e Deadlin to r e t is to reg
VOTE y, Mon da Oct. 16
On Tuesday, Nov. 7, voters will go to the polls to elect Virginia’s governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and members of the Virginia House of Delegates. In addition, Richmond voters will cast ballots for the city sheriff, treasurer, commonwealth’s attorney and 3rd District representative to the Richmond School Board.
City voters also will be asked to vote on an amendment to the City Charter regarding funding for renovating or repairing public school buildings. The deadline to register to vote in the election, or update an existing registration, is Monday, Oct. 16. Registration applications are available online
This weekend • Youth Bowl • VSU Trojans homecoming B2
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Richmond Free Press © 2017 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 26 NO. 40
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
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c e l e b rat ing o u r 2 5 t h A nniv e r s ar y
October 5-7, 2017
Tragedy in Vegas Sunday’s bloody mass shooting outside casino is the worst massacre in recent U.S. history Free Press staff, wire report
The mystery and motive behind mass killer Stephen Paddock — gambler, accountant, auditor and real estate investor — continues to baffle federal authorities and law enforcement officials in Las Vegas who were working on Wednesday to discover what drove the 64-year-old to commit the worst mass murder in modern U.S. history. Police body camera video released Tuesday night revealed the sheer chaos at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on Sunday, when a gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 people and injuring more than 480 others. The video showed people screaming and scrambling as officers tried to figure out the location of the gunman Stephen Paddock and shuttle people to safety. According to those who knew him, Mr. Paddock showed no signs of mental illness, extreme political views or an unhealthy interest in guns prior to the massacre. However, Mr. Paddock was prescribed anti-anxiety medication during the summer and purchased 50 10-milligram tablets Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun/Reuters of diazepam, better known under its brand name Valium, on A body is covered with a sheet at an area set up by first responders in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard after Sunday’s mass shooting across from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. June 21, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, citing records from the Nevada Prescription Monitoring Program. According to media reports, Mr. Paddock liked to gamble, had homes in Southern California, Texas and Nevada, had plenty of money and held a succession of steady jobs as a mail carrier, accountant, auditor and apartment manager, according to media reports. son’s opinion last week — although not from In an era when social media By Jeremy M. Lazarus Mr. Jackson or his office, as City Council has invites full-throated expression Does Richmond City Council have the legal not authorized the opinion’s release. of even the most minor annoyauthority to remove or relocate the Confederate The stunning opinion has emerged as the ance, Mr. Paddock gave no hint statues from Monument Avenue? council is poised to consider a resolution from of whatever it was that drove No, according to City Attorney Allen L. 9th District Councilman Michael J. Jones him check into the hotel suite Jackson. calling for the General Assembly to with 23 high powered weapons The city’s chief legal adviser asserts grant Richmond authority to remove with scopes, smash out two that the city’s master plan and at least the statues. windows and unload on 22,000 one provision in the City Charter bar Mr. Jackson’s opinion is binding concertgoers at a country music the governing body from taking any on the nine-member governing body festival below. action regarding the statues, beyond until the state Supreme Court issues Several new details emerged preserving them. a contrary ruling in an appropriate Tuesday about Mr. Paddock and “Absent a change in the City Charter case. how he worked methodically to or the enactment (by the General AsReached Monday, Mr. Jones de- thwart law enforcement. As he Mr. Jackson sembly) of legislation that overrides clined to comment on Mr. Jackson’s fired round after round startall such charter provisions, it is my opinion opinion. ing at 10:08 p.m. and lasting that the City must preserve those structures However, Mr. Jones, who regards removal of for 11 minutes, video cameras as part of its master plan,” he wrote in a legal the statues as a moral issue, has not withdrawn he set up at the hotel door’s April Coleman/Richmond Free Press opinion provided to council members Sept. 18 his resolution in the wake of the opinion. Bonnie L. Davis shares a hug with her biological peephole and outside in the mother, Sheila Dean Richardson, during an interview in response to that question. last week at the Free Press. They reconnected five Please turn to A4 The Free Press obtained a copy of Mr. JackPlease turn to A4
City attorney: City Council has no authority to remove Confederate statues
decades after Ms. Davis was adopted shortly after her birth in Kentucky.
Mother, daughter reunited 50 years after adoption By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Bonnie L. Davis grew up in an adoptive family, but always longed to find her biological mother. But the Richmond middle school English teacher, church musician and creative writer, found it nearly impossible, despite spending years seeking records in Louisville, Ky., where she was born. All she could find out was that her mother Sheila Dean, was 15 when she put her new daughter up for adoption. She also found out that her name at birth was LaTonya Tandelet Dean. It was changed by her new parents in Kentucky who adopted her shortly after her birth. “It seemed impossible to find my mother,” said Ms. Davis, whose longing to meet her biological mother intensified following the death of her adoptive parents in recent years. “I could not find anyone who knew my mother in that area. You know, women change their names when they marry, and people move. So I had sort of given up.” Thanks to the miracle of DNA science, the two women have found each other after 50 years. They had an emotional and joyous reunion two weeks ago. And Ms. Davis, who is going through the court process to officially change her name to LaTonya Dean, accompanied her mother to a family reunion last Saturday in Maryland, where she met much of her extended family. “It was glorious,” said Ms. Davis, bubbling with hapPlease turn to A4
Fish farming in Fairfield Court?
Nonprofit founder floats idea to improve lives of East End residents By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Could fish farming be a way up for residents of public housing? Eric Samuelson believes it is a winning idea. And he’s hoping to find government officials who are willing to test it. “I get paid by private business to solve problems,” said Mr. Samuelson, a veteran management consultant. “I want to use my abilities to help solve the problems facing residents in public housing. And I think fish farming is one way to go.” Through the nonprofit Family Restoration Network he co-founded, he is courting state and city officials for support and grants for his big idea: To create a pilot tilapia fish farm and greenhouse in the heart of Fairfield Court in the East End as a first step toward improving lives and strengthening families. The 66-year-old Ashland resident proposes to put the 1,000-square-foot project in a portion of the field behind Fair-
field Court Elementary School that stretches to the Armstrong High School stadium. For him, the benefits are easy to tick off. “We would be creating fresh
food, providing marketable skills for residents, bringing a creative science program to benefit students, while offering hope and inspiration for this community,” Mr. Samuelson said.
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Happy face Six-year-old Nia McKoy grins with pleasure as Ivy MacCurtin transforms her face Saturday at the 2017 Richmond Peace Festival at St. Joseph’s Villa in Henrico County. Please see B3 for additional photo coverage.
The venture, he said, would be a training ground for a host of jobs, ranging from irrigation technician and greenhouse worker to pool technician, plumber’s assistant and construction laborer. Cost: About $50,000 to create the 45-foot-by-25-foot greenhouse-fish farm that could produce 300 to 400 pounds of fish a month, he said. The fish could be provided cheaply to residents or sold wholesale to area grocery stores, he said. At least $30,000 and possibly more would be needed for operating costs, he added. Essentially, the fish farm would consist of a series of tanks where the fish would start as fingerlings, or babies, and move into other tanks as they grow and are harvested at about 1.5 pounds. The fish waste would be broken down by microbes and worms and the water would be recycled, irrigating lettuce planted in the greenhouse and Please turn to A4