures, our horrors, our shameful chapters, as well. We can’t learn from our mistakes if we don’t admit

Consequences of childhood trauma While the first week of October represents Morgan State University’s week of homecoming events, many of those activities were either postponed or canceled, along with the cancellation of classes. Five people, ages 18 to 22, including four students, suffered non-lifethreatening injuries after gunfire erupted on Morgan State’s campus.

For Morgan State, this is the third consecutive year a shooting occurred during the annual homecoming celebration. Last year, a 20-yearold man was the victim of gun violence at a homecoming party on campus.An 18-year-old student was shot in 2021 after the end of the homecoming football game.

“This is not just a Baltimore thing,” Mayor Brandon Scott told reporters. “Any mayor in any city will tell you that we have a national problem with guns in the hands of people that should not have them, and we have to handle it in a national way.” While true, there is more to it than access to guns.

Black Lives Matter is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight the racism, discrimination and racial inequality experienced by Black people and promote anti-racism.

Its primary concerns are police brutality and racially motivated violence against Black people.

While this definition centers on opposing racism, the fight for all Black lives will ultimately force us as a community to become trauma-informed, which is to acknowledge the universality of trauma worldwide and to seek to be responsive to it.

Every major city struggles,

to some degree, with teenagers as young as 14 and 15 years old committing violent crimes such as armed robbery, armed carjacking, and first degree murder. It has become a circumstance of life that reminds us of the African proverb, “The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.”

Therefore, every inner city,

David W. Marshall suburban, and rural high school must become trauma-informed.

Ballou Senior High School in Washington, D.C., is a traumainformed school where adults recognize and respond to those impacted by traumatic stress. This includes administrators, teachers, staff, parents, and school resource officers who are professionally trained and understand that the traumatic experiences of a child must be considered as part of the educational approach. The school’s culture is guided by the type of language that builds empathy to reduce the impact of trauma on the classroom. Ballou High School has moved in the direction of asking, “What happened to you?” instead of “What’s wrong with you?”

Each day, when a child enters a school building, teachers and staff must have the trauma awareness of knowing that many of those students often bring their adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to school with them. Since the schools have already identified those students considered to be at-risk, they always will be on the front line of defense because, in many cases, in the case of Ballou High School, at-risk students are students who are identified as homeless during the academic year, under the care of Child and Family Services Agency,

qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP), qualify for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and those students who are at least one year older than the expected age for their grade.

While the school’s enrollment of 636 students is 98% Black, 85 % of those students are at-risk.

When asked, “What happened to you?” the answer may involve some form of ACE extending from household dysfunction. ACE for school students can be the burden of a family’s economic hardship, incarcerated household member(s), the absence of adequate adult support, household substance abuse, and emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.

Expanded ACEs can include high rates of witnessing community violence and extended exposure to racial discrimination.

Because of the situation in the home, many children are never given a fair shot of making it in life from the beginning. Ultimately, the community pays the price.

Today’s children may not be burning the village down, but they are undoubtedly shooting it up.

The shootings from the two previous Morgan State homecomings involved community members bringing the violence on campus.

The same is likely to be true for this year’s shooting.

While homecoming has become a money maker not only for the schools but also for the community, it’s long stood for school pride and unity. Any financial loss that may occur doesn’t compare to the long-term trauma suffered by any number of the 9,100 Morgan State students. The Morgan State shooting illustrates the need for the village to develop trauma awareness concerning its youths.

The writer is the founder of the faith-based organization TRB: The Reconciled Body.

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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.

them.

In these partisan times, when social issues – abortion, race, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration – are at the center of our political turmoil, it is inevitable that schools will be engaged in those debates.

Teachers inevitably will be at the center of such debates, not merely witnesses to them but active participants in them.

Even in the midst of the ongoing argument, we should not forget to honor and respect those who choose to teach our children. We should not forget that one teacher who can unleash a child’s imagination or feed his or her curiosity can transform a life. Thomas Jefferson believed that public education is vital to a democracy, that a well-educated citizenry would be happier, and better able to build a vibrant community. Surely that’s a lesson we should all remember.

The writer is the founder of Rainbow/PUSH.

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Richmond Free Press

October 12-14, 2023 A7

News

Biden condemns Hamas for ‘unadulterated evil’

By Aamer Madhani, Tara Copp and Darlene Superville The Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Joe Biden on Tuesday condemned the militant group Hamas for “sheer evil” for its shocking multipronged attack on Israel launched from the Gaza Strip that has killed hundreds of civilians, including at least 14 American citizens.

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone earlier on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the situation on the ground. President Biden spoke out of the actions he and other allies have taken to support Israel in the aftermath of the attack and expressed his horror about “sickening” reports of torture inflicted by militants on innocent civilians.

“Our hearts may be broken but our resolve is clear,” President Biden said. He added, “Let there be no doubt. The United States has Israel’s back. We’ll make sure the Jewish and democratic state of Israel can defend itself today, tomorrow as we always have.”

President Biden, in his public remarks and statements since Hamas launched its attacks, has

repeatedly emphasized his shock over U.S. military presence there to prevent the breadth and brutality of the Hamas the war from spilling over into a more assault — a blitz by land, sea and air that dangerous regional conflict, a U.S. ofsurprised Israeli and U.S. intelligence ficial told The Associated Press. and that has killed hundreds Israelis The official spoke on the condition and left even more wounded. of anonymity to discuss the arrival President Biden said he has diahead of an announcement. rected his team to share intelligence The Pentagon has said that the U.S. and military experts to consult and warplanes, destroyers and cruisers advise Israelis. He also confirmed that sailed with the Ford will conduct that the U.S. believes that Americans President Biden maritime and air operations which are among dozens of hostages taken could include intelligence collection,

by Hamas. interdictions and long-range strikes.

“As president I have no higher priority than the Along with the Ford, the U.S. is sending safety of Americans being held hostage around the cruiser USS Normandy and destroyers USS the world,” President Biden said.

Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney, and The White House on Monday confirmed that USS Roosevelt, and the U.S. is augmenting Air it has already begun delivering critically needed Force F-35, F-15, F-16, and A-10 fighter aircraft munitions and military equipment to Israel, and squadrons in the region. the Pentagon was reviewing its inventories to see Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reportwhat else can be sent quickly to boost its ally in ers traveling with him Tuesday to a Ukraine the war against Hamas. contact group meeting in Brussels that a small The Ford carrier strike group has arrived in group of U.S. special operations forces is also the far Eastern Mediterranean, within range to working with the Israelis to help with planning provide a host of air support or long-range strike and intelligence. options for Israel if requested, but also to surge President Biden on Monday in a joint state-

More states are teaching financial literacy The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Inside a high school classroom, Bryan Martinez jots down several purchases that would require a short-term savings plan: shoes, phone, headphones, clothes, and food.

His medium-term financial goals take a little more thought, but he settles on a car — he doesn’t have one yet — and vacations. Peering way into his future, the 18-year-old also imagines saving money to buy a house, start his own business, retire and perhaps provide any children with a college fund.

Martinez’s friend next to him writes a different long-term goal: Buy a private jet.

“You have to be a millionaire to save up for that,” Bryan said with a chuckle.

Math is hard — even for teachers. What if they conquered their math anxiety?

Call it a reality check or an introduction to a critical life skill, this exercise occurred in a course called advanced algebra with financial applications. The elective math class has been a mainstay in Capital City Public Charter School’s offerings for more than a decade, giving students a foundation in money management while they hone math skills. Conversations about credit, investments, and loans, for instance, intersect with lessons on compound interest, matrices, and exponential equations.

The Washington, D.C., charter school may be a front-runner in providing financial education, but in recent years, many others have followed suit. Since 2020, nine U.S. states have adopted laws or policies requiring personal finance education before students graduate from high school, bringing the total number to 30 states, according to the Council for Economic

ment with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak underscored the “legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people” and their decades-long push for sovereignty. But the leaders also sought to separate the Palestinians’ aspirations from the “appalling acts of terrorism” by Hamas.

Americans have had a gloomy outlook on President Biden’s performance on the IsraeliPalestinian issue. Six in 10 Americans (61%) disapproved of how President Biden was handling the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, according to an August poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About one-third (35%) of U.S. adults approved, which was slightly lower than President Biden’s overall approval rating of 42% in the same poll.

The current crisis seems certain to further test public sentiment about President Biden’s Mideast foreign policy approach.

Associated Press writers Josh Boak, Seung Min Kim, Lolita C. Baldor, Matthew Lee and Linley Sanders contributed reporting.

School, which serves a student body that is 64% Latino and 25% Black.

“It’s an empowering course,” said Laina Cox, head of the school. “I think it gives our young people the language that they need and the voice when they’re in certain rooms and at certain tables.”

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The Associated Press

Bryan Martinez, a senior at Capital City Public Charter School in Washington, works on a computer last month during his advanced algebra with financial applications class.

Education.

The surge comes as educators are scrambling to bolster students’ math skills, which plummeted during the pandemic and haven’t fully recovered. At the same time, a general dislike for math remains an obstacle among young people.

In 2020, the NAACP issued a resolution calling for more financial literacy programs in K-12 schools.

The equity consideration has been a driving force behind the financial literacy course at Capital City Public Charter

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Richmond Free Press

A8 October 12-14, 2023

Sports Plus

Black support for Deion Sanders and Colorado is just as much about representation as it is wins

By Alanis Thames The Associated Press

One of Trevon Hamlet’s core memories from attending the University of Colorado is living on campus his freshman year and being able to count on one hand how many Black people he’d see in a day.

Hamlet, who played lacrosse at Colorado from 2014-19 and still lives in the area, was the only Black person on his team in a school where African American students made up less than 2% of the population. He said a lot of those Black students were athletes.

Four years after Hamlet graduated, Colorado’s student makeup doesn’t look much different. But football coach Deion Sanders has turned the Boulder campus into an unexpected cultural phenomenon, where the vivacity and early success of the

team has forced the attention of even those who don’t watch college football, with a lot of support coming from the Black community.

“There’s so much Blackness that’s involved in this, and it’s the biggest story in the country,” Hamlet said. “Although you have standard supporters from CU, you have so many different people that are now getting behind this, and it feels like there’s people getting behind the Black community. Deion’s really promoting the Black community.

I feel like it’s our turn.”

Black people all over the country are wearing Buffaloes gear and rooting for the team despite having no connection to Colorado other than pride and support for what Coach Sanders is doing.

More than 7 million people watched the Buffaloes upset last year’s national champion-

The Associated Press.

Colorado Buffaloes Coach Deion Sanders, center, exits the field following an NCAA football game against Oregon, Sept. 23, in Eugene, Ore. Oregon won 42-6.

ship runner-up TCU in their season opener on Sept. 2, the most-watched college football game that day.

Colorado’s first three games of the season were rated 77% higher among Black viewers

than anywhere else in the country, according to data provided by ESPN research. Black viewers made up 23% of the audience for those games, compared with 15% for non-Colorado games.

Then-No. 10 Oregon handed

the Buffaloes their first loss in a 42-6 rout Sept. 23 that knocked the Buffaloes out of the AP Top 25. Looking at their schedule, more setbacks are likely — but Black support for Coach Sanders and Colorado is as much about culture and representation as it is wins and losses. That game was the most-watched of the 2023 season, drawing 10.4 million viewers on ABC, and the Buffaloes saw a highly anticipated matchup against No. 8 Southern California on Sept. 30 “We don’t really have very much of a Black community,” said Reiland Rabaka, the director of the Center for African and African American Studies at Colorado. Boulder has an African-American population of 1.1%. “I’ve been here for nearly 20 years. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Coach Sanders, the former football and baseball star, has

embraced stardom in a way unlike other athletes since he wore flashy sunglasses and layers of chains in his playing days, and he has carried that aura with him as a coach. He speaks with a pastoral vibrato and has a contemporary-yet-principled coaching style, and he makes headlines with idiosyncratic sayings like: “I’m a monument, not a moment.”

For Hamlet, Coach Sanders represents an assuagement of the stereotypes of what Black men can do to achieve success.

“Being in a school that’s predominantly white, I’ve always felt that I had to change who I am to be successful,” Hamlet said. “It’s so nice to see a Black man do what he’s doing — have so much influence, have so much power, so much authenticity — that shows that our culture does not have to be modified to be great.”

Unstoppable Simone Biles wraps up world championships Samuel Petrequin The Associated Press

The Associated Press

In Antwerp — where she started her collection of 23 world titles 10 years ago as a 16-year-old — Biles has made a stunning return to the international stage. In addition to the pair of gold medals she won Sunday, she also claimed a silver medal on vault after the sixth all-around title that made her the most decorated gymnast in history, male or female. Biles led the U.S. women to a record seventh straight victory in the team event.

ANTWERP, Belgium Simone Biles was not too worried about the medal count, or the color of the medals, at the gymnastics world championships this week.

That approach has sure paid off.

The American superstar claimed a third, then a fourth, gold medal on the final day of the 2023 competition on Sunday, winning the women’s balance beam and floor finals in a dominant fashion.

In Antwerp — where she started her collection of 23 world titles 10 years ago as a 16-year-old — Biles has made a stunning return to the international stage. In addition to the pair of gold medals she won Sunday, she also claimed a silver medal on vault after the sixth all-around title that made her the most decorated gymnast in history, male or female.

Biles led the U.S. women to a record seventh straight victory in the team event.

“It’s like as long as I get out there, do those routines again, like it’s a win in my book,” the four-time Olympic gold medalist

said about how she approached the meet.

“It doesn’t matter if I end up on the podium or not.”

Biles was competing at her first world championships since 2019 after a two-year break she used to focus on her mental health following the Tokyo Olympics. She only

returned to competition this summer.

Her coach, Cecile Landi, said Biles doesn’t want to speak in detail about the Olympics yet to protect herself and avoid the pressure.

“But for us as coaches it’s obviously the goal,” Landi said. “And we will get her ready for that, if she wants it.”

Team USA tops again

By Fred Jeter Team USA is sitting on top of the world.

Again.

And Simone Biles is a major reason why. Again.

The American women won their seventh straight title in World Artistic Gymnastics Oct. 4 in Antwerp, Belgium.

The U.S. total score of 167.729 bested runner-up Brazil (165.530) and third place France (164.064).

Biles, 26, appears to be back with her historically marvelous capabilities after a two-hear hiatus following the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

In Antwerp she became the first to perform a Yurchenko double pike vault.

She went on to win her 21st gold medal in global competition (Worlds plus Olympics and her 34th overall medal.

The American team headed to the Paris Olympics next summer is a young and versatile bunch. Others in Antwerp were: Leanne Wong – 20, training out of Gainesville, Fla. Skye Blakely - 18, Frisco, Tex. Shilese Jones – 21, Aubur n, Washington Joscelyn Roberson – 17, Spring, Tex. Kayla DiCello – 19, Boyds, Md. There are no guarantees at the Olympics.

We learned that from Tokyo.

But one thing seems sure in Paris. The wondrous Biles, performing skills never seen before, figures to thrill the world. Again.

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Richmond Free Press

October 12-14, 2023 A9

Local News

VALOTTERY.COM/ TUESDAY Stories by Fred Jeter

VUU’s Byers back on fast track Phew! Virginia Union University football fans can breathe a sigh of relief and wipe their brows.

Jada Byers is back in the saddle, meaning the rest of the CIAA may fear being trampled.

After missing the better part of four games with a leg issue, the dazzling tailback from New Jersey has returned with a vengeance.

The wiggly 5-foot-7, 185-pound junior zig-zagged for 245 yards (about the length of two and a half football fields) and two touchdowns in VUU’s 42-20 CIAA win at Elizabeth City.

Byers averaged 9.1 yards per carry in North Carolina and turned on his jets for two touchdowns, including a 40-yarder that left a covey of Vikings with nothing but air to grasp.

Now 5-1 overall, Coach Alvin Parker’s Panthers will play host to CIAA rival Bowie State Saturday at Hovey Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

While the Panthers are hot, the visiting Bulldogs are wounded, fol-

lowing a 44-16 home loss to Virginia State. Bowie dominated the CIAA from 2015 to 2022 but has fallen on harder times.

Bowie comes to Richmond just 3-3 overall, 2-2 in CIAA and on the edge of elimination from postseason play.

The Panthers won at Bowie last year on an overtime field goal by Brady Myers. Prior to that, the Bulldogs had won four straight and seven of eight.

With Byers recuperating from injury, Curtis Allen became the featured back and ran for more than 300 yards combined against Fayetteville and St. Augustine’s, even winning CIAA Back of the Week honors.

At Elizabeth City, Allen carried 11 times for 67 yards.

Last year as a sophomore, Byers led the NCAA Division II, FCS and FBS with nearly 2,000 rushing yards, earning All-America honors.

Allen has impressive straight-ahead speed, but he also is powerful enough

Virginia Union University’s Jada Byers zig-zags for 245 yards and two touchdowns in VUU’s 42-20 CIAA win over Elizabeth City State.

at 225 pounds to pick up short yardage on third and fourth downs.

Byers, on the other hand, is the kind of back capable of racing to daylight on any down and distance snap.

While others settle for four on the floor, it’s like No. 3 in maroon and

Denmark’s Nielsen adds offense power to VUU football As football coach at Virginia conference MVP. Union University, Alvin Parker “I wanted to play U.S. footestimates he receives “about 300 ball and emailed coaches,” he emails a day.” said. “I had read about Virginia One email last winter stood Union’s success and wanted to out from the others. be a part of it.”

It was from a person he didn’t He added, “I’m lucky to be know (Mathias Nielshere.” en) and from a place Nielsen accepted he knew next to notha scholarship offer ing about (Gentofte, with VUU last FebruDenmark). ary, and accompanied Coach Parker’s by several family eyes grew big from members, arrived in what he saw in a the U.S. for the first fast-action video. time in July.

One thing led to Mathias Nielsen There was nothing another and now that same “iffy” about it.

Nielsen, who is 6-foot-5 and “I had made up my mind 295 pounds and a 20-year-old I was coming to school here freshman, is the Panthers’ start- before we ever left Denmark,” ing left offensive tackle. recalled Nielsen.

To VUU foes, he’s become Richmond is six times zones the “Nordic Nightmare.” Niel- and more than 4,000 miles from son is part of a crunching line his homeland. Social media that has helped the Panthers makes it seem closer. gain 229 yards rushing and 364 Combating any signs of yards total offense per. homesickness, the marketing “Mathias is doing a great major communicates daily job,” Coach Parker said. “He’s with his friends and family via started every game for us, and Messenger. we look for him to be a fourNielsen’s first game was year starter.” against Morehouse College in Nielsen grew up near the the HBCU Hall of Fame Classic Danish capital of Copenhagen in Canton, Ohio. and participated in soccer, karate, His folks back in Northern motor sports and martial arts Europe watched the Panthers’ before discovering “American victory on the NFL Network. football.”

Wearing jersey No. 57 in He began playing football maroon and steel, Nielsen says about six years ago on various he kept up with NFL football youth teams. That led to a posi- while in Denmark, but that “the tion on the Elite U-19 Soellerod games come on about 2 in the Gold Diggers, where he won morning … mostly we watched

the Super Bowl.”

Nielsen says becoming acclimated to American food has been his biggest adjustment. He lives in a dormitory on campus and eats most of his meals in the VUU cafeteria.

“You like to fry things,” he told a reporter, who’s never seen a french fry he didn’t want to munch.

The language has been no problem, although he admits to “mumbling a bit.”

“In Denmark we tend to say the first part of a word and drop the rest,” said Nielsen, who is fluent in English.

Danish and German are the official languages of Denmark.

An HBCU, VUU has had white players before, mostly kickers, including one (punter Paul Jones) from Australia. The current place kicker is All-CIAA Brady Myers from Florida.

“We’ve got a contact overseas,” Coach Parker said. “That’s something I started when I was coaching at Elizabeth City.

“It’s mostly resulted in punters and place kickers.”

But not in this case. Nielsen is a super-sized powerhouse on the offensive line with downthe-road pro aspirations.

Off to a 5-1 start, VUU is eyeing its first CIAA championship since 2001 and a return to the NCAA playoffs. There is always a long list of reasons for success.

For VUU, opening emails belongs on that list.

steel has a fifth, even sixth gear.

Ricky Key, a sophomore from Newport News, had three receptions for 78 yards and two TDs. Parker continues alternating Christian Reid and RJ Rosales at quarterback.

Defensively, Shamar Graham had

eight tackles at ECSU and Jalen Mayo, Jabrill Norman and Donald Gatling made interceptions.

VUU will celebrate its homecoming Oct. 21 at Hovey Field against Lincoln.

Two years ago during homecoming, the Panthers defeated the Lions, 32-0.

Trojans undefeated

VSU plays Bluefield State for homecoming There’s plenty cause to party this weekend in Ettrick.

It’s homecoming weekend at Virginia State University and alumni have every reason to smile about the current team.

Coach Henry Frazier’s’ Trojans are 6-0 and sitting atop the CIAA world as they await Bluefield, W.Va., State, the likely seventh victim on Saturday.

Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at a sure to be vibrant Rogers Stadium.

The famed Trojans Explosion figures to have plenty cause to strike up the band.

VSU is coming home hot. With Kymani Clarke rushing for 244 yards and four touchdowns, VSU routed Bowie State, 44-16, in Maryland, foiling the Bulldogs’ homecoming and breaking a five-year losing streak to Bowie.

Bluefield, nicknamed Big Blue, is 1-5 coming off a 52-44 loss to Lincoln despite quarterback Isiah Teal passing for 434 yards and five touchdowns.

Founded in 1895 as HBCU Bluefield Colored Institute, the school competed in the CIAA from 1932 to 1955, before joining the West Virginia Athletic Conference.

This marks Bluefield’s first season back in CIAA after competing last year as an independent and losing a 28-7 game to VSU at Rogers Stadium.

The visitors will be hard pressed to make it a competitive game.

In trouncing Bowie, VSU rolled up 541 yards total offense, including a whopping 445 on the ground.

Clarke hails from Ocala, Fla., and comes to VSU on the rebound from Jackson State, where he played the COVID-shortened 2020 spring season under Coach Deion Sanders.

He is the latest Trojan to run roughshod

over VSU foes behind an NFL-sized offensive line that averages well over 300 pounds from tackle to tackle.

Upton Bailey (now injured and out for the season) and Jimmyll Williams had been the leading rushers in previous Trojans conquests.

In one of the most dominant balltoting performances in VSU annals, Clarke had TD scampers of 75, 65, 6 and 3 yards and is now second in the CIAA in rushing behind Virginia Union’s Jada Byers.

Jordan Davis served as quarterback a second straight week as early-season starter Romelo Williams is on the mend. The versatile Davis passed for 96 yards and ran for 81 yards.

VSU’s upcoming schedule is encouraging.

VSU should be heavy favorites in their next three games against Bluefield, Elizabeth City and Lincoln. In 2022, VSU defeated those three by a combined 104-40.

If form holds, VSU at Virginia Union on Nov. 4 in Richmond could decide the CIAA North, a berth in the Nov. 11 championship game in Salem and an NCAA playoff bid.

The party on the north banks of the Appomattox River doesn’t have to end after this weekend.

STANDINGS

Northern Division Virginia State Virginia Union Lincoln Bowie State Bluefield State Elizabeth City

CIAA

Overall

4-0 3-1 2-2 2-2 0-4 0-4

6-0 5-1 3-3 3-3 1-5 1-5

City football scores and schedules

Armstrong Wildcats Wildcats 40, McKinley Tech 0 Wildcats 21, Petersburg 8 Wildcats 43, John Marshall 0 Wildcats 38, Goochland 8 Henrico 17, Wildcats 0 Friendship, D.C., 33, Wildcats 16 Oct. 13 – at Atlee, 7 p.m.

Huguenot Falcons Falcons 75, Clover Hill 6 Falcons 40, Richmond City 6 Falcons 26, Powhatan 22 Falcons 26, James River 0 Manchester 42, Falcons 20 Oct. 13 – home vs. L.C. Bird, 7 p.m.

John Marshall Justices

Richmond City Bulldogs

Thomas Jefferson Vikings

Greensville 32, Justices 0 Justices 12, Richmond City 0 West Point 29, Justices 6 J.R. Tucker 37, Justices 16 Thomas Jefferson 62, Justices 0 Justices 29, Charles City 0 Oct. 19 (Thursday) – at Brunswick

John Marshall 12, Bulldogs 0 James River 55, Bulldogs 0 Huguenot 40, Bulldogs 6 Cosby 49, Bulldogs 0 Midlothian 38, Bulldogs 12 Oct. 12 (Thursday) – at Monacan, 7 p.m.

Vikings 34, Meadowbrook 7 Vikings 54, Amelia 12 Vikings 64, Greensville 0 Vikings 62, John Marshall 0 Vikings 24, Godwin 14 Oct. 13 – at Deep Run, 7 p.m.

T:11" Richmond Free Press

A10 October 12-14, 2023

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October 12-14, 2023 B1

Richmond Free Press

Section

Happenings

B

Zarina Fazaldin left her family in Tanzania to complete high school and earn her bachelor’s degree in India before coming to Richmond to pursue post graduate studies. Back then, her dream job was to work at the United Nations.

More than 30 years later, Ms. Fazaldin still lives in Richmond, a city that she loves and considers her own. Her friends in Richmond have become family, she says.

“We Africans travel a lot around the world,” Ms. Fazaldin adds. “We go where there’s opportunity for us to do well and this way you also support your family who are left behind.”

Since settling in Richmond, Ms. Fazaldin has immersed herself in numerous causes and endeavors, including historic preservation of properties and animal rescue activities.

Her latest role is chair of the Programming Committee for the Richmond Folk Festival, one of Virginia’s largest events that attracts people from everywhere to Downtown Richmond’s riverfront. This year’s free, three-day festival is Oct. 13-15. Highlights include performing groups that represent gospel, salsa, mandika, rockabilly and New Orleans jazz and funk.

Ms. Fazaldin grew up loving music, which speaks to her frequent presence at any local performances featuring Afro Latin, Congolese jazz, Klezmer and mambo rhythms.

“Music has the power to touch our soul, lift our spirit and heal us,” she said. “Music boosts our moods when we are down. Music reduces our stress, anxiety and depression. Music has a positive impact on our physical and mental health. It gives us energy when we feel low. Music is a powerful tool that brings joy during our most difficult times.”

Ms. Fazaldin is proud of the turnout each year at the Richmond Folk Festival, which saw approximately 230,000 visitors in 2022. Even more fans are expected this year.

In addition to music and her excitement about chairing this

Personality: Zarina Fazaldin Spotlight on Richmond Folk Festival Programming Committee Chair year’s folk festival, Ms. Fazaldin is an advocate for historic preservation, a passion she developed in the 1990s after seeing friends transform Jackson Ward homes from “the worst to the best.” She fell in love with an old home in Richmond’s Carver community, and began the restoration process on what became her first home. She continues to preserve homes in other parts of the city, including her current home in Jackson Ward.

Her greatest accomplishment, she says, has been adapting in a new country to pursue historic preservation. Her father was a well-known contractor in Tanzania who was proud of her following in his footsteps despite it being “a man’s job.”

Ms. Fazaldin says many of her lessons learned also are from people she has met throughout the world. She encourages everyone to travel to open their eyes to the world and learn about various cultures, music and ways of life, she said. Especially in America.

“I feel very fortunate and blessed,” she said. “It is the American people who make the American dream possible.

Regardless of race or gender or nationality, I keep myself open to learn from anyone, whether rich or poor.”

Meet an ambassador for Richmond’s history, culture and this week’s Personality, Zarina Fazaldin: Volunteer position: Chair, Richmond Folk Festival Programming Committee.

Occupation: Historic homes preservationist.

Date and place of birth: July 9 in Kericho, Kenya.

Where I live now: Historic Jackson Ward.

Education: Bachelor’s degree

in art, Sophia College, Mumbai University, Mumbai, India. Master’s degree in sociology, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Family: Mother, Jante, and three brothers, Hanif, Latif and Shabir—all reside in Tanzania.

Richmond Folk Festival is: Richmond at its best!

Brief history of how the Richmond Folk Festival came to be: In the early 2000s there was an effort to bring a signature arts event to Richmond. A group of community leaders worked on the effort to bring the National Folk Festival here with the intent of continuing the event after the National’s three-year run here from 2005 to 2007.

When founded and by whom: Jim Ukrop was the key community leader who championed the event, and Jack Berry of Richmond Renaissance (a predecessor of Venture Richmond) agreed to take on the role of the producing organization, helping spearhead sponsorships and organization.

The event was then identi-

fied by Wilson Flohr and Richmond Region 2007 as a legacy event, thereby enabling vital funding for the National. After Jack Berry’ retirement in 2016, Lisa Sims became Venture Richmond’s CEO. Mission: The festival strives to present the very finest traditional artists from across the nation and the world.

Folk music is: We use the NEA definition of folk music: The folk and traditional arts are rooted in and reflective of the cultural life of a community. Community members may share a common ethnic heritage, cultural mores, language, religion, occupation, or geographic region. These vital and constantly reinvigorated artistic traditions are shaped by values and standards of excellence that are passed from generation to generation, most often within family and community, through demonstration, conversation, and practice. Genres of artistic activity include, but are not limited to, music, dance, crafts, and oral expression.

How I initially became involved with the Richmond Folk Festival: KAlferio, our former Venture Richmond CEO, asked if I would like to volunteer and be part of the Programming Committee and without hesitation I said “yes”.

No. 1 challenge in selecting musicians and creating the perfect lineup for three days: Creating the right balance and flow both within the full festival program and across the festival weekend. We strive to offer a new program each year that presents as broad and diverse an offering of traditional artists who are deeply rooted in the expressive traditions of their cultural

communities..

How many musical groups will perform: Over 30 musical groups performing over the three days.

Who is traveling from the farthest location to perform and from where: Helobung, an Indigenous Tboli music and dance ensemble, is traveling from the Lake Sebu region in the southern Philippines. That’s over 8,000 miles away!

Anything else at the Richmond Festival to check out aside from the music: Yes! A wonderful crafts marketplace with various handmade goods and local vendors, a robust food vendor line up, an entire section dedicated to families/children and some amazing people watching.

Volunteers and Richmond Folk Festival: The festival relies on the help of over 800 volunteers each year. They are part of the engine that keeps the train rolling. Jobs range from soda sales, bucket brigade, site set up and tear down and so much more!

How I start the day: I start my day with my Indian/British tea and a long walk in the neighborhood with my Great Pyrenees rescue dog, Bonnie, who enjoys her daily morning walk.

Three words that best describe me: Honest, caring and hardworking.

If I had 10 extra minutes in the day: I would take my dog for another quick walk, since that’s her favorite thing to do.

Best late-night snack: Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: I have rescued lots of feral cats in the neighborhood. Living in the Carver neighborhood I was known as a “cat lady” and I worked with Richmond Animal

Care and Control and the SPCAto get feral cats neutered and spayed, bring them back to our community and find homes for them.

Aquote that inspires me: “Unity is strength, division is weakness.”

African/Swahili Proverb At the top of my “to-do” list: Buy my ticket and visit my family in Tanzania.

The best thing my parents ever taught me: Work hard, be independent, help others and stay humble.

The person who influenced me the most: Mr. Jim Ukrop – he taught me to stay focused in my business and staying focused has not only helped me in my business but also helped me in other aspects of my life.

Book that influenced me the most: “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson, M.D. This book helped me learn how to deal with changes at work and in my personal life. After reading this book, I learned to embrace changes in workplace situations, as well as in my personal life and relationship, and gave up fear of losing jobs or friendship.

What I’m reading now: “If these Walls Could Talk” by Shirley R. Hawkins. For the first time, a well-organized and informative book is written about Dr. William Hughes 1915 a prominent African-American physician in the early 1900s who built the historic home that I bought, restored and now reside in. Dr. Hughes was Maggie Walker’s personal physician and was a leading civil and human rights advocate. Following his death, the home became a school and workshop for African-American blind and vision impaired individuals. Ms. Hawkins’ book is a fascinating journey into the world of the vision impaired.

Next goal: Professionally— To build four homes on my lot in Historic Carver and one on my lot in Jackson Ward. Personally—Travel more, eat right and exercise daily.

Racism: Challenging Perceptions Launched in 2020, “Racism: Challenging Perceptions” explores the social, cultural and economic impact of racism on our community through conversations with local experts and leaders.

Courtesy of Ayasha Sledge

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CONNECTED TO WHAT MATTERS. As Virginia’s home for public media, we bring you relevant news and local storytelling As Virginia’s home for public media, we bring you relevant news to foster a greater understanding of our state, our neighbors our world. and local storytelling to foster a greater understanding of our and state, VPM.org our neighbors and our world.

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Richmond Free Press

B2 October 12-14, 2023

Happenings

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

It’s party time

Crowds gather for the 35th Annual 2nd Street Festival last weekend in Downtown Richmond. The popular festival celebrates the history and culture of Jackson Ward with dancing, music, refreshments and more. Rodney “The Soul Singer” Stith, above, plays to the crowd on the festival’s main stage. Phillip Brown Sr., left, dressed to the nines, makes his annual pilgrimage greeting friends, old and new.

Richmond Folk Festival returns with fun for everyone Free Press staff report

The Richmond Folk Festival returns for its 19th year to downtown Richmond with six stages and over 30 performers from Friday, Oct. 13, to Sunday, Oct. 15.

The riverfront will host a wealth of musical artists and genres, as with previous years, with expected performances ranging from gospel, Chicago blues and rockabilly to Manding, Ozark old-time, and traditional Tboli music and dance.

The Richmond Folk Festival also will bring music and performances to Richmond schools, after a hiatus of the program for several years. Slated performers so far will bring blues,

zydeco and more to nine schools, including Albert Hill Middle School, Francis W. McClenney Elementary School, River City Middle and Woodville Elementary.

Bristol and the origins of country music will be the focus of the Virginia Folklife area and stage this year. An “Appalachian Traditions” demonstration tent will feature artists and cultural organizations from the greater Bristol region, including broom and toy making, weaving, and more alongside displays of a pop-up cast iron museum and a rear-engine dragster race car.

The Center for Cultural Vibrancy Stage will honor the area’s past and present with a live recording of a

Courtesy Richmond Folk Festival

At age 74, Cyril Neville, left, who got his start as the youngest of the four Neville Brothers, is a renowned percussionist who’s been lauded as “one of the last great Southern Soul singers.” Maria “Lutchinha” Neves Leite, above, of Brockton, Mass., known to be the finest Cabo Verdean singer to make her home in the United States, will delight audiences with the soothing, soulful sounds of this distinctive musical tradition at this year’s Richmond Folk Festival.

vintage-style radio show and a “New Sounds of Bristol Showcase” featuring six modern artists from the Bristol region performing music ranging from old-time to hip-hop.

A space-focused Family Area

produced by the Children’s Museum will be at the grassy field at 2nd Street and Brown’s Island Way. There, children will be provided arts, music and crafts through collaboration with Soccer Shots and City Singers.

Festival hours are Friday, Oct. 13, 6:30 to 10 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 14, noon to 10 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 15, noon to 6 p.m.

For more details, please visit www. richmondfolkfestival.org.

Amy Wratchford named interim VMFA to feature work of award-winning photographer Dawoud Bey ration with cinematographer managing director at Virginia Rep Free Press staff report Bron Moyi, and local producFree Press staff report

Amy Wratchford has been appointed interim managing director at the Virginia Repertory Theatre, the company’s board of directors announced.

After more than a decade as managing director for the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va., Ms. Wratchford pivoted in early 2021 to launch The Wratchford Group, a nationally known arts management consultancy with regional theater clients throughout Virginia as well as Florida, California and Chicago.

As interim managing director of Virginia Repertory Theatre, Ms. Wratchford will join a seasoned leadership team that includes Artistic Director of Community Desiree Roots, Artistic Director of Education Todd D. Norris andArtistic Director of Programming Rick Hammerly.

“Amy has been immersed in the Virginia theater scene for 13 years and has a history with Virginia Rep, having participated in several of Ms. Wratchford our strategic planning processes,” said Martha Quinn, Virginia Repertory Theatre board chair. “She has an incredible passion for the arts, deep compassion for the people who make a theater run, and a keen understanding of the role we play within our community. Her expertise in interim theater leadership, financial analysis and organizational structure assessment and reorganization is precisely what we need right now as we chart an exciting future and launch a national search for our next managing director.”

“I have a deep respect for Virginia Rep’s roots in the community that can be traced to its founding organizations – the Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV – and I am incredibly excited to help set the organization up for success in this new, post-pandemic era of nonprofit theater,” Ms. Wratchford said. “In my 20-plus years managing nonprofit theaters, I’ve handled multiple transitions, and delight in helping organizations and their staff joyfully and effectively fulfill their mission. Virginia Rep’s needs and my skills are a good match.”

Willie Anne Wright’s retrospective to open at VMFA Free Press staff report

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts exhibit, “Willie Anne Wright: Artist and Alchemist,” will be on view Oct. 21 to April 28, 2024.

Admission will be free.

The exhibit, a retrospective of the photographer and painter’s 60-year career, follows the VMFA’s recent acquisition of more than 230 photographs and 10 paintings and her extensive archives, according to VMFA. “Many of these works will be included in the upcoming exhibition Willie Anne Wright: Artist and Alchemist, the artist’s first career retrospective at a major art museum.” said VMFA’s director and CEO Alex Nyerges.

Born in 1924 and raised in Richmond, Ms. Wright attended the College of William & Mary, where she audited art classes while pursuing a degree in psychology. Although she exhibited a few paintings as a student, Ms. Wright did not pursue art seriously until 1960, when she — by then a married mother of three — enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts program at the Richmond Professional Institute (now Virginia Commonwealth University). While initially focused on making paintings, serigraphs and drawings, Ms. Wright shifted mediums to pinhole photography in 1972.

Curated by Dr. Sarah Kennel, VMFA’s Aaron Siskind Curator of Photography and Director of the Raysor Center, Willie Anne Wright: Artist and Alchemist shines a light on the artist’s contributions to Pop Art and as a pioneer in alternative photographic processes and the use of pinhole photography.

VMFA is located at 200 N. Arthur Ashe Boulevard in Richmond. For more information about this and other exhibitions and programs at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, please visit www. vmfa.museum.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) will present the exhibition “Dawoud Bey: Elegy” from Nov. 18 to Feb. 25, 2024. Described as “a profound exploration of early experiences of African- Americans in the United States,” the groundbreaking survey marks the comprehensive exhibition of three photographic series and two Mr. Bey film installations by renowned contemporary artist Dawoud Bey (American, born 1953).

“Elegy” also will debut Mr. Bey’s newest photographic series, “Stony the Road,” as well as the artist’s latest film, “350,000,” both created in Richmond.

“The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is pleased to present this extraordinary opportunity to engage with the powerful and thought-provoking work of Dawoud Bey, one of America’s most significant living photographers,” said Alex Nyerges, VMFA’s director and CEO. “‘Elegy’ opens with ‘Stony the Road,’” Mr. Bey’s series of 12 photographs of the historic Richmond Slave Trail commissioned by the museum.”

Organized by Valerie Cassel Oliver, the Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at VMFA, “Elegy chronicles Mr. Bey’s radical shift from portraiture and street photography to site-specific meditations on history and landscape.

“These histories are no longer visible,” explained Mr. Bey in a VMFA news release. “We, in fact, cannot photograph or make cinematic work about this history. My work deals with trying to reimagine the sites of this history.

I apply a set of conceptual, formal, optical and material strategies to the visualization of these spaces that activate

Yard cleaning

tion companies, Spang TV and In Your Ear Studios, “350,000 “serves as a poignant reminder of the more than “350,000” men, women and children sold from Richmond’s auction blocks between 1830 and 1860. The film’s soundtrack, designed with Dr. E. Gaynell Sherrod, associate professor of dance and choreography at Virginia Commonwealth University, was produced by recording interpretive dancers’ intonations and movements.

Dawoud Bey’s “Untitled” (James River) is among the works in the artist’s upcoming exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

the imagination around these particular landscapes that still have deep meaning. This act of radical reimagining allows the viewer to momentarily let go of the fact that you’re looking at a photograph or a film. You can be so deeply drawn into the experience that a film or a photograph is describing— you begin to inhabit it in a way—that it seeps into your consciousness.”

Mr. Bey’s film, “350,000” (2023), is produced in collabo-

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Richmond Free Press

October 12-14, 2023 B3

Obituary/Faith News/Directory

Fire Department 40-year veteran Earl Dyer dies ‘He was a dedicated public servant,’ Fire Chief Carter said

Battalion Chief Earl Dyer of the Richmond Department of Fire and Emergency Services is being remembered as a “consummate professional and a man of the highest integrity” following his death after experiencing a medical emergency at work.

Chief Dyer died Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, after being rushed to a nearby hospital after collapsing.

His wife,Anna Dyer, a Richmond Police employee, was with him when he died.

Funeral arrangements remain incomplete.

Chief Dyer joined the department in September 1983 and celebrated his 40th work anniversary before his death.

Mayor Levar M. Stoney and Fire Desert Shield/Desert Storm to liberate Chief Melvin D. Carter praised Chief Kuwait in 1990-91, and also served Dyer for his commitment to the departseveral more tours during the U.S. ment, the city and his country. More occupation of Iraq from 2003-2011, than 160 community members posted Chief Carter noted. comments and condolences on the Mayor Stoney remembered Chief department’s Facebook page.

Dyer “as one of the first folks that “He brought his own values to befriended me early in my tenure as the organization in ways too many mayor. He had a pulse for what the to enumerate,” Chief Carter stated. sentiments were within the ranks of the “He was a dedicated public servant Fire Department. He was salt of the Chief Dyer not only with the department but also earth, truly one of the good guys.” with the U.S. Army.”

David Pulliam exemplified the Facebook posts A reservist, Chief Dyer served in Operation with his heartfelt statement: “Words cannot express

the pain of my broken heart. I loved Earl dearly and am thankful to God that he allowed us to be friends. … Until we meet again.”

Tobias Black, a soldier who served with him, described Chief Dyer as a “great man and father figure when needed. He was the best 1st Sgt during my military service and an ear during the hardest periods of my life.”

Another friend and former city firefighter stated that Chief Dyer “was instrumental in shaping my career in the Fire Marshal’s Office. Let us strive to be like Earl, extending a helping hand whenever we can and reminding those around us that they are not alone in their struggles.”

VUU kicks off homecoming with gospel concert Free Press staff report

for people to come together for an impactful worship experience and it is a great opener Virginia Union University will kick off this for this year’s homecoming events.” year’s homecoming festivities with The concert will include perfora live gospel concert and recording mances by special guests Crystal presented by the Hezekiah Walker Aikin, winner of the inaugural Center for Gospel Music at VUU on season of “BET’s Sundays Best,” Sunday, Oct. 15. The 6 p.m. event Jermaine Dolly, gospel artist, will take place at United Nations singer and songwriter, Group Fire Church, 214 Cowardin Ave. and more.

“This is the first time that the Tickets are $20 and can be purVUU Gospel Choir is doing a live chased online at hezwalkeratvuu. recording. This is VUU history!” com.

Crystal Aikin said Michele Clay, director of VUU’s For more information about all of Hezekiah Walker Center. “But this experi- VUU’s homecoming activities, visit https:// ence is more than that. It is an opportunity www.vuu.edu/homecoming2023

VSU marching band is 3rd in the nation, ESPN says Free Press staff report

Virginia State University’s Trojan Explosion Marching Band is named one of the best HBCU bands in the country, according to newly released rankings by ESPN. The band is ranked third in the Division II/NAIA category in ESPN’s HBCU Band of the Year rankings posted by HBCU Gameday.

Important band components such as auxiliaries, drum majors, musicality, percussion, and drill/marching/maneuvering are used to compile the rankings. Judges then score individual performances based on these specific areas.

“We are very appreciative and deeply humbled by these rankings,” said Dr. Taylor Whitehead, VSU’s director of Marching and Pep Band. “It has obviously been a great year for our program, but we aren’t done yet. We still have more performances to improve our spot, and we look forward to showing the country why we are one of the best marching

Moore Street Missionary

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Sharon Baptist Church

Baptist Church

500 E. Laburnum Avenue, Richmond, VA 23222

1408 W. Leigh Street · Richmond, Va. 23220 (804) 358—6403

www.sharonbaptistchurchrichmond.org (804) 643-3825

Dr. Alonza L. Lawrence, Pastor

Rev. Dr. Paul A. Coles, Pastor

71 Harvest Homecoming st Annual

Back Inside!

Sunday, October 15, 2023

Theme: “There Is No Place Like Home” Mark 5:19

9:45 AM - Prayer & Praise • 10:00 AM - Morning Worship Message: Rev. Dr. Paul A. Coles, Pastor Music: Paul A. Coles Mass Choir

REVIVAL Services

TUESDAY Rev. Walter J. Roy

Tuesday, October 17 Thursday, October 19

St. Luke Baptist Church, West Point, VA

THEME:

“Your Home In God’s Kingdom”

Homecoming & Revival

WEDNESDAY Rev. Joshua Pair

“Renewing Our Commitment”

Celebration 2023 T :

Patillo Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, Henrico, VA

Psalm 51:12

6:30 PM Praise and Worship 7:00 PM Worship Experience

THURSDAY Rev. Dr. Peter A. Evans Colossian Baptist Church, Newport News, VA

Good Shepherd Baptist Church

1127 North 28th Street, Richmond, VA 23223-6624 • Office: (804) 644-1402

The Rev. Sylvester T. Smith, Ph.D., Pastor “There’s A Place for You”

Every Sunday @ 11:00 am.

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

Bible Study online and in person Wednesday 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

“MAKE IT HAPPEN” Pastor Kevin Cook

Worship With Us This Week!

In Person & Online 10:00 A.M.

Upcoming Events

October 28, 2023

Community Tree Give Away *Time Forthcoming

Harvest Fest 3:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.

Join Us & Be Blessed!

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

th Formation/ Church School (Sat. @ 9:00 AM) om Meeting ID: 952 9164 9805 /Passcode: 2901 le Study (Wed. @ 7:00 PM) om Meeting ID: 854 8862 2296 ve Via: http://mmbcrva.org/give Or through Givelify

8LIQI 1SFMPM^MRK *SV 1MRMWXV] 6IJVIWLMRK 8LI 3PH ERH )QIVKMRK 8LI 2I[ A 21st Century Church With Ministry For Everyone

Rev. Dr. Yvonne Jones Bibbs, Pastor

Guest Soloists Monday: Mr. Brandon Roots; Tuesday: Min. Allison Lilly

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 Rev. Dr. John E. Johnson, Jr., Interim Minister 1858

The People’s Church

Come worship with us!

Live on Facebook @ 4ixth #aptist $IVSDI 37" Live on Youtube @4#$ 37" Or by visiting our website www.sixthbaptistchurch.org

REVIVAL SERVICES Monday & Tuesday, October 16th & 17th • 7 PM Guest Evangelist: Rev. Jabari Lucas

Riverview Baptist Church

We Embrace Diversity — Love For All! Back Inside Sundays Join us for 10:00 AM Worship Service

“Coming Together With Hearts Inspired By God” HOMECOMING SERVICE Sunday, October 15th • 11 AM Speaker: Rev. Dr. John E. Johnson, Jr.

Broad Rock Baptist Church “Please come and join us”

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HEME

Join us at 11:00 a.m. each Sunday for in-person worship service or Live-stream on YouTube (Good Shepherd Baptist Church RVA).

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

bands in the country.”

While VSU is currently third in the top 15 rankings, the rankings are subject to change.

The list will soon be narrowed to the top 10 per division, and the top five will be revealed in November. Finally, the top two in each division will be given a chance to compete for the ESPN Band of the Year title, which will be announced in a two-hour special Dec. 15 in the Mercedes-Benz Dome in Atlanta, according to the university.

“Our goal is to be on that stage when the time comes, showing everyone that ‘Greater Happens Here’ at VSU,” said Dr. Whitehead.

The band has had a busy year in the national spotlight. In February, it performed at the White House and on NBC’s “Today Show.”

The band also performed at the National Battle of the Bands competition in Houston in August, and was featured on a Fox Sports segment highlighting the best HBCU bands in the country.

Rev. Dr. Yvonne Jones Bibbs, Pastor

400 South Addison Street Richmond, Va. 23220

(near Byrd Park)

(804) 359-1691 or 359-3498 Facebook Fax (804) 359-3798 `VeaUON]aV`aPUb_PU_cN 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

216 W. Leigh St., Richmond, Va. 23220 Tel: 804-643-3366 Fax: 804-643-3367 (PDLO ṘFH#HEHQH]HUUYD RUJ ZHE HEHQH]HUUYD RUJ

Conference Calls are still available at: ( 503) 300-6860 PIN: 273149 Facebook@:triumphantbaptist

Sunday Church School • 9am (Zoom)

Sunday Morning Worship • 11am (in-person and livestream on YouTube)

Wednesday Bible Study • 7pm (Zoom)

Please visit our website Ebenezer Baptist Church Richmond, VA for updates http://www. ebenezerrva.org

Dr. Wallace J. Cook, Pastor Emeritus

St. Peter Baptist Church

“Working For You In This Difficult Hour”

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Dr. Kirkland R. Walton, Pastor

Worship Opportunities Sunday Worship Opportunities: 10 A.M. [In-person and Livestream] Sunday Church School Opportunities: Adults [In-person] at 8:30 A.M. Children [Virtual] online via our website.

Bible Study Opportunities: Noon [In-person] 7 P.M. [Virtual]; Please contact the church office for directives.

2040 Mountain Road • Glen Allen, Virginia 23060 Office 804-262-0230 • Fax 804-262-4651 • www.stpeterbaptist.net

Joseph Jenkins, Jr. Funeral Home, Inc. 2011-2049 Grayland Avenue Richmond, Virginia 23220 (804) 358-9177

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Joseph Jenkins, Jr., Founder (Dec. 19, 1938 - Dec. 9, 2006) Joseph Jenkins, III. • Jason K. Jenkins • Maxine T. Jenkins

Richmond Free Press

B4 October 12-14, 2023

Legal Notices/Employment Opportunities Divorce VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE CITY OF RICHMOND ELLA LAUREN AGUILERA, Plaintiff v.

WILSON AGUILERA BENAVIDES, Defendant.

Case No.: CL23-4051 CGC ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce.

It is ORDERED that Wilson Aguilera Benavides appear at the above-named court and protect his/her interests on or before the 8th day of November, 2023.

A Copy Teste: EDWARD F. JEWETT, Clerk VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE CITY OF RICHMOND ELLEN R. NAGY, Plaintiff v.

PAUL J. NAGY, Defendant.

Case No.: CL23003701 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce a vinculo matrimonii.

WHEREFORE, an affidavit having been filed by the Plaintiff, Ellen R. Nagy, that due diligence has been used without effect to ascertain the location of the Defendant, Paul J. Nagy, it is ORDERED that Paul J. Nagy, appear before the 27th day ofNovember, 2023, to protect his interest in this matter.

A Copy Teste: EDWARD F. JEWETT, Clerk VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER AHMED HAWARY, Plaintiff v.

SWAVONDA JACKSON, Defendant.

Case No.: CL23003173-00 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 t h e d e fe n d a n t , w h o s e whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 13th day of November, 2023 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

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months.

It is ORDERED that t h e d e fe n d a n t , w h o s e whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 13th day of November, 2023 at 9:00 AM, and protect hisinterests.

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

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

before November 17, 2023 to protect their interests, if any, in this suit.

I ask for this: Curtis D. Gordon, Esquire, VSB #25325 Jason L. Shaber, Esquire, VSB #96186 DANKOS, GORDON & TUCKER, P.C. 1360 E. Parham Road, Suite 200 Richmond, Virginia 23228 Telephone: (804) 262-8000 Facsimile: (804) 262-8088 Email: cgordon@dankosgordon.com Email: jshaber@dankosgordon.com Counsel for Plaintiff

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HENRICO Parham and Hungary Springs Road, Henrico, VA 23273 RHONDA MURPHY BOWMAN v.

NORMAN MILTON BOWMAN, JR. Case No. CL23-6129 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to: Obtain a divorce.

It is ORDERED that Norman Milton Bowman, Jr. appear at the abovenamed court and protect his/ her interests on or before 11/03/2023.

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER CAROLYN TORRES ALVARADO, Plaintiff v.

JOSE TORRES ALVARADO, Defendant.

Case No.: CL23003067-00 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 t h e d e fe n d a n t , w h o s e whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 8th day of November, 2023 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

Custody VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re AYDEN WINSTON RDSS v.

ALICIA WINSTON (Mother) DEVONITE WALKER (Father) Unknown Father FILE NO. JJ-101115-05-00, JJ-101115-06-00, JJ-101115-07-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“TPR”) of Alicia Winston (Mother), Devonite Walker (Father) & Unknown Father (Father) of Ayden Winston, child DOB: 03/20/2022. “TPR” 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.

It is ORDERED that the defendants Alicia Winston (Mother), Devonite Walker (Father) & Unknown Father (Father), to appear at the above-named Cour t and protect his/her interest on or before 12/07/2023, at 9:20 A.M, COURTROOM #3

PROPERTY

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER CARYN MEDINA, Plaintiff v.

ANDREAS MEDINA, Defendant.

Case No.: CL23003172-00 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

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER MICHAEL RICHARDSON, Plaintiff v.

GLENDA RICHARDSON, Defendant.

Case No.: CL23002573-00 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 t h e d e fe n d a n t , w h o s e whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 8th day of November, 2023 at 9:00 AM, and protect her interests.

A Copy, Teste:

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF HENRICO COUNTY HAMLET CONDOMINIUM HOMEOWNER’S ASSOCIATION, INC. Plaintiff, v.

AYDEN MICHAEL SPROUSE, A MINOR, BY KATHRYN M. STREET, NEXT FRIEND; ESTATE OF RANDELL J. LONG; and Anyone else who may claim an interest in the Property which is the subject matter of this suit and who is made a party hereto by the caption PARTIES UNKNOWN Defendants.

Case No.: CL23-6086 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to determine the amount of association fees due to the Hamlet Condominium Homeowner’s Association, Inc. and to order a sale to satisfy the dues of the certain parcel of real property situated in Henrico County, Virginia, being owned by Ayden Michael Sprouse, more particularly described as follows: ALL that certain lot, piece or parcel of land being described as Condominium Unit No. 20, Building 6, Section IV, of the Hamlet Condominium, known as 20 Stillwater Lane, Henrico County, Virginia, as shown on a plat entitled “Hamlet Condominiums, Brookland District, Henrico Co., VA,”, made by Chas H. Fleet & Assocs, Engineers & Surveyors, dated April 1, 1974, last revised March 20, 1977, and recorded in the Clerk’s Office, Circuit Court of Henrico County, Virginia in Plat Book 66 page 44 together with the undivided interest of .492 percent in the common elements declared in the Declaration of Condominium to be appurtenant to such unit.

Ayden Michael Sprouse, Estate of Randell J. Long, and Parties Unknown may have an interest in the property by deed, by inheritance, or by duly recorded liens.

Affidavit having been made and filed that due diligence has been used without effect to ascertain the identities and/or locations of certain parties to be served, and that there are or may be persons whose names are unknown, interested in the subject matter of this suit; It is ORDERED that Ayden Michael Sprouse, a minor, by Next Friend Kathryn M. Street and the Estate of Randell J. Long, if then living or if dead, their heirs, devisees, assigns, or successors in title, and any heirs or other unknown heirs or parties who have an interest in the subject matter of this suit, who are proceeded against as PARTIES UNKNOWN, appear before Court on or

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VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER DAMOND LANE, Plaintiff v.

SHANDI LANE, Defendant.

Case No.: CL23003174-00 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 t h e d e fe n d a n t , w h o s e whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 13th day of November, 2023 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 MICHAEL MCCOURTNEY, Plaintiff v.

JEANNIE MCCOURTNEY, Defendant.

Case No.: CL23002007-00 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 t h e d e fe n d a n t , w h o s e whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 8th day of November, 2023 at 9:00 AM, and protect her 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 FOR THE COUNTY OF HENRICO JAMES A. EVANS, Attorney at Law, PLC, Substitute Trustee, Plaintiff, v.

TACELLA R. THORNTON-BROOKS, Defendants.

In Case No.: CL23004539-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to determine the appropriate disposition of excess proceeds of a certain foreclosure sale conducted by the Plaintiff under Deed of Trust dated April 27, 2005 and recorded in the Clerk’s Office of this court as Instrument Number 021953 for property that is more commonly referred to as 1601 Fox Downs Place, Richmond, Virginia 23231.

And, pursuant to an Affidavit for Order of Publication executed by the Plaintiff ’s counsel, it is ORDERED that the D e fe n d a n t , Ta c e l l a R .

Thornton-Brooks, or any person(s) claiming through her, do appear on or before 3rd day of November, 2023, in the Clerk’s Office of this Court and do what is necessary to protect their interests.

I ASK FOR THIS: James A. Evans (VSB #04441) JAMES A. EVANS, ATTORNEY AT LAW, PLC 2101 Parks Avenue, Suite 301 Virginia Beach, Virginia 23451 (757) 437-9500 telephone (757) 437-9527 facsimile james.evans@vblawyers.com

To advertise in the The City of Richmond announces the following project(s) available for services relating to: IFB No. 240003619: Forest Hill Avenue Streetscape Design (UPC 1R DQG 6HPPHV $YHQXH :HVW WK 6WUHHW 7UDIÀF 6LJQDO (UPC No. 113446)

ABC LICENSE La Fe Cafe LLC Trading as: La Fe Cafe & Mexican Restaurant 729 W Cary St Richmond, VA 23220 The above establishment is applying to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control AUTHORITY (ABC) for a Retail Restaurant or Caterer Application Restaurant, Wine, Beer, Mixed Beverages, Consumed On and Off Premises license to sell or manufacture alcoholic beverages.

NOTE: Objections to the issuance of this license must be submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing date of the first of two required newspaper legal notices. Objections should be registered at www.abc.virginia. gov or 800 552-3200.

For all information pertaining to this IFB, please logon to the Richmond website (www.RVA.GOV).

Bid Due Date: October 25, 2023/Time: 2:00 PM Pre-Bid Conference Call Meeting: October 10, 2023 at 1:00PM

Information or copies of the above solicitations are available by contacting Procurement Services, at the City of Richmond website (www.RVA. GOV), or faxed (804) 646-5989. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process.

Richmond Free Press call

644-0496

or email advertising@ richmond freepress .com

1-800-Pack-Rat (VA-Richmond-5471) 11511 N. Lakeridge Parkway Ashland, VA 23005 877-774-1537

Tenant:

Notice of Sale

Carner, De Carter, James Goode, Dwanna lascolette, shannon Maggie Walker Governor School Marshal, Cynthia Marshal, Cynthia Marshal, Cynthia

Currys Trading as: Currys 119 E Leigh St Richmond, VA 23219 The above establishment is applying to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control AUTHORITY (ABC) for a Retail Restaurant or Caterer Application Restaurant, Wine Beer, Mixed Beverages, Consumed On and Off Premises license to sell or manufacture alcoholic beverages.

NOTE: Objections to the issuance of this license must be submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing date of the first of two required newspaper legal notices. Objections should be registered at www.abc.virginia. gov or 800 552-3200.

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.

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Senior Data Analyst – Capital One Services, LLC in Richmond, VA; Mult pos avail: Perform quant & qualt analysis of econ data, relating constants & variables, UHVWULFWLRQV DOWHUQDWLYHV FRQÀLFWLQJ objectives, & their num parameters. To apply, visit https://capitalone.wd1.myworkdayjobs. com/Capital_One and search “Senior Data Analyst” or “R175087”.

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1-800-Pack-Rat (VA-Richmond-5471), 11511 N. Lakeridge Parkway, Ashland, VA 23005, has possessory lien on all of the goods stored in the units above. All these items of personal property are being sold pursuant to the assertion of the lien on 10/19/2023 at 10:00 AM in order to collect the amounts due from you. The sale will take place on www.storagetreasures.com from 10/19/2023 to 10/26/2023 at 12:00 PM

Second Baptist Church - Westend seeks an experienced/skilled, highly motivated, and organized individual to do building and grounds cleaning and maintenance.

Good verbal and written communication skills needed. A high school diploma is preferred but not required.

Contact Church Personnel Committee at 804-353-7692 and/or email resume/work history to: sbcwestend14@gmail.com Greater Richmond SCAN - Family Advocate Services Coordinator

Don’t miss one word.

The City of Richmond announces the following project(s) available for services relating to: IFB No. 240002967: Construction Services Water Leak Repairs, Mains, & Meter Installations For all information pertaining to the IFB pre-bid conference call, please logon to the Richmond website (www.RVA.GOV).

Bid Due Date: Wednesday, November 8, 2023/Time: 11:00 A.M.

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Endofthe of empty newspaper boxes, Information or copies theinconvenience above solicitations are available by contacting Procurement Services, at the City of Richmond website (www.RVA.GOV), fighting the weather and hunting down or faxed (804) 646-5989. The City of Richmond encourages all back copies. Also support the Richmond contractors to participate in the procurement process.

Free Press. We are always working for you.

The Family Advocate Services Coordinator ĨĂĐŝůŝƚĂƚĞƐ ĨĂŵŝůLJ ĂĚǀŽĐĂĐLJ ŵĞĞƟŶŐƐ ĚƵƌŝŶŐ forensic interview appointments and is ƌĞƐƉŽŶƐŝďůĞ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ŽǀĞƌƐŝŐŚƚ ĂŶĚ ƉƌŽŐƌĂŵŵĂƟĐ development of family advocacy services that are provided to children and families served ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ ƚŚĞ 'ƌĞĂƚĞƌ ZŝĐŚŵŽŶĚ ^ E ŚŝůĚ ĚǀŽĐĂĐLJ ĞŶƚĞƌ ; Ϳ WƌŽŐƌĂŵ͘ DĂƐƚĞƌ͛Ɛ ĞŐƌĞĞ ƉƌĞĨĞƌƌĞĚ ŝŶ ĐŽƵŶƐĞůŝŶŐ͕ ƐŽĐŝĂů ǁŽƌŬ͕ ƉƐLJĐŚŽůŽŐLJ͕ ũƵǀĞŶŝůĞ ũƵƐƟĐĞ Žƌ ƌĞůĂƚĞĚ ĮĞůĚƐ͘ ŝůŝŶŐƵĂů ; ŶŐůŝƐŚ ĂŶĚ ^ƉĂŶŝƐŚͿ ŝƐ ƉƌĞĨĞƌƌĞĚ͘ >ĞĂƌŶ ŵŽƌĞ Ăƚ ŐƌƐĐĂŶ͘ĐŽŵͬũŽďƐ͘

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