Richmond Free Press October 7-9, 2021 edition

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Richmond Free Press © 2021 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 30 NO. 41

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

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OCtobER 7-9, 2021

Doubling down Alfred C. Liggins III and Urban One go all in to win voter approval of the $565M casino project proposed for South Side. The referendum is Nov. 2, with early voting going on now. By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Do you want a gambling casino built on a 100-acre commercial property in the South Side? On top of filling elective offices, that is the big question Richmond voters are now facing if they vote early or will face on Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 2. There’s plenty of buzz — both positive and negative —

about the projected ONE Casino+Resort, a new venture for the Baltimore-based Black media conglomerate Urban One and its majority stock owners, Cathy Hughes, who chairs the board, and her son, Alfred C. Liggins III. Mr. Liggins has made sure of that as he pushes for the “yes” vote needed in order to seek a state license to operate. If Richmond voters approve the casino, it likely would be the biggest project a Black-owned business has ever undertaken

in Virginia, a project involving an investment of $565 million that would bring the city its first full-service casino with 2,000 slot machines, 110 table games and sports betting. Along with the gambling, the project is to include a 250-room luxury hotel, 15 restaurants, 55 acres of public parkland, a sound stage to create films and other programming and a 3,000-seat events center that is projected to have at least 200 shows a year featuring big name entertainers. Aware of a strong undercurrent of opposition , Mr. Liggins has saturated Richmond television and radio air waves with commercials in a bid to motivate voters to check the “yes” box on the referendum to allow his company to build. The ads tout 1,500 permanent jobs that would be created and the $30 million to $50 million a year that the casino would generate in tax revenue By Nichole M. Christian that could be used by the city He survived. to pay for services. This is the detail that Charlene Warner Coleman wants RichThe ads also celebrate the mond — and the world, really — to know about her husband, Ed casino as a product of private Coleman, and his near-death battle with COVID-19 during the enterprise that would not require pandemic’s early stages in 2020 when the hope of a vaccine was a dime of taxpayer subsidy or moving into a national reality. support. Nearly a year later, Mr. Coleman is not only among the living, he The casino and resort will be is the central figure in a new book, “Surviving COVID,” about his located at 2001 Walmsley Blvd., six-month ordeal as a patient on a special COVID-19 wing at the just off the Bells Road exchange Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center. of Interstate 95, in a relatively While Mr. Coleman currently is dependent on oxygen “24/7,” isolated industrial and commersaid his wife, he is still teaching Shotokan karate, a Japanese style cial area with little connection to of martial arts he began studying at age 14, as much as his health residential neighborhoods, the will allow. city’s Downtown or museums “This is a survivor’s tale about a virus that’s a death threat. It’s and other attractions. uplifting in the end,” she said. “But people need to know just how Armed with a marketing bad it can get.” budget of $3 million to $5 The book is especially close to Mrs. Warner Coleman. She wrote

‘Surviving COVID’ Local author details battle her husband endured and she waged against the virus

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Charlene Warner Coleman believes faith, prayer and the healing power of music brought her husband, Ed Coleman, through a near-fatal battle with the coronavirus.

Cold meals another hot topic at School Board meeting; new vendor sought By Jeremy M. Lazarus and Ronald E. Carrington

Most students in Richmond elementary schools started receiving hot meals on Monday, just hours before the Richmond School Board met and voted unanimously to rescind the $12.9 million food contract awarded during the summer to Illinois-based Preferred Meals to provide breakfast and lunch. While the board’s decision appeared to be a response to parental anger over the poor quality

of the meals their children have been served, the decision was forced largely after the board was notified that the contract issued by Richmond Public Schools was so badly botched that the school system could lose millions of dollars in federal reimbursement for the meals it provides. The School Board first learned about the contract issue a few days before the meeting through a memo from Superintendent Jason Kamras that was obtained by the Free Press. In it, he disclosed the contract “did not articulate the correct sodium levels and did not include standard legal classes” that the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires in order for school districts to be reimbursed through the National School Lunch Program. “As a result, our application for reimbursement has not yet been approved,” Mr. Kamras stated in the memo. He urged the board to rescind the contract and allow the administration to “reissue the request for proposals,” which it did. That would not bar Preferred Meals, a major institutional Please turn to A4

Free COVID-19 testing and vaccines

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Riding along with Dad Tre Powell of Richmond grew up attending the annual 2nd Street Festival in Jackson Ward. Last Saturday, he was passing along the tradition to his children, Levi Powell, 4, left, and Olivia Powell, 5, who were enjoying the treats as much as the music. Please see more photos from the 33rd Annual 2nd Street Festival, B3.

Free community testing for COVID-19 continues. The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations: • Tuesday, Oct. 12, 9 to 11 a.m., Second Baptist Church of South Richmond, 3300 Broad Rock Blvd., drive-thru testing. • Wednesday, Oct. 13, 9 to 11 a.m., Eastern Henrico Recreation Center Pavilion, 1440 N. Laburnum Ave. Appointments are not necessary, but can be made by calling the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 2053501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by registering online at https://bit.ly/ RHHDCOVID. Testing will be offered while test supplies last.

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Ashley S. Bland reacts with utter surprise Monday as Gov. Ralph S. Northam announces that she is Virginia’s Region 1 Teacher of the Year 2021 during a program at Richmond’s John B. Cary Elementary School, where Ms. Bland thought she would be leading a tour of the school’s outdoor environmental learning center.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Surprised again, Richmond’s Ashley Bland named state Region 1 Teacher of the Year By Ronald E. Carrington

Ashley S. Bland thought she was giving a simple tour Monday of the outdoor environmental learning center she helped create at John B. Cary Elementary to Gov. Ralph S. Northam and his wife, First Lady Pamela Northam, Mayor Levar M. Stoney, Richmond schools Superintendent Jason Kamras and Richmond School Board Chairwoman Cheryl L. Burke. But after speaking in glowing terms about Ms. Bland’s work establishing the eco-lab and her efforts encouraging students interested in science, technology, engineering and math, Gov. Northam asked Ms. Bland to join him at a podium set up outside the near West End school and revealed the real

reason for the gathering. “We are all huge fans of yours and you are a superstar rock star,” the governor told Ms. Bland. “I have a letter that announces that you have been chosen as the 2021 Virginia Teacher of the Year for Region 1.” Surprise, surprise, surprise! Ms. Bland’s stunned facial expression said it all. She stood in utter disbelief as thunderous applause and cheers rang out from an audience of teachers and students. “I am beyond shocked and overwhelmed,” said the 30year-old Ms. Bland, who has been teaching since 2015. “It is an extreme privilege to service Richmond Public Schools. The award is such an awesome experience. “I also hope people will find out what RPS is all about, as

well as witness firsthand what we are doing while providing awesome opportunities for our student scholars,” she said. In May, Ms. Bland was surprised by Mayor Stoney, Mr. Kamras and other school officials when she was named Richmond Public Schools 2021 Teacher of the Year during Teacher Appreciation Week. With her latest selection, she is one of eight regional winners who will be vying for Virginia Teacher of the Year. She will have an interview with a panel put together by the Virginia Department of Education of classroom teachers, representatives of education and professional associations and members of the business community, with the new Virginia Teacher of the Please turn to A4


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