Richmond Free Press June 17-19, 2021 edition

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VOL. 30 NO. 25

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

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Michael Paul Williams wins Pulitzer Prize A9

JUNE 17-19, 2021

Tops in their class Richmond Public Schools valedictorians take the stage next week to speak at high school commencements

By Ronald E. Carrington

Photos by Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

The valedictorians at Richmond’s public high schools celebrate during a group photo last Saturday at Byrd Park. They are, from left, Te’Vonya Jeter of Huguenot; Aissatou Barry of Richmond Community; Airhiez Cabrera of Armstrong; Harold Aquino-Guzman of George Wythe; Terri Lee of Franklin Military Academy; Mary Jane Perkins-Lynch of Thomas Jefferson; and Abena Williams of Open High. Right, A’Nya Davis of John Marshall.

Ambulance Authority struggling to keep up with calls

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The Richmond Ambulance Authority has long boasted of being a role model in emergency response. The idea that a city-based ambulance— lights flashing and sirens blasting—would quickly race to the scene of an accident, a fire, a shooting, a heart attack or other life-threatening situation has become a common expectation.

But like other elements of Richmond’s public safety apparatus, the 30-year-old authority is now struggling to field enough staff to respond in a timely fashion to emergency and non-emergency calls.

That became evident Saturday afternoon when it took about 60 minutes for RAA to send an ambulance to pick up a pregnant woman who was injured in a collision at Bells Road and Richmond Highway.

She had her three young children with her when

her car was struck, authorities reported.

According to confirmed reports, Latanya Thompson lay on the ground while firefighters who had responded quickly treated her. She gave birth prematurely on Tuesday, 22 days before her due date, although from another cause other than the stress of the situation.

At the time, eight ambulances were on the road, RAA reported, and all were occupied handling emergencies or the transport of patients to a hospital.

Based on predicted demand, RAA acknowledged that 12 to 16 fully equipped ambulances should have been providing coverage.

But that is no longer possible.

“Recently, on average, our Advanced Life Support ambulances have been 56 percent staffed during the day and 58 percent during the night compared to what our staffing calls for to more

It’s graduation time — and time to celebrate.

The Richmond Public Schools Class of 2021 has gotten through a year of virtual learning with the pandemic and has a bevy of top scholars to show for it.

With GPAs ranging from 4.4 to 5.1, RPS valedictorians will have the honor to speak at their respective graduation ceremonies that take place next week.

In the first return to a more traditional commencement ceremony, members of the Class of 2021 will don their caps and gowns and march proudly across a stage at The Diamond baseball stadium on Arthur

Personality on B3

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

The Richmond Ambulance Authority operates a fleet of ambulances out of its headquarters at 2400 Hermitage Road in North Side.

than meet demand,” RAA spokesman Mark Tenia said.

Mr. Tenia said staffing is now a major challenge, resulting in lagging response times on Please turn to A4

Ashe Boulevard to receive their diplomas and begin a new chapter in their lives.

The Class of 2021 has many highachieving students who collectively have garnered millions of dollars in scholarship offers to pursue further studies in the fall at various colleges and universities.

The top students have been recognized and honored by RPS in a Zoom conference with Superintendent Jason Kamras, special video Please turn to A4

Mayor Stoney turns up the heat, orders RFP for new George Wythe to be issued

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Mayor Levar M. Stoney is moving to hire an architectural firm to design the new George Wythe High School whether the Richmond School Board likes it or not – even as he acknowledged that City Hall would need the board’s consent to actually build the school.

With 5th District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch and supporters of a new George Wythe cheering him on, the mayor announced Wednes-

sisted that Richmond day that he has diPublic Schools would rected Procurement resume control of Director Betty J. school construction Burrell to issue a that had been ceded previously prepared to City Hall more than request for design a decade ago. services, or RFP, For the mayor, effective Thursday, the final straw was June 17. Responses Mayor Stoney a timeline that Richwould be due within mond Public Schools Superin45 days.

The move is the latest twist in tendent Jason Kamras issued an ongoing battle for control of last week showing that the school construction. Since mid- school system would take six April, five of the nine members years to open a replacement of the School Board have in- for George Wythe, instead of

Free COVID-19 testing, vaccines Free community testing for COVID-19 continues.

The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations: • Thursday, June 17, 10 a.m. to noon, Diversity Richmond, 1407 Sherwood Ave., North Side.

Appointments are not necessary, but can be made by calling the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 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.

COVID-19 testing also is available at various drug stores, clinics and urgent care centers throughout the area for

Please turn to A4

the three years the city has indicated it would take.

“This timeline is not acceptable — not to me and especially not to the families and children of the Wythe community,” Mayor Stoney said.

However, he acknowledged that his directive is actually more for show and is aimed at bringing the School Board back to the table to set up a collaborative process.

The city “can’t legally build Please turn to A4

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Budding athlete Tajiya Taper, 2, of Henrico County has fun trying to get the soccer balls into the goal set up last Saturday at Mt. Olivet Church in Church Hill for Operation Homebase. The youngster was attending the event with her grandparents, Nicole and Rodney Gore with the Team Loaded Foundation.

Please see more photos, A8.

City Council gives greenlight to casino project

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond easily leaped the first hurdle in its quest to become a casino city — City Council approval.

Led by President Cynthia I. Newbille, the city’s governing body voted 8-1 Monday to send a private group’s plan to create a $562.5 million resort-casino in South Side to city voters for approval.

The majority, who heard mostly supportive comments at a public hearing, overrode the dissent of 2nd District Councilwoman

Katherine Jordan and a few speakers who described the project as an economic development scam that would only increase poverty in Richmond.

Before the vote, Mr. Liggins 8th District Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell, who is thrilled about getting a huge project in her district, publicly scolded Ms. Jordan

for her opposition.

Ms. Trammell claimed Ms. Jordan had privately promised to support the casino in Ms. Trammell’s district. Ms. Trammell said she told Ms. Jordan she would back Ms. Jordan’s opposition to a casino in North Side in exchange.

“I keep my word,’ Ms. Trammell said.

Along with gaming, the proposed Black-owned development on 100 acres Please turn to A4

VUU launches new Hezekiah Walker Center for Gospel Music with Juneteenth concert

By Ronald E. Carrington

Grammy Award-winner Hezekiah Walker and Virginia Union University are establishing the Hezekiah Walker Center for Gospel Music, which will host an inaugural event on the campus on Juneteenth, Saturday, June 19.

“Juneteenth: Sounds of Freedom Celebration” will feature the VUU Choir, led

by award-winning producer David Bratton, and nine additional choirs from the area, and will take place 4:30 to 8 p.m.

Related story on B2 at Hovey Field.

There will be a special appearance by Mr. Walker and guests.

The event is free. Lawn chairs are

encouraged, university officials said, but large bags, coolers and umbrellas are not allowed.

Additionally, several Black-owned food vendors will be onsite, along with voter registration information and community volunteer opportunities.

The concert is a joint celebration of the emancipation of enslaved Americans in Texas after the Civil War and two years

after the Emancipation Proclamation and the launch of the new gospel center.

The first of its kind in the United States, the Hezekiah Walker Center for Gospel Music will provide education and resources to help musicians and budding gospel artists learn gospel music, culture and the industry.

Please turn to A4

Mr. Walker

Richmond Free Press

A2 June 17-19, 2021

Local News

Juneteenth holiday closing schedule In observance of Juneteenth, Saturday, June 19, please note the following: Government offices City of Richmond offices: Closed Friday, June 18.

Henrico County offices: Open Friday, June 18.

Chesterfield County offices: Closed Friday, June 18.

State offices: Closed Friday, June 18.

Federal offices: Open Friday, June 18.

Public schools Richmond and Henrico County public schools: Closed Friday, June 18.

Chesterfield County Public Schools: Ear ly release for students Thursday, June 17; closed Friday, June 18.

Courts Richmond, Henrico County and Chesterfield County courts: Closed Friday, June 18.

Public libraries Richmond Public Library: Closed Friday and Saturday, June 18 and 19.

Henrico County Public Library: Regular hours.

Chesterfield County Public Library: Regular hours.

Library of Virginia: Closed Friday, June 18.

CVWMA trash pickup and recycling: Regular pickup Friday, June 18.

Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles customer ser vice centers: Closed Friday, June 18.

ABC stores: Regular hours for stores. Administrative offices closed Friday, June 18.

U.S. Postal Service: Regularly scheduled mail delivery.

Banks and financial institutions: Regular hours.

Malls, major retailers and movie theaters: Varies. Inquire at specific locations.

GRTC: GRTC buses will operate on regular schedules Friday, June 18, and Saturday, June 19.

GRTC administrative offices will be closed Friday, June 18. GRTC Customer Service Call Center will be open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Friday, June 18, and 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 19.

Free Press offices: Closed Saturday, June 19.

Plans proceed to put federal money toward homeless services, affordable housing

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

City Council is recommending that the administration pour $5.6 million in new federal dollars into homeless services and pump $7.1 million into a city fund to boost assistance to developers creating apartments and homes with reduced rents and price tags.

Fifth District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch, chair of the council’s Education and Human Services Committee, sought to lay out options for using the new $5.6 million the federal government plans to release later this year from the American Rescue Plan.

Under a resolution she introduced, the money could be used to develop a one-stop service center that could include housing and wrap-around services for the homeless.

Other options, Ms. Lynch said, could be to provide funds to enable shelter operators to expand their bed space as the Salvation Army is seeking to do at its new home in North Side, or provide rental subsidies to those in need of shelter.

Ms. Lynch and other council members noted that the resolution is aimed at helping the city prepare for Oct. 1, when a winter shelter needs to be in place.

“That’s just four months away,” 2nd District Councilwoman Katherine Jordan noted.

The City Council’s 9-0 vote to support the resolution followed a meeting of the committee at which Sherrill Hampton, city director of Housing and Community Development, indicated that her department is considering shelter options.

Ms. Hampton confirmed that the city is now in talks with officials in Henrico and Chesterfield counties about creating a regional center to serve the homeless. The counties collectively are to receive about $5.4 million, which would provide $11 million in new, one-time funding.

The city also is in talks with Virginia Union University about a temporary, two-year lease to use a now-closed motel at Lombardy Street and Brook Road that VUU purchased for a development that has yet to proceed, Ms. Hampton said.

She said the city also is eyeing the former Circle Shopping Center in South Side as a potential site for a homeless services center.

Last year, the city paid a network of motels in North Side and South Side to provide shelter for homeless people during the winter.

Ms. Lynch hopes the new federal money can be a catalyst for creating a year-round operation for the homeless, similar to regional service operations now available in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Northern Virginia.

Separately, City Council approved 9-0 a resolution that calls on the city to add $7.1 million to its Affordable Housing Trust Fund, using a portion of the initial $77 million in American Rescue Plan dollars that are to come directly to the city this year. A second $77 million is to come next year.

GRTC free rides to continue for next 12 months

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Free rides on GRTC buses, including Pulse and CARE vans, will continue for at least 12 more months, the bus company’s six-member board of directors agreed Tuesday.

The board, led by the Rev. Benjamin P. Campbell of Richmond, made the free fare decision in approving nearly $100 million in operating and capital expenditures for fiscal year 2021-22.

The approved budgets include $5.8 million in federal relief dollars that will replace the money riders would have paid in fares, according to Julie Timm, GRTC’s chief executive officer.

GRTC’s budget year begins July 1 and ends June 30 the following year.

For at least 90 more days, riders still will be required to wear masks to board, GRTC spokeswoman Carrie Rose Pace noted.

While the state’s mask mandate will end June 30, Ms. Pace said the federal mask mandate for passengers on buses, trains and planes will not be lifted until Monday, Sept. 13, at the earliest.

In fiscal 2018-19, riders paid $6.8 million in fares, with GRTC spending $1.6 million to handle the collections, leaving a net of $5.2 million in income, budget documents show. Federal Cares Act funds have filled in the revenue and allowed the bus company to avoid the collection expenses.

GRTC was less affected by the drop in transit use during the pandemic than other ground and air transit operations.

“Although bus ridership did decline in 2020 across the nation during the pandemic, GRTC local ridership drops were modest by comparison,” Ms. Timm told the board, adding that ridership is recovering and is approaching pre-COVID levels.

Ms. Timm cited three reasons GRTC is starting to see a rebound.

She said the free rides have continued to make buses an attractive option, and she noted that the 2018 redesign of the network has proven itself in creating better connections to workplaces.

She also noted that GRTC has proven to be a safe way to get around due to the protective measures the company imposed, including the mask requirement for riders.

Cityscape Slices of life and scenes in Richmond

The mural “African American Gothic” is a modern take on Grant Woods’ classic 1930 painting titled “American Gothic” that depicts an elderly farming couple with the man holding a pitchfork. This version, created by artists Andre Shank and Sone-Seeré, can be found on a building at 404 E. Grace St. in Downtown.

It features Nikiya Ellis, a food and reproductive justice advocate, with Duron Chavis, a community activist who creates and advocates for urban farming. With a fork replacing a farm implement, the mural brings attention to the ongoing work by the pair on sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems throughout the Richmond area. The mural was completed in September and is part of the Mending Walls Project, a public art project that brings different cultures together to tell their stories and express healing and unity through connection.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

My’chael Jefferson-Reese to head new Chesterfield Public Defender’s Office

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

My’chael D. Jefferson-Reese relishes being a champion for people facing legal trouble.

“I love helping people,” the veteran public defender said. “I wake up every day eager to come to work.”

Now Ms. Jefferson-Reese will have a bigger opportunity to do battle on behalf of people facing jail or prison time.

On June 10, she shed her title as chief deputy public defender in Richmond and officially became the chief public defender for Chesterfield County.

She is the first person to have that role in Chesterfield.

The General Assembly authorized and approved funding to open a new county public defender’s office, which will be part of a network of 30 offices across the state that the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission manages.

Until now, Chesterfield has been the largest population center in Virginia without a publicly funded defense operation.

Ms. Jefferson-Reese will have no shortage of clients. According to annual reports, Chesterfield’s courts handle 5,000 and 7,000 felony cases a year, along with more than 17,000 misdemeanor cases, both well above the caseloads of Richmond’s courts.

Public defenders do not handle every case. Still, they are a mainstay for people who cannot afford a lawyer, which is normal for a large majority of those charged.

The opening of the Chesterfield of-

fice is recognition of the growth in the number of county residents who need legal help.

Ms. Jefferson-Reese wishes she could open July 1 when the office will be offiMs. Jeffersoncially activated under Reese the legislation passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Ralph S. Northam.

However, she said the physical space is still being outfitted, and she still needs to recruit and hire 21 attorneys and staff who will be on her team.

She said she expects to open the public defender’s office in the fall and is now taking time to acquaint herself with the judges and her counterparts in the commonwealth’s attorney’s office who prosecute crimes.

But when she does open, “My goal is to field the most courtroom battle-ready team” of attorneys, including herself, to ensure adequate representation for those facing charges, Ms. Jefferson-Reese said.

She will bring plenty of experience.

She has handled thousands of cases during her seven years defending clients as an attorney with the Petersburg Public Defender’s Office and during her five years with the Richmond office. Her new job comes after serving a year as chief deputy to Richmond’s chief public defender Tracy Paner.

Ms. Jefferson-Reese, 43, also will be in familiar territory. She grew up in Chesterfield and lives in the county with her husband, Gregory Reese, a retail store manager, and her two children, ages 14 and 4.

A University of Richmond graduate, Ms. Jefferson-Reese earned her law degree at the University of Dayton School of Law in Ohio.

She said she thought she wanted to be a civil litigator in a big law firm when she graduated and passed the bar exam, but she found her passion in criminal law and her calling as a public defender, even though the state’s pay scale is modest.

She is bemused that she had to rise to chief deputy to match the salary she received in 2003 when she was named an associate at a corporate firm in Dayton after finishing law school.

Ms. Paner, who commands an office of 29 attorneys that will soon grow to 33, is proud that Ms. Jefferson-Reese has gained recognition for her work through this appointment.

Despite the challenges, Ms. Paner, a 29-year public defender, said the majority of public defenders are committed to the work. She noted that openings for the top jobs are scarce because of the low turnover.

Ms. Jefferson-Reese is the second top attorney from the Richmond office to move up. Earlier this year, the office’s other chief deputy, Lauren Whitley, was named to lead the Fredericksburg Public Defender’s Office.

Richmond’s banking desert grows

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Outside of Downtown, the eastern half of Richmond – which tends to be largely African-American and Latino— has increasingly become a banking desert, bereft of branch banks that are more commonplace in the Downtown and western half of the city.

The last full-service bank branch operating north of Downtown and east of Brook Road is now set to close in 90 days, continuing a trend that began years ago when the area’s only Black-owned bank, Consolidated Bank, closed all but its Downtown branch. Consolidated was later sold and is now Premier Bank.

The areas the banks are leaving also are often cited for lack of name-brand grocery stores and tend to attract fewer national and regional retail outlets.

The formation of new community banks and the arrival of larger out-oftown banks has not made any difference, with the newcomers avoiding the city’s eastern half. If they go east, they locate in Henrico County.

Wells Fargo is now the last bank to leave the eastern half of the city north of the James River. The bank has provided a 90-day notice it that it will close its branch at 1800 Chamberlayne Ave. at noon Wednesday, Sept. 8. Based on the announcement, the shutdown will include the automated teller machines, or ATMs, at the site.

According to the bank, Wells Fargo customers still will have access to a fullservice branch either at 2nd and Grace streets or at its other locations along Broad Street. The bank also noted that customers of the Chamberlayne Avenue branch could switch to using the bank’s online and digital applications, as many already do.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

The Wells Fargo Bank branch at 1800 Chamberlayne Ave. in North Side is permanently closing Sept. 8.

Ahead of the city branch’s closure, Wells Fargo in two months also will close a Henrico County branch located at 5610 Brook Road in the Brook Run Shopping Center. That branch is to close Wednesday, Aug. 11, with customers encouraged to use another Wells Fargo branch at Brook and Parham roads.

“This is not an easy decision or one that we take lightly,” Wells Fargo spokeswoman Maegan Lewis stated in response to a Free Press query. “While branches continue to be important, we’re finding that more customers are using our wide range of digital capabilities, (with) more transactions happening outside the branch.”

The Wells Fargo decision follows the closures in March of full-service SunTrust branches on Azalea Avenue and at 2500 E. Broad St. in Church Hill following the merger of that bank with BB&T to create the new Truist Bank.

That appears to leave an ATM that Bank of America continues to operate in a closed branch at 1307 E. Brookland

Park Blvd. as about the only remnant of the once thriving branch banks in most of North Side and Church Hill.

North of the James, full-service bank branches and credit unions can still be found in Downtown, along Broad Street, in Carytown, in the Far West End and in the Hermitage Road area near The Diamond baseball stadium.

The major element of banking that now stands out in the eastern sector are the ATMs and cash machines in retail outlets that have become a mainstay for those with bank debit and credit cards.

South of the James, branch banks mostly cluster in the retail district of Forest Hill Avenue near Huguenot High School. Otherwise, there is little branch banking left.

As best as can be determined, the full-service operations in South Side that remain east of Westover Hills Boulevard include the Truist branch at 1200 Semmes Ave. and the Richmond Heritage Federal Credit Union’s headquarters at Commerce Road and Bainbridge Street.

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Richmond Free Press

A4 June 17-19, 2021

News

RPS valedictorians will take the stage next week Continued from A1

profiles on the RPS home page and individual spotlight profiles on RPS Direct as well as the RPS Facebook page.

This is just the beginning.

Here are this year’s valedictorians and where they plan to matriculate in the fall, along with information on schools’ graduation ceremonies: Huguenot: Te’Vonya Jeter, 4.6 GPA, Howard University.

Ceremony: 9 a.m. Monday, June 21. Speakers, valedictorian and Salutatorian Dwight Baldwin Jr. Watch live on YouTube - https://youtu.be/ gCeKJdzVqbo Open High: Abena Williams, 4.9 GPA,

Norfolk State University.

Ceremony: 4 p.m. Monday, June 21. Speakers, valedictorian and Salutatorian Esme Munson. Watch live on YouTube - https://youtu. be/6B76O40096Q John Marshall: A’Nya Davis, 4.4 GPA, Longwood University.

Ceremony: 7 p.m., Monday, June 21. Speakers, valedictorian and Salutatorian Marna “Maria” Diallo. Watch live on YouTube - https://youtu. be/ThF1148XQtI Armstrong: Airhiez Cabrera, 4.6 GPA, Virginia Tech.

Ceremony: 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 22. Speakers, valedictorian and Salutatorian Tamia Harvey. Watch live on YouTube - https://youtu.

be/9e5Wo_TPnN4 Richmond Community: Aissatou Barry, 4.8 GPA, University of Virginia.

Ceremony: 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 22. Speakers, valedictorian and SalutatorianAris Ruff. Watch live on YouTube - https://youtu.be/obPfweU0hYM George Wythe: Harold Aquino-Guzman, 5.1 GPA, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Ceremony: 9 a.m. Wednesday, June 23.

Speakers, valedictorian and Salutatorian Krystal Spurlock. Watch live on YouTube - https://youtu. be/wgb3eFP_G5M Franklin Military Academy: Terri Lee, 4.4 GPA, Howard University.

Ceremony: 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 23.

Speakers, valedictorian and Salutatorian Joyce

Nyakana. Watch live on YouTube - https://youtu. be/sBkDY_LKZX4 Thomas Jefferson: Mary Jane PerkinsLynch, 4.9 GPA, Hollins College.

Ceremony: 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 23.

Speakers, valedictorian and Salutatorian Latisha Jones. Watch live on YouTube - https://youtu. be/XpSsaCYeCjc The Richmond Career Education & Employment Academy (RCEEA) and Amelia Street School will hold their own graduation ceremonies.

Details are available at the schools.

Details on the ceremonies at The Diamond, including information on parking, seating and mask requirements: www.rvaschools.net/ domain/2017

Ambulance Authority struggling to keep up with calls Continued from A1

emergency calls and long delays on calls that RAA deems nonlife threatening.

“RAA has held itself to a high standard, and for the first time since becoming a selfoperating agency, RAA is facing unprecedented challenges in meeting that standard,” Mr. Tenia acknowledged.

Ironically, RAA was organized in 1991 to end a failing ambulance system that relied on private companies that had a reputation for slow responses.

RAA is now telling City Hall that “we are nearing a breaking point,” Mr. Tenia said. “Our system is set up to be effective and cost-efficient, but both our effectiveness and efficiency are starting to suffer” as staffing declines and response goals become impossible to meet.

He said for the past three years, RAA has been losing

people more quickly than their replacements can be trained.

In the first six months of this year, RAA hired 14 people but lost 30, he said. In 2020, RAA hired 50 new field employees, but lost 71.

The result: The shrunken staff of emergency workers “is responding to more calls and experiencing a heavier workload,” Mr. Tenia said, while having to wear more protective gear in response to the pandemic.

RAA is not alone in struggling with personnel shortfalls, although it has managed mostly to avoid the spotlight and the interest of 8th District City Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell or the council’s Public Safety Committee she chairs.

Most attention from the committee has focused on shortfalls in the Richmond Police and Fire departments, which have gone to mandatory overtime to fill staffing gaps as personnel leave

Free COVID-19 testing Continued from A1

people with and without health insurance. Several offer tests with no out-of-pocket costs.

A list of area COVID-19 testing sites is online at https:// www.vdh.virginia.gov/richmond-city/richmond-and-henricoarea-covid-19-testing-sites/ 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?

The Richmond and Henrico health districts are offering walk-up COVID-19 vaccines at the following locations: • Thursday, June 17, 1 to 6 p.m. – Eastern Henrico Recreation Center, 1440 N. Laburnum Ave., Pfizer.

• Saturday, June 19, 1 to 5 p.m. – Juneteenth celebration at Dorey Park, 2999 Darbytown Road, Eastern Henrico.

• Tuesday, June 22, 2 to 3 p.m. – Hillside Court Recreation Center, 1500 Harwood Ave., Moderna; noon to 5 p.m. – Islamic Center of Henrico and Masjid Al-Falah, 7705 Impala Drive, Western Henrico, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

• Wednesday, June 23, 3 to 6 p.m. – George Wythe High School, 4314 Crutchfield St., South Richmond, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson; 9 to 11 a.m. – Diversity Thrift, 1407 Sherwood Ave., North Side, Moderna.

• Thursday, June 24, noon to 1:30 p.m. – Metropolitan Church Food Pantry, 2501 Park Ave., Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

Children ages 12 to 15 may only receive the Pfizer vaccine.

Appointments are not required, but individuals can schedule an appointment online at vax.rchd.com or by calling (804) 205-3501.

VaccineFinder.org and vaccines.gov also allow people to find nearby pharmacies and clinics that offer the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Chesterfield Health District has opened the Rockwood Vaccination Center, 10161 Hull Street Road in Midlothian, in the former Big Lots store in the Rockwood Shopping Center.

The center will offer free COVID-19 vaccines 3 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

The Pfizer vaccine will be available for anyone 12 and older and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be available for those ages 18 and older.

From 3 to 7 p.m. on Mondays, the Rockwood Vaccination Center will serve as a free immunization clinic for adolescents, rising seventh graders through 12th grade. In addition to the COVID-19 vaccine, the clinic will offer the Tdap, meningococcal and HPV vaccines. A parent or guardian must accompany the youth. Officials ask that participants bring their immunization records with them to the clinic.

According to state health data, 4.1 million people have been fully vaccinated in Virginia as of Wednesday, or about 48.3 percent of the population, while 57.3 percent of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.

State officials reported 678,226 cases of COVID-19 statewide on Wednesday, along with 30,241 hospitalizations and 11,330 deaths. Virginia’s seven-day positivity rate is 1.6 percent. Last week, it was 2.1 percent.

According to state data, African-Americans comprised 22.4 percent of cases statewide and 25.1 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 16.3 percent of cases and 6.5 percent of deaths.

Reported COVID-19 data as of Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Cases Hospitalizations Deaths Richmond 17,141 825 271 Henrico County 25,652 1,097 626 Chesterfield County 28,220 1,016 448 Hanover County 8,221 289 165

faster than their replacements can be trained.

Police officers and firefighters unsuccessfully lobbied City Council for an overhaul of their pay scale to try and stem the losses. While Ms. Trammell spoke for them, a majority of the council, instead, opted at the prompting of Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration for a study of the proposed pay plan created by police and fire’s rank-and-file.

One reason for the council’s decision to slow-walk this issue was cost: The proposed plan that officers and firefighters advanced could collectively boost the two departments’ payroll costs $12 million a year.

Richmond Sheriff Antionette V. Irving also is struggling to find enough deputies. During her successful campaign for the Democratic nomination for reelection, she confirmed she had 110 vacancies among deputies

working at the Richmond City Justice Center. She also has had to use mandatory overtime to try to keep minimal coverage of the jail. Deputies who work at the jail and others who quit said up to 15 pods or cellblocks often go unmonitored at night because of the staff shortages.

The causes for the shortfalls appear to vary by agency, with the rank-and-file often blaming the management styles of supervisors.

But across the board, pay for city public safety positions trail neighboring localities and private companies. The city’s trained and sworn personnel often work extra jobs or jump ship to a neighboring jurisdiction to improve their income.

Mr. Tenia said that pay is a significant RAA issue.

“It has been very difficult for RAA to remain competitive in the job market,” he said.

He said emergency medical

services like RAA have been impacted by a reluctance of people to apply for this kind of work during a pandemic.

In addition, “fewer students have been enrolling and completing classes to be certified as an emergency medical technician, or EMT,” which reduces the pool of people to draw from, Mr. Tenia said.

Increased incentives and improved pay would help, he said.

He said currently, new EMTs start at $35,828 to $36,902 per year. Those with more advanced certification and experience start around $38,000 a year.

Paramedics, who have the most medical training, start at nearly $47,000. That is based on a 48hour work week, or four days at 12 hours a shift.

Mr. Tenia said RAA is working on a plan to boost pay by reducing the work week to 42 hours, while keeping pay rates

the same.

RAA currently has 126 emergency employees, with 73 being full time and 53 part time, he said. While he could not provide a comparison with full staffing, others have told the Free Press that RAA could use at least 70 more people.

As was the case with other public safety agencies, RAA got shot down when it sought $6.9 million in subsidy from the city for the 2021-22 fiscal year that will begin July 1, or a $1.9 million increase from the current fiscal year’s $5 million.

“The request was made in order to offset market changes, keep costs low for our patients and provide increases in employee pay to attract new people and retain current staff,” Mr. Tenia said. Instead, the council approved the mayor’s proposed $1 million cut in the city’s subsidy, reducing the RAA’s ability to reduce hours.

Mayor turns up the heat, orders RFP Continued from A1

a new George Wythe alone,” Mayor Stoney noted in his statement, “but I can get the process started, and that’s what we’re doing. Richmond needs the School Board to do the right thing and participate in the evaluation of proposals for design services by joining us” before the RFP closes at the end of July.

School Board Vice Chair Jonathan Young, a leader of the board’s majority, said he would not support a challenge to the mayor’s action and noted he has already offered at least 10 ideas for a collaborative process, none of which have been embraced by the School Board or the city.

Mr. Young has said that the timeline issued by Mr. Kamras “does not deserve a passing grade” because it flies in the

face of the construction reality in Henrico and Chesterfield counties and in other communities.

He also has insisted that George Wythe can be built within three years with the School Board in charge, as was the case with new Henrico high schools.

However, Mr. Young also acknowledges that the School Board has “been remiss in failing to address the real meat-andpotato issues.”

That includes deciding whether George Wythe needs to be a 2,000-student school, given that Richmond has several thousand empty high school seats and also is planning to build a career and technical education high school in South Side that will add even more capacity.

He said it is time for the board to engage the public and make crucial decisions about

the size of the building, the programming that should be incorporated, the inclusion or not of a public library and public health clinic and the cost.

The city claims a new building would cost $140 million, or $40 million more than Henrico County spent for its two new high schools.

“Maybe, we will only need a school with a capacity for 1,500-students if the board is not willing to close any of the high schools in North Side,” Mr. Young said. “That could save tens of millions of dollars that could help us afford to build the new technical high school or build or renovate other schools. Every extra dollar we spend on building the new George Wythe is a dollar that will not go to provide new schools for other students who also need them.”

City Council gives greenlight to casino project Continued from A1

at Walmsley Boulevard and Commerce Road is to include a 250-room hotel, a 3,000-seat entertainment venue, a 50-acre public park, a sound stage for creation of movie, TV, radio and digital content and other amenities.

Planned for opening in December 2023 if voters back it, the development is targeted for a site that is largely isolated from the rest of Richmond. The property sits in front of the Bells Road exchange on Interstate 95 and neighbors Philip Morris’ cigarette factory, warehouses and industrial operations.

For most of the council and many in Richmond, the promises the city has extracted from developers are reason enough to be supportive. That includes a no-strings, upfront payment of $25.5 million if the referendum passes, plus at least $29 million or more a year in new tax revenue for city coffers.

The promises also include the creation of about 950 full-time jobs with benefits and profit-sharing, along with more than 300 part-time jobs paying at least $15 an hour; the offering of 200 or more entertainment events on site; and the donation of $1.6 million a year to charities and educational institutions such as Virginia Union University.

Jack Berry, leader of the Richmond area’s tourism operations, told the council the casino would be another big attraction that could lure visitors.

Dr. Monroe Harris, another supporter and financial investor in the project, said

he was impressed by the casino’s planned support for VUU, while Greta C. Harris, president and chief executive officer of the Better Housing Coalition, said the community benefits represent a broader reason to support the development.

But Richard Walker, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for a House of Delegates seat, urged rejection.

He told City Council the promises will not be realized, citing the example of Atlantic City, N.J., which remains a poor city despite the presence of multiple casinos on the oceanfront.

“Bringing a casino to Richmond is yet another economic development scam,” said Quinton Robbins of Richmond for All. He said other cities have found that casinos end up being “a tax on the poor” that fail over time to provide the economic boost everyone wants.

The council vote earned applause from Mayor Levar M. Stoney, who has brushed off complaints that supporters of the winning proposal donated to his re-election campaign last year before the city issued a request for proposals that drew six bidders.

“City Council’s vote tonight paves the way for every voting Richmond resident to have their voice heard on this important project,” the mayor stated after the council vote.

The entity undertaking the development is officially listed as RVA Entertainment Holdings LLC. While largely hidden, the owners include Black-owned media giant Urban One and a 50-member investor group led

by Urban One Chairwoman Cathy Hughes and her son, Alfred C. Liggins III, the chief operating officer of Urban One. Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, which owns and operates Colonial Downs and the Rosie’s slot machine emporiums in Richmond and elsewhere in the state, is to operate the casino.

Investors are excited about the casino’s potential impact on Urban One’s earnings.

Since One Casino + Resort became a finalist in May and then became Richmond’s choice, the Class A voting stock in Urban One has quadrupled in value, from $5 a share in April to about $20 a share today.

In the wake of the council vote and before seeking a referendum from Richmond’s Circuit Court, the city plans to quickly submit documents on the proposal to the Virginia Lottery, the state’s casino regulatory body. The state agency will have 45 days to make a preliminary review.

If the project gets an initial green light from the Lottery, the city then would ask the court to put the casino issue on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Similar referendums passed last year in each of the four other Virginia cities that the General Assembly in 2020 approved to have casinos.

If Richmond voters give a thumbs up, the development could start within several months, according to the city, although RVA Entertainment would be taking a risk. The company must pay $15 million to the Lottery, which would have a year to take a deep dive into RVA Entertainment’s financials and its plans before issuing the required casino license.

VUU launches new Hezekiah Walker Center for Gospel Music with Juneteenth concert Continued from A1

VUU officials said the curriculum will “revolve around the study of sacred arts and their relation to African heritage. Furthermore, the center will explore music and worship traditions that promote the comprehension of biblical texts.”

The curriculum is being shaped by a task force of “educational, religious and musical minds,” according to the university.

Mr. Walker, a second-year student at VUU’s Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, stated in a video posted on the university’s website that the theological training he has received

at VUU “has helped to shape my ministry.”

“My goal is to give back to the school that has poured so much into me, by helping emerging gospel artists learn the business, as well as theological aspects of the gospel music industry,” he said.

“Gospel music is an important

part of our culture and VUU is honored to partner with Mr. Walker to create a central hub for the study, writing and preservation of gospel music,” said VUU President Hakim J. Lucas.

“VUU is growing to meet the changing career interests of our students by creating academic programs where the

workforce demand is high or where students can explore opportunities in STEM, history or the arts,” Dr. Lucas said.

According to the university, students also will participate in several planned live recordings to be produced under the direction of Mr. Walker and Mr. Bratton.

Richmond Free Press

June 17-19, 2021 A5

Health disparities contribute to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s in communities of color.

Alzheimer’s disproportionately affects African Americans, particularly in underserved communities with less access to health care, which impacts diagnosis, treatment and survival.

The older you get, the more you are at risk The number of people with Alzheimer’s doubles every five years after the age of 65.

Within that group, African Americans develop Alzheimer’s at a higher rate than anyone else.

Early warning signs include: • • • •

Difficulty completing routine tasks Confusion with time or place Decreased/poor judgement Changes in mood/personality

Take action Get tested early There are significant benefits to getting an early diagnosis: • Potential lower costs for treatment • Opportunity to participate in clinical trials • Healthier lifestyles preserve cognitive function

The healthier we are, the healthier our brains will be. You can significantly reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease by taking the following steps: • • • •

Stay physically and mentally active Keep yourself socially involved Reduce your fat and cholesterol intake Don’t use tobacco

To schedule an appointment with VCU Health, call 800-762-6161. © 2021VCU Health. All rights reserved. Sources: Alzheimer’s Association; Centers for Disease Control; UsAgainstAlzheimer’s; VCU Health Neuroscience, Orthopaedic and Wellness Center.

A6 June 17-19, 2021

Richmond Free Press

Local News

VP Kamala Harris announces $1.25B for community lenders Free Press wire, staff report

owners who serve low income Vice President Harris at Tuescommunities.” CDFIs, she said day’s event. A spokesperson for “add value to those communi- Sen. Warner said the funding WASHINGTON ties, and by extension, to our will provide millions of dollars Vice President Kamala entire nation.” for more than a dozen financial Harris announced Tuesday This fund in particular institutions in Virginia. that the Biden administration comes from work she did as a The vice president praised is distributing $1.25 billion California senator. The funding Sen. Warner’s and Rep. Waters’ to hundreds of community for the program comes from work, along with the support lenders in an effort $12 billion provided of a number of other senators, to help boost the for community lend- calling it a “full team effort” economic recovery ers in the 2020 stimu- to get the funds into the final from the coronavilus that was signed bill. rus for small busiinto law by thenTreasury Secretary Janet nesses in underPresident Trump Yellen also joined the event, served and minority last December. That and said the CDFI fund decommunities. money also was to livered on President Biden’s “President Joe help open up new and Vice President Harris’ Vice President Biden and I knew credit opportunities campaign trail promise to Harris that more than refor Black, Latino and tackle systemic racism and pair, we must re-imagine our low-income communities. At build an economy “that works economy,” Vice President the time, Vice President Harris for everyone.”

Harris said during an event pushed to include funding for CDFIs, she said, are “exat the White House. “Small CDFIs in the final package, actly the right place to focus businesses, of course, are at the along with U.S. Sen. Mark our attention, because these center of this re-imagining.” Warner of Virginia, and House questions — who can access The funds are going to more Financial Services Committee credit and capital and who than 860 community develop- Chairwoman Maxine Waters can’t — are at the root of many ment financial institutions, or of California. long-term structural problems CDFIs, around the country.

The two Democrats joined in our economy.”

CDFIs offer loans to small businesses and those who may 1826 Monument Avenue be turned down for loans from major banks, a problem that This lovingly cared for and thoughtfully updated classic studies have shown particuFan home is for sale for the first larly plagues minority business time in over 35 years. owners.

Experience a welcoming neighVice President Harris has borhood with a high walkability focused on small businesses score close to all the city has to from the start of her vice presioffer! dency, and has emphasized in  5 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths. particular the need to support  Beautiful original details. minority- and female-owned  Private courtyard garden. small businesses as key to a robust economic recovery.  One car garage.

On Tuesday, she lamented that “traditional banks have not For more information or to schedule a showing contact: Coleen Butler Rodriguez, 804.873.9947 always seen or understood the Coleen.Rodriguez@JoynerFineProperties.com, or vision of women, small busiTom Jefferson, 804.467.6702 ness owners, small business Tom.Jefferson@JoynerFineProperties.com owners of color, small business

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There’s still time.

Learn what you can do now.

Research shows that our social interactions, diet, sleep, exercise, stress levels and daily health habits have dramatic effects on our cognitive abilities as we age. Alzheimer’s: What You Can Do, a new VPM documentary, explores the discoveries that are changing the medical profession’s

Photo: Alzheimer’s Association

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Watch or stream | June 22 @ 8 p.m.

vpm.org/dementia-series

Richmond Free Press

June 17-19, 2021 A7

If enjoying good music matters, Get your COVID-19 vaccine.

A jazz legend who studied chemistry in college, Plunky misses live music—and knows the COVID-19 vaccine is how all of us will get our groove back. Because your health, community and reasons matter, get the shot.

vcuhealth.org/thisshotmatters

Richmond Free Press

A8 June 17-19, 2021

Local News

Photos by Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

New court in Church Hill Above, Christian Ballard, 9, shows off his skills on the newly unveiled basketball court behind Mt. Olivet Church at 1223 N. 25th St. in Church Hill. Team Loaded and FeedTheStreetsRVA partnered to bring “Operation Homebase” to the area last Saturday, which included unveiling the court and giving new shoes and T-shirts to youths and providing activities and food at the free community gathering. The organizations plan to unveil additional courts in North Side and South Side soon. Young people of all ages enjoyed pickup games at the event, including, right, Dallas Ashford, 8, who has his eye on the hoop as he focuses to take a shot.

VCU opens COVID-19 clinic for ‘long haulers’

By George Copeland Jr.

The spread of COVID-19 has slowed significantly.

But plenty of people who contracted the virus are still dealing with the effects.

In response, Virginia Commonwealth University is providing a new avenue of care and recovery for those with chronic symptoms, known as “long haulers.”

That avenue is VCU Health’s Long COVID-19 Clinic, which just opened in the health system’s Stony Point campus in South Side.

The clinic is the brainchild of Dr. Peter Jackson, VCU assistant professor and specialist in pulmonary disease and critical care.

He brought the idea to VCU Health leaders about seven months earlier when VCU faced a large number of COVID-19 patients who hadn’t fully recovered.

The clinic is the first of its kind in Central Virginia and the third in the state. The VCU operation currently focuses on patients experiencing persistent lung, heart and brain symptoms for at

least 84 days after their initial COVID-19 diagnosis.

Multiple studies from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others have shown that one-third of those who recover from a serious bout with COVID-19 experience lingering, chronic symptoms even after leaving the hospital.

In Virginia, that’s potentially more than Dr. Jackson 10,000 people who are “long haulers.”

The state reported Wednesday that 678,226 individuals in the state, or about 8 percent of the Virginia’s 8.56 million residents, have contracted COVID-19 since the start of the epidemic in March 2020. Of those who have tested positive statewide, about 4 percent, or 30,241, spent time in a hospital, including 825 Richmond residents.

The response already has been positive, Dr. Jackson said.

“We’re early, but I think everything I’ve heard from the patients that I’ve seen, they’re really grateful,” Dr. Jackson said.

“The patients feel like they’re getting the care that they’ve been waiting for.”

He said the patients who are seeking treatment generally are suffering from long-term lung damage, chronic coughing, brain fog and heart problems.

Particular care is being given to address those symptoms in people of color, Dr. Jackson said.

For now, the clinic is open only to VCU Health patients who are referred by the hospitalists and specialists treating them, but Dr. Jackson said the clinic could expand to other patients over time.

“I think a lot of people are feeling they’re suffering alone,” Dr. Jackson said. “It’s something that the medical community is just starting to understand because the impacts of the virus are really kind of coming to the forefront.

“I think having a place where people can go and get expert care from multiple disciplines is really reassuring,” Dr. Jackson continued. “I think it gives a feeling that their concerns are being addressed seriously, and they should be.”

Virtual Meet & Greet for Trade Partners Johnston-Willis Hospital

1401 Johnston Willis Drive, Richmond, VA 23235 Please join us for a Virtual Meet & Greet regarding bid opportunities associated with the HCA Johnston-Willis Hospital Renovation Project.

Project Description The project consists of major renovation in the Atrium building of Johnston-Willis Hospital on Level 5 to convert the existing level into a new med surg/ICU patient floor. Included is approximately 25,174 SF of major renovation and a replacement canopy at the front entrance of the Atrium building.

Project Details • Bid Date: Thursday, July 8, 2021 @ 2:00 PM EST. • For information regarding prequalification, bid documents, or other details regarding the project, please contact: Matt Sevinsky, Preconstruction Manager, at (804) 495-5465; mattse@dpr.com.

• To RSVP for the upcoming Virtual Meet & Greet, please contact: Kinnard & Associates at (615) 941-8396 or via email at kinn0167@aol.com.

Virtual Meet & Greet Wednesday, June 23, 2021 at 12:00 PM EST OPTIONS FOR PARTICIPATING: 1. Join the StarLeaf video meeting: https://meet.starleaf.com/4850973738/app Meeting ID: 4850973738 2. Join the meeting from your desktop phone or smart phone: Dial +1 669 272 2894 Participant ID: 4850973738

Project Bid Packages · Selective Demolition

· Roofing

· Sliding Glass Doors

· Fire Protection

· Aluminum Composite Panels

· Concrete

· Applied Fireproofing

· Flooring and Ceramic Tile

· Mechanical and Plumbing

· Acoustic Ceiling Tile

· Drywall

· Doors, Frames and Hardware

· Paint and Wall Covering

· Electrical and Fire Alarm

· Final Cleaning Scopes

· Masonry

· Glass and Glazing

· Specialties

· Communications

· Millwork

· Automatic Door Operators

· Pneumatic Tube

· Steel

DPR Construction and HCA/Johnston-Willis Hospital are strongly committed to the development and implementation of initiatives which promote the inclusion of local, minority, and women-owned business enterprise firms.

Richmond Free Press

June 17-19, 2021 A9

Local News

Michael Paul Williams wins Pulitzer Prize

diverse city. him to the panel of columnists would enable the newspaper publisher Joseph PuMr. Williams started out life newspaper to better live up to its profession of litzer, who created them. in the Byrd Park area of the city. being open to diverse viewpoints.

Michael Paul Williams was at home writing Mr. Williams, whose award His family moved to Henrico “The change was difficult,” Mr. Williams rehis latest column for the Richmond Times- includes $15,000, is the third County to get away from the called. “There was a lot of pushback and tension.

Dispatch when the newspaper’s managing Pulitzer winner in the daily newsdestruction and noise that came Certainly, there were a lot of unhappy readers. editor called him with the stunning news: He paper company’s history. with living near the area where “This a city with a long history of white had just been awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize While he is gratified at what the Downtown Expressway was supremacy and a long history of being resisfor commentary – journalism’s equivalent of the Pulitzer judges had to say, being built. tant to change,” he said. He said he feels he an Oscar.

Mr. Williams said he really He graduated from Hermit- is part of the movement to create “a more just “Disbelief does not do it justice,” Mr. Wil- never knows “how my words age High School and earned his community.” liams, 63, said of his reaction after learning on are affecting people. One never undergraduate degree in English Since 1992, he has written more than 2,700 June 11 from Mike Szvetitz that he had been knows in the process of any your at Virginia Union University. columns that have appeared twice a week. named to receive the award. work. My hope is that whoever is He earned a master’s degree in He said that he is “gratified” for the recogni“Actually, it was profane disbelief,” said Mr. assessing it knows it is authentic Mr. Williams journalism from Northwestern tion and the outpouring of congratulatory emails Williams, a Richmond native who has spent his and heartfelt.” that have come from readers. nearly 40-year career at the newspaper. “My first In the case of the statues, his winning columns University.

He joined the staff of the Times-Dispatch He still is pumped about doing columns. He words were, ‘Are you ... kidding me?’ ” did not usher in the change. “People on the street in 1982. His role as a columnist began 10 also knows the glow from the award is fleeting.

He said the selection “still seems surreal. It’s moved those statues,” Mr. Williams said. an honor just to be nominated.”

However, he sees himself as having helped years later after he successfully pitched the As he put it, “You’re only as good as your last He said he never expected that his writing start the process that led to a profound change in newspaper about the need for greater diversity column.” in local opinions. would be selected as the city’s landscape.

He said that he told his bosses that adding the best among his print He said he began newspaper peers. writing columns advoThe Pulitzer Prize cating for the removal board, based at Columof Richmond’s racist CARES ACT UTILITY RELIEF bia University, recogConfederate statues in nized Mr. Williams for 2015 after white suPAST DUE UTILITY BILLS? penning “penetrating premacist Dylann Roof and historically inmassacred nine Black City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities is now accepting NEW sightful columns that worshippers and the applications from customers that have fallen behind on their water, guided Richmond, a pastor at Mother Emanformer capital of the uel A.M.E. Church in wastewater and gas utility bills as a result of an economic hardship due Confederacy, through Charleston, S.C. Pulitzer Prize medal to COVID-19. Previous recipients are eligible to reapply for a different the painful and com“That was a shock to service period. plicated process of dismantling the city’s monu- my system,” Mr. Williams said, adding that he ments to white supremacy.” wrote the Richmond statues “had to go.”

Customers are encouraged to submit applications NOW as they will be The entry consisted of five opinion pieces he “My columns didn’t move the needle one wrote between early June and mid-August last bit,” he said with a laugh, but he regards them processed on a first-come, first-served basis. year on the removal of the city’s Confederate as part of the process “of chipping away and statues. chipping away at what seems like a stone wall, DPU eligible customers will: Mr. Williams was among 16 honorees for and then something happens and Stonewall is • Have an active residential or commercial utility 2021, the 105th year the prizes have been gone.” service (excluding stormwater). awarded.

The Stonewall reference is to the statue • Have experienced/been impacted by an economic The Pulitzer board also awarded a special of Confederate Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” hardship due to COVID-19. citation to Darnella Frazier, the teenager who Jackson that stood at Monument Avenue and pulled out her cellphone and began recording Arthur Ashe Boulevard until July 1, 2020, when • Have fallen behind on their City water, wastewater or when she saw George Floyd being pinned to it was taken down. natural gas utility bill for services after March 1, 2020. the ground by a Minneapolis Police officer. Her “Change happens incrementally,” he said, video helped to launch a global movement to and, paradoxically, “all at once. You can protest racial injustice. never tell when the tipping point is going to More information including eligibility criteria and Ms. Frazier, now 18, was cited “for coura- arrive.” application is available at: geously recording the murder of George Floyd, While the award represents a personal www.rva.gov/public-utilities a video that spurred protests against police bru- achievement for him, Mr. Williams said it tality, around the world, highlighting the crucial also represents a validation of the changes at role of citizens in journalists’ quest for truth and a Richmond newspaper that for decades proFUNDS ARE LIMITED AND AVAILABLE ON A justice,” the Pulitzer board stated. moted segregation and for the changes that are FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED BASIS! The Pulitzer Prizes are named for New York transforming once staid Richmond into a more

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

honor. celebrate. mobilize.

Join the Virginia NAACP for its inaugural Juneteenth In The Commonwealth. This virtual benefit will honor our freedom, celebrate our progress, and mobilize our communities for the continued fight for freedom.

SATURDAY JUNE 19, 2021 7:00 PM ET

Purchase tickets online vajuneteenth.org or call (804) 321-5678 A virtual event to benefit the Virginia NAACP Freedom Fund Contributions to the Virginia State Conference NAACP are not tax-deductible.

Richmond Free Press

Colorful daylily in the East End

Editorial Page

A10

June 17-19, 2021

Juneteenth We are impressed by the scope of activities planned for Juneteenth and the great effort put forth by so many individuals and organizations to make a success of its first celebration as an official state holiday.

We also question why the Henrico County government is not following the state’s lead and recognizing Juneteenth as an official holiday.

Government offices in the City of Richmond and Chesterfield County will be closed Friday, June 18, in observance of the holiday. So will schools, courts and other concerns.

We acknowledge that it has taken us a bit to warm up to a holiday that we mistakenly believed was apropos only to the experience of people in Texas. It was in Galveston, Texas, where, on June 19, 1865, Union troops led by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived to announce that the Civil War had ended and that all of the enslaved people were free based on the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation issued two years earlier.

Virginians know that announcement in Texas came more than two months after Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, was liberated by Union forces on April 3, 1865, ushering in freedom for the enslaved in this area. Others became free elsewhere in Virginia after Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant received the official surrender of the main Confederate army from its commander, Gen. Robert E. Lee, at Appomattox on April 9, 1865.

Just days later on April 14, 1865, President Lincoln, who had issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, that freed all enslaved people held in most Confederate territories, including Texas, was shot by an assassin and died the next day.

But, according to historians, slaveholders in Texas wanted to make sure they had workers to bring in the harvest and didn’t spread the freedom news to the 250,000 people who were still held in slavery. Maj. Gen. Granger did it for them.

From then on, this day, June 19, was marked as Freedom Day, or Emancipation Day — not July 4th, when the Declaration of Independence was signed, but the day when all Americans finally were free.

Certainly, we are still fighting against the continued resistance to our liberation and equality in this nation. A holiday won’t change that. But Juneteenth reminds all Americans of the history of this nation and the meaning of freedom.

And in all its forms of celebration and expression, Juneteenth signals to people across America, including younger generations, that we remain dedicated to bringing about full recognition of the personhood, freedom and equality of AfricanAmericans and other people of color no matter how many decades it takes.

Hats off to graduates We send hearty congratulations to Richmond Public Schools’ valedictorians, as well as all high school seniors in Richmond and the surrounding counties as they graduate this month.

It has been a tough year for these young adults and their families during the many changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the shifts in learning, expectations and interactions with teachers, classmates and friends.

Reaching graduation means they have persevered through the ups and downs and possess the resilience, focus and flexibility they will need in future endeavors. Area students showed those qualities as they continued to study, learn, grow, develop and mature during these unstable times and successfully met the requirements to earn a diploma.

We know this day wouldn’t be possible without community — the ring of parents, guardians, families, teachers, principals and others whose love, support and caring helped each student reach this special milepost.

This is a time like no other — a real commencement, a beginning of the next stage of education, career path and life.

As the celebrations get underway, we wish for our area graduates an enduring sense of courage, clarity, purpose and community as they continue on their journey.

Congratulations!

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Juneteenth and confronting hard history

“Slavery is hard history.

It is hard to comprehend the inhumanity that defined it. It is hard to discuss the violence that sustained it. It is hard to teach the ideology of white supremacy that justified it. And it is hard to learn about those who abided it. We the people have a deep-seated aversion to hard history because we are uncomfortable with the implications it raises about the past as well as the present. …We enjoy thinking about Thomas Jefferson proclaiming, ‘All men are created equal.’ But we are deeply troubled by the prospect of the enslaved woman Sally Hemings, who bore him six children, declaring, ‘Me too.’”— Hasan Kwame Jeffries When I was a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, I accompanied my parents on a trip to the West African nation of Senegal. As part of our journey, we took a ferry to Gorée, a tiny island about a mile from Dakar’s main harbor.

The haunting images of the slave trade we encountered there left a lifetime impression.

“Soon, we came upon a large stone structure,” my mother,

Sybil Haydel Morial, wrote in her memoir, “Witness to Change.”

“The remains of what appeared to be shackles were embedded in the floor. For nearly three centuries, men, women and children were brought forcibly to this island and sold to European and American slave traders.

As the nation prepares to observe Juneteenth, the celebra-

Marc H. Morial tion of the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States, we are engaged in a bitter battle over the teaching of history, particularly the acknowledgment of white supremacy’s role in shaping our laws and institutions.

My great-great-grandparents, Victor Theophile Haydel and Marie Celeste Becnel, were born on the Whitney Plantation, 50 miles east of New Orleans.

Victor’s mother, Anna, arrived on the plantation sometime between 1820 and 1853. She was “purchased to be the ‘pet’ of her infertile owner,” journalist Daja Henry wrote in the New Orleans Tribune. “After she got too big to play with, she was tossed among the other enslaved; and like many other enslaved women, she was raped by white men. In Anna’s case, it was the plantation owner’s

brother, Antoine Haydel.”

Marie Celeste’s mother, Francoise, also had been raped by a member of the owner’s family, Florestan Becnel.

When the last Haydel family member to own the plantation died in 1860, Anna and Victor were listed as part of an inventory of her estate. Victor was valued at 800 piastres – the Cajun word for dollars – and Anna at 100 piastres.

As Juneteenth approaches, I am reminded of the words of Dr. Ibrahima Seck, a Senegalese historian who traced the Haydel family’s history: “The best way to honor the memories of Anna, Victor and Celeste, is to let the world know the hardship they went through and the injustice of being considered chattel for many years with a price imposed on each of them. In doing so, much respect would also be paid to those who sacrificed their lives in the defense of freedom and civil rights in this country and beyond.”

Unfortunately, stories like Anna’s are rarely taught in American schools. Slavery is treated “like a dot on a timeline, according to Maureen Costello, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance program. An investigation by the SPLC, Teaching Hard History, revealed an alarming ignorance

The gender pay gap The postponed and rescheduled 2020 Olympic Games are only a few weeks away. If the Japanese and International Olympic committees can manage a COVID-safe environment, I welcome them. I consider this event to be one of the purest forms of athletic competition.Participants train and compete fairly in a test of physical prowess.

If you will, imagine yourself as a participant in the finals of the 100-meter dash. When you arrive at the starting area, you find the starting block in your lane 18 meters behind those of your competitors. The race begins with little to no hope of you overcoming the disadvantage imposed upon you.

In real life, that is the type of disadvantage imposed upon the average American woman. PayScale, a compensation research organization, asserts that in 2021, the average American woman earns 82 cents for every dollar earned by the average American male, or 18 cents less!

To raise awareness of this disparity, Equal Pay Day is observed. It is the day to which the average woman must work in a new year to achieve earning parity with the average male’s earnings for the past year. In 2021, Equal Pay Day was March 24. This date is calculated without regard to experience or job type.

The gender pay gap has long been the subject of contention and debate. Few will debate its existence, but there is significant disagreement as to the cause. Some will argue that the career-related choices of women and the stereotypical obligations of “womanhood”— homemaker, wife and motherhood — reduce their “time on

Dr. E. Faye Williams the clock” and, therefore, their resulting income.

Others contend that, historically and contemporarily, the work and performance of women has been undervalued, and, among other reasons, employers have routinely practiced the payment of lower wages in womendominated career fields. I support this latter position.

Despite the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women throughout their careers continue to earn less than men, and this disparity occurs as early as one year out of college. Christianne M. Corbett, a senior researcher at the American Association of University Women, co-authored a study titled “Graduating to a Pay Gap.” For college graduates, the research demonstrated that after factoring variables such as college major, occupation, and number of hours worked, women’s pay was 82 percent of their male counterparts’ pay one year after graduation. In this study, on average, men earned nearly $8,000 more than women one year after graduating.

Unfortunately, these “aver-

ages” do not reflect the pay disparities that are inherent when factoring in racial and ethnic differences. According to PayScale, women of color fall victim to an even greater gender pay gap. One does not have to be an Einstein to understand the impact of this pay disparity on single mothers and double-income families.

If circumstances were not bad enough, COVID-19 has had a disparate, negative impact on women. Almost daily, we learn from the media that the greatest impact of this pandemic has been on women and it’s not difficult to understand that those starting farther back in the race suffer the most.

A review of the facts of this systemic discrimination are instructional, but information alone cannot effect change. As with any other form of discrimination, change can only occur with major impetus initiated by the discriminator or those with the power to direct necessary change. In this case, employers must assess and monitor their policies and practices to assure compliance with genuine antidiscrimination goals.

In the absence of enlightenment by employers, legislators must be open to the review and modernization of existing laws and policies. Both must work to increase transparency in compensation practices for the identification and remedy of disparities.

Lives depend on it!

The writer is president of the National Congress of Black Women.

The Free Press welcomes letters The Richmond Free Press respects the opinions of its readers. We want to hear from you.

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.

among high school seniors. Only 8 percent could identify slavery as the central cause of the Civil War. Two-thirds didn’t know that it took a constitutional amendment to formally end slavery. Fewer than one in four could correctly identify how provisions in the Constitution gave advantages to slaveholders.

This is no way to honor the memories of Anna, Victor and Celeste, or the millions who were kidnapped, enslaved, brutalized and oppressed. We cannot build a stable home on a broken foundation.

As the SPLC study’s authors concluded, “Teaching about slavery is hard. It requires often difficult conversations about race and a deep understanding of American history. Learning about slavery is essential if we are ever to come to grips with the racial differences that continue to divide our nation.”

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Richmond Free Press

June 17-19, 2021 A11

Letters to the Editor

Southern history and Confederate monuments It is time to call the truth to that which is argued as “Southern history.”

The true history of the South includes — and I use the word “history” advisedly — 400 years of slavery, Black Codes, Jim Crow, lynching and rape, an economic history of systemic and government sanctioned suppression of basic constitutional rights and the crushing of the very hope of millions of its citizens.

The true image of the American South is defined with this perception.

Within those 400 years of history is a mere four years of the Confederacy — 1861 to 1865.

Less than 1 percent.

To argue that these 400 years are defined by four years is akin to claiming that a person’s life story and history is reflected in one’s prom night or one act of charity. Try that argument when petitioning Saint Peter for admission through the Pearly Gates.

Those four years were a very small part, a miniscule blip, of the story of the South.

The South drinks from wells dug by others,

Fair and equal representation needed among food vendors at NFL team training camp Re “Washington Football playing again at Richmond camp in July,” Free Press June 10-12 edition: It was announced that the Washington Football Team will open training camp from July 27 through 31 here in Richmond.

Supposedly the team will be leasing the facility for that time instead of being paid an astronomical fee to come here, which is great news.

Even so, I wonder will there be more diversity among the vendors inside the training camp this year?

When a city official was asked about this in 2019, he stated the city had no control over that. My statement to him would be that we have control over whether the team comes here or not for practice and that the vendors should reflect the population and diverse culture we have here in our beautiful

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city.

I know we have had time in the past few years to talk with various minority-owned food businesses about offering their services at the stadium. It is also good exposure for their businesses. Is anyone fighting for this to occur? Hopefully so, but we will soon find out.

You can count on a certain large pizza chain to be at the

practice facility along with a few other large companies.

That is all well and good. But I believe the smaller businesses should have a chance to cash in on this event as well.

Rest assured, they could do equally as well. We need fair and equal representation.

dividual excels in innovation, drive and worth.

No American would want to change places or lives with the average African-American.

Most of today’s Southerners were born on third base and swear they hit a triple.

DAVID P. BAUGH Richmond

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while ignoring those who dug those wells and dug for free.

The South rests in the cool shade of trees planted by others.

To this very day, Southerners continue to enjoy generational wealth, housing, education and positive indoctrination due to gains denied to minorities and a belief that each white in-

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NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF AN APPLICATION BY VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY D/B/A DOMINION ENERGY VIRGINIA FOR APPROVAL OF A RATE ADJUSTMENT CLAUSE PURSUANT TO § 56-585.1 A 4 OF THE CODE OF VIRGINIA CASE NO. PUR-2021-00102 •Dominion Energy Virginia (“Dominion”) has applied to update its Rider T1, by which it recovers certain transmission and demand response program costs.

Call Rudy McCollum at (804)218-3614 24-7. Talk to an attorney for free

and get legal restrictions, fees, costs and payment terms.

Rudolph C. McCollum, Jr., Esq. McCollum At Law, P.C.

Mail to: P.O. Box 4595, Richmond, VA 23220 422 E. Franklin St., Suite 301, Richmond, VA 23219 (Franklin & 5th Sts.) We are a federally designated Debt Relief Agency under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and we help people file for bankruptcy.

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•Dominion’s request represents a decrease of $190 million annually, which would decrease the bill of a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month by $3.69.

•A Hearing Examiner appointed by the State Corporation Commission will hear the case on July 8, 2021.

•On July 7, 2021, commencing at 10:00 a.m., the Hearing Examiner will receive, via telephone, electronic public witness testimony in this matter.

•Further information about this case is available on the SCC website at: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-lnformation.

On May 21, 2021, Virginia Electric and Power Company d/b/a Dominion Energy Virginia (“Dominion” or “Company”), pursuant to § 56-585.1 A 4 (“Subsection A 4”) of the Code RI 9LUJLQLD ¿OHG DQ DSSOLFDWLRQ ³$SSOLFDWLRQ´ ZLWK WKH 6WDWH &RUSRUDWLRQ &RPPLVVLRQ ³&RPPLVVLRQ´ IRU DSSURYDO RI D UHYLVHG LQFUHPHQW GHFUHPHQW UDWH DGMXVWPHQW FODXVH designated as Rider T1.

Subsection A 4 deems to be prudent, among other things, the “costs for transmission services provided to the utility by the regional transmission entity of which the utility is a member” and “costs charged to the utility that are associated with demand response programs approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [(“FERC”)] and administered by the regional transmission entity of which the utility is a member.” 7he Company has been a member of PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (“PJM”), a regional transmission entity that has been approved by FERC as a regional transmission organization, since 2005. Dominion, as an integrated electric utility member of PJM, obtains transmission service from PJM and pays PJM charges for such service at the rates contained in 3-0¶V 2SHQ $FFHVV 7UDQVPLVVLRQ 7DULII DSSURYHG E\ )(5& 7KH &RPSDQ\ VWDWHV WKDW LW DOVR SD\V 3-0 FKDUJHV IRU FRVWV DVVRFLDWHG ZLWK GHPDQG UHVSRQVH SURJUDPV DSSURYHG E\ FERC and administered by PJM. In this proceeding, Dominion seeks approval of a revenue requirement for the rate year September 1, 2021, through August 31, 2022 (“Rate Year”). This revenue requirement, if approved, would be recovered through a combination of base rates and a revised increment/decrement Rider T1. Rider T1 is designed to recover the increment/decrement between the revenues produced from the transmission component of base rates and the new revenue requirement developed from the Company’s total transmission costs for the Rate Year.

The total proposed revenue requirement to be recovered over the Rate Year is $874,050,131, comprising an increment Rider T1 of $381,039,860, and forecast collections of WKURXJK WKH WUDQVPLVVLRQ FRPSRQHQW RI EDVH UDWHV 7KLV WRWDO UHYHQXH UHTXLUHPHQW UHSUHVHQWV D GHFUHDVH RI FRPSDUHG WR WKH UHYHQXHV SURMHFWHG WR EH SURGXFHG GXULQJ WKH 5DWH <HDU E\ WKH FRPELQDWLRQ RI WKH EDVH UDWH FRPSRQHQW RI 6XEVHFWLRQ $ WKH &RPSDQ\¶V IRUPHU 5LGHU 7 DQG WKH 5LGHU 7 UDWHV FXUUHQWO\ LQ HIIHFW Implementation of the proposed Rider T1 on September 1, 2021, would decrease the average weighted monthly bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month by $3.69.

In the Company’s previous Rider T1 proceeding, the Commission approved the use of the Company’s single coincident peak (“1-CP”) methodology for allocating costs in the 5DWH <HDU DQG GLUHFWHG WKH &RPSDQ\ WR SUHVHQW D SODQ LQ LWV 5LGHU 7 ILOLQJ WKDW UHIOHFWV PRYHPHQW FRPPHQFLQJ LQ WRZDUG WKH FRLQFLGHQW SHDN ³ &3´

methodology for allocating costs in Rider T1. In response to this directive, the Company proposes to transition from the 1-CP methodology to the 12-CP methodology over three years, beginning in the 2021-2022 Rate Year by moving one-third of the way between the two allocation factors.

The Commission entered an Order for Notice and Hearing that, among other things, scheduled a hearing at 10 a.m. on July 8, 2021, to receive opening statements, testimony, and HYLGHQFH RIIHUHG E\ WKH &RPSDQ\ UHVSRQGHQWV DQG WKH &RPPLVVLRQ 6WDII RQ WKH &RPSDQ\¶V $SSOLFDWLRQ On July 7, 2021, at 10 a.m., the Commission will hold a telephonic hearing, with no witness present in the Commission’s courtroom, for the purpose of receiving the testimony RI SXEOLF ZLWQHVVHV 2Q RU EHIRUH -XO\ DQ\ SHUVRQ GHVLULQJ WR RIIHU WHVWLPRQ\ DV D SXEOLF ZLWQHVV VKDOO SURYLGH WR WKH &RPPLVVLRQ D \RXU QDPH DQG E WKH WHOHSKRQH QXPEHU WKDW \RX ZLVK WKH &RPPLVVLRQ WR FDOO GXULQJ WKH KHDULQJ WR UHFHLYH \RXU WHVWLPRQ\ 7KLV LQIRUPDWLRQ PD\ EH SURYLGHG WR WKH &RPPLVVLRQ LQ WKUHH ZD\V L E\ ILOOLQJ RXW a form on the Commission’s website at: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting; (ii) by completing and emailing the PDF version of this form to SCCInfo@scc.virginia.gov; or (iii) by calling (804) 371-9141. This public witness hearing will be webcast at scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting.

7KH &RPPLVVLRQ KDV WDNHQ MXGLFLDO QRWLFH RI WKH RQJRLQJ SXEOLF KHDOWK HPHUJHQF\ UHODWHG WR WKH VSUHDG RI WKH FRURQDYLUXV RU &29,' DQG WKH GHFODUDWLRQV RI HPHUJHQF\ LVVXHG at both the state and federal levels. In accordance therewith, all pleadings, briefs, or other documents required to be served in this matter should be submitted electronically to the extent authorized by 5 VAC 5-20-150, Copies and format RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH DQG 3URFHGXUH ³5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH´ &RQILGHQWLDO DQG ([WUDRUGLQDULO\ 6HQVLWLYH information shall not be submitted electronically and should comply with 5 VAC 5-20-170, &RQILGHQWLDO LQIRUPDWLRQ, of the Rules of Practice. For the duration of the COVID-19 HPHUJHQF\ DQ\ SHUVRQ VHHNLQJ WR KDQG GHOLYHU DQG SK\VLFDOO\ ILOH RU VXEPLW DQ\ SOHDGLQJ RU RWKHU GRFXPHQW VKDOO FRQWDFW WKH &OHUN¶V 2IILFH 'RFXPHQW &RQWURO &HQWHU DW

9838 to arrange the delivery.

Pursuant to 5 VAC 5-20-140, )LOLQJ DQG VHUYLFH RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH WKH &RPPLVVLRQ KDV GLUHFWHG WKDW VHUYLFH RQ SDUWLHV DQG WKH &RPPLVVLRQ 6WDII LQ WKLV PDWWHU VKDOO EH DFFRPSOLVKHG E\ HOHFWURQLF PHDQV 3OHDVH UHIHU WR WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 2UGHU IRU 1RWLFH DQG +HDULQJ IRU IXUWKHU LQVWUXFWLRQV FRQFHUQLQJ &RQILGHQWLDO RU ([WUDRUGLQDULO\ Sensitive Information.

An electronic copy of the Company’s Application may be obtained by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company, David J. DePippo, Esquire, Dominion Energy Services, Inc., 120 Tredegar Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, or GDYLG M GHSLSSR#GRPLQLRQHQHUJ\ FRP. 2Q RU EHIRUH -XO\ DQ\ LQWHUHVWHG SHUVRQ PD\ ILOH FRPPHQWV RQ WKH $SSOLFDWLRQ E\ IROORZLQJ WKH LQVWUXFWLRQV RQ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V ZHEVLWH DW scc.virginia.gov/casecomments/Submit-Public-Comments RU E\ ILOLQJ VXFK FRPPHQWV ZLWK WKH &OHUN RI WKH 6WDWH &RUSRUDWLRQ &RPPLVVLRQ F R 'RFXPHQW &RQWURO &HQWHU 3 2 %R[ 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118. All comments shall refer to Case No. PUR-2021-00102.

2Q RU EHIRUH -XQH DQ\ SHUVRQ RU HQWLW\ ZLVKLQJ WR SDUWLFLSDWH DV D UHVSRQGHQW LQ WKLV SURFHHGLQJ PD\ GR VR E\ ILOLQJ D QRWLFH RI SDUWLFLSDWLRQ ZLWK WKH &OHUN RI WKH &RPmission at the address in OLVWLQJ DERYHU (10) or at: VFF YLUJLQLD JRY FON HILOLQJ. Such notice of participation shall include the email addresses of such parties or their counsel. The respondent simultaneously shall serve a copy of the notice of participation on counsel to the Company. Pursuant to Rule 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, 3DUWLFLSDWLRQ DV D UHVSRQGHQW, of WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH DQ\ QRWLFH RI SDUWLFLSDWLRQ VKDOO VHW IRUWK L D SUHFLVH VWDWHPHQW RI WKH LQWHUHVW RI WKH UHVSRQGHQW LL D VWDWHPHQW RI WKH VSHFLILF DFWLRQ VRXJKW to the extent then known; and (iii) the factual and legal basis for the action. Any organization, corporation, or government body participating as a respondent must be represented by counsel as required by Rule 5 VAC 5-20-30, &RXQVHO RI WKH 5XOHV RI 3UDFWLFH $OO ILOLQJV VKDOO UHIHU WR &DVH 1R 385 2Q RU EHIRUH -XQH HDFK UHVSRQGHQW PD\ ILOH ZLWK WKH &OHUN RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ DQG VHUYH RQ WKH 6WDII WKH &RPSDQ\ DQG DOO RWKHU UHVSRQGHQWV DQ\ WHVWLPRQ\ DQG H[KLELWV E\ ZKLFK WKH UHVSRQGHQW H[SHFWV WR HVWDEOLVK LWV FDVH DQG HDFK ZLWQHVV¶V WHVWLPRQ\ VKDOO LQFOXGH D VXPPDU\ QRW WR H[FHHG RQH SDJH ,Q DOO ILOLQJV UHVSRQGHQWV VKDOO FRPSO\ ZLWK the Commission’s Rules of Practice, including 5 VAC 5-20-140, )LOLQJ DQG VHUYLFH, and 5 VAC 5-20-240, Prepared testimony and exhibits $OO ILOLQJV VKDOO UHIHU WR &DVH 1R PUR-2021-00102. $Q\ GRFXPHQWV ILOHG LQ SDSHU IRUP ZLWK WKH 2IILFH RI WKH &OHUN RI WKH &RPPLVVLRQ LQ WKLV GRFNHW PD\ XVH ERWK VLGHV RI WKH SDSHU ,Q DOO RWKHU UHVSHFWV H[FHSW DV PRGLILHG E\ WKH &RPPLVVLRQ¶V 2UGHU IRU 1RWLFH DQG +HDULQJ DOO ILOLQJV VKDOO FRPSO\ IXOO\ ZLWK WKH UHTXLUHPHQWV RI 9$& Copies and format, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice.

The Company’s Application, the Commission’s Rules of Practice and the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing may be viewed at: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information.

VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY d/b/a DOMINION ENERGY VIRGINIA

Richmond Free Press

A12 June 17-19, 2021

Sports Stories by Fred Jeter

North Carolina A&T sprinters win big at NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships; next stop Olympic trials

North Carolina A&T State University sprinters, from left, Akeem Sirleaf, Trevor Stewart, Daniel Stokes and Randolph Ross Jr. show off their trophies from winning the 4x400 meter relay last weekend at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Oregon.

If North Carolina A&T State The Aggies finished third overall University wasn’t respected as in the men’s final standings while the a national track and field powNorth Carolina A&T women placed erhouse before, it is now. fourth. They are the all-time highest Competing last weekend at the finishes for an HBCU entry.

NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Sturgis, a sophomore from KanChampionships in Eugene, Ore., napolis, N.C., was a triple champion. the Aggies made a bold statement She took first in the 100 meters not only for themselves and their (10.74) and 200 meters (22.12; the university, but for the MEAC fourth fastest in NCAA history) and conference and HBCUs. spearheaded a winning 4x100 relay Randolph Ross Jr. and Camin 43.03. brea Sturgis were the headliners, The victorious relay also featured but there was a strong supporting sophomore Kamaya Debose-Epps; cast as well. freshman Jonah Ross, the sister of A freshman from Raleigh, Randolph Ross; and junior Symone Cambrea Sturgis N.C., Ross won the 400 meters in Darius.

43.85 seconds – the fastest time run in America Madeleine Akobundu was fifth in the 100this year. He also anchored the victorious 4x400 meter hurdles at 12.90. relay in a blistering 3:00.92.

“It just shows that A&T is an elite school, Ross’ relay mates were Akeem Sirleaf, Trevor and we can run with the best,” Sturgis told the Stewart and Daniel Stokes.

Eugene media.

North Carolina A&T dipped deeper into its Now the Aggies are hoping to make more stable of sprinters to finish fourth in the 4x100 noise in the U.S. Olympic Trials June 18 through with Javonte Harding from Prince George, Va., 27 in Eugene, Ore. The 2021 Summer Olympics running a swift leg. will run July 23 through Aug. 8 in Tokyo.

Toronto Blue Jays’ Guerrero is a ‘Triple Crown’ threat Vladimir Guerrero Jr. might be described as the “homeless home-run slugger.”

Or, better yet, he might also be labeled a legitimate Triple Crown threat.

Guerrero, 22, plays first base for the nomadic Toronto Blue Jays, who haven’t played a true home game since Sept.

29, 2019.

Because of COVID-19related border restrictions, the Blue Jays played the entire 2020 season in Buffalo, N.Y., site of Toronto’s AAA farm club, the Buffalo Bisons.

The American League squad began this season playing home games at its Dunedin, Fla., training site and have since moved back to Buffalo, 99 miles from Toronto.

While there is optimism the border restrictions may be lifted this summer, the Blue Jays will continue to play in Buffalo at least until the end of July.

None of this suitcase packing has slowed down the powerful bat of the 6-foot-2, 250-pound Guerrero.

Heading into this week, he was leading the American League in the Triple Crown categories: hitting (.344), home runs (21) and runs batted in (55).

The Triple Crown is argu-

Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

ably baseball’s most prestigious award. While there are league MVPs and World Series champs every year, Triple Crown champs come along only every few generations.

The last American League Triple Crown winner was Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012. And before Cabrera, there was Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

The last National League Triple Crown winner was Philadelphia’s Chuck Klein in 1933.

Guerrero was born in 1999

in Montreal to Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and Riquelma Ramos.

Guerrero Sr. was playing for the Montreal Expos at the time and in 2018 was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

At a young age, Guerrero Jr. moved with his mother back to the Dominican Republic, where both parents were born.

Guerrero lists his nationality as Canadian-Dominican. He was signed by Toronto in 2015 for $3.9 million. At 17, he began his pro career in 2016, and in 2018, he played for New Hamp-

shire of the Eastern League in games against the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

In parts of three seasons with Toronto, he has swatted 43 homers in just 244 games.

All involved with the Blue Jays are hoping the team can move back into the friendly confines of the Rogers Centre— famous for its fully retractable motorized roof—by August.

Blue Jays fans are starved for local action, and it’s not often you get a chance to cheer for a Triple Crown contender.

Sandro Fabian puts the altitude in the Flying Squirrels This is the year the Richmond Flying Squirrels are living up to their name: They’re flying high.

Sandro Fabian is providing much of the upward thrust.

The 24-year-old right-fielder from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, has been the squad’s most productive hitter this month.

Since the start of June, Fabian has a home Sandro Fabian run, five doubles and nine runs batted in to lift the Squirrels to 21-15 in the AA Northeast League.

During that spell, his average has soared from .184 (after 18 games) to the current .284.

Manager José Alguacil’s AA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants looks as though it may break from a five-year famine in the standings.

The Squirrels have not enjoyed a winning season since going 72-68 in 2015. In 2019, they were 55-84. The 2020 season was canceled because of the pandemic.

Fabian signed with the San Francisco Giants at age 18 for a $500,000 bonus, making him one of the richest teenagers in his country. Despite a strong skill set, he has moved slowly through the organization.

Richmond is the highest level he has performed. Swinging hard at The Diamond, he has displayed gap power at the plate while at times showing off an exceptional arm.

In 2018, Fabian was rated to have the best throwing arm in minor league baseball by Baseball America.

The Squirrels are currently on a 12-game road trip to play the Somerset Patriots in Bridgewater, N.J., an affiliate of the New York Yankees, and the Hartford Yard Goats in Hartford, Conn., an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

The Flying Squirrels return to The Diamond on June 29 to begin a six-game series with Binghamton Rumble Ponies of Binghamton, N.Y., an affiliate of the New York Mets.

Jim ‘Mudcat’ Grant, one of the first top Black pitchers in MLB, dies at 85 Jim “Mudcat” Grant, who was among the first dominant Black pitchers in Major League Baseball, died Friday, June 11, 2021, in Los Angeles. He was 85.

Mr. Grant pitched in 14 big league seasons, posting a record of 145-119 with a career 3.63 earned run average.

A native of Florida, Mr. Grant started in 293 games and relieved in 278 more, covering 2,442 innings between 1958 and 1971.

The right-hander’s best season was in 1965 with the Minnesota Twins, when he went 21-7 and helped the Twins to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In 1954, Mr. Grant signed at age 18 with the Cleveland Indians following a stellar career at Florida A&M University.

By 1958, he was pitching for the Indians.

He was the first Black pitcher in the American League to win at least 20 games. Don Newcombe went 20-9

in 1951 and 27-7 in 1956 in the National League with Brooklyn.

Mr. Grant was more than just another baseball player.

He sang and danced in his own nightclub act, “Mudcat and the Kittens.”

Rival hitters complained that Mr. Grant’s stylish windup on the mound included some of his dance steps, designed to divert their attention.

The gifted entertainer performed on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” and “The Mike Douglas Show” and sang the national anthem in 1970 ahead of an Oakland Athletics game; he played for the team in 1970 and 1971.

He also performed with the Count Basie and Duke Ellington bands. During his four seasons with Minnesota, he had his own song and dance TV gig titled “The Jim Grant Show.”

Mr. Grant

Former VCU basketball player Dave Edwards dies

Mr. Edwards

In the early 1970s, Virginia Commonwealth University had dreams of going to Division I in basketball. Dave Edwards was among those helping the Rams reach their goal.

Mr. Edwards, the Rams’ dynamic point guard from 1970 to 1974, died Thursday, May 27, 2021, of complications from diabetes.

He was 70 and living in his home borough of Queens, N.Y., and serving as a counselor at the Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in Bronx, N.Y. Under former VCU Coach Chuck Noe, Mr. Edwards passed for 430 assists and still holds the record for most assists per game in a season — 8.4 in 1972.

The 6-foot New Yorker also was a warrior at the defensive end of court and served as the Rams’ captain during his senior year.

When Mr. Edwards arrived at VCU, the program was affiliated with the NAIA and NCAA Division II, then called the College Division. In 1974, VCU became a full-fledged member of Division I.

Mr. Edwards’ teammates included such Rams luminaries as Jabo Wilkins, Jesse Dark, Bernard Harris and Richard “Dickie Red” Jones.

Mr. Edwards signed with then VCU Coach Benny Dees in the spring of 1970. Signing that same weekend were Mr. Dark, Mr. Harris and three other New Yorkers, Reggie Cain, Howie Robertson and Greg McDougald. Many consider that weekend the start of VCU basketball success.

Soon after, Coach Dees resigned to become an assistant coach at then-national power Western Kentucky, which went to the NCAA Final Four in 1971. He was succeeded at VCU

by Coach Noe. The Rams went 15-9, 15-4, 15-5 and 17-7 in Mr. Edwards’ four seasons orchestrating the VCU offense.

Mr. Edwards’ sons both played college basketball. David Edwards Jr., who died in March 2020 of complications from COVID-19, starred at Georgetown and Texas A&M universities and holds the single season assists record at Texas A&M. Corey Edwards played at George Mason University.

Richmond Free Press

ARRIVING JUNE 19 AT THE SCIENCE MUSEUM OF VIRGINIA www.smv.org An exhibition created by the Australian Museum and toured internationally by Flying Fish

June 17-19, 2021 B1

Richmond Free Press

B2 June 17-19, 2021

Happenings Juneteenth celebrations planned around Metro Richmond Free Press staff report

The first official Juneteenth celebration in Virginia will be recognized with a variety of events throughout the area sponsored by a range of organizations, groups and churches.

Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, marks the day in 1865 that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were informed that President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which was enacted on Jan. 1, 1863, freeing from bondage all enslaved people living in areas not under Union control, and that the Civil War had ended with a Union victory more than two months earlier.

In June 2020, Gov. Ralph S. Northam issued an executive order establishing Juneteenth as a permanent state holiday for executive branch employees and urged that it become an official state holiday “of education, reflection and celebration.”

In October, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation making Juneteenth an official state holiday.

Following is a list of several Juneteenth events taking place in and around Richmond: • The Elegba Folklore Society performs 8 p.m. Friday, June 18, at Dogwood Dell in Byrd Park as part of the 64th Annual Festival of Arts sponsored by the city Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities. Free.

Details: parksandrecreation. richmondgov.com.

• Love and Legacy Juneteenth Jubilee Celebration, featuring speakers, music, dance, entertainment, food trucks, children’s activities and information about community resources, will be held 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 19, at The Landing at Fountain Lake in Byrd Park, 600 S. Arthur Ashe Blvd. The event is organized by Sherri Robinson, owner of ShowLove

LLC. U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, Delegate Delores McQuinn and City Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch are among the expected speakers.

• Freedom Day: Juneteenth in the Commonwealth, a virtual benefit sponsored by the Virginia State Conference NAACP, featuring entertainment, speakers and award presentations, 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 19. A Zoom link will be provided 48 hours prior to the event, which benefits the Virginia NAACP Freedom Fund. Details and tickets: vajuneteenth.org or (804) 3215678.

• Juneteenth Family History Fair Weekend, a series of virtual and in-person talks, will be hosted Friday, June 18, through Sunday, June 20, at Richmond Hill, 2209 E. Grace St. in Church Hill. The weekend begins 7 p.m. Friday with an opening virtual talk, “Finding Your Ancestors,” by Tony Burroughs, author of “Black Roots:A Beginner’s Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree.”

Highlights from Saturday’s programs, which run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., include a virtual talk on the significance of Juneteenth with historian Dr. Lauranett Lee and counselor Corey Hancock; workshops with young adults and truth telling and on Church Hill and African-American history; archaeology tours led by Richmond Hill archaeologists Tim Roberts and Ellen Chapman; a dramatic interpretation of “Judy’s Story” by Margarette Joyner, founder and director of the Heritage Ensemble Theater; and “Night of a Thousand Conversations: A teach-in on Reparative Acts.” Sunday’s events kick off at 10 a.m. via Zoom with community workshops

with local African-American churches, and continue until 7 p.m. with an African-centered ritual paying homage to enslaved ancestors; archaeology tours; a second performance of “Judy’s Story;” and evening prayers in the Richmond Hill Chapel .

Suggested donation: $25 for an open entry pass. Details: www. richmondhillva.org/fair.

• March for Unity, 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Saturday, June 19, from St. John’s Episcopal Church, 2401 E. Broad St., to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 1719 N. 22nd St. Program starts at 9 a.m. at St. John’s Church with poster making and face painting, followed by a joint worship service with homilist Bishop Susan Ellyn Goff, bishop suffragan and ecclesiastical authority of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. After the 1.5-mile walk to St. Peter’s Church, closing songs, prayers and blessings will be held inside Peter Paul Development Center, 1708 N. 22nd St. Bagged lunches will be served, followed by games.

Free, but registration to help with preparation. Details and registration: www.eventbrite. com/e/juneteenth-freedom-daytickets-156264373949.

• Juneteenth Freedom Day at the 17th Street Market, featuring drumming, dancing and meditation, 6 to 8 p.m.

Saturday, June 19, at the 17th Street Market, 100 N. 17th St. Hosted by BareSOUL Yoga & Wellness, Drums No Guns, The Well Collective, and the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities. Bring a yoga mat and a lawn chair. Tickets are $10 and up. Details and tickets: www. eventbrite.com/e/juneteenth-

2021-at-the-17th-street-markettickets-157411922297 • Juneteenth Commemoration: Acknowledging and Honoring Our Freedom, sponsored

by Project Yoga Richmond in partnership with Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, offers a special Saturday Salutations through the yoga experience; 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, June 19, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, 1800 Lakeside Ave. Advance registration is required. Details and registration: lewisginter.org or (804) 262-9887.

• Keep Our Kids Free Youth Talent Showcase & Block Party, noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 19, at Six Points Innovation Center, 3001 Meadowbridge Road in Highland Park, sponsored by RISE for Youth and Community 50/50. Free event will feature youth performances, live music, food trucks, vendors and raffles.

Details: riseforyouth.org •Legacy Band performs, 8 p.m. Saturday, June 19, at Dogwood Dell in Byrd Park as part of Festival of Arts sponsored by city Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities.

Details: parksandrecreation. richmondgov.com • Juneteenth at Dorey Park in Henrico County, 1 to 10 p.m.

Saturday, June 19, featuring live music, food trucks, games and activities for kids, historical interpreters, a vendor fair and car club expo by the Urban Wranglers RVA and Urban Jeepz New England. Performers include the Henrico County Public Schools Black Student Union, Elegba Folklore Society, Bak N Da Day, Happiness Dance Studios, Ezibu Muntu and Plunky & Oneness.

A fireworks finale will begin

at 9 p.m. Free. Sponsored by Henrico Recreation and Parks in conjunction with Evolution 400, HCPS Black Student Union and Henrico Branch NAACP. Dorey Park, 2999 Darbytown Road in Eastern Henrico. Details: henrico. us/calendar/juneteenth2021/ • Juneteenth in the Park, a day of learning, reflection and fun, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 19, at Pocahontas State Park, 10301 State Park Road in Chesterfield County. The event will include entertainment, storytelling with Sheila Arnold, food trucks, vendors and self-guided activities. Details: www.dcr. virginia.gov/state-parks/parkevent-info?id=PO210175-00 or (804) 796-4255.

• Juneteenth Zumba dance event, a free 90-minute class, 9:45 a.m. Saturday, June 19, at the Chester Family YMCA, 3011 W. Hundred Road in Chester.

Details: www. facebook.com/e vents/31436455 6948379?ref=ne wsfeed or (804) 748-9622.

• StoryWalks, hosted by the Chesterfield County Public Library, at various parks, libraries and venues around the county from Friday, June 18, to Friday, July 2. Take a walk and view a picture book at the locations during park and library hours. StoryWalks: “All Different Now” by Angela Johnson, Bensley Recreation Center, 2900 Drewrys Bluff Road and Ettrick-Matoaca Library, 4501 River Road, Petersburg; “Juneteenth Jamboree” by Carole Boston Weatherford, River City Sportsplex, 13030 Genito Road, Midlothian; and “Juneteenth for Mazie” by Floyd Cooper, Central Library, 7051 Lucy Corr Blvd. and Midlothian Mines Park, 13301 N. Woolridge Road,

Midlothian. Details: www. chesterfield.gov/CivicAlerts. aspx?AID=2073 • Juneteenth Powhatan 2021, a celebration of culture, commerce and history, will be held 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 19, on the lawn by the Habitat for Humanity Powhatan ReStore, 1922 Urbine Road in Powhatan County. Participants include local author and historian Sandra Morris Kemp, food vendors, Black entrepreneurs and artisans and vintage cars from the Powhatan Cruizers.

Details: habitatpowhatan.org or (804) 594-7009.

• Juneteenth and Our Youths, an in-person, outdoor Eucharist service, 9 a.m. Sunday, June 20, at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, 2900 Hanes Ave. in North Side. Registration required by 5 p.m. Friday, June 18. Details and registration: www.aplos. com/aws/events/st_philips_juneteenth_and_youth_celebration or (804) 321-1266.

•Juneteenth 2021, A Freedom Celebration, a 25th anniversary Juneteenth observance sponsored by the Elegba Folklore Society, 1 to 6 p.m.

Sunday, June 27, at the African Burial Ground, 1540 E. Broad St. Theme: Dancing With the Ancestors. The Get Woke Youth Summit starts at 1 p.m., with the stage and grounds fully open at 2 p.m. Dr. Gerald Horne, the Moores professor of history and African American Studies at the University of Houston, will give a virtual talk on the structures and effects of socio-political and economic white supremacy with strategies for liberation. Butcher Brown will provide music, with performances by Elegba Folklore Society’s African dancers, drummers, singers and masquerades.

Atlanta-based rapper Sa-Roc will emcee. Tickets are $5; children under 12, free. Details and tickets: www.efsinc.org or (804) 644-3800.

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Richmond Free Press

June 17-19, 2021 B3

Happenings

Personality: Harold Aquino-Guzman Spotlight on Richmond Public Schools’ highest achieving student Harold Aquino-Guzman has a lot to celebrate this month.

The George Wythe High School senior class president is not only the valedictorian at the South Side school, he is the top achieving student in Richmond Public Schools with a GPA of 5.1392.

He has the honor of speaking at George Wythe’s commencement on June 23. And just three days after graduation, he turns 18.

Harold has accomplished a great deal in a short time. As a student in RPS’ dual enrollment program, he has been taking classes at George Wythe as well as at Reynolds Community College, John Tyler Community College and Virginia Commonwealth University.

When he graduates next week, he will have earned his high school diploma and three associate degrees – in computer science, mathematics and social sciences.

He will enter VCU in the fall, but not as a freshman. He hopes to finish his undergraduate degree in a year.

Asked in a recent interview how he feels about his accomplishments, Harold replied, “Honestly, I don’t feel any different than any other day.”

His parents learned about their son’s status as valedictorian and the city’s top student from friends and the media. It was a shock, he says.

“I forgot to tell them,” he says. “They were really surprised. I guess it was because they knew how I struggled during middle school and I didn’t really tell them much about high school besides that I was taking college classes at night in ninth grade.”

Harold is not the only high achiever in the family. His sister, Rocio Aquino, was George Wythe’s valedictorian in 2018.

She graduated from VCU this year with a master’s secondary education.

He plans to follow in his sister’s footsteps at VCU to pursue a career as a math educator.

Acceptance letters have poured in from a dozen colleges and universities, with scholarship offers totaling more than $1 million. But Harold has chosen to attend VCU, his dream school, he says. And he has earned enough college credits through the dual degree program that he can enter as a college senior in the fall.

His ultimate goal is to return to George Wythe as a math teacher.

“I want to come back and give other students the same opportunities Wythe gave to me,” he says.

He says the last two years of high school have been challenging for him and all RPS students.

Virtual learning during the coronavirus pandemic placed undo academic and emotional strain on students, families and their daily lives.

Harold says his saving grace was his ability to schedule and manage his time.

“Another thing that helped me get through all of the changes was asking for help,” he says.

“That was one of the best tools for me to get through virtual learning.”

He says he contacted VCU teachers and alumni for assistance while he was taking mathematics modeling and introduction to mathematical reasoning classes at VCU. “The coronavirus problem had an impact on my working, but it wasn’t enough to bring me down,” he says.

He offers this bit of advice for RPS students: “Always ask for help. Asking for help is by far one of the best things you could do. Teachers are always there to help.

“Secondly, always look for opportunities. Always feel free to take healthy risks. You will never know how those risks will help you down the road.”

Meet a high achiever and this week’s Personality, Harold Aquino-Guzman:

Latest honor: Earning the super distinction of being No. 1 among all 2021 honor graduates for Richmond Public Schools.

GPA: 5.1392.

High school: George Wythe High School.

Size of school’s senior class: 194 students.

Leadership roles in school: Senior class president at George Wythe.

Parents’ names and occupations: Mauricio Aquino, a factory worker, and Teresa Aquino, a domestic worker.

Siblings: Sister, Rocio Aquino, 21. She also was valedictorian at George Wythe in 2018. She graduated this year with a master’s in secondary education with a concentration in English education.

Date and place of birth: June 26, 2003, in Richmond.

Where I live now: Richmond.

Reaction to valedictorian honor: It was a big surprise.

My goal wasn’t really to become valedictorian but to make sure that I took advantage of every educational opportunity possible. I wasn’t able to get into any Governor’s School or specialty schools when I was in middle school, so it was important to me that I pushed myself to the limit so that I could be ready for the real world when I graduate.

Family’s reaction: I forgot to tell them and they found out through the news from other people. They were really surprised. I guess it was because they knew how I struggled during middle school and I didn’t really tell them much about high school besides that I was taking college classes at night in ninth grade.

Main point I will make in valedictory address: Teachers are the ones who help set the foundation for our future, and thanking the people who supported me to get to where I am today.

Universities that made scholarship offers with amounts: Numerous.

Total amounts: More than $1.1 million.

University I selected and

RH.Juneteenth-ad.indd 1

why: I selected Virginia Commonwealth University. I will be able to walk next fall with 112 college credits transferred and finish my bachelor’s in May 2022, and hopefully I will be able to enter into the RTR, or Richmond Teacher Residency, program to become a mathematics teacher. I especially want to be able to teach dual enrollment courses so that other students in Richmond Public Schools can have the same opportunities I had.

How attitude impacts scoring high: It’s all about believing in yourself. You have to remove that mental roadblock of what you think you are limited to before you can truly succeed and reach your full potential.

What motivates me to study: I like solving problems. It’s like solving a puzzle. That’s why I like studying math as my favorite subject. I’m not the strongest at math, but I know I can get better by solving more math problems, just like how I get better at solving puzzles by doing more puzzles.

How much time I devoted to study: It depends on the subject. I know I spent a lot of hours studying for calculus II, multivariable calculus and linear algebra. College chemistry took a lot out of me as I never took high school chemistry. I spent a lot more time studying for individual classes when I took OPER 327 Mathematical

Modeling, MATH 300 Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning and MATH 404 Algebraic Structures and Functions at VCU this year. Math is no longer just about numbers, but also how you prove something is right or not.

What really makes me smart: I would consider myself an average student. I don’t really understand everything right away, but I do try. Trying and not giving up is how you become smarter every day, in my opinion.

A good teacher is: One who ultimately cares about their student’s success. Mr. Kakim Fung, my mentor and former math, history and English teacher, never gave up on me, even when I thought I would fail. He took a chance on me, even when I got bad grades in middle school. Teachers like him don’t really care how you start out, only that you want to become better.

Career goal: Ultimately, I want to become a dual enrollment teacher at George Wythe High School and help other students earn college degrees in computer science and/or math.

Ultimate ambition: I want to give more high school students the opportunity to enter into computer science internships in high school.

Secret to earning “A’s”: Asking for help when you need help. This is something that people may find hard to do, but it is a virtue of being a good student.

Biggest adjustments I’ve

made during pandemic: My sleep schedule.

Silver lining of pandemic for me: I didn’t have to travel to my classes as much. I did not miss going to class until 11 p.m. and coming home to do homework.

Resilience is: Setting a goal and attaining it, no matter what.

Most unforgettable high school experience: When I first started taking college classes in ninth grade, Mr. Fung’s car broke down when we were getting course materials. It led to a day of wonder and adventure and I got to understand what life was like when it brought unexpected challenges.

Teacher who influenced me the most: Mr. Kakim Fung.

He showed me how fun math was and how it related to different areas. I did not think it would be possible to earn multiple college degrees in high school, but he encouraged me to advocate for myself to have educational opportunities that would not have been otherwise available. He also is helping other students who want to have similar opportunities as well. I am in awe that he is currently paying out of pocket for students right now to be able to take college courses. I hope people recognize that he supports George Wythe High School with all of his heart and passion.

Hobbies: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links and collecting action and bobble head figures.

A perfect day for me is: Feeling that I achieved something productive.

Quote that I am inspired by: “No Excuses, Only Choices” –

Reva Green, former principal of George Wythe High School.

Best late-night snack: Chips and salsa.

Three words that best describe me: Quiet, calm and collected.

Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: Walking near the James River.

Persons who influenced me the most: Rocio Aquino, my sister, and Mr. Fung.

What I would like to change in the world: I want all students in high school to have the opportunity to earn bachelor’s degrees.

What I would like to change in my community: I want them to know that education is a very powerful investment and that it can get you farther into the future than dropping out.

My outlook for the future: I hope to earn my master’s in 2023.

Kindergarten taught me: How to have fun in school.

Book that influenced me the most: I don’t really read books all that much. But there is one film that inspired me, “Stand and Deliver.” It showcases a math teacher who went against the odds to get students who were behind in math to be able to reach success in calculus. In a way, I can sort of relate as I was not able to take algebra I in middle school. But when I decided to catch up by taking algebra I and precalculus in ninth grade, I decided that I had the desire to study advanced math.

What I’m reading now: “The Shining” by Stephen King.

My next goal: Earn my bachelor’s degree in one year.

JUNETEENTH SOUNDS OF FREEDOM CELEBRATION THE HEZEKIAH WALKER CENTER FOR GOSPEL MUSIC PRESENTS

FELLOWSHIP • MUSIC VOTER REGISTRATION Featuring “Community” Clovia and The Virginia Union University Choir with a special appearance by Hezekiah Walker & Guests

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A free, public, socially distanced event • Lawn chairs are encouraged Large bags, coolers, and umbrellas will not be allowed For more information, visit www.vuu.edu

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Richmond Free Press

B4 June 17-19, 2021

Happenings Oprah’s new book pick: ‘The Sweetness of Water’ Free Press wire report

NEW YORK Oprah Winfrey’s next book club pick is a debut novel set in Georgia at the end of the Civil War: “The Sweetness of Water” by Nathan Harris.

“One of my great joys is finding a new author whose work I can share and support,” Ms. Winfrey said Tuesday in a statement. “I was captivated by the work of Nathan Harris and look forward to discussing this debut novel with all of his new readers.”

The 29-year-old Mr. Harris, whose book came out Tuesday, has said he wanted to show what it was like in the South after slaves were emancipated.

“The Sweetness of Water” takes place in the imaginary town of Old Ox, Ga., and tells of two brothers, recently freed, who find work on a neighboring farm run by a man who believes his son has been killed in the war.

“I’m so thrilled and honored to be chosen by Oprah’s Book Nathan Harris Club,” Mr. Harris, a University of Oregon graduate and a former Michener Center fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, said in a statement. “For a generation, Oprah has been a

committed advocate for authors, elevating their work and enlivening the literary landscape. To join the ranks of her previous selections is to have a dream come true.”

A discussion between Ms. Winfrey and Mr. Harris will air July 23 on Apple TV+.

Ms. Winfrey launched her first book club in 1996, and has been in partnership with Apple since 2019.

She started her current club by selecting another novel about slavery in the 19th century, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “The Water Dancer,” and in previous years has picked such debut works as Ayana Mathis’ “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie” and Lalita Tademy’s “Cane River.”

Race, racial issues major topics for Pulitzer Prize winners for the arts Free Press wire report

NEW YORK Stories of race, racism and colonialism in the United States swept the Pulitzer Prizes for the arts, from Louise Erdrich’s novel “The Night Watchman” to a Malcolm X biography cowritten by the late Les Payne to Katori Hall’s play “The Hot Wing King.”

The awards were announced June 11 during a remote ceremony that honored the best work in journalism and the arts in 2020, a year defined in part by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the nationwide protests and reckoning that followed. The news also comes amid an intensifying debate over race and education, with legislators in Texas and elsewhere seeking to restrict the teaching of racial injustice.

“What the Pulitzers are awarding this year seems so timely,” Tamara Payne, Les Payne’s daughter and the principal researcher for his book, told The Associated Press.

“All of t h e s e voices are so important and always have been important.”

Marcia Chatelain, whose “Franchise: The Golden Arches

in Black America” won for history, said she felt honored to be among a group of writers who have “tried to find a way to make clear that writing about race is fundamental to understanding what we need as a society.”

Ms. Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, has drawn upon her background and blended the traditions of oral and written storytelling for such acclaimed novels as “The Round House” and “The Plague of Doves.”

She based “The Night Watchman” on the life of her maternal grandfather, a night watchman whose reservation in rural North Dakota was threatened in the 1950s by congressional legislation.

“This story belongs to him and to the Turtle Mountain people. It is very moving, this is very moving recognition,” said Ms. Erdrich, who runs an independent bookstore in Minneapolis. She called the Pulitzer a welcome contrast to the news of the past year.

“I love this city and it hurts to know how deep the racism goes. It’s something indigenous people also know about well.

It’s been a painful time.”

Pulitzer judges called Ms. Erdrich’s novel “a majestic, polyphonic novel about a com-

munity’s efforts to halt the proposed displacement and elimination of several Native Katori Hall American tribes in the 1950s, rendered with dexterity and imagination.”

It was the first Pulitzer for Ms. Erdrich, who turned 67 last week and has been a published author for more than 40 years.

Her previous honors include a National Book Award for “The Round House” and the National Book Critics Circle prize for “LaRose.”

The Pulitzer for “The Dead Are Arising” continues the posthumous acclaim for Les Payne, an awardwinning Newsday journalist who died in 2018. He began working on the Malcolm X book in 1990 and compiled more than 100 hours of interviews, including with family members of the late Black activist, before he died.

Tamara Payne helped complete “The Dead Are Arising,” which has been praised highly by critics and last fall won a National Book Award.

“I do wish he were here, to receive the accolades,” Ms.

Payne said of her father.

T h e Paynes’ collaboration is also the second Malcolm Tania León X biography to win a Pulitzer for an author who didn’t live to see his book released. Manning Marable, w h o s e “Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention” won for history in 2012, died shortly before publication.

Natalie Diaz’s “Postcolonial Love Poem,” a work of pain and of ecstasy her publisher describes as “a call toward goodness, even as it recognizes the violence of our time,” was the poetry winner and David Zucchino’s “Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy” won for general nonfiction.

Tania León’s composition “Stride” won for music. The judges commended it for being “a musical journey full of surprise, with powerful brass and rhythmic motifs that incorporate Black music traditions from the U.S. and the Caribbean into a Western orchestral fabric.”

“The Hot Wing King” by

Katori Hall, a play set around a hot wing cooking competition, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama during a theater season that saw most venues largely shuttered.

The drama award, which includes a $15,000 prize, is “for a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life.”

The Pulitzer board hailed “The Hot Wing King” as a “funny, deeply felt consideration of Black masculinity and how it is perceived, filtered through the experiences of a loving gay couple and their extended family as they prepare for a culinary competition.”

With most theaters closed during the pandemic, the Pulitzer board altered the requirements for this year’s drama award, allowing postponed or canceled works, as well as plays produced and performed in places other than theaters, including online, outside or in site-specific venues during 2020. “The Hot Wing King” opened off-Broadway just days before the city’s theaters were closed.

Ms. Hall is the author of the Olivier Award-winning “The Mountaintop” and is a Tony Award-nominated coplaywright of Broadway’s “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical.”

Previous playwrights honored include August Wilson, Edward Albee, Eugene O’Neill,

s ’ r e Fath

Dunso�, Sr.

DIAMONDS • WATCHES JEWELRY • REPAIRS 19 EAST BROAD STREET RICHMOND, VA 23219 (804) 648-1044

‘In the Heights’ opens to low numbers

WWW.WALLERJEWELRY.COM

Free Press wire report

NEW YORK Just when a party was poised to break out in movie theaters, the below-expectation debut of “In the Heights” last weekend dampened Hollywood’s hopes of a swift or smooth recovery at the summer box office.

Jon M. Chu’s exuberant adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical opened with a modest $11.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Forecasts had ranged from $15 million to $20 million.

The release of “In the Heights” — a lavish song-and-dance musical accompanied by glowing reviews from critics and considered a milestone movie for Latinos — was widely seen as a cultural event.

On opening weekend, though, the Warner Bros. release narrowly missed the top spot. Instead, “A Quiet Place Part II” edged it with $11.7 million in its third weekend of release. On June 11, John Krasinski’s thriller — playing only in theaters — became the first film of the pandemic to reach $100 million domestically. Its cumulative total is $109 million.

Sony’s “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway,” a film originally planned to open around Easter 2020, also opened softly, debuting with an estimated $10.4 million After a string of good box office weekends, the opening of “In the Heights” was a reminder of the challenges of the marketplace. Most theaters are operating at reduced capacities to allow social distancing. Canada’s theaters are largely closed.

And getting crowds to come out for a movie that was simultaneously streaming on HBO Max, as “In the Heights” was, adds another complication.

Starring a mostly fresh-face cast including Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera, Corey Hawkins and Leslie Grace, “In the Heights” didn’t have the star power of musicals such as “Mamma Mia!” to give it a boost. Mr. Miranda, who performed the lead on Broadway, ceded the part to Mr. Ramos. Mr. Miranda plays a minor role.

Instead, the film will depend on strong word of mouth (it received an “A” CinemaScore from audiences) to propel a long run in theaters. Its hopeful comparison would be a movie like 2017′s “The Greatest Showman,” which opened to $18.8 million but held firmly for months, ultimately grossing $174.3 million in the United States and Canada.

“We always thought that the movie has to do the heavy lifting,” said Jeff Gold-

Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. Recent winners include Annie Baker’s “The Flick,” Ayad Akhtar’s “Disgraced,” Stephen Adly Guirgis’ “Between Riverside and Crazy” and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton.”

The Annual Commemoration of the

Bill “Bojangles”Robinson 4tatue will be held by 5he Astoria Beneficial Club on

June 2 , 20 , 10:00 A.M.

at Adams and Leigh Streets in Richmond, Virginia

Macall Polay/Warner Bros. Entertainment via AP

Lin-Manuel, left, and Chris Jackson in a scene from “In the Heights.”

stein, distribution chief for Warner Bros.

“Even though it came in at a lighter level than we had expected, we’re proud of the movie that’s there and over time the hope is that we can get an audience to sample the movie and tell their friends to.”

Warner Bros., as is standard throughout the industry, didn’t release viewing data for “In the Heights” on HBO Max. The studio’s day-and-date approach, planned to last through the end of the year, has been much-debated. But previous Warner releases — particularly “Godzilla vs. Kong” (which managed a $32.2 million three-day opening in early April ) and last week’s No. 1 film, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” (a $24 million debut) — performed solidly while also being available in the home. The “Conjuring” sequel added $10 million in its second weekend.

HBO Max, Mr. Goldstein said, couldn’t be blamed for any disappointing results for “In the Heights.”

“Our experience, which is backed up on ‘In the Heights,’ is that if the movie hits a high level in theaters, it hits a high level on the service,” said Mr. Goldstein.

“If it hits a low level in theaters, it hits a low level on HBO Max. They’re really very comparable.”

Last weekend, Disney’s “Cruella” may have also made a somewhat muted arrival in theaters because it opened at the same time on Disney+, for $30. In its second weekend, “Cruella” earned $6.7 million, bringing its total to $56 million.

“In the Heights” originally was set to open in June 2020. The studio and film-

makers, believing its impact would be felt most powerfully in theaters, opted to wait for cinemas to reopen. Ahead of release, Warner put its marketing weight behind the film. Oprah Winfrey hosted a virtual block party for the film. On June 9, the film opened the Tribeca Festival with a yellow carpet premiere and screenings scattered throughout New York.

Regardless of box office, “In the Heights” is the rare bigger-budget spectacle film to feature a predominantly Latino cast. Though Latinos make up one of the largest groups of regular moviegoers—accounting for as much as 29 percent of tickets sold—their representation in Hollywood is still a fraction of that. According to audience surveys, about 40 percent of the opening-weekend audience for “In the Heights” was Latino.

The director Chu has previously helmed a breakthrough release for Asian Americans in 2018′s “Crazy Rich Asians,” which opened to $26.5 million over three days and then kept a multi-week lock on the box office. Recalling that — or perhaps sensing that “In the Heights” wasn’t going to debut like a blockbuster — Chu urged people to “vote with their wallets” by supporting the film.

“Even “Crazy Rich Asians” you couldn’t really tell. It was only the second weekend when people started coming back and the third weekend when people who didn’t go to the movies started to come,” said Chu a week ahead of release. “Buying tickets to this thing — putting your money where your mouth is — was the democratic statement that no studio could make up.”

This ceremony honors entertainer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson for his gift of a traffic light for the safety of the students at Armstrong High School. Mr. Robinson saw a great need in the community. With personal funds purchased the traffic light for $1,400, after he saw two children almost hit by a car while trying to cross the street at Leigh and Adams on their way to Armstrong High School. This traffic light provided safe passage for students, and the community who used this busy intersection. It was the first traffic light north of Broad St. where mostly African-Americans lived.

The Astoria Beneficial Club was instrumental in the erection of the statue in 1973, and has held this memorial service annually on the fourth Saturday in June.

The BND Institute of Media and Culture presents

SUMMER MEDIA CAMP July 12 – 23, 2021

3700 Midlothian Turnpike, Richmond, Virginia 23224

9a.m. – 3p.m.

Monday – Friday

For middle and high school students who want to learn about news reporting, television, radio, podcasting, photography, storytelling and videography Sessions will be led by Bonnie Newman Davis, journalist and journalism educator, and other professional writers and guests.

Application deadline: July 8, 2021 Cost: $125 for two weeks

Some scholarship opportunities available For more information please call (804) 683-7203 or visit bndimc.org

Richmond Free Press

June 17-19, 2021 B5

Faith News/Directory

Hundreds join ‘Moral March on Manchin’ as he blocks voting rights legislation Free Press wire, staff report

Sen. Manchin’s decision to oppose the For the People Act, a CHARLESTON, W.Va. proposed landmark reform of Hundreds of demonstrators U.S. election law that passed the outraged with U.S. Sen. Joe U.S. House of Representatives Manchin’s opposition to a in March. The bill would expand sweeping overhaul of U.S. elec- voter registration and access, tion law marched through West would end congressional gerVirginia’s capital city Monday rymandering, overhaul federal evening. campaign finance The Rev. Willaws and increase liam J. Barber II, safeguards against co-chair of the Poor foreign interference People’s Campaign, in elections, among denounced the inother things. fluential moderate Many DemocratDemocratic senaic senators want to tor and called for a eliminate the Senate diverse coalition of filibuster to pass the Sen. Manchin working people to bill, which would apply pressure on Sen. Man- allow it to make it through the chin, who recently opposed a Senate with a simple 51-vote $15 minimum wage and the majority instead of the current price tag of President Biden’s requirement for a 60-vote suinitial $2 trillion infrastructure permajority. plan.

But Sen. Manchin, a Demo“West Virginia needs a real crat, opposes eliminating the senator,” Rev. Barber thundered 60-vote requirement. That at a Charleston park in front of a has turned the West Virginia crowd assembled for the “Moral Democrat into a kingmaker in March on Manchin.” the evenly divided chamber.

Then they marched a mile “With our senator pretty to Sen. Manchin’s office in much controlling this thing, we Charleston, W.Va. Unable to want to be here to say we’re not meet with the senator — an on the same page,” said Chuck aide told Rev. Barber that he Overstreet, a Charleston resiwas in Washington — leaders dent who joined the march. of the demonstration affixed The Poor People’s Campaign a poster-sized protest letter to has decried the filibuster, which the front doors of the office is seen by some activists as building. Rally-goers took turns hamstringing efforts to pass an signing their names on it. array of liberal-leaning bills.

When Sen. Manchin’s aides Sen. Manchin said last week offered comment cards to passing reform on a party-line collect protesters’ grievances, vote risked further stoking Rev. Barber waved them away: partisan divides.

“We don’t want to talk to the As a key senator in a divided staff.” chamber, Sen. Manchin has frusAn email to Sen. Manchin’s trated progressive Democrats office about the protest was not with his reluctance to support immediately answered. several key agenda items.

The protest was spurred by Many people from neighbor-

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

“Due to the Corona Virus Pandemic, Services Are Cancelled, until further notice; but, please join us, by visiting BRBCOnline.org or YouTube (Broad Rock Baptist Church).”

“MAKE IT HAPPEN” Pastor Kevin Cook

ing states, including Kentucky, Maryland and Virginia, drove and rode on buses to make it to the protest. They held signs and charged Sen. Manchin with enabling voter suppression.

He supports a narrower piece of legislation known as HR4, or the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, that updates the federal Voting Rights Act to reinstate a requirement that new voting laws and legislative districts in certain states be subject to federal approval.

The Rev. Tyler C. Millner Sr., pastor of Morning Star Holy Church in Martinsville, Va., and founder of the annual January commemoration in Richmond honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that is now called Living the Dream, wrote a letter appealing to Sen. Manchin to support the voting rights legislation.

Rev. Millner wrote that America’s democracy is in peril from multiple blows, including from the Trump administration, the Jan. 6 mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and the actions of a “stubborn and mean-spirited Republican Party” in the U.S. Senate and across the nation that “by their actions … undermine instead of defending and supporting our democratic principles and ideas.”

He wrote Sen. Manchin that “voting what is ‘right’ has to be greater, more honorable and a higher calling” than standing by a filibuster rule. He said maintaining the U.S. Senate’s filibuster rule is “not only wrong but unethical.”

“The ethic of our faith says ‘Do what is right,’ not what will increase your chances of receiving a positive vote in the next election,” Rev. Millner wrote.

He offered two Scripture citations for Sen. Manchin’s “enlightenment and instruction.”

Cuneyt Dil/Assopciated Press

Rev. William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, delivers a speech Monday targeting U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to a proposed landmark overhaul of U.S. election law in Charleston, W.Va.

Separate protests against Sen. Manchin and U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, are scheduled to take place in Washington later this month.

Moore Street Missionary Baptist Church

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

Dr. Alonza L. Lawrence, Pastor

All church ac�vi�es are canceled un�l further no�ce.

Follow us on Facebook for “A Word from Moore Street’s Pastor” and weekly Zoom worship info.

Drive-thru giving will be available the 1st and 3rd Saturday from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the church. (Bowe Street side) You also may give through Givelify.

Be safe. Be blessed.

Riverview

Father’s Day Sunday, June 20, 2021

Morning Worship • 10am Speaker:

Rev. Robert C. Davis

Baptist Church Sunday School – 9:30 AM Sunday Services – 11:00 AM Via Conference Call (515) 606-5187 Pin 572890#

“Honoring Fatherhood” Drive In (weather permitting) or join us on Facebook UBCSOUTHRICHMOND

Union Baptist Church

Also Visit Us On Facebook Sunday Service – 11:00 AM 2604 Idlewood Avenue Richmond, Va. 23220 (804) 353-6135 www.riverviewbaptistch.org

1813 Everett Street Richmond, Virginia 23224 804-231-5884 Reverend Robert C. Davis, Pastor

#

Rev. Dr. Stephen L. Hewlett, Pastor

“The Church With A Welcome”

3HARON "APTIST #HURCH 500 E. Laburnum Avenue, Richmond, VA 23222 www.sharonbaptistchurchrichmond.org (804) 643-3825 Rev. Dr. Paul A. Coles, Pastor

Triumphant

SUNDAYS Morning Worship 10:00 AM Drive-In Service in our Parking Lot

Baptist Church 2003 Lamb Avenue Richmond, VA 23222 Dr. Arthur M. Jones, Sr., Pastor (804) 321-7622

See you there!

Good Shepherd Baptist Church 1127 North 28th St., Richmond, VA 23223 s Office: (804) 644-1402

“Due to the Corona Virus all services at Triumphant Baptist Church are suspended until further notice.”

Dr. Sylvester T. Smith, Pastor “There’s A Place for You”

Due to the COVID-19 Corona Virus All regular activities have been suspended until further notice.

Visit https://youtu.be/qqzhnIEQyQc for inspirational messages from Pastor Smith

Join us on Sundays at 12 noon via Conference Call: 1(503)300-6860 Code:273149#

7M\XL &ETXMWX 'LYVGL 8LIQI JSV 1SFMPM^MRK *SV 1MRMWXV] 6IJVIWLMRK 8LI 3PH ERH )QIVKMRK 8LI 2I[ A 21st Century Church With Ministry For Everyone

We Embrace Diversity — Love For All! Come worship with us!

Sunday Service will not be held in our sanctuary.

Join us for 11:00 AM Worship by going to our website www.sixthbaptistchurch.org

Twitter sixthbaptistrva

Rev. Dr. Yvonne Jones Bibbs, Pastor

Antioch Baptist Church 1384 New Market Road, Richmond, Virginia 23231 | 804-222-8835

SERVICES

A MISSION BASED CHURCH FAMILY EXCITING MINISTRIES FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH, YOUNG ADULTS & SENIOR ADULTS BIBLE REVELATION TEACHING DIVERSE MUSIC MINISTRY LOVING, CARING ENVIRONMENT

(near Byrd Park)

(804) 359-1691 or 359-3498 Facebook Fax (804) 359-3798 sixthbaptistrva www.sixthbaptistchurch.org

Thirty-first Street Baptist Church

“Redeeming God’s People for Gods Purpose”

SUNDAY WORSHIP HOUR – 10:00 A.M. CHILDREN’S CHURCH & BUS MINISTRY AVAILABLE SUNDAY SCHOOL (FOR ALL AGES) – 9:00 A.M. TUESDAY MID-DAY BIBLE STUDY – 12 NOON WEDNESDAY MID-WEEK PRAYER & BIBLE STUDY – 7:00 P.M.

400 South Addison Street Richmond, Va. 23220

C

e with Reverence elevanc R g in Rev. Dr. Joshua Mitchell, Senior Pastor bin ❖ om Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic All regular activities have been suspended until further notice.

Please join us on

Facebook or YouTube

DR. JAMES L. SAILES PASTOR

10:30 a.m. Sundays 7:00 p.m. Wednesdays-Bible Study

823 North 31st Street Richmond, VA 23223 (804) 226-0150 Office

Richmond Free Press

B6 June 17-19, 2021

Legal Notices City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Monday, June 28, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. to consider the following ordinances: Ordinance No. 2021-144 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to enter into the TwentyFourth Commercial Area R e v i t a l i z a t i o n E ff o r t Program Cooperation Agreement between the City of Richmond, Virginia and the Economic Development Authority of the City of Richmond for the purpose of providing for the operation of the Commercial Area R e v i t a l i z a t i o n E ff o r t (“CARE”) Program and a business recovery grant program. (COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, June 17, 2021, 1:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-145 To amend ch. 11, art.

VIII of the City Code by adding therein a new section numbered 11 - 1 9 8 , c o n c e r n i n g the suspension of the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing Program, for the purpose of providing for the suspension of such program until July 1, 2022. (COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, June 17, 2021, 1:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-152 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to accept $50,000.00 from Capital One Services, LLC; to amend the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 General Fund Budget by creating a new “Transfer to Human Services Equity Study Special Fund” Non-Departmental line item, re-appropriating $110,000.00 from the “Equity Study” assignment of the Fiscal Year 20192020 fund balance excess, and appropriating this $110,000.00 to the new Transfer to Human Services Equity Study Special Fund NonDepartmental line item; and to amend the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Special Fund Budget by creating a new “Equity Study” special fund for the Office of the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Human Services and increasing revenues and the amount appropriated to the new Office of the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Human Services’ Equity Study special fund by $160,000.00, all for the purpose of providing for an equity study and training as described in Res. No. 2020-R013, adopted Jul. 27, 2020.

Ordinance No. 2021-153 To amend Ord. No. 2020-164, adopted Aug. 10, 2020, as previously amended by Ord. No. 2020-191, adopted Sept.

28, 2020, and Ord. No. 2021-089, adopted Apr. 26, 2021, which authorized the Chief Administrative Officer to submit an amended Consolidated Plan and Annual Action Plan to the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as an application for the receipt of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) funds, Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) funds; accepted funds from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the total amount of $16,318,561.00; and appropriated $16,318,561.00 for various projects, to reallocate $600,000.00 in previously appropriated CDBG-CV funds, and authorize the submission of a further amended version of the amended Annual Action Plan.

Ordinance No. 2021-154 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to accept funds in the amount of $76,800.00 from the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority and to appropriate the grant funds received to the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Special Fund Budget by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the Department of Justice Services by $76,800.00 for the purpose of funding an additional probation officer position to provide supervision services for the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond’s behavioral health docket.

Ordinance No. 2021-155 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to accept funds in the amount of $75,000.00 from the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority; to amend the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Special Fund Budget by creating a Continued on next column

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new special fund for the Department of Police called the RRHA Crime Prevention Special Fund; and to appropriate the grant funds received to the Fiscal Year 20202021 Special Fund Budget by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the new Department of Police’s RRHA Crime Prevention Special Fund by $75,000.00 for the purpose of funding the salary of a program manager to be employed by the City to implement certain prevention and intervention strategies aimed at reducing criminal activity in public housing communities.

Ordinance No. 2021-156 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to accept a donation from the Richmond Police Foundation of physical fitness equipment, flooring materials, and renovation services valued at approximately $46,000.00 for the purpose of providing physical fitness equipment for use by Department of Police personnel at the Department of Police’s Third Precinct located at 301 South Meadow Street. (COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, June 17, 2021, 1:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-157 To amend and reordain City Code § 26-460, concerning the levy on machinery and tools used in business and certain motor carrier transportation property, for the purpose of reflecting amendments to Va. Code § 58.13506. (COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, June 17, 2021, 1:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-158 To c r e a t e a n e w reservation of fund balance called the 2021 Permanent Supportive Housing Reserve intended to be categorized as a committed fund balance and used to fund permanent supportive housing needs in the city of Richmond.

(COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development, Thursday, June 17, 2021, 1:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-159 To declare that a public necessity exists and to authorize the acquisition of certain fee simple interests for the public purpose of facilitating the construction of the East Main Street and Williamsburg Avenue intersection improvement project.

Ordinance No. 2021-160 To declare that a public necessity exists and to authorize the acquisition of certain fee simple interests and easements for the public purpose of facilitating the construction of the Whitehead Road culvert replacement and sidewalk improvements project.

Ordinance No. 2021-161 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Standard Project Administration Agreement between the City of Richmond and the Virginia Department of Transportation to provide funding for the design and construction of a replacement to the CSX abandoned spur line bridge from Interstate 95 to North 16th Street. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-162 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Parking License Agreement between Parkway Parking of Virginia, Inc, as lessor and the City of Richmond as lessee for the purpose of providing 42 parking spaces for the Department of Social Services at 608 North 4th Street and 628 North 4th Street. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-163 To p r o v i d e f o r t h e granting by the City of Richmond to the person, firm or corporation to be ascertained in the manner prescribed by law of the easement, franchise, right and privilege to use a portion of certain property located at 201 Hioaks Road for the construction, operation, and maintenance of certain access and utility facilities in accordance with a certain Deed of Easements; and to declare that a public necessity exists for and authorize the acquisition of a public access easement over and across a portion of certain property located Continued on next column

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at 6850 Atmore Drive in accordance with such Deed of Easements.

(COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-164 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Richmond and the Richmond Redevelopment & Housing Authority Regarding a Joint Application for a Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant for the purpose of seeking funding for the development of a comprehensive n e i g h b o r h o o d revitalization strategy that includes the Gilpin Court public housing complex located at 102 West Charity Street. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-165 To designate the first block at the intersection of West Clay Street and East Clay Street in honor of the late Rosa Dixon Bowser. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-166 To designate the first block at the intersection of West Charity Street and St. John Street in honor of the late Lucy Goode Brooks. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-167 To d e s i g n a t e t h e intersection of Chamberlayne Parkway and Jackson Street in honor of the late W i l l i a m Wa s h i n g t o n Browne. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-168 To designate the 500 block of North 2nd Street in honor of the late Neverett Eggleston.

(COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-169 To designate the first block of East Charity Street in honor of the late Lillie Ann Estes. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-170 To designate the 1000, 1100, and 1200 blocks of St. James Street in honor of the late Charles Sidney Gilpin. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-171 To designate the 200 block of East Marshall Street in honor of the late Oliver Hill, Sr. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-172 To designate the 200 block of East Clay Street in honor of the late Giles B. Jackson. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-173 To designate the 500 block of North 3rd Street in honor of the late John Mitchell.

J r . ( CO M M I T T EE : Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-174 To designate the 300 block of North 2nd Street in honor of the late Lorna Pinckney. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-175 To designate the 600 block of North 3rd Street in honor of the late Alfred D. Price (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-176 To designate that portion of Leigh Street from its intersection with North 3rd Street to its intersection with North Belvedere Street in honor of the late Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-177 To designate the 600 block of Judah Street in honor of the late Abraham Peyton Skipwith. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-178 To designate the 00, 100, and 200 blocks of the Continued on next column

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south side of West Broad Street, from its intersection with North Adams Street to the intersection of East Broad Street and North 3rd Street, in honor of the late Maggie L. Walker. (COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Thursday, June 24, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-179 To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute an Agreement Between The City of Richmond and The Richmond Redevelopment & Housing Authority for the purpose of providing for a Program Manager position within the Department of Police to implement certain prevention and intervention strategies aimed at reducing criminal activity in public housing communities.

(COMMITTEE: Public Safety, Tuesday, June 22, 2021, 12:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-180 To amend Ord. No. 2020155, adopted Jul. 27, 2020, which established a Task Force on the Establishment of a Civilian Review Board to review and provide recommendations concerning the creation of such a board, to revise and extend the submission deadlines for certain reporting requirements. ( CO M M I T T EE : G o v e r n m e n t a l Operations, Wednesday, June 23, 2021, 2:00 p.m.)

Ordinance No. 2021-181 To extend the expiration date of Ord. No. 2020093, adopted Apr. 9, 2020, as previously amended by Ord. No. 2020-183, adopted Aug. 20, 2020, and Ord. No. 2020-232, adopted Dec. 14, 2020, which assures the continuity of government during the disaster resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic by modifying the practices and procedures of public bodies to permit electronic meetings as authorized by Va. Code § 15.2-1413, from Jun. 30, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2021. (COMMITTEE: G o v e r n m e n t a l Operations, Wednesday, June 23, 2021, 2:00 p.m.)

This meeting will be held through electronic communication means pursuant to and in compliance with Ordinance No. 2020-093, adopted April 9, 2020, as most recently amended by Ordinance No. 2020-232, adopted December 14, 2020. This meeting will be open to participation through electronic communication means by the public and closed to in-person participation by the public. Less than a quorum of Richmond City Council will assemble in the Council Chamber on the Second Floor of City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, and most Council members and other staff will participate by teleconference/ videoconference via Microsoft Teams.

Video of the meeting will be streamed live online at the following web address: https:// richmondva.legistar.com/ Calendar.aspx. To watch the meeting’s live stream at the web address provided, find and click the link that reads, “In Progress” in the farthest right hand column entitled, “Video”.

The agenda for the Richmond City Council meeting is accessible through the City’s legislative website at the following web address: https://richmondva. legistar.com/Calendar. aspx. To view the agenda at the web address provided, find and click the link that reads, “Agenda” associated with the June 28, 2021 Richmond City Council Formal meeting listed in the calendar.

Interested citizens who wish to speak at the Richmond City Council meeting will be given an opportunity to do so by following the “Formal Meeting Citizen Participation Instructions” attached to the June 28, 2021 Richmond City Council Formal meeting agenda.

Citizens are encouraged to provide their comments in writing to CityClerksOffice@ richmondgov.com in lieu of calling in. The person responsible for receiving comments in writing is Candice D. Reid, City Clerk. All comments received prior to 10:00 a.m. on Monday, June 28, 2021, will be provided to Council members prior to the meeting and will be included in the record of the meeting.

Copies of the full text of all ordinances are available by visiting the City Clerk’s page on the City’s Website at https://www.rva.gov/ office-city-clerk.

Candice D. Reid City Clerk

City of Richmond, Virginia CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the City of Richmond Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing, open to all interested citizens, on Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. and the Council of the City of Richmond has scheduled a public hearing on Monday, July 26, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. to consider the following ordinances: Ordinance No. 2021-182 To authorize a Creighton Court Redevelopment Preliminary Community Unit Plan permitting the development of a residential community of up to 700 dwelling units on approximately 38 acres of land located at 3070 Nine Mile Road, 3100 Nine Mile Road, 2101A Creighton Road and portions of adjacent unimproved public rights-of-way in Tate Street and Tuxedo Boulevard, upon certain terms and conditions.

The property is situated in an R-53 Multifamily Residential District. The City of Richmond’s Master Plan designates a future land use category for the subject property as Neighborhood MixedUse. Primary uses are single-family houses, accessory dwelling units, duplexes, small multi-family and open space. Secondary uses are large multi-family, r e t a i l / o ff i c e / p e r s o n a l service, institutional, cultural, and government.

Residential density is not specified for this land use designation.

Ordinance No. 2021-183 To authorize the special use of the property known as 412 West Franklin Street for the purpose of a multifamily dwelling and a dwelling unit within an accessory building, upon certain terms and conditions. The current zoning for this property is RO‑3 Residential Office.

The City’s Richmond 300 Master Plan designates a future land use for the subject property as Downtown Mixed-Use. Primary Uses: Retail/ office/personal service, multi‑family residential, cultural, institutional, government, and open space. Residential density is not specified for this land use designation.

The meetings will be held through electronic communication means pursuant to and in compliance with Ordinance No. 2020-093, adopted April 9, 2020, as most recently amended by Ordinance No. 2020-232, adopted December 14, 2020. The meetings will be open to participation through electronic communication means by the public and closed to in-person participation by the public. Less than a quorum of Richmond City Planning Commission members and Richmond City Council will assemble in City Hall, located at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, and most members and other staff will participate by teleconference/ videoconference via Microsoft Teams.

The meetings will be streamed live online at the following web address: https://richmondva. legistar.com/Calendar. a s p x . To w a t c h a meeting’s live stream at the web address provided, find and click the link that reads, “In Progress” in the farthest right hand column entitled, “Video”.

The agenda for the Richmond City Council meeting is accessible through the City’s legislative website at the following web address: https://richmondva. legistar.com/Calendar. aspx. To view the agenda at the web address provided, find and click the link that reads, “Agenda” associated with the July 26, 2021 Richmond City Council Formal meeting listed in the calendar.

Interested citizens who wish to speak at the Richmond City Council meeting will be given an opportunity to do so by following the “Formal Meeting Citizen Participation Instructions” attached to the July 26, 2021 Richmond City Council Formal meeting agenda.

Citizens are encouraged to provide their comments in writing to CityClerksOffice@ richmondgov.com in lieu of calling in. The person responsible for receiving comments in writing is Candice D. Reid, City Clerk. All comments received prior to 10:00 a.m. on Monday, July 26, 2021, will be provided to Council members prior to the meeting and will be included in the record of the meeting.

Copies of the full text of all ordinances are available Continued on next column

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by visiting the City Clerk’s page on the City’s Website at https://www.rva.gov/ office-city-clerk.

Candice D. Reid City Clerk

Divorce VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE COUNTY OF HANOVER MELICENT MILLER Plaintiff v.

BRANDON MILLER, Defendant.

Case No.: CL21000136-00 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 the defendant, who is a nonresident, appear here on or before the 4th day of August, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. and protect his interest.

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 BLANCA CASTILLO CHAVARRIA, Plaintiff v.

ALFONSO PAZ REYES, Defendant.

Case No.: CL21002009-00 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 the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 26th day of July, 2021 at 9:00 AM, and protect his 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 OF THE COUNTY OF CHESTERFIELD GABRIELLE CHAMBER TORRES, Plaintiff, v. Civil Action No. 21-1028 ELVIN TORRES, Defendant.

ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bonds of matrimony with the Defendant on a no-fault basis; i.e. on the ground having lived apart continuously without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period of mare than a year, pursuant to VA Code Section 20-91 (A) (9).

No other relief is sought.

It appearing from an Affidavit of Plaintiff that he Defendant is not a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, but rather maintains as hos resident 733 Union Avenue, Apt. 3-C, Bronx, New York 104455, and further that the Defendant maintains an operational and functional email address on record with the Court; IT IS ORDERED THAT DEFENDANT APPEAR BEFORE THIS COURT WITHIN 10 DAYS AFTER DUE PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE AND PROTECT HIS INTERESTS HEREIN. An extract teste: WENDY S. HUGHES, CLERK Virginia: IN THE HENRICO CIRCUIT COURT Commonwealth of Virginia, in re isaac hakeem vosean wilson v.

Avery Wilson Case No.: CL21-3304 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to: Obtain a divorce.

It is ordered that Avery Wilson appear at the abovenamed court and protect his/ her interests on or before July 26, 2021 at 9:00 AM. VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER CHANTELL JOHNSON, Plaintiff v.

MOSES PRINGLE, JR., Defendant.

Case No.: CL21002011-00 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 the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 26th day of July, 2021 at 9:00 AM, and protect his interests.

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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

in re TRINITY HORNES RDSS V. DAISHA WOODRUFF, TONY HORNES, UNKNOWN FATHER File No. JJ095632-06-07-08 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“TPR”) of the (Mother) Daisha Woodruff, (Father) Tony Hornes & the Unknown Father of Trinity Hornes DOB 04/19/2016, child. “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 defendant Daisha Woodruff (Mother), Tony Hornes (Father) & Unknown (Father) to appear at the abovenamed Court and protect his/her interest on or before 08/09/2021, at 2:30 PM, Courtroom #4

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER MONTEE MITCHELL, Plaintiff v.

LEVON MITCHELL, Defendant.

Case No.: CL21001960-00 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 the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 8th day of July, 2021 at 9:00 AM, and protect his 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 CHERYL BECOATJACKSON, Plaintiff v.

JAMES JACKSON Defendant.

Case No.: CL21001888-00 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 the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 13th day of July, 2021 at 9:00 AM, and protect his 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 CHARMIN CLARENCE, Plaintiff v.

MELVIN CLARENCE, Defendant.

Case No.: CL21001869-00 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 the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 6th day of July, 2021 at 9:00 AM, and protect his 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

PROPERTY VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

EUGENE LEE, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL21-2394 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 2832 Dunn Avenue, Tax Map Number N000-0906/012, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner/s of record, Eugene Lee.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owners, E U G E N E L EE , u p o n information and belief deceased, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that E U G E N E L EE , u p o n information and belief deceased, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before AUGUST 12, 2021 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949

VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of Virginia,

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

LEROY JONES, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL21-1574 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 717 Goodwood Road, Tax Map Number C005-0749/036, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Leroy Jones.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, LEROY JONES, who has been served by posting and by mailing a copy of the complaint to his last known address, has not been personally located and has not filed a response to this action; that IRWIN HELLER, upon information and belief deceased, TRUSTEE per Substitution of Trustees filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 97-20444 on September 18, 1997, the underlying deed of trust being dated November 13, 1992 and without maturity date, or his successor/s in title, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action; that HERBERT WEI S B ER G ER , u p o n information and belief deceased, BEARER of a Deed of Trust dated November 13, 1992 and without maturity date, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action; that MICHAEL A. HAMWAY, TRUSTEE of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 97-14803 on July 10, 1997, who has been served by posting and by mailing a copy of the complaint to his last known address, has not been personally located and has not filed a response to this action; and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

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Custody VIRGINIA: IN THE JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND Commonwealth of Virginia, in re KHAZA WOODRUFF RDSS V. DAISHA WOODRUFF, JARON CAREY, UNKNOWN FATHER File No. JJ097254-08-09-10 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to: Terminate the residual parental rights (“TPR”) of the (Mother) Daisha Woodruff, (Father) Jaron Carey & the Unknown Father of Khaza Woodruff DOB 11/18/2018, child. “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 defendant Daisha Woodruff (Mother), Jaron Carey (Father) & Unknown (Father) to appear at the abovenamed Court and protect his/her interest on or before 08/09/2021, at 2:30 PM, Courtroom #4

Richmond Free Press

June 17-19, 2021 B7

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IT IS ORDERED that LEROY JONES, IRWIN HELLER, upon information and belief deceased, TRUSTEE per Substitution of Trustees filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 97-20444 on September 18, 1997, the underlying deed of trust being dated November 13, 1992 and without maturity date, or his successor/s in title, HERBERT WEISBERGER, upon information and belief deceased, BEARER of a Deed of Trust dated November 13, 1992 and without maturity date, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in title, MICHAEL A. HAMWAY, TRUSTEE of a Deed of Trust filed in the records of the Richmond Circuit Court at Instrument Number 97-14803 on July 10, 1997, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JULY 15, 2021 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949

briefly described as 2606 4th Avenue, Tax Map Number N000-0717/004, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, James Pointer, Jr.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, JAMES POINTER, JR, upon information and belief deceased or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that JAMES POINTER, JR, upon information and belief deceased or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JULY 15, 2021 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949

successors in interest, and ROBERT E. COLEY, upon information and belief deceased, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, JOYCE COLEY WILSON, DANA VANN, STEVEN D. COLEY, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JULY 15, 2021 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949

TOMBERLIN, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JULY 15, 2021 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949

For Easement, Franchise, Right and Privilege To Use a Portion of 201 Hioaks Road and To Authorize The Acquisition of a Portion of 6850 Atmore Drive In the City of Richmond

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

HAYWOOD WILLIAMS, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL21-1573 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 2306 Burton Street, Tax Map Number E000-0427/024, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, Haywood Williams.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, HAYWOOD WILLIAMS, who has been served by posting and by mailing a copy of the complaint to his last known address, has not been personally located and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that HAYWOOD WILLIAMS, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JULY 15, 2021 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

PETER C. BOISSEAU, JR, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL21-1571 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 2600 Belt Boulevard, Tax Map Number C009-0480/028, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, name Peter C. Boisseau, Jr.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, PETER C. BOISSEAU, JR, who has been served by posting and by mailing a copy of the complaint to his last known address, has not been personally located and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that PETER C. BOISSEAU, JR, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JULY 15, 2021 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

JAMES POINTER, JR, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL21-2119 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

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VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

1417 INVESTMENT, LLC, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL21-2120 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 3024 3rd Avenue, Tax Map Number N000-0920/003, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, 1417 INVESTMENT, LLC.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, 1417 INVESTMENT, LLC, an entity listed as inactive in the records of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that 1417 INVESTMENT, LLC, an entity listed as inactive in the records of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JULY 15, 2021 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

D & T LAND TRUST, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL21-2118 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 4321 Saratoga Road, Tax Map Number C001-0363/016, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owner of record, D & T Land Trust.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owner, D & T LAND TRUST, an entity not listed in the records of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, has not been located and has not filed a response to this action, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that D & T LAND TRUST, an entity not listed in the records of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JULY 15, 2021 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

PEGGY COLEY CARTER, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL21-756 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 3410 Logandale Avenue, Tax Map Number S007-1062/002, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Peggy Coley Carter, Robert E. Coley, Joyce Coley Wilson, Dana Vann and Steven D. Coley.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owners, PEGGY COLEY CARTER, upon information and belief deceased, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, and ROBERT E. COLEY, upon information and belief deceased, or his heirs, devisees, assignees or successors in interest, have not been located and have not filed a response to this action; that said owner, JOYCE COLEY WILSON, is not a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and has not filed a response to this action; that said owners, DANA VANN and STEVEN D. COLEY, who have been served by posting and by mailing a copy of the complaint to their last known address, have not been personally located and have not filed a response to this action; and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that PEGGY COLEY CARTER, upon information and belief deceased, or her heirs, devisees, assignees or

VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

DORIS ANN TOY, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL21-2137 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 8900 Old Holly Road, Tax Map Number C001-0508/038, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Doris Ann Toy, Margaret Hosselton Avery, Clay Boyles, Jennie Boyles, John C. Boyles, Jr., David Boyles, Michael Boyles, Jenny Kempf, Charles Bernard Folger, John Dalton Murphy Folger, William C. Folger, William C. Folger, Jr., Ida Folger Garfield, C h r i s t o p h e r G e r i n e r, Charles Sheppard Hamm, Dana Rehm Lane, Lynn Geriner McAuliffe, Jeffrey A. Meloy, Ralph E. Meloy, Thomas C. Meloy, and Deborah Rehm Tomberlin.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owners, DORIS ANN TOY, MARGARET HOSSELTON AVERY, CLAY BOYLES, JENNIE BOYLES, JOHN C. BOYLES, JR, DAVID BOYLES, MICHAEL BOYLES, JENNY KEMPF, CHARLES BERNARD FOLGER, JOHN DALTON MURPHY FOLGER, WILLIAM C. FOLGER, WILLIAM C. FOLGER, JR, IDA FOLGER GARFIELD, CHRISTOPHER GERINER, C H A R L E S S H E P PA R D HAMM, DANA REHM LANE, LYNN GERINER MCAULIFFE, JEFFREY A. MELOY, RALPH E. M E L O Y, T H O M A S C .

MELOY, and DEBORAH REHM TOMBERLIN, are to be proceed against by Order of Publication pursuant to Section 8.01-316(A)(3) of the Code of Virginia, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that DORIS ANN TOY, MARGARET HOSSELTON AVERY, CLAY BOYLES, JENNIE BOYLES, JOHN C. BOYLES, JR, DAVID BOYLES, MICHAEL BOYLES, JENNY KEMPF, CHARLES BERNARD FOLGER, JOHN DALTON MURPHY FOLGER, WILLIAM C. FOLGER, WILLIAM C. FOLGER, JR, IDA FOLGER GARFIELD, CHRISTOPHER GERINER, C H A R L E S S H E P PA R D HAMM, DANA REHM LANE, LYNN GERINER MCAULIFFE, JEFFREY A. MELOY, RALPH E. M E L O Y, T H O M A S C .

MELOY, DEBORAH REHM

Continued on next column

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VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND JOHN MARSHALL COURTS BUILDING CITY OF RICHMOND, Plaintiff, v.

DORIS ANN TOY, et al, Defendants.

Case No.: CL21-2136 ORDER OF PUBLICATION

The object of this suit is to subject the property briefly described as 8909 Elm Road, Tax Map Number C001-0508/010, Richmond, Virginia, to sale in order to collect delinquent real estate taxes assessed thereon in the name of the owners of record, Doris Ann Toy, Margaret Hosselton Avery, Clay Boyles, Jennie Boyles, John C. Boyles, Jr., David Boyles, Michael Boyles, Jenny Kempf, Charles Bernard Folger, John Dalton Murphy Folger, William C. Folger, William C. Folger, Jr., Ida Folger Garfield, C h r i s t o p h e r G e r i n e r, Charles Sheppard Hamm, Dana Rehm Lane, Lynn Geriner McAuliffe, Jeffrey A. Meloy, Ralph E. Meloy, Thomas C. Meloy, and Deborah Rehm Tomberlin.

An Affidavit having been filed that said owners, DORIS ANN TOY, MARGARET HOSSELTON AVERY, CLAY BOYLES, JENNIE BOYLES, JOHN C. BOYLES, JR, DAVID BOYLES, MICHAEL BOYLES, JENNY KEMPF, CHARLES BERNARD FOLGER, JOHN DALTON MURPHY FOLGER, WILLIAM C. FOLGER, WILLIAM C. FOLGER, JR, IDA FOLGER GARFIELD, CHRISTOPHER GERINER, C H A R L E S S H E P PA R D HAMM, DANA REHM LANE, LYNN GERINER MCAULIFFE, JEFFREY A. MELOY, RALPH E. M E L O Y, T H O M A S C .

MELOY, and DEBORAH REHM TOMBERLIN, are to be proceed against by Order of Publication pursuant to Section 8.01-316(A)(3) of the Code of Virginia, and that any heirs, devisees, assignees, successors in interest, successors in title and/or any creditors with a current or future interest in said property, have not been identified and/or served despite diligent efforts to do so and are defendants to this suit by the general description of “Parties Unknown.”

IT IS ORDERED that DORIS ANN TOY, MARGARET HOSSELTON AVERY, CLAY BOYLES, JENNIE BOYLES, JOHN C. BOYLES, JR, DAVID BOYLES, MICHAEL BOYLES, JENNY KEMPF, CHARLES BERNARD FOLGER, JOHN DALTON MURPHY FOLGER, WILLIAM C. FOLGER, WILLIAM C. FOLGER, JR, IDA FOLGER GARFIELD, CHRISTOPHER GERINER, C H A R L E S S H E P PA R D HAMM, DANA REHM LANE, LYNN GERINER MCAULIFFE, JEFFREY A. MELOY, RALPH E. M E L O Y, T H O M A S C .

MELOY, DEBORAH REHM TOMBERLIN, and Parties Unknown, come forward to appear on or before JULY 15, 2021 and do what is necessary to protect their interests in this matter.

An Extract, Teste: Edward F. Jewett, Clerk Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq. City of Richmond, Office of the City Attorney 900 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 804-646-7949

BidS REQUEST FOR BIDS

The City of Richmond is seeking bids for the easement, franchise, right and privilege to use a portion of certain property located at 201 Hioaks Road for the construction, operation, and maintenance of certain access and utility facilities in accordance with a certain Deed of Easements, for a duration of 40 years, subject further to all retained rights of the City of Richmond; and to declare that a public necessity exists for and authorize the acquisition of a public access easement over and across a portion of certain property located at 6850 Atmore Drive in accordance with such Deed of Easements.

All bids for the easement hereby offered to be granted must be submitted in writing to the City Clerk’s office by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, June 28, 2021. Bids will be presented to the presiding officer of the Council of the City of Richmond on Monday, June 28, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. in open session and then will be presented by the presiding officer to the Council and be dealt with and acted upon in the mode prescribed by law.

The City of Richmond expressly reserves the right to reject any and all bids.

The successful bidder shall reimburse the City for all costs incurred in connection with the advertisement of this ordinance in accordance with section 15.2-2101 of the Code of Virginia and shall post the bond required by the ordinance.

A copy of the full text of the ordinance is on file in the City Clerk’s office, and the full text of the ordinance and Deed of Easements to be executed is available at: https://richmondva.legistar. com/LegislationDetail. aspx?ID=4985941&GUID=6 B16865B-03ED-4559-99638959E3EFFA56 Please address any questions or bids to: Candice D. Reid, City Clerk City of Richmond 900 East Broad Street, Suite 200 Richmond, Virginia 23219 (804) 646-7955 COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA construction bid

ITB #21-2177-6JOK Springfield School Renovation Due: July 13, 2021 at 2:00 p.m.

For additional information visit: https://henrico.us/ finance/divisions/puchasing/ solicitations/

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL The University of Virginia VHHNV D ðUP WR SURYLGH Memorial Removal, RFP-UVA-00052 https://bids. sciquest.com/apps/Router/ PublicEvent?tab=PHX_ NAV_SourcingOpenForBid &CustomerOrg=UVa&tmst mp=1623440033402 or email: pur-rfp@eservices.virginia.edu

NOTICE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AND PARTICIPATION PlanRVA and Crater PDC announce opportunity for public comment ĂŶĚ ƉĂƌƟĐŝƉĂƟŽŶ ƌĞŐĂƌĚŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ZŝĐŚŵŽŶĚͲ ƌĂƚĞƌ ,ĂnjĂƌĚ DŝƟŐĂƟŽŶ WůĂŶ hƉĚĂƚĞ͘ WĂƌƟĐŝƉĂƟŶŐ ĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƟĞƐ ŝŶĐůƵĚĞ͗ ŚĂƌůĞƐ ŝƚLJ ŽƵŶƚLJ͕ ŚĞƐƚĞƌĮĞůĚ ŽƵŶƚLJ͕ ŝŶǁŝĚĚŝĞ ŽƵŶƚLJ͕ 'ŽŽĐŚůĂŶĚ ŽƵŶƚLJ͕ 'ƌĞĞŶƐǀŝůůĞ ŽƵŶƚLJ͕ ,ĂŶŽǀĞƌ ŽƵŶƚLJ͕ ,ĞŶƌŝĐŽ ŽƵŶƚLJ͕ EĞǁ <ĞŶƚ ŽƵŶƚLJ͕ WŽǁŚĂƚĂŶ ŽƵŶƚLJ͕ WƌŝŶĐĞ 'ĞŽƌŐĞ ŽƵŶƚLJ͕ ^ƵƐƐĞdž ŽƵŶƚLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ƚŽǁŶƐ ŽĨ ƐŚůĂŶĚ͕ ůĂƌĞŵŽŶƚ͕ :ĂƌƌĂƩ͕ DĐ<ĞŶŶĞLJ͕ ^ƚŽŶLJ ƌĞĞŬ͕ tĂŬĞĮĞůĚ͕ tĂǀĞƌůLJ͕ ĂŶĚ ^ƵƌƌLJ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞ ĐŝƟĞƐ ŽĨ ŽůŽŶŝĂů ,ĞŝŐŚƚƐ͕ ŵƉŽƌŝĂ͕ ,ŽƉĞǁĞůů͕ WĞƚĞƌƐďƵƌŐ͕ ĂŶĚ ZŝĐŚŵŽŶĚ͘ ǀŝƌƚƵĂů ƉƵďůŝĐ ŵĞĞƟŶŐ ǁŝůů ďĞ ŚĞůĚ ĨƌŽŵ ϱWD ʹ ϲWD ŽŶ DŽŶĚĂLJ͕ :ƵŶĞ Ϯϴ͕ ϮϬϮϭ͘ dŚĞ ŵĞĞƟŶŐ ǁŝůů ƌĞǀŝĞǁ ƉƌĞůŝŵŝŶĂƌLJ ƌĞƐƵůƚƐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ,ĂnjĂƌĚ /ĚĞŶƟĮĐĂƟŽŶ ĂŶĚ ZŝƐŬ ƐƐĞƐƐŵĞŶƚ ĐŽŶĚƵĐƚĞĚ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ZŝĐŚŵŽŶĚͲ ƌĂƚĞƌ ƌĞŐŝŽŶ͘ &ŝŶĚ ŽƵƚ ǁŚŝĐŚ ŝŶĚŝǀŝĚƵĂů ŚĂnjĂƌĚƐ ƉŽƐĞ ƚŚĞ ďŝŐŐĞƐƚ ƚŚƌĞĂƚ ƚŽ LJŽƵƌ ŶĞŝŐŚďŽƌŚŽŽĚ ĂŶĚ ƉƌŽǀŝĚĞ ĨĞĞĚďĂĐŬ͕ ƐŽ ƚŚĞ ĮŶĂů ŚĂnjĂƌĚ ŵŝƟŐĂƟŽŶ ƉůĂŶ ĂĐƟŽŶƐ ƌĞŇĞĐƚ LJŽƵƌ ĐŽŶĐĞƌŶƐ͘ ŽŵŵĞŶƚƐ ŵĂLJ ďĞ ƐĞŶƚ ŝŶ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŵĞĞƟŶŐ ƚŽ ůĞŝŐŚ͘ŵŽƌŐĂŶ͘ĐŚĂƉŵĂŶΛŐŵĂŝů͘ĐŽŵ WƌĞͲƌĞŐŝƐƚƌĂƟŽŶ Žƌ ƚŚĞ ŵĞĞƟŶŐ ŝƐ ƌĞƋƵŝƌĞĚ͘ dŽ ƌĞŐŝƐƚĞƌ ŐŽ ƚŽ͗ ŚƩƉƐ͗ͬ​ͬƵƐϬϮǁĞď͘njŽŽŵ͘ƵƐͬŵĞĞƟŶŐͬƌĞŐŝƐƚĞƌͬƚ hŬĐĞϲƐƌnjŬƵ,ĚtƵKϲϬŚ DW ͺ ,sƉ,ysϳŽϱϱt ĚĚŝƟŽŶĂů ŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƟŽŶ ĐĂŶ ďĞ ĨŽƵŶĚ ŚĞƌĞ͗ ŚƩƉƐ͗ͬ​ͬƉůĂŶƌǀĂ͘ŽƌŐͬ D Z' E zͲD E ' D EdͲ,KD ͬd, Ͳ >>/ E ͬ, Z ͲD/d/' d/KEͬ

IFB No.: 210013964 Belvidere Street Gateway Phase IV Signal, Crosswalk and Sidewalk Improvements, UPC No. 111161 Due Date: Thursday, July 1, 2021 @ 2:30 P.M.

NOTE: Bidders choosing to submit bids through hand-delivery should allow extra time for delivery of bids. Due to COVID-19, hand-delivered bids will be accepted only during the hours of 9:00 A.M to 4:00 P.M. Monday through Friday at the 9th Street entrance to City Hall at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23221. Bidders choosing to hand-deliver bids must call Charles M. Garascia at 804-424-0239 when arriving at City Hall, and Charles M. Garascia will meet the bidder at the 9th Street entrance of City Hall to collect the submittal.

Bids will not be accepted after the Due Date and Time listed above.

Questions regarding the IFB shall be submitted no later than Monday, June 21, 2020 @ 5:00 P.M.

Information or copies of the above solicitations are available by contacting Procurement Services, at the City of Richmond website (www.RVA.gov), or at 11th Floor of City Hall, 900 E. Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. Phone (804) 646-2670 or faxed (804) 646-5989. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

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Richmond Free Press call

644-0496

Follow the Free Press on @FreePressRVA @RichmondFreePressUSA

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Continued on next column

The City of Richmond announces the following project(s) available for services relating to:

RFP No. 210014915 – Systemic Pedestal To Mast Arm Signal Improvements Project (UPC 110841) Due Date: July 15, 2021/Time: 2:00P.M Receipt Location: 900 East Broad Street, Room 1104, 11th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219

Pre-Bid Meeting: Pre-Bid conference call is scheduled for June 29, 2021 at 10:00AM. For all information pertaining to this IFB conference call, please logon to the Richmond website (https://www.rva.gov/ procurement-services/solicitations) and review IFB 210014915. Due Date: June 15, 2021/Time: 2:00 P.M.

NOTE: Offerors choosing to submit proposals through hand-delivery should allow extra time for delivery of proposals. Due to COVID-19, hand-delivered proposals will be accepted only during the hours of 9:00 A.M to 5:00 P.M. Monday through Friday at the 9th Street entrance to City Hall at 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23221. Offerors choosing to hand-deliver proposals must call Alok Upadhyaya at 804-837-2495 or 804-646-5040 when arriving at City Hall, and Alok Upadhyaya will meet the offeror at the 9th Street entrance of City Hall to collect the submittal. Bids will not be accepted after the Due Date and Time listed above.

Information or copies of the above solicitations are available by contacting Procurement Services, at the City of Richmond website (https://www.rva.gov/procurement-services/solicitations) or at 11th Floor of City Hall, 900 E. Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Phone (804) 646-5722 or faxed (804) 646-5989. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process.

For reference purposes, documents may be examined at the above location.

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.

EOE M/F/D/V

Tourism Counselor (Part-Time) Richmond, VA

The Virginia Tourism Corporation is seeking a Tourism Counselor for its Main Street Station Welcome Center who is willing to work 8 to 12 days per month. The center is open 7 days per week from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. This individual will provide travel information and assistance to the traveling public, stock brochure racks, assist the welcome center manager with daily «iÀ>Ì Ã > ` «iÀv À }i iÀ> vwVi `ÕÌ ið All candidates must apply through our website https://www.vatc.org/administration/ employment/. Salary Minimum: $15.00/hour.

Application deadline: June 25, 2021.

VTC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, veteran status, political >vw >Ì ] }i iÌ VÃ] À >}> ÃÌ Ì iÀÜ Ãi µÕ> wi` ` Û `Õ> Ã Ü Ì ` Ã>L Ì ið Ì Ã 6/ ½Ã intent that its employment and personnel « V ià > ` «À>VÌ Vià V v À Ì > >«« V>L i federal, state and local laws and regulations Ài}>À` } ` ÃVÀ >Ì > ` >vwÀ >Ì Ûi action. Applicants requiring more information or requiring assistance may contact VTC Human Resources at 1-804-545-5634 or vtchr@ vedp.org. TDD 1-800-828-1120 IT: Glen Allen, VA: Senior Software Engineer: Dsgn, devel, test, & impl bus apps using Ab Initio, Alteryx, IBM Optim, Hydrograph, DataStage.

Develop data integration pipelines using AWS & 6QRZÀDNH GDWD ZDUHKRXVH 'HYHO G EDVH VFULSWV SURFHGXUHV XVLQJ YDU UHODWLRQDO G EDVH PQJPQW V\VWV VXFK DV 06 64/ 6HUYHU 3RVWJUH64/ 2UDFOH 64/ 'HYHORS (7/ ZRUNÀRZV $XWRPDWLRQ IUDPHZRUNV XVLQJ 3\6SDUN 8QL[ 6FULSWLQJ &UHDWH 6QRZ64/ 6SDUN64/ VFULSWV EXLOG GDVKERDUGV XVLQJ &RJQRV $QDO\WLFV (QJDJH LQ GDWD PLJUDWLRQ DFWLYLWLHV FUHDWH HQG WR HQG GHYHO VWUDWHJLHV IRU RQ SUHP WR $:6 VROXWLRQV 8WLOL]H $JLOH PHWKRGRORJLHV ,7/ SURFHVVHV WR GHYHO LPSO DSSV 5HTV %DFKHORU¶V RU IUJQ HTXLYW LQ &RPS 6FL RU ,QIR 7HFK RU UHO Z \UV H[S LQ MRE RIIHUHG RU UHO ¿HOG Senior Systems Analyst: $QO\] EXV UHTV WR DXWRPDWH SURFHVVLQJ HQKDQFH H[LVWLQJ V\VWV Dsgn, devel & impl apps & systs using C, C++, -DYD6FULSW 3/ 64/ H6FULSW 6PDUW 6FULSW +70/ 6KHOO 6FULSW 6LHEHO (,0 6LHEHO ($, XQGHU 8QL[ :LQGRZV HQYLURQ 'HYHO FRQ¿J VFUHHQV YLHZV REMHFWV LQ 6LHEHO &50 WR IDFLOLWDWH EXV SURFHVV ÀRZV ,PSO PDLQW YDU 6LHEHO :RUNÀRZV GHYHO ,QWHJUDWLRQ ,QWHUIDFHV EHWZHHQ 6LHEHO &50 WKLUG SDUW\ DSSV 3HUI 'DWD 0DSSLQJ 'DWD 0LJUDWLRQ HQJDJH LQ FRGLQJ WHVWLQJ RI 6LHEHO WRROV 'HYHORS 64/ VFULSWV IRU GDWD PLJUDWLRQ OHJDF\ V\VWV H[HF (,0 LQ 6LHEHO 0DS V\VWVLQWR YDU SHUI G EDVHV VXFK DV 06 64/ 6HUYLFHV 2UDFOH (QJDJH LQ XQLW LQWHJUDWLRQ V\VW WHVWLQJ 5HTV %DFKHORU¶V RU HTXLYW LQ &RPS 6FL RU (QJQJ RU UHO ¿HOG Z \UV H[S LQ WKH MRE RIIHUHG $OO MREV UHT WUDYHO RU UHOR WR YDU XQDQWLFLSDWHG FOLHQW VLWHV LQ WKH 8 6 0DLO UHV WR *OREDO 6XPL 7HFKQRORJLHV ,QF $WWQ +5 'HSDUWPHQW 1XFNROV 5RDG 6XLWH % *OHQ $OOHQ 9$

Richmond Free Press

B8 June 17-19, 2021

Sports Plus

Nikola Jokić named NBA’s regular season MVP

By Fred Jeter

The Denver Nuggets apparently struck gold when they drafted Serbian-born Nikola Jokić in 2015.

Now in his sixth season with the franchise, Jokić has been named the 2021 NBA Most Valuable Player for the regular season.

The 6-foot-11, 284-pound forward was selected for the award based on voting by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Nicknamed “The Joker,” Jokić averaged 26.4 points, 10.9 rebounds and 8.4 assists this past season for the Nuggets.

The 26-year-old is only the third player in NBA history to average at least 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, joining Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook.

Jokić wasn’t considered a “sure thing” coming out of the European pro leagues.

Jokić was the 41st overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, making him the lowest player

ever drafted to win MVP. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid was second and Golden State’s Steph Curry was third in the voting.

Other winners: Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert, Utah; Sixth Man: Jordan Clarkson, Utah; Most Improved: Julius Randle, New York Knicks; Coach of the Year: Tom Thibodeau, New York Knicks. The awards have nothing to do with the performances in the ongoing NBA playoffs.

Legacy Weekend A CELEBRATION OF THE RICHMOND 34 & THOSE FIGHTING FOR RACIAL EQUALITY

FRIDAY, JULY 16TH | 5:30 PM GATES

SATURDAY, JULY 17TH | 5 PM GATES

End Racism T-shirt Giveaway | First 1,000 Fans 15 & Older

Richmond 34 Legacy Jersey Auction | Postgame Fireworks

The “End Racism” mark is a collaboration design by Richmond-based artist Noah Scalin & The Cheats Movement.

Jersey auction proceeds will go toward the establishment of a Richmond 34 Legacy scholarship fund.

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Employment Opportunities Lead System Architect (Richmond, VA) :

APPLICATIONS SPECIALIST Position Number: 27500076

The Applications Specialist works as part of the Technology Services Department to provide technical support and services for NRCC. This position is mainly responsible for packaging, deploying and updating Windows-based DSSOLFDWLRQV DFURVV DOO ODEV DQG RIÀFHV RQ FDPSXV 7KH LQGLYLGXDO ÀOOLQJ WKLV SRVLWLRQ ZLOO DOVR DVVLVW LQ PDLQWDLQLQJ security by researching, planning, and delivering required updates and patches to systems. The Applications Specialist will assist users across campus in daily help desk issues by providing in-person, remote, and phone support and will assist Network and Media services departments in troubleshooting and diagnosing problems.

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Architect & design biz apps using Pega PRPC & other Pega framewrks; Prov architect & design guid to proj teams dvlping BPM/BRE soluts using Pega. Reqs Bachelor’s in Comp Sci, Info Tech Žƌ ƌůƚĚ ĮĞůĚ н ϱ LJƌƐ ĞdžƉ ŝŶ ũŽď ŽīĞƌ Žƌ ǁͬ ĐůŝĞŶƚ ƐĞƌǀĞƌ ĚĞƐŝŐŶͬĚǀůƉŵŶƚ͖ džƉ ŵƵƐƚ ŝŶĐůƵĚĞ ĚĞƐŝŐŶ & implement of PRPC-based soluts, includ lead role in design to dvlp shared/reus enterprise ƌƵůĞƐ Θ ǁŽƌŬŇŽǁ ĐŽŵƉƐ ǁͬŝŶ WĞŐĂ͖ Θ ĚĞƐŝŐŶ Θ ĚǀůƉŵŶƚ ŽĨ ZŽďŽƟĐ WƌŽĐĞƐƐ ƵƚŽŵĂƟŽŶƐ͘ ^ĞŶĚ ƌĞƐƵŵĞƐ ƚŽ :ƵůŝĞ 'ŝďƐŽŶ͕ ƐƚĞƐ džƉƌĞƐƐ >ŝŶĞƐ͕ ϭϱϬϭ E͘ ,ĂŵŝůƚŽŶ ^ƚ͕͘ ZŝĐŚŵŽŶĚ͕ s ϮϯϮϯϬ

AVAILABLE Downtown Richmond first floor office suite

CIRCUIT COURT CLERK’S OFFICE, CITY OF RICHMOND DEPUTY CLERK/RECORD ROOM/ CRIMINAL SECTION and CIVIL SECTION dŚƌĞĞ &ƵůůͲdŝŵĞ WŽƐŝƟŽŶƐ /ŵŵĞĚŝĂƚĞ ŽƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƚLJ ĨŽƌ ĞŶĞƌŐĞƟĐ͕ ĚĞƉĞŶĚĂďůĞ ĂŶĚ ƉƌŽĨĞƐƐŝŽŶĂů ĐĂŶĚŝĚĂƚĞƐ ƚŽ ǁŽƌŬ ŝŶ ĚŽǁŶƚŽǁŶ ĐŽƵƌƚƐ ďƵŝůĚŝŶŐ͘ DƵƐƚ ďĞ ĚĞƚĂŝůͲŽƌŝĞŶƚĞĚ ĂŶĚ ƉŽƐƐĞƐƐ ĞdžĐĞůůĞŶƚ ĐƵƐƚŽŵĞƌ ƐĞƌǀŝĐĞ ĂŶĚ ƚĞůĞƉŚŽŶĞ ƐŬŝůůƐ͘ WƌŝŽƌ ĞdžƉĞƌŝĞŶĐĞ ǁŽƌŬŝŶŐ ŝŶ Ă ĐŽƵƌƚ ĞŶǀŝƌŽŶŵĞŶƚ ŝƐ Ă ƉůƵƐ͘

5th and Franklin Streets 422 East Franklin Street Richmond, Virginia 23219

804.358.5543 Bedros Bandazian

Associate Broker, Chairman

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Freelance Writers: Richmond Free Press has immediate opportunities for freelance writers. Newspaper experience is a requirement. To be considered, please send 5 samples of your writing, along with a cover letter to news@richmond freepress.com or mail to: Richmond Free Press, P. O. Box 27709, Richmond, VA 23261. No phone calls.

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Raffi Bandazian

Principal Broker, GRI

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