Memorial services set Coverage on B4
Fans in Richmond and the TriCities area can celebrate the life of basketball hall of famer Moses Malone at a community memorial service in Petersburg. He died Sept. 13.
Richmond Free Press
VOL. 24 NO. 42
© 2015 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
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The city of Richmond is mourning the loss of Alicia C. Rasin, known as the “Ambassador of Compassion,” who comforted scores of families of homicide victims. Ms. Rasin died Oct. 9.
OCTOBER 15-17, 2015
Right and wrong S.C. family gets $6.5M in police shooting death
Reports conclude fatal shooting of 12-year-old justified
Reuters
Reuters
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. The family of an unarmed African-American shot in the back by a white police officer will get a $6.5 million settlement from the City of North Charleston, S.C. Walter Scott, 50, was shot after fleeing a traffic stop in April. The shooting was caught on a bystander’s cell phone video and reignited a national outcry over police treatment of African-Americans and people of color. North Charleston Mayor R. Keith Summey said in a statement Oct. 9 that the City Council had voted to settle all potential claims over Mr. Scott’s death for $6.5 million. “I am glad the city and the family were able to reach a settlement without the necesMr. Scott sity of a lawsuit,” he said. The police officer, Michael Slager, faces a murder charge in Mr. Scott’s death. “It could have been a trillion dollars. It would never bring my son back. But I thank them for what they did,” Mr. Scott’s mother, Judy, said of the settlement. Chris Stewart, an attorney for the Scott family, said the payout was the largest pre-lawsuit settlement in the history of South Carolina and one of the largest in the United States.
CLEVELAND Two outside experts have concluded a Cleveland police officer’s fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was wielding a toy gun, was a reasonable response to a perceived threat, according to reports released by an Ohio prosecutor’s office. The independent conclusions released Oct. 10 and submitted to the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office come ahead of an expected decision by a grand jury on whether criminal charges are warranted in the November 2014 shooting of the youngster, which was captured on surveillance video. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said in a statement his office was not reaching any conclusions based on the reports, but an attorney for Tamir’s family Tamir Rice criticized the reports as a “whitewash.” Tamir was African-American while the police officer who shot him is white. The case is one in a series of high-profile deaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement that have raised questions about use of force by police. Nearly one year ago, Cleveland police received an emergency call about someone brandishing a gun outside a city recreation center. Officer Timothy Loehmann shot Tamir twice in the abdomen,
Please turn to A3
Please turn to A3
RRHA residents in ‘buy or move’ spot By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Evan Vucci/Associated Press
Million Man March 20 years later Throngs of people from across the nation flooded the National Mall in Washington for the Justice Or Else rally marking the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March. People of all ages, ethnicities, faiths and backgrounds were drawn to the capital for the event initiated by Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan. A number of speakers and activists addressed participants, calling for changes in the conditions that oppress African-Americans and other marginalized people. Coverage, B3.
Charlene C. Harris hoped to live out her years at 1600 Colorado Ave., the singlefamily brick cottage that she and her family have called home for 47 years. But now the retired 68-yearold state employee is being told she must either purchase the two-bedroom home from her landlord, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, or face moving. “It’s a terrible situation,” she said. “RRHA has told me I have to put up $500 to begin the process and to get a mortgage by December. Otherwise, I would have to accept relocation.” Like other public housing tenants of such homes, she feels caught in a Catch-22. Until she puts up the $500, RRHA won’t provide an appraisal that would let her know what the sales price would be so she could figure out if she could afford
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Charlene C. Harris stands in front of her two-bedroom home in the West End. She has been told to buy it or face having to move. Location: 1600 Colorado Ave.
the house on her fixed income of about $1,500 a month. It is an ironic twist that RRHA is now marking its 75th
Buyer beware
Consumers may flip wig over falsely labeled hair
year of operating public housing by reviving a plan to cut its inventory of units. The goal: To get rid of the remaining 110 single-family housing units that once ranked among RRHA’s premier places to live.
Many of the houses, like the one Ms. Harris occupies in the Randolph area, are among dozens that RRHA bought and moved out of the construction path of the Downtown ExpressPlease turn to A3
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Mary J. Harris wants women to know the difference in wigs so they won’t get taken. At left is a wig with a full-lace base. At right is a wig with a lace-front base, or lace on just a small portion.
Unsuspecting women are being ripped off when it comes to buying wigs. They are being induced to pay higher prices for cheaper wigs that are falsely labeled as being a more expensive product. So says Mary J. Harris, a retired Richmond factory worker. She is blowing the whistle after finding that the expensive wig she thought she was buying at a South Side wig shop turned out to be a lower quality product after it was removed from the box. Still furious about the deception, she is going public to try to keep other women from being deceived the way she was. “I don’t think most women are aware,” she said. The Free Press has confirmed her claims that area wig stores are selling falsely labeled wigs that local retailers have received from manufacturers in China. So far, state and federal consumer protection agencies have yet to investigate, even though wigs are a big business. Annual retail sales top $2 billion in the United States. Please turn to A3
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Racing toward fun Marcus McDowell, front, inserts his face into the image of a bicyclist on a cutout Saturday at the 11th Annual Richmond Folk Festival along the banks of the James River in Downtown. More than 40 music artists and groups were featured at the free outdoor three-day event that drew a crowed estimated at 200,000. Please see additional photos, coverage on B2.